The Labour Government

[Alan Harper's Tash]

At this rate, I’d be surprised if there are any MPs left by the end of the week.

 

[Vic]

There was a guy on the radio the other day (LBC I think), saying that the prison service struggles to attract good quality candidates. Some of the people working as prison officers, particularly in London, had a poor grasp of the english language and often didn't understand the complex release forms. This had resulted in errors being made, most were spotted but some weren't.

It's another Tory-era situation that only came to light (aka gets in the Tory press) once Labour was in power.

From hope to hardship: Nigerians recruited as UK prison officers live in cars

Facing a staffing crisis, the UK is recruiting international prison officers, including Nigerians, under a 2023 policy allowing skilled worker visas for the role.

www.legit.ng

 

[Johnny Mars Bar]

Looks like they are going to introduce some kind of pay per mile EV tax.

Seems reasonable to me. With the transition to EVs and more fuel efficient vehicles the revenues from fuel duty must be way down, and these new “greener” cars are enormous and weigh twice as much as traditional petrol cars did 20 years ago so they must be doing more damage to the roads.

Some people will piss and moan about this but to me it seems like a no brainier.

 

[Johnny Mars Bar]

Yes, it’s embarrassing, but it’s the individual prisons making these fuck ups

It’s what happens when public services, including prisons, are chronically underfunded for two decades.

 

[hilts]

Has no-one been watching PMQ the last few years? Avoiding answering the question has become normal.

Boris Johnson told to answer questions in one third of PMQs so far this year

The Prime Minister was reminded in today’s session that it is ‘Prime Minister’s Questions, not opposition questions’

www.nationalworld.com

Rishi Sunak Slapped Down By Commons Speaker After Forgetting How PMQs Works

Lindsay Hoyle also made fun of the prime minister for wanting to "get away early".

www.huffingtonpost.co.uk

I'm not sure people are only now getting annoyed at politicians not answering questions and only mentioning it now Labour is in Vic.

That is certainly one of the more desperate attempts.

"Look over there at what they did and leave my lot alone"

That card gets pulled out a lot.

 

[hilts]

It’s what happens when public services, including prisons, are chronically underfunded for two decades.

It seems a long way back to decent services and quality staff.

 

[hcblue95]

Looks like they are going to introduce some kind of pay per mile EV tax.

Seems reasonable to me. With the transition to EVs and more fuel efficient vehicles the revenues from fuel duty must be way down, and these new “greener” cars are enormous and weigh twice as much as traditional petrol cars did 20 years ago so they must be doing more damage to the roads.

Some people will piss and moan about this but to me it seems like a no brainier.

Probably fair as your point about the weight of them is a good one. There's quite a lot of mixed messaging and watering down of net zero policies going on in the background though, which is a bit worrying. Rumours of CP2030 being dropped.

 

[The Light Was Yellow Sir]

Looks like they are going to introduce some kind of pay per mile EV tax.

Seems reasonable to me. With the transition to EVs and more fuel efficient vehicles the revenues from fuel duty must be way down, and these new “greener” cars are enormous and weigh twice as much as traditional petrol cars did 20 years ago so they must be doing more damage to the roads.

Some people will piss and moan about this but to me it seems like a no brainier.

Get rid of road tax and fuel duty and charge pence per mile for everyone, seems like the best bet.

 

[Johnny Mars Bar]

Get rid of road tax and fuel duty and charge pence per mile for everyone, seems like the best bet.

There’s certainly an argument for it. Mileage is noted at MOT time anyway so they could charge then.

VED seems very arbitrarily calculated to me. I drive a Defender and pay the top rage of tax, it’s over 700 quid a year. But if I bought a van variant, or a the exact same car registered in a different year, the rate would be lower.

Yes it’s an old Land Rover that spews out a lot of shite and pisses oil all over the road so I’m more than happy to pay a higher rate than most, it’s only fair. But it’s these opaque and convoluted changes to the way they work it out that annoys me.

Similarly I’ve previously had a little Fiesta that cost 5x more to take than my BMW that weighted twice as much and had an engine 2x the size.

Charging by the mile seems a very sensible approach to me.

 

[The Light Was Yellow Sir]

There’s certainly an argument for it. Mileage is noted at MOT time anyway so they could charge then.

VED seems very arbitrarily calculated to me. I drive a Defender and pay the top rage of tax, it’s over 700 quid a year. But if I bought a van variant, or a the exact same car registered in a different year, the rate would be lower.

Yes it’s an old Land Rover that spews out a lot of shite and pisses oil all over the road so I’m more than happy to pay a higher rate than most, it’s only fair. But it’s these opaque and convoluted changes to the way they work it out that annoys me.

Similarly I’ve previously had a little Fiesta that cost 5x more to take than my BMW that weighted twice as much and had an engine 2x the size.

Charging by the mile seems a very sensible approach to me.

Indeed. Also, if they reduced fuel duty and got rid of VAT on electricity it would be non inflationary.
All they then need to do is work out how to charge a premium on non MOT’d and foreign vehicles.

 

[Kompany Car]

There’s certainly an argument for it. Mileage is noted at MOT time anyway so they could charge then.

VED seems very arbitrarily calculated to me. I drive a Defender and pay the top rage of tax, it’s over 700 quid a year. But if I bought a van variant, or a the exact same car registered in a different year, the rate would be lower.

Yes it’s an old Land Rover that spews out a lot of shite and pisses oil all over the road so I’m more than happy to pay a higher rate than most, it’s only fair. But it’s these opaque and convoluted changes to the way they work it out that annoys me.

Similarly I’ve previously had a little Fiesta that cost 5x more to take than my BMW that weighted twice as much and had an engine 2x the size.

Charging by the mile seems a very sensible approach to me.

Problem is you'll end up with people winding their speedometer back to avoid paying. Most cars with the right kit are pretty easy to do. Im sure Bradford and Birmingham will see a big increase in MOTs being performed where the numbers entered dont match the actual values.

You could do it using ANPR systems on most motorways, but then you run the risk of pushing more vehicles onto smaller A roads to avoid paying. Thats why for conventional combustion engines its just easier to do it via fuel duty, you cant avoid puting fuel in your car. Yes there is red diesel which in this day and age should just be handled via HMRC as a tax rebate rather than having it cheaper at the pump.

If the concern is increased wear and tear on the roads you might be better charging based upon the curb weight of the car with some form of offset for fully electric vehicles. For one thing it might get rid of peoples obsession with oversized SUVs.

 

[hampshireblue]

This country has drifted into an absolute mess in the last 10 years.

The prison system is broken.
The immigration system is broken.
The economic system is broken.

This was all created by the inept conservative government but it’s time for Labour to stop passing the buck and blaming them now and to actually do something about it.

It needs strong action and I am not sure we are going to get it.

I think we will get it, but the trouble is the electorate won't like it. We got boiled like frogs for 14 years and it's going to take some pain to get us out of the mess. Labour did say it would take more than one term to sort it out, and it will.

 

[Johnny Mars Bar]

Problem is you'll end up with people winding their speedometer back to avoid paying. Most cars with the right kit are pretty easy to do. Im sure Bradford and Birmingham will see a big increase in MOTs being performed where the numbers entered dont match the actual values.

You could do it using ANPR systems on most motorways, but then you run the risk of pushing more vehicles onto smaller A roads to avoid paying. Thats why for conventional combustion engines its just easier to do it via fuel duty, you cant avoid puting fuel in your car. Yes there is red diesel which in this day and age should just be handled via HMRC as a tax rebate rather than having it cheaper at the pump.

If the concern is increased wear and tear on the roads you might be better charging based upon the curb weight of the car with some form of offset for fully electric vehicles. For one thing it might get rid of peoples obsession with oversized SUVs.

I highly doubt that widespread clocking of cars will be a problem. It’s not the 80s, you can’t just get your drill out, it isn’t easy at all with modern integrated computer systems, and it’ll cost you more to pay some **** down a backstreet in Birmingham to do it, than it’ll cost just to pay the tax. Mileage is very deeply baked into the ECU.

Plus would you risk a criminal conviction with a potential prison sentence to save a hundred quid on car tax? Maybe a couple of people would but it’ll be an insignificant minority.

 

[Kompany Car]

I highly doubt that widespread clocking of cars will be a problem. It’s not the 80s, you can’t just get your drill out, it isn’t easy at all with modern integrated computer systems, and it’ll cost you more to pay some **** down a backstreet in Birmingham to do it, than it’ll cost just to pay the tax. Mileage is very deeply baked into the ECU.

Plus would you risk a criminal conviction with a potential prison sentence to save a hundred quid on car tax? Maybe a couple of people would but it’ll be an insignificant minority.

Only costs you a few hundred quid for insurance but there are still estimated to be 1m uninsured drivers.

Its really difficult to change the mileage...



All available on AliExpress for £208.

 

[Bazzmand Show]

Looks like they are going to introduce some kind of pay per mile EV tax.

Seems reasonable to me. With the transition to EVs and more fuel efficient vehicles the revenues from fuel duty must be way down, and these new “greener” cars are enormous and weigh twice as much as traditional petrol cars did 20 years ago so they must be doing more damage to the roads.

Some people will piss and moan about this but to me it seems like a no brainier.

Why? Surely the net benefit is that you now have a driver who is not emitting CO2 on the roads?

 

[maxwellblue]

Why? Surely the net benefit is that you now have a driver who is not emitting CO2 on the roads?

Ah, but you don't have a driver adding revenue through fuel duty.

 

[Ohrodneyrodney]

I think we will get it, but the trouble is the electorate won't like it. We got boiled like frogs for 14 years and it's going to take some pain to get us out of the mess. Labour did say it would take more than one term to sort it out, and it will.

You honestly think they are sorting it out? If you feel like you’ve been boiled already, get ready for the air fryer.

 

[Vic]

I'm not sure people are only now getting annoyed at politicians not answering questions and only mentioning it now Labour is in Vic.

That is certainly one of the more desperate attempts.

"Look over there at what they did and leave my lot alone"

That card gets pulled out a lot.

It's addressed to the Tories / Reformers who attacked Lammy for doing it as if it had never happened before. You can't even say Lammy was deliberately misleading Parliament (qv Johnson) - frankly only an idiot would think Lammy's refusal to answer the question implied that he was saying it could never happen again.

 

[117 M34]

Lot of businesses have EV company cars.
Wonder if it will be juat for commercial or if they will hit them all

 

[Pingu the Penguin]

I'm not sure people are only now getting annoyed at politicians not answering questions and only mentioning it now Labour is in Vic.

That is certainly one of the more desperate attempts.

"Look over there at what they did and leave my lot alone"

That card gets pulled out a lot.

I’m a swing voter and it annoys the hell out of me. Some folk are happy to tolerate their “side” behaving poorly and it just encourages shit behaviour