The Mayoral tax ‘debate’.
from the Boris Johnson campaign HQ:
The so-called tax debate of recent weeks must be kept in perspective.
Today, the national media are focusing on what disclosure means for the future direction of British politics and others are saying that it is a sideshow – just politicians spatting. These claims may serve Ken Livingstone’s purpose but they miss the point.
The real issue is not about someone’s income or even how much tax they pay in absolute terms.
Everyone has the right to be successful and to organise their tax affairs within the law.
The significance of this week’s debate over the candidates tax affairs is this:
- It is about trust and hypocrisy.
- It is about Ken Livingstone saying one thing and doing another.
- It is about Ken saying in the Sun newspaper in 2009 that people who avoid paying their full share of tax are “rich bastards” who exploited “every tax fiddle” and who “should NOT be allowed to vote in a British election, let alone sit in Parliament, unless they pay their full share of tax.”
Now Ken has been forced to admit that for years he has employed exactly the same tax minimisation strategies himself. The most extreme of which were in place while he was standing for election, and indeed, whilst he was calling for the top rate of income tax to be raised to 80%.
When challenged previously about this, he responded by claiming his critics were out to ‘smear’ him.
But now Mr Livingstone’s own figures show that by registering himself as a company, he has enabled the majority of his income to be earned at a lower rate of tax.
Analysis suggests he has arranged his affairs to create an effective rate of tax that could be just 14.5%. The very same thing he attacks others for doing.
On Newsnight on Wednesday 4th April, Ken Livingstone agreed with all the main candidates to release all his income and tax details. The next day he first refused to honour that promise made on national TV. He then, when there was no other option and Boris Johnson had released all of his details, only released part details. Even these part details revealed that he had avoided tax by paying himself dividends rather than just a wage.
The public still cannot get a true picture of his finances but his hypocrisy is very clear.
He owes Boris Johnson an apology for falsely claiming that Boris had the same financial arrangements as he did when he knew this was not so.
And he owes the people of London an apology for saying on Newsnight that he would release full details on his earnings and tax, but not doing so.
Ken Livingstone has shown time and again that he says one thing but does another.
Now that he has been exposed for doing the very thing he strongly criticised others for doing, he has lost all credibility and anything else he says in this election simply cannot be trusted.
Once and for all Ken Livingstone has proven why he cannot be trusted to be back in charge of our great city.
Out of gas?
There can be little doubt that the comments of Ministers, including our very own Environment Secretary, Ed Davey, have helped to cause panic buying at the pumps.
Passing the Ace of Spades Shell station at just after 9.30 last night I couldn’t help noticing the emptiness of the forecourt and the tags over the pump handles – the obvious consequence of the very brisk trade earlier in the day. Friends report similar situations all over Surbiton, Tolworth and Chessington.
It looks as though the threat of a strike has receded, so I hope that residents will not heed the rather silly advice to keep a jerry can of petrol at home, unless they have a very safe and remote outhouse to keep it in and unless they are accustomed to working with highly inflammable substances.
Value from the Olympics
From Boris Johnson:-
Dear Paul,
Today I’m launching my Olympics manifesto and I wanted you to be one of the first to read it.
This year the capital will experience a summer like no other.
London will become the first city in history to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games three times. It is also the first host city in history to finish building the Olympic stadium a year early – not just ahead of time, but under budget.
The Olympic and Paralympic Games are about far more than just six weeks of amazing sport. I have worked to ensure they will lead to lasting economic, social and sporting benefits for London. I have ensured that these are the first Games where a host city has been building in the legacy from the beginning.
However, seven years ago we may have won the Games, but there was a real risk the opportunity they present would be squandered. Costs had quadrupled. There was no legacy plan. Taxpayers’ money was being wasted on unnecessary venues which would have become white elephants, while great venues across the capital were being under-utilised or ignored.
I have worked with the Olympic authorities to turn this around. I have co-chaired the Olympic Board, overseeing the entire project. I promised to keep costs low, and the Games will not cost London council taxpayers a penny more than pledged. I scrapped unnecessary new venues and used existing venues across the capital, saving tens of millions of pounds and ensuring all parts of London feel part of the Games. I put in place a credible legacy plan, creating thousands of jobs, ensuring a major economic boost to the capital.
I will go further:
- I will guarantee that the Olympic Legacy does not cost Londoners a penny more on their council tax.
- I will also ensure absolute transparency as the legacy plans transfer to the Mayor, requiring all expenditure to be published so Londoners know how money is being spent.
- I will make sure that after the closing ceremony all Londoners continue to benefit from the hard work and investment of the last four years. That is why, using new powers secured from the Government, I have set up a new Mayoral Development Corporation to take responsibility for the Olympic Park. This will reduce the number of bodies involved, bringing focus and safeguarding the economic legacy of the Games by implementing our detailed plans to build 11,000 new homes and create 10,000 new jobs.
- I will use my good strong relations with the businesses community to make use of the Games venues with strong interest in taking on some of the venues, including the Olympic Stadium.
- And I will explore creating a new science institute in the Olympic Park, to boost London’s hi-tech economy, including lobbying for the proposed Cell Therapy Technology and Innovation Centre to be located there.
We have made progress despite difficult times. At the Mayoral election on 3rd May this progress is at risk. The choice at this election is between a plan to ensure a true Olympic legacy that keeps costs low and putting the legacy at risk by cutting investment and damaging the city’s international reputation.
I hope I can count on your support on 3rd May.
PS: If you haven’t already, please sign our Backers Map to show your support for what we’ve already achieved and what we plan to do in the next four years: www.backboris2012.com/#backing
Open auditions – The Taming of the Shrew at the cornerH
William Shakespeare’s comedy The Taming of the Shrew comes to the cornerHOUSE in June – and you could have a part in the production.
by Moonlight theatre company, which brought its highly acclaimed production of Steven Berkoff’s East to the arts centre last year, is looking for actors to play in this Elizabethan romp.
Director Tanju Duncan said: “Without giving too much away, this will be in the style of The Only Way is Essex meets the Bard!”
Open auditions will take place in workshop form at the cornerHOUSE in Douglas Road, Surbiton, on Sunday, April 1 at 5.30pm. You are also asked to prepare a two-minute Jacobean/Elizabethan speech from a play set in that period or from The Taming of the Shrew itself to perform at the audition.
“Please don’t feel you have to memorise it – just get familiar with the speech and be prepared to read it at the audition,” said Duncan.
“We are looking for a few mature gentlemen for some of the roles, so please do come along and have some fun!” she added.
Cast age range is adults only (those who are 16 and who have already left school or over).
The Taming of the Shrew will be staged at the cornerHOUSE on Friday, June 29 and Saturday, June 30 at 7.45pm and then at the Rose Theatre in Kingston on July 8, 10 and 15 at 7.45pm as part of Kingston’s International Youth Arts Festival. So you must be available for those dates.
For further details about the auditions or about the production, email the director Tanju Duncan attanju@bymoonlighttheatre.com
Letter from Boris Johnson
Dear Paul,
I hope I am not normally seen as a pessimistic sort of character, but at the Mayoral election on May 3rd I am afraid I see real risks for this city.
The election comes at a critical time for London. Londoners are going through one of the most difficult periods in recent memory. Despite this, we’re making progress. Progress that would be put at risk if we were to take the wrong turn now.
When I was elected the whole budget was out of control. My determination to end the waste and mismanagement of the previous Mayor has freed up the money to pay for a strong plan for our future. We are putting that money where Londoners want to see it spent in spite of the very difficult financial circumstances.
I feel like a man who has built half a bridge. I can see the other side. I can see what needs to be done.
That is why this weekend I launched my 9 point plan that will secure Greater London’s future. It’s a plan that protects the investment we need to create jobs and will help Londoners get through these tough times.
My plan is:
- Cutting waste at City Hall – freeing up £3.5 billion for services
- Putting £445 back in your pocket by freezing the Mayoral share of council tax
- Creating 200,000 new jobs over the next four years
- Making our streets and homes safer with 1,000 more police on the beat
- Restoring 300 acres of green space and planting 20,000 street trees
- Investing £221 million to transform local high streets, supporting small businesses
- Ensuring a true Olympic legacy – 11,000 new homes and 10,000 new jobs
- Reducing Tube delays 30% by 2015. Building Crossrail and orbital rail to link our suburbs. Extending the Bike Hire scheme
- Securing a better deal for London from No 10
That is the choice for Londoners on 3rd May. To go forward with a programme of investment and modernisation or go back to the irresponsible and unaffordable approach of Ken Livingstone.
Help me secure Greater London’s future by pledging your support: www.backboris2012.com/pledge
Best,
Boris Johnson
P.S. This really is a critical election and Londoners cannot afford to go back to Ken Livingstone. Please help us ensure Greater London continues on the right track by donating to my campaign: www.backboris2012.com/donate
Local road works bulletin
from RBK Highways:-
Tolworth
Thornhill Road:
Adjacent to number 35. Strengthening of tributary culvert. Lane closure and temporary road closure (closure for a few days, dates to be confirmed). Works undertaken by the Council, started on 22 February and are expected to be completed within 12 weeks.
Surbiton
Church Hill Road:
Church Hill Road will be closed between St Mark’s Hill and Adelaide Road from 5 to 9 March 2012 for Thames Water to connect St Mark’s Church to the main sewer.
Oak Hill Crescent:
New electricity connection (UKPN) to the Surbiton Hospital site. Oakhill Crescent will be closed between Ewell Road and Oak Hill Road from 8 to 21 March.
Brighton Road:
Railway Bridge Replacement. Severe disruption expected!
- 5 March: Preparatory works for the replacement of the railway bridge; will be done under two-way temporary traffic lights. Expected duration: 2 weeks.
- 28 March: Closure of Brighton Road until the 8th of May. Access to all property and side roads will be maintained.
- 28 March to 13 April: Network Rail’s contractors will remove the deck of the old bridge and install a new one.
- Easter week-end: Total closure of footway and carriageway under Railway Bridge. Network Rail will run a mini-bus service to drive pedestrians from one side of the bridge to the other.
- 13 April to 8 May: Southern Gas Networks will take possession of the closed road to replace the old cast iron mains in Brighton Road with new polyethylene pipes.
- During the closure, Kingston Council will improve the illumination of the public highway under the bridge.
Surbiton Forum 