moonraker

I am not sure what the Chelsea Pensioners situation has to do with anything being discussed here. The Hospital is a charity it is therefore the trustees of the charity who are responsible for the conditions at the hospital. Your obsession with Immigrants (a legal residency status in the UK as it has been for HUNDREDS of years e.g. before socialists), Spongers (also been around for HUNDREDS of years e.g. before socialists) and Socialists (no meaningful UK party) verges on paranoia. All three groups are small minorities used by right wing media and small minded little Englanders and the greedy as the scapegoat for all our ills; I wish it were that simple.

Glad you didnt take the saints job then if you spend most of your work time posting on the internet (Its my lunch hour at the momnet).

The amount of advertising at a ground does not necessarily reflect the total value of the revenue stream. Whilst I have no definitive knowledge of the rates every club in League 1 charges for advertising what I can see with my own eyes is that the vast majority of the boards around grounds are for small local businesses, I therefore assume the rates are low and the total revenue stream equally low. It may be Saints are aiming to attract national or even international brands at higher rates based on our expectations of promotion and a higher profile. If this is the policy the real test is not the amount of advertising but the total value of the revenue stream. As with most things quality beats quantity.

This sounds more like the game I watched, except the Puncheon bit I thought he was porr today.

I don't know how you define a businessman but it appears to be some one who is in a position to minimise their tax liability, as the vast majority of us are on PAYE we have no opportunity to take advantage of tax minimisation rules. In fact when MPs, mostly acting within the law (though i agree not morally correct) used flipping to avoid capital gains tax did you approve. It seems you are promoting a one rule for businessmen (whatever they are) and one for the rest of us. And there was me thinking we wanted a fair and just society, you obviously just want a society where those who can get away with it should be applauded unless they are a small club in south east Hampshire. Defending the indefensible is a life long long task, hope you are up for it.

Obviously its they are not technically the same , however they have both avoided paying tax by abusing the system if not actually breaking the law.

I can only add my sincere thanks to all those posters who have provided such moving and fitting reports on the memorial service and to those who compiled tributes to Markus a true Saint. The spirit and soul of our great club has shone through and I can only surmise that Markus recognised this when he saved us from oblivion.

What don’t you agree with; the post was well thought out, what player worth his salt is going to come just to bench warm? We have other options they of course not the same standard as Lambert, ironically that’s why they are not nailed on first 11 players. I am believe we have a very capable squad for this league, every team strives to strengthen, however we can only buy what we can afford and then only if its available. Please provide your list of affordable available acceptable back ups to Lambert all nominees must meet all 3 criteria.

Well I always say if you want to get a head get a hat, and that one looks the ticket!!

Longleat, good value if you book the all in ticket on line and you don't have to use all of it in one day. We can normally make it stretch to 3 days out, valid until the end of October i think. About an hour from Southampton.

1976 underwater in HM SM Orpheus, surfaced at half time off Scotland tuned in the Radio and listened to the 2nd half on the way into Cambletown, went absolutely mental when Bobby Stokes scored. Keegan signing, took days for it to sink in, Steve Morans Goal at Not arff crap in the cup, Danny Wallaces wonder goal against Liverpool 16 March 1984 (Goal of the Season) Taking my youngest son to his first game, MK Dons in the League cup, Theo came on and changed the game, sold my son on Saints without any more help from me Markus and his camera at the JPT

What I find bizarre is that Phillip Green is defended for denying HMRC £300m yet our fishy friends down the road are derided by the self same people for denying HMRC less than a tenth of that.

And this is the rub, SME's employ far more people than the big corporates, they are run by entrepreneurs. They do not benefit from leveraged buy outs and high finance risk taking but they are our best hope as they are more innovative and generally per capita generate more wealth than the corporates. Tax avoidance is driven by greed not wealth creation.

Interesting if somewhat inaccurate analysis, there are currently hundreds of EBT's opertaing in the UK and the number is growing all of the time it has nothing to do with the threat of communism it is about an sustainable, equitable and ethical business model that does not reward the few at the expense of the many. This is not communism or socialism or any other left wing handle you wish to use it is about fairness, ask John Lewis employees how they feel about their firm, then ask Top Shop Employees how they feel about Mr Greens firm.

In a word Yes, if a gap is created in the market due to the demise of one supplier and there is still demand for the service then it is normally quickly filled by another. The demise of C&A (in the UK) hasn't left a great gap in the market that I have noticed.

This thread is not about scroungers whom I object to as strongly as anyone else it is about honest hard working people who cannot and do not avoid tax, whereas your hero does. Not all successful businessmen avoid tax, Mr Green does and therefore he deserves to be taken to task especially when he has accepted a Government appointment to advise on how the rest of us should behave. You still have not addressed my point about John Lewis a far more respected and renowned retail chain that has no need of a Mr Green type.

I doubt a single overseas visitor comes to the UK just to shop at one of Mr Greens stores, most tourists have a budget and spend it, if there were no Top Shop they would spend it elsewhere, the tax revenue would not be affected. Additionally unlike their boss I am sure very few of them have the where with all to avoid (legally) paying income tax.

Apologie for misinterpreting your comment but its not a fact, recruiting the right people is difficult.

I dont know what industry you work in but finding and recruiting good staff is not easy. Your dismissal of the vast majority of your fellow citizens as merely office/shop or factory workers is worryingly medieval in its simplicity and only supports my view that a signifcnat number (by no means all) of wealthy people are exploitative. Bet he wont do what Mr John Lewis did and turn his business into an EBT a recognition of the fact that it was the joint efforts of his business acumen and the staffs labour that created the bsuiness.

No one is suggesting punishing him; just that he, as one benefiting from the UK's business friendly environment, pays taxes the same as the rest of us. You seem to confuse the amount paid with the ability to pay a long enshrined principle that even most Tories grudgingly accept. The converse to your argument about people being in work because of him is that without them he would not have a business. Do you not see it is a symbiotic relationship, whilst advantageous to both it clearly rewards one side to a far greater degree than the other to add insult to injury he actively reduces paying his dues to the society that provides support to those self same workers when he has finished with them meaning others have to make up the shortfall e.g. Those who met all of their UK tax liabilities.

Well if the great Mr Green has accrued all of his wealth solely by the sweat of his own brow then I agree. I also agree that entrepreneurs need to be incentivsed, our point of divergence is how much incentivisation is appropriate, he has avoided £300m in tax that means he has been rewarded to the tune of £750m (from just one part of his business interests). The truth is he has accrued his wealth through good business acumen risk taking and most importantly the labour of thousands of individuals. His vast majority of direct employees earn well below the UK average wage and I hate to imaging how little the people who manufacture his products earn. There are many well documented cases of retailers exploiting the third world whether any of these is directly linked to Mr Green I cannot comment but the fact is many very wealthy people are exploitative and it adds insult to injury when they avoid paying tax.

There is no justification for Greens position. The irony is that those who seem to support him are the self same people who have issues with immigration and scroungers, taking money out of the state, exactly what Green is doing only at a level incomprehensible to most of us. Not a single rich person has made their monety in isolation, all of it has been made through OBE's (Other B**gers Efforts) , I admire and support many entrepreneurs and wealth creators and in general believe in a market economy however Green wants his cake and eat it. It is greed no matter which way you look at it. I like this solution http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/aug/15/deficit-crisis-tax-the-rich.

I dont understand your ref to MALI surely they are a separate Business, registered in Switzerland whereas SFC are UK Business and can continue to be run as such, the key question is what level of additional investment support might be forthcoming if needed?

Yes I was aware of this, and certainly as a concept it has been proved turning it into a practical system is different matter and will require some serious investment and time. With the theme of this thread being defence cuts getting the funding approved may prove difficult. You are right in as much that the QEC design has been developed with EMCAT as a possible upgrade at some time in the future.

Dont know where you get this from the Technology Readiness Levels for EM Catapults is at least 10 yeasr behind the ISD for the QEC.