Yesterday an acquaintance of mine firmly reminded me to 'do a wee post to mark Sean's birthday on that blog of yours' and I like to accommodate requests - though I admit this one was more of an order.
Today Sean Connery is 80 years old and wearing well. Love him or hate him he is a superb ambassador for Scotland. Many critics accuse him of hypocrisy because he doesn't live here and doesn't pay tax here. That's a spurious argument because there are plenty people who do live here and don't pay tax here or anywhere else. Should they too be denied the right to talk up Scotland?
His charity, the Scottish International Educational Trust, continues to help young Scots and Scottish institutions while his US based charity, Friends of Scotland, ensures that goodwill and understanding about the country of his birth is sustained worldwide.
In 1989, at almost 60 years of age, he was voted People Magazine's 'Sexiest Man Alive'. When advised of the award, he seemed to be unaffected as he replied, "Well there aren't many sexy dead men, are there?"
Happy Birthday Mr Connery.
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25 comments:
I don't like his politics but I don't mind Connery. I think it is a bit cheeky to live in a tax haven but to try and tell people, who get up at 6am in a rainy Scotland to work and pay their taxes, how they should vote.
He has a certain charisma about him on screen, though, and is always watchable. Highlander, The Untouchables, The Rock, etc. and an obscure film people might not remember - The Hill. It's not a comedy, mind you.
Any anyone who converts from Celtic to Rangers - renouncing the Pope and all his works - has to have something going for them.
I don't William, because I've never heard him 'tell' anyone how to vote.
What I find strange is that you don't find it cheeky that people who have never paid a penny of tax in their lives, yet live here, have the freedom to 'tell' somehow how to vote.
They haven't invested in the country either through charity and contacts.
SR, Connery is a long-standing supporter of Scottish independence and of the SNP, in particular, so I don't know why you're pretending he's never attempted to tell anyone how to vote. He's even appeared on party political broadcasts for that very purpose.
You have made an unfounded leap. I've never said it wasn't cheeky for anyone else to refuse to pay tax here - though I'm curious as to whom you refer.
William, I'm not pretending anything and yes, I know he supports the SNP and independence for Scotland.
Party political adverts and broadcasts don't 'tell' anyone how to vote, they merely make a suggestion.
I'm talking about the thousands of household in which no one has ever worked William and therefore they don't pay tax. That surely wasn't a difficult one for you to work out. :)
What you say is that Sean Connery shouldn't be permitted to say a word about Scotland because he doesn't pay tax here or live here, yet you don't seem to object to those who live here and never pay taxes. A wee bitty hypocritical?
ewww. trolls, why bother, they are dense!
Great post to say happy birthday to Sean! I like him alot and he's a great ambassador for Scotland.
He has a great sense of humour too!
Have a great afternoon Rosy, hope all is well.
People like William like to conveniently ignore all the rich backers of the Labour and Tory parties who live in tax havens but keep a business or home registered here in order to donate.
Obviously a bigot as well with the Celtic and Rangers comment - funny Scottish football is going down the pan because of these two teams with only about 150,000 people bothering with the game every week now because they are sucking the life out of the other teams.
Lame argument, SR. I doubt many would make the distinction between 'telling' or 'suggesting' - the question remains whether he should given his reluctance to actually live here and pay his way like everyone else.
Are you arguing that unemployed people shouldn't be allowed to vote? I find it illuminating that in your concern over the rights of millionaire tax exiles, you'd trample over the jobless in this country.
Sean Connery is free to speak about Scotland as much as he likes. I do think he should keep his opinions about our political system to himself until he chooses to live and participate in Scottish society once again.
"People like William like to conveniently ignore all the rich backers of the Labour and Tory parties who live in tax havens but keep a business or home registered here in order to donate."
Au contraire.
http://subrosa-blonde.blogspot.com/2010/03/non-doms-are-we-interested.html
As you can see in the comments section, SR thought it was great that people like Baron Ashcroft could fund our political process whilst dodging their tax responsibilities. I said it wasn't. It was quite a heated debate, as you can well imagine.
At least on the issue of a tax-dodging elite trying to bully the little people, SR and I remain utterly consistent even if she remains wrong.
"Obviously a bigot as well with the Celtic and Rangers comment"
Abso-blooming-lutely.
William,
Unless your second name is Wallace and you are centuries old I'd be willing to bet that Connery has made more of a contribution, in funding charities and taxes, than you have.
As for the unseemly and un-necessary reference to the "Pope and all his works" are you seriously suggesting that only Catholics support Celtic and only Protestants support Rangers?
Connery the actor(in days gone by the Hill is my favorite) has made his decision on where he wishes to live..........and it aint Scotland..
The Nats can waffle on as much as they like(they generally do) but the facts show Connery in a very different (tax avoiding)light.
still he was one of the best actors in the world and had a very disadvantaged start in life....so all in all i do give him respect..
you Nats need new heroes
You say he doesn't pay tax here. That is not true. He liable to UK tax on any income arising in the UK. So any royalties or fees in the UK are subject to UK tax. He cannot get out of paying UK tax and this myth that he pays no tax in the UK continues I see. What is not taxed in the UK is his income arising outwith the UK. All to do with Residency status. I presume he is non-resident/not ordinarily resident to UK tax.
Oh dear, the cats are out of the wheelie bin today..........all I wanted to add was happy birthday Sean. Well played mate.
Niko,
Perhaps he could follow the agreement that Labour made with "non-doms" to pay a flat sum of £30000 rather than the millions they would normally pay. I would suggest that Connery pays more than that on an annual basis.
Auch Billy, William and myself will never agree about anything to do with Scottish independence. He's your British unionist.
No not lame William. I never mentioned voting did I? Does Connery get a vote? No.
Jings Williams, speak about putting words into people's mouths. Yer a dab hand. I'm a dab hand at side swiping them.
Connery no longer donates towards the SNP as you well know but he donates a great deal to his charities involving Scotland.
Aye we need new heroes Niko. Pity the unionists don't even have one at the moment.
That's true voterinscotland but it applies to all who live outside the UK. I think your presumption is correct.
No cats here Dram. :)
It's very possible he does brownlie.
What's good is he no longer takes himself seriously Bunni. I think as we age many of us develop a more laid back approach.
Just to add my tuppence worth, there are a lot of people who work and earn good money and seek every way possible to avoid paying taxes. I am of the opinion that the taxman is just a legal thief stealing our money. That said, if Sean wants to live outside of the country to not subsidise the atrocious goings on in the UK parliament; then good luck to him.
Gedguy of course most clued-up people think of how to avoid taxes. Who wouldn't?
I'm all for him promoting Scotland.
The best explanation for Sean refusing to pay tax to a government; was that it was a British Government, not a Scots one...
Well said Conan. I think he actually said that once yet I can't find the speech online.
"The best explanation for Sean refusing to pay tax to a government; was that it was a British Government"
Ha ha ha ha ha! Top stuff.
That's right. And Ronnie Biggs lived in Brazil in all those years because he didn't approve of Thatcherism, y'know.
Man up, buddy, and just accept that Connery, on this matter, is motivated by self-interest, his own wallet, and it's nothing to do with a principled protest against the constitutional arrangements of the United Kingdom. Connery must have had a big smirk on his face when he made that statement!
"Unless your second name is Wallace and you are centuries old I'd be willing to bet that Connery has made more of a contribution, in funding charities and taxes, than you have."
Big deal. Are we meant to be grateful that Connery once paid taxes in Scotland? Should we grovel at his feet over it?
Perhaps I'll write to HMRC and say that as I've worked for so long and paid taxes for so long that I've paid enough and they should take no more off me.
That'll work.
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