Coleshill Manor, in the National insurance institute
countryside, is an unlikely location for political controversy and intrigue, but that is exactly what it has become.

The 19th Century country house is now the centre for the Conservative Party’s campaign activities and is used as a call centre to target marginal seats which the Tories hope to pick up.

Recently, it has been the subject of questions about exactly how it is funded and whether the costs are counted as part of the Tories campaign costs.

Even party leader, David Cameron, is not sure what is going on saying, in a BBC interview, that the centre “is part of the party”.

But, he was later contradicted by former leader William Hague who was more circumspect in his description of it as “part of the Conservative family”.

In or out of the party?

The Electoral Commission has announced that it is to hold an inquiry into exactly how the centre is funded, including the 1m it receives from the Midlands Industrial Council and it has written to the party seeking more information.

The inquiry has, not surprisingly, been welcomed by the Chair of the Labour Party Hazel Blears, who says it needs to be established if the Coleshill Manor call centre is part of the party or an independent national insurance uk
.

“You can’t be in a position where you are basically buying these seats. The public want there to be a level playing field about political funding and quite rightly,” she said.

Our reporter Julie Peacock has been out to Coleshill and been given exclusive access - for the first time TV cameras have been allowed in to film at the centre.

Also in the programme…

Nigel Farage is hoping to capitalise on ‘a political vacuum’

The UK Independence Party arrive in the Midlands for their annual conference with tax cuts and immigration top of the list of concerns for new party leader Nigel Farage.

UKIP have chosen the Telford Fidelity national title insurance
Centre in Shropshire as the venue for this weekend’s two-day annual get-together, at which, they are determined to prove they are much more than a single issue party.

Looking to broaden their appeal, they are highlighting policies other than withdrawl from the EU like support for selective education, an open commitment to cutting taxes and introducing an Midland national insurance
immigration policy.

On income tax UKIP want to introduce a flat rate of 33% to include National Insurance contributions. They also want to scrap inheritance tax and reduce Capital Gains Tax to 33%.

They are hoping that David Cameron’s refusal to commit to tax cuts will mean they can pick up votes from those on the Tory right disenchanted by party’s dash for that all important political centre ground.

Mr Farage said: “We are developing into a broad based Party, up and down the country and putting together the policies to support that stature.

“A huge political vacuum is opening up as all the major parties are plunging us toward the same destructive “statist” solutions.

“UKIP represents all Britons who feel pitted against Governments both here and in Europe which erode individual freedoms, consolidates its power and inflicts ever-burdening costs.”

UKIP raise concerns about an inbalance of wealth

Accession worries

And on immigration, the main concern is with a possible influx of immigrants from Romania and Bulgaria when they finally join the Europeam Union.

“Two very poor eastern European countries - Romania and Bulgaria - will join the EU,” said Mr Farage recently.

“It is perfectly obvious, that if you have the free movement of peoples between countries with vastly differing levels of wealth, it will lead to a huge migratory flow,” he insists.

UKIP has a West Midlands MEP, in Mike Nattrass, but precious little else in the region.

At the last General Election they captured nearly 78,000 - just over 3% of the popular vote.

In electoral terms they remain very much a fringe party, but with a populist agenda and a new leader supporters would prefer to point out that in 2005 in the West Midlands the party finished fourth in terms of popular votes cast and saw its share of the poll increase.

Our Political Editor, Patrick Burns, will be live at the UKIP conference in Telford speaking live to new leader Nigel Farage.

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Alongside a fondness for using statistics to support his claims and his weakness for using those dreaded words ‘prudence’ and ‘fairness’, he has laid great emphasis on using the tax system to encourage enterprise.

He also used recent Budget statements to rail against what he sees as the tax avoidance industry and those who do not pay ‘the right amount of tax’.

While the headlines will focus on the cut in income tax from next April, in this his eleventh and most likely final Budget statement, he once again picked up on these two themes.

While the main focus of his statement was, as had been widely expected, increased spending on education and support for families, there were some very interesting changes announced for both small and large businesses.

For large businesses, he announced a cut in the rate of national interstate insurance
tax from 30% to 28% from April 2008.

The intention here, of course, is to help to persuade the very largest, international businesses to stay in the UK, following clarendon national insurance
that high tax rates were leading many to consider setting up shop - or bank - elsewhere.

There has been much criticism of the existing system of capital allowances, primarily because of its complexity Budget reaction in Scotland

But the rate applies not just to large companies but to all companies with significant profits. So this will be widely welcomed.

At the same time, there are to be significant changes to capital allowances.

These are the allowances that businesses can set off against their tax bills when they spend money on capital utica national insurance - a new machine, for example.

There has been much criticism of the existing system of capital allowances, primarily because of its complexity.

Under the banner of modernising capital allowances, he proposes to simplify the system - so that allowances for spending on plant and machinery will be a standard 20% each year, for example - while at the same time jackson national life insurance co
enhanced allowances for environmentally friendly assets.

Mr Brown announced a cut in the rate of corporation tax

There will also be increased help for company spending on R&D, seen as the foundation of the innovative Britain that Gordon Brown has placed such emphasis on fostering.

But tax avoidance was sure to appear in some form. Under the heading of ‘artificial incorporation of small business’ there are to be measures to tackle what he sees as illegitimate tax avoidance.

In recent times many thousands of small businesses have converted to limited company status, taking advantage of the low rate of company tax of 19%.

This rate will now increase each year by 1%, taking it to 22% by 2009 - not far below the new large company rate of 28%.

A reference to aligning National Insurance rates also seems likely to be targeted at those same tax avoiders.

The vast majority of UK companies, however, are small companies.

So they will all see an increase in their tax bills, just when the fall in income tax comes into effect.

Once the dust settles and we all have a chance to digest the detail behind the Budget speech, I suspect that the extra tax burden on small businesses will be the focus of a great deal of attention.

On the union national life insurance company he said carbon emissions were up and green taxes as a proportion of overall taxation were down since 1997.

And while the chancellor had been criticising Tory policy all year, he had ended up “conceding what we have said all along”, said Mr Cameron.

“You can increase spending and you can cut taxes - yes, you can share the proceeds of growth.”

He made several references to comments by Lord Turnbull, the former head of the civil service, who described Mr Brown’s coast national insurance company style as operating with “Stalinist ruthlessness”.

He said the Labour Party were “just realising their next leader has the national health insurance program of Stalin and the poll ratings of Michael Foot”.

But he added: “Let me tell you what your real problem is, it is not that you are a Stalinist who holds all your everest national insurance company
in contempt - although I have to say that probably doesn’t help - it is that you have wasted money on an industrial scale.”

Shadow Chancellor George Osborne said VAT, income tax and National Insurance were too complex and create too much paperwork for businesses.

The Tories have asked american national insurance company galveston texas
firm Grant Thornton to look at aligning the administration of NI and income tax.

But he was accused by the government of offering an unfunded “wish list of tax cuts” to the party’s right-wing.

‘Needless fidelity national title insurance company

Mr Osborne told an audience of illinois national insurance in London the Conservatives would try to reduce the tax burden on small businesses, in return for them national health insurance plan more flexible working.

Raising NI and income tax contributions using different systems, and over different periods, was causing “needless complexity and administrative difficulties”, he said.

Streamlining the Byzantine intricacies of VAT administration will make a real difference to small businesses all over the country George Osborne

The Conservatives are looking at aligning the charge period to ease the “regulatory burden”.

Grant Thornton will also review the national health insurance scheme
, information and administration required for VAT.

“Streamlining the Byzantine intricacies of VAT administration will make a real difference to small businesses all over the country,” he said.

‘Come clean’

He also questioned the value of tax relief on investment announced in the last Budget, saying some companies would not be eligible, while others would need to hire expensive tax advisers to make claims.

“The Conservative Party will continue to oppose the chancellor’s latest tax rise for small businesses. We are fighting this measure every step of the way in Parliament,” he said.

But Chief Secretary to the Treasury Stephen Timms said Mr Osborne should “come clean” about his plans and spell out how he plans to pay for his pledges.

He added: “After caving in on grammar schools, David Cameron and George Osborne are now promising the Tory right a wish-list of tax cuts - without any idea how to fund them.

“If they ever got the chance to implement these uncosted, up-front tax pledges, the result would be a return to boom and bust in our economy.”