This should be interesting. I wonder if the bits not associated with the Forties pipeline network will ever be restarted.
'The Grangemouth oil refinery is to be closed for at least a week, threatening fuel supplies in Scotland, as its owner complains of financial damage from a threatened strike.'
Silly GO. No independent judiciary, no free movement of finance, people or information. Does he really think China is what we should aspire to be? Maybe it's the low wages, lack of healthcare and employee protections he likes. It's just more JCR kickabout from our Chancellor when what we need is a grown-up in charge of the nation's finances.
He thinks he's being clever. He always thinks he's being clever.
We established our business in 2003, under Labour. It would be illegal in China. Ask Google how biz friendly China is, or anyone else interested in building any information-based company. Might also be worth asking what IP owners think of the place. Don't get me wrong, there are huge opportunities there; but you have to play the game. Silly GO.
That's odd. I distinctly remembered having a conversation with you last year about IP problems with China, and you distinctly said that it wasn't bad over there.
Have your fingers been burnt?
Infringement is shocking, but you can do something about it if you know what you're doing. The problem with many foreign companies is that they fail to take any precautions and/or just assume they cannot prevent infringements that do occur. But everyone gets burned to an extent. We've certainly had stuff nicked.
This should be interesting. I wonder if the bits not associated with the Forties pipeline network will ever be restarted.
'The Grangemouth oil refinery is to be closed for at least a week, threatening fuel supplies in Scotland, as its owner complains of financial damage from a threatened strike.'
Silly GO. No independent judiciary, no free movement of finance, people or information. Does he really think China is what we should aspire to be? Maybe it's the low wages, lack of healthcare and employee protections he likes. It's just more JCR kickabout from our Chancellor when what we need is a grown-up in charge of the nation's finances.
He thinks he's being clever. He always thinks he's being clever.
We established our business in 2003, under Labour. It would be illegal in China. Ask Google how biz friendly China is, or anyone else interested in building any information-based company. Might also be worth asking what IP owners think of the place. Don't get me wrong, there are huge opportunities there; but you have to play the game. Silly GO.
That was under Blair not DreadEd - use it or use it.
Silly GO. No independent judiciary, no free movement of finance, people or information. Does he really think China is what we should aspire to be? Maybe it's the low wages, lack of healthcare and employee protections he likes. It's just more JCR kickabout from our Chancellor when what we need is a grown-up in charge of the nation's finances.
He thinks he's being clever. He always thinks he's being clever.
We established our business in 2003, under Labour. It would be illegal in China. Ask Google how biz friendly China is, or anyone else interested in building any information-based company. Might also be worth asking what IP owners think of the place. Don't get me wrong, there are huge opportunities there; but you have to play the game. Silly GO.
That's odd. I distinctly remembered having a conversation with you last year about IP problems with China, and you distinctly said that it wasn't bad over there.
Have your fingers been burnt?
Infringement is shocking, but you can do something about it if you know what you're doing. The problem with many foreign companies is that they fail to take any precautions and/or just assume they cannot prevent infringements that do occur. But everyone gets burned to an extent. We've certainly had stuff nicked.
In my experience, it's cultural. I obviously can't go into details, but there's been some fairly worrying and, from a Western perspective, disgraceful and legally dubious events happen to companies I've been involved with.
And that's just at the level of engineers ...
I should stress that almost all of the Chinese engineers I've worked with have been top blokes on a personal level.
This should be interesting. I wonder if the bits not associated with the Forties pipeline network will ever be restarted.
'The Grangemouth oil refinery is to be closed for at least a week, threatening fuel supplies in Scotland, as its owner complains of financial damage from a threatened strike.'
Unite have played a blinder , they really flexed their muscles , the sheep who supported the clowns will pay dearly for their stupidity
Oh how they will laugh when Grangemouth refinery shurs down.
certainly a part of it is very likely now unless they now accept massive terms and conditions changes , what clowns voting to strike over a numpty , in a plant losing millions a month. They deserve to be out of a job , unbelievable and the damage to local economy will be massive.
No more squealing about green taxes from you on here, thankfully
GO hasn't signed any agreements and we don't know what the outcome of his trip will be. I'm not against him trying to get the chinese to push some of their vast wealth our way, which I understand its fairly certain he is at least trying to do.
if we commit to hugely expensive energy for 35 years I'll be the first to criticise GO - but I still think the tories' energy policy is probably the best of a bad job.
This should be interesting. I wonder if the bits not associated with the Forties pipeline network will ever be restarted.
'The Grangemouth oil refinery is to be closed for at least a week, threatening fuel supplies in Scotland, as its owner complains of financial damage from a threatened strike.'
Plebgate: David Cameron should reinstate Andrew Mitchell, minister says
David Cameron should reinstate Andrew Mitchell as Chief Whip if he is cleared following investigations into the Plebgate row, a Conservative minister has said.
Mr Mitchell met three officers and Police Federation representatives at his constituency. Their statements to the media afterwards, claiming Mr Mitchell had refused to explain what he said in Downing St that night, appeared to be contradicted by a secret recording of the encounter made by Mr Mitchell.
The Independent Police Complaints Commission yesterday ruled there was evidence those officers set out to deliberately discredit Mr Mitchell and they should face gross misconduct proceedings.
But they were initially cleared of wrongdoing by West Mercia Police, which found there was no case to answer for gross misconduct and they had merely been naïve.
Mr Clark, a cabinet minister, told BBC Radio 4's World at One: "I think most of us would be inclined to believe the evidence of police officers that would be the default position – there’s also the prospect of prosecutions going on in terms of what happened in Downing St, so it would be wrong to comment on that.
Plebgate II (as I have christened it) is not about criminal charges. It is about disciplinary action in the police forces employing these Police federation representatives who met Mitchell and then lied about the recorded conversation.
Plebgate I is with the CPS. It took an unconscionably long time to get there and one would hope that their final reports followed detailed conversations about further investigations etc which means that a decision can be taken relatively quickly. The lies told about what happened in Downing Street, the presence of members of the public etc, are, if proven, an attempt to pervert the course of justice. For these officers it is not a question of the end of careers but possible jail time.
Mitchell cannot be reinstated but should be found another post to mitigate the damage these lies have done to his career. The career of those who told the lies should be over.
I see Michael O'Leary is 'reaching out' to his customers and asking for suggestions on how to improve the 'customer experience' when travelling with Ryan air.
I'd love to read some of the suggestions submitted :-)
No more squealing about green taxes from you on here, thankfully
GO hasn't signed any agreements and we don't know what the outcome of his trip will be. I'm not against him trying to get the chinese to push some of their vast wealth our way, which I understand its fairly certain he is at least trying to do.
if we commit to hugely expensive energy for 35 years I'll be the first to criticise GO - but I still think the tories' energy policy is probably the best of a bad job.
The other day rcs gave a very useful comparison of energy prices, which showed nuclear to be at (from memory) £90 per unit, and fairly expensive compared to gas and coal. It would be interesting to see how electricity prices for the first generation reactors compared to that generated from coal power, from (say) 1970 to 1990. Did the price remain stable, and how did coal (and later gas) prices compare? My assumption is that coal- and gas- generated power increased in price more rapidly than nuclear.
The reason for the question should be obvious: the new generation of nukes may be expensive at the moment, but with rising gas prices, how might it compare in 20 years time?
No more squealing about green taxes from you on here, thankfully
GO hasn't signed any agreements and we don't know what the outcome of his trip will be. I'm not against him trying to get the chinese to push some of their vast wealth our way, which I understand its fairly certain he is at least trying to do.
if we commit to hugely expensive energy for 35 years I'll be the first to criticise GO - but I still think the tories' energy policy is probably the best of a bad job.
The other day rcs gave a very useful comparison of energy prices, which showed nuclear to be at (from memory) £90 per unit, and fairly expensive compared to gas and coal. It would be interesting to see how electricity prices for the first generation reactors compared to that generated from coal power, from (say) 1970 to 1990. Did the price remain stable, and how did coal (and later gas) prices compare? My assumption is that coal- and gas- generated power increased in price more rapidly than nuclear.
The reason for the question should be obvious: the new generation of nukes may be expensive at the moment, but with rising gas prices, how might it compare in 20 years time?
I think that if we haven't got some sort of commercial fusion reactor in 20 years time we're going to be stuffed anyway.
GO was visiting Huawei today -is their business green energy ?
Hauwei's expansion was based upon Marconi. Following Labour's dismal economics the company went broke and Tony & Scum (Labour) Ltd gave the nod to the Chinese to take over the technology....
Plebgate: David Cameron should reinstate Andrew Mitchell, minister says
David Cameron should reinstate Andrew Mitchell as Chief Whip if he is cleared following investigations into the Plebgate row, a Conservative minister has said.
..........................
The Independent Police Complaints Commission yesterday ruled there was evidence those officers set out to deliberately discredit Mr Mitchell and they should face gross misconduct proceedings.
But they were initially cleared of wrongdoing by West Mercia Police, which found there was no case to answer for gross misconduct and they had merely been naïve.
Mr Clark, a cabinet minister, told BBC Radio 4's World at One: "I think most of us would be inclined to believe the evidence of police officers that would be the default position – there’s also the prospect of prosecutions going on in terms of what happened in Downing St, so it would be wrong to comment on that.
Plebgate II (as I have christened it) is not about criminal charges. It is about disciplinary action in the police forces employing these Police federation representatives who met Mitchell and then lied about the recorded conversation.
Plebgate I is with the CPS. It took an unconscionably long time to get there and one would hope that their final reports followed detailed conversations about further investigations etc which means that a decision can be taken relatively quickly. The lies told about what happened in Downing Street, the presence of members of the public etc, are, if proven, an attempt to pervert the course of justice. For these officers it is not a question of the end of careers but possible jail time.
Mitchell cannot be reinstated but should be found another post to mitigate the damage these lies have done to his career. The career of those who told the lies should be over.
Spot on David.
There may even be a Plebgate III concerning the decision of the Police Commissioners not to discipline the three Officers in question, but for the moment we have quite enough Plebgates to be getting on with.
I see Michael O'Leary is 'reaching out' to his customers and asking for suggestions on how to improve the 'customer experience' when travelling with Ryan air.
I'd love to read some of the suggestions submitted :-)
Just flown Ryanair for the sixth or something time. If one reads the forms, and weighs one's luggage with one of the convenient scales one can buy in anywhere where's the problem? One's only on the damn plane for a couple of hours, and one doesn't have to buy the food, or all sit together. Check-in's fine, again if one reads the instructions.
I see Michael O'Leary is 'reaching out' to his customers and asking for suggestions on how to improve the 'customer experience' when travelling with Ryan air.
I'd love to read some of the suggestions submitted :-)
I use Ryanair a lot and in the end you get in the swing of it. It becomes a game of cat and mouse between you and the airline to see if you can get away with paying the lowest rate and avoiding their crafty surcharges for things like carrying luggage.
Personally I'd be sad if they became like all other airlines, but then not everybody enjoys the sport like me.
Plebgate I is with the CPS. It took an unconscionably long time to get there and one would hope that their final reports followed detailed conversations about further investigations etc which means that a decision can be taken relatively quickly. The lies told about what happened in Downing Street, the presence of members of the public etc, are, if proven, an attempt to pervert the course of justice. For these officers it is not a question of the end of careers but possible jail time.
If proceedings are instituted, it will likely be for offences of wilful misconduct in public office, rather than perverting the course of public justice. To prove the latter, the Crown must establish than an act was intended, and had the tendency to pervert the course of public justice. While it is unnecessary to show that injustice materialised, there must be a possibility that what the accused is alleged to have done 'without more' might have led to legal injustice (R v Murray [1982] 1 WLR 475, 479 per Lord Lane CJ). That will be very difficult to prove in the Mitchell case. So it is probable that any information, if laid, will charge wilful misconduct in public office. The maximum sentence is the same for both offences, viz. imprisonment for life.
Plebgate II (as I have christened it) is not about criminal charges. It is about disciplinary action in the police forces employing these Police federation representatives who met Mitchell and then lied about the recorded conversation.
IPCC letter on #plebgate says senior officers CHANGED FINDINGS of report which found WAS case to answer for misconduct re meeting w Mitchell
Which surely warrants another line of investigation into the actions of West Mercia police?
Home Affairs Correspondent Simon Israel writes:
So the plot thickens. Dynamite in a letter from IPCC deputy chair Deborah Glass today that makes the plebgate affair even murkier. She felt the need to respond amid the uproar following a decision to take no action against three officers from the West Midlands Police Federation branch. It turns out that's only half the story.
In a letter obtained by Channel 4 News, sent to three police chief of West Mercia, Warwickshire and West Midlands and the three police and crime commisioners for those forces, Ms Glass reveals why she felt the need to go public in protesting at the decision not put the three officers through a misconduct process for their actions against Andrew Mitchell.
While she accepts the investigation itself was not flawed she writes: "I note that in the first draft submitted to the IPCC in July, the senior investigating officer did in fact conclude there was a case to answer for misconduct, although their final report, submitted in August did not."
Who changed it and why we don't know. Was it pressure from the Police Federation, senior officers or the PCCs?
As for the idea that these further developments can be considered wholly outwith the main investigation, I'm afraid not. That they warrant their own investigation would seem to be clear but all matters stem from the original incident so what the CPS chooses to do next is of crucial importance.
I see Michael O'Leary is 'reaching out' to his customers and asking for suggestions on how to improve the 'customer experience' when travelling with Ryan air.
I'd love to read some of the suggestions submitted :-)
Just flown Ryanair for the sixth or something time. If one reads the forms, and weighs one's luggage with one of the convenient scales one can buy in anywhere where's the problem? One's only on the damn plane for a couple of hours, and one doesn't have to buy the food, or all sit together. Check-in's fine, again if one reads the instructions.
You're joking aren't you? They make the experience as uncomfortable as possible to try and get a few more quid out of you to "upgrade" to a more bearable journey.
For example they won't let you book a seat so you have to stand in a queue for an hour or so in the departure lounge if you want to sit next to anyone you're travelling with. Then it is a loose scrum when you get on the plane with bags everywhere since they charge so much to check in luggage.
Also they run such a tight schedule for turnarounds that I'm convinced they come in to land far faster than other airlines. The last four flights I've had with them have bounced on the runway.
The whole experience is utterly unpleasant and I happily pay more for airlines that don't treat their customers like shit.
While he's out there grovelling on all fours someone here is having to Tweet for him.
@abelardinelli: Minister admits he's no idea how much Swiss tax deal will raise - yet Osborne booked in over £3bn in autumn statement http://t.co/6B8svBfekg
A silly ignorant article, tim.
It was the OBR who put the estimate of over £3 bn tax revenue from the Swiss Tax Treaty into the March EFO for the 2013-14 fiscal year (admittedly after being pumped up by the Treasury).
In the OBR's commentary on the ONS release of the June 2013 Public Finances bulletin, Chote wrote:
The ONS have revised down their estimate of capital tax receipts from the UK-Swiss tax agreement from £3.2 billion (based on the forecast in the March 2013 EFO) to £0.3 billion (the pre-payment already received). This worsens the May PSNB by £2.9 billion. The decision reflects an announcement by the Swiss Bankers’ Association on 5 July that less revenue was being transferred to the UK than anticipated through this one-off levy.
It is important to understand the aim of the UK-Swiss tax agreement. It is designed to prevent those British nationals who are liable to pay capital gains tax in the UK from evading payments through non-disclosure of taxable assets held in Swiss Banks. Under the agreement, the Swiss Banks undertook to make payments to the UK on behalf of those of its British clients who did not wish to disclose their assets to HMRC.
However, Switzerland later signed up to a global agreement which required their banks to exchange information with other jurisdictions on assets held by foreign nationals. This made it much riskier for a UK national to continue hiding their assets from HMRC and resulted in much higher direct disclosure than previously anticipated. So what HMRC lost from Swiss Banks paying in lieu, it gained from direct assessments.
The SBA statement in July summarised the position:
First indications from selected banks in Switzerland show that there are fewer untaxed UK assets in Switzerland than had been previously assumed. This is mainly due to the fact that many clients have resident non-domiciled status. These clients are not liable to taxation in the UK and thus do not fall under the Agreement. Furthermore, numerous UK clients have opted for voluntary disclosure, which comes as no surprise given the latest developments in Switzerland with regard to the announced adoption of a global standard for the automatic exchange of information.
In spite of the shift towards direct declaration, the Treasury has continued to receive payments from the Swiss Banks. By the time of the OBR's commentary on the August finances, it was able to report:
Capital tax receipts from the UK-Swiss tax agreement are likely to be less than the £3.2 billion estimate included in the March 2013 EFO. A further payment from the Swiss authorities has been received, bringing the total payment so far to £0.7 billion, which is accrued to May 2013.
Chote also noted that even though indirect receipts were much lower than he originally forecast they had still contributed to net reductions in public sector borrowing. He also suggested that the Treasury, HMRC and the OBR get together to rework forecast receipts from the Swiss and other similar agreement before the OBR released its next EFO at the time of the autumn forecast.
So to summarise. The original over optimistic forecast by the OBR (not George Osborne) was withdrawn and no longer appears in the ONS Public Finances figures. Only actual receipts are now being booked. Lower receipts from the Swiss Banks does not mean that all due tax has been lost: HRMC are likely to have made up much of the orginal forecast from direct disclosure. Money is still being received from the Swiss Banks. Even after reducing the forecast for Swiss receipts, cumulative Public Sector Net Borrowing is already lower than the original OBR forecast. So this is already a "non-story". A full reconciliation of receipts and new forecasts are expected in time for the OBR's next EFO release due in December.
Comments
And that's just at the level of engineers ...
I should stress that almost all of the Chinese engineers I've worked with have been top blokes on a personal level.
GO hasn't signed any agreements and we don't know what the outcome of his trip will be. I'm not against him trying to get the chinese to push some of their vast wealth our way, which I understand its fairly certain he is at least trying to do.
if we commit to hugely expensive energy for 35 years I'll be the first to criticise GO - but I still think the tories' energy policy is probably the best of a bad job.
Plebgate II (as I have christened it) is not about criminal charges. It is about disciplinary action in the police forces employing these Police federation representatives who met Mitchell and then lied about the recorded conversation.
Plebgate I is with the CPS. It took an unconscionably long time to get there and one would hope that their final reports followed detailed conversations about further investigations etc which means that a decision can be taken relatively quickly. The lies told about what happened in Downing Street, the presence of members of the public etc, are, if proven, an attempt to pervert the course of justice. For these officers it is not a question of the end of careers but possible jail time.
Mitchell cannot be reinstated but should be found another post to mitigate the damage these lies have done to his career. The career of those who told the lies should be over.
I see Michael O'Leary is 'reaching out' to his customers and asking for suggestions on how to improve the 'customer experience' when travelling with Ryan air.
I'd love to read some of the suggestions submitted :-)
The reason for the question should be obvious: the new generation of nukes may be expensive at the moment, but with rising gas prices, how might it compare in 20 years time?
Plebgate I is with the CPS. It took an unconscionably long time to get there and one would hope that their final reports followed detailed conversations about further investigations etc which means that a decision can be taken relatively quickly. The lies told about what happened in Downing Street, the presence of members of the public etc, are, if proven, an attempt to pervert the course of justice. For these officers it is not a question of the end of careers but possible jail time.
Mitchell cannot be reinstated but should be found another post to mitigate the damage these lies have done to his career. The career of those who told the lies should be over.
Spot on David.
There may even be a Plebgate III concerning the decision of the Police Commissioners not to discipline the three Officers in question, but for the moment we have quite enough Plebgates to be getting on with.
Check-in's fine, again if one reads the instructions.
Personally I'd be sad if they became like all other airlines, but then not everybody enjoys the sport like me.
I wouldn't hold your breath. Was anyone sent down for the Stockwell shooting?
For example they won't let you book a seat so you have to stand in a queue for an hour or so in the departure lounge if you want to sit next to anyone you're travelling with. Then it is a loose scrum when you get on the plane with bags everywhere since they charge so much to check in luggage.
Also they run such a tight schedule for turnarounds that I'm convinced they come in to land far faster than other airlines. The last four flights I've had with them have bounced on the runway.
The whole experience is utterly unpleasant and I happily pay more for airlines that don't treat their customers like shit.
Silly GO.
While he's out there grovelling on all fours someone here is having to Tweet for him.
@abelardinelli: Minister admits he's no idea how much Swiss tax deal will raise - yet Osborne booked in over £3bn in autumn statement http://t.co/6B8svBfekg
A silly ignorant article, tim.
It was the OBR who put the estimate of over £3 bn tax revenue from the Swiss Tax Treaty into the March EFO for the 2013-14 fiscal year (admittedly after being pumped up by the Treasury).
In the OBR's commentary on the ONS release of the June 2013 Public Finances bulletin, Chote wrote:
The ONS have revised down their estimate of capital tax receipts from the UK-Swiss tax agreement from £3.2 billion (based on the forecast in the March 2013 EFO) to £0.3 billion (the pre-payment already received). This worsens the May PSNB by £2.9 billion. The decision reflects an announcement by the Swiss Bankers’ Association on 5 July that less revenue was being transferred to the UK than anticipated through this one-off levy.
It is important to understand the aim of the UK-Swiss tax agreement. It is designed to prevent those British nationals who are liable to pay capital gains tax in the UK from evading payments through non-disclosure of taxable assets held in Swiss Banks. Under the agreement, the Swiss Banks undertook to make payments to the UK on behalf of those of its British clients who did not wish to disclose their assets to HMRC.
However, Switzerland later signed up to a global agreement which required their banks to exchange information with other jurisdictions on assets held by foreign nationals. This made it much riskier for a UK national to continue hiding their assets from HMRC and resulted in much higher direct disclosure than previously anticipated. So what HMRC lost from Swiss Banks paying in lieu, it gained from direct assessments.
[to be continued ...]
[...continued]
The SBA statement in July summarised the position:
First indications from selected banks in Switzerland show that there are fewer untaxed UK assets in Switzerland than had been previously assumed. This is mainly due to the fact that many clients have resident non-domiciled status. These clients are not liable to taxation in the UK and thus do not fall under the Agreement. Furthermore, numerous UK clients have opted for voluntary disclosure, which comes as no surprise given the latest developments in Switzerland with regard to the announced adoption of a global standard for the automatic exchange of information.
In spite of the shift towards direct declaration, the Treasury has continued to receive payments from the Swiss Banks. By the time of the OBR's commentary on the August finances, it was able to report:
Capital tax receipts from the UK-Swiss tax agreement are likely to be less than the £3.2 billion estimate included in the March 2013 EFO. A further payment from the Swiss authorities has been received, bringing the total payment so far to £0.7 billion, which is accrued to May 2013.
Chote also noted that even though indirect receipts were much lower than he originally forecast they had still contributed to net reductions in public sector borrowing. He also suggested that the Treasury, HMRC and the OBR get together to rework forecast receipts from the Swiss and other similar agreement before the OBR released its next EFO at the time of the autumn forecast.
So to summarise. The original over optimistic forecast by the OBR (not George Osborne) was withdrawn and no longer appears in the ONS Public Finances figures. Only actual receipts are now being booked. Lower receipts from the Swiss Banks does not mean that all due tax has been lost: HRMC are likely to have made up much of the orginal forecast from direct disclosure. Money is still being received from the Swiss Banks. Even after reducing the forecast for Swiss receipts, cumulative Public Sector Net Borrowing is already lower than the original OBR forecast. So this is already a "non-story". A full reconciliation of receipts and new forecasts are expected in time for the OBR's next EFO release due in December.