The Socialist 4 January 2017

Nationalise rail now!

2017: Upheaval and fightback will continue

Nationalise rail now!

Resist Trump: protest on 20 January

Bosses' pay goes up by 82% for nothing

Make Harrods give back stolen tips!

Northern Ireland: 'Cash for ash' scam shows need for non-sectarian, socialist politics

Tories want donors to 'defeat rise of socialism'

NHS drug price hike: nationalise big pharma!

No to 'Ceta' privatisation treaty stitch-up

Them & Us

Unite election - fight the Blairites, vote Len McCluskey

Post Office workers striking against cuts

Why prison officers rejected pay and pensions deal

Support mounts for Picturehouse strikers

CWU strike against closures and pension cuts

Film review: Rogue One

PO Box 1398, Enfield EN1 9GT

020 8988 8777

[email protected]

Link to this page: https://www.socialistparty.org.uk/issue/930/24163

Search the site	Printable version

Home | The Socialist 4 January 2017 | Join the Socialist Party

Subscribe | Donate | Audio | PDF | ebook

Them & Us

Them and us fishes, photo Suzanne Beishon (Click to enlarge)

MP's property empire

A Tory MP has collected over £25 million of property in the past year and a half.

Nadhim Zahawi's purchases included a six-floor townhouse in swanky Belgravia. He also bought the land occupied by two London bank branches, a WH Smith's, and a former celebrity restaurant in Brighton.

Zahawi will earn hundreds of thousands a year in rent on top of his generous MP's wages and expenses. He also gets £20,125 a month from his directorship at Gulf Keystone, a UK-based oil company drilling in Kurdistan.

The millionaire YouGov founder has applied for planning permission on his Belgravia acquisition. He wants the three flats knocked through into one huge home. And a basement extension. And a swimming pool.

The Socialist can only imagine the pool will go in the basement, filled with all his cash, so he can dive into it from a height like Scrooge McDuck. That would explain why he needs the full six storeys.

Christmas loan sharks

Loan shark Smart-Pig.com made a special bid to ensnare young people with high-interest borrowing this Christmas.

The lender for students emailed round on 20 December. "We understand how hard it can be to juggle those expenses, especially near to Christmas!

"Therefore, we're just writing to say that you have up to £350 which you can apply for should you need a little help during this period."

Well shucks, Smart-Pig.com, we didn't know you cared! It's a real Christmas miracle, just like in 'It's a Wonderful Life'.

Except, of course, the whip-round in It's a Wonderful Life came without strings. Smart-Pig.com can't run a business on warm fuzzies. So instead it charges a very reasonable 1,258% yearly interest and fees.