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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The “story” should have been nowhere near a sports programme – it wasn’t Celtic that was avoiding the tax.
Although it did at least shut the fat hysterical balloon up for five minutes…..
Auldheid,
Has that letter went to the SFA yet?
UK EXCLUSIVE !!!!
Non-UK citizen no longer owns a non-UK business which did NOT break UK tax laws
SPECIAL REPORT BY ………
A UK organisation which employs people who use schemes which break UK tax law
You could not make this up. Orwell would not have predicted this.
Great article Paul and the comments have been excellent.
I’ve said it many times here and will do so again. There is absolutely ZERO editorial control or editorial integrity at BBC Scotland.
Hail hail
TET
can you post link for good lady’s book thought I put it in my amazon basket but lost it- flew away
TET. I, like you, relish their pain and delusion and keep thinking about the old aphorism…………….
Whom the Gods would destroy they first make mad.
HAMILTONTIM
Prayers said for our fellow CQN’r.
May God give him strength to cope.
WDH
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01N1SMW61/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1481962607&sr=8-1&keywords=once+in+a+blue+moon+the+return+of+the+gargoyles
HH
Wonder if there’s any anti Celtic news on STV?
Think I’ll watch it……………..just in case.
Hahahahahhahaha!
TET
gracias
THE BATTERED BUNNET on 7TH NOVEMBER 2017 3:48 PM
‘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?’
###
I think the point is that if the IoM company was established purely to avoid tax that would otherwise be due, then it would be ineffective as a tax avoidance measure.
And that the true nature of and relationship between the IoM and Swiss registered entities only became known due to the leak.
For myself I find The Great Desmondo’s threat to sue the journalist in a personal capacity more distasteful than what might or might not have been aggressive tax avoidance.
It’s the sort of thing Robert Maxwell used to do.
God Only Knows what Brian Wilson thinks of it all.
PHILBHOY on 7TH NOVEMBER 2017 5:33 PM
‘Why should Mr Desmond reply to unsolicited mail?’
###
It’s up to him whether he replies or not.
But having failed to respond his protestations at being ambushed by the journalist ring rather hollow.
Ray Winston
I am in a quandry, I want them dead and gone, but I also love their pain, whatever happens, it’s the hope that will kill them again, this time I pry it’s terminal.
HH
If Mark Daly was a top investigations correspondent he would’ve hounded Sir David Murray.
The BBC are taking the moral high ground yet employ tax cheats.
Kris Boyd.
Alex Rae.
Face palm moment anyone ?
Wee shot across the bows reminds people of how quickly their organisations will dump them when they “took that too far”, I can’t see how a reporter can be held personally responsible for editorial decisions but I’m sure it can happen/be arranged if the reporter is a Tim
Mark Daly on his way to doorstep prince Charlie
Tonight on sportsound we exclusively reveal that Peter Lawwell’s cousin’s neighbour once bought a packet of KitKats from a shop that was two days late in filing its accounts. Absolutely shocking. Kris – should Celtic be thrown out of the Champions League?
Chomp chomp. What was that, Kenny? Was just finishing my pie here.
Barry – surely this can’t go unpunished?
Eeehhh. Naw. Everybody should pay their taxes.
Page 10 of the evening times, coordinated effort, almost half a page written about a drunk on a train singing song that offend halfwitts
ERNIE LYNCH @ 6:08 PM,
“For myself I find The Great Desmondo’s threat to sue the journalist in a personal capacity more distasteful than what might or might not have been aggressive tax avoidance.”
Personally I think it’s great that DD threatened to Sue the Journalist. Too many people hide behind Corporations, Institutions and Civil/Governmental Bodies so they don’t have to take personal responsibilities for their actions.
We are not talking about Dutton Peabody here are we?
Mark Daly’s high watermark was “the men who sold the Jerseys”. An award winning documentary that was lifted from The Rangers Tax Case and other Internet Bampots.
The “unanswered questions”, the bigger story, the SFA, SPL complicity and as Paul67 states The Walter Smith, Greame Souness angle.
TMWSTJ was 20% of the story… where’s the follow up? Has anyone taken responsibility – they got off Scot free and MD let them.
Canamalar and the res12 bhoys uncovered more than Mark Daly.
Hail Hail
ERNIE LYNCH on 7TH NOVEMBER 2017 6:13 PM
PHILBHOY on 7TH NOVEMBER 2017 5:33 PM
‘Why should Mr Desmond reply to unsolicited mail?’
###
It’s up to him whether he replies or not.
But having failed to respond his protestations at being ambushed by the journalist ring rather hollow.
…………………………………………………..
So he needs to reply in writing to every clown who wants to hound him and his Celtic connections, otherwise he will be doorstepped?
I think you are Mark Daly.
Now admit it.
BBC1 now Scotland’ Paradise Papers, leads again with DD…….
Philboy,
You’re asking the wrong question…… ;-)
“Are you a Rangers Supporter”
:-)))
BATEEN BHOY
Hint please!
:-)
What I find distasteful is this slimy excuse for an investigative journalist playing the victim card by publicly releasing DD’s letter. As I said yesterday a well known sevco trait – playing the victim card.
It’s funny how only one person on this blog thinks BBC Scotland were trying to find a Scottish connection with the Paradise Papers. If that is the case they failed miserably as Dermot Desmond is Irish, his company is Irish, he pays the bulk of his tax outwith these shores and until relatively recently the Scottish Parliament had no right raise its own taxes.
This was nothing more than a crude attempt to smear Celtic.
Are you a rangers supporter?
UK seem to have quite a lot of off-shore tax havens dotted around the world.
I presume that they are there to be used.
BATEEN BHOY
I’ve called him a hun recently.
You are obviously in the huge “don’t read Philbhoy’s posts” clique.
Well, until now.
:-)
Just came across the rubbish BBC Scotland Speshul Investigation. 5 minutes in, it looks like Daly and the BBC will engage with the Tax Justice Network when the story suits.
Philboy
Below my original post.
Has Ernie Lynch ever been seen in the same room at the same time as Mark Daly ?????
I guess we’ll know if either of them turn up to join us for a beer at the moment…..
I feel an “I’m Spartacus” moment coming on :-)
Bamboo,
Are you surprised by a civilisation based on piracy
ERNIE LYNCH @ 6.08
” God Only Knows What Brian Wilson thinks of it all -”
He asked his brother Carl to offer a few words –
https://youtu.be/AOMyS78o5YI
BATEEN BHOY
Look forward to meeting you on Saturday.
You were going to give me the low down on nice places for my wee yin to live in Aberdeen, if her application is accepted at RGU/Aberdeen Uni.
Hi Bhoys,
Has anyone heard anything from the press conference?
HH
And i always read your posts, my friend.
I don’t always remember what I’ve read, but i read everything on here. Well, most of it…..somtimes i skim some of Petec’s stuff, but I know he’s been posting :-)
The Rangers supporter question was Mr Desmonds opening line in his letter to Daly.
Further to Hamiltontim’s post last night. It was my dad who passed away last Sunday. He was into his tenth decade and was suffering from a terminal illness .
He passed away quietly in his sleep. My family are relieved he wont be suffering any more.
Like some of our support , he supported us through the very lean years of the late 40’s, early and late 50’s as well as the early 60’s . He never believed me when I told him the 90’s were a nightmare . He believed the above periods were overall , the worst in our history.
I’m grateful he was alive for the 7 1 and Lisbon games. Milan in 1970 was a real low point like it was for thousands of others .
My first memory of going to Celtic Park on 26/5/67 for the big cup being taken round the ground. I’m grateful to him for many things but taking me to Celtic Park on that day got me hooked on our team.
As much as he loved the Lions , Jinky and Wispy in particular , our very own Gael, Malcolm McDonald was his all time favourite with Wullie Fernie a close second .
Wee prayer or two said for HT’s friend whilst waiting on arrival of funeral cortège in Kilwinning Abbey.Being of the opinion that all Christian churches emanated from the Original so the Big Man must be in attendance somewhere about!
Went to mass in Yugoslavia in 1986 and though not exactly like St Winin’s Kilwinning it certainly hit the bar:). Pity about the language.. think I got the word ‘Christ’ a couple of times but that could have been me hearing myself swearing:)
The Exiled Tim 5:43
“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”
——
Wasn’t a chap called Arnold, by any chance?
DD was just following the long standing tradition on CQN of asking a first time poster if they were a hun. Simples.
Dallas Dallas,
Condolences on the loss of your Dad. I hope your family find peace in the knowledge that his suffering has ended, and remember always, the good memories.
Thoughts and prayers for all your family, and for the soul of your Dad.