Sunday, 11 September 2011
Conservatives given millions by property developers
Developers are also paying thousands of pounds for access to senior Tories through the Conservative Property Forum, a club of elite donors which sets up “breakfast meetings” to discuss planning and property issues.
The disclosures are likely to provoke a new “cash-for-access” row and will give rise to fears that planning policies could have been influenced by powerful figures from the property industry.
The Coalition will also face a backlash next week from more than 80 rural MPs and peers, who will meet to discuss concerns that relaxing planning policy will see hundreds of wind turbines built in the countryside. The Daily Telegraph has launched the Hands Off Our Land campaign to urge ministers to rethink the measures, joining opposition from the National Trust, English Heritage and the Campaign to Protect Rural England. The guidance states that there should be a “presumption in favour of sustainable development”, which campaigners have warned would give developers “carte blanche”.
Bill Cash, who is organising the meeting of back-bench MPs and peers, said last night: “This is a demonstration of the deep concern and the first shot across the bows.
“The developers will have the whip hand. When you are talking about economic benefit, the benefits of England’s green and pleasant land to tourism and the scenery is as important as anything else.”
The Conservative Planning Forum raises around £150,000 a year for the Tory party and charges members £2,500 to meet senior MPs to discuss policy and planning issues.
Mike Slade, its chairman, has given more than £300,000 over the past decade, individually and through his property firm, Helical Bar.
Mr Slade advocated reforms to encourage local authorities to “see the benefits of development” three years ago, when he warned the Tories to “get over” their image as “nimbys”.
The forum met Grant Shapps, who is now housing minister, while the Conservatives were in opposition early last year, after Mr Slade had written an article strongly critical of plans to devolve more planning powers to local authorities.
Eric Pickles, the Communities Secretary, will meet some of the nation’s biggest housebuilders at a conference next week where he will give the keynote speech.
His presence is likely to lead to further claims that ministers are “stacking the deck” in favour of developers.
Conservation groups have complained bitterly of a lack of access to ministers over the proposals and the National Trust has demanded a meeting with David Cameron. Some of the Tories’ biggest donors are from the property world. David and Simon Reuben, billionaires who own Millbank Tower in Westminster, have given almost £500,000 over the past decade, while Terence Cole, a London-based developer, donated almost £300,000. IM Properties, which is expanding Birch Coppice Business Park, near Tamworth, Staffs, has given around £1 million since 2009.
A senior Tory MP, who did not wish to be named, accused the Chancellor, George Osborne, of “shoe-horning in” the presumption in favour of development in a bid to stimulate the economy.
He said: “This is a clear example of localism being hijacked. Developers will have state licence to print money and we will see a proliferation of identikit suburbs springing up in the countryside.” The Conservative party last night strongly denied that planning policies had been influenced by donations from developers. A spokesman said: “These are Coalition policies based on principles laid out before the election by both Conservatives and Liberal Democrats. There is absolutely no link between donations to the Conservative party and Conservative planning policy – to suggest otherwise is untrue, misleading and unfair.”
He said that reforms would “maintain the protection of green space”.
A spokesman for the Reuben brothers said neither had talked with ministers about planning at any time, while Terence Cole said he had not met ministers or Tory MPs to discuss planning reform.
Mr Slade and IM Properties were unavailable for comment.
Heidi Blake @'The Telegraph'
What a surprise!!!
The Conservative Planning Forum raises around £150,000 a year for the Tory party and charges members £2,500 to meet senior MPs to discuss policy and planning issues.
Mike Slade, its chairman, has given more than £300,000 over the past decade, individually and through his property firm, Helical Bar.
Mr Slade advocated reforms to encourage local authorities to “see the benefits of development” three years ago, when he warned the Tories to “get over” their image as “nimbys”.
The forum met Grant Shapps, who is now housing minister, while the Conservatives were in opposition early last year, after Mr Slade had written an article strongly critical of plans to devolve more planning powers to local authorities.
Eric Pickles, the Communities Secretary, will meet some of the nation’s biggest housebuilders at a conference next week where he will give the keynote speech.
His presence is likely to lead to further claims that ministers are “stacking the deck” in favour of developers.
Conservation groups have complained bitterly of a lack of access to ministers over the proposals and the National Trust has demanded a meeting with David Cameron. Some of the Tories’ biggest donors are from the property world. David and Simon Reuben, billionaires who own Millbank Tower in Westminster, have given almost £500,000 over the past decade, while Terence Cole, a London-based developer, donated almost £300,000. IM Properties, which is expanding Birch Coppice Business Park, near Tamworth, Staffs, has given around £1 million since 2009.
A senior Tory MP, who did not wish to be named, accused the Chancellor, George Osborne, of “shoe-horning in” the presumption in favour of development in a bid to stimulate the economy.
He said: “This is a clear example of localism being hijacked. Developers will have state licence to print money and we will see a proliferation of identikit suburbs springing up in the countryside.” The Conservative party last night strongly denied that planning policies had been influenced by donations from developers. A spokesman said: “These are Coalition policies based on principles laid out before the election by both Conservatives and Liberal Democrats. There is absolutely no link between donations to the Conservative party and Conservative planning policy – to suggest otherwise is untrue, misleading and unfair.”
He said that reforms would “maintain the protection of green space”.
A spokesman for the Reuben brothers said neither had talked with ministers about planning at any time, while Terence Cole said he had not met ministers or Tory MPs to discuss planning reform.
Mr Slade and IM Properties were unavailable for comment.
Heidi Blake @'The Telegraph'
What a surprise!!!
No, technology is not going to destroy your privacy in the future
Welcome to Privacy Club. You cannot find Privacy Club on the internet.Look for stencils on the sidewalks to find this week's key to the encrypted directions — as usual, we've stashed them steganographically inside a photo posted in a 4Chan forum devoted to politicians having sex with donkeys.
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Iggy Pop reveals he is writing new material with James Williamson
Iggy Pop has revealed that he has been working on new material with James Williamson, the guitarist in his band The Stooges.
The punk legend told Rolling Stone that he and Williamson had penned 10 tracks together at his house in Miami earlier this year and would continue to "keep writing" new songs, although he refused to confirm whether they would be released as a studio album.
Williamson, who assumed the mantle of lead guitarist for The Stooges on their classic 1973 LP 'Raw Power', returned to the line-up in 2009 to replace the band's founding guitarist Ron Asheton, who passed away in January of that year.
Pop – who had hinted last year that he was contemplating working and recording on new material with Williamson – confirmed that writing sessions had already taken place, but suggested that he would prefer to "make the score for an intelligent video game" rather than release a traditional LP.
He said:
The punk legend told Rolling Stone that he and Williamson had penned 10 tracks together at his house in Miami earlier this year and would continue to "keep writing" new songs, although he refused to confirm whether they would be released as a studio album.
Williamson, who assumed the mantle of lead guitarist for The Stooges on their classic 1973 LP 'Raw Power', returned to the line-up in 2009 to replace the band's founding guitarist Ron Asheton, who passed away in January of that year.
Pop – who had hinted last year that he was contemplating working and recording on new material with Williamson – confirmed that writing sessions had already taken place, but suggested that he would prefer to "make the score for an intelligent video game" rather than release a traditional LP.
He said:
We started trading stuff by MP3 back and forth as soon as we started. We actually did get together this spring. He came to my house in Miami and we wrote 10 things. I think we like about half of them. We'll keep writing. I think he'd like to make an album and I'd like to make more the score for an intelligent video game. So as far as what the former might be, I don't know.@'NME'
Saturday, 10 September 2011
Study: The More a Country Taxes the Rich, the Happier its People
Billionaire businessman Warren Buffett, pictured above, argued in a New York Times op-ed last month that the U.S. government doesn't tax him and his super-rich friends enough. "I know well many of the mega-rich and, by and large, they are very decent people," wrote Buffett. "Most wouldn’t mind being told to pay more in taxes as well, particularly when so many of their fellow citizens are truly suffering." On the opposite end of the spectrum from Buffett are the few but wildly vocal Tea Party supporters, who advocate a flat tax or the "fair tax," a plan that taxes a person's spending, not their income.
Science can't tell us which of those plans is "right," per se, but it can help point us in the best direction. And if science is to be believed, it turns out Buffett may be onto something. According to new research to be published in an upcoming issue of Psychological Science, though progressive tax systems result in unequal tax burdens, they also tend to result in happier nations.
Using Gallup numbers from 2007, University of Virginia psychologist Shigehiro Oishi looked into the relationship between tax systems and quality-of-life polling in 54 nations. He discovered a direct correlation between a country's tax progressiveness and its happiness: On average, people taxed under the most progressive rates were more likely than anyone else to evaluate their lives as "the best possible." They also reported having more enjoyable daily experiences, and fewer negative ones.
Obviously people don't become happy because you tax them more. Rather, it appears that the public services provided by their taxes is what's really behind their joy. Writing about his study, Oishi noted that increased pleasure under the most progressive tax rates could be "explained by a greater degree of satisfaction with the public goods, such as housing, education, and public transportation."
In other words, taking the taxes people can afford to pay and applying them to the greater good results in everyone being happier. You've maybe known this since the "sharing is good" lesson from third grade. Now how to get through to those still calling for a fair tax?
Cord Jefferson @'GOOD'
Science can't tell us which of those plans is "right," per se, but it can help point us in the best direction. And if science is to be believed, it turns out Buffett may be onto something. According to new research to be published in an upcoming issue of Psychological Science, though progressive tax systems result in unequal tax burdens, they also tend to result in happier nations.
Using Gallup numbers from 2007, University of Virginia psychologist Shigehiro Oishi looked into the relationship between tax systems and quality-of-life polling in 54 nations. He discovered a direct correlation between a country's tax progressiveness and its happiness: On average, people taxed under the most progressive rates were more likely than anyone else to evaluate their lives as "the best possible." They also reported having more enjoyable daily experiences, and fewer negative ones.
Obviously people don't become happy because you tax them more. Rather, it appears that the public services provided by their taxes is what's really behind their joy. Writing about his study, Oishi noted that increased pleasure under the most progressive tax rates could be "explained by a greater degree of satisfaction with the public goods, such as housing, education, and public transportation."
In other words, taking the taxes people can afford to pay and applying them to the greater good results in everyone being happier. You've maybe known this since the "sharing is good" lesson from third grade. Now how to get through to those still calling for a fair tax?
Cord Jefferson @'GOOD'
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