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After endless exposures of bigotry, neo-facism, racism, misogyny and homophobia among the ranks of their activists, councillors, MSPs and MPs, are the Scottish Tories trying to do something useful. Here’s some of their ‘previous’:
Open Democracy Expose bad smell in funding of Scottish Tories
I told you. Tories cannot contain their inherent nastiness.
However, Scotland’s 13 Tory MPs have all written to the Chancellor to ask him to give the Scottish police and fire services VAT-exemption as is the case for their English equivalents. The anomaly is because the Scottish services are ‘national’ while the English services are ‘local’ thus exempt from VAT by HMRC under current legislation. Since 2013, Police Scotland has paid a total of £76.5 million in Vat and currently has a £25 million overspend despite an extra £55 million this year from the Scottish Government. It’s clear what is causing the overspend. As the Scottish Tories’ popularity seems to be falling again in the polls, I suspect the Chancellor might be more sympathetic to them than he has been to the same plea from the Scottish government over the last few years. So, admittedly useful but probably mainly self-interested like the DUP deal Theresa did to survive.
https://www.accountancylive.com/hmrc-warned-police-scotland-ps76m-vat-bill
Dream on.
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This, to me, has always been a disingenuous, even spiteful, policy by the Tories. The DUP’s pals in the PSNI do not pay VAT even though their situation is the same as Police Scotland. In fact when ‘academy’ and ‘free’ schools were introduced in England, taking these schools outwith local authority control and therefore becoming de facto businesses losing their VAT exemption status, Westminster simply changed the rules.
As there is no way the police or fire service can be remotely seen as businesses then a similar rule change could have been put in place years ago. Do the armed services (also not under control of local authorities) pay VAT?
I see this as nothing more than a ploy to big up the Ruth Davidson No Referendum Party to show how they are effectively “standing up for Scotland” while the SNPBad Party failed miserably to change the government’s mind – despite continually arguing for it.
If they do change their mind then that would indicate that it should have been possible at the beginning so our police and fire service will be due a rebate of the millions they have paid unnecessarily – no if, no buts, JUST PAY THE MONEY BACK..
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Very well said, Finn. Couldn’t have put it better.
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Hi John and The Allstars (much improved Masthead!)
Pleased to hear this news regarding Col. Davidson’s attempt to garner some plaudits in recovering the Police Scotland VAT payments plundered by UK Treasury. The leader of the north british accounting unit of the Tory Party should be able to pull in plenty of cross-party support for this demand. After all – the cross-party Transport Committee in the House of Commons when considering the situation of the British Transport Police in their report in 2004 made this very recommendation (below):
12. The law should be changed so that the British Transport Police Authority can
recover VAT. If this cannot be done, then an equivalent sum to the VAT charges
should be provided from public funds. Similarly, the Authority should either be
exempt from rates, or given extra funds to cover such costs. These operational
matters should have been properly worked out before the legislation had passed through Parliament. (Paragraph 41)
The membershp of the Committee (and the inquiry) in 2003 – 2004 was as follows (below):
The Transport Committee
The Transport Committee is appointed by the House of Commons to examine
the expenditure, administration, and policy of the Department of Transport and
its associated public bodies.
Current membership
Mrs Gwyneth Dunwoody MP (Labour, Crewe) (Chairman)
Mr Jeffrey M Donaldson MP (Democratic Unionist, Lagan Valley)
Mr Brian H. Donohoe MP (Labour, Cunninghame South)
Clive Efford MP (Labour, Eltham)
Mrs Louise Ellman MP (Labour/Co-operative, Liverpool Riverside)
Mr Ian Lucas MP (Labour, Wrexham)
Miss Anne McIntosh MP (Conservative, Vale of York)
Mr Paul Marsden MP (Liberal Democrat, Shrewsbury and Atcham)
Mr John Randall MP (Conservative, Uxbridge)
Mr George Stevenson MP (Labour, Stoke-on-Trent South)
Mr Graham Stringer MP (Labour, Manchester Blackley)
The following Member was as also a Member of the Committee during the
Inquiry;
Mr Gregory Campbell MP (Democratic Unionist, East Londonderry
Note the 2 DUP MPs (Jeffrey Donaldson and Gregory Campbell) – they are still MPs as are Clive Efford (Lab), Louise Ellman (Lab), Graham Stringer (Lab), Ann McIntosh (Tory) is now a ‘Baroness’ so can certainly support the move from the Lords.
Funny peculiar how this cross-party committee (Lab, Tory, Lib. Dem and DUP) in Westminster (including dear old Brian Donohoe) could see the logic of zero VAT rating or providing additional direct funding to compensate the British Transport Police – but their north british accounting unit colleagues in the Scottish Parliament have consistently ranted on that the VAT bill for Police Scotland was entierely correct and legitimate and the best of all possible arrangements in the best of all possible britnat worlds.
Couldn’t possibly have been a case of double-standards could it? – Surely not?
Cheers all, Ludo
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Nailed!
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I think Gerry Hassan described things pretty well in ‘The Strange Death of Labour Scotland’ when he described the rotten boroughs that were the constituency parties of the Scottish accounting unit. In the main most of them were in it for themselves rather than for the wider benefit of the populace. Many of them simply hate people who are not one of them. Sadly, people from this clique and mindset still comprise the biggest number of the accounting unit’s MSPs. When I saw the photograph of Mr Anas Sarwar and his supporters at the start of the leadership campaign, I felt pessimistic. We need a leftish party which participates constructively in the polity, but this squad only know one line: “It shouldnae be youse. It should be us. So we’re no playin.” It is a dog-in-the-manger attitude.
I think there is a glimmer, and only a glimmer, in the intake of new councillors and amongst some of the unexpectedly elected MPs. Until this parcel o’ rogues is cleared out of Holyrood, there is little hope for the accounting unit.
Probably, and fortunately, the Colonel’s squad has a chance of changing the Chancellor’s mind regarding VAT on Police Scotland. Opinion polls are indicating that the ‘recovery’ in Scotland is on the slide. The reality of the kind of nasty people who are associated with the Scottish Tories is so bad, that even the msm have had to report on their iniquities. In Westminster, in the jostling for position, probably the Colonel is nearer to Mr Hammond than to any others (despite the fact that she might well be in the running for a Westminster seat) and so, he might be prepared to do her a favour. After all, he is the man who prunes the ‘money tree’.
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Good riddance Ruth?
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