National Insurance rise is the working people’s punishment for the failure of Rishi Sunak’s minimum 15% global corporation tax rate

Brexit-Watch.org article of 14 March 2022

Published on 16 March 2022

Ireland’s corporation tax receipts continue to rise, thanks to their ‘Celtic Tiger’ business model:

https://www.brexit-watch.org/irelands-fear-of-depending-on-foreign-companies-tax-receipts-is-unfounded-for-the-wrong-reasons

This was already costing the UK £10 billion a year in lost corporation tax in 2016:

The UK’s lost GDP and tax revenues

Ireland’s takings have increased by 386% between 2009 and 2021; that implies at least a doubling of the […]

UK adopts European approach to SWIFT sanctions over Russia

Brexit-Watch article where this piece was originally published

Published on 7 March 2022

The UK’s financial sanctions over the Ukraine invasion fall well short of cutting Russia off SWIFT, maxing out on the usual self-congratulatory hyperbole whilst opening up significant risk. When we should be distinguishing our PR approach from that of the Kremlin, we instead get […]

Scholz needs a SWIFT decision – cut Russia off or lose American bank support for the Eurosystem

What is SWIFT? Screenshot of its homepage

Published on 26 February 2022

As already published on Facts4EU and Brexit-Watch

It has been reported that Chancellor Scholz has rejected the proposal that Russia be cut off from the SWIFT system as a punishment for its invasion of Ukraine. The Guardian has disseminated misinformation that it would anyway do little […]

Who will drain the swamp of English professional football?

Blog published on 26 February 2022 and article published on Brexit-Watch.org on Friday February 18 2022

Recent news coverage of the football clubs Derby County, Newcastle United and Bolton Wanderers has slightly lifted the veil on the murky financial jiggery-pokery of the English football industry but it goes nowhere near far enough. Further research since my […]

Kwasi Kwarteng’s British Business Bank wastes at least £5 million of public money by buying a stake in Bolton Wanderers

Published on 17 February 2022

We have compiled an analysis of the British Business Bank’s investment in Bolton Wanderers via its ‘Future Fund’.

Many questions remain open, such as how much the general public has invested, what shareholding we own, and what rights and obligations are associated with it.

Some of these points are academic: the original £5 […]

There’s a cost-of-living crisis but hey, let’s save football clubs at taxpayers’ expense?!?

First published on brexit-watch.org

Published on 14 February 2022

Doubts have recently been raised about the financial competence of those who manage the national finances on behalf of all of us. The Chancellor Rishi Sunak has – belatedly some would say – come under fire for the losses to fraud through his Bounce Back Loans scheme: the […]

Some forgotten Benefits of Brexit that need to be known

Most of my contribution appeared on Facts4EU.org

Published on 11 February 2022

On the second anniversary of the UK’s leaving the EU, it was worth relecting on what had been gained, even if Theresa May and now Boris Johnson could claim very little credit for it.

Here were my First Eleven of benefits, which made up the bulk […]

IREF January 2022 Newsletter – Euro financing, a strategy for EU survival

First published on en.irefeurope.org

Published on 8 February 2022

In recent times, the EU authority has been challenged by Romania and Poland, both of whom have asserted the primacy of their domestic laws over EU treaty law in certain areas.   Hungary is also a well-known thorn in its side.  Given these threats, and the reputational sleight of […]

New EU taxes are vital to cover the cost of its ‘invisible’ Coronavirus Recovery Fund debts – but at what cost to member states?

This article was first published on brexit-watch.org

Published on 4 February 2022

Facts4EU.Org has revealed that the EU, in Christmas week, floated the concept of new taxes to bring in an amount of €380 billion between 2026 and 2030, of which €85 billion would flow to Brussels. €247 billion of the new taxes are carbon-related, and €133 […]

Our response to the PSR Consultation CP21/10 on APP scams

Published on 12 January 2022

We have responded to the Payment Systems Regulator’s latest consultation on APP scams.

Their proposals continue the same, failed direction-of-travel as hitherto.

This problem could be solved, and completely, by legal changes that row back on EU payments legislation in the form of the 2017 Payment Services Regulations (based on the EU Payment […]