The comments on my blog are my own comments, some recycled from media in bits

Tax problems in UK

Barclay twins' Ritz hotel pays no corporation tax

London's Ritz hotel has been owned by the Barclay twins through an offshore trust since 1995

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• Profile: The Barclay brothers

London's high-end Ritz hotel has not paid any corporation tax in the 17 years since it was taken over by the reclusive Barclay twins.

The BBC's Panorama programme analysed the accounts of the hotel bought by the brothers in 1995.

The accounts show that the profitable hotel has used a series of tax reliefs to reduce its corporation tax to zero.

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“Start Quote

They're incredibly wealthy men who don't pay British tax”

Nadine Dorries, MP

The brothers said they have not run their UK companies since they retired to Monaco more than 20 years ago.

Test case

The Ritz's efforts to reduce its tax bill are legal but have raised questions at a time when another firm bought by Sir David Barclay and Sir Frederick Barclay, Littlewoods, is embroiled in a legal battle with HMRC.

The brothers also own the Daily and Sunday Telegraph newspaper titles.

The catalogue company Littlewoods, bought by the twins in 2002, has already won a VAT rebate plus interest worth £472m from HMRC over payments dating back to 1973.

But the twins' company has gone to court to demand a further £1bn from the government in compound interest.

It is an important test case for taxpayers because if Littlewoods wins, it could open the door to claims worth billions of pounds from other companies.

MP Nadine Dorries said: "They're incredibly wealthy men who don't pay British tax. I think it is just utterly appalling."

The twins said they have had nothing to do with the running of the UK companies.

"We have not attended office, management or board meetings in the UK since leaving the country," Sir David Barclay said in a statement. "My brother and I have no editorial, political or economic power in the UK."

Littlewoods, the Ritz and the Telegraph are controlled by offshore trusts. However, the trusts were set up by the twins and one of the brothers attends the trust meetings.

Richard Murphy, from the Tax Justice Network, said: "These meetings are taking place in Monaco, but there is no doubt that sitting right in the middle of the meetings are the Barclay brothers who are therefore able to exercise control of these companies."

'Responsible way'

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Panorama: Find out more

• John Sweeney presents Panorama: The Tax Haven Twins
• BBC One, Monday, 17 December at 20:30 GMT

• Then available in the UK on the BBC iPlayer

The UK businesses are managed by Sir David's son, Aidan Barclay. He told the programme that Littlewoods lodged its VAT claim before the family took over the company.

"This represents tax taken incorrectly by HMRC and held incorrectly for many years, facts which HMRC publicly recognise and accept," he said.

"Directors of companies have legal responsibilities and duties to recover and secure their companies' assets from the perspective of each company itself and its various stakeholders. It would be a dereliction of their duties not to pursue repayments which are properly due from HMRC."

Aidan Barclay also said that the Ritz had not paid any dividends, and profits from the hotel had been reinvested.

"The Barclay family members and their companies abide by the law and pay the taxes required by UK law and the laws of other relevant countries."

In a statement Sir David Barclay said: "We have always acted in a responsible way with regard to taxation and have never been involved in any tax avoidance scheme. We are not responsible for corporate taxes in the UK and are unaware what tax is paid on the Ritz."

Green Party Leader - Natalie Bennett in Reading

Packed schedule for party leader's visit to Reading and Wokingham

14 DECEMBER 2012

It's hard to believe that we've already passed 100 days since Natalie Bennett became our second party leader in succession to Caroline Lucas - the woman who famously has the uncanny ability to apparently be in three places at once. I can't count the number of times I've heard her dubbed "a hard act to follow".

Proving herself to be an equally energetic public face of the Green Party, Natalie has been tireless in her efforts to connect with party activists across England and Wales since taking on the role as party leader. Yesterday was Reading and Wokingham's chance to get the measure of Natalie Bennett.

Her first appointment was with Shinfield parish councillor Marjory Bisset and her neighbours who are concerned about new housing development that threatens to destroy the character of their village.

Shinfield parish councillor Marjory Bisset showing Natalie the site of the proposed housing development on Reading University land

From there Natalie was whisked back to RISC for lunch with local activists before a visit to Reading's homelessness project Launchpad, which included a tour of one of their newly refurbished properties.

Natalie with Ian Caren, chief executive of Launchpad (launchpadreading.org.uk)

The Living Wage is a key component of the Green Party's belief in fairness so we set up a meeting with local UNISON representatives whose members are facing unprecedented erosion of their working conditions and discussed the possibilty of moving Reading Borough Council to being an accredited Living Wage employer.

Anti-fracking demonstration in London saturday.

Around 400 of us, Friends of the Earth and many Green Party Councillors attended and the Leader of the Green Party, Natalie Bennet addressed the rally.

Letter sent to Parliament to ask them to stop fracking in the UK because of the unsafe practices of this type of blast extraction! Recent testing in Birmingham has resulted in  homeowners living nearby this test to blame the process on new cracks now appearing in their properties! 

We are at War, the war against our Beautiful Heritage! Our English Countryside and Welsh and Scottish! The environment can only take so much! It is coming under threat from more extraction of raw materials, excessive building and more pollution into our sea and rivers. Plus if the Rail Line HS2 from London to Edinburgh goes ahead, we will see it go through 13 beautiful wildlife sites and disturb many woodlands which will take years to grow back if ever!  All for the sake of around 40 mins less travel time!!

We need to preserve our countryside and woodlands and eco-system, using permaculture more, cutting down on food waste and only manufacturing products which will rot down better and look at more Green Energy for the UK using solar and hydro and wind more.

Flooding in Mill Green, Caversham pathway at back of homes still not passable. Environmental Agency pumping out water at the back of Deans Road Properties, many cars damaged there through water.

Cold snap on its way now, no extra rain fall forecast for next two weeks so hopefully levels will reduce a bit more, but with water management decreasing with the loss of lock keepers on the Thames who do a fantastic job and building on flood plains, we need to keep building out of these areas. 

More house building on the cards in South Oxfordshire....


But with plenty of homes vacant and owners out of the country, more needs to be done to get owners to either sell or make their homes habitable for a family or couple who need housing in the UK.

Sonning Bridge closed today. Train and road chaos because of high flooding not seen since 2007 in Berkshire and along the River Thames.

Now cold weather coming....   plenty of hot spicy soups and brisk walks for our hearts x

Been out with Caversham Globe today litter picking off Peppard Road

Caversham Shopping Event weds 12th from 5pm - 9pm - lots to choose from.  Come by bicycle or walk or by bus to help with congestion expected!

Flooding

Thames on flood alert from Goring to Henley-on-Thames.
For advice contact 08459 88 11 88 or you can go into The BMW office next to the Reading Station.
Reading Borough Council's website www.reading.gov.uk also has details to help with advice on sandbags and tips on securing your property from flooding.

First Person: University strives to be clean and green

The University of Reading’s annual Green Week is getting under way today.

Energy officer Tom Yearley explains how the eco-friendly campus is boosting its green credentials and gives details of the activities taking place to celebrate its environmental successes.

Visitors to our wonderful parkland Whiteknights Campus often comment on its beauty.

Our Grounds Team work exceptionally hard to make it a place to be enjoyed by all, but people may not be aware of the other ‘green’ successes at The University of Reading.

In March 2011, The University of Reading committed to reduce its carbon emissions by 35 per cent by 2015/16.

In just two years I’m delighted to report that we are almost halfway to that target.

What better way to announce our annual Green Week?

In 2011/12, the university recycled more than 50 per cent of all waste produced and since 2008/09 we’ve reduced our carbon footprint by 16.5 per cent, saving almost £4 million.

Green Week aims to celebrate environmental successes over the last year and, crucially, highlights ways further successes can be achieved.

As one of the world’s top one per cent universities Reading has a duty to be as environmentally friendly as possible, especially given we are world leaders in areas of environmental research such as meteorology, climate change and soil science.

We also take immense pride in our eco-friendly campuses.

So what can we all look forward to during Green Week?

Monday’s Battle of Bins will see Sir David Bell, the university’s vice-chancellor, going head to head with Student Union president James Fletcher in a race at 1pm to see who can make haste with the waste.

Who can separate and recycle the most rubbish the fastest? Expect cheering and jeering!

Later that day an evening of interactive debate and discussion on the topic of environment and sustainability in our region gets under way with a thought-provoking presentation by Dr Marina Della Giusta, an expert in behavioural and social economics.

In Wednesday’s public lecture Professor Janet Barlow will explore the meteorological processes controlling our city temperatures and ask if it’s possible to design our cities to beat the heat in the future.

Throughout the week university Fine Art students will show videos of their interpretation of green ... in a skip!

I hope to see many of you next week and that you enjoy our fourth Green Week.

Visit www.reading.ac.uk/cleanandgreen for more.

Recycling inLower Earley

Lower Earley is one of the first locations in the country to launch a nationwide recycling scheme.

A collection box has been set up at Earley CResCent Community Resource Centre, in Warbler Drive, for people to drop off coffee packaging waste.

The scheme, set up by Kenco and TerraCycle, raises money for the Pancreatic Cancer Research Fund.

Line dancing group Step’n’Stetsons, which meets at the centre, arranged for the collection box to be put in place.

Member Brenda Nicolaou said: “The aim is not only to save as much coffee packaging waste from landfill as possible but also to raise as much as possible for this worthy cause.”