KHOODEELAAR! noting the confirmation of the charges against 3 MPs and 1 peer under the Theft Act 1968

1220 GMT

London

Friday

05 February 2010

Editor © Muhammad Haque

KKHOODEELAAR! noting the confirmation of the charges against 3 MPs and 1 peer under the Theft Act 1968.

We shall comment on this and on the BBC's continuous use of Joshua Rozenberg, in the course of the day. This is very strange. 

Given that by his own admission Rozenberg 'left' the BBC in 2000, his resurfacing on the BBC screens as 'the expert on the day's 'legal topic' is very strange indeed. 

Perhaps this phenomenon is related to something that is very much INSIDE the BBC's knowledge!

[To be continued]

KHOODEELAAR! noting the latest coverage of Crossrail tax by Boris Johnson

05/02/2010 10:13 

Mayor sets top rate for Crossrail levies - PlanningResource 

Mark Smulian, Planning, 5 February 2010 

London businesses with premises valued at more than £55,000 will pay the maximum 

contribution to Crossrail, London mayor Boris Johnson has announced. 

The levy is the first time that the Business Rate Supplements Act 2009 has been used. The act 

allows county and unitary councils to impose a levy of up to two per cent towards local 

infrastructure projects. 

Business groups in London have long supported Crossrail - which by 2017 will provide a 

direct rail connection across the capital from east to west - but wanted a lower levy. 

The supplement will last for between 24 and 31 years and meet £4.1 billion of the project's 

£15.9 billion cost. However, Johnson estimated that job creation and other economic benefits 

would outstrip the levy contributions threefold by 2026. "Once the rail link is finished London 

will be the best connected city in the world," he said. 

Business group London First welcomed the higher threshold for levy payments, initially fixed 

at £50,000. Chief executive Baroness Valentine said: "This small concession shows that 

Johnson has listened but it is not as much as we would have liked. In return for the business 

contributions, Crossrail must be built to the agreed specification, to time and to budget." 

Trade body the British Retail Consortium argued that the mayor should have set a lower rate 

because businesses already face higher bills from a rating revaluation in April. 

Mayor sets top rate for Crossrail levies

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