The Labour Government

I see the blame the unions/public sector tory bullshit has now reared it's head.

blame the tories, blame.the top 1% evading tax and robbing the national purse, blame reeves for taking a conservative approach to it rather than being brave.

The trope that a payrise for the public sector is paid by us being denied services is untrue, tiresome and boring.
 
KS55 said:
They will increase the tax on occupational pensions in the next budget. They have to pay for big pay rises for public sector workers. Some deserve it and some don’t but all will get a big rise. Some GPs currently retire or go part time after the age of 50, because their pensions have reached the limit of tax free contributions, but will get 20% plus over the next two years.
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We need to get used though to a different level of tax. The problem is and I can sort of see where this is going, we're probably going to get higher levels of taxation but will public services be improved as a result?

Labour have still not committed to any additional NHS funding and most things are shite and don't work. So far they've committed to the relatively immaterial. If they're panicking over £20bn for this then what is going to happen when they need to find £20bn for the NHS and more for everything else?

So far I've seen that they've moved to satisfy their political goals, IE, appease their union mates but the rest is about talking up tax and austerity. I had some hope but so far that has dropped and I think we're in for a painful 5 years. If this is what's to come then the next election will be a lot closer than the last one...
 
Palerider said:
The issue is that a Labour government is implementing a policy that would make Margaret Thatcher proud. Incredibly, some of the posters who would be all over this if it was a Tory policy are happy clapping Reeves! I am certainly not far left but credit to those posters who are actually remaining true to their values and morals rather than just trying to hold a party line for political gain.
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Reeves is a smart cookie, perhaps the best on the front bench. She is, however, a politician with beliefs.
 
inbetween said:
We need to get used though to a different level of tax. The problem is and I can sort of see where this is going, we're probably going to get higher levels of taxation but will public services be improved as a result?

Labour have still not committed to any additional NHS funding and most things are shite and don't work. So far they've committed to the relatively immaterial. If they're panicking over £20bn for this then what is going to happen when they need to find £20bn for the NHS and more for everything else?

So far I've seen that they've moved to satisfy their political goals, IE, appease their union mates but the rest is about talking up tax and austerity. I had some hope but so far that has dropped and I think we're in for a painful 5 years. If this is what's to come then the next election will be a lot closer than the last one...
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Yes a painful 5 years but whose fault is that, a government who have been in office for a month or the ones in power for the last 14 years?
 
Eccles Blue said:
*lol* I did that many years ago and live in a 2 up 2 down in a terrace of 4 in a quiet street. It’s so small that the washing machine wouldn’t fit in the kitchen but luckily the bathroom is bigger so it sits there in all its splendour (perfectly legally for electricians wondering).
So you’re right I would like to be able to tell anyone off who tells me to downsize or take a lodger. However, each to their own.
I thoroughly enjoy living alone. I eat my meals when I feel hungry, if I can’t sleep I can come down and watch TV or read in bed. (Hate TVs in bedrooms sorry folks) Basically I can start to be selfish and look after me. Ooooohhh that sounds horrible but that’s how I feel these days. :-)

Having said that I do try to help people and would if they really needed me.
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Washing machine?!? Luxury. Hand scrub in the basin is the answer.
 
Churchlawtonblue said:
Let's hope Reeves starts to lower interest rates by a point or two to get the construction and house building sector moving again. She is going to need to to build all those houses in Starmers plan.
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When they say they will build a million houses or whatever, what exactly does that mean? Can’t see the Home Secretary learning to lay bricks.
 
urban genie said:
I see the blame the unions/public sector tory bullshit has now reared it's head.

blame the tories, blame.the top 1% evading tax and robbing the national purse, blame reeves for taking a conservative approach to it rather than being brave.

The trope that a payrise for the public sector is paid by us being denied services is untrue, tiresome and boring.
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The pay rise is paid for mainly by cancelling infrastructure projects and increasing taxes. There is some payment by changes in services, eg no winter fuel allowance for some, scrapping cap on social care payments etc.
 
hilts said:
So are you in favour of taking the payment off pensioners and killing 4000 of them or not Vic?, come on you can be honest here. I promise not to remove the whip on you:-)

Oh almost missed that, a top indicator when someone picks a side and spends their life defending them.

Your side - they have received x amount extra

Other side - it's not an increase its keeping up with the cost of living. Otherwise it's a pay cut.

So transparent
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I'm really not sure where the "killing 4000" came from, and don't intend to minimise the problem of pensioner poverty.

But the "top indicator" (from Age UK) is that under Labour 1997-2010 the number of pensioners "living in poverty after housing costs" fell from 2.9m to 1.6m and after 14 years of the Tories it was back over 2m.

(That's poverty related to average incomes.)

For the record, while I've put the WF payment in context, and while I and most pensioners don't need it, I don't think I actually said that restricting it was a good idea. But that opens up a wider discussion about tax and spend policy in a world where taxation is seen as imposition rather than an opportunity.
 
I would advise any young person to start putting money away for their private pension asap. The SIPP is a good one, but take advice if you're in doubt. Your retirement may seem a long way away, but it soon creeps up on you. It's well worth missing a few gigs, or even holidays, if that's what it takes.

Don't leave yourself reliant on the state as the way things are going the state will give you SFA, and you don't want to spend your last 20-30 huddling over a candle and eating cold baked beans.
 
inbetween said:
We need to get used though to a different level of tax. The problem is and I can sort of see where this is going, we're probably going to get higher levels of taxation but will public services be improved as a result?

Labour have still not committed to any additional NHS funding and most things are shite and don't work. So far they've committed to the relatively immaterial. If they're panicking over £20bn for this then what is going to happen when they need to find £20bn for the NHS and more for everything else?

So far I've seen that they've moved to satisfy their political goals, IE, appease their union mates but the rest is about talking up tax and austerity. I had some hope but so far that has dropped and I think we're in for a painful 5 years. If this is what's to come then the next election will be a lot closer than the last one...
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It will be a bumpy ride. One problem is the income tax structure. Talk of taxing the rich is nonsense because the amount raised is small. The only way to raise meaningful sums is to increase tax in the middle because that’s where the vast amount of the money is. But most votes too are there and we know what that means.
 
BrianW said:
I'm not pleased about losing my winter fuel payment but this is what happens when politicians are manipulated into making unrealistic pledges not to touch the main taxes. You can expect more of the same, instead of basic tax going up to (say) 22p.

Income tax is the fairest tax, although it would be a lot fairer if fewer cunts dodged paying it.

The other thing is, there should be more focus on taxing assets. I have argued before for Land Value Tax, but the problem is the Norman families would kick up a fuss, and the Daily Mail would tell us every pensioner would be taxed on their garden. So it's hard to do politically.

As for Bamford, if he really does owe £500,000,000 in tax, it's a fucking scandal and he should have all his assets sequestrated. But the other scandal is why was it allowed in the first place. HMRC would be on to me like a ton of bricks if I owed £100. I know that from experience.
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Yup, just raise our taxes already.
 
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