The Truth Behind Traingate

No, we weren't.

No but Branson is probably laughing at people like you, who think handing him public money for running an inefficient railway and privatising health provision whilst avoiding tax is quite OK. In fact he's probably laughing all the way to the bank.

Perhaps, perhaps not , I doubt it

Creating wealth matters as much as distributing it. More even because it has to be created before it's distributed. The Bransons of this world are the wealth creators and the wealth they create doesn't only go into their own pockets and those of their shareholders.

Very true Baggs and it's estimated that he currently employs approx 70,000 people across his companies. That's an awful lot of families who have a regular and decent income. although I expect someone will come along shortly to disprove that

To be fair, he is probably one of the few truly global citizens. It's difficult to say how much tax he should pay personally in the UK - he obviously doesn't live here. As he's giving away at least half of his wealth, he is making a philanthropic contribution. He's not all good, but certainly not all bad.

He doesn't give away his wealth. He gives away the money he should have paid in tax, and the money he takes in subsidies from the tax payer.
I don't understand why you can't see that.
How can train operating services make a loss yet pay shareholders?
You either want the railways to be private or nationalise them. The tax payer is paying the profits of the companies.

Unless, of course, you are all shareholders in Virgin.

It shouldn't be difficult to say how much he should pay in tax in this country. It isn't for people like you and me. It isn't for small companies. Why is it for him?
We know how much money there is at the end of the finacial year. Every company in this country knows.

How is he a global citizen? All his companies are UK companies, aren't they?

"Virgin Trains was launched in 1997 and Branson has ridden out a period when passenger complaints soared. Not untypically, Virgin Trains is 49% owned by another transport group, Stagecoach. Branson doesn't sit on the board of any of the companies within the Virgin group – underpinning his claim to be an entrepreneur rather than a businessman in the conventional sense."
"In some cases, he simply licenses the brand to a company that has purchased a subsidiary from him, and these include Virgin Mobile USA, Virgin Mobile Australia, Virgin Radio and Virgin Music (now part of EMI). "

Can we see figures which show these allegations are fact or just a wild guess because he has wealth

Sorry Annie, I haven't got any figures but the information above is from The Guardian, although admittedly about 5 years old. I'll have a look to see what else I can find.....

I rest my case, Chewbacca. He's taking money out of the country. All these subsidiary companies are in tax havens.

www.tuc.org.uk/industrial/tuc-22263-f0.cfm
Figures asked for, Annie.

www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/foreign-backed-investors-pocketing-200m-11000578

You rest your case? Did you not read it properly? Some of his businesses are in Australia and USA. And some of them he only owns a percentage of. No one is disputing that he is is fabulously wealthy, or that he should pay more taxes. But so should Amazon, Starbucks etc. You surprise me durham; I would have thought that, as Branson has dyslexia and struggled a lot at school and failed to complete his formal education, that he might have earned a smidgen of admiration for what he's achieved today. He took risks, he worked hard and his companies now employ over 70,000 people. And he's vehemently against Brexit. I'd have thought you might have had some admiration for him, for that at least.

Chewbacca, we posted at the same time, my request for facts was to DJ who claimed Branson is robbing us blind. I am not defending him but an argument / discussion cannot be based on figures pulled out of the air.

OK Annie

I doubt there's anyone here who has a grasp of the complex corporate structure or tax liabilities of a global conglomerate like Virgin Group.
What I don't understand is if you feel so strongly about Branson, why did you choose to give your money to him by purchasing a ticket to use Virgin Trains when you had an alternative service running on exactly the same route?
Complain as much as you want, dj you chose to support him financially.

primrose
I'm sure there's a very good reason

www.google.com/url?q=https://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/mar/21/ow-lucrative--deals-go-to-firms-that-use-tax-havens&sa=U&ved=0ahUKEwi4zPe79frVAhVCL1AKHb2hBZkQFggFMAA&client=internal-uds-cse&usg=AFQjCNHGGaSF39WfDc4JzYMJ1asR8Q3nZw

Virgincare and tax havens.

Try not to be quite so pathetic, primrose.
I didn't book the tickets. My son did.
I also go to a health centre which is owned by virgincare, because there are no others in the village.
I don't want to subsidise him, and I try very hard not to.
I'll just stop taking the tablets and die, shall I? I'm sure you'd be very pleased. You and your acolytes would probably laugh uproariously at the idea.

durhamjen
@ 13.45 you stated that you never use google.
And yet your link above is from google. Other search engines are available you know.

"Virgin Rail, which runs the west coast service and is one of three bidders shortlisted to run the east coast line, paid the highest dividends: £40m to its shareholders, Sir Richard Branson and Stagecoach. While it receives no direct subsidy, the government paid £298m to Network Rail for the upkeep of the track it uses."

2014

durhamjen
Is your son not aware of your feelings towards Branson?

It was an article in the Guardian that I linked to, petra, but carry on being pathetic instead of addressing the matter in hand.
The search engine I use normally is startpage. What do you use?

Bing.