buctootim

Not really, it was a fair point. Cameron paid off the mortgage for one house but kept the mortgage on the house he was claiming expenses for, in order to maximise his expenses income. Thats dodgy. Not uniquely dodgy, not conservatives only dodgy Im sure, but dodgy. Its part of a wider culture of screwing the system for personal benefit

Clapton

I dont think you should take all the blame. Just following orders.

Very sad news. I never met her but I remember her posts, always with character and colour to them. RIP

Bit off on a tangent - but Phillips was talking about how robust the results of the survey were, because the method of data collection - face to face interviews, was far more reliable than telephone or internet answers. Maybe for many issues that is true, but for this I'm not sure. Surely the answers given by an 'typical' Muslim about sex outside marriage or womens rights would vary depending on whether the interviewer was for example a white woman in a low cut top or a Muslim in a burqa? due to 'code switching'

Im sorry about your comprehension issues. Perhaps you should try something more binary - the "Where are the next points coming from?" thread maybe?

People are rightly angry about tax avoidance and evasion, especially by multi national companies. They want a PM who is serious about tackling that. Being seen as sympathetic to the practice and sailing close to the wind in his own affairs is devastating for his leadership - regardless of whether he has technically broken any laws. Starbucks, Apple, Google etc dont technically break any laws, they just dont pay tax on billions of profits.

Those little green men in your head again Johnny. First those jihad terrorism loving lefties and now those saving hating lefties. Poor old Johnny.

Behaving ethically isnt the same as simply complying with rules and laws - as poor old Dave has discovered to his cost.

If you're going to lecture people its probably best to understand the terms first. Dave's own government disagrees with you. FWIW tax planning encompasses everything from avoidance to evasion. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/issue-briefing-taxing-multinationals-tackling-aggressive-tax-planning/issue-briefing-taxing-multinationals-tackling-aggressive-tax-planning http://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/taxation/company_tax/anti_tax_avoidance/index_en.htm

Were you not able to read the article Johnny? She repatriated the money as soon as she inherited it.

Anybody who thinks tax planning is different to tax avoidance is a bit simple.

They probably want to get out Dave out and to usher their man Osborne in before a credible one nation Tory emerges.

Agree. Currently they keep their headline salaries relatively low and then vote themselves all kinds of hidden allowances and keep compromising / compromised outside business / TU deals. Salaries should be about double for MPs / ministers / PM with free Westminster accomodation and ban all outside interests and indirect payments

You'd have better politics, like Iceland and better politicians. Currently a lot of good people dont stand because they don't want to work with career shysters.

Bit harsh

Varies case by case. some criminal laundering of money involved too.

11 million documents from a leading firm of solicitors have been leaked to a German newspaper which has shared them with the Association of Investigative Journalists. The documents show tax evasion on a massive scale by former Prime Ministers, Kings and Presidents. There is BBC programme tomorrow about the involvement of Putin cronies. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-35918844 The strange thing is I havent heard a word from the British media about David Cameron's father being involved, even though the foreign press are talking about it. How very very odd. http://www.haaretz.com/world-news/1.712456 Edit the Mail now mentioning Ian Cameron after widespread coverage outside UK.

The worm has turned. I never thought I'd see Peter Hitchens write this in the Mail: "Privatisation! Free trade! Shares for all! The great con that ruined Britain" http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-3520932/PETER-HITCHENS-Privatisation-Free-trade-Shares-great-ruined-Britain.html

to....

You can make all kinds of arguments about past policy - including we should have never allowed in so many unskilled rural workers from one part of the world; we should have required integration instead of multiculturalism; we should have required language skills and we should have cut deals with Saudi Arabia until they stopped supporting the export of Wahhabism. But we didnt. You can only deal with things as they are now. You either get on with trying to deal with the problem by integrating the Muslim population or you go down the route of demonising all Muslims in the hope you can swing public opinion behind repressive measures such as forced repatriation - with all that would entail. Simply complaining about the situation and alienating moderate Muslims makes the situation worse, not better.

But its not a question of subsidies, its a question of tariffs. The EU have been trying to stop the Chinese dumping steel in the UK at below cost prices since at least 2013. The US impose a 200% tariff on all Chinese steel imports and the EU want to raise our tariff from its current low 9%. Who is vetoing them? the UK Government. When the Government says it is doing everything it can to save UK steel it isnt a question of spin or nuance - its a flat out lie. The Chinese now have over 50% of the global market for steel and other producers are going out of business all the time because the Chinese operate below cost. Its strategically important for Britain and the EU to have its own production capacity otherwise we risk being held hostage to some political change down the line. Dave should cut the crap and support the EU action.

Very sad. Unusual to die of a heart attack in hospital, they're normally recoverable if you're quick enough.

Dave is in a bit of quandry over the Tata steel issue. He has spent years vetoing attempts by the EU to stop Chinese dumping of steel in Europe, and now the British steel industry is under threat of total annihilation. Poor Dave.

I wish we had never moved away from the EU as it was about 1985 - a collection of countries with broadly similar economies and standards of living and not too many supra-national laws.