Category Archives: Avoidance

The taxman has 55 BILLION items of our data from social media spying. What about data protection?

HMRC: it’s using artificial intelligence to gather information about you. But is it gathering too much?

This does not seem right:

The article goes on to say that Connect has been in use since 2010 and its database has now grown to 6,100 gigabytes of taxpayer data.

The implication is that none of the information about any of us has been discarded – and it seems to me that this is in breach of the Data Protection Act.

The fifth data protection principle states that information should not be kept longer than is required for the purpose for which it was collected.

No specific time limit is given but HM Revenue & Customs’ own guidelines suggest that six years is the reasonable limit.

That means, by its own measure, HMRC may have retained seven years’ worth of information illegally.

Source: Taxman is snooping on emails and social media – and now holds 55 BILLION items of our data on its AI system in a bid to tackle tax evasion

Vox Political needs your help!
If you want to support this site
(but don’t want to give your money to advertisers)
you can make a one-off donation here:

Be among the first to know what’s going on! Here are the ways to manage it:

1) Register with us by clicking on ‘Subscribe’ (in the right margin). You can then receive notifications of every new article that is posted here.

2) Follow VP on Twitter @VoxPolitical

3) Like the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/VoxPolitical/

Join the Vox Political Facebook page.

4) You could even make Vox Political your homepage at http://voxpoliticalonline.com

5) Join the uPopulus group at https://upopulus.com/groups/vox-political/

6) Join the MeWe page at https://mewe.com/p-front/voxpolitical

7) Feel free to comment!

And do share with your family and friends – so they don’t miss out!

If you have appreciated this article, don’t forget to share it using the buttons at the bottom of this page. Politics is about everybody – so let’s try to get everybody involved!

Buy Vox Political books so we can continue
fighting for the facts.

The Livingstone Presumption is now available
in either print or eBook format here:

Health Warning: Government! is now available
in either print or eBook format here:

The first collection, Strong Words and Hard Times,
is still available in either print or eBook format here:

Sunak sacks Zahawi: he wouldn’t go so he had to be pushed

Out: Nadhim Zahawi.

This is probably the least interesting political story of the weekend because we all knew it was coming.

Even though Rishi Sunak is a weak prime minister – he has to maintain support from all the different factions of the Conservative Party and that means he has to appease them – Nadhim Zahawi had put himself in an untenable position.

That’s what the ethics advisor, Sir Laurie Magnus, found anyway:

In fact, Zahawi took the opportunity to attack the media, in his letter to Sunak.

Here’s a TV report on this story:

Commentators are saying it is impossible to envision a circumstance in which Zahawi will return to frontline politics.

Good riddance.

Vox Political needs your help!
If you want to support this site
(but don’t want to give your money to advertisers)
you can make a one-off donation here:

Here are four ways to be sure you’re among the first to know what’s going on.

1) Register with us by clicking on ‘Subscribe’ (in the left margin). You can then receive notifications of every new article that is posted here.

2) Follow VP on Twitter @VoxPolitical

3) Like the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/VoxPolitical/

Join the Vox Political Facebook page.

4) You could even make Vox Political your homepage at http://voxpoliticalonline.com

And do share with your family and friends – so they don’t miss out!

If you have appreciated this article, don’t forget to share it using the buttons at the bottom of this page. Politics is about everybody – so let’s try to get everybody involved!

Buy Vox Political books so we can continue
fighting for the facts.

The Livingstone Presumption is now available
in either print or eBook format here:

Health Warning: Government! is now available
in either print or eBook format here:

The first collection, Strong Words and Hard Times,
is still available in either print or eBook format here:

Former Tory chairman says Sunak should suspend Zahawi – but why not ‘drain the swamp’?

Jake Berry: his BBCQT appearance needs to be seen to be believed.

The BBC’s flagship Question Time programme featured an extraordinary display of backstabbing by a Tory MP against his Cabinet replacement.

Former Tory chairman Jake Berry, asked whether his successor Nadhim Zahawi should stay in post after revelations about his tax affairs, started out with a classic ‘resume statement’, praising his party colleague – but then veered off-topic sharply, saying a mechanism should be in place for Zahawi to step back from government while he was being investigated, and be reinstated if vindicated.

It’s not a bad idea but it has been around for some time – it’s called suspension. He would not lose his job as an MP, and could come back later.

Berry then manufactured an argument with Tracy (“Drain the swamp!”) Brabin over the role of independent ethics advisor Sir Laurie Magnus.

Probably the best comment from an audience member came from a GP who said there had been so many similar scandals in the Tory government that it seemed impossible to trust anybody in the party at all.

The debate ranged across all the information that has come out so far and I have tried to ensure that these are all included in the clip, so we can all refer back to it.

Vox Political needs your help!
If you want to support this site
(but don’t want to give your money to advertisers)
you can make a one-off donation here:

Here are four ways to be sure you’re among the first to know what’s going on.

1) Register with us by clicking on ‘Subscribe’ (in the left margin). You can then receive notifications of every new article that is posted here.

2) Follow VP on Twitter @VoxPolitical

3) Like the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/VoxPolitical/

Join the Vox Political Facebook page.

4) You could even make Vox Political your homepage at http://voxpoliticalonline.com

And do share with your family and friends – so they don’t miss out!

If you have appreciated this article, don’t forget to share it using the buttons at the bottom of this page. Politics is about everybody – so let’s try to get everybody involved!

Buy Vox Political books so we can continue
fighting for the facts.

The Livingstone Presumption is now available
in either print or eBook format here:

Health Warning: Government! is now available
in either print or eBook format here:

The first collection, Strong Words and Hard Times,
is still available in either print or eBook format here:

Carol Vorderman and Alison Hammond have won politics this week. Here’s how

There’s no news in the following clip, but the commentary by Carol Vorderman and Alison Hammond, from ITV’s This Morning, is priceless.

It’s embedded in the following clip and is priceless:

Vox Political needs your help!
If you want to support this site
(but don’t want to give your money to advertisers)
you can make a one-off donation here:

Here are four ways to be sure you’re among the first to know what’s going on.

1) Register with us by clicking on ‘Subscribe’ (in the left margin). You can then receive notifications of every new article that is posted here.

2) Follow VP on Twitter @VoxPolitical

3) Like the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/VoxPolitical/

Join the Vox Political Facebook page.

4) You could even make Vox Political your homepage at http://voxpoliticalonline.com

And do share with your family and friends – so they don’t miss out!

If you have appreciated this article, don’t forget to share it using the buttons at the bottom of this page. Politics is about everybody – so let’s try to get everybody involved!

Buy Vox Political books so we can continue
fighting for the facts.

The Livingstone Presumption is now available
in either print or eBook format here:

Health Warning: Government! is now available
in either print or eBook format here:

The first collection, Strong Words and Hard Times,
is still available in either print or eBook format here:

Rishi Sunak asks ethics advisor to investigate Nadhim Zahawi’s tax affairs

Here’s the current situation: Rishi Sunak has asked his (so-called) independent ethics advisor to “fully investigate” whether Nadhim Zahawi complied with the Ministerial Code in failing to make correct tax payments at the appropriate time.

This will be a big test for Sir Laurie Magnus. Smart thinkers say the purpose of an ethics advisor is to whitewash dodgy behaviour by ministers; if that doesn’t happen, if the decision goes against those in power, then the ethics advisor doesn’t last long in the post. We’ve seen that in recent years.

This is the story so far:

Vox Political needs your help!
If you want to support this site
(but don’t want to give your money to advertisers)
you can make a one-off donation here:

Here are four ways to be sure you’re among the first to know what’s going on.

1) Register with us by clicking on ‘Subscribe’ (in the left margin). You can then receive notifications of every new article that is posted here.

2) Follow VP on Twitter @VoxPolitical

3) Like the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/VoxPolitical/

Join the Vox Political Facebook page.

4) You could even make Vox Political your homepage at http://voxpoliticalonline.com

And do share with your family and friends – so they don’t miss out!

If you have appreciated this article, don’t forget to share it using the buttons at the bottom of this page. Politics is about everybody – so let’s try to get everybody involved!

Buy Vox Political books so we can continue
fighting for the facts.

The Livingstone Presumption is now available
in either print or eBook format here:

Health Warning: Government! is now available
in either print or eBook format here:

The first collection, Strong Words and Hard Times,
is still available in either print or eBook format here:

Nadhim Zahawi’s tax ‘error’ could topple Rishi Sunak’s Tory government

Most people cannot avoid paying tax; it is taken from them automatically, or they face the threat of hefty penalties if they fail to file their tax return properly.

So when they see government officials getting away with apparent tax evasion with only a metaphorical slap on the wrist, they get very angry indeed.

Members of Rishi Sunak’s Tory government have closed ranks around Nadhim Zahawi, claiming that his tax affairs are perfectly in order – even though we know they haven’t been in the recent past.

And ‘Seatbelt’ Sunak himself hasn’t covered himself in glory lately either.

Will the Zahawi affair sink the government? Consider – and enjoy Maximilien Robespierre’s pronunciation of Zahawi’s surname:

Vox Political needs your help!
If you want to support this site
(but don’t want to give your money to advertisers)
you can make a one-off donation here:

Here are four ways to be sure you’re among the first to know what’s going on.

1) Register with us by clicking on ‘Subscribe’ (in the left margin). You can then receive notifications of every new article that is posted here.

2) Follow VP on Twitter @VoxPolitical

3) Like the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/VoxPolitical/

Join the Vox Political Facebook page.

4) You could even make Vox Political your homepage at http://voxpoliticalonline.com

And do share with your family and friends – so they don’t miss out!

If you have appreciated this article, don’t forget to share it using the buttons at the bottom of this page. Politics is about everybody – so let’s try to get everybody involved!

Buy Vox Political books so we can continue
fighting for the facts.

The Livingstone Presumption is now available
in either print or eBook format here:

Health Warning: Government! is now available
in either print or eBook format here:

The first collection, Strong Words and Hard Times,
is still available in either print or eBook format here:

Nadhim Zahawi and tax: watch this clip and ask yourself if you believe him

In an interview last year, Nadhim Zahawi said his offshore investment fund, Balshore, was for the benefit of family members who didn’t live in the UK.

But that raises a question about why he has now “agreed” to pay £3 million to HM Revenue and Customs.

The comment on so-called “SLAPP” lawsuits is very interesting to This Writer, because I’m the victim of what’s considered to be a rather famous SLAPP suit myself. Sadly, that one is going all the way.

Vox Political needs your help!
If you want to support this site
(but don’t want to give your money to advertisers)
you can make a one-off donation here:

Here are four ways to be sure you’re among the first to know what’s going on.

1) Register with us by clicking on ‘Subscribe’ (in the left margin). You can then receive notifications of every new article that is posted here.

2) Follow VP on Twitter @VoxPolitical

3) Like the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/VoxPolitical/

Join the Vox Political Facebook page.

4) You could even make Vox Political your homepage at http://voxpoliticalonline.com

And do share with your family and friends – so they don’t miss out!

If you have appreciated this article, don’t forget to share it using the buttons at the bottom of this page. Politics is about everybody – so let’s try to get everybody involved!

Buy Vox Political books so we can continue
fighting for the facts.

The Livingstone Presumption is now available
in either print or eBook format here:

Health Warning: Government! is now available
in either print or eBook format here:

The first collection, Strong Words and Hard Times,
is still available in either print or eBook format here:

Nadhim Zahawi and tax: remember this

Nadhim Zahawi: waving the flag and (allegedly) fiddling the figures?

If you’re not familiar with the story, here it is.

This comment is well worth adding, though:

Vox Political needs your help!
If you want to support this site
(but don’t want to give your money to advertisers)
you can make a one-off donation here:

Here are four ways to be sure you’re among the first to know what’s going on.

1) Register with us by clicking on ‘Subscribe’ (in the left margin). You can then receive notifications of every new article that is posted here.

2) Follow VP on Twitter @VoxPolitical

3) Like the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/VoxPolitical/

Join the Vox Political Facebook page.

4) You could even make Vox Political your homepage at http://voxpoliticalonline.com

And do share with your family and friends – so they don’t miss out!

If you have appreciated this article, don’t forget to share it using the buttons at the bottom of this page. Politics is about everybody – so let’s try to get everybody involved!

Buy Vox Political books so we can continue
fighting for the facts.

The Livingstone Presumption is now available
in either print or eBook format here:

Health Warning: Government! is now available
in either print or eBook format here:

The first collection, Strong Words and Hard Times,
is still available in either print or eBook format here:

Former Tory Chancellor ‘underpaid’ millions in tax. Isn’t that a crime?

It looks like tax evasion to This Writer – and that would indeed be a crime.

Have a look at the video clip by A Different Bias, to get familiar with the story:

Phil Moorhouse gives some interesting information, but I think he’s mistaken on a couple of points.

Firstly, tax avoidance isn’t a crime; it’s the legal rearranging of a person’s financial affairs in order to pay as little tax as possible.

In this case, former Chancellor and stable-heater Nadhim Zahawi appears to have used Gibraltar-registered family trust Balshore Investments to hold shares in the polling firm YouGov.

That would be perfectly acceptable legally – it’s tax avoidance. I should make clear that Zahawi himself has claimed that he does not have, and never has had, an interest in Balshore Investments and he is not a beneficiary.

The stake in YouGov, worth more than £20 million, was sold by 2018, with the proceeds transferred to an unknown recipient.

Think tank Tax Policy Associates has estimated that this should have incurred capital gains tax of about £3.7 million.

It seems Zahawi had not paid it. That would be tax evasion, which is a crime – if, indeed, he had had an interest in Balshore Investments and had been a beneficiary.

But now it seems he has agreed to pay the money to HM Revenue and Customs. Why would he do that if he didn’t owe it?

The maximum penalty for tax evasion in the UK is seven years in prison or an unlimited fine.

Zahawi has not been fined. For that to happen, a court trial would have to have taken place. He has merely (we’re told) agreed to pay the money.

And this, as Phil said in the clip, is odd. If anybody in the general population had committed a benefit-related crime, they would have faced severe penalties.

So, if he did commit tax evasion, one would have to wonder how this former Conservative Chancellor of the Exchequer has managed to get away with it.

Vox Political needs your help!
If you want to support this site
(but don’t want to give your money to advertisers)
you can make a one-off donation here:

Here are four ways to be sure you’re among the first to know what’s going on.

1) Register with us by clicking on ‘Subscribe’ (in the left margin). You can then receive notifications of every new article that is posted here.

2) Follow VP on Twitter @VoxPolitical

3) Like the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/VoxPolitical/

Join the Vox Political Facebook page.

4) You could even make Vox Political your homepage at http://voxpoliticalonline.com

And do share with your family and friends – so they don’t miss out!

If you have appreciated this article, don’t forget to share it using the buttons at the bottom of this page. Politics is about everybody – so let’s try to get everybody involved!

Buy Vox Political books so we can continue
fighting for the facts.

The Livingstone Presumption is now available
in either print or eBook format here:

Health Warning: Government! is now available
in either print or eBook format here:

The first collection, Strong Words and Hard Times,
is still available in either print or eBook format here:

Should Jacob Rees-Mogg be investigated by his own governmental fraud squad?

Rees-Mogg: he’s a cartoon character carrying out a cartoon job – nobody who has taken big money from the Tory government will be prosecuted, because they ARE Tories.

Jacob Rees-Mogg has launched a new organisation to investigate fraud that takes public money away from the UK government:

Never mind Covid-19 – should that “missing taxpayers’* cash” not include the kind of money that certain businesspeople have avoided paying as tax? Businesspeople like… Jacob Rees-Mogg, for example?

Sadly, the Rees-Moggs of this world never seem to have their collars felt.

*Taxpayers’ money doesn’t actually exist. Governments create the money they pump into the economy; they take money from taxpayers to prevent the system falling into an inflationary spiral due to too much cash remaining in the system.

Vox Political needs your help!
If you want to support this site
(but don’t want to give your money to advertisers)
you can make a one-off donation here:

Here are four ways to be sure you’re among the first to know what’s going on.

1) Register with us by clicking on ‘Subscribe’ (in the left margin). You can then receive notifications of every new article that is posted here.

2) Follow VP on Twitter @VoxPolitical

3) Like the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/VoxPolitical/

Join the Vox Political Facebook page.

4) You could even make Vox Political your homepage at http://voxpoliticalonline.com

And do share with your family and friends – so they don’t miss out!

If you have appreciated this article, don’t forget to share it using the buttons at the bottom of this page. Politics is about everybody – so let’s try to get everybody involved!

Buy Vox Political books so we can continue
fighting for the facts.

The Livingstone Presumption is now available
in either print or eBook format here:

Health Warning: Government! is now available
in either print or eBook format here:

The first collection, Strong Words and Hard Times,
is still available in either print or eBook format here:

Vox Political

politics for the people

Category Archives: Avoidance

Sunak sacks Zahawi: he wouldn’t go so he had to be pushed

Like this:

Former Tory chairman says Sunak should suspend Zahawi – but why not ‘drain the swamp’?

Like this:

Carol Vorderman and Alison Hammond have won politics this week. Here’s how

Like this:

Rishi Sunak asks ethics advisor to investigate Nadhim Zahawi’s tax affairs

Like this:

Nadhim Zahawi’s tax ‘error’ could topple Rishi Sunak’s Tory government

Like this:

Nadhim Zahawi and tax: watch this clip and ask yourself if you believe him

Like this:

Nadhim Zahawi and tax: remember this

Like this:

Former Tory Chancellor ‘underpaid’ millions in tax. Isn’t that a crime?

Like this:

Should Jacob Rees-Mogg be investigated by his own governmental fraud squad?

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this: