The Paradise Papers

[Bedford Roughyed]

First headlines have been revealed, expect more over next few days.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-41876942

Quote

 

A huge new leak of financial documents has revealed how the powerful and ultra-wealthy, including the Queen's private estate, secretly invest vast amounts of cash in offshore tax havens.

Donald Trump's commerce secretary is shown to have a stake in a firm dealing with Russians sanctioned by the US.

The leak, dubbed the Paradise Papers, contains 13.4m documents, mostly from one leading firm in offshore finance.

 

 

[tim2]

Our own dear Queen. Makes Jimmy Carr look pretty tame. 

[Vichyssoise]

The way I see it, only God can save the Queen now.

[Stan Doffarf]

Although I am by no means a royalist, I think her maj is probably fairly innocent in this. It's unlikely she does her own accounting and banking, given that the royals do virtually nothing for themselves anyway.

[Tongs ya bas]

Aren't these people rich enough?

[Bedford Roughyed]

55 minutes ago, Stan Doffarf said:

Although I am by no means a royalist, I think her maj is probably fairly innocent in this. It's unlikely she does her own accounting and banking, given that the royals do virtually nothing for themselves anyway.

No doubt the Queen has someone to do it for her.  But how numb to the rest of the UK must you be to not think, 'hang on, will this look bad?'.

[Derwent]

It’s a relatively small amount that the Queen has invested offshore, I’m more annoyed that she apparently has shares in Brighthouse which is pretty much legal loansharking.

 

[Tongs ya bas]

It's the money that we pay her that is being used to make this already fabulously wealthy person even wealthier in this way.

What she is doing is avoiding the tax that goes towards paying her salary

God bless yer ma'am. 

[RidingPie]

Lord Ashcroft runs from questions on tax avoidance and hides in toilets. 

 

https://www.theguardian.com/news/video/2017/nov/06/lord-ashcroft-hides-in-toilets-to-avoid-questions-on-tax-video?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

[Mark S]

1 hour ago, RidingPie said:

Lord Ashcroft runs from questions on tax avoidance and hides in toilets. 

 

https://www.theguardian.com/news/video/2017/nov/06/lord-ashcroft-hides-in-toilets-to-avoid-questions-on-tax-video?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

After being filmed walking past a poster with ‘building a country that works for everyone’. Even the producers of Breaking Bad couldn’t have scripted that.

[RidingPie]

The conservatives has become a parody of the party they should be. 

[Martyn Sadler]

13 hours ago, Bedford Roughyed said:

First headlines have been revealed, expect more over next few days.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-41876942

 

From now on it's probably wise to assume that nothing you do remains confidential for ever.

I'm only surprised that the Paradise Papers haven't revealed some even juicier titbits.

[Tongs ya bas]

Just now, RidingPie said:

The conservatives has become a parody of the party they should be. 

No they believe in the power of greed and entitlement. They seem to be acting on that belief consistently and with gusto, and always have done.

[Tongs ya bas]

1 minute ago, Martyn Sadler said:

From now on it's probably wise to assume that nothing you do remains confidential for ever.

I'm only surprised that the Paradise Papers haven't revealed some even juicier titbits.

Do you see that as a good thing, assuming that it's true? 

 

[Martyn Sadler]

14 minutes ago, Tongs ya bas said:

Do you see that as a good thing, assuming that it's true? 

 

It depends on what is revealed.

If someone published a video of you and your wife in your bedroom I would suggest it would be an awful invasion of privacy.

If someone published details of your financial investments, I wouldn't be quite as upset, although I would think that you would be entitled to feel upset.

If someone published information that you were planning a terrorist attack then I would think it was a very good thing that your plans had been exposed.

[Tongs ya bas]

9 minutes ago, Martyn Sadler said:

It depends on what is revealed.

If someone published a video of you and your wife in your bedroom I would suggest it would be an awful invasion of privacy.

If someone published details of your financial investments, I wouldn't be quite as upset, although I would think that you would be entitled to feel upset.

If someone published information that you were planning a terrorist attack then I would think it was a very good thing that your plans had been exposed.

Thanks: a good illustration of the dilemma.

It's about the public interest, and what is in the public interest is often a grey area.

avoiding tax, especially if you are already  vastly wealthy, might be legal, but is deeply questionable morally, especially if you are the highest paid public servant in the country and paid out of the very taxes that you are avoiding paying, which is the case, by proxy(apparently) of Elizabeth Mountbatten. 

What is the position of people on state benefits, also funded by the tax payer, and the disclosure of their assets?

 

[Phil]

It’s laughable seeing people rushing to Betty Windsor’s defence saying “she wouldn’t have been aware how her wealth was being invested”.

Apparently there are those in society whose riches are so vast that they don’t even know where their money is being invested.
Meanwhile, more and more honest working people in this country, this “United” kingdom, are having to rely on food banks to get by.
God save the Queen?

[gingerjon]

3 hours ago, Martyn Sadler said:

 

If someone published details of your financial investments, I wouldn't be quite as upset, although I would think that you would be entitled to feel upset.

If those financial investments reveal dodgy dealings and duplicity on an epic scale, which these are doing, I think we'll waive the right to avioid embarrassment and move to the legitimate public interest stage.

[The Future is League]

17 hours ago, tim2 said:

Our own dear Queen. Makes Jimmy Carr look pretty tame. 

 

6 hours ago, Tongs ya bas said:

It's the money that we pay her that is being used to make this already fabulously wealthy person even wealthier in this way.

What she is doing is avoiding the tax that goes towards paying her salary

God bless yer ma'am. 

 

5 hours ago, RidingPie said:

Lord Ashcroft runs from questions on tax avoidance and hides in toilets. 

 

https://www.theguardian.com/news/video/2017/nov/06/lord-ashcroft-hides-in-toilets-to-avoid-questions-on-tax-video?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

The future is league loves all the above comments 

[Ramite]

2 hours ago, Phil said:

It’s laughable seeing people rushing to Betty Windsor’s defence saying “she wouldn’t have been aware how her wealth was being invested”.

Apparently there are those in society whose riches are so vast that they don’t even know where their money is being invested.
Meanwhile, more and more honest working people in this country, this “United” kingdom, are having to rely on food banks to get by.
God save the Queen?

I think it's laughable some think the Queen sits at a desk and would say yes put 3 grand into Brighthouse.

[Derwent]

5 minutes ago, Ramite said:

I think it's laughable some think the Queen sits at a desk and would say yes put 3 grand into Brighthouse.

She's an easy target so it's going to happen.

Unlike Saint Bono who, in between telling us to donate our cash to eradicate global poverty, finds the time to buy shopping malls in Lithuania and such like via offshore trusts.

[Martyn Sadler]

4 minutes ago, Derwent said:

She's an easy target so it's going to happen.

Unlike Saint Bono who, in between telling us to donate our cash to eradicate global poverty, finds the time to buy shopping malls in Lithuania and such like via offshore trusts.

I certainly got the feeling listening to the news that the BBC couldn't wait to stick the boot into the Queen.

[gingerjon]

18 minutes ago, Ramite said:

I think it's laughable some think the Queen sits at a desk and would say yes put 3 grand into Brighthouse.

It's not laughable to suggest that the Queen should have an ethical investment policy.

It's not laughable to point out that our taxes pay for the Queen and her family and that by avoiding tax she has meant that we have less money. And yet her income from us does not go down, instead the money for her subjects gets reduced.

So, not laughable at all.

Rather serious in fact.

She has some explaining to do.

[Saintslass]

6 minutes ago, Martyn Sadler said:

I certainly got the feeling listening to the news that the BBC couldn't wait to stick the boot into the Queen.

I got that impression too.

However, they should be having a go at the Duchy of Lancaster if they want to stick the boot into anyone.  The Queen pays taxes when she doesn't actually have to (and the Duchy of Lancaster is tax exempt anyway apparently so I'm not at all sure what the fuss is about).

[Saintslass]

2 minutes ago, gingerjon said:

It's not laughable to suggest that the Queen should have an ethical investment policy.

It's not laughable to point out that our taxes pay for the Queen and her family and that by avoiding tax she has meant that we have less money. And yet her income from us does not go down, instead the money for her subjects gets reduced.

So, not laughable at all.

Rather serious in fact.

She has some explaining to do.

She is tax exempt.

However, she pays income tax voluntarily. 

So she has no explaining to do at all.