Archive for 22/01/2009

Working for a living

22/01/2009 by admin.

I commend the following Early Day Motion:

TAX RELIEF ON PUBLIC TRANSPORT FOR EMPLOYEES 15:1:09
Michael Jabez Foster
Peter Bottomley
Bob Russell
Lynne Jones
Mr Martin Caton
Mr David Drew
* 11
  Alan Simpson Mr Nigel Evans Mark Durkan
   That this House calls on the Government to consider offering tax relief at the standard rate of tax on expenses incurred in the use of public transport by employees in travelling to and from their place of employment, so as to offer equality with those who are self-employed and to encourage the use of public transport; and further calls on the Government in cases where employers reimburse such public transport costs to treat such payments as non-taxable benefits.

They will be too politically correct to say it, but isn’t it fair that those whose taxes pay for the workshy not to have to get up in a morning should get some help themselves?

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The end of the world as we know it…

22/01/2009 by admin.

This from Labour MP, Ashok Kumar, in his Westminster Hall adjournment debate on the future of the local press: “The internet was—admittedly, some years ago—seen as a new and free open house for local news and comment, but most local blogs and comment sites have become a means for those who merely shout the loudest to express their views. So we have a paradox: people want local news, but increasingly the only in-depth and reliable coverage comes from our existing local titles, which are currently under threat.”

And….

Mr. David Drew (Stroud) (Lab/Co-op): I thank my hon. Friend for being so generous about giving way. Will he accept that there is a paradox, inasmuch as many of the main groups that own our well loved titles are extremely profitable? They may be less profitable as a result of the credit crunch, but they have been extremely profitable. However, the people who report the news—the reporters—are paid abysmally. If one asks those who work in the newspaper industry or even in the spoken media, one finds that what they earn is appalling. In addition, people on work experience are increasingly used as a substitute for fully employed people, and there is virtually no apprenticeship scheme left. If there was investment in good journalism, would that not be the answer to many of the prayers about keeping the industry going?

 Is anybody listening out there?

Posted in Journalism | Print | 1 Comment »

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