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Theresa May Reshuffles Cabinet, Warns Amazon and Google of Power Shift (arstechnica.co.uk)
An anonymous reader writes from a report via Ars Technica: British Prime Minister Theresa May has given a stern warning to big business, telling the public to "think not of the powerful, but you." Specifically, she singled out Google and Amazon for dodging taxes and creating a lot of parliamentary scrutiny. Ars Technica reports: "May has been quick to stamp her brand of conservatism on her party by letting go of key members of Cameron's cabinet. She has so far sacked big hitters such as chancellor of the exchequer George Osborne, justice secretary Michael Gove, and culture secretary John Whittingdale. Philip Hammond now has the keys to Number 11, but we're still waiting to hear who will replace Whittingdale, whose remit included the rollout of super fast broadband in the UK. He's also the man behind the White Paper on the future of the BBC, which sought radical changes at the public service broadcaster. So far, 10 cabinet positions have been announced by May. They include Justine Greening as secretary of state for education, and Liz Truss becomes justice secretary, while former London mayor and key Brexit campaigner Boris Johnson -- to the surprise of many -- now heads up the foreign office. May has handed her home secretary job to Amber Rudd -- who will now be responsible for the government's push for greater online surveillance laws. Rudd was previously the minister for energy and climate change." David Davis is now in charge of withdrawing the UK from the European Union. David has for many years "opposed the government's attempts to bring in a so-called Snoopers' Charter." Ars Technica writes, "He's also currently suing the UK government over DRIPA -- legislation that was rushed through by the Tories after the European Court of Justice had ruled that the Data Retention Directive was invalid for failing to have adequate privacy safeguards in place."
Because it is competitive, and Ireland's gamble at lower rates for more volume is failing and simply depriving the public of funding for zero gains. Conservative doesn't mean wacko like in the US, her job isn't to do amateur plastic surgery to kill the state like the US Republican strategy has been.
Conservative doesn't mean wacko like in the US
And it's high time conservatives reclaim the title from the wackos
I wonder if the inner sanctum of Number 10 has lots of doors because it looks like a Marx Brothers movie, particularly Duck Soup. May is Margaret Dumont, , Johnson is Groucho, Chico could be Hammond, and Harpo could be Truss. We need more Marx Brothers for the rest of the bozos. No wonder Cameron hummed with a smile while entering Number 10 to clean out his stuff.
In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act. George Orwell
Look closer, she's a fucking terrifying neocon.
Regarding taxation, "extortion/slavery/theft/rape that is tax" is a bit much, made me laugh. Yeah, taxes suck to pay, but they keep the world running. We all want them as low as possible. If you haven't been paying attention: The average citizen pays way more tax than some of these big companies. Sure you keep your tax bill as low as possible, but you pay your fair share or it all collapses.
Google and Amazon are being rebuked for pushing the corruption of society a little too far into the limelight and are to be whipped back into the shadows.
The Establishment is upset at the show they have to put on to make it seem like they are actually changing anything.
All the newest dirtiest business of the international total surveillance state recedes into the shadows of deeper levels of military intelligence.
Nothing really changes and everything continues in the same direction.
Almost all of us continue to be disposable workers that in the advent of the automation of the economy will be targeted by malicious social doctrine to eventually be driven to economic/moral/spiritual poverty and/or sterility and/or suicide.
We aren't meant to last in this society.
Maybe it's just my opinion, but the opportunity turn things around is almost gone, and will certainly be gone at the end of the millenial generation.
When people start throwing around terms like "collectivism is dead" and "income tax is immoral", you know you're dealing with an ignorant Libertarian blowhard.
Pay your fucking taxes, asshole, and quit trying to get society to underwrite your greed. That's right, society. We're social animals, not a bunch of solo hunting predators. Unless, of course you're a sociopath, then Libertarianism is very attractive, because fucking morons buy into it, and fucking morons make the best prey.
The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
After many years of reading Slashdot it is time to move on.
I am a very political person but for the most part I came here for non-political news. Just the straight up NASA did this... nVidia did that... Silicon Graphics is bought by Rackable Systems etc etc.
The comments on Slashdot are so much more inflamatory than before. A sign that Slashdot has run its course.
2.6 trillion economy isn't worth jumping through hoops for. UK has no resources the world needs other than a few pieces of intellectual property which they have much less control over now that they EU is not there to back them up.
Really, the only long term value in the UK is intellectual property and touism. There is no world industry there that the world would miss if the UK dropped into the sea. No offence, rather it's just entirely true. They would miss the 2.6 trillion dollars, but not that much.
For a country that has no leverage, that's pretty tough talk and it a foolish tone to set when you have no chips to bargain.
Now the UK has opened itself to being bashed by the EU and independently by the US for Google and Amazon resistance. Good move.. what's next, maybe a trade agreement with Somalia and North Korea?
Brexit won't be the worst thing ever, but it will be a net loss with almost zero chance of any useful gains. It's a move to gain political control, not improve the UK via policy. UK leaders have to be insane if they think they can really influence Google or Amazon. The only leverage they had was the EU, not corporations like Google can walk all over the UK. They won't, but there is no longer anything stopping them. The UK has about the same size economy as Brazil.
When did you say to yourself.. wow Brazil.. they certainly have a lot of global influence. I like Brazil, but no, they just don't have the money or infrastructure to matter. UK is even worse because they don't have the resources to ever be likely to be a large economy again. Brazil at least has developing nation potential. The UK is more or less topped out for big gain, most likely. Unless they start piling up intellectual property perhaps.
I think Americans at least get a little confused at how a Parliamentary system works (so, to, do a lot of Canadians, Brits, Australians and so forth, mind you). If a vote isn't a free vote, then MPs for each party are bound to vote in line with the party. If it is a crucial vote, like a confidence motion, then a three line whip will be used, and if an MP defies even that, well they can be expelled from their party. For a cabinet minister, however, it is even more severe. A cabinet minister must, on all government bills, whether they are free votes for all other MPs, support the government bill. This is a longstanding Westminster tradition, and if a cabinet minister cannot back a government bill or motion, then the cabinet minister must resign.
in addition cabinet ministers are bound not to reveal cabinet debates or the results of those debates. The Government in a Westminster Parliament must remain united, and if a cabinet minister simply cannot abide the decisions of Cabinet, again, they're only choice is to resign. This is not such a different arrangement from how the US cabinet works, and that was modeled on how the British government still at least partially functioned by the time of the American Revolution (although Westminster was well on its way to its modern form even then).
The reason for this dates far back in Westminster constitutional history. Up until the 18th century the King would name his cabinet, which would serve in His name. And so it still is. Why the Prime Minister and his or her cabinet are chosen from sitting MPs and Peers, they are sworn into the Privy Council (an older governing body of which the Cabinet is a part), and the deliberations of the Privy Council, be in effect advice to the Sovereign, are generally kept secret.
So the intent of this long-winded explanation is to state that you cannot judge Theresa May entirely by the votes she cast over the last six years. She was bound by practice and convention to side with her fellow Cabinet Ministers, and generally has not enjoyed the right to public criticize those Ministers (though during the 2010-2015 Coalition, that practice was often ignored in subtle and not so subtle ways). In fact, little enough is known of May's views, and a lot of British political observers are quoting a Rumsfeldism, she is a "known unknown".
The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
This idea that taxes, or indeed any law, require every individual's consent is utterly absurd. First of all, it would make government completely unworkable.
But more to the point, what was meant by the Revolutionaries when they said "No taxation without representation", or in the Westminster tradition of "responsible government" wasn't that you didn't have to pay taxes, it was that no tax could be imposed without the consent of the GOVERNED. That doesn't mean that you, I and every other taxpayer get a veto on the taxes we'll pay, it means we elect representatives who will then create the taxes, and if we don't like the taxes being levied, then our right as citizens is to try to get people elected who will more closely align with our views on taxation matters.
Citizenship confers not only rights, but inherently it confers obligations. You have the right to vote for your representatives, but you have the obligation to abide by their lawful and constitutional powers to pass laws, including tax laws. If you feel you have been unjustly treated, you have the right to petition the government or to seek redress through the courts.
So there is no theft. You are taxed by people who a conferred the right to enact and collect taxes by the consent of the governed, which is you and all your fellow citizens collectively.
The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
Ah the religion of Libertarianism. As fantastical and absurd as Communism and Anarchism.
The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
I don't necessarily agree with your argument but, I do *very* much appreciate the manner in which you have presented it. The tactical use of "fuck" and "shit" is commendable. Just the right amount of grammatical correctness with a healthy dose of genuine anger. We need more... oh, shit... you're a Martian. Nevermind.
...when there's a Slashdot article about the U.S. :)
This political story is nice and all, but none of these names even ring a bell, let alone mean anything
And when these taxes are introduced as a temporary measure, to pay for Napoleonic wars and the like as income tax is, but remain enacted for perpetuity, that right is abused and should be rescinded. It has turned into a tithe, which was considered A Bad Thing centuries ago when it was conducted by the Church.
"Wait. Something's happening. It's opening up! My God, it's full of apricots!"
The customers are already paying whatever the market can bear. Raising the prices would result in fewer sales, hence corporations have to pay taxes out of their profits.
"It's such a fine line between stupid and clever" -- David St. Hubbins, Spinal Tap
The Tax is the amount society pays it's people in Government services and infrastructure.
The less corporations pay in tax deprives the society that supports it.
~ People that think they are better than anyone else for any reason are the cause of all the strife in the world.
I suspect he isn't talking about the US, given that their involvement in the Napoleonic wars is generally considered to be somewhere between none and not very much.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
Good post, informative, correct. Thanks.
Just to point out - the time for a cabinet minister to disagree with a policy is "in the cabinet meetings". So cabinet ministers have enormous influence at that point.... but after that, they must put up or get out. And thus, as you say, the voting record is not a good guide.
Boris Johnson is the best bit
In New Zealand, the former prime minister Helen Clark did a similar thing to the leader of a fringe coalition partner (NZ uses MMP, so small parties frequently hold the balance of power). The guy, Winston Peters, was a known charismatic trouble maker (sound familiar?) and rose to power mostly by blaming immigrants for stealing jobs. So she made him foreign minister. It completely shut him down, as he was out of the country most of the time, had to put on a serious face so he didn't become the laughing stock of the world, and was hobbled in his ability to portray people from other countries as troublesome. It was an incredibly successful strategy, and he ended up doing an okay job of it.
However I wouldn't read so much into it being an attempt to destroy Boris. The foreign minister is largely a PR role, which Boris will be quite good at once he has apologized to everyone, and I think he has enough political nous to ensure nothing serious around Brexit can be pinned on him.
Leadsom and Davis on the other hand, have found themselves holding the poison chalice.
With the difference that is even easier to see how it would fail.
They tend to forget that if everything is by market then the richest will become dictators.. and therefore a form of government.
Pull out, full stop. Show the world what happens to a country that cannibalizes itself through jingoist nationalism. Please, before it spreads across the pond.
The value provided by the Amazons and Googles of the world to the UK is... what, exactly? A few thousand (or less) jobs, maybe. That's it. The value they get is far in excess of that due to not paying their share of taxes.
I'm a minority race. Save your vitriol for white people.
Wrong! With less corporate tax, more money get spent on productive uses, and in a more efficient way than if government were to spend it, i.e. without the huge dead-weight loss of government, which has been estimated up to 30-40 cents per dollar, depending on the activity. So more jobs, higher standards of living, less deprivation, etc.
I disagree with what you said because it is too strong statement -- money from less corporate taxes would be spent in more productive/efficient way than government. It can go either way and is depended on how far you want to look at in the future. I agree that government spending is likely to be in a wrong direction, but that does not mean private/corporate spending is likely to go to the right direction. What have we been seeing how corporates spend their money so far? What is their business model? And what is "more efficient way" in your definition? Are you benefiting from the way they do their business (e.g. you are a CEO)?
You have that backwards. Think about it. Drop corporate taxes to zero and raise the workers taxes to 90%-99.9%. Now the corporation has to pay the janitor $200,000 so he can take home $20,000 and pay the CEO one billion so he can take home a million. This is whether the corporation is profitable or not.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inverted_totalitarianism
The Tax is the amount society pays it's people in Government services and infrastructure.
The less corporations pay in tax deprives the society that supports it.
Sigh.
Corporations. Don't. Pay. Taxes.
Look, this is basic economics. Capital seeks a certain rate of return in given economic conditions and a given economic context. When you raise taxes on corporations, you don't change that sought rate of return, which means that corporate governance adapts to shift the cost of the taxes elsewhere, so they don't come out of profits and returns meet expectations. Corporations that fail to do this lose, and their capital moves to others that do it well.
This means that any taxes you nominally assess to corporations actually land on suppliers, employees or customers. In many cases suppliers and customers are other corporations subject to the same demands of capital, so they just shuffle the costs off further. At the end, it always lands on employees and customers. In the short term profits may take a hit, which drops the cost onto investors, but that's a temporary situation.
The bottom line, then, is that corporate taxes are all ultimately paid by individuals. Actually, this should be utterly obvious even without looking at the detailed mechanisms: corporations aren't real, they're just a mechanism for pooling individual wealth to accomplish larger goals than any individual could... but the products are all ultimately consumed by people, the owners are all ultimately people, and so the taxes all ultimately land on individuals -- voters.
That means that corporate taxation is just a way to impose hidden taxes on voters. Taxes that they pay but don't know they pay, and taxes that are allocated fairly randomly, and likely rather regressively. Corporate taxes are a bad idea and we should abolish them, instead raising capital gains taxes and the top marginal income tax rates.
Note to ACs: I usually delete AC replies without reading them. If you want to talk to me, log in.
I have news for you. Karl Marx invented the best scientific method of its time, which was only superseded by the method of Karl Popper. He also developed the first actually scientific theory of money circulation. USSR had the largest anti-illiteracy campaign in the world which resulted in Russia's literacy raising from less than 30% to 99.6%.
In comparison, libertarianism is not scientific at all, it is more like a cult.
"It's such a fine line between stupid and clever" -- David St. Hubbins, Spinal Tap
Civilization costs money.
That describes capitalism and unearned wealth, not taxation.