14 Feb 2017

The Scottish Conservatives have demanded finance secretary Derek Mackay addresses Holyrood over the country’s business rates crisis.

Increasing numbers of organisations are protesting at the revaluation scheme, which has seen some pay more than double their current taxation.

Now the SNP has been urged to take action and explain what it intends to do to solve the problem.

Two newspapers are campaigning on behalf of businesses, many of whom say they face closure as a result of the hikes.

A formal request has gone into Scottish Parliament authorities from the Scottish Conservatives for Mr Mackay to give a statement when MSPs return next week.

When challenged on the issue previously, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon merely said there would be an opportunity to appeal for individual businesses.

Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson said:

“This revaluation could see businesses across the country going under, it’s as simple as that.

“If that’s not cause for the SNP government to act, I don’t know what is.

“While Nicola Sturgeon obsesses with Brexit and independence, Scottish companies large and small are staring down the barrel of a gun.

“This revaluation is threatening jobs and the wider economy, and needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency.”

Scottish Conservative shadow finance secretary Murdo Fraser said:

“This is fast becoming a crisis for businesses the length and breadth of the country.

“Many say they face closure, while others are being forced to hike their prices to cover these increased costs.

“This is not an acceptable state of affairs, and we need to know what Scotland’s finance secretary intends to do about this.

“It’s time for the SNP to prove it’s not an anti-business government and take some meaningful action to help these businesses which are the lifeblood of our economy.”

The Scottish Conservatives have raised the issue of business rates on a number of occasions since the revaluation: http://www.scottishconservatives.com/2017/02/ruth-calls-for-immediate-review-of-revaluation-of-business-rates/ http://www.scottishconservatives.com/2016/09/leading-businesses-appeal-to-snp-over-unfair-rates-hike/

The Herald launched a campaign today on the issue: http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/15089947.Can_t_pay__won_t_pay__Licensed_trade_to_fight__new_Poll_Tax__following_closure_fears/
 

14 February 2017

The Green Party has responded to news this morning that the gig-economy is thought to cost the Government £4billion in lost taxes. [1]

Jonathan Bartley, Green Party co-leader, said:

“The news that insecure work is hurting public finances reinforces what we already knew – insecure work is bad for everyone.

“The gig-economy offers flexibility but in reality leaves workers without basic rights and vulnerable to exploitation. Add to this the lost tax revenue which could be supporting greater social security or the NHS, and it’s clear that the Government has been left standing by a rapidly changing world. It needs to get a grip on the gig-economy.”

The news comes just days after pressure from the Green Party saw the Government finally publish (on February 10) a report into employment status law which was completed more than a year ago. [2]

Bartley added:

“The extent of the Government’s apathy and inertia was revealed last week when it finally published the Coalition’s shelved review into employment status law, which warned back in 2015 that gig-economy workers were at risk.

“While Tory ministers shamefully sat on the findings of the report workers everywhere have been living with increasing insecurity. People need jobs they can build a life on, and they need them now.”

Notes:

1. https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/feb/14/insecure-work-bad-uk-economy-tuc-zero-hours-contracts
2. https://www.greenparty.org.uk/news/2017/02/10/green-pressure-sees-government-finally-publish-shelved-employment-status-law-review/

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The CPI index fell 0.5% in January compared to December. Food prices also fell 0.5% over the same time period, despite the bad weather effects on vegetables.

Core inflation  over the last twelve months stayed at the same level as in  December, at 1.6%.

Overall the CPI  rose  by 1.8% over the last twelve months. This was a higher annual rate than December owing to the fall out of a very good month a year ago. The main factor, accounting for half the annual increase came from higher oil prices affecting transport. The UK inflation rate is mirroring the German and US rates, affected by the same world oil price rise. The other most buoyant item was the increase over the last year in restaurant and hotel bills, reflecting higher wages.

January’s figures were helped by falls in clothing and footwear prices, and by the intense supermarket competition which kept food prices down.

China’s State Council has published a medium and long-term plan to prevent and treat chronic diseases in the next five to 10 years.

The plan, made public on Tuesday, aims to improve people’s health, lower the onset risks of high-risk populations, and improve the patient quality of life.

The plan made lowering the premature mortality of major chronic diseases a core target, saying that by 2020 and 2025 the premature mortality rate of cardiovascular disease, as well as cancer and chronic respiratory diseases among the groups aged between 30 and 70 will drop by 10 percent and 20 percent, respectively, compared with 2015.

The plan put forward eight areas to be improved, including health education, standard diagnosis and treatment, health insurance and aid policies.

China has extended penalty restrictions against people who default on their court orders, keeping them from traveling by plane, applying for loans and credit cards, or getting promoted.

“There has been 6.73 million defaulters on the Supreme People’s Court’s (SPC) blacklist,” said Meng Xiang, chief of the SPC’s enforcement bureau.

So far, 6.15 million people who defaulted have been restricted from purchasing plane tickets and 2.22 million barred from travelling by high-speed train, which are usually more expensive.

The SPC has cooperated with airlines and railway companies from December last year to bar those who default from purchasing tickets, based on ID card information and their passports, according to Meng.

Previously, the ban was only based on ID card numbers, and many bought tickets with their passports to circumvent the ban.

“In addition, the SPC signed memos with 44 units including the National Development and Reform Commission to share information of defaulters in order to extend penalty restrictions,” Meng said.

Altogether 71,000 people who defaulted have been restricted from serving as corporate representatives and executives, according to SPC figures.

The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, a major commercial bank, has rejected more than 550,000 loan and credit card applications from people who have defaulted.

“The courts include government staff, members of local legislative and political advisory bodies, and Communist Party of China congress delegates on its blacklist, with some receiving punishment including expulsion and demotion,” Meng said, without disclosing exact figures.

The deterrent is effective, and nearly 1 million defaulters have voluntarily fulfilled their court orders.