Back HOMEPAGE Arts donor Carol Høgel quits Britain over ‘spiteful, philistine’ tax on foreign residents
Magnus Linklater
Editor: Scottish Edition, The Times
Filed 02 Apr 08
©Magnus Linklater
This article was originally published in The Times on 1st April 2008.
It is reproduced here with the kind permission of its author and of the newspaper.
An American philanthropist who has donated more than £20 million to the arts in Britain is to return to the United States in protest over the Government’s “non-dom” tax and the “hostility” she has encountered in this country towards foreign donors.
Carol Høgel, who was raised in Chicago but has lived in Scotland for 24 years, has resigned from most of her British arts posts and moved to California because of what she describes as “the destructively spiteful, philistine attitude” of the Government towards foreign residents who are facing a £30,000 tax, announced by Alistair Darling, the Chancellor, in the Budget last month.
Ms Høgel, whose family founded the Dunard Fund, and who was appointed CBE for her support for the arts, has been responsible for lavish patronage of the Edinburgh International Festival, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Scottish Opera and the National Galleries of Scotland.
She was dismayed by the tax, which is to be levied on people registered as non-domiciled in Britain, and which would affect not only her, but her three grown-up children. She pointed out that she had always paid tax in Britain, but that her contributions to the arts were clearly “of no importance” to “Labour bureauprats”
Friends and supporters had written letters on her behalf to Mr Darling and the Prime Minister, pointing out the extent of her generosity, but they had received no answer. However, what prompted her final decision to leave was an article in The Scotsman newspaper, by a humorous columnist, Robert McNeil, which mocked the plight of rich foreign residents, and added the ironical comment: “good ruddy riddance to them”.
In a strongly worded letter to Mr McNeil, Ms Høgel wrote:
“It’s absolutely not the tax which is driving me out of Scotland, it is the hostility of people like you and Messrs Brown and Darling, which is so deeply hurtful . . . After 24 years of working and paying taxes in the UK, I am heading back to North America, where an individual with involvement in, and charitable contributions to visual arts and classical music is valued, not punished.
“Neither the sincere gratitude and ongoing needs of [arts organisations in Britain] can outweigh the destructively spiteful, philistine attitude of the Government or journalists like you.”
The news came as a shock to the arts world in Scotland, which has benefited from the Dunard Fund’s patronage and support over many years. Two years ago the trust pledged £500,000 to help to clear the Edinburgh International Festival’s debts. Major productions by Scottish Opera would never have taken place without the fund’s backing. The Playfair Project, which refurbished the National Galleries of Scotland, received a substantial grant thanks to Ms Høgel’s intervention, and orchestras such as the London Philharmonic, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra have benefited from her support.
Reacting to the news yesterday, Sir Timothy Clifford, former Director of the National Galleries of Scotland, said
"I am horrified. We have a desperate lack of true patrons in this country., and we cannot afford to lose generous supporters like Carol. She was not only a real friend to the arts, she was genuinely self-effacing and modest."
Simon Woods, Chief Executive of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, said:
“This is a crushing disappointment. Carol has not only been a visionary supporter, she brought real passion and commitment. We are losing not only invaluable financial support, we are losing a friend as well.”
Last night the Editor of the Scotsman, Mike Gibson, said:
"I am sorry that she has taken offence at the words of our columnist Robert McNeil on the subject of of wealth..... No one should be upset by Rab's irreverence."
Mr McNeil said:
"I was referring to humungous salaries deemed necessary for folk who would otherwise leave the country . Apart from anything else, I was writing about the SNP's local income tax, not Labour's policy on non-doms."
Last night friends of Ms Høgel said that the newspaper had not recognised the value of her contributions, nor the offence the article had caused.
©Magnus Linklater
Comment from Land-Care
The departure from Scotland of such a generous benefactor to the arts in Scotland is indeed sad news. I would have thought that Mike Gibson, Editor of The Scotsman newspaper, should have recognised that offence could have been taken to "Rab's irreverence." Just being irreverent is not enough, especially when it can contribute to major damage to substantial philanthropic arts funding in Scotland, through which so many people in Scotland get ready access to superb classical music and art.
Mike Gibson, that was not clever.
Finis
| 
