Even A Blind Squirrel Sometimes Finds A Nut

[Danger-Mouse]

Who would have ever thought they'd find themselves agreeing with Dianne Abbott?

[TIGHTCHOKE]

Good grief, the tax laws really do need to be addressed.

[mel b3]

years ago i was naive enough to admire branson , as an adult , i find him a vile , repugnant , piece of cack .

[oldypigeonpopper]

hello, i agree, his Virgin Australia has gone into receivership 

[clangerman]

neck of the man is unreal a slap in the face to the entire country in times of hardship sickening 

[islandgun]

Just read his net worth is 3.8 billion.. 

[Raja Clavata]

It's interesting to note that Delta Airlines hold a 49% stake in Virgin Atlantic.

I used to like him as I saw his entrepreneurial spirit, and go out there and do some really crazy stuff as a trailblazer, quite inspirational but am less keen these days.

Whilst I'm sure there is some truth in the fact that Branson himself and his holding companies don't pay or significantly minimise their UK tax contribution, it should be remembered nearly 10k people are employed by Virgin Atlantic in the UK and I'm pretty sure they all pay NI & tax.

[Newbie to this]

18 minutes ago, mel b3 said:

years ago i was naive enough to admire branson , as an adult , i find him a vile , repugnant , piece of cack .

^^^ This, even rooted for him to get the national lottery. 

[panoma1]

2 minutes ago, Raja Clavata said:

It's interesting to note that Delta Airlines hold a 49% stake in Virgin Atlantic.

I used to like him as I saw his entrepreneurial spirit, and go out there and do some really crazy stuff as a trailblazer, quite inspirational but am less keen these days.

Whilst I'm sure there is some truth in the fact that Branson himself and his holding companies don't pay or significantly minimise their UK tax contribution, it should be remembered nearly 10k people are employed by Virgin Atlantic in the UK and I'm pretty sure they all pay NI & tax.

I don’t think this was aimed at those that made/make him rich and in so doing, contribute to the country......I think it’s aimed at his personal lack of contribution to the country

[treetree]

6 minutes ago, Raja Clavata said:

 it should be remembered nearly 10k people are employed by Virgin Atlantic in the UK and I'm pretty sure they all pay NI & tax.

It should also be remembered that the man owns a space flight company. Why any government would pump money into it is beyond me  when shareholders (Branson 51%, and 7th richest person in the UK) and commercial lenders wont invest a penny.

If it is felt this does need to happen  to secure those jobs  then the equity ought to be handed over to the taxpayer.

I honestly thought the 2008 financial crash would have put an end to governments being compelled to act as private institutions were deemed "too big to fail"

[Raja Clavata]

15 minutes ago, panoma1 said:

I think it’s aimed at his personal lack of contribution to the country

Finally, we agree on something 😛 

Edited April 21, 2020 by Raja Clavata
mis-read another quoted post, sorry

[mel b3]

20 minutes ago, Raja Clavata said:

It's interesting to note that Delta Airlines hold a 49% stake in Virgin Atlantic.

I used to like him as I saw his entrepreneurial spirit, and go out there and do some really crazy stuff as a trailblazer, quite inspirational but am less keen these days.

Whilst I'm sure there is some truth in the fact that Branson himself and his holding companies don't pay or significantly minimise their UK tax contribution, it should be remembered nearly 10k people are employed by Virgin Atlantic in the UK and I'm pretty sure they all pay NI & tax.

it needs to be remembered that the eight thousand or so people that he employed , got dumped  , with no pay ,  if news reports are to be believed . if five hundred million pounds is going to be given in aid , it should be going somewhere that will get these people back into work , and not into bransons slippery mitts.

[Raja Clavata]

Just now, mel b3 said:

it needs to be remembered that the eight thousand or so people that he employed , got dumped  , with no pay ,  if news reports are to be believed . if five hundred million pounds is going to be given in aid , it should be going somewhere that will get these people back into work , and not into bransons slippery mitts.

Agreed. It's good to see that the govt are at least not rolling over easily on this one.

[DOLLSEYES]

Also don't forget he sued the NHS in 2017.

[treetree]

14 minutes ago, Raja Clavata said:

Would you prefer to see nearly 10k people in the UK lose their jobs?

Obviously not, what what guarantees are there that by handing over this money there won't be significant job losses down the line anyway. No one knows what the airline industry will look like after this, and whether such a large fleet and workforce will be surplus to requirements.

Branson was lobbying for BA to be allowed to go to the wall when a prospect of state bailout was a possibility in 2008, and that governments should not step in to prevent companies going bust (his comments on this matter are worth a google).

But again, the issue is a moot point, the shareholders are in a position to raise the money themselves. It looks like it's back to the old big business model of profits being privatised  but losses nationalised.

[snow white]

Total Agee with you Mel greedy little piece of ****

[dodgy dave]

1 hour ago, Newbie to this said:

^^^ This, even rooted for him to get the national lottery. 

me also he was going too do it free wonder what the catch was

[12gauge82]

I've been saying it a long time now, things need to change, for far to long, the very rich, greedy and powerful have been reaping all the reward, for very little responsibility, I'm not against capitalism at all, an incentive is needed to encourage people to strive. But for big business and a very privileged, relatively small number of people to be allowed to make their fortunes off the sweat from other people's back, for little risk and no responsibility is totally wrong, they're basically robbing the masses, the only difference is it's allowed in law.

[Raja Clavata]

Whilst I get the ideology, I hear plenty self-employed and small business owners justifying their "tax reduction measures" by citing the fact that big business and the very privileged also avoid taxes. If big business and the privileged are brought to order will the self-employed and small business owners fall in-line or find another justification for putting themselves first?

[blackbird]

2 hours ago, mel b3 said:

it needs to be remembered that the eight thousand or so people that he employed , got dumped  , with no pay ,  if news reports are to be believed . if five hundred million pounds is going to be given in aid , it should be going somewhere that will get these people back into work , and not into bransons slippery mitts.

Exactly.

Edited April 21, 2020 by blackbird

[panoma1]

23 minutes ago, Raja Clavata said:

Whilst I get the ideology, I hear plenty self-employed and small business owners justifying their "tax reduction measures" by citing the fact that big business and the very privileged also avoid taxes. If big business and the privileged are brought to order will the self-employed and small business owners fall in-line or find another justification for putting themselves first?

Those with advantage and power should lead by example.....if their example is selfishness and greed, others will follow suit!
 

All the greedy, selfish ******** that panic bought everything, and as many of them as they could get their hands on, when the restrictions of Corvid19 were put in place, forced others to follow suit........if they didn’t join in there would be **** all left for them!

[Raja Clavata]

9 minutes ago, panoma1 said:

Those with advantage and power should lead by example.....if their example is selfishness and greed, others will follow suit!
 

All the greedy, selfish ******** that panic bought everything, and as many of them as they could get their hands on, when the restrictions of Corvid19 were put in place, forced others to follow suit........if they didn’t join in there would be **** all left for them!

Is that a yes or no answer to my question?

[panoma1]

3 minutes ago, Raja Clavata said:

Is that a yes or no answer to my question?    

 There is no yes or no answer to your question, as it is something that may, or may not happen in the future!

However if “big business and the privileged are bought to order”....it’s more likely the former..........if they’re not? It’s likely the latter!

[treetree]

15 minutes ago, Raja Clavata said:

Is that a yes or no answer to my question?

But many small businesses operate on a low turnover / low profit basis. Any "tax reduction measures" are often done to ensure survival of what can be hand to mouth operations for many self employed. Any financial benefit is not squirreled away into a non-productive account somewhere  but is instead spent on every day outgoings.

Contrast this with big business, such as Amazon, and their aggressive tax avoidance, with billions in avoided tax, much of it no doubt sat doing nothing being hoarded in the accounts of Jeff Bezos and the likes.

[Retsdon]

He only just got bailed out for Flybe in January. https://www.politicshome.com/news/article/boris-johnson-accused-of-a-taxpayer-bailout-for-richard-branson-over-flybe-rescue-package

So it's a case of'..Can I have some more, please? like Oliver Twist- haha, except he's not in the poorhouse...