libitina Report post Posted January 12, 2006 http://www.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30000-1208903,00.html Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
libitina Report post Posted January 12, 2006 Prescott apologises on tax bill Mr Prescott says he thought he was paying the tax Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott has apologised after admitting council tax bills for one of his official homes were paid with taxpayers' money. A total of £3,830.52 in public money was used since 1997 to pay tax for the flat at Admiralty House, London. Mr Prescott, who is in charge of council tax, said it was a mistake and he was reimbursing the government. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4607110.stm Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
algor Report post Posted January 12, 2006 And he owes another £6000 to the council. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JohnG Report post Posted January 12, 2006 Bless him, 20 years behind. It's only recently he found out that our Paymaster General didn't pay her 'poll tax' when it first came out. So that's the secret folks. Become a Tax Evader, get a senior Government job. Sheesh :angry: Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mushroom Report post Posted January 12, 2006 Just what is going on here? Am I really expected to believe that this has been "overlooked" considering the fact that Prescott has many minions in his department? Someone is presumably responsible for the upkeep, maintenance etc. of this property. Therefore when it changed, from presumably being a property for Government use to one for the use of the DPM only, surely the allocation of the costs would have been sorted out. It's this drip drip of lack of probity that so gets to me. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
laurejon Report post Posted January 12, 2006 Come on now, we are knit picking here. Is it really an issue if one of the heads of a Socialist State choses to use the peoples funds to subsidise his lifestyle. Think yourselves lucky this is an anonomous chat forum otherwise the Statsi will be over to your house tonight to shut you up for good!!!!. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BuyingBear Report post Posted January 12, 2006 That's quite a large misunderstanding, not that I would expect anything other of Prescott, Sylvia Hardy was jailed for failure to pay arrears of £53.71, which is less than 4 weeks interest on the total of £10,330.52 that Two Fingers Prescott owes. They're as filthy as the last government, if Blunkett is anything to go by they actually revel in the sex and corruption. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Bart of Darkness Report post Posted January 12, 2006 Mr Prescott, who is in charge of council tax, said it was a mistake What, that he got found out? Anyway, why should a Commissar have to pay taxes on his dacha? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BuyingBear Report post Posted January 12, 2006 (edited) Prescott's council tax warning "Some councils have the cheek - and yes I call it a cheek - to hike up their council tax after receiving large increases and then blame it on the government. " [...] Mr Prescott - whose department is responsible for local government and the regions. [...] "No-one was robbed. They all got more. Every single one of them." He added local government had received "more money, more jobs, more services, more powers, more freedoms, more flexibilities" The cheek, indeed, two big fat cheeks! Edited January 12, 2006 by BuyingBear Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BuyingBear Report post Posted January 12, 2006 (edited) What, that he got found out? Anyway, why should a Commissar have to pay taxes on his dacha? Indeed, he has already dedicated himself a special "Zil lane" so he can be driven from central London to Heathrow without sodding peasants in their tractors getting in the way. In mother russia they're honest about such things, but in the UK they're not for "government vehicles lanes" but "bus lanes", that'll fool the proles and those who see through the sham will be lambasted for being opposed to the non-existent buses. In Moscow it was (and still is, for all I know) the custom for main roads to have reserved lanes down the centre reserved for the "Zil" limos of high party members. In the egalitarian West this was seen as the proof of the corruption of the Communist oligarchy. Who now uses the M4 bus lane? Blair, Brown, Prescott and the others as their motorcades speed from their dachas, or Heathrow, into central London. Of course, this is excused on the grounds of "Security". Edited January 12, 2006 by BuyingBear Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
madenph Report post Posted January 12, 2006 Indeed, he has already dedicated himself a special "Zil lane" so he can be driven from central London to Heathrow without sodding peasants in their tractors getting in the way. In mother russia they're honest about such things, but in the UK they're not for "government vehicles lanes" but "bus lanes", that'll fool the proles and those who see through the sham will be lambasted for being opposed to the non-existent buses. http://www.cbrd.co.uk/indepth/m4buslane/ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
laurejon Report post Posted January 13, 2006 Unveiled today, Tony Blairs vision of the future of the British Road Network. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
backtoparents Report post Posted January 13, 2006 Time to wheel out the Hutton, Tony. Bet Gordon is having a good chuckle at this. btp Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rockdoctor Report post Posted January 13, 2006 Prezza doesn't go in the slammer because the council tax was actually paid by his dept. He claims he thought that one of his allowances included having the tax paid, so left it to staff to deal with. They paid it. Current claim is that he was right all along but is coughing up to reimburse his dept for PR purposes. He basically hasn't grasped that, even if you are entitled to all these freebies as part of your job, it can look very bad to the voting, taxpaying public. It's called "P O L I T I C S" John, surely you've learned some of the rules by now? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
uro_who Report post Posted January 13, 2006 (edited) I work for the government too, maybe I can ask my hospital to pay my council tax directly? I doubt it though as they won't even pay for coffee or sandwiches at the clinical meetings we hold during lunch time. Or the phone that I have to have because I'm on call. Or the car parking. Or the release fee for the twice I've been clamped in my own hospital when on call (and covering 2 different hospitals). How the other half live. Edited January 13, 2006 by uro_who Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SarahBell Report post Posted January 13, 2006 At a local charity shop the volunteers have been told they can only have 1 brew per shift. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
erranta Report post Posted January 13, 2006 (edited) Spelman puts brakes on Two Jags Jan 13 2006 By Jonathan Walker, Political Editor John Prescott has apologised for failing to pay Council Tax on his grace-and-favour home - after the error was exposed by Midland MP Caroline Spelman. The Deputy Prime Minister - the Cabinet Minister responsible for the council tax - said the taxpayer had footed the bill for the Westminster flat for eight years, because of a "genuine misunderstanding". He admitted failing to pay following a long-running inquiry by Meriden MP Mrs Spelman, his opposite number in the Conservative Shadow Cabinet. She posed a series of Parliamentary questions, starting last June, and made six requests for information under the Freedom of Information Act last August. However, Mr Prescott said he had not realised there were any problems with his council tax payments until yesterday. The Deputy Prime Minister has lived rent-free since 1997 in Admiralty House, the 18th century former home of the First Lord of the Admiralty near Trafalgar Square. The property receives a discount on council tax, and only £3,830.52 has been due since then. But Mr Prescott admitted yesterday that even this sum had been paid out of public funds. The Government had been paying the bills on the flat before he moved in, and continued to do so once he was living there. He has now apologised to the House of Commons and reimbursed the government departments that were paying the bill. In a written statement to the House of Commons, Mr Prescott said: "In 1997, the Government carried on paying council tax as before on the flat and claimed a discount on a second home/company basis. "This was not confirmed with me and nor was any advice given to me at the time. "On reviewing the situation, I am now aware that an inadvertent error has occurred, based on a genuine misunderstanding." Mr Prescott has further insisted future Council Tax bills are sent straight to him personally. Mrs Spelman, Shadow to the Deputy Prime Minister, said: "At a time when pensioners are being jailed for not paying their Council Tax, the public will find it galling that the man who has forced up their bills hasn't had to pay it himself." As if! Prescott knew about the exact issue because it was being investigated SEVEN Months ago! Latest press release13/01/2006 Prescott forced to apologise over council tax blunder Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott has been forced to apologise for failing to pay council tax on his official residence for eight years. In a statement Prescott said it was a “genuine misunderstanding.†He apologised to the House of Commons and reimbursed the relevant government departments. The deputy prime minister pays full council tax on his family home in Hull and used to pay it on the trade union flat he occupied in Clapham, south London. Prescott owed £3,830 on the ministerial flat in Admiralty House, near Trafalgar Square. In the statement Prescott added: “I am now aware that an inadvertent error has occurred. I have therefore issued this answer to a parliamentary question to correct the record and to fully apologise to the House." Edited January 13, 2006 by erranta Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SarahBell Report post Posted January 13, 2006 Anyone got a list of all the naughty ministers and the things they've done since '97? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
libitina Report post Posted January 13, 2006 Anyone got a list of all the naughty ministers and the things they've done since '97? What? All of them? I think the server would crash. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
algor Report post Posted January 13, 2006 (edited) Anyone got a list of all the naughty ministers and the things they've done since '97? 1. Lie relentlessly. 2. Incompetence bordering on criminality. 3. ....... etc Edited January 13, 2006 by algor Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BuyingBear Report post Posted January 13, 2006 1. Lie relentlessly. 2. Incompetence bordering on criminality. 3. ....... etc Plus half a dozen wars? And hounding a scientist to death. At least they haven't done any of the real bad stuff they accused the sleazy Tory's of, like roggering your secretary... ...hrm, wait a minute! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
