Gransnet forums

News & politics

Another day, another Tory scandal....

(48 Posts)
CvD66 Fri 20-Jan-23 13:15:35

First this week we've had Nadhim Zahawi's sudden tax payments, probably including a penalty payment, then Sunak riding in a car without a seatbelt, with a police officer looking on. Yesterday (30p) Lee Anderson decided to present a member of his staff as evidence anyone on low pay should not need foodbanks (exposing her to considerable abuse due to her privileged background) Of course as a person claiming £233k pa expenses on top of his £80k salary, he really understands the challenge of food bank economy. Next week, what new scandals await us?

Grantanow Sat 21-Jan-23 15:39:06

If Zahawi was 'careless' about a few £million of unpaid tax what was he like when looking after our taxpayers' money as Chancellor? Clearly this level of inattention to detail makes him unfit for any responsible job. Being Chairman of the Tory Party may not be a responsible job for very long.....

MaizieD Sat 21-Jan-23 15:50:44

Grantanow

If Zahawi was 'careless' about a few £million of unpaid tax what was he like when looking after our taxpayers' money as Chancellor? Clearly this level of inattention to detail makes him unfit for any responsible job. Being Chairman of the Tory Party may not be a responsible job for very long.....

He wasn't 'careless'. He was avoiding paying tax. He denied even receiving any money from the offshore trust. Which was a lie.

Whitewavemark2 Sat 21-Jan-23 16:31:36

Fraud

Whitewavemark2 Sat 21-Jan-23 16:36:04

I bet the wealth team were “advised” as to what action should be taken.

A massive hot potato.

Dinahmo Sat 21-Jan-23 18:45:49

Oreo

Much as I’m up for a tory bash 😄these are not scandals.
More like lack of judgements.

It's not a lack of judgement. MPs have known for years what expenses they can claim for. He is taking the proverbial p..s.

I only hope that HMRC are scrutinising MP's tax returns for incorrect expense claims. MPs are employees and, as such should be following the rules for claiming expenses. These rules are that the expenses must be wholly, exclusively and necessarily incurred. For anyone that is self employed the word "necessarily" is excluded from the rule.

In the dim and distant past I used to complete tax returns for a few MPS. One of them was known as The B...t of B......r and another was a former Home Secretary M....n R..s. We were scrupulous about what could and could not be claimed for tax purposes.

Quokka Sat 21-Jan-23 20:47:50

I’m surprised the media haven’t referred back a few years when he claimed expenses to heat his stables. Careless? I don’t think so!

Quokka Sat 21-Jan-23 20:49:20

www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/nov/10/nadhim-zahawi-admits-taxpayers-electricity-stables

Whitewavemark2 Sun 22-Jan-23 07:23:33

Lack of judgement? 😄

Hands up everyone who has accidentally set up an offshore account?

Whitewavemark2 Sun 22-Jan-23 07:28:21

It is now being reported that Richard Sharp bought his position as Head of the BBC by “loaning” Johnson £800000.

vegansrock Sun 22-Jan-23 08:19:19

You would think someone with such millions would employ decent accountants so could not accidentally forget they owed huge amounts of tax. It’s got to have been deliberate. He should resign.

Casdon Sun 22-Jan-23 08:36:52

vegansrock

You would think someone with such millions would employ decent accountants so could not accidentally forget they owed huge amounts of tax. It’s got to have been deliberate. He should resign.

I agree, I can’t imagine him sitting in his garret with his laptop and anglepoise lamp on 31st January scrabbling together all the relevant bits of paper to fill it in before the deadline like normal taxpayers have to somehow.

fancythat Sun 22-Jan-23 08:37:33

Grantanow

If Zahawi was 'careless' about a few £million of unpaid tax what was he like when looking after our taxpayers' money as Chancellor? Clearly this level of inattention to detail makes him unfit for any responsible job. Being Chairman of the Tory Party may not be a responsible job for very long.....

I dont keep up with politics as much as I used to.
I was shocked when I learned yesterday that this person is actually Chairman of the Tory Party.
And now I learn he was actually Chancellor.
Beggars belief really.

Sadly though, not surprising nowadays.
I have been a floating voter for years. Last 3 elections I think. I have not been a fan of the 3 biggest partys in more than a decade.

Do they reflect the country as a whole? I would like to think not. But I suspect there is a lot of bad behaviour going on in the Uk that is yet to come to light. More than we think, and are yet aware of sadly.

BlueBelle Sun 22-Jan-23 08:58:46

oreothat really is defending the indefensible
I m afraid most of them are thieves and liars on all sorts of scams and fingers in pies while the rest of us darent even put a fire on

Whitewavemark2 Sun 22-Jan-23 09:50:32

I hope that HMRC are looking at Moggs tax affairs.

He is another one who obtains “loans” from overseas businesses.

Grantanow Tue 24-Jan-23 00:06:15

Dinahmo - just a minor point: MPs are not employees, they are legally office holders.

vegansrock Tue 24-Jan-23 05:33:36

Who paid for Johnson’s self promoting trip to Ukraine? I bet it was us tax payers since he never seems to pay for anything himself. What was the £800,000 loan for anyway?

lixy Tue 24-Jan-23 06:15:36

Maybe investigating MP's tax returns would solve the national debt?

Whitewavemark2 Tue 24-Jan-23 07:44:40

Zahawi reached an agreement with HMRC when he was chancellor. He was their boss only for 62 days, and probably the only thing of note he achieved.

Who doesn’t do what their boss tells them?

varian Tue 24-Jan-23 10:33:27

Tax fraud cost the Treasury an estimated £20bn in 2018/19 – 9x more than benefits fraud (£2.2bn)

DWP employs 3.5x more staff in compliance than HMRC (adjusted for size of tax and benefits gaps)

Over the past 11 years there have been 85,745 criminal prosecutions for benefits crimes, 23x more prosecutions than for tax crime of all types (3,665)

8.5x more suspended or immediate custodial sentences have been handed down for benefits crime vs tax crime over the last 11 years

The number of criminal prosecutions relating to tax crime of all kinds have decreased by 39% since 2015

The number of live criminal investigations into serious and complex tax crime has increased from 50 to 400 between 2015 and 2020

www.taxwatchuk.org/tax_crime_vs_benefits_crime/

Grantanow Tue 24-Jan-23 11:51:14

The Tories are running true to form with rampant sleaze. See Polly Toynbee for an update! See

www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/jan/23/nadhim-zahawi-rishi-sunak-boris-johnson-plutocrat-tax-error-tory?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

When will Zahawi be making the obligatory trip to Zelenski?Johnson has been yet again.

varian Mon 27-Feb-23 05:39:34

What exactly does Liam Fox do to deserve £1000 per hour?

www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/feb/26/liam-fox-lobbied-pm-rishi-sunak-global-britain-commission

Whitewavemark2 Mon 27-Feb-23 06:27:14

A couple of things whilst this thread is trending.

1. Sunak said he would publish his tax return 2months ago.

It is yet to materialise.

2. The UK government has been asked by the European Court of Human Rights to respond to a number of ‘credible allegations’ of alleged Russian interference in the Brexit referendum.

The deadline is 23 April 2023. Maybe a factor in the Tories wanting to withdraw from a U.K. created institution?