Cyprus-Forum.com

[yialousa1971]

Corruption, theft, fraud and forgery and deception takes place all over the UK: I suspect that in UK such items are probably rather more often swept under the carpet (police paid off) than elsewhere.

You would think that since you are basically a biased Brit.

I think dog meant to say the above.

[yialousa1971]

One in seven jobs 'face the axe'

The public sector workforce is set to fall to an historic low, with around one in seven jobs expected to be axed as a result of the Government's spending cuts, according to a new report.

The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) said the cutbacks will mean that the public sector will account for one in six jobs in the economy, down from a peak of one in five before the last election.

John Philpott, the CIPD's chief economic adviser said projections from the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) showed that the number of people employed in central and local government will have fallen by around 700,000 during the course of the current Parliament (2010-2015).

The number will fall by 880,000 by the time the Chancellor hopes to have closed the structural fiscal deficit in 2017, said Mr Philpott, adding: "This will easily wipe out the net rise in public sector employment under the Labour government between 1999 and 2009 and take the public sector workforce to a record low.

"Overall more than one in seven public sector jobs will be lost as a result of the squeeze on public spending.

"While the OBR expects growth in private sector jobs to more than make up for the public sector jobs cull, public sector downsizing on such a scale nonetheless represents a tectonic shift in the underlying structure of the labour market with broader implications for what people can expect to experience in terms of pay, conditions of work, management practice and workplace cultures."

The report follows an analysis of official figures by the GMB union which showed a 381,000 reduction in the number of public sector workers since the general election.

The GMB said private firms were not able to make up for the losses in public organisations, warning that the cuts were damaging the UK's chances of economic recovery. The data showed that public sector employment fell from more than 6.3 million before the general election to less than six million at the end of last year.

GMB general secretary Paul Kenny said: "These figures go a long way to explain why unemployment has increased in the UK since the general election. The Government has been putting people out of work and the private sector cannot make up for the jobs carnage."

TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said: "Getting rid of one in seven public sector jobs will have a devastating impact on the public services we all rely on and deal a huge blow to local economies across the UK. The Government says that new private sector jobs will replace them but with joblessness and under-employment over six million and rising, it's hard to see where they will come from.

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/one-seven-jobs ... 01389.html

[yialousa1971]

Bank holidays 'cost economy £19bn'

Each bank holiday costs the UK economy £2.3bn and scrapping them would boost annual output by £19bn, economists say.

The Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) think tank wants them to be more spread out over the year to stop businesses "losing momentum".

This year's extra bank holiday for the Diamond Jubilee means there are five in April, May and June outside Scotland, where Easter Monday is not a holiday.

Wales and England usually have eight, Scotland nine and Northern Ireland 10.

The think tank says that if bank holidays were scrapped, Britain's gross domestic product (GDP) - a measure of the value of goods and services produced by all sectors of the economy - would be £19bn higher every year.

BANK HOLIDAYS 2012
England and Wales - 2 January; 6 and 9 April; 7 May; 4 and 5 June; 27 August; 25 and 26 December
Scotland - 2 and 3 January; 6 April; 7 May; 4 and 5 June; 6 August; 30 November; 25 and 26 December
Northern Ireland - 2 January; 19 March; 6 and 9 April; 7 May; 4 and 5 June; 12 July; 27 August; 25 and 26 December
Bank holidays and British Summer Time Directgov - Employment

It says the UK depends far more on services than other countries and that sector - with the exception of the hospitality industry - tends to work far less on public holidays.

'Utter rubbish'

CEBR founder Douglas McWilliams told BBC Breakfast: "About 45% of the economy suffers; the offices, the factories, the building sites where people tend not to go to work on bank holiday."

He said 15% of the economy, such as shops, pubs, restaurants and visitor attractions do well.

However, Mr McWilliams said that by spreading out public holidays, rather than scrapping them, people would enjoy them more.

Business can "lose momentum" when there are too many close together, he added.

But GMB leader Paul Kenny described the report as "utter rubbish", adding: "We could send kids down the mines again too and go back to working six days a week again as well.

"I'm not sure who would be in the shops, the restaurants and sports venues if we didn't have bank holidays."

British Retail Consortium director general Stephen Robertson told BBC Radio 4's Today programme the Easter holidays were good for shops, representing the start of the season for DIY and garden centres.

"We also begin to do outdoor activities, paint the house, and on top of that, if we have good weather then we have barbecues," he said.

"We socialise more and that's good for grocery shopping as well."

The CEBR points to South Korea, which has recovered rapidly from the financial crisis. Although there are more public holidays there, the think tank says different working conditions mean employee work over 500 hours more per year than British workers.

Unions have previously pressed for extra public holidays, pointing out that other European countries have more than the UK's minimum of eight.

Research published last year by Mercer HR suggested there was a statutory minimum of 14 in Spain, 13 in Portugal, 12 in Greece, 11 in France, and nine in Germany and Ireland.

It found US and Australian workers get 10 public holidays, Canadians nine, Chinese 11 and Japanese 15. However, there are regional variations in many of these countries and employment laws differ as to whether workers should be paid for these holidays.

A fortnight ago the Governor of the Bank of England, Mervyn King, warned that GDP in the second quarter of this year might shrink owing to the number of bank holidays.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-17654781

[yialousa1971]

Millionaire tax avoiders 'shock' chancellor

10 April 2012 Last updated at 12:58

Chancellor George Osborne says he is "shocked" that some of the UK's richest people have organised their finances so that they pay virtually no income tax.

The Daily Telegraph reported that a study by HM Revenue and Customs showed the very rich had reduced their average income tax rate to just 10%.

George Osborne said it was not right that the richest could legally arrange their tax affairs in such a way.

But Labour accused him of "synthetic shock", having cut the top tax rate.

He said he would take "further action" but did not outline any new proposals.

HM Revenue and Customs provided the chancellor with "anonymised copies" of the confidential tax returns submitted to the organisation by the UK's wealthiest people, the Telegraph reported.

Legal loopholes

He was not given the details of the individuals involved, but he said the returns he had seen had shown him the 20 biggest tax avoiders had legally reduced their income tax bills by a total of £145m in a year.

He told the newspaper: "I was shocked to see that some of the very wealthiest people in the country have organised their tax affairs - and to be fair it's within the tax laws - so that they were regularly paying virtually no income tax. And I don't think that's right."

"I'm talking about people right at the top. I'm talking about people with incomes of many millions of pounds a year.

"The general principle is that people should pay income tax and that includes people with the highest incomes," Mr Osborne added.

HMRC found the main methods used by people to reduce their bills was writing off business losses, offsetting the cost of business mortgages and borrowing on buy-to-let properties - all against their income tax bills.

Others took advantage of tax relief on charitable donations.

During last month's Budget the chancellor revealed that, from 2013, there would be a £50,000 cap on tax relief - or 25% of income if that was higher.

Although this was criticised by charities who feared they would lose out, on Tuesday Mr Osborne said the government was still examining ways of encouraging philanthropy and charitable giving.

Last month, Mr Osborne said he would cut the 50p top rate of income tax on earnings over £150,000 a year, which was introduced under the previous Labour government, to 45p from April 2013.

Businesses had complained it was deterring entrepreneurs and company bosses from investing in the UK and expanding their businesses and Mr Osborne said it was raising "next to nothing" and was damaging the economy.

But he said he would get five times as much from the wealthiest by other tax and anti-avoidance measures - and announced a rise in the threshold at which everyone pays income tax, which he said would leave millions of working people better off.

However, Labour's shadow financial secretary to the Treasury, Chris Leslie, told the BBC Mr Osborne had been shedding some "pretty heavy crocodile tears" and "synthetic shock" about tax avoidance.

"He seems surprised that the wealthiest in the country try to use tax loopholes. What is his reaction? It's to wave the white flag, put hands in the air, give up and cut that top rate of tax," he said.

"Either he's showing a serious lack of judgement or these are phoney words of concern when he's quite content to see the wealthiest get away without paying their fair share."

BBC political correspondent Iain Watson said the Telegraph interview suggested that the chancellor was trying to move the focus from his tax cut to the government's desire to tackle tax avoidance.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-17661011

[Schnauzer]

On a 'Brighter Note', I hear that the weather is quite good for this time of the year, although there is much talk of imminent 'Hosepipe Bans' and the virtues of 'Grassing Up' the neighbours if they are seen 'Squirting' in the middle of the night.

[yialousa1971]

On a 'Brighter Note', I hear that the weather is quite good for this time of the year, although there is much talk of imminent 'Hosepipe Bans' and the virtues of 'Grassing Up' the neighbours if they are seen 'Squirting' in the middle of the night.

When ever they have a horsepipe ban it starts to rain.

[yialousa1971]

Twins Face US Charges Over 'Stock Robot' Scam

British twins are facing charges in the United States for allegedly defrauding investors out of more than \$1.2m (£745,000) through a bogus stock-picking robot.

Alexander and Thomas Hunter were aged 16 when they devised the scam in 2007, claiming that their computer trading programme could pick stocks that would rocket in value, US officials say.

The twins, from Whitley Bay, North Tyneside, targeted investors, mainly in America, selling them "home versions" of the bogus software - named Marl - and annual subscriptions to a newsletter that listed the programme's stock recommendations, it is alleged.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said the stocks "picked" were actually firms that paid the twins hefty fees.

The Hunters allegedly snared about 75,000 investors, mostly in the US.

According to legal papers filed in a New York federal court on Friday, investors paid \$47 for newsletters listing Marl's stock picks and \$97 for a "home version" of the software.

It is claimed the Hunters, now 20, received at least an additional \$1.86m (£1.15m) in fees from stock promoters for their stock touting services, which was advertised on website equitypromoter.com.

The site allegedly boasted of the brothers' ability to "rocket" the price and volume of thinly traded penny stock issuers.

On the about me section, Tom Hunter is said to have described himself as a 23-year-old stock trader.

"I have been trading for seven years and operate multiple penny stock websites," he is alleged to have said.

"One email to this list of people rockets a stock price."

Once a stock promoter was reeled in by the scam, the twins would send an email to the thousands of investors subscribed to their newsletter, recommending they buy the touted asset, it is claimed.

And once investors followed the advice, the shares value and volume would instantly increase, it is alleged.

US officials claim the brothers breached both the Securities Act and Securities Exchange Act.

The SEC are seeking permanent injunctions against the Hunters from the securities industry and for them to return money to investors. They are also seeking further financial penalties.

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/twins-face-us- ... 23241.html

[yialousa1971]

RSPCA Cases Soar Amid 'Rising Tide Of Cruelty'

By Jason Farrell, Sky News Investigations | Sky News – 53 minutes ago



The number of people convicted of cruelty and neglect to animals rose by nearly a quarter last year.

Figures from the RSPCA also show a 27% increase in prison sentences imposed by the courts.

Inspector Tony Woodley, from the charity, told Sky News: "Unfortunately what our statistics for 2011 tell us is that there has been a rising tide of animal cruelty and welfare problems across the board.

"That's dogs, cats, horses and farm animals."

The RSPCA has seen a big increase in the number of calls they are receiving, up 13% on last year to 1.3 million. They investigated 160,000 complaints about animal welfare.

"People are taking on animals when they shouldn't," said Mr Woodley.

"There's often a change in circumstances and perhaps because of the financial situation we're getting a lot of abandoned animals. People are perhaps not putting their animals as a priority."


As a result, the RSPCA says it is now struggling to deal with the increased workload. It looks after 120,000 animals a year, but is also taking out a growing number of private convictions against individuals.

Mr Woodley explained: "We offer advice, and we offer warning notices. Warning notices can be very effective.

"It is legal advice people must follow and we find in 90% of cases people do follow it. But we do also have to take legal action. Where animals are intentionally harmed for pleasure or for cruelty, we will find those people and we will prosecute them."

Recent convictions include a man from Leyburn in North Yorkshire who set two dogs upon a snared fox forcing it to fight for its life.

The whole thing was filmed on a mobile phone and he was jailed for 16 weeks by Northallerton Magistrates Court.

There has been a 22% rise in convictions involving dogs. The number of successful cases involving horses has risen from 386 to 428.

The RSPCA says it currently has over 500 horses in its care and it is becoming a huge drain on resources. The animals are often abandoned because people can't afford the vets' bills.

Chief executive Gavin Grant said: "The RSPCA faces a crisis that is stretching us to breaking point. We need the courts and councils, police and people who care to join us in standing up and getting justice for Britain's abused animals."

Farm animals are also subject to increased cruelty, according to the statistics. Last week two abbatoir workers pleaded guilty to welfare offences after their cruelty was exposed in a Sky News investigation .

There have also been some amazing stories of survival including a lurcher-type dog which survived against all the odds after two men broke her back and stabbed her with a potato peeler before dumping her and leaving her to die.

It is a worrying trend that this nation of animal lovers appears to be causing them so much distress.


http://uk.news.yahoo.com/rspca-cases-so ... 24740.html

[GreekIslandGirl]

Sad.

[yialousa1971]

Russian tycoon wants $2.7 million back from Christie's for fake art


Viktor Vekselberg demands $2.7 million refynd from Christie's for fake art (RIA Novosti / Iliya Pitalev)

One of Russia’s richest men, oil oligarch Viktor Vekselberg has begun a High Court battle in London against Christie’s auction house. The businessman claims a painting his fund bought in 2005 is a fake and is demanding a $2.7 million refund.

Viktor Vekselberg filed the case with the Supreme Court of Great Britain against the world's leading auction house, in 2010. The court fight is over the painting, Odalisque which Vekselberg’s company bought as a work by Russian painter Boris Kustodiev. However according to Vekselberg, an independent expert revealed the artwork couldn’t be by Kustodiev’s hand.


Careful analysis of the Cyrillic signature said to be that of Kustodiev and dated 1919 was made by leading Russian experts. The experts revealed that it couldn’t be made before the 1940s, as the artist died in 1927. Information that the artwork is a fake was made public in 2009. Odalisque then appeared on the pages of the “Fake Paintings Catalogue,” published by the Federal Cultural Heritage Protection Service.

Christie’s auction house still insists, that its attribution was correct and plans to hold another examination to prove their claim that the artwork is a Kustodiev.
http://rt.com/art-and-culture/news/veks ... sties-227/

alphi April 29, 2012
Again and again… you can never trust the brits!! These cash starved brits they will do anything and I mean absolutely anything to take your money!