Recent events including yesterday's appearance at the Leveson Committee by Rebekah Brooks, she of the red mop, have done nothing for the future prospects of Jeremy Hunt, the coalition Government's Secretary of State for Culture.
Hunt has clearly got questions to answer regarding his connections with, and attitude towards, Ms Brooks and her erstwhile colleagues at News International. If this was not enough, Hunt is also another of the rich and provileged kids who dominate our society and seem to believe whole-heartedly in the adage 'do as I say, not as I do'.
As Government members repeatedly decry tax avoidance and, particularly, those who enter into complex schemes and transactions in order to avoid paying tax, Hunt himself has history in this regard. Apparently, in 2010 and shortly before changes in the law would have made him and his business partner liable to a substantial tax bill, they entered into a scheme to be paid a dividend from their company in the form of a building; this was then leased back to their company and they now receive an annual rental. This arrangement apparently produced a saving of around £200,000 for Hunt and his partner.
The above was not illegal and, no doubt, others did the same, but should a member of the Government really be seen to behave in this way when the same Government is so hell-bent on branding all such avoidance measures as anti-social and evil ?
Yet again, a Government minister has been caught, if not with his trousers down, at least with his dirty sticky fingers in the till. The devious, back-handed, dubious, disingenuous and, potentially corrupt, behaviour of far too many politicians is a blight on our society and it's time it stopped. If it was up to me, I'd shoot the lot of them, bar very few.
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