Ex-police officer admits £300m VAT fraud

A corrupt cop, dodgy tax collector and the bad guys will win from compulsory pensions; our round up of this morning's news from the nationals.

Telegraph
EX-POLICE OFFICER ADMITS £300M VAT FRAUD
A former police officer has admitted a £300m VAT fraud believed to be the biggest in UK history.

Nigel Cranswick, 47, was a director of Ideas 2 Go (I2G), which he ran from a small office in a Sheffield business park, and claimed to have bought and sold at least £2 billion of goods in just eight months. He has since admitted the firm's trading, largely in mobile phones and computer software, was fictitious, and the aim was to generate paperwork from fake sales in order to claim back a fortune in VAT from HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC).

The Times
‘BAD GUYS WILL PROSPER' FROM COMPULSORY STAFF PENSIONS
Proposals to introduce compulsory workplace pensions contain little protection for employees and could lead to widespread mis-selling, a prominent critic has suggested. Pension providers, which will be recruited by companies to run their schemes, will face few restrictions on either the charges that they levy on employees or the investment products that they offer, it has been claimed.

Telegraph
DAVE HARTNETT ACCUSED OF LYING TO PARLIAMENT OVER GOLDMAN SACHS TAX BILL
Britain's most senior tax collector has been accused of lying to Parliament over a "sweetheart" tax settlement with Goldman Sachs. Dave Hartnett, permanent secretary for tax at HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC), was forced to defend revelations that he supervised and signed off a deal that saved Goldman £10m of tax - when he told MPs just a month ago that he did "not deal with Goldman's tax affairs".

Telegraph
UK RATING DOWNGRADE 'UNAVOIDABLE'
A downgrade of Britain's top notch credit rating is potentially unavoidable because the country cannot grow out of its debts, a leading asset manager has claimed. Legal & General Investment Management said "the UK's credit rating is likely to be reviewed in the coming years" as it becomes clear that the Government will miss its growth forecasts and fall back into recession.