Lorraine Kelly

[Dita73]

I saw on the BAFTA’s the other night that she got some special award and I was genuinely wondering does anyone like her? I’ve never known anyone who does so I wanted to ask on here.
Personally I have no idea how she’s kept a job on tv for so long and can only assume that she’s got a lot of dirt on people. In her acceptance speech she thank her Mum for her work ethic which I thought was quite funny as she only does 4 hours a week if she feels like it. Not to mention the whole tax avoidance thing. Just curious

It clearly depends on your circle.
Some circles like warm yet straight talking folk. Some don't.

Lorraine Kelly does seem like a nice genuine person and I wish her all the best.

However, if you or I were employed by ITV we would have our income taxed via PAYE before our salary is paid to us. Lorraine doesn’t pay PAYE income tax. She claims to be a consultant invoices ITV for her services from her company. Her company pays corporation tax and she takes money out of that company in the form if dividends on which a lower rate of income tax is charged. This is a legal means to avoid tax. Personally I think it is totally unethical.

Scottish people often have Scottish accents - funny that.
Scottish accents don't all sound the same though, just like any other accent. They may also change slightly, again just like any other accent - Glaswegian and Lanarkshire accents are quite strong and hard to shake (should you want to) though.

It’s not that binary. It’s ok to not like someone.

Do you like all celebrities?

^This. HMRC relentlessly pursued Kaye Adams for years and she had to pay her own legal costs despite having done nothing wrong - really unfair.

Agreed. Do other celebs do this?

Well, Kaye Adams for one!

Yes they do - and it is legal.
They are not (all) employees.

Are you going to disagree with every point I make, for the sake of it?
My point stands.
My point is not binary.
I'm going to leave it there, have a pleasant day.

It’s legal but is it ethical? The most straightforward thing for them to do would to admit that they are an employee and pay PAYE like the rest of us rather than keeping up the facade that they are some form of consultant. That’s just bollocks. In what way are they not an employee? Could they send some other consultant in to cover their shift? No.

Us Ladies are not compelled to like Lorraine Kelly I'm afraid.

Another warm and friendly Scottish lady who also isn't afraid to speak her mind. She's fab on Radio Scotland.

Nobody said you were.

Are we not allowed to dislike Scottish people now also?

Someone actually did.

If we're on legal but unethical may I direct you to MPs expenses......
LK is doing nothing wrong.

They don't get sick pay, holiday pay, pensions etc etc that employees get. They have a lot more say in what they do and when than employees (hence the IR35 cases HMRC has won were where they had very restrictive contracts where the TV co could tell them what to do when).

Where I agree is that it is a complex area that needs simplification and reform. But the way HMRC treated Kaye Adams is inexcusable.

Right, well on the whole nobody is.
I'll defend LK and explain why I like her, but I get that someone else might not like her.

She was a high profile one of hundreds when there was a change in HMRC regulations in 2017 (IR35?). ITV and the BBC use hundreds of freelance people to avoid sick pay, holiday pay etc. But they are free to sell their services across various platforms. It's not illegal and can be extrapolated across many industries.

Of course you can dislike someone who happens to be Scottish.

It's unacceptable to dislike a person simply because they are Scottish or to dislike all Scottish people.

Yes. 🙄

If someone is on your TV screen for 4 hours a week it doesn't mean they work 4 hours. Crikey.

I like her. She's had a long career and seems to have kept a good balance in her life during that time. Why would we knock such a successful woman?

After the other thread I think Lorraine's PR team are on it 😂.

Her fans are loyal, that's as good as any PR (again, a bit like TS, who we dare not criticise).

Interesting. As I said in my original post I was genuinely just curious. Clearly some people like her very much