Does taxpayer finance and private business mix?
The almost certain collapse of talks between the SNP (head of the Scottish executive) and the drinks firm Diageo, in relation to potentially 900 job losses at the Kilmarnock plant, have further highlighted the difficulties of trying to interact taxpayer finance with private businesses.
The SNP, the ruling party in the Scottish executive, has been very vocal in its dismay at the decision of Diageo to close down the plant even though the group will be investing in other parts of Scotland. After a period of reflection the SNP brought forward a new business plan which interacted taxpayer finance with Diageo's plans for the future in order to try and save at least some of the 900 jobs under threat. However, Diageo seem set to walk away from this particular lifeline citing the fact that the company never asked for taxpayer finance and has received little real support from the SNP - until the public picked up the story.
The problem is that any move by a leading political party to inject taxpayer money into a private business will always attract accusations of political motivation, more so as we approach the next general election. Whether this is the case are not, if the governing party in any one part of the UK decides to help one company from the private sector, does this not give them an obligation to help all of them?
Share this..
Related stories
MPs: Poor oversight by Ofwat has lead to higher water bills
13/01/2015 A committee of MPs have claimed that poor oversight by regulator Ofwat has lead to millions of families paying too much for their water. A report completed by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) revealed that the water regulator, Ofwat, regularly overestimated water companies’ taxing and financing costs when they were setting price caps. The PAC is now asking the regulator...
Read MoreBank of England forced to increase quantitative easing program
Today's announcement by the Bank of England that a further £50 billion would be pumped into the UK quantitative easing program is one which was very much out of the banks control. With UK lending at rock bottom, consumers struggling to pay off their debts and UK businesses going to the wall on a weekly basis, the situation is now critical. There had been hopes that the quantitative easing program...
Read MoreWhere do you hold your monthly income?
The vast majority of people in UK are likely to have a current account and one or more savings accounts. While in these difficult economic times many people may struggle to put any money away for the future how many of us receive our monthly incomes in our current accounts and leave them there?
While on the surface this may seem to be the sensible route, keeping your money available...
Average council tax bill set to hit £1500
The average council tax bill in the UK is set to hit £1500 next year with the higher band rates hitting £3000 a year. The average council tax figure has now doubled since the Labour government came to power in 1997 due to a mixture of accountancy changes, pension arrangements and the latest tweak to the system which has burdened UK taxpayers with additional local authority holiday costs.
...
Liberal Democrats looking to tax larger homes
This week sees the Liberal Democrat conference and no doubt a host of weird and wonderful ways in which the UK government can increase its tax fall and hit those in the higher brackets of earnings capacity. Today's revelation from the Liberal Democrat conference sees the proposal for a 0.5% annual levy on homes with a value or £1 million. It is thought that this particular tax idea would bring in...
Read More