News

UKIP interview on PM Tonight re Leader

Tuesday, 17 August 2010 14:42 | Written by Alec Yates |

Jeremy Allison, chairman of Axe Valley branch will be interviewed on the BBC Radio 4 PM programme this evening by Eddie Mair. He is on his way to the BBC Exeter studios now. He has been told that it will probably be at about 5.20pm. If you miss it don't forget that the programme will be available on the iPlayer later. I will try and put a link up when it becomes available.

Last Updated (Tuesday, 17 August 2010 15:54)

Is Sir Phillip the right one to wield P45 axe?

Monday, 16 August 2010 09:34 | Written by Rose Smith |

Is Sir Phillip the right one to wield P 45 axe ?

Sir Philip Green (billionaire) has been given the job of handing out P45s to low-paid public sector workers.

Sir Philip, a retail tycoon who owns the Bhs and Topshop chains, will lead a review of Whitehall spending before George Osborne wields the axe in the autumn.

The fashion mogul has a reputation for lavish birthday parties – one rumoured to have cost £5m – and a complex tax arrangement which sees his Monaco-based wife, Tina, owner of his company Arcadia.

All of this sits uneasily alongside the sort of cuts that many fear will hit the poor hardest.

Vince Cable, Lib Dem Business Secretary, a fierce critic of tax loopholes, was not consulted about the appointment.

This overshadows Nick Clegg's big moment of being " in charge " as Deputy Prime Minister, including a speech on Wednesday on social mobility

Sir Philip defended his tax affairs, denying his wife was a tax exile and insisting his companies had paid £300m to £400m in taxes on profits in five years. " I'm a UK taxpayer. I work here every week. We employ 45,000 people in the UK and we have got a £500 m payroll."

But Richard Murphy, director of Tax Research UK, estimates that Sir Philip saved £285 m in tax by paying a £1.2 bn dividend in 2005 direct to his wife. Mr Murphy said: "I'm not disputing for a moment that Sir Philip Green is a first-rate retailer of cheap fashion. But, with respect to those who appointed him, what do they think this has to do with the appraisal of govt spending ? "

Hutton Report

Monday, 16 August 2010 09:31 | Written by Rose Smith |

There is a powerful all-party campaign to force a full inquest into the death of Ministry of Defence weapons expert Dr David Kelly.

The Hutton Report found Dr Kelly took his own life.

But in view of the growing number of questions arising. casting doubt on the conclusions reached by Lord Hutton, UKIP agrees that a full inquest should be held.

Recent evidence by the first police officer on the scene, together with new statements by doctors, raises serious questions which must be researched.

There are signs that the Govt is prepared to act in response to growing demands.

Attorney General Dominic Grieve is ready to meet the group of senior doctors who claim Dr Kelly could not have committed suicide in the way described in Lord Hutton’s report.

Mr Grieve has indicated he is ready to ask the High Court to order a full inquest if there is sufficient evidence to cast doubt on Lord Hutton’s verdict.

Justice Minister Ken Clarke was yesterday urged by a Cabinet colleague to scrap Labour’s unprecedented 70-year embargo on releasing Dr Kelly’s medical records, including the results of the post-mortem examination.

Why was such a lengthy embargo put on this ?

‘If we are going to find out how Dr. Kelly died, the first requirement is to allow his medical details to be scrutinised,’ said a Cabinet Minister, who asked not to be named.

In The Mail on Sunday, Dr Michael J. Powers QC, a doctor and barrister behind the latest demand by medical experts for a full inquiry, delivers a fresh challenge to Lord Hutton’s account of the way Dr Kelly is said to have slashed his wrists.

‘A fatal haemorrhage from a severed ulnar artery is so improbable

Why UKIP?

Sunday, 15 August 2010 21:07 | Written by Alec Yates |

Fined £150m for failing to flyEU flag

Sunday, 15 August 2010 18:31 | Written by Rose Smith |

Fined £150million for failing to fly the EU flag: Now British firms are told how to fight back

[click on above for full report]

Companies receiving European grants must display its logo on their buildings, posters and websites or face being forced to pay back some of the funding.

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