It’s time to review the last twelve or so months and assess the massive impact my songs have had on world politics and culture.

Don’t forget that you can get all the songs from the first six months of 2016 at https://chaswarlow.bandcamp.com/album/tax-ass-and-europe

1. Last year I celebrated the fact that the most well-known search engine on the planet had agreed to pay retrospective corporation tax of £130 million. Of course, the result was bittersweet – or rather, bittersweetheart – since the company in question should have paid much more. Breaking news, however, is that the taxpayer now appears to owe the company concerned £31 million. What in Buddha’s name is going on? http://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/taxpayer-s-31m-debt-to-google-qvgqpxm96
2. Back in February last year, I highlighted the muddled thinking behind the Government’s insistence on saving money while still spending £80,000 a year on vellum (calfskin) for its formal copies of legislation. Obviously someone was listening to my song, ‘cos the House of Lords decided that laws will henceforth be written on hard-wearing paper. A win!
3. Also in February, my song “Never Fall in Love Overseas” highlighted how hard it is for UK citizens to get their foreign-born spouses over here to join them. Some UK spouses appealed against this but … they lost. Boo.
4. In March, I wrote the song “Back to the Thirties” as a reflection of the similarities between the 1930s and our own era of populism. Since then the topic has been taken up by hordes of commentators across the national media. That’s ok, guys, but just credit me next time.
5. Also in March, I wrote about the “Heathrow 13”, who staged a sit-in at Heathrow to protest against the expansion of the aviation industry. They were given a suspended jail sentence plus community service – see more at http://www.planestupid.com/blog?page=2 .
6. Ze English hooligans again: earlier this week some idiot football fans displayed exactly why my song “Germans in our subconscious” is relevant.
7. “Raif Badawi’s blog”: Raif was a blogger in Saudi Arabia who was arrested and sentenced to 1000 lashes. He is still in jail in Saudi Arabia – he’s been there for 4 years now. What more can you say? It’s a disgrace.
8. In September I wrote about the 11 billion euros of taxes that the European Commission told Apple it owed the Irish Government. The Irish Government decided it didn’t want the money and has appealed against the Commission’s decision. Meanwhile, the deadline for payment has passed and the amount has increased to 13 billion euros. It seems that Apple has for many years been paying only 1% corporation tax. That doesn’t seem fair to me. Margrethe Vestager, the EU’s competition commissioner admitted that collecting the money was a “tricky thing to do” because the sum was so large.