The Labour Government

ganganvince said:
Credit were its due though there was a plan from the leadership to cut welfare spending that would have helped but back benches cut their legs off.
Click to expand...

A billion off grannies and a few more from the disabled wouldn't have cut it. At the end of the day they have a job to do and are well paid, wtf do they do all day.
 
hilts said:
There has been more out of the box and good ideas for tax increase in the last couple of pages than our govts have managed to come up with for decades.

We need a new way not sure who can deliver it.
Click to expand...
Someone phoned in to LBC and had identical suggestions as mine and on a voluntary state pension "buyout" for those with a healthy personal pension They were met with almost universal approval from listeners. I'm (they're) still waiting for the call from Rachael. lol
 
Chippy_boy said:
I'm surprised at you saying that. Flawed Labour ideology thinks increasing taxes just raises money with no adverse consequences. Of course that's not true.

For ever 100 people buying e.g. a yacht there will be 1 who doesn't care what it costs - and who you could tax as you suggest. But 99 who absolutely do. Putting taxes up stops them buying things, and guess what, depresses growth. Typical Labour flawed ideology in action.
Click to expand...
Such a shit example. If 99% can't afford another 2%, say, on a luxury yacht, they can't afford it in the first place. Have you seen the price of a decent yacht berth nowadays?
 
Last edited:
hilts said:
A billion off grannies and a few more from the disabled wouldn't have cut it. At the end of the day they have a job to do and are well paid, wtf do they do all day.
Click to expand...
School hols at the moment
 
blueinsa said:
I don’t believe those in the market for real luxury items are put off buying at all mate as they clearly have the wealth to do so.

I wanted an Omega and bought one. It could well have been more expensive due to a higher tax sales rate but I would still have bought it.
Click to expand...
Correct. "If you have to ask how much the sales tax is on a yacht, are you sure you can afford it, sir?"
 
hilts said:
I believe some of the very wealthy will watch TV through Curry's window rather than pay an extra couple of hundred quid for the 60 inch TV in the games room.
Click to expand...
In my day, we had to make do with a subterranean cinema room.
 
hampshireblue said:
Such a shit example. If 99% can't afford another 2%, say, on a luxury yacht, they can't afford it in the first place. Have you seen the price of a decent yacht berth nowadays?
Click to expand...
Or a full tank of fuel - five figure sum.

I'd exempt the inland waterways from not being allowed red diesel - or use the tax to boost funding for the Canal and River Trust (global warming putting reservoirs and embankments at risk).
 
Vic said:
Or a full tank of fuel - five figure sum.

I'd exempt the inland waterways from not being allowed red diesel - or use the tax to boost funding for the Canal and River Trust (global warming putting reservoirs and embankments at risk).
Click to expand...

Fuel is insane for a boat. It would cost best part of £20k in something like a 60ft cruiser running twin engines to get to the med and back.
 
hampshireblue said:
Or just your warped opinion. It took 14 years to get into the mess and you blame 12 months for everything. They have made mistakes but it is going to take time. If it's still as bad in 4 years, come back and have a go. In the meantime try coming up with something constructive as many on here have tried to do.
Click to expand...
This mess cannot be solely attributed to the last 14 years, the rot began in 1997 ......
Screenshot 2025-08-07 at 14.42.22.png
The budget deficit with Ken Clarke as chancellor was heading towards balance, Gordon Brown made an election pledge in 1997 to stick to Clarke's spending plans for the first two years if elected. As we know he was elected and duly stuck to Clarke's spending plans for two years , that and the legacy of the growing economy he inherited enabled him to deliver a balanced budget in 2001. You can read a graph and you can therefore see what happened next once Brown started to behave like a Labour chancellor / PM . As can clearly be seen on the graph, by the time he left office he was able to hand over a sack of shit to the incoming Cameron government, the moment encapsulated for ever by Liam Byrne's note to his successor in the treasury " I am sorry, there is no money left" - He wasn't wrong.
The austerity you blame for everything was a consequence of what went before -Brown was a disaster.
 
Hertzblue said:
This mess cannot be solely attributed to the last 14 years, the rot began in 1997 ......
View attachment 165188
The budget deficit with Ken Clarke as chancellor was heading towards balance, Gordon Brown made an election pledge in 1997 to stick to Clarke's spending plans for the first two years if elected. As we know he was elected and duly stuck to Clarke's spending plans for two years , that and the legacy of the growing economy he inherited enabled him to deliver a balanced budget in 2001. You can read a graph and you can therefore see what happened next once Brown started to behave like a Labour chancellor / PM . As can clearly be seen on the graph, by the time he left office he was able to hand over a sack of shit to the incoming Cameron government, the moment encapsulated for ever by Liam Byrne's note to his successor in the treasury " I am sorry, there is no money left" - He wasn't wrong.
The austerity you blame for everything was a consequence of what went before -Brown was a disaster.
Click to expand...
The deficit was at 3% until the GFC. If you’re going to blame Brown for the deficit ramping up hugely as a result of the GFC, you can also blame Sunak (or was it one of the other half dozen chancellors) for the deficit ramping up because of Covid.
 
west didsblue said:
The deficit was at 3% until the GFC. If you’re going to blame Brown for the deficit ramping up hugely as a result of the GFC, you can also blame Sunak (or was it one of the other half dozen chancellors) for the deficit ramping up because of Covid.
Click to expand...
You can read a graph, you can see the direction of travel before that.
 
west didsblue said:
Heading down from 2005 to 2007.

It also headed down during Labour’s government in the 1970s.

It’s quite easy to just choose the bits of the graph you want to look at.
Click to expand...
FFS..
It also headed down during Labour’s government in the 1970s.
Click to expand...
I think you will find that was due to the intervention of the IMF . lol

You also need to know a bot of context and history.
 
blueinsa said:
As Ive stated above, in my opinion it doesn’t on many items.

A £15 jacket from Tesco F&F is not a Louis Vuitton jacket costing £3000 and if you are in that market, is £3100 putting you off it?

Not in my opinion it is.
Click to expand...
How much would you propose increasing the VAT rate by? £3100 is 24% VAT. Not sure that would fix much, especially if only applied it to "luxury" items. Estimates are it could raise £5bn* if it didn't depress sales, which I argue it would. Or do you want a higher rate still, and depress sales even more?

*Perplexity AI calcs. "Keep in mind that this is a rough estimate. Actual revenue could be lower if higher prices reduce demand, if more purchases shift online or abroad, or if definitions of "luxury items" are narrower than the headline luxury sector. Nonetheless, it gives a sense of the order of magnitude for such a policy."

It's a typical "tax the rich" - in fact tax anyone apart from me - idea, which I am surprised you'd support.
 
Hertzblue said:
FFS..

I think you will find that was due to the intervention of the IMF . lol

You also need to know a bot of context and history.
Click to expand...
And there’s a reason for every rise and every fall, and it’s often due to external factors, although the 1989 to 1992 rise was largely self inflicted and was only resolved when the government was forced to leave the ERM. It’s a pointless exercise trying to make out it’s only Labour that fucks things up. Each party has had its moments but it’s mostly down to world affairs.
 
Chippy_boy said:
How much would you propose increasing the VAT rate by? £3100 is 24% VAT. Not sure that would fix much, especially if only applied it to "luxury" items. Estimates are it could raise £5bn* if it didn't depress sales, which I argue it would. Or do you want a higher rate still, and depress sales even more?

*Perplexity AI calcs. "Keep in mind that this is a rough estimate. Actual revenue could be lower if higher prices reduce demand, if more purchases shift online or abroad, or if definitions of "luxury items" are narrower than the headline luxury sector. Nonetheless, it gives a sense of the order of magnitude for such a policy."

It's a typical "tax the rich" - in fact tax anyone apart from me - idea, which I am surprised you'd support.
Click to expand...

It’s one example of raising taxes that I feel lies fair on everyone.

I’ve stated before that income tax simply has to rise and the sooner we all gave up to that fact the better.
 
Hertzblue said:
This mess cannot be solely attributed to the last 14 years, the rot began in 1997 ......
View attachment 165188
The budget deficit with Ken Clarke as chancellor was heading towards balance, Gordon Brown made an election pledge in 1997 to stick to Clarke's spending plans for the first two years if elected. As we know he was elected and duly stuck to Clarke's spending plans for two years , that and the legacy of the growing economy he inherited enabled him to deliver a balanced budget in 2001. You can read a graph and you can therefore see what happened next once Brown started to behave like a Labour chancellor / PM . As can clearly be seen on the graph, by the time he left office he was able to hand over a sack of shit to the incoming Cameron government, the moment encapsulated for ever by Liam Byrne's note to his successor in the treasury " I am sorry, there is no money left" - He wasn't wrong.
The austerity you blame for everything was a consequence of what went before -Brown was a disaster.
Click to expand...
His sale of UK gold at $275 per ounce by 2002 because he thought gold was a declining asset was ridiculous. He even drove the price down because he couldn't keep his mouth shut. We got £3.5B into the coffers, it'd be worth more than £38B today, Reeves "Black Hole".

He should have been put in a cell until Gold hit $275 again
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Unread Posts

Don't have an account? Register now and see fewer ads!

SIGN UP
Back
Top