Month: February 2018

Support required to promote the conference outside Premier League football stadiums in the next six weeks

/ Mike Buchanan / Leave a comment

With only six weeks left before ticket sales for the conference end on 31 March, we want to promote the conference strongly over the period. One way is to promote it outside stadiums on afternoons / evenings when high-attendance Premier League football games are being played, handing out leaflets and displaying our promotional placards. Please email us ASAP if you can join us (info@j4mb.org.uk), so we can bring along sufficient placards and leaflets. Thanks.

You can book your conference ticket(s) here.

Iceland law to outlaw male circumcision sparks row over religious freedom

/ Mike Buchanan / 3 Comments

A shockingly poor piece by a female journalist in The Guardian. Much of it is given over to Jewish and Muslim proponents of MGM and nothing is written about the known harms (physical and sometimes psychological) caused by the procedure. Some encouraging extracts:

A bill currently before the Icelandic parliament proposes a penalty of up to six years in prison for anyone carrying out a circumcision other than for medical reasons. Critics say the move, which has sparked alarm among religious leaders across Europe, would make life for Jews and Muslims in Iceland unsustainable…

The Icelandic bill says the circumcision of young boys violates their rights and is incompatible with the United Nations convention on the rights of the child. It draws a parallel with female genital mutilation, already outlawed in most European countries…

Silja Dögg Gunnarsdóttir of the centre-right Progressive party said she had proposed the bill after realising that there was no ban on male circumcision although FGM has been outlawed in Iceland since 2005. “If we have laws banning circumcision for girls, then we should do so for boys,” she said.

“We are talking about children’s rights, not about freedom of belief. Everyone has the right to believe in what they want, but the rights of children come above the right to belief.”

Nordic countries had well-deserved reputations for promoting human rights, she added. “If Iceland backs this, I think other countries will follow.”

The issue of circumcision has been raised in other European countries but none has outlawed it…

The Icelandic bill on circumcision has cross-party backing and wide public support, Gunnarsdóttir said. If it passes its first reading, the bill will go into committee stage for several months before it can become law.

The proponents of MGM in the piece include Milah UK. Last Thursday I was interviewed for two hours by the BBC, to give them plenty of material to attempt to edit down to a few minutes of ‘gotcha!’ footage for inclusion in a late-night show next week, more of this in due course. The (female) interviewer tried to intimate that I and J4MB had received a huge amount of BBC exposure in the five years since our launch, citing numerous programmes. I pointed out much of the exposure had been brief and confrontational, unlike the far lengthier (and supportive) exposure the BBC have given to the newer party, the Wimmin’s Equality Party. The reason for mentioning this is that the interviewer referred to Jonathan Vernon-Smith’s show on BBC 3 Counties Radio (Beds, Herts and Bucks). Some of these shows concerned MGM, in which I debated with Jewish proponents of MGM. In one such episode I debated with Simon Hochhauser of Milah UK – here (14:49).

Women in Cheese. Join Miranda Bubb-Humfryes in a class celebrating the role of women in cheese-making – Neal’s Yard Dairy, Borough Market, London, 8 March. Tickets only £50.00.

/ Mike Buchanan / 3 Comments

Our thanks to James for this (scroll down for some commentary):

Neal’s Yard Dairy is an upmarket cheese retailer in Borough Market, London. You can order your tickets for the “Women in Cheese” class here. Excerpts from the description:

To mark the occasion of International Women’s Day Miranda will host this special edition class. She will select cheeses made by women or influenced by women. [J4MB: How do women influence cheeses? By teaching them about the glorious ideology of feminism?]

Miranda Bubb-Humfryes [J4MB: No, seriously, that’s her name, apparently] has worked at Neal’s Yard Dairy for 3 years and is the co-manager of our Covent Garden shop and the Events and Shows we attend. Her role is broad and weekly includes working in our shops, with our cheese maturing team and even driving across the countryside delivering and collecting cheese. Miranda is passionate about the work she does and has a great skill in engaging with our customers and sharing her stories and experiences. Miranda is currently heading up a project at Neal’s Yard Dairy to create and share online post and blogs about women cheese makers and to essentially publish this untold history. [J4MB: How exciting. Coming up in the series of untold histories being put on by Borough Market retailers, “Women in Chains”, “Women in Meat”, “Women in Vegetables”, “Women in Poundland”, “Stationery Women”, “Women in Cars”, “Women in Coffee”, “Women in Alcohol”… these untold histories must be told. Never forget: Women are strong! Women are amazing!! Women need gender quotas!!!]

How to Destroy A Man Now (DAMN): A Handbook

/ Mike Buchanan / 16 Comments

Our thanks to Dick for pointing us to this book, published 10 days ago. Would Amazon sell a book titled How to Destroy a Woman Now? Of course not. The description on Amazon:

A wave of sexual misconduct allegations about powerful men have exploded recently in the media (e.g., the news, Twitter #MeToo, etc.). A bold social movement has begun with brave women coming forward and being applauded for speaking out and sharing their stories of abuse, discrimination, and harassment. As a result, accused men like Harvey Weinstein, Matt Lauer, Charlie Rose, and dozens more have been removed from power and are suffering the consequences.

In How to Destroy A Man Now (DAMN), Dr. Angela Confidential (a business psychologist, consultant, and human resource professional) empowers women with a step-by-step guide for destroying a man’s reputation and removing him from power.

In easy to understand terms, the handbook reveals and explains the fundamental dynamics between allegations, the media, and authority as they relate to male misconduct in today’s society. It also unveils and details practical real-world methods for leveraging allegations, media, and authorities to dethrone a man from power.

 

BBC tax panic as Look North presenter Christa Ackroyd told to pay £400,000 bill

/ Mike Buchanan / 7 Comments

In today’s Times:

Dozens of BBC presenters face being forced to settle substantial tax bills after a tribunal ruled that a news anchor must pay more than £400,000.

Christa Ackroyd, 60, hosted the regional news programme Look North for 12 years and was paid as a contractor through a personal service company to minimise her tax bills.

HMRC argued, however, that from 2006 to 2013 she was effectively a BBC employee and was therefore liable for £419,151 in unpaid income tax and national insurance.

A first-tier tax tribunal yesterday found in favour of HMRC and ordered the presenter to pay the bill. The tribunal judge said: “We do not consider that Ms Ackroyd could fairly be described as being in business on her own account.” The ruling is a blow to other BBC presenters who declared themselves to be self-employed. It was disclosed in 2016 that more than 100 of the corporation’s past and present employees were under investigation for alleged tax avoidance over their use of personal service companies. Presenters for other media organisations are also affected.

The National Union of Journalists has accused the BBC of pressing female presenters to leave staff jobs and become self-employed while allowing male presenters to remain on contract.

In his ruling, Judge Jonathan Cannan said that Ms Ackroyd’s appeal did not set a precedent. He noted, however, that it was “one of a number of other appeals involving television presenters and personal service companies”. It is the first ruling for some time in the media sector related to IR35, the tax legislation covering off-payroll working. Other presenters are now expected to settle their cases rather than risk the cost of defeat.

Judge Cannan accepted Ms Ackroyd’s evidence that the BBC suggested that she be paid through a personal service company after poaching her from Calendar, the ITV rival. Her accountant advised that the arrangement was in order.

The tribunal found that she was not self-employed, because she was obliged to work at least 225 days a year and the BBC had the right to specify what services her private company would provide. Under tax rules a person is selfemployed if they can decide what work they do and when.

An HMRC spokesman said: “Employment status is never a matter of choice; it is always dictated by the facts and when the wrong tax is being paid we put things right.” Many freelance BBC presenters have been moved on to staff contracts after rules were changed last year to make the corporation responsible for deciding their tax status.

A BBC spokesman said: “The use of personal service companies is entirely legitimate and common practice across the industry as it provides flexibility for both individuals and organisations. An independent review conducted in 2012 found that there was no evidence that the BBC had attempted to avoid income tax or NIC by contracting in this way.”

Ms Ackroyd left the BBC in 2013 amid a dispute about her tax situation. She said in a statement: “I am delighted that the judge has recognised that I have never acted in any way dishonestly. HMRC and the judge stressed they do not regard me as a ‘tax cheat’ nor have I ever sought to avoid or evade tax.”

She added that the £419,151 figure did not take into account corporation tax she had already paid through her personal service company. She is considering an appeal.

You can subscribe to The Times here.