Stive Pesley

Oh yeah - saw that. He donated £10k to them, and only days later received a CBE! ?

Oh yeah - saw that. He donated £10k to them, and only days later received a CBE! ?

That's how you get your CBE

That's how it works isn't it?

With respect yourself I did not mention the details of mel's accounting or tax return. I mentioned the comparison to other HNWIs of which I have seen the detail of many. please see other posts above mine about actually having to give the money to the charity which were quite clear

I saw something the other day that suggested the Conservative Party are one of his favourite charities!

I wonder if Rooney asked Morris to sign his sponsor form for SoccerAid last week?

224 pages for us mortals - christ that's 7 pages of deleted comments?!  ?
I think the topic is definitely slowing down - and rightfully so, but you seem surprised that there is a long topic on the most significant, unique global event that has taken place in our lifetimes? I've pointed out before that for a lot of people, this thread has been crucial as a way of processing anxieties, fears and hopes, and just helping to process each individuals lived experience of the pandemic
It may not be signposted as such, but it would be wrong to dismiss this thread as just nobheads arguing with each other (a charge that was almost certainly valid for the old politics thread!) For me this topic is as valid as the Mental Health one 

The problem with this thread and pandemic in general is that it affects people differently, you can't just post your opinion else you get torn to shreds so you have to post stats, studies, articles etc to back your opinions up - we can then argue over the merits of those than each other.
 
Whilst we've known about a lot of these things for months we can still argue against them.  We are probably all entrenched in our views but that doesn't stop us speaking up when new data arises that confirms our point of view - new evidence against child vaccination or news that the vaccinated can transmit covid at similar rates to the unvaccinated nullifying the passport argument for example. 
The Govt has flip-flopped enough during the past couple of years that nothing is ever really finished and if you believe strongly enough about something when new info or talking points arise this thread will continue to rumble on.
I think we're a lot better behaved in general than we were in the old politics thread and respect each others opinions, you'll even find people such as @Stive Pesley and I agreeing at times ? but sometimes you have to dig your heals in and stand up for what you personally believe is right which occasionally leads to rubbing people up the wrong way. 
Personally, I'm not going to apologise for being against passports and vaccinating under 18s.  I'll agree to differ with a lot of things but these are my battle lines!  I'll be respectful and polite whilst we're arguing but you're gonna have to have a very, very good argument to get me to back down.

224 pages for us mortals - christ that's 7 pages of deleted comments?!  ?
I think the topic is definitely slowing down - and rightfully so, but you seem surprised that there is a long topic on the most significant, unique global event that has taken place in our lifetimes? I've pointed out before that for a lot of people, this thread has been crucial as a way of processing anxieties, fears and hopes, and just helping to process each individuals lived experience of the pandemic
It may not be signposted as such, but it would be wrong to dismiss this thread as just nobheads arguing with each other (a charge that was almost certainly valid for the old politics thread!) For me this topic is as valid as the Mental Health one 

Q/ What's the difference between Forest and a toothpick?
A/ A toothpick has two points.

Are you new here? ? We have a number of posters who will continue their campaigns to be proven right for as long as they are able to type.....I would however agree with @Stive Pesley (which is unusual in itself) that there is (and should still be) life in the thread...
I would, for example, expect there to be a discussion regarding vacine doses and whether the UK should be sending more to poorer nations rather than saving for booster jabs in this country - unfortunately some folk prefer to show off their knowledge of US politics or to highjack the thread with political point scoring rather than discuss the big issues....if they could control themselves, we might have a shorter but more engaing discussion with a larger number of posters (and therefore generate far more puns - which is what we're all really here for in the end.....)

I never called you all nobheads….not publicly anyway ?
The 7 pages were probably arguing as things went political, this is still the most reported topic on the forum. 
Having read it in batches, must say I’m surprised you see it as a way of processing anxieties and fears, see far more arguments over how stats are seen and source offs.
There was a dedicated topic created by @sage I believe that was for the purpose of members discussing how they are coping with the pandemic, mental health and finding new hobbies which soon dropped down the pages.
Guess how many reports the Mental Health topics have had…

I repeat, he hasn't saved anything, he may have reduced his tax burden by donating to charity but the net position is that he's given money away, not received money.
Unless you think the charity then distributes money back into Mel's pocket of course?
You're point is either disingenuous or completely lacking in understanding.
End of conversation.

I've just looked it up, and it appears I've done @Stive Pesley a disservice questioning his logic, apologies Stive.
Higher and additional rate taxpayers can not only add the tax onto their donation at 25%, in the same way as lower rate donees, but can receive a tax credit for  personal use on such donations.
The example below is taken from the HMRC website.
You donate £100 to charity - they claim Gift Aid to make your donation £125. You pay 40% tax so you can personally claim back £25.00 (£125 x 20%).
 
 

Q/ What's the difference between Forest and a toothpick?
A/ A toothpick has two points.

Q/ What's the difference between Forest and a toothpick?
A/ A toothpick has two points.

It's not unrelated - MM is a trustee. He started the charity and donated £12.5m to it
I was just saying that I didn't know he'd done that and donated so much
The bit about the accounts being overdue was tongue in cheek
It's his money that he earned, and if he wants to donate it to charity in order to not pay tax on it then that's his prerogative and we can but admire his philanthropy

It's not unrelated - MM is a trustee. He started the charity and donated £12.5m to it
I was just saying that I didn't know he'd done that and donated so much
The bit about the accounts being overdue was tongue in cheek
It's his money that he earned, and if he wants to donate it to charity in order to not pay tax on it then that's his prerogative and we can but admire his philanthropy

And plenty of time to work on submitting your accounts on time ?

Count me in for number 2.

How odd them being so long overdue when one would have thought they would be very easy to complete/submit. Not a complicated business given it is only paying out a few grants here and there. 

Absolutely - we're either all in it together or we're not. No qualms about paying an NI increase ring-fenced for NHS/Social Care if there was any evidence that the people (and their donors) making these decisions on our behalf weren't actively avoiding it
We can all accept that more taxation is needed to fund these public services, but imagine if there was a referendum tomorrow
Two options on the ballot
1. The NI increase as planned
or
2. The NI increase as planned PLUS a % windfall tax on anyone who has seen their personal wealth increase between March 2020 and July 2021 as a direct result of the pandemic
I think it might be a just a bit more a landslide than the last referendum we had
 

Of course you are spot on , whilst as a socialist at heart I can’t really complain about paying more for better nhs , social care and education it really comes down to if the money is used properly and if it’s collected fairly , it’s always the least able to pay who get the short end

April I believe.
It's sort of on-topic I guess, as the justification for breaking the manifesto promise on no tax/NI rises is that "no one predicted the pandemic"
If only there were another way to sort it though - like, maybe a windfall tax on the already wealthy who have vastly increased their wealth as a direct result of the pandemic.
There has been unimaginable mental, physical and financial suffering caused by this pandemic (and that's just on this thread!) so the fact that some people are laughing all the way to the bank as a result makes me sick