At the New Statesman: Boris and Barclays

My latest New Statesman piece is on Boris and the Barclays Bank interest rate fixing scandal. You can read it over here.

Boris's tax dodger "crackdown" over before it begins

During the campaign Boris Johnson told the BBC that he wanted a "crackdown on tax dodgers and tax avoiders of all kinds" accusing Ken Livingstone of using a private company to avoid paying income tax.

So how goes Boris's "crackdown" on tax avoidance?

Well so far he's failed to extend it to his own employees.

Asked by Labour AM Len Duvall "how many individuals across the GLA family receive their salary through a private company or as a “sole trader” as opposed to as a GLA employee paying PAYE tax?" he replied today that:

"In TfL as of May 2012 there are 1345 individuals being paid through a private company or as a sole trader."

So much for that crackdown.