Well, I've got another metaphor which helps to explain
the difficulty in getting justice when the criminals are
friends with the government.
And we're talking the biggest mafia in the world, Banksters.
But riding on their coattails are big retailers that also want
to offshore their profits to avoid contributing to the
society that allows them to do business and pay
minimum wage to its employees.
So, when the government's crime fighters do not want to
prosecute financial crime, it's up to UK Uncut to take
the government to court.
This time it was for the deal the HMRC cut with Goldman
Sachs where they saved £20 million in tax that they should
have paid. And this was largely due to bullying from GS.
UK Uncut lost the court case because HMRC can indeed
do whatever the f$%^&ck it pleases. But, in dragging the
HMRC out from under a rock, UK Uncut have shown
the world how HMRC runs it's corrupt little shop.
And that is a small but necessary victory on the way to
bigger victories for tax justice.
Checkit: Press
Association
Campaigners
lose tax deal challenge
1 hour 31 minutes ago.
Campaign
group UK Uncut Legal Action has lost its High Court challenge over the legality
of the "sweetheart" tax deal between HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC)
and Goldman Sachs.
A
judge was told the 2010 deal, worth up to £20
million, was allowed to proceed to avoid "major embarrassment" to
Chancellor George Osborne and the tax authorities after the bank became
"aggressive" and allegedly
made threats.
UK
Uncut asked Mr Justice Nicol, sitting in London, to declare that HMRC's
decision to let the deal go through was legally
flawed and involved a breach of statutory duty. The judge ruled the deal
was "not a glorious
episode in the history of the Revenue" but it was not unlawful.
Tax
authority lawyers defended the settlement, saying it was among five big business deals declared
"reasonable" by a 2012 report of the National Audit Office (NAO)
.
UK Uncut says it is wrong to allow rich companies to avoid paying millions in tax while
the Government imposes tough austerity measures on the poor and ordinary
taxpayers are pursued for every penny.
Murray Worthy, a director of UK Uncut Legal
Action, said after Wednesday's hearing that he was disappointed with the
ruling. But he added: "This case has shown that the Government's tough talk on tax is just that - talk not substance."
HMRC said in a press statement: "Large
business tax settlements are a vital part of how HMRC secures tax revenues for
the country and without them Britain's public finances would be seriously
damaged."
Anna Walker, campaigns director of UK Uncut
Legal Action, said: "Obviously, while we are deeply disappointed that this
deal has not been declared unlawful, the judge's
ruling that top HMRC officials played politics with major tax deals to protect
(Mr) Osborne's reputation is a major victory in exposing the truth behind
these secret deals.
"Despite not having won the case today,
we still feel that this judgment has demonstrated that the Government is making a political choice to cut legal aid, public
services and the welfare system, rather than take action to make corporate
giants... pay their fair share of tax."
Solicitor Rosa Curling, of law firm Leigh Day,
which represented UK Uncut Legal Action, said: "This is a disappointing
decision but it has been an extremely important case to fight. It has forced HMRC to reveal the process by
which it reached a deal with Goldman Sachs, a settlement which let the bank off
an estimated £20 million tax owed."
