Friday 27th January 2023
Posted: Fri 27 Jan, 2023 6:39 am
Morning all.
I wondered who the fifth panel member should have been.out the blue he did say something interesting. Did you know (according to Jake, I haven't looked this up yet) that the wealth disparity between the North and South of England is now worse than the disparity between East and West Germany at the time of the fall of the Berlin Wall? An interesting thing for Jake to highlight.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/nadh ... -jc2pzk92fNadhim Zahawi earned at least £1.3 million from interests in Kurdistan after cultivating close links with a powerful regional family, at the same time as he sought to shape Britain’s foreign policy in the area.
The Conservative Party chairman, whose career is in the balance after revelations about his tax affairs, is now facing questions over the sums he made as a “fixer” for oil companies in the disputed region, while he was an MP.
Zahawi, who was born in Iraq, developed friendships with power brokers in the Barzani family, one of two tribes that dominate Kurdish politics, and became known as the “go-to consultant for companies wishing to gain access to the Barzani clan”.
Dan Neidle, a tax lawyer and founder of Tax Policy Associates whose work initially raised awareness of the Zahawi family finances, said: “The fact that an MP’s family can receive £30m of unsecured loans I find incredible. Those loans could be from Elvis for all we know. But it is a fact that a person or persons unknown has loaned the Zahawi family £30m and we don’t get to know who.”
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/worl ... 69639.html” Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky has delivered a blow to Boris Johnson’s comeback bid, saying he could not support him returning as prime minister.
Days after Mr Johnson’s trip to Kyiv, Mr Zelensky was quizzed about his relationship with the former PM, who he described as a “true friend” during his final days in office.
Mr Johnson was one of the most vocal backers of Ukraine on the world stage after the Russian invasion began last year, and since leaving No 10 he has continued to offer support to Mr Zelensky.
AlsoGareth Davies, the Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG) and head of the National Audit Office (NAO), has today issued a qualified audit opinion on the 2021-22 accounts of the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC). A lack of sufficient, appropriate audit evidence and significant shortcomings in financial control and governance meant he was unable to provide an audit opinion on the accounts of the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA)..........
The C&AG could not sign off on transactions related to UKHSA in DHSC’s accounts. He has issued a “disclaimer of opinion” on UKHSA’s own accounts, meaning he was unable to obtain sufficient, appropriate evidence upon which to form an audit opinion......
Critical elements of internal control were not in place during UKHSA’s first six months, for example, UKHSA did not carry out effective bank reconciliations.......
For the Department of Health and Social Care’s group accounts, the C&AG was unable to obtain the evidence needed to support £1.36bn of stock, due to issues related to inventory management. DHSC did not complete an effective programme of year-end stock counts to verify the quantity and quality of items including PPE and lateral flow tests, as it was unable to access 5 billion items (which cost £2.9bn) that were stored in containers, and did not have adequate processes in place for accessible stock held in warehouses.
DHSC estimates that there has been a £6bn reduction in the value of items procured in response to the pandemic. This comprises:
£2.5bn write-down on items costing £11.2bn4 that DHSC has already purchased, but no longer expects to use, or for which the market price is now lower than the price paid.
£3.5bn write-down on PPE, vaccines and medication which DHSC has committed to purchase, but no longer expects to use.
Taken together with the £8.9bn written-down in its 2020-21 accounts, over the last two financial years, DHSC has now reported £14.9bn of write-down costs related to PPE and other items.