David Craig, on November 19th, 2014The carefully dishevelled multimillionaire Saint Bob Geldorf has been all over our media in the last couple of weeks as he launches the latest version of “Do they know it’s Christmas?”. I read somewhere that Irish rock superstar Bono “has been given the best line” in Saint Bob’s little ditty. If this is true, it would be so laughable that it would be almost tragic.
What do we know about that tireless anti-poverty campaigner Saint Bono? That he’s probably worth over £400m. That for about 20 years Bono’s group U2 benefited from a 1960s era Irish income tax exemption that was introduced to aid indigent artists and in 2006, in response to the ceiling on its tax-free status being capped at €250,000 (£223,000), the rock group promptly moved its prime money-making unit to the Netherlands.
As Paul McGuinness, the manager of the group, said at the time Bono and U2 “continue to remain Ireland-based and are personal investors and employers in the country. Innovative tax policies have been the bedrock of Ireland’s current prosperity,” he added. “Like any other business, U2 operates in a tax-efficient manner.”
Yet Saint Bono has repeatedly criticised large multi-national companies for depriving Third World countries of tax revenue by using tax arrangements, just like those used by U2, to minimise their tax payments.
What about Sir Bob? He is reportedly worth about £32m (which he has apparently denied). But he has admitted that he is a non-dom and so can legally avoid income and capital gains tax on international earnings. In an interview, when pressed on how much tax he actually paid, Geldof allegedly exploded. “I pay all my taxes,” he shouted. “My time? Is that not a tax? I employ 500 people. I have created business for the UK government. I have given my ideas. I have given half my life to this.”
As for all the other self-regarding multimillionaires on Saint Bob’s nauseatingly holier-than-thou song – it would be more than surprising if most of them didn’t have highly-paid accountants and lawyers carefully ensuring that they too paid as little tax as possible.
As for us ‘little people’, the amount of our tax money we give in foreign aid was increased by our useless Coalition from about £7.9bn a year to over £11.5bn a year. Just this £3.6bn increase would have been more than enough to pay for the 15,000 police and 39,500 military who are being sacked as part of the Government’s spending cuts.
Moreover, Britain has given more than most other countries apart from the US to fighting against the spread of Ebola. The US has actually given about $200m and the UK about $20m. China has coughed up just $8.3m, France only $7.4m, Italy $2m and Spain a pathetic $540,000.
I won’t be buying Sir Bob’s and Saint Bono’s crappy, self-serving effort, will you?
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Not this time no. I did buy the original single when I was young and less questioning about things of this nature but knowing how much aid Africa has already had and still gets which is mostly stolen by its rulers, and the relentless population increase in that hapless part of the world, I don’t feel inclined to give any more than I have already via taxation. What’s the point?
I recall watching on TV Bono calling on the Government to give more aid. That is taxpayers money.Here he demands that money owed http://www.celebrityvalues.com/bono.html is written off.
Another form of Hypocrisy is practised by Billy Bragg who backs our open borders meaning that third world migrants have taken over his original home town of Barking , He now lives in his Devom Mansion away from migrants. His facebook page invites comments on political issues but any that refute him are deleated.
I didn’t buy the original and I won’t buy this one. “Gives us yor f****** money” didn’t sway me either. Charities are probably a drain on the economy and very lucrative for the top people. We pay too much in taxes, that should be enough. I cannot understand why the British public are taken in by these fundraising events every time. It’s the same when it comes to voting. We have to look after our own interests for the sake of the country, not something most politicians think about, nor rich celebrities. I would give to charities if the rich and famous did instead of hoodwinking us to give for them. Their time is valuable but their money more so. Tax avoidance steals from the taxpayer and when the loopholes are closed I will give gladly.
No.
Geldof, Hewson (I refuse to call him by his pathetic egotistical moniker) etc are the cause not the cure – People dont want the pathos of charity anymore, they want a fair share of the spoils. Times are a changing and the 1% will be relieved of their loot one way or another ….
I really dont believe this bullshit. It stinks of envy, a weird kind of envy which says rich people aren’t allowed to raise money for poor. Paying your taxes to a bunch of selfish politicians who dont give a shit about the poor has never taken anyone out of poverty!
Hahaha Envy!! Are you a 1% hahaha foookk of course you are lololol
Tim, we don’t pay our taxes to “a bunch of selfish politicians” we pay to our country and the selfish, self serving politicians screw up the allocation of it.
There are a number of points that are valid in this article, one how people/companies who make money (no problem with that) avoid paying the same % of tax as the rest of us (I have a problem with that) and if that tax were collected, we probably wouldn’t need to run big charity events to raise money in the first place.
And of course that would have a double whammy to the positive, no pointless honours being bewstowed on them, and removes a platform from which they ultimately generate more wealth..
Well said Tim. The people who write these articles are the worst hypocrites, who else is going to get life saving medicines and supplies to millions dying in the third world, it’s the tireless philanthropy of these hated artists who actually save lives, so what if U2 Base operations abroad to save tax, they employ thousands of people and most of their work is global, meanwhile the writers if these articles make money on the back if celebrities, going as low as tapping their phone lines, and of course they’d choose to pay as high a percentage as possible if they made hundreds of millions of pounds, they’d give it all to a government that does a much worse job of aid than they personally do, I hate this holier than thou crap, it’s all lazy ill-conceived bullshit
I guess if the press says it we have to believe it and that’s the trouble these days we are at the mercy of what the press wish to feed us so we have to take everything they say with a pinch of salt .do your own research they have the power to bring anyone down it seems just for a story which equals money in there pocket .it’s Bulls shit what they can get away with I say just don’t believe every thing the press says it’s a money machine they are not a public service just remember that
Perhaps if either one could lend me just £3.0000 pounds I’d be eternally grateful.
Never done anything to me personally I like there music.but don’t they support other charitys
Band Aid/Live Aid = One big corporate con. Geldof was a puppet for Zac Goldsmith.