Letters - 20 February 2015
From tax to eternity
Friends join call for new tax law
It is good to read that our recording clerk ‘signed a statement in support of a new campaign calling on political parties to promise to act against tax avoidance if elected’ (6 February). The story, ‘Friends join call for new tax law’, does not mention that Friends can support this campaign by going to the website, taxdodgingbill.org.uk, where you can sign the petition and take action to lobby your parliamentary candidates. Three of the NGOs involved (Action Aid, Christian Aid and Oxfam) are organising training sessions up and down the country. I attended the first of them, in Birmingham, and was one of only two Quakers present.
Although Friends are officially supporting the campaign for a Tax Dodging Bill, this is apparent only to those who recognise the ‘Quaker Star’ logo as, alone amongst the seventeen supporting NGOs, our name does not appear. I hope, however, that our support for the campaign will soon be translated into positive and visible action in respect to our own investments.
Barbara Forbes
Renewable heat incentive
I write with all the zeal of a convert! After a decade without central heating, life has been transformed by a wood pellet boiler. If you have no heating or an old boiler that needs replacing, I recommend considering this greener option. Pellets can be delivered by tanker and stored in sealed sheds or in 10kg sacks with a simple storage hopper next to the boiler. And, since last April, this kind of boiler, as well as ground and air source heat pumps, have been eligible for the kind of feed-in tariff that those with solar panels have enjoyed. Any installation since July 2009 is potentially eligible for seven years of payments for using sustainable energy. For Meeting houses, which are non-domestic dwellings, the tariff lasts twenty years. Whilst installation costs are not cheap, it can pay for itself within a couple of years. Search ‘Renewable Heat Incentive’ online for more information.
Ben Pink Dandelion
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