Gordon Brown in 2007: I Have a Duty to Listen to People...

Are Geoff Hoon's Fingers Crossed When it Comes to CGT?

Iain Dale 11:50 AM

Hazel Blears has been singled out for not paying the capital gains tax on a London flat which was designated by the Fees Office as her second home. She has since paid a cheque for £13,000 to the HMRC, and made it clear that she recognises people’s anger. But what about her Cabinet colleague Geoff Hoon?

“Other Cabinet ministers, including Geoff Hoon, the Transport Secretary, were refusing to say whether they benefited similarly on properties that had been registered as second homes.”
Daily Telegraph 12th May 2009

“Yesterday it emerged that Nick Brown, the Chief Whip, was leading efforts to establish whether Geoff Hoon, the Transport Secretary, would have to repay thousands in capital gains tax. In 2006, Mr Hoon sold a property in Lambeth, south London, that between 1992 and 1997 he listed with the Commons as his second home. He was estimated to have made a profit of more than £300,000 on the sale of the home but has yet to say whether he paid tax.”
Daily Telegraph 14th May 2009 

So has Cabinet Minister Geoff Hoon committed exactly the same misdemeanour as Hazel Blears, but hopes no-one will notice? By saying nothing, does he hope he will get away with it, and keep the cash? Has he paid CGT or not? If he has, why won’t he just say so?

Perhaps my my friends in Her Majesty's Press might like to quiz him on this. Hard.

Gordon Brown in 2007: I Have a Duty to Listen to People...

Iain Dale 10:07 AM

At PMQs today, David Cameron might like to remind the public of the "duty" to consider holding a General Election to which Gordon Brown referred in his October 2007 interview with Andrew Marr. This is what he said just after he had decided not to call an election...

But, you know, as Prime Minister you have got a power and you have got a responsibility. Your power is that you alone make a decision about Election. The responsibility, however, is to listen to people and to exercise that power with responsibility. So yes, I think I had a responsibility to consider it, to listen to what people were saying, to listen to what the opposition parties were saying, to listen to what people in my own party wanting an Election were saying, to listen to the public, I believe the public, the priority was not an Election but ...

So if he's listening to what people are saying, what conclusion do you think he ought to come to? That they don't want an election? I think not.

But according to Paul Waugh, he is not listening at all, and has made up his mind not to call an election.