Tag Archives: bung

Stamp duty cut is a £1.3bn bung for second home owners and landlords

Robert Jenrick: he has an opportunity to do the right thing for a change. Does anybody honestly think he’ll take it?

This Site said it yesterday and now the Labour Party has confirmed it: Rishi Sunak’s stamp duty cut is a bung for rich second home owners and landlords.

I said the cut might be a good idea if it helps people buy houses and boosts construction – but according to Labour, buyers of buy-to-let properties, holiday homes and other second homes will benefit.

In 2019/20, 34 per cent of homes bought were second properties, meaning this is a bung to second home owners costing taxpayers £1.3 billion.

Labour has called for the government to exclude second properties from this cut – arguing that this could fund a gap in local councils’ finances which the Local Government Association predicts will be £1.2 billion by the end of the year.

It’s just a shame that the government minister responsible is Robert Jenrick, who does not have a reputation for doing the right thing.

Here’s Labour’s Thangam Debonnaire:

“It is unacceptable that the Chancellor tried to sneak out this huge bung to second home owners and landlords while millions of people are desperate for support. He should be targeting support to those who need it, not helping people invest in buy-to-let properties and holiday homes.

“An unnecessary subsidy for second home-owners will only worsen the housing crisis by reducing the supply of homes overall.”

It’s a good point – but will our unaccountable Tory government take it?

Source: Revealed: Sunak’s secret £1bn giveaway to second home owners and landlords – The Labour Party

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Ben won’t bong for Brexit after ‘bung a bob’ campaign bows out

Red light: the fundraising scheme to restore Big Ben in time to ‘bong’ for Brexit has been stopped.

It was a stupid idea and it was doomed to fail – so that’s what it did.

It was based on a lie – that the government was “working up a plan so people can bung a bob for a Big Ben bong” for Brexit on January 31.

The liar? Boris Johnson himself.

Parliament had refused to provide the funds and Downing Street distanced itself from the remark, concentrating on official commemoration plans.

So it fell to the group StandUp4Brexit to try to make Johnson look better by making good on his smart-mouthed squawkings.

And, in fairness, it raised £272,000 of the half a million pounds that Johnson said would be required.

But time has run out and the online appeal has been terminated.

And for once, a Tory scheme is going to do some good, as the money will be given to veterans’ charity Help for Heroes.

Source: Brexit: Big Ben bongs fundraising appeal closes – BBC News

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BoJob’s boneheaded ‘bung a bob’ stunt will appeal to Brexit-boosting berks

Boneheaded: The only people who will be able to hear Big Ben chime for Brexit will be those close to the Palace of Westminster. The rest of us will hear it via TV or radio, and it might as well be the recording of Big Ben held by the BBC.

This is both boneheaded stupidity and a blinding masterstroke at the same time.

It’s the language that he uses, you see.

You and I might think Boris Johnson asking people to “bung a bob for a Big Ben bong” to mark Brexit is a patronising insult; an attempt to curry support by talking down to us in the way he thinks we speak.

But Brexiteers and Tories will find it – God help us! – endearing.

Some might say it’s a blessing that he is asking members of the public to stump up the cash to pay for Big Ben to ring on January 31.

But why is it going to cost £500,000, anyway?

And what difference will it make, really? They could use the recording of the chimes that the BBC has been using for the past I-don’t-know-how-many years.

The only people who would know the difference are those within half a mile of the Houses of Parliament.

So this is a vanity project for the sake of a few MPs. Maybe they should be the ones stumping up the cash?

Boris Johnson has suggested that members of the public could raise half a million pounds so Big Ben can bong to mark Brexit.

Calls from Brexiteers for the famous bell to chime on 31 January to mark the moment Britain leaves the European Union had been scuppered after the move was deemed to be too costly.

But … the prime minister said the government was looking into a crowdfunding campaign to raise the £500,000 needed for the idea to go ahead.

He told the BBC: “We are working up a plan so people can bung a bob for a Big Ben bong.”

Source: Boris Johnson says public can ‘bung a bob’ to crowdfund £500,000 so Big Ben can bong for Brexit | The Independent

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Was Huawei contract a pay-off for former Conservative advisors?

Well, well, well… Huawei.

I didn’t know what to make of it when the row broke out over a leaked report saying Huawei was being contracted to help build the UK’s 5G communications network, despite concerns over national security.

Concerns over whether spyware would be inserted into the network had been commonplace in advance of the decision and it seemed odd to me that the Conservative government would ignore those concerns.

The possibility that this was the result of mischief by leading Tories who saw the issue as a tool to win points in a future leadership race seemed likely.

I mentioned this on Twitter last week:

Another user added a new perspective:

Now I’m hearing something else:

Could this be the reason the Conservatives are awarding a contract to Huawei – that they are giving a financial boost to former advisors?

It will be interesting to see whether the mainstream media ever allow this to see the light of day.

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The DUP’s £1 billion ‘bung’ is doing Northern Ireland no good at all

Kiss of death: This is a mock-up, of course, but the relationship between the Conservatives and the Northern Irish DUP is harming the smaller party.

What a stroke of genius for Theresa May – she bribed the DUP to support her minority government at a time when the £1 billion on offer cannot be used to help the people of Northern Ireland.

Claudia Wood’s piece in The Guardian makes it abundantly clear that cash should be going into Northern Ireland’s health and education services – but isn’t.

She states:

A three-week wait for a routine GP appointment isn’t unusual. Hospital referrals are much worse – the 18-week targets English hospitals may miss by a week or two are the stuff of dreams over here, where waits for up to four years (yes, years) for first outpatient appointments are not uncommon. About a third of all patients wait longer than a year and even urgent health consultations have a two-year waiting list in the worst areas.

With fewer than 2 million people living in Northern Ireland, schools are closing because they can’t attract enough pupils. The schools that do have enough pupils to stay open are withering on the vine, with half estimated to be running a deficit this year and some asking parents to donate stationery and toilet rolls.

The money isn’t being sent where it is needed and the reason is simple:

Northern Ireland is also short of a government.

The DUP’s £1bn is being allocated by officials according to designated pots set out in the agreement to prop up the Conservative government in Westminster, but in the absence of ministerial sign-off, big budget items are being tied up.

Popular protests have taken place under the slogan “We deserve better” – and have gone unheard. The DUP has failed to reach a new power-sharing agreement with Sinn Fein, so Northern Ireland limps on with no government.

What will this do for the DUP at the next general election?

Who will support a party that secured a huge amount of money for Northern Ireland, then refused point-blank to take the steps needed to use it in a constructive way?

Unless Arlene Foster changes her mind and concludes a new agreement to get Stormont up and running properly again very soon, she could face annihilation in the next poll, much as the Liberal Democrats did in 2015, after their five years of collaboration with the Conservatives.

It seems the Tories cannot avoid harming their allies.

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Tory government faces legal action over £1 billion DUP bung

The confidence and supply agreement was signed in Downing Street between the DUP and the Conservatives [Image: Daniel Leal-Olivas/PA].

Even those who want to see the money go to Northern Ireland, despite the way in which it has been provided, have to agree that Ms Miller and her supporters have a point.

Wouldn’t you agree?

Britain’s government has been threatened with legal action by an anti-Brexit campaigner and a union over the deal Prime Minister Theresa May struck with a Northern Irish party to keep her Conservatives in power after her botched election last year.

Ministers have been sent a legal letter warning that 50 million pounds of funding for the province, part of a £1 billion deal agreed between May and the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) – was unlawful because it was made without parliamentary agreement.

The challenge has been brought by Investment manager Gina Miller, who successfully won a court battle in 2017 to force the government to seek parliamentary approval before starting divorce talks with the European Union, and the Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain (IWGB).

“It beggars belief that this government is once again putting itself above the law and seeking to undermine the normal constitutional and legal processes,” Miller said in a statement.

“Spending public money requires proper parliamentary scrutiny and accountability – and the making of these payments is no different.”

Source: British government warned of legal action over DUP deal by campaigners

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Repost: £1 billion ‘bribe’ for DUP needs Parliamentary approval – but Tories & DUP shouldn’t be allowed to vote

Reposted due to suspicious Facebook/Wordpress malfunction:

Theresa May with DUP leader Arlene Foster after reaching the £1bn deal with the Democratic Unionist party to prop up her minority government. Both have an interest in Parliament approving the payment, so neither should be allowed to vote on it [Image: Dominic Lipinski/PA].

This comes hot on the heels of the announcement that the deal – for the Tories to pay the DUP £1 billion in return for support on key votes – will go before a judicial review.

So, even if judges decide that the bung isn’t a bribe, the Tories will have to get the support of Parliament for it.

To This Writer, it occurs that every single Conservative MP, along with all those from the DUP, should declare an interest in the matter, meaning they should not vote on it. That would leave the decision up to those who aren’t likely to profit from it.

If that doesn’t happen, then the vote should not be valid.

What do YOU think will happen?

Parliament will need to approve the release of £1bn in funding for Northern Ireland promised to the Democratic Unionist party by Theresa May to secure its support after the general election, the government has conceded.

Challenged by the campaigner Gina Miller about the legal basis for releasing the funds, which have not yet been made available, the Treasury solicitor, who heads the Government Legal Department, said it “will have appropriate parliamentary authorisation”, adding: “No timetable has been set for the making of such payments.”

Replying to a legal letter from Miller and the Independent Workers Union of Great Britain (IWGB), Jonathan Jones said the government intends to use “long-established procedures, under which central government requests the grant of money by the House of Commons” in order to pay out the funds it promised the DUP in the controversial agreement in June.

Source: Tory-DUP £1bn payment needs parliament’s approval after Gina Miller challenge | Politics | The Guardian

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£1 billion ‘bribe’ for DUP will need Parliamentary approval – but neither Tories nor DUP should be allowed to vote

Theresa May with DUP leader Arlene Foster after reaching the £1bn deal with the Democratic Unionist party to prop up her minority government. Both have an interest in Parliament approving the payment, so neither should be allowed to vote on it [Image: Dominic Lipinski/PA].

This comes hot on the heels of the announcement that the deal – for the Tories to pay the DUP £1 billion in return for support on key votes – will go before a judicial review.

So, even if judges decide that the bung isn’t a bribe, the Tories will have to get the support of Parliament for it.

To This Writer, it occurs that every single Conservative MP, along with all those from the DUP, should declare an interest in the matter, meaning they should not vote on it. That would leave the decision up to those who aren’t likely to profit from it.

If that doesn’t happen, then the vote should not be valid.

What do YOU think will happen?

Parliament will need to approve the release of £1bn in funding for Northern Ireland promised to the Democratic Unionist party by Theresa May to secure its support after the general election, the government has conceded.

Challenged by the campaigner Gina Miller about the legal basis for releasing the funds, which have not yet been made available, the Treasury solicitor, who heads the Government Legal Department, said it “will have appropriate parliamentary authorisation”, adding: “No timetable has been set for the making of such payments.”

Replying to a legal letter from Miller and the Independent Workers Union of Great Britain (IWGB), Jonathan Jones said the government intends to use “long-established procedures, under which central government requests the grant of money by the House of Commons” in order to pay out the funds it promised the DUP in the controversial agreement in June.

Source: Tory-DUP £1bn payment needs parliament’s approval after Gina Miller challenge | Politics | The Guardian

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