It’s genuinely remarkable that our media, flawed as they are, would ever seriously publish quotes from Craig Whyte. I find it unbelievable that anyone could trust a single word that man says. Why would any reputable outlet give him a platform?
If all Whyte was doing was reminiscing about his time at the Ibrox club, that would be one thing, maybe even somewhat entertaining. If he gave us real, juicy details about what was going on behind the scenes, especially in the lead-up to the takeover, talked about who advised him, who helped him and what forces were arrayed against the club because of their own ridiculous choices?
That might actually be worth listening to.
Let’s face it, most in the Scottish media can’t stand Whyte.
They blame him for the demise of the former club. But blaming him alone is lazy and ignores the real architect of Rangers’ downfall: David Murray. Whyte inherited a mess, but Murray created it. Without Murray’s reckless spending, Whyte would have taken over a struggling club, sure, but not one embroiled in a massive tax scandal. A scandal, by the way, that the authorities had long been investigating, with a colossal bill already looming over Rangers.
Murray killed Rangers, not Whyte. There’s no more doubt about that than there is about gravity. Yet Whyte remains the convenient scapegoat, and now, the press is suddenly taking him seriously. Why? Because this time, he’s spinning a story that suits their narrative.
Whyte has lied repeatedly since he first popped onto the scene. The media has exposed these lies, trashed him over and over, yet now they conveniently forget all that because his latest lie aligns with something they want to believe.
So, what’s this lie?
That an HMRC official told him they should have accepted a pennies-in-the-pound CVA, which would have prevented what Whyte calls “administration.” First off, calling it “administration” is cute—it’s an attempt to soften the reality of liquidation. And that’s what the refusal of a CVA amounted to: liquidation. Rangers were liquidated. End of story.
But let’s get to the real point of contention here.
Whyte is lying when he says an HMRC official told him this.
First of all, any HMRC official would know full well that refusing a CVA and pushing a club from administration into liquidation means the death of that club. Secondly, HMRC did what it was always going to do. There was no chance they were going to cut a deal, not with Rangers and not with anyone involved in that level of tax fraud.
There was a period when almost every major Scottish newspaper tried to push this fantasy that HMRC would find a compromise, that they wouldn’t destroy Rangers, that the club was too big to fail. But the reality, as I and others like the Rangers Tax Case blog pointed out repeatedly, was clear: HMRC’s policy in cases where they had evidence of wilful tax evasion was zero tolerance. They wanted full repayment, plus penalties. No negotiations.
The idea that HMRC ever considered a deal with Rangers is utter nonsense. Alastair Johnston, former Rangers chairman, had at least the decency to admit that his proposed solution was for HMRC to fold the tax debt into the wider debts of Murray International Metals. He was wrong, of course, but at least he was honest enough to acknowledge that a CVA wasn’t feasible.
HMRC’s policy was crystal clear.
They were going after full repayment, and there was no way they were going to entertain anything less. It wasn’t just policy, though—it was politics too.
HMRC knew there were bigger fish to fry down south. Numerous clubs and companies in England were running similar tax avoidance schemes, and HMRC needed a scalp. Rangers became that scalp. They were the cautionary tale, the sacrificial lamb that sent a message to everyone else: pay your taxes or we’ll take you down.
It’s almost comical when you think about it—Rangers, their directors, their fans, and the media cheerleaders all thought they were too important, too “big” to be allowed to fail. They believed they’d be bailed out, that someone would swoop in to save the day.
But HMRC didn’t care about their delusions of grandeur. To them, Rangers was just another company that needed to be made an example of.
And that’s exactly what happened.
Rangers was the warning shot, the proof that HMRC meant business. They had no regrets. They got their big scalp, and in the aftermath, other companies rushed to settle before HMRC came knocking on their door. The consequences for tax cheats were severe, and Rangers’ downfall was the perfect trophy to hang on the wall.
Knowing all of this, how anyone can believe for a second that HMRC had any regrets about the Rangers case is beyond me. Maybe some minor official with a soft spot for Ibrox whispered something to Whyte, but to suggest this was HMRC’s official view is ludicrous. They knew exactly what they were doing, and they were completely justified.
Whyte’s comments are absurd. He talks like he was the victim, as if Rangers was unfairly targeted. But let’s not forget his own role in all this. It wasn’t just the big tax case; it was also the bills he neglected to pay after he took over. Those unpaid taxes are what plunged the club into administration, and once again, HMRC acted according to their policy—no sweetheart deals.
My only regret is that we live in a country where the media is so shockingly uninformed and, in some cases, deliberately ignorant. It’s frustrating that bloggers and social media voices have to step in to correct these lies. Whyte’s claims should have been challenged on every front, but instead, they’ve been printed verbatim, without a single critical thought.
Let’s be clear here: Whyte was not a victim. Rangers was not a victim. Both Whyte and the club were perpetrators of separate tax scams that stole money from you, me, and every taxpayer in the country. HMRC was right to pursue them with vigour, and I fully support their decision.
As someone on the political left, I’ve always believed that HMRC should aggressively go after tax cheats, whether they’re companies or individuals. And yes, that includes Celtic if they were ever guilty of the same thing. I don’t make distinctions between crooks, even if our media does.
Maybe Whytey and Kingy are getting the gang back together garnering in the good ole times, making friends along the way, selling SB seats the season before like Murray started and showed Whyte how to.
5 new jerseys a season. Only way to get money into the club P&L is revenue and new ways of business….
You are 100% right of course James, the death of rangers was due to Murray and his failing business empire, ego and treating the club as a business play thing.
Rangers leaders all like playing with OPM…..
All these investors tripping over themselves to get a piece. The current acting chairman HAPPY it seems with hoe rangers are being run, the manager and the new players…
Happy they can compete with Celtic on all fronts and win the big prize.
Another clueless clown leading the fans on, blinkered view of things much like there are at the top of some stands at Ibrox…
You forgot to add that they had also never paid the wee tax bill that they had actually accepted.
Accepted but never paid.
So wee tax case, big tax case pending but bill supplied, and then they stopped paying income tax and NI and HMRC were going to agree a CVA ?
Gies a break.
All of a sudden, King popped up recently to say nice things about Chairman Bennett and admire his ongoing commitment to sorting out the many, many sevco issues.
Days later, Bennett steps down.
Days later King demands to be in the Boardroom again.
Days later, Craig Whyte pops up all of a sudden to mouth off about Rangers and sevco.
Is this all connected, or just random?
Like King and many others associated with the zombies, including the Scottish media, Whyte is a serial liar and fantasist.
Fantasies designed to appease the most deluded and stupid fans in football: the huns.
They are the Trumpers of Scotland, and deserve as much respect as the originals.
Next big financial issue is when all the SB Holders with the restricted view,all get back to their seats
and start demanding discounts, for the money they had to pay at Hampdump and for the curtailed viewing
of the dross on the park.
If the Board don’t give them financial redress then the Sales figures for next Season’s Books could take
a Hammering. Peepell on any notional waiting list for Season Books will give it a body-swerve when they
see all the Seat Holders bailing out. The attendance figures will nosedive as will Matchday Revenues from
Food & Drink.
The Board are stuck on this like a choir boy sitting on a barbed wire fence. They can scream all they like and try
to find scapegoats . But the only way out is by fixing the ‘viewing issues’ and that will take hundreds of thousands,
which they don’t have, ( if they can get more cheap Chinese Steel’) along with the further losses of Season Book
and Matchday Income for the time it takes to fix the upper deck. Again.
The Perfect Storm. Damned if they do and damned if they don’t. And all the while, the vultures start to circle with the rare Sud Afrikaans Greater spotted Gobshoite DaveRex at the front of the flock.
The Celtic fans went along with their PLC’s cover up of Rangers FC dying and the PLC response when Sevco got promoted in 2016, and the PLC response was to do what?
1. Call out Sevco as faking it that they were Rangers FC?
Or….
2. Sneakily put 2012 Old Firm ticket prices onto Sevco tickets, £49, and hope that Celtic fans would not notice and buy these “Same Club Lie” tickets, and go along with the sneaky PLC and confirm that Sevco are Rangers?
I’d say that as soon as Brendan1 the decoy managerial appointment, aha…, that made Celtic fans all of a sudden, after 4 years of 24 / 7 whining about the “Same Club Lie” principles and integrity were no more important to these all seated era Jungle-less Tims who are always the ones to be mugged.
Dozens of One Horse League trophies will not expunge the stench of that Timmy treason for those Tims who did not throw away their integrity or principles….to dance in the street as Brendan1 was appointed.
These all-seated Tims are so out of touch that when MON and his gallant team got us to our first European Semi Final in 33 years, at home to Boavista FC, in 2003, theses all-seated Tims booed Neil Lennon because he passed the ball back the way to retain posession and got booed, by 60,000 empty heads.
PS, Where you one of those hand picked Celtic bloggers who attended press conferences when Brendan1 arrived?
If so, then why did not a single one of you “clique” of bloggers even ask what Celtic FC’s position was on the Sevco are Rangers fraud that was just pulled right in front of your eyes?
Did any of you even notice that Celtic FC engaged in fraudulently priced Old Firm tickets, “£49” retained from old club onto new club tickets since 2016, and if you did not ask about these burning 2012-2016 ticketing fraud issues, why would anybody take your new flavour of whining seriously now?
Off oot.
Glad you got that out of your system..ehh,?
Have a lie doon,you’ll feel better.
The only thing that matters is that the Official Court Records state DeidCo were Liquidated 2012.
Outside of this ‘best wee bigoted kuntry inra wurld ‘ the Truth is known.
When this version goes Phlip-Phlop, there will be an almighty fan revolt across Scotland if the Tribute Act, the SFA/SPFL even try to float the idea of Tribute Act 3.
Anyway I don’t think that there are enough Staunch, Ranjurs Bears with deep enough pockets left to even get involved.
“Did any of you not even notice that Celtic FC engaged in fraudulently priced Old Firm (Sic) £49 retained from old club to new club tickets since 2016”
Absolute pish pot jerker KevJungle…
Let me furnish ya with some factual information buddy –
‘Rangers’ went to the football fires of hell in June 2012 when they kicked the bucket…
And your “Old Firm” (Sic) went to the football fires of with them…
Celtic lead Sevco by 118 v 3 on trophies won…
And are significantly ahead in The GLASGOW DERBY matches since 2016 as well !
Absolutely spot on they were cheated,done nothing wrong and are the same club ??????? I smell ? BHOYS ??
Why aren’t they ( the media ) mentioning anything about Hibs allocation for the weekend ?
They mustn’t ‘upset’ the poor wee lambs in The Sevco Support now Harold…
The poor wee souls – Their feelings would be so very bruised by it all –
We canny possibly have it that no one likes them and they don’t care…
Only they very much fuckin care sadly !
I just want the trophies the f***ers won over 2 decades, whilst spending other peoples money (taxpayers, banks, traders etc.), none of which was paid back, taken off them!
They cheated to get their hands on them!