Tag Archives: political

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Tax transparency: Jeremy Corbyn’s tax return

A Jeremy Corbyn spokesperson said:

“Jeremy’s tax return is complete and accurate. He has declared all income and paid the appropriate amount of tax.

“The payment he received in 2015-16 as Leader of the Opposition of £27,192 appears on the return as a ‘benefit’ rather than as pay because that is how it is categorised by HMRC.

“This figure is calculated after deducting the waivers Jeremy has made of earlier increases to the benefit. These waivers were also made by his predecessor, Ed Miliband. A parliamentary pension contribution of £3,395 was also deducted (see note).

“We are disappointed the Cabinet Office did not clarify this and explain the figure used on the P60 yesterday in answer to media inquiries they received.

“It is also a matter of concern that some media organisations made entirely false claims without verifying or confirming the facts, and we expect these now to be corrected.

“The owners of the media companies that have attempted to cast doubt over Jeremy’s transparent and accurate tax return are of course among those who could stand to lose from the tax transparency and justice the British people demand.

“Jeremy believes firmly in transparency. These media barons have tax questions of their own to answer. Tax avoidance and evasion deprive the public purse of billions in revenue for vital services and is unfair on those with much lower earnings who pay a higher proportion of their income in tax.”

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Labour • • •

News story: Technologies of the future: apply for business funding

Innovate UK has up to £15 million to support business projects that stimulate new products and services through emerging and enabling technologies. These technologies could be the basis for billion-pound industries of the future.

Emerging technologies

Emerging technologies are newly developed sciences, where the best application and value is yet to be realised. Examples include quantum technologies, graphene and 2D materials, biofilms, energy harvesting and synthetic biology.

Enabling technologies

Enabling technologies can have wide applicability. Many industries could benefit from advances in areas such as machine learning, compound semiconductors, and earth observation. Examples of enabling technologies include digital, space and satellite, electronics, sensors and photonics, and robotics.

Projects

We expect to fund projects in 4 priority areas:

  • emerging technologies
  • digital
  • enabling capabilities
  • space applications

Proposals must demonstrate significant innovation; be applicable to more than one industry, sector or market; and improve growth, productivity or create export opportunities for at least 1 SME.

Competition information

  • the competition is open, and the deadline for registration is midday on 3 May 2017
  • we expect projects to last between 6 months and 3 years and to range in size from £35,000 to £2 million
  • projects must involve at least 1 SME and be led by a business or a research and technology organisation
  • businesses could attract up to 70% of their project costs
  • a briefing event for potential applicants will be held on 8 March 2017
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HM Government • • •

News story: Defence Secretary underlines UK commitment to European security

Speaking at a meeting of European Union Defence Ministers in Brussels, Sir Michael Fallon called on the EU to step up cooperation with NATO in order for the two organisations to more effectively tackle shared security challenges, including hybrid warfare and cyber.

Sir Michael also called for an improvement in Europe’s performance in building national capabilities that can be made available to the EU and NATO. This requires more defence spending and better investment in key equipment.

Britain’s commitments in 2017 underline the leading role in European Security the UK will continue to play. This year, Britain is leading NATO’s Very High Readiness Joint Task Force, a Brigade-size force which is ready and willing to respond to any threat. This spring, the UK will also deploy a battle group of around 800 personnel to lead in Estonia NATO’s Enhanced Forward Presence.

The Defence Secretary also confirmed Britain’s strong role in EU missions and operations. HMS Echo is currently helping to tackle people smugglers in the Mediterranean, as part of the EU’s mission Operation Sophia. Royal Navy deployments to the operation have helped destroy over 120 smuggling boasts, apprehending 20 suspected smugglers in the process, and have helped to rescue 10,000 people from the high seas.

Britain also has over 150 UK personnel committed to EU missions and operations, including in Bosnia, Mail and Somalia, demonstrating Britain’s global reach.

Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon said:

We are leaving the EU but we will continue to cooperate with our European partners on defence and security. This includes playing our part in the mission in the Mediterranean, rescuing migrants and tackling people smuggling.

Today I have urged the EU to cooperate more closely with NATO, to avoid unnecessary duplication and to work together on new threats, including cyber.

Sir Michael called on the EU and NATO to redouble their efforts on cooperation, noting that while good progress has been made, more work needed to be done, particularly on cyber, hybrid, maritime and coordinated exercises.

Today’s meeting also brought forward improvements to the EU’s Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) missions and operations, through the Military Planning and Conduct Capability (MPCC), to help improve planning and conduct of the training missions (known as non-executive missions) and to enhance civilian and military working. Important improvements to the agreement, suggested by the UK, were agreed today, including limiting the authority of the Director of the MPCC, and avoiding duplication with NATO structures.

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HM Government • • •