General Election - 4th July 2024

[kaz7]

I see a lot of comments online saying “Labour are going to put taxes up/Labour scare the shit out of me/Labour are going to take away my life savings” mainly from Conservative voters. Despite Labour’s insistence they won’t increase income tax, NI or VAT and their manifesto only including new taxes on private schools and non-doms. These comments appear to be based on well… absolutely no evidence.

I wonder if these same people will admit they were wrong if in 5 years time we look back and see they didn’t increase any taxes? Or the tax burden actually fell over the whole time? Or that their savings are safe and sound? Or will they just trot out the same line again that Labour are going to put taxes through the roof in 2029?

I know the answer to this question, of course.

There is nothing left for the tories to do but scream and shout project fear , was there a more pathetic sight than the little man shouting tax rises over the itv woman and starmer , that is what i will remember about this campaign , the desperation

 

[Dave Ewing's Back 'eader]

Thankfully in the UK and Japan we live in a free society where our electoral systems can be openly ridiculed without fear of people being arrested, beaten or murdered.

I wonder how Count Binface or Joker Titman would get on in Russia!

If I didn't have vote in order to unseat George, then a vote for Joker Titman would be a serious proposition.

 

[hilts]

I see a lot of comments online saying “Labour are going to put taxes up/Labour scare the shit out of me/Labour are going to take away my life savings” mainly from Conservative voters. Despite Labour’s insistence they won’t increase income tax, NI or VAT and their manifesto only including new taxes on private schools and non-doms. These comments appear to be based on well… absolutely no evidence.

I wonder if these same people will admit they were wrong if in 5 years time we look back and see they didn’t increase any taxes? Or the tax burden actually fell over the whole time? Or that their savings are safe and sound? Or will they just trot out the same line again that Labour are going to put taxes through the roof in 2029?

I know the answer to this question, of course.

One should always be dubious of anyone who states which taxes they won't raise but don't guarantee anything about the others. We can only hope it's those with the deepest pockets that pay the most.

Personally I'm presuming anyone above average wages will get something taken. That would be the same for whoever got in. Most people just want a bit of fairness.

Lots of stuff needs sorting, people need to be adult about it.

 

[SkyBlueFlux]

We get parody candidates like count binface, raving lord such and nigel farage

Japan get a man dressed as the joker whose campaign posters are naked models with his head covering their bits

pic in spoiler for those sensitive to naked flesh

Spoiler: q1

View attachment 123095

Modern politics is ridiculoisly unserious

I don't think this is a modern political phenomenon. The book Melincourt was written in 1817 and features an orangutan standing as a candidate for Parliament.

I would argue that these are actually very serious, despite appearances. There are several Monster Raving Loony party policies that actually became law (such as 24-hour licensing laws). There's a reason these things exist, it's usually a humorous way of delivering some underlying truth.

Even Binface has a couple of manifesto pledges which are not entirely unserious. Such as candidates having to have lived in their constituency for the entire of the previous parliament.

 

[carlosthejackal]

One should always be dubious of anyone who states which taxes they won't raise but don't guarantee anything about the others. We can only hope it's those with the deepest pockets that pay the most.

Personally I'm presuming anyone above average wages will get something taken. That would be the same for whoever got in. Most people just want a bit of fairness.

Lots of stuff needs sorting, people need to be adult about it.

Got chatting to a woman the other day who called an ambulance for her husband because of breathing difficulties, four hour wait , then twelve hours on a trolley at A&E , then another eight hours in a cubicle before they found a bed . Anyone who puts tax cuts before the shambles we have now got needs to seriously think long and hard . Quite sure this scenario is repeated day in and day out .

 

[SkyBlueFlux]

One should always be dubious of anyone who states which taxes they won't raise but don't guarantee anything about the others. We can only hope it's those with the deepest pockets that pay the most.

Personally I'm presuming anyone above average wages will get something taken. That would be the same for whoever got in. Most people just want a bit of fairness.

Lots of stuff needs sorting, people need to be adult about it.

I'm immensely sceptical of whether Labour will actually do exactly what they say. But asserting they will do the exact opposite of what they say as if it were some undeniable truth is just as silly and extreme. The truth as you suggest is probably somewhere in between.

I expect like many that if Labour are going to do some fund-raising it would be through some wealth taxation like capital gains and not income related. I think they will be pinned down to that manifesto pledge of not raising income or VAT taxes because, quite simply, if they didn't, it would be political suicide. Who knows though, it seems like our political class enjoy a bit of that.

As long as the tax bands remain broken and frozen, the tax raising is happening anyway in absolute terms, even if the tax policy isn't changing.

 

[blueparrot]

I'm immensely sceptical of whether Labour will actually do exactly what they say. But asserting they will do the exact opposite of what they say as if it were some undeniable truth is just as silly and extreme. The truth as you suggest is probably somewhere in between.

I expect like many that if Labour are going to do some fund-raising it would be through some wealth taxation like capital gains and not income related. I think they will be pinned down to that manifesto pledge of not raising income or VAT taxes because, quite simply, if they didn't, it would be political suicide. Who knows though, it seems like our political class enjoy a bit of that.

As long as the tax bands remain broken and frozen, the tax raising is happening anyway in absolute terms, even if the tax policy isn't changing.

I see freezing thresholds as tax raising, though I’m more bothered if they do that what they do with that money than if it breaks any promises. That said any broken tax promises if they come should come at the higher rates not basic.

 

[SkyBlueFlux]

I see freezing thresholds as tax raising, though I’m more bothered if they do that what they do with that money than if it breaks any promises. That said any broken tax promises if they come should come at the higher rates not basic.

I agree entirely, it's a stealth tax. The freezing of the bands was entered into law by the Tories, so they wear that one as far as I'm concerned.

I doubt Labour will reverse it, because they are working on the technicality that they are not increasing taxes in the sense of changing the bands. But that doesn't mean the amount of taxes they collect won't increase.

As you say, what's far more important in reality is what they do with it. If people earning more or with more wealth have to pay 5% more but we have no NHS waiting lists, lower energy bills, trains that are on time and building 300,000 houses a year, I'm not sure many would complain about that.

 

[Gabriel]

 

[hilts]

Got chatting to a woman the other day who called an ambulance for her husband because of breathing difficulties, four hour wait , then twelve hours on a trolley at A&E , then another eight hours in a cubicle before they found a bed . Anyone who puts tax cuts before the shambles we have now got needs to seriously think long and hard . Quite sure this scenario is repeated day in and day out .

Absolutely, somebody someday will have to address the NHS and social care.