The UK Politics and EU Referendum thread - merged

[Doobs]

Biggest single spending commitment in labour manifesto is lump sum bill for cancelling state pension age increases

the cost?

wait for it

a cool £300bn!

ah missed that one.  Shaking head here.  Even for women, who have had it good for way too long?  I am off to check.  Surely somebody has been paying attention when these things were announced and the reasons why?

Not only will they stop the increases in state pension age they will compensate those poor women who have moved towards equality with men.

Over 2.5 million women born in the 1950s have had their state pension age changed without fair notification. These women deserve both recognition for the injustice they have suffered and some kind of compensation for their losses.

There you go. 

Looking desperately for the action on the MPs own pension scheme. 

As an aside they also want equal employment rights for all, which msu be great for all of us without final salary pension schemes.

[TightEnd]

The sole source for the £1.6 billion yield from VAT on private school fees is an article in the Fabian Review from January, 2011.

no word on if that figure includes an assumption that x% of kids might be moved out of private to state, reducing yield & adding to state education bills...

One source of potential yield on one measure is......Private eye!!

Click to see full-size image.

not standing up to scrutiny too well all this unfortunately. of course 99% of voters won't be scrutinising and the headlines might be popular. whether that matters when you have a big deficit in leader ratings is the issue

[Doobs]

The sole source for the £1.6 billion yield from VAT on private school fees is an article in the Fabian Review from January, 2011.

no word on if that figure includes an assumption that x% of kids might be moved out of private to state, reducing yield & adding to state education bills...

One source of potential yield on one measure is......Private eye!!

Click to see full-size image.

not standing up to scrutiny too well all this unfortunately. of course 99% of voters won't be scrutinising and the headlines might be popular. whether that matters when you have a big deficit in leader ratings is the issue

The problem is that a lot of these things aren't going to raise as much as expected.

Take the tax on derivative trading.  Companies will just trade less, or the trades will move away from the UK.  So all we do is deliberately damage our number 1 industry, again.  And no it isn't steel.

[Woodsey]

More terrible news...slightly bizarre it's the EU court that has ruled this though.

'Boost for Brexit free trade deal chances after landmark EU court ruling'

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/05/16/boost-brexit-free-trade-deal-chances-landmark-eu-court-ruling/

[Doobs]

More terrible news...slightly bizarre it's the EU court that has ruled this though.

'Boost for Brexit free trade deal chances after landmark EU court ruling'

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/05/16/boost-brexit-free-trade-deal-chances-landmark-eu-court-ruling/

Seems like the EU courts can make sensible rulings.  Makes you wonder why we need to go through all the mess caused by taking back control. 

[TightEnd]

Jeremy Corbyn U-turns on 'very clear' plan to lift benefits freeze two hours after making it http://bit.ly/2rc4XLR

[Woodsey]

More terrible news...slightly bizarre it's the EU court that has ruled this though.

'Boost for Brexit free trade deal chances after landmark EU court ruling'

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/05/16/boost-brexit-free-trade-deal-chances-landmark-eu-court-ruling/

Seems like the EU courts can make sensible rulings.  Makes you wonder why we need to go through all the mess whining caused by taking back control. 

FYP 

[RickBFA]

Even the most pro Labour voter must realise this is fantasy economics.

[EvilPie]

Here is the definitive list of how Labour plans to fund its spending commitments - http://bit.ly/2pPU0Ma

Click to see full-size image.

I've never voted before but this list is enough to make me pop to the ballot box and do my bit to stop this happening.

Why do they have to go after the small Companies who're struggling to make a profit? It's because they're easy targets that's why. You don't upset too many individuals when you go after Companies so it's an easy way of raising some tax.

A lot of this additional money will be from people like myself, small Company owners who only get an income when their Company is profitable. If I have a bad year I can potentially take home nothing. If I have a profitable year I would lose an extra 9% of that profit. If I've had a really good year I also lose an extra 5% of anything over £80k. If I make nothing the next year I get f**k all back.

Where's the bit where they go after Google, Costa et al? They mention tax avoidance clamp down but looking at the figure it's just personal tax, not Company tax. All they're doing is going after they weakest target who're likely to provide the least resistance, that being honest Companies who pay their fair share.

Osborne has already gone after dividends as a stealthy way of increasing effective income tax without having to say that's what he's doing, now Labour are doing it but in a far more 'in your f**king face' manner. I didn't complain about Osborne, I didn't vote so I don't see that I have a right to complain. If Labour get in and impose these promises then I'll want to complain to any poor sod who'll listen so I guess I need to vote.

[TightEnd]

headline of the day?

very clever, whatever your view

Click to see full-size image.

[AndrewT]

Somewhere in the Economist's office there's a sub-editor with their feet up on the desk, smoking a cigar.

[Doobs]

Somewhere in the Economist's office there's a sub-editor with their feet up on the desk, smoking a cigar.

Marvellous.

[PokerBroker]

I repeat as before funny how the terrorist always has the smallest bomb.

Britain initiated the war in Ireland and still stokes sectarian tension.

The tories are trying it in Scotland, shame on those who don't see through it.

I'll bite. You think there is a decent chance Scotland will go to war with the rest of the UK if the Tories have their way?

No, there is a chance Loyalists in Scotland go to war if Scotland ever gets independence.  Look back at the last referendum the angry mobs causing violence were decked out in union flags and well known members of the Ulster Scots community.

[PokerBroker]

I repeat as before funny how the terrorist always has the smallest bomb.

Britain initiated the war in Ireland and still stokes sectarian tension.

The tories are trying it in Scotland, shame on those who don't see through it.

In the Troubles who used the biggest bomb?  Kind of irrelevant that the UK Government had nukes, don't you think?

Going back 200 years and apportioning all the blame on one side is silly, and I fully accept that what the UK Government did at times was appaling.  Even at the height of the troubles, the vast majority wanted peace and to get on with their lives.  You can see that in the popularity of Sinn Fein.  Even Thatcher and Blair, who are often described as war mongers, were trying to get a peace deal.

Of course, the likes of Brexit isn't going to help, but in amongst all the stipid decisions, I dare say nobody ever said lets push this through so we can antagonise the Nationalists in Northern Ireland.

The quote was originally attributed to Brendan Behan. 

But it's not just Ireland. 

Britain Enjoys war. 

[PokerBroker]

Here is the definitive list of how Labour plans to fund its spending commitments - http://bit.ly/2pPU0Ma

Click to see full-size image.

That doesn't include the Northern "splash £500bn on vanity projects" bank or the capital expenditure from buying back Water, Rail, Electric, Gas, Trains, Building homes or whatever else.  Some of the other costs are down as capex too, so don't count as spending in Labour's World.  Seems farcical to claim something is fully costed and then only partially cost it. 

I wish they would be more ambitious on inheritance tax.  I also think they need to get rid of the big kinks in the tax system that put people off working harder.  There is a big kink where you lose child benefit, where you can be effectively taxed at over 70% if you have 4 kids; and there is a big chunk after £100k where you are already taxed at 60% because the tax free allowance falls away (this will now be 65% tax).  Get rid of these kinks and people will be more accepting of the 45% and 50% bands, and maybe even more so if they weren't paying for the idiotic triple lock guarantee on pensions.

And more importantly, is there a commitment to give MPs a "fair" pension in line with everybody elses?  They seem to be getting a free ride from membership of the "few".

We agree on something :-)