I really don’t care if journalists stick a microphone in Dermot Desmond’s face and ask him questions about tax, Dermot is big and bad enough to look after himself, the letter he issued to BBC’s Mark Daly confirms as much. What troubles me is the inordinate double standards employed by the Scottish media.
Graeme Souness and Walter Smith were recipients of an aggressive tax avoidance scheme, funded by Rangers before their liquidation, while employed as managers of clubs in England. Why are they not subjected to the microphone treatment when they walk into football stadiums, as they do every week?
Unlike anything Dermot has been asked about (no one disputes the legality of Dermot’s arrangement), the Rangers scheme was found in court to be in contravention of tax law.
Why Souness and Smith were in receipt of money from Rangers, while they were employed elsewhere, is a question studiously avoided by their many friends in the media. It is not just these two. More than 50 Rangers players received payments through the same mechanism, all struck down in court. Not a week goes by without some of these former players or managers making media appearances, several sit down with the very people who deemed want to talk about Dermot Desmond this week. None are called to account for their struck-down tax arrangements in the way Dermot was for his (legal) arrangements.
I feel we are in the territory of SNP’s Christine Grahame here. Celtic do nothing wrong so change the frame of reference to allow you to tangentially include Celtic. Then screaming “Celtic” and “tax” all over the front page for an issue that involves one of our shareholders, but has nothing to do with the club. It is sloppy, but unlike Ms Grahame’s intervention, no innocents will be locked up this time.
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360 Comments- Pages:
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MIT- Still see Double Dee out and about in EK.
“Are you a Rangers supporter?”
What a beautiful euphemism. I can hear it being repeated left and right.
-What’s up?
-I’m waiting on the nephew of the Nigerian Oil Minister to wire me the money he promised.
-Are you a Rangers supporter?
Relatedly, while I get the box office aspect of Mark Daly’s piece: “Celtic! Tax Avoidance! Together! Shock! Horror!”, I’m struggling to ground it in public interest.
Irishman owns shares in Swiss company that established a British subsidiary in Isle of Man in order to be able to buy cheaper insurance. Where’s the angle here? What am I missing?
https://twitter.com/SensualSamaras/status/927810509025480704?s=08
KING LUBO
Gigi Meroni.The Fifth Beatle. A Number 7.Refused to sign for Juve -“I’d rather cut my feet off.” Lived “in sin”with a German hippie.Fell out with The Italian FA because He refused to get a haircut .Ripped Grand Inter apart in a famous game in -March 67.A free spirit
A fabulous player.Killed while crossing the street outside his flat in Torino..RIP
Celtic should demand that BBC make clear that, whatever DD has or has not done regarding tax.
It has absolutely nothing to do with Celtic and the running of our club.
Of all the tax cheats in all the world, Celtic are not one!
Eurochamps67
UnlessofcoursewearethenpayupyaparasiticbassasyeCSC
I think it’s fair to say that almost every poster here is appalled & disgusted at the antics of the super rich whether it’s Desmond, Bono or The Queen.
The issue here is not whether Desmond’s Financial antics are worthy of scrutiny or not.
Desmond has only one tenuous link to Scotland & that is his link to Celtic.
He is not being accused of doing anything illegal, the Financial manouver under thr spotlight whatever Fina
Sorry Bhoys was just trying to undo a predictive text & posted by error.
My point if I had kept going was that the whole stunt outside Celtic Park was a pathetic cheap effort to throw dirt at Celtic.
CORKCELT
It”not only the antics of the super rich it’s also the venal hypocrisy of the likes of Nigel Farage who ranted about the Poor Ole Brits being fleeced by “Brussels ” while he was hiding the best part of a million quid in The Isle of Man
Went to see Van the Man last night and while he was good and the band excellent it was not one for the purists. Wedged in between the opening Moondance and the Gloria finale were a collection of VM commercial bubble gum singles like Precious Time and When God Shines his Light. Alas, no lengthier album anthems.
Eurochamps67
IllsitinthegardensingingmyhymnstothesilencetomadamegeorgesippingtupelohoneyCSC
See the wee tax Dodger Steven Davies was awarded MBE. One of the Muppets on Fester Fester is calling him Sir Steven.
Possibilties:
ernie`s view:
a) This is a big story and Dermot Desmond offers a link to Scotland. Let`s use that to make the story more relevant in this country;
The majority CQN view:
b) This is a big story and Dermot Desmond`s connection with Celtic offers a chance to be negative about said Club.
?
If a) Did the BBC highlight the Scotland connection?
If b) Did the BBC manage to create a feeling of negativity re Celtic?
JJ
https://stv.tv/sport/football/1401703-roberts-plans-to-return-for-celtic-before-psg-clash/
Hot Smoke
Was the bigger story not the Queen’s estates tax dodge. Then again that would not go down well with their Hun friends.
Wurserer players, don’t forget Bo Richter! Waddyamean, you had…
HOT SMOKED
To paraphrase my 97 Year Old Father -it”s parochial Shortbread guff a la -Dundee Man dies in Shipping accident at Sea -and the only thing that would have made it more ha ha for him would have been an EBT Shortbread pundit presenting that particular “news item”
TimJim
I am sure the big story is that these tax avoidance schemes exist.
My post is to do with the BBC Scotland`s approach to the issue.
JJ
The whole paradise papers and highlighting individuals for legal tax avoidance is truly nonsense, in my opinion. Squirrel stuff.
The Government of the day should be closing the loopholes and that is the real story.
The reluctance of government to close the loopholes is a disgrace.
Who was it that said ” only little pay taxes ” Leona Helmsley, of course that wasn’t yesterday but what has changed, not a lot from my view.
Billionaires, conglomerates, non dom Lords, aye we will leave enough leverage for you to fill your boots and pay as little as you can get away with.
Hail Hail
Ha
# only little people pay taxes #
JNP,
You’re right, of course. The real story is the failure of the Government to deal with it’s Dependencies to continue to be tax havens. Too many of the Establishment must benefit too much.
SoT
When you post your musical links, I always feel that you have the original 45`s . Is that, in fact, the case?
Jj
PS I find them more evocative than I do the more famous tunes/groups of the era.
PPS Still `groups` for me; Bands play jazz :-)
Hot Smoke
How often do you see the headlines Ex Celtic player does this or that. When the said player left Celtic years ago and has played for several clubs since.
Ernie…you are right. This is a global story and BBC Scotland are desperate, as always, to have a wee tartan bit of it…Sadly, it happens all the time. When a really big story occurs, ie. Piper Alpha, Lockerbie, Dunblane, it is manna from heaven for the newsroom…reporters reputations can be made on a big story with national or, better still, international interest…any time there is a big story, you can be sure, if there is a Scottish connection, no matter how tenuous, they will be on to it in a flash
They really do scrapping up the shite where Celtic is concerned.
I wonder if DD might be inclined to attend the AGM next week and announce that the gloves are off?
Timjim
“How often do you see the headlines Ex Celtic player does this or that. When the said player left Celtic years ago and has played for several clubs since.”
Answers:
a) Often if the story is negative;
b) Seldom/never if the story is positive !
Cheerio for now,
JJ
HOT SMOKED
You “feel “correctly .
I never post anything that I don’t have on vinyl.Preferably a 45 and usually given a twirl on the good Ole Linn deck just before I make the link..
I’m obsessed -to quote Mrs S of T -“he’d struggle to tell you the Year never mind the day /month of our marriage but ask about blah blah blah 45 and He will tell you where and when He bought it”.I have to confess to the truth of that.
In a desperate search for moral equivalence part of Scottish society has to widen the immoral actions of RFC since 2000 to cross the boundary between sporting and business affairs.
DD’s use of IOM tax base for one of his businesses could have been reported on general news, (but a rich man organises his tax affairs legally to reduce tax paid is hardly news is it? )So to make it such the issue is dragged into the sporting arena and broadcast in that context on BBC Sportsound.
So in that sporting context it might be worth looking at what LNS said about the use of ebts by RFC at a time when HMRC were claiming that the way RFC used a legitimate tax reduction device was unlawful.
[104] As we have already explained, in our view the purpose of the Rules applicable to Issues 1
to 3 is to promote the sporting integrity of the game. These rules are not designed as any form of
financial regulation of football, analogous to the UEFA Financial Fair Play Regulations. Thus it
is not the purpose of the Rules to regulate how one football club may seek to gain financial and
sporting advantage over others. Obviously, a successful club is able to generate more income
from gate money, sponsorship, advertising, sale of branded goods and so on, and is consequently
able to offer greater financial rewards to its manager and players, in the hope of even more
31 success.
==.>Nor is it a breach of SPL or SFA Rules for a club to arrange its affairs – within the law
– so as to minimise its tax liabilities. <====
The Tax Tribunal has held (subject to appeal) that Oldco was acting within the law in setting up and operating the EBT scheme. The SPL presented no argument to challenge the decision of the majority of the Tax Tribunal and Mr McKenzie stated expressly that for all purposes of this Commission’s Inquiry and Determination the SPL accepted that decision as it stood, without regard to any possible appeal by HMRC. Accordingly we proceed on the basis that the EBT arrangements were lawful. What we are concerned with is the fact that the side-letters issued to the Specified Players, in the course of the operation of the EBT [Ends]
Now as we all know HMRC were successful in their claim that RFC used ebts unlawfully and on that basis alone LNS should be revisited, but as it hasn't been then (ironically) the LNS justification for the RFC use of ebts within a sporting context means that even if a sporting context did apply to DD's tax arrangements (and it doesn't) then it is OK for DD to arrange his tax affairs within the law so as to minimise his tax liabilities.
Herein lies the hypocrisy of the BBC in attempting to claim moral equivalence in a sporting context. It is more than hypocrisy, it is malevolent and unless Sportsound proceed to provide balance by for example a full programme covering the issues raised by the Offshore Game that they have studiously avoided so far, they will be in breach of BBC guidelines.
If I were Celtic I would be taking the matter to the BBC Trust to review, not just this instance but BBC Sportsound's proclivity under Kenny McIntyre to avoid balance on this issue as much as his club evaded tax.
It is high time we took these guys on in their own backyard using the very rules they think do not apply to them.
Its not just the BBC, its The Guardian, its STV News and its endemic over the Scottish media.
Celtic need to set up the capacity to challenge every media attempt to blacken their name in the desperate attempts for moral equivalence, where those challenging our values would rather bring us down than raise theirs up.
South Of Tunis 5.16.
Magic, don’t change!!!
I look forward to seeing what you put up musically.
Usually an education for me.
As an aside, if this blog was only about football it would lose a fair few posters, in my opinion.
Hail Hail
JNP…”only little people pay taxes”…
That puts the Scots at a distinct disadvantage…ask Gordon Strachan…
HOT SMOKED
I should also add that Mrs S of T regularly opinesthat when I shuffle off my mortal coil she expects a worldwide period of mourning from Postal Services /Couriers – “They”ll Really miss you -your Death will Hit them hard “
The original reason for publishing the Celtic View was ……………….
keep howling hurting hordes, it won’t get you one more point in the spfl
oh and let’s not forget the sporting advantage you lot got from ebts
rant over, they are beyond desperate
ERNIE LYNCH on 7TH NOVEMBER 2017 1:33 PM
I think people should be careful not to get too paranoid about all this.
I reckon BBC Scotland will have looked for a Scottish link to hang a story on, and The Great Desmondo’s name has turned up.
It seems the BBC wrote to him more than once asking for a comment/response, but were met with silence. Hence the ambush at CP. That makes for dramatic TV footage, so was entirely predictable.
The Great Desmondo’s personal letter threatening legal action against the journalist individually is not on.
As for Dailly being a hun, I think The Great Desmondo has been far more complimentary about them than Dailly has ever been.
………………………………………………………
Why should Mr Desmond reply to unsolicited mail?
And listen, if you really are this Dailly bloke, just admit it……………and may your pain continue.
See you on Saturday!
AULDHEID
Thanks for that,mate. I said last night that I thought BBC Scotland might have breached their charter. Certainly,the question is worth asking,and I suspect that is why the letter was copied in down south.
WBC 5.21
:-)) :-))) :-))))
Hail Hail
Had a quick scan on FF, baying at the moon, want titles stripped FFS, seem to think that we are guilty of no sporting integrity as DD paid for Roy and Robbie Keane as well as paying for Brendan, unproven of course, the fact their directors are doing much worse doesn’t enter their heads, thankfully :-)
They reckon that their books are great news, one even broke everything down for the less well accustomed to finances and ended up with they only lost 100K, next year they will more than break even and with a euro run will make squillions, better watch out Timmy, they are back and coming to get you.
They deserve everything they get sad deluded feckers.
interesting … I just noticed on of the ads at the side of the website here ….
poppies for sale by the British Legion … but they showed both red and white poppies for sale.