Headlines

- Tax Authorities in UK Plan to Take Money Directly Out of Bank Accounts
- Egypt Silent as Jewish State Wage Battles
- America Pays Peanuts towards Pakistan's IDPs

Details

Tax Authorities in UK Plan to Take Money Directly Out of Bank Accounts

UK politicians have slammed HMRC's new proposals which would allow Britain's taxman to take money directly out of bank accounts without a court order - breaching the 800-year-old protection of ordinary people inscribed in the Magna Carta. During a three hour Treasury Select Committee hearing, MPs said they were "horrified" by proposals allowing HMRC to siphon cash directly out of ordinary Britons' bank accounts, especially given the taxman's history of mistakes. "We are talking about the ability of one organ of the state to have the unique right to go against the Magna Carta Charter and go in and seize - without judicial process or review - a bank account," said John Thurso, Liberal Democrat for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross. The Magna Carta was originally installed over 800 years ago to protect British citizens from kings looting ordinary people's pockets. HMRC revealed in a consultation document that the process of "direct recovery" would allow it to take money straight out of joint accounts if the holder had failed to act on four formal warnings requiring payment. It said that if the new law came into force, it would immediately target 17,000 accounts. People who owe tax authorities £1,000 (€1,223, $1,690) or more could see that money seized directly from their bank accounts.

However, this could only happen provided there was £5,000 left in their accounts afterwards. TSC chairman and Conservative MP, Andrew Tyrie, tried to obtain middle ground and said if the "account raiding" powers were ratified, "prior independent oversight" was needed. [Source: International Business Times]

The failure of the British economy to recover from the global financial crisis is forcing the British government to raid the bank accounts of its citizens. In Spain, depositors are now automatically taxed for using bank accounts. In 2013, the world witnessed how the authorities in Cyprus raided bank accounts of its citizens. There is a growing trend in the West to punish ordinary people for the economic mistakes of the super-rich. In the Islamic state, the property and wealth of citizens is protected by the Islamic Shariah and no one has the right to take what does not belong to them.

Egypt Silent as Jewish State Wage Battles

Again and again over decades, Egypt has leapt in to play the role of mediator during hostilities between the Palestinians and the Israelis, including the time two years ago when Egypt's president, Mohamed Morsi, helped broker a cease-fire after eight days of bloodshed in the Gaza Strip. But in the latest battle, the Egyptians appear to be barely lifting a finger, leaving the combatants without a go-between as the Palestinian death toll mounts. Officials with Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist movement in Gaza, said on Wednesday they had seen almost no sign of an Egyptian effort to defuse the crisis, in sharp contrast to previous conflicts under Mr. Morsi and President Hosni Mubarak. Making matters worse, according to Palestinian officials, Egypt continued to keep its side of the border all but sealed on Wednesday, barring even humanitarian aid. Egypt's apparent willingness to sit out the crisis reflected shifts in its foreign policy under its new president, Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi, who led the military ouster last summer of Mr. Morsi, a leader of the Muslim Brotherhood and a close ally of Hamas. The Brotherhood was outlawed after Mr. Morsi's ouster, and accused by Egyptian officials of terrorism during a crackdown on the government's opponents. In various plots against Egypt described by the authorities, Hamas was often cast as the Brotherhood's menacing accomplice. [Source: New York Times]

Will now the Egyptians learn who Sisi realise is? In a space of a week he has robbed ordinary Egyptians through fuel price hikes, and has shot to bits the one thing Egyptians are passionate about, that is the Palestinian cause. Things are bound to become worse for Egypt as Sisi tightens the noose around Egyptians making life unbearable for them. Nothing short of a third revolution which makes the return of the Khilafah "Caliphate" its focal point can rescue Egypt from Sisi's evil policies.

America Pays Peanuts towards Pakistan's IDPs

A sum of $8 million has been provided to the World Food Programme (WFP) for milling of wheat provided to the internally displaced people (IDPs) of North Waziristan by the government of Pakistan, the US Ambassador to Pakistan Richard Olson told the Finance Minister Ishaq Dar on Wednesday. He said that the US is working with the United Nations (UN) to provide relief to the IDPs - an act the finance minister appreciated and hoped that the international community would come forward to provide relief for the IDPs.

Pakistan has circa 4 million IDPs of which 500,000 have been recently displaced by the military offensive against militants in North Waziristan. Pakistan's IDP crisis is entirely of its making, as successive military and civilian leaders have colluded with America to create chaos in the tribal areas over the past decade.

The $8 million dollars of US aid is a humiliating gesture, but worse is the Pakistani leadership's eager acceptance of the money. Surely the time has come for the Muslims of Pakistan to remove their leadership and re-establish the Khilafah "Caliphate". Any delay in this matter will only pour further humiliation on the Pakistani people.