The last time anyone was forcibly removed from the Privy Council

The last time anyone was forcibly removed from the Privy Council was in 1921 when the lawyer Sir Edgar Speyer was struck off for collaborating with the Germans during the First World War.Ms Short defended her decision to speak out. “So much smearing is going on I just want to give my account of events,” she said. But her attack breaks the convention that ministers do not criticise civil servants.A Cabinet Office spokeswoman retorted: “It is always the duty of the Cabinet Secretary to remind ministers and ex-ministers of their obligations that they have accepted when taking up a ministerial office.” Ms Short repeated claims in the Independent article that said there had been unease across Whitehall over the legality of the war without a second UN resolution and that Lord Goldsmith, the Attorney General, may have been “leant upon” to change his advice. He has allowed our decision-making system to crumble.”In a confidential letter, Sir Andrew said he was disappointed that she saw fit to make claims which damaged the country’s interests, such as her allegation that Britain had spied on Kofi Annan, the UN secretary general. The Independent understands that Ms Short was woken up by the fax and was initally extremely worried by its contents, but decided the next day that she would appear on the ITV’s Jontahan Dimbleby programme yesterday to prove she would not be cowed.

She said: “He allowed us to rush to war in Iraq without defence and overseas policy meeting, looking at all the military options and the diplomatic options and political options. [He] allowed the Joint Intelligence Committee to meet with Alastair Campbell chairing it. However, Ms Short reacted by saying what happened to her was “inconsequential”.The former international development secretary was faxed Sir Andrew’s letter early on Saturday, hours after Downing Street saw the first edition of The Independent containing her scathing article on the legality of war in Iraq. He also raised the possibility of action by “the Crown” against her.

Clare Short refused to be gagged by the Government yesterday despite a threatening letter from the Cabinet Secretary warning her of legal action if she made further allegations about the Iraq war.
Ms Short said Sir Andrew Turnbull had warned that her recent remarks risked being in breach of the ministerial code and called into question her role as a Privy Counsellor. Management should do the decent thing and stop conducting a witch hunt in which, if the witch drowns, she is not guilty and if she stays afloat she is a witch.”Otherwise there will be serious disputation on Tube lines.”RMT members refused to drive Tube trains during the bitter firefighters’ strike because they were concerned about the safety of passengers.The union had been planning to take the drivers’ case to an employment tribunal after their pay was docked but LU settled the case before it was heard.. This had allowed people to protect their homes and other assets from death duties while still enjoying the benefits of them.And since last December, capital gains tax (CGT) holdover relief has no longer been available for gifts to so-called “settlor interested trusts”. A settlor is the person who sets up a trust, and the trust is regarded as settlor interested if the settlor or his or her spouse benefits from assets held in it.This change will hit a range of tax planning schemes relying on gifts to trusts under which settlors or their spouses can continue to enjoy the use of an asset such as a house. From now on, they will not be able to use holdover relief to avoid paying CGT when the home is taken out of their estate and put into a trust.Settlors can avoid CGT if the property is their main home, since they are allowed to claim principal private residence relief (PPR). But the Revenue made another change from 10 December so that CGT cannot be avoided both when the house is placed in a trust and when it is subsequently sold.

London Underground workers are to stage a one-day strike in a row over the sacking of maintenance staff, threatening travel chaos for commuters and visitors.
Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union employed by Metronet voted to back a campaign of industrial action by five to one. “The consultation paper talks about capital assets, but this could mean anything.”Indeed, trusts have already been attacked with an increase in the income and capital gains tax they will pay from 6 April 2004. This will be raised from 34 to 40 per cent and the corresponding dividend trust rate from 25 to 32.5 per cent, reducing the amount of income that can be distributed to beneficiaries.. “We generally take the view that the family home is the last thing you involve in tax planning. For most people, it’s their most important asset, and there must be a doubt whether they should give it away to a trust.”Margaret Jago, specialist tax manager at Scottish Equitable, warns that the consultation paper on taxing pre-owned assets could have far-reaching effects “This could catch schemes beyond home loans,” she says. The home has been given to a trust and no longer belongs to the settlor.