The UK Politics and EU Referendum thread - merged

[AlunB]

The other thing that struck me as positive for the tax take by using salary/dividend is the fact that the remaining funds after tax are in the hands of individuals who will spend a proportion of it generating other jobs, paying VAT etc.

The company paying corporation tax and leaving the funds undistributed in cash reserves generates nothing extra (other than the obvious point that every company needs working capital/financial stability).

What is Apple expecting to happen with its $205bn cash reserve?

Apple are hardly a typical example. They are a fairly unique. How many other businesses do you know with those reserves?

I presume they will eventually buy other business and also distribute funds to shareholders in some form or other.

Was a joke

As in are they expecting the downfall of Western civilisation or are they planning on buying Spain.

[RickBFA]

The other thing that struck me as positive for the tax take by using salary/dividend is the fact that the remaining funds after tax are in the hands of individuals who will spend a proportion of it generating other jobs, paying VAT etc.

The company paying corporation tax and leaving the funds undistributed in cash reserves generates nothing extra (other than the obvious point that every company needs working capital/financial stability).

Given this, assessing how ethical a business is by judging it on how much corporation tax it pays is pretty naive.

People aren't half making some leaps of logic with my questions and comments here.

Wasn't the article a few pages ago doing just that? I wasn't aiming my comment directly at you, just giving an opinion in general.

[RickBFA]

The other thing that struck me as positive for the tax take by using salary/dividend is the fact that the remaining funds after tax are in the hands of individuals who will spend a proportion of it generating other jobs, paying VAT etc.

The company paying corporation tax and leaving the funds undistributed in cash reserves generates nothing extra (other than the obvious point that every company needs working capital/financial stability).

What is Apple expecting to happen with its $205bn cash reserve?

Apple are hardly a typical example. They are a fairly unique. How many other businesses do you know with those reserves?

I presume they will eventually buy other business and also distribute funds to shareholders in some form or other.

Was a joke

As in are they expecting the downfall of Western civilisation or are they planning on buying Spain.

:-)

[AlunB]

The other thing that struck me as positive for the tax take by using salary/dividend is the fact that the remaining funds after tax are in the hands of individuals who will spend a proportion of it generating other jobs, paying VAT etc.

The company paying corporation tax and leaving the funds undistributed in cash reserves generates nothing extra (other than the obvious point that every company needs working capital/financial stability).

Given this, assessing how ethical a business is by judging it on how much corporation tax it pays is pretty naive.

People aren't half making some leaps of logic with my questions and comments here.

Wasn't the article a few pages ago doing just that? I wasn't aiming my comment directly at you, just giving an opinion in general.

Oh. Sorry. Was getting a tad defensive.

Not paying any corporation tax at all over several years if the company is profitable is generally seen as not optimally ethical.

But that wasn't the case for Osborne and Little and the piece is clearly a wind-up of some sort and not meant to be taken literally.

[DaveShoelace]

Question of the day

What political issue causes the most conflict within you? What is the topic where you hold two very opposing ideas and you can't work out which side you lean towards.

[AlunB]

V good question Bazza.

I would say pretty much anything where theory comes into conflict with Nimbyism. Immigration would be a big one for most people in that sense. I'm not sure what it is for me. Possibly education. I think there is real evidence that selective education (grammar schools and such) provide more social mobility but they are also inherently unfair.

[TightEnd]

the chilcot report is now due out in jul 16

it is 2 million words long, and each word needs to be security checked

If printed in double-spaced 12pt Times New Roman on 250 gsm paper, the Chilcot report would stack 1.9 metres (6'3") high

it would take the average person 120 hours to read

executive summary might be key.

[DaveShoelace]

the chilcot report is now due out in jul 16

it is 2 million words long, and each word needs to be security checked

If printed in double-spaced 12pt Times New Roman on 250 gsm paper, the Chilcot report would stack 1.9 metres (6'3") high

it would take the average person 120 hours to read

executive summary might be key.

What a fantastic way to stall, I bet there are not contractions in that bad boy. It is will beat it's all the way.

[AlunB]

Loved this

https://twitter.com/hrtbps/status/557659918510325763

[AndrewT]

I'd hate to be the person in the office who needs to print out a boarding pass on the day they're printing that out.

[Marky147]

I'd hate to be the person in the office who needs to print out a boarding pass on the day they're printing that out.

What do people think about John McDonnell?

As I've said, until these threads were started on here, I've never followed politics at all.

In turn, I don't know any politicians beyond the ones who get all the headlines.

Saw him on QT last month, and thought he came across very well, and seems to be a lot more likeable than Osborne, who I believe is his opposite number.

[The Camel]

Loved this

https://twitter.com/hrtbps/status/557659918510325763

Do you know who the person is who makes the tweets for this account?

Seems to get retweeted onto my timeline alot and seems very sharp and funny.

[AlunB]

He's just a normal guy from Leeds as far as I know.

[AndrewT]

Question of the day

What political issue causes the most conflict within you? What is the topic where you hold two very opposing ideas and you can't work out which side you lean towards.

For me it's the Brexit question.

On the one hand the EU is a horribly bureaucratic behemoth, operated purely to advance the cause of capitalism, culminating in the TTIP nonsense (a trade treaty they want to implement, which is so bad that the details of it are secret).

On the other, outside of the EU, Britain is just a small island stuck out in the North Sea, liable to be kicked around by USA/China/Russia.

[kukushkin88]

I'd hate to be the person in the office who needs to print out a boarding pass on the day they're printing that out.

What do people think about John McDonnell?

As I've said, until these threads were started on here, I've never followed politics at all.

In turn, I don't know any politicians beyond the ones who get all the headlines.

Saw him on QT last month, and thought he came across very well, and seems to be a lot more likeable than Osborne, who I believe is his opposite number.

If everybody formed their view based on directly watching and listening to politicians rather than allowing the press and other people to tell them what to think, British politics would be very, very different. Milliband, Corbyn and McDonnell being outstanding recent examples. When Dacre and Murdoch die it will be a wonderful day for democracy and no I haven't been drinking :-)