Shocking article in the Sheffield Tribune. A solicitor, Andrew Milne, buying up freeholds of houses and then making (false) threats to the leaseholders to bully them into buying the freehold at a huge premium.
This goes way beyond a lawyer acting unethically. If Milne knows the statements he's making are false (and it seems likely he does) then it's fraud.
A civil court has already found Milne to be dishonest.
That should have immediately ended his career as a solicitor.
The public should be protected.
Three immediate steps:
1. the police should investigate Milne for fraud.
2. the Solicitors Regulation Authority should shut down his firm. They have more than enough to suspect dishonesty (one of the grounds in Part 1 Schedule 1 to the Solicitors Act 1974).
3. the SRA should impose immediate restrictions on Milne, suspending him from practising as a solicitor pending the outcome of an investigation.
Usual SRA procedures are - rightly - careful and slow. This is a case where protection of the public requires immediate action.
Douglas Barrowman and Michelle Mone made £65m selling faulty PPE to the Government.
HMRC now wants £39m in unpaid tax — and we think we know why: Barrowman and Mone may have avoided tax on their £65m profit.
During the pandemic, Douglas Barrowman's company, PPE Medpro, sold £200 million of PPE to the Government. It made £65m profit, which went into trusts benefiting Barrowman and Mone's families.
Most of the PPE was later ruled to breach sterility standards but, rather than repay the money, Barrowman put PPE Medpro into administration.
What if there was a consensus on the tax reforms the UK needs?
What if it was backed by policy experts from think tanks across the political spectrum, from the Adam Smith Institute to the Resolution Foundation?
The consensus is real. The question is: will anyone act on it?
Launching today is a series of proposals backed by the Adam Smith Institute, Bright Blue, CenTax, the Centre for Policy Studies, the Institute for Public Policy Research, Joseph Rowntree Foundation, the New Economics Foundation, Resolution Foundation, Tax Policy Associates.
Everyone in that list disagrees on the fundamental political question of the size and role of the state.
But we all agree on how the basics of how the tax system should work. The rate is up for debate - but that's the easy bit.
Carter-Ruck, the UK’s most notorious libel firm, used abusive litigation to silence criticism of a former Tory donor.
The Solicitors Regulation Authority is investigating - but Carter-Ruck just filed a judicial review. If successful, they'll have total impunity.
Thread:
The donor is Mohamed Amersi.
Former Tory MP @CharlotteLeslie wrote a private note on Amersi's activities. As @DavidDavisMP said, Amersi then "used his wealth and influence to try to bully Charlotte Leslie into silence".
@CharlotteLeslie @DavidDavisMP Carter-Ruck acted for Amersi suing Ms Leslie for defamation. Carter-Ruck's approach was - in my view, and that of many others - designed to drain Ms Leslie's resources.
Lots of people say the Government should significantly cut spending. Hardly any spell out how that could be achieved.
So kudos to the Policy Exchange for a serious-minded report proposing spending cuts taking the size of the state down to where it was before the pandemic.
Key proposals:
1. freeze state pensions for three years and end triple lock 2. freeze benefits for three years 3. £20 fee for seeing a GP
4. abolishing most childcare subsidies 5. ending free school means 6. cut cost of civil service by 25%
@ChristianJMay There’s an excellent argument for repealing all VAT exemptions and special rates, and then protecting middle/low earners with tax threshold changes/benefit increases