Fownhope’s Heart of Oak Society traces its roots to the age of friendly societies, when communities provided their own safety net. Its anniversary celebrations reveal a tradition still very much alive, says MARK SEDDON
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Lycamobile – tackled for the very first time?
Tory-donating company Lycamobile has a long track record of dodging tax. Does its increased unpaid tax fund mean the firm is getting spooked by the taxman closing in, asks SOLOMON HUGHES
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BRITISH tax officials are still trying to fine one of the Tories’ £8.2 million donors for “failure or obstruction” and not paying enough tax, according to company accounts released in March.
The Lycamobile group of companies, which has donated over £2m to the Tories, has also increased the money it put aside for unpaid tax, on top of the fine, to €10.6m, or about £9.2m.
Mobile phone firm Lycamobile has given the Tories £2.1m since 2011. Lycamobile owner Allirajah Subaskaran regularly went to dinners for donors with Tory ministers: in 2016 he dined with David Cameron, George Osborne, Philip Hammond, Theresa May, Jeremy Hunt and Sajid Javid.
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Martin Taylor, the hedge-fund multimillionaire who has poured millions into pushing Labour rightwards, helped finance Lucy Powell’s supposedly dissenting campaign — suggesting her victory was not the ‘soft-left’ rebellion some have claimed, says SOLOMON HUGHES
It is rather strange that Labour continues to give prestigious roles to inappropriate, controversy-mired businessmen who are also major Tory donors. What could Labour possibly be hoping to get out of it, asks SOLOMON HUGHES
