Jimmy Carr earns £3million before tax, and earns nearly £3 million after tax.
Jimmy Carr has been caught red handed and is now very red faced …because he was caught.
Remarkable how the Celebrity World rallies round and gives voice in his support. How strange when not so very long ago they were baying for, not just Banker’s blood, but that of highly successful businessmen who received bonuses.
5Live today began the Carr’s damage limitation with Victoria Derbyshire raising the question ‘Is it now open season for celebrities’….she then slipped in …’and politicians?’
The BBC seemed entirely unconcerned about Carr ‘avoiding’ tax and seem solely intent on diverting attention onto Cameron and his statement that Carr was ‘morally wrong’….and the prospect of delving into politician’s tax affairs…because of course we all know those rich Tory Toffs have all sorts of highly questionable financial arrangements designed to keep the poor people poor.
Apparently Cameron had ‘shamed’ Carr….Carr’s name dragged through the mud and unfairly targeted.
Richard Bacon also raised that question today on his show…the question isn’t now about Carr’s tax dodge but about Cameron questioning his morality….is it fair or right that a politician should talk of morality?
The emphasis has change completely to suit the usual BBC narrative and desired outcome…that of pillorying the Tories.
Funny how they take the same line as the Labour leader Ed Miliband who claimed…”I’m not in favour of tax avoidance obviously, but I don’t think it is for politicians to lecture people about morality.”
The BBC were quite happy to allow Miliband his moment of basking in his lack of morality but made an effort to drag out something Cameron had said a few weeks ago which was barely relevant but was held to be significant by the BBC allegedly proving Cameron’s untrustworthiness. (unfortunately I can’t remember what that was).
However the BBC were not so diligent in asking just how true was Miliband’s statement….after all he was the man who said
‘it was “clearly wrong” for former Royal Bank of Scotland chief Fred Goodwin to be knighted.’
“It’s right that it should be revoked.”
The same Miliband who launched a ‘witch hunt’ against bankers…..”I think the whole culture has got to change,” he told Sky News. “We need restraint right across the board in our banking industry and I think business and Government should lead that change.”
‘The boss of Royal Bank of Scotland should not get a bonus this year, Ed Miliband has said, as his party seeks to intensify pressure on the issue. The Labour leader told the BBC that, “if responsibility means anything”, Stephen Hester should not get a payout.’
or the man who called for a ‘new morality’ in business and public life.
The BBC are attacking Cameron from another angle…he condemned Carr but has refused to comment specifically about Gary Barlow.
I wonder why the BBC take this approach…maybe they get their cue from the Labour Party as usual:
‘The Labour MP said: “The prime minister rushed to the TV studios to condemn the tax avoidance scheme used by Jimmy Carr but he did not take the opportunity to condemn as morally repugnant the tax avoidance scheme used by Conservative supporter Gary Barlow, who’s given a whole new meaning to the phrase ‘Take That’. ‘
I see this third rate “comedian” is apologising – one wonders if the apology is more for the embarrassment of being caught out, than anything…
‘….maybe they get their cue from the Labour Party….’
Maybe in fact the Labour Party get their cue from the BBC?
I noticed Norman ‘but Labour say’ Smith on BBC News 24 very shortly after news of Cameron’s pronoucement broke. Smith was already taking the line of questioning the PM’s tactics for the reason ‘some people’ might point to the tax affairs of Conservative supporters. His comment was, of course, unattributed.
Either our Norman is very closely plugged into the Labour press office or there is some uncanny parallel thinking going on.
Got a look at the Guardian today at work.
Each and every story has made it onto the BBcs news output this morning-and in some cases, you sense that the more column inches the story got,; the higher up the BBCs list of items it became.
A near-perfect correlation in many cases….and when Humphrys said that he`d read Milibands “article” in the Guardian; you know a researcher had highlighted it for him…for there was no article, just a hotch potch of an interview.
I do wonder about this toxic trident of the left-Guardian, BBC and Labour Party. Probably worth an investigation into who leads, how and why they do so…a three legged cocaine spoon race to hell.
The moment Cameron commented specifically on Jimmy Carr’s tax affairs (foolishly, in my opinion), it gave opportunistic Labour MPs the chance to run with the ‘what about those rich Tory donors’ theme.
It’s interesting that the BBC were content to report this case, along with many of Labour’s retorts, when they were very reluctant to report on Ken Livinstone’s tax avoidance scheme.
It would seem that at the BBC, an individual’s tax avoidance is a reportable issue when it can create awkwardness for the nasty Tories, but not when it might cause trouble for their friends in Labour.
Very true about Livingstone. During the Mayor elections he had major questions to answer. He repeatedly claimed his tax returns were on his website – it was a lie, they weren’t.
I say major questions of course, but not from the BBC, they never posed the question.
Not forgetting of course, it was Livingstone that had raised the issue of people avoiding tax in the first place. It turned out he was the worst offender (possibly the only offender). The BBC were simply not interested. But now they think they can get something on Cameron, they clear all the schedules, Radio 5 goes at it all day.
This is possibly the biggest area of BBC bias, that of simply deciding what makes the headlines, i.e. setting the news agenda.
Questions about Livingstone’s tax affairs? – Move along, nothing to see here
Questions about the comedian’s tax affairs? – somehow the BBC manages to turn it into a anti-Tory witchhunt.
Exactly – it can’t take a genius to work out that the Labour Party have upped their opportunistic attacks in recent months. There’s nothing they haven’t got a comment at the moment and probably couldn’t believe their luck when Boy Wonder pitched in on this one.
Mind you for Labour to call for Gary Barlow to have his OBE rescinded is a bit rich when you consider how many politicians hang on to their honours in Parliament with their track records.
Labour adopt the “permanent campaign” theory of politics, and they are simply much better at it than the Tories who are amateurs in comparison.
Plus of course the vast majority of independent (but not neutral) organisations are pro the Labour, e.g. trade unions, charities, and of course the BBC – which is where we came in.
The BBC have completely avoided the hypocrisy of Jimmy Carr having a go at bankers for doing exactly what he was doing. They’ve manufactured the Gary Barlow angle, but what I find most amazing are the comments. If you sort the comments by highest rated then people seem to be happy to excuse ‘Jimmy’ and instead have a go at Cameron. Is there any army of activists posting on the BBC?
Interesting to compare the BBC’s story against the Huffington Post’s version. The Huff’s story is much better written and the comments are more balanced. Maybe the Labour Party do have an army of activists posting comments!
And why Gary Barlow? Could it be that by helping out with the Jubilee he has made himself a target?
Is that labours morality then; targeting celebs who don’t tow the party line? Well, of course it is and has always been.
How’s Tony Benn’s tax affairs BTW?
The whole nest of vipers I could do without, but Labour’s merry crew, and its uniquely subsidised PR outfit rather take the biscuit for unsubtle petty vindictiveness on a selective basis. And, sadly have the means to exploit that trait to the full.
Gary Barlow is that rarest of creatures – a member of the so-called ‘creative community’ who has admitted to supporting the Conservatives. He’s got a target on his back just for that.
What really shocked me about this story is that Jimmy Carr earns anything from what he does.
The number of fellow lefty comedians who have closed ranks to defend him would suggest that many of them are benefiting from similar arrangements.
The comedy DVD is a big earner for the better known performers. That’s why, in the run up to Christmas, you can’t turn on your TV without seeing one of them plugging their latest show.
…but I agree – it was surprising to find out just how much this bloke earns in a year. That’s probably the element of the story that the other ubiquitous BBC lefty comedians are most troubled about – not that one of their own avoided paying enormous amounts of tax, but that it has revealed to everyone just how wealthy a lot of them really are.
Cameron has no one to blame except himself. He should never have attacked a private citizen.
The BBC is trying to divert attention because they use licence fee payers money to set up tax avoidance schemes for their top stars. I wonder if any of them are in the K2 club?
Spot on! That’s exactly what the BBC is doing. I’m willing to bet that NONE of the highly paid scum such as Paxman, Marr, Humprhys et. al pay straight-forward income tax. Joanna Gosling is simple autocue operative on the BBC News channel who for some reason is paid £100k. Even she is paid through a company so that she can avoid 45% tax. BTW, she is the wife of Chris Oliver, Cameron’s official spokesman. So, if even she is doing this, then do we really think Paxman, is paying 45% tax? Rhetorical question !!
How did Joanna Goslings earnings become public knowledge? Was it only hers or did other Beeboids with links to the Tories get outed?
Just seen this in Telegraph…
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/9347400/HBOS-took-Farepak-cash-in-knowledge-company-was-heading-for-the-brink.html
‘The bank, now part of Lloyds Banking Group, acted “unacceptably” forcing the directors of Farepak to take in millions of pounds of money just weeks before the company collapsed.
Justice Smith said: “I would suggest that HBOS really ought to … seriously consider whether or not they ought to make a further substantial contribution to the compensation fund. It seems to me that what happened here, whilst apparently legally acceptable, might not be regarded in the public’s eyes as being acceptable.” ‘
I wonder just how long it will take Miliband to jump on the bandwagon…question is will he condemn the judge for making a moral judgement?…because we now know such attitudes are not really acceptable…ie lecturing people about morality.
I’m sure he’ll try to have it both way and fully expect us plebs to be too stupid to notice. It’s the New Labour way – treat adults like children – you only have to listen to Miliband for a moment to wonder whether he’s addressing a class of eight year olds.
Notwithstanding that we as a nation are taxed too much (and will continue to be so until we have paid off Labour’s debts), Cameron, as PM and more importantly as a leader, was fully entitled to speak up – and was able to do, such was the sheer scale of Carr’s contrived arrangements and because the Chancellor had already signalled the Government’s view on ‘agressive tax avoidance’. Cameron though did not ‘out’ Carr, that was done by The Times and Danny Alexander. Cameron was asked to comment on the breaking story.
I listended to Derbyshire and was deeply troubled by the glee with which she read out a listener’s comment agreeing that Cameron and his Cabinet should come under scrutiny. Lets see what happens in the next few days was the gist of her response, adding to similar sentiments expressed by Stratton and Robinson, the previous day.
The BBC are going from bad to worse. Barely disguised, and to coin a phrase, some of their number seem to have declared was on the Government.
The question remains is this because of their institutional group think, or are they activists?
If they’d been paying more attention in recent years they’d know that members of the cabinet are required to give up any other sources of income while they hold their positions. Even Owen Shouty knows this – he learned the hard way. 🙂
The BBC’s bias over this has been more obvious than normal. Seriously, how do they get away with it and why aren’t the Tories taking them to task publically?
The BBC made a massive blunder today covering this story – Jimmy Carr’s house gates are flambouyant and have his address plastered all over them. It took all day and only until the ten o’clock news to blur that information out, so if gets any real confrontation – he’s got his blessed auntie Beeb to blame for that.
The Labour MP said: “The prime minister rushed to the TV studios to condemn the tax avoidance scheme used by Jimmy Carr
This, I think, is the BBC helpfully passing on a Labour lie. Cameron didn’t rush anywhere. He was doing a round of interviews in Mexico – all G20 related- I suspect – but when it was ITV’s turn, they asked about Carr and Cameron answered. He could haved dodged around the question as poiticians are wont to do, but then he might have got Cameron ducks question’ from the Beeb, as the did when he declined to comment about Gary Barlow.
The Same dishonesty was tried by supermodel Maitliss last night on Newsnight. She suggested, when questioning Jacob Rees Mogg, that the Prime Minister had ‘stepped into’ an argument on an individual’s affairs. He rightly corrected her by reminding everyone that there is a difference between ‘stepping into’ an issue and answering a question when asked. This made no impact on her line of questioning, though, as she went on to ask another guest whether it was right for the PM to ‘step into’ this issue in such a manner…
Stubbornly sloppy journalism.
A comment at ConHome raises a valid point about the workings of the K2 scheme, and the possibility of the BBC’s complicity…
http://conservativehome.blogs.com/thetorydiary/2012/06/jimmy-carr-martyr-to-socialism.html#IDComment386247343
ThomasAK001
The BBC are implicated in this up to their eyeballs. As I understand the scheme, it requires the actual employers/purchasers of Mr Carr’s services to do so through K2, a jersey based company established specifically to facilitate tax avoidance.
The less than stellar counter-arguments are sounding more and more like the only record they have to play, and a broken one.
In this day and age, in an era of global connectivity, folk are still thinking they can say ‘you don’t have to watch TV’ as a counter to objecting to the BBC’s output and double standards? And expect not to look simply silly.
Politicians pontificating on morality? In the Labour Party, and the BBC, they talk of little else, but only when it is applied to others.
“Do as I say, not as I do” – the creed of the Socialist.
Socialists go on about how great multiculturalism is, but they all live in all white areas.
I cut my comment from yesterday’s open thread because it really applies here –
I have already written to my MP to highlight this :
Jimmy Carr has apologised. He says he made a terrible error over tax. But if Jimmy Carr ‘made a terrible error’, what about the BBBC, who paid taxpayers money into a virtual company in a UK tax-shelter? Was that a ‘terrible error’ or corrupt collusion / being accessory to the fact?
I feel very strongly that the BBC should refuse to pay money to offshore tax vehicles. For everyone, not just Jimmy Carr, but for consultants, senior managers, and everyone who delivers a service to the BBC.
Also, Dave Cameron is criticising a comedian who is using a totally legitimate tax avoidance scheme. He is talking about changing the tax law. Instead, he should set out a principle for all Public companies, quangos, and government departments and government-supported charities to pay fees into offshore companies, or to participate / support any tax avoidance scheme.
It’s never a good idea for a national leader to go after a private citizen like this. Very foolish for a variety of reasons.
And the BBC are defending him again:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-18548896
The tone is that it’s all a bit of a joke. You know the kind of joke where you don’t pay any taxes despite EARNING millions of pounds joke. Ha ha, very funny.
BBC entertainment correspondent Colin Paterson said: “It was definitely a warm crowd. The heckling was not vicious – it was good natured. No-one debated with him. There were only smart alec comments.
“He seemed quite emotional at the end. He was quite contrite.”
Aw diddums, he’s emotional? Because he got caught not paying millions in taxes and had to stop because he’s worried about his career?
The BBC have another dig at Cameron, and for some reason they don’t mention the idea of him paying all the back taxes at all. I wonder why.
They also repeat that:
The K2 tax scheme used by Carr is a way of lowering the amount of tax paid. It is legal and Mr Carr made clear in his statement it was fully disclosed to tax authorities.
You could not come up with a gentler description of this if you tried. How about a more accurate description?
Using the K2 scheme Carr had millions in earnings funneled to a company in Jersey, where no tax is payable. This company then made a ‘loan’ to Carr of the money. Scheme users claim that since the money is merely on loan no tax is payable. However, since the money is Carr’s earnings in the first place, he evidently has no intention of paying it back, and a loan that is not to be paid back is not a loan at all, but rather income, and therefore taxable. The legality or otherwise of the scheme could only be determined in court, following a dispute that would cost HMRC millions in legal fees.
The BBC are not tax lawyers, they are not accountants, how the hell do they have the front to say the scheme is ‘legal’? The FT certainly does not say that
http://tinyurl.com/7568dad
The BBC certainly never reported for instance the Vodafone/HMRC tax dispute in such a soft manner.
The BBC are absolutely sickening and disgusting.
Just to repeat, whereas the BBC say
‘The K2 tax scheme … is a way of lowering the amount of tax paid’
the reality is that it is a way to pay NO TAX AT ALL, on millions.
You ‘lower’ your tax by working fewer hours, or putting money into a pension scheme. Claiming to have no income at all is another thing entirely.
The last few hours of random BBC listening this Saturday lunchtime tell you much about what you need to know about the whole shebang.
1. An uninterrupted Shirley Williams reckons that the Euro suffers as long as we`re not in it…therefore more Europe please…and no counter argument to this doyenne.
2. Two thick poppets and a luvvie or two rail at Goves efforts to reintroduce decent exam qualifications, neatly slaloming about those horrid unconfortable truths about how crap schools and their products now are.
3. Peter Hitchens berated for speaking uncomfortable truths about immigration and the EU…bear baiting of the intellect.
4. Yet-Marcus Brigstocke laid into Jimmy Carr…and I find myself liking the man for the first time…help! A 180 degree turn from his useless quisling defence of Carr on Newsnight.
I guess it`s not personal now-just a living! Fair enough.
Definitely believe that that you said. Your favourite justification seemed to be at the internet the easiest factor to be mindful of. I say to you, I definitely get irked even as other folks think about concerns that they plainly don’t recognize about. You managed to hit the nail upon the top and also outlined out the entire thing without having side-effects , other folks can take a signal. Will probably be back to get more. Thank you