Rip-off News round-up. Our pick of the last week's media (Thu 26th February)

Legal aid cuts are forcing domestic abuse victims to be cross-examined by their attackersThe justice system’s treatment of victims of domestic violence has become a politically charged issue. The Ministry of Justice says all victims are entitled to legal aid to help them “break free from abusive relationships”. But according to research by Citizens Advice, victims of domestic abuse increasingly face being cross-examined by their attackers because legal aid cuts make it difficult to qualify for courtroom representation. The report says: “In some...

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Now it’s Rifkind and Straw: How many of our “cash for access” legislators are selling out the national interest?

SOURCE DAILY MAIL: MPs' salary of £67,000 is not enough for the standard of living I'm ENTITLED to, says Tory Sir Malcolm Rifkind as he defends his second jobs after 'cash for access' stingLabour’s Jack Straw and the Tories’ Sir Malcolm Rifkind were secretly filmed discussing how they could use their contacts to benefit a private Chinese company and both boasted about charging at least £5,000-a-day. In the conversation with the undercover reporters Sir Malcolm was filmed discussing that his usual fee was 'somewhere in the region of £5,000 to £8,000'...

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Left to ourselves the plurality of Brits don't vote. The Church of England bishops' letter will help get more of us out to the polling station.

Some of our readers complain that we at Ripped-off Britons are always being negative. It's not true! We once wrote a piece explaining why we should love estate agents. And we ran another piece urging people not to be beastly to bankers. This time we speak positively of Church of England bishops and their letter for the General Election 2015.Taking a sideways glance at data can be revealing. A report from the Food Standards Agency (FSA) provides a key insight into us Brits, apart from all the stuff about food standards. It's one of our most...

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Rip-off News round-up. Our pick of the last week's media (Thu 19th February)

Cameron wants young people to work 30 hours a week for benefits in new Tory planThe proposals would put young adults who have been out of work, education or training for six months (“neets”) into compulsory community work such as making meals for the elderly or joining local charities. Under the scheme, Jobseekers’ Allowance would be abolished for 18 to 21-year-olds and replaced with the already announced “Youth Allowance” of the same amount: £57.35 a week, or £1.91 per hour of work, well below the £5.13 legal minimum wage for that age group. After...

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HMRC Crime Map and "Most Wanted" posters show where the Taxation Action is, and where it isn't.

Just as you can judge a person by the company he keeps, you can judge an enforcement agency by the villains it confronts. America's FBI chases the most murderous crooks of their times: Al Capone; Bonnie & Clyde; John Dilinger; the Unabomber. Comic book heroes pursue the vilest vicious verminous villains violently.[Image: The Multi Powers]HMRC, on the other hand, included in its top 8 "Most Wanted" miscreants in February 2015: three VAT fraudsters; two cigarette smugglers; one individual pocketing stamp duties; one individual running...

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Leaked HSBC documents name thousands dodging hundreds of millions in tax by using private Swiss accounts

KJ needs it all explained to him by Fee...SOURCE DAILY MAIL: HSBC arm 'helped clients evade taxes' as thousands of clients including celebrities and sports stars hold secret Swiss accountsThe Swiss arm of HSBC, Britain's biggest bank helped wealthy clients such as sports stars, celebrities and politicians evade huge amounts of tax, according to an investigation by journalists. The Guardian newspaper and the BBC's Panorama programme analysed details of 30,000 thousand accounts holding nearly £78billion worth of assets and say they...

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Rip-off News round-up. Our pick of the last week's media (Thu 12th February)

Supermarket watchdog investigates Tesco’s dodgy fees that cripple its suppliersChristine Tacon, the groceries code adjudicator, said she had a reasonable suspicion that Tesco had breached the code. Likely violations, involving many suppliers and large sums of money, include:penalties imposed when Tesco claimed items were missing from deliveriescharging more than an item cost when a customer returned it to Tescodelays in refunding suppliers when Tesco incorrectly issued duplicate invoicescharges for in-store promotions that were either incorrect...

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