Misplaced laughter at Government theft and negligence is unacceptable!

The flagship current affairs output of the BBC radio broadcasting is the 0810 am interview spot on the Radio Four Today Programme. This morning it covered the report that some six million PAYE taxpayers are likely to be required to repay an average of fifteen hundred pounds due to errors in the tax collection system. One report of the details is linked here. An Accountant's Representative, a Ms Montieth was interviewed by John Humphrys at around this time this morning and the couple were apparently reduced to helpless laughter at the facts that, the notifications would not be copied to people's tax agents, that phoning the helpline would remain unanswered even after as much as three weeks, that earlier years complex calculations would be required and that effectively innocent taxpayers would have no recourse but to pay nor proper means to verify whether these new calculations were correct or not. Given this lamentable state of affairs, taxpayers on reading the transcript of the interview could well decide that a tax strike was now their only recourse. This section of the Today's programme of today seems to have been removed from the usual running transcript, see here. If an audio link becomes available I will link it here for the general public to weep, not laugh, at what Britain has become. Link added 8th September. The lamentable state of HMRC from Radio 4!

Bullied banks

The following is from a report in The Times on Darling's pressure on the nationalised (therefore bankrupt) banks to pass on the ludicrous interest rate cut of 1.5 per cent: A host of lenders cut mortgages after bank executives were told by Alistair Darling that taxpayers expected them to fall into line with the Bank of England’s one and a half percentage point reduction. But two of the biggest lenders, HSBC and Barclays, are defying the Chancellor’s demands, while others say that they will claw back the cost of implementing any cuts. Barclays and HSBC, both of which rejected money from this so sly government, are thus already shown to be the last independent High Street banks operating in the UK. Just completed as I type was a Radio 4 discussion with Vince Cable, the Lib/dumbs Finance spokesman, on zero interest rates and reduced taxes all carried on as if Government revenues are likely to continue as earlier in spite of all the ridiculous lending and bail-outs and collapsing private businesses and jobs. The one third reduction of interest rates was a belated attempt to solve the housing crisis which should have been undertaken months ago before throwing billions at clearly broke banks. Now that money has disappeared, never again to re-appear, the Government is pointlessly turning to the housing crisis which has developed too far to be salvaged while businesses collapse, jobs and the tax base vanish which should today be their prime concern. Gordon Brown has no spare sails in his locker and the present set have been shredded to bits by the storm force winds. The broken Britain he has created is a still manned hulk adrift in mid-ocean before an oncoming hurricane of enormous proportions. As usual the BBC Radio 4 Today programme, which apparently drives all political debate in Britain has its collective head firmly stuck where the light of reality never appears.