HMRC Boss 'Linked To Firm Named In Panama Papers'

The boss of Revenue & Customs (HMRC), which is to oversee an inquiry into the so-called Panama Papers, was a partner at a top City law firm that acted for Blairmore Holdings and other offshore companies named in the leak, according to a report.

In what is a further embarrassment for the Government, it was revealed that Edward Troup, executive chair of HMRC since April, is a former partner at Simmons & Simmons, whose clients have included the Panama-registered fund created by David Cameron’s father, Ian, The Guardian reported.

Mr Cameron announced at the weekend that HMRC would be working with the National Crime Agency to lead a "world-class" taskforce to investigate allegations of tax dodging and money laundering brought to light by the leak of 11.5 million files from the Panama law firm Mossack Fonseca.

A unit with initial funding of £10m is being set up, which will also bring together specialists from the Serious Fraud Office and the Financial Conduct Authority.

Responding to The Guardian’s report, an HMRC spokesman told Sky News: "Before joining the Civil Service in 2004, Edward Troup had a successful career in the private sector, during the course of which he dealt with many companies.

"He can confirm that he never had any dealings with Mossack Fonseca, was unaware of the company until recently, and that none of the individuals or organisations named so far were clients that he advised.

"Edward Troup's role in HMRC has never involved responsibility for operational activities or direct dealings with companies on their tax affairs

"Any inquiry must be fully independent and in public.

"Having this proposed taskforce reporting to the Chancellor and Home Secretary, who are members of a political party whose donors are implicated, is a non-runner.

"The Government's inadequate plans will fail to win back the trust of the public."

Tata Sells Scunthorpe Steel Plant To Greybull

Tata has sold its steel plant in Scunthorpe and several other businesses to Greybull Capital, possibly saving up to 4,400 jobs in the UK and 400 in France.

Greybull will take on the entirety of Tata Steel UK's steelworks operations in Scunthorpe, as well as two mills in Teesside, an engineering workshop in Workington and a design consultancy in York along with a mill in Hayange, France.

The combined operations form Tata's Long Products Europe (LPE) business. Following completion of the deal, the steelworks business will trade under the brand name British Steel.

The sale also includes the associated sales and distribution network.

Tata also confirmed on Monday that it was to contact "many tens" of potential buyers for the rest of its UK steel business, including the sprawling Port Talbot works - adding that it preferred to find a single purchaser.

Commenting on the creation of British Steel arising from the Long Products sale Roy Rickhuss, general secretary of the steelworkers’ union Community, said: "We welcome this major step forward towards a deal which will continue steelmaking in Scunthorpe and secure the future of the Long Products business across the UK.

"Greybull's interest in the business ... demonstrates that with the right investors UK steel making can have a positive future. So far, Tata Steel has honoured its commitment to be a responsible seller of the business by allowing time for the deal to be done."

Union members at Scunthorpe are currently being balloted on whether to accept a 3% cut in pay and reductions in pension contributions for a year to smooth the path for the deal.

Greybull, which is a British-based investment group, will pay a nominal £1 for the business and has arranged a £400m investment and financing package. 

The existing management team will stay on to run the new business, and try to return the company to profitability.

Marc Meyohas, a partner at Greybull, said the aim was to avoid any redundancies, grow the business and become profitable within a year.

"We are delighted to have reached agreement for the acquisition of LPE, which we believe can become a strong business, with a highly skilled workforce and great potential."

The deal is expected to complete within eight weeks, assuming the completion of the financing arrangements for LPE and contract agreements with key suppliers are agreed.

Hans Fischer, chief executive of Tata Steel’s European operations, said: “Under these current challenging market conditions in Europe with the soaring levels of imports from China, we are happy that Tata Steel UK and Greybull Capital have entered the final stage of completion of the sale."

Greybull said it is already searching for a permanent chief executive.

The company helped turn-around the airline operator Monarch, which it bought it in 2014 and last year returned to profit, and recently acquired convenience store chain, My Local, from Morrisons.

Mr Meyohas would not confirm whether Greybull was interested in buying other parts of Tata's UK assets, such as the Port Talbot plant.

"We are always interested in growth. We would review any opportunities as and when they are presented to us," he said.

Steelworkers from threatened plants in Port Talbot, Llanwern, Troste, Shotton, Rotherham, Stocksbridge, Corby and Hartlepool travelled to London on Monday to hear an address to MPs by Business Secretary Sajid Javid.

"The UK and Welsh Governments are working tirelessly to support Tata Steel to reach a deal for Port Talbot and their other sites across the UK," he said after the deal was announced.

"This agreement sends positive signals to any potential investor for the rest of Tata's UK business."

Teen 'Carves IS Slogan' Into Cellmate's Forehead

An Australian prisoner has reportedly cut an Islamic State slogan into the face of a fellow inmate.

Bourhan Hraichie, 18, allegedly engraved the letters "e4e" onto his 40-year-old cellmate during the attack last week, an apparent reference to the Islamic State revenge mantra "an eye for an eye".

Hraichie is then said to have placed a towel over the face of his victim, who was reported to be a former soldier, and poured boiling water over him. The man was taken to hospital with injuries to his head and burns to his face.

NSW Corrective Services Commissioner Peter Severin said: "(The attack) appears to have had a strong fundamentalist element to it".

"(Hraichie) clearly identified himself as a radical. I am appalled that these two inmates were placed in the same cell.

This was a serious mistake and is under investigation."

Hraichie is believed to have become radicalised while inside Kempsey prison, New South Wales, and had not been sentenced for any terror offences.

Prison guard spokesman Steve McMahon told reporters that concerns over the teenager's apparent radicalisation meant he should have been segregated from other prisoners.

"The 18-year-old, in our belief, had presented enough information and bad behaviour to have been segregated, or at the very least, been put in a single cell," he said.

New South Wales Corrections Minister David Elliott said he was outraged by the alleged attack.

"I will ask the Inspector of Custodial Services for a full and thorough investigation of the management of radicalised prisoners in the system, including the assault," he told reporters.

Hraichie has been transferred to a maximum-security prison and will appear in court next month charged with causing grievous bodily harm and intentional choking.

North Korean Spy Chief Defects To The South

A North Korean spy chief has fled Kim Jong-Un's secretive state and defected to the South, officials in Seoul have said.

The army colonel had handled spy operations targeting South Korea at the North's General Bureau of Reconnaissance and is the highest level military official ever to defect, a Seoul government official told the Yonhap news agency.

Unification and defence ministry spokesmen confirmed the report to AFP but declined to elaborate on details including the official's name.

He is already believed to have passed on valuable intelligence about North Korea's spying operation against the South.

The latest blow to dictator Kim Jong-Un's authority comes days after the mass defection of 13 workers in a state-run restaurant in China.

The group switched sides after watching TV and surfing the internet alerted them to Pyongyang's propaganda.

The defections come at a time of elevated military tensions on the divided Korean peninsula.

North Korea has defied the international community with a series of missile tests in 2016 - and last week claimed to have successfully tested an engine for an intercontinental ballistic missile.

Meanwhile, Pyongyang has condemned Seoul and Washington for a sanctions drive at the UN over its nuclear and missile programmes, while also lashing out at the annual US-South Korea military war games.

Nearly 30,000 North Koreans have fled poverty and repression, despite risk of imprisonment and torture if caught, and settled in the South.

But the number of defectors - who once numbered more than 2,000 a year - has nearly halved since leader Kim Jong-Un took power after the death of his father and longtime ruler Kim Jong-Il in December 2011.

Corbyn Fined £100 For Late Tax Return

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has published his tax return - revealing he was fined £100 for filing after the deadline.

Mr Corbyn published last year's return, amid similar moves by David Cameron, George Osborne and London Mayor Boris Johnson.

It has been revealed that Mr Osborne paid £72,210 in income tax on taxable income of £198,738.

Meanwhile, Mr Johnson earned £1,985,901 between 2011 and 2014, meaning he paid £916,481 in tax. 

The revelations come in response to the row over tax avoidance.

r Corbyn's 10-page document, which was handwritten, showed the date of submission as February 2 2016.

The deadline for paper submissions was October 31 and for online submissions January 31.

Returns filed up to three months late attract a fine of #100 - with higher penalties if longer.

The document also indicated that he declared £1,850 of additional income beyond his Parliamentary salary.

Mr Cameron attacked Mr Corbyn for taking so long to reveal his return to the Commons. 

The PM said it had been "convenient" that the Labour leader had failed to publish in time for scrutiny before Prime Minister's Questions.

Meanwhile, shadow chancellor John McDonnell released his details in January during the row over the back tax paid by the internet giant Google.

Mr McDonnell earned £61,575 and paid £14,253 in tax.

Mr Cameron has also set out new measures to make it harder for people to hide the proceeds of corruption offshore.

In a Commons statement, Mr Cameron - who published his tax return at the weekend - said it was right that those who aspired to run the nation's finances declare their own tax affairs.

"I am not suggesting that this should apply to all MPs," he said.

"I think there is a strong case for the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition, and for the Chancellor and shadow chancellor, because they are people who are or who wish to be responsible for the nation's finances."

New Laws To Crack Down On Tax Cheats

David Cameron is to announce new laws to crack down on tax cheats in response to criticism from opposition MPs after publishing details of his own tax arrangements.

In a Commons statement as MPs return to Westminster after a 17-day Easter break, the Prime Minister will announce plans for a new law making it a criminal offence for companies to fail to stop staff aiding tax evasion.

The move was first announced in the March 2015 Budget, when George Osborne said the Government would introduce the measure in this Parliament. Now the Prime Minister will promise legislation this year.

Speaking ahead of his statement, Mr Cameron said: "This Government has done more than any other to take action against corruption in all its forms but we will go further.

"That is why we will legislate this year to hold companies who fail to stop their employees facilitating tax evasion criminally liable."

Some MPs want to challenge Mr Cameron on inheritance tax issues raised by two £100,000 payments made to the Prime Minister by his mother Mary in 2011 after the death of his father, who had already left him £300,000.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said Mr Cameron should now publish his actual tax returns, which he said would reveal more details about his dealing in shares before he became Prime Minister.

"I want to see the papers," said Mr Corbyn.

"We need to know what he's actually returned as a tax return, we need to know why he put this money overseas in the first place and whether he made anything out of it or not before 2010 when he became Prime Minister.

'Mr Nice' Howard Marks Dies Of Cancer Aged 70

Tributes have been paid to Howard Marks, the former drugs smuggler known as Mr Nice, who is said to have died aged 70.

The Guardian reported that the writer died at his home near Bridgend in South Wales.

Marks announced he had inoperable bowel cancer last year.

Friend and former colleague at Loaded magazine James Brown told The Guardian that Marks was a "true modern-day folk hero", who had done "so many funny, shocking, illegal things".

He said: "He stood for everything we loved. Mr Nice was a thrilling book. Howard is a bloody great example to us all."

Marks had a monthly column at Loaded for five years and released his autobiography, Mr Nice, which detailed his many years smuggling cannabis, in 1996.

After years living under as many 43 aliases, he was eventually caught by the American Drug Enforcement Agency in 1988.

He was sentenced to 25 years at one of America's toughest prisons - Terre Haute, Indiana - and was released on parole in 1995 after serving seven years.

After his release from prison he became a prominent campaigner for the legalisation of cannabis and toured a comedy show.

He stood for parliament in four separate constituencies in the 1997 general election on the single issue of the legalisation of cannabis, catalysing the formation of the Legalise Cannabis Alliance.

In an interview with The Observer in January 2015, Marks said he had come to terms with his illness.

He said: "It's impossible to regret any part of my life when I feel happy and I am happy now, so I don't have any regrets and have not had any for a very long time.

"Smuggling cannabis was a wonderful way of living - perpetual culture shock, absurd amounts of money, and the comforting knowledge of getting so many people stoned."

Charlatans singer Tim Burgess tweeted: "A sad day. Howard Marks has died. What a story, what a life. Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night x x"

Rob da Bank - the founder of Bestival - tweeted: "Very sad news that our mate and hero Howard Marks has died. An hilarious, beautiful and anarchic man who will be much missed X"