Thursday 25th June 2015
Posted: Thu 25 Jun, 2015 7:10 am
Morning all.
frightful_oik wrote:Morning all.
Heard on the paper review that our idiot chancellor is thinking of cutting top rate of tax to 40% in his budget. Didn't catch which paper. Anyone help me out?
Ta yahyah.yahyah wrote:frightful_oik wrote:Morning all.
Heard on the paper review that our idiot chancellor is thinking of cutting top rate of tax to 40% in his budget. Didn't catch which paper. Anyone help me out?
It's Nigel Lawson, ex-Chancellor, who is pushing that idea.
No wonder the Tories wanted yesterday's ILF demo to be kept out of the media.
http://www.heraldscotland.com/politics/ ... .130042865" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Willow904 wrote:http://www.theguardian.com/politics/201 ... t-for-many
What Brown could not foresee was that the credits would become a major post-crash safety net, inflating their cost from £9bn to £30bn by 2010.
The above line caught my eye. The tax credit bill currently stands at 27bn. It makes you question whether our economy has really recovered at all. This recession has made its effects felt through low pay rather than high unemployment and the above figures illustrate quite starkly that for much of the country the effects of the recession are still with us. No wonder tax receipts are so low. The whole point of cyclical downturns is that automatic stabilizers kick in, such as unemployment benefit and tax credits, to support the economy until it returns to normal, and tax credit spend returns to 9bn in real terms. The fact this hasn't happened is, in my view, an indication that the economy is depressed, though not necessarily in a way akin to the 1930s regarding extreme poverty as we started out from a much higher standard of living. Economically speaking, however, understanding the depressed nature of the economy is important in deciding how to respond. I believe austerity made things worse last time and I don't particularly fancy a war as a means to stimulate economic activity. Idiot Osborne really couldn't have been put in charge at a worse time. The economy needs investment support, yet he's planning the opposite. I'm still finding it hard to believe he would be stupid enough to actually go through with his 12bn of welfare cuts.
Iain Martin @iainmartin1 26m26 minutes ago
Is all ok at the Palace? First, bizarre row with SNP on money. Now Queen given German speech sounding like backing for Yes in EU referendum
Eh?David Maddox @DavidPBMaddox 41m41 minutes ago
UK government "seriously considering"'a Scottish Office for Budget Responsibility to hold SNP ministers to account http://www.scotsman.com/news/uk/cameron ... hambles-1-" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
THE UK government is “seriously considering” a proposal to create an Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) in Scotland to stop SNP ministers from “manipulating” economic figures.
With new powers going to Holyrood in the current Scotland Bill including control over most of income tax and £2.5 billion of welfare measures, pro-UK parties want to highlight the effects of decisions taken by SNP ministers and put pressure on them to justify their actions instead of blaming Westminster.
The Scotsman has learned that Tory ministers are now looking favourably on a Labour amendment to create a Scottish OBR.
It comes as the SNP have put in a new amendment for full fiscal autonomy (FFA), to give Holyrood full control of tax and spend north of the Border.
The move was mocked at Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) yesterday as being “a full fiscal shambles” as David Cameron challenged the SNP to use powers to “raise tax.”...
Of course, because tax credits are specifically targeted to help low income households. Not everyone in a low paid job, though, lives in a low income household, yet those who don't receive tax credits have also failed to put upward pressure on wages. Anyway, even if it were the case, wouldn't the same argument then apply to tax cuts? Isn't that also a case of government taking on the burden of increasing take home pay, allowing employers to pay less?SpinningHugo wrote:Willow904 wrote:http://www.theguardian.com/politics/201 ... t-for-many
What Brown could not foresee was that the credits would become a major post-crash safety net, inflating their cost from £9bn to £30bn by 2010.
The above line caught my eye. The tax credit bill currently stands at 27bn. It makes you question whether our economy has really recovered at all. This recession has made its effects felt through low pay rather than high unemployment and the above figures illustrate quite starkly that for much of the country the effects of the recession are still with us. No wonder tax receipts are so low. The whole point of cyclical downturns is that automatic stabilizers kick in, such as unemployment benefit and tax credits, to support the economy until it returns to normal, and tax credit spend returns to 9bn in real terms. The fact this hasn't happened is, in my view, an indication that the economy is depressed, though not necessarily in a way akin to the 1930s regarding extreme poverty as we started out from a much higher standard of living. Economically speaking, however, understanding the depressed nature of the economy is important in deciding how to respond. I believe austerity made things worse last time and I don't particularly fancy a war as a means to stimulate economic activity. Idiot Osborne really couldn't have been put in charge at a worse time. The economy needs investment support, yet he's planning the opposite. I'm still finding it hard to believe he would be stupid enough to actually go through with his 12bn of welfare cuts.
"Even the left has an issue with a benefit that is clearly exploited by many employers as a wage subsidy"
The economic research just doesn't support that claim. Silliness like that will be exploited by people like Cameron who will say they are cutting a corporate subsidy that employers should make up.
Easily the best way to help the poor is for the state to give them money.
The sell offs George Osborne doesn’t want you to know about
Cat Hobbs
Yesterday
Once our public services have been sold to make profits for a wealthy few, we can't get them back.
In the sense that I was never going to vote for Liz Kendall but am now leaning towards totally ruling out Andy Burnham, then I suppose it is. Though I'd be interested to know if Andy Burnham is pleased to have David Blunkett's support.AnatolyKasparov wrote:After yesterday's strictly non-news about Milburn backing Kendall, it appears that David Blunkett is supporting Burnham - which is at least slightly more interesting.
Well, my thought was that it showed Blunkett in a slightly better light than some of the Blairite "sectarians".PorFavor wrote:In the sense that I was never going to vote for Liz Kendall but am now leaning towards totally ruling out Andy Burnham, then I suppose it is. Though I'd be interested to know if Andy Burnham is pleased to have David Blunkett's support.AnatolyKasparov wrote:After yesterday's strictly non-news about Milburn backing Kendall, it appears that David Blunkett is supporting Burnham - which is at least slightly more interesting.
Good morfternoon, everyone.
Hope you're feeling better soon cJAcitizenJA wrote:I'm beside myself.
Been ill for a few days.
Horrible dreams.
All of my nightmares are in the headlines.
Several experienced crisis watchers agree that Greece’s lenders have given some ground in their latest proposals, while sticking firm on other issues:http://www.theguardian.com/business/liv ... aeb0115b96Jorge Valero @europressos
Quite a step institutions postpone by 2 years (end 2019) phasing out supplements for low income pensioners #Greece
12:02 PM - 25 Jun 2015
" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Creditors are also refusing to accept the Greek plan of raising the corporation tax rate from 26% to 29%. In their latest proposal, it would rise to 28%.
They are also keeping a firm red line through Athens plan for a one-off 12% tax on all corporate profits over €500,000.
But one other measure has survived, as the FT points out:
But the plan keeps Mr Tsipras’s plan to raise luxury tax on yachts from 10% per cent to 13%.
http://www.theguardian.com/business/liv ... f829c5d53e" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
I understand the loss of a sovereign currency makes countries using the euro, for example, limited in response capability to economic mayhem. But this is unacceptable. When did creditors get to decide corporation tax & social security provision, please?Now this is interesting too.... Greece’s creditors are offering that these VAT hikes could be “reviewed at the end of 2016”, if Athens has proved that it has raised more revenue through fighting tax evasion and VAT collection.
http://www.theguardian.com/business/liv ... aeb0115b89" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Alan Miliburn, the former Labour cabinet minister who chairs the child poverty and social mobility commission, has put out statement about today’s poverty figures.(Politics Blog, Guardian)
Well, as long as the Lincoln by-pass goes ahead . . . . .Network Rail chairman to step down amid spiralling costs of upgrade
Government freezes part of £38.5bn, five-year plan and replaces Richard Parry-Jones with London’s transport commissioner, Sir Peter Hendy
Network Rail’s chairman, Richard Parry-Jones, is to step down and will be replaced by London’s transport commissioner, Sir Peter Hendy.
Patrick McLoughlin, the transport secretary, announced Parry-Jones’s departure and said major improvements to rail lines in the Midlands and the north of England would now be shelved.
McLoughlin conceded that the vaunted biggest investment in the railways since Victorian times was not going to deliver the projects promised in a £38.5bn five-year plan. (Guardian)
Just ignore him.PorFavor wrote:Alan Miliburn, the former Labour cabinet minister who chairs the child poverty and social mobility commission, has put out statement about today’s poverty figures.(Politics Blog, Guardian)
I just burst into tears.PorFavor wrote:Northern Powerhouse and Long-term Economic Plan.
Altogether now -
Thank you!citizenJA wrote:I just burst into tears.PorFavor wrote:Northern Powerhouse and Long-term Economic Plan.
Altogether now -
All thanks to Chancellor Jeff, Dave & Tory ne'er-do-wells.
I'm putting the kettle on.
Help yourself to the chocolate rolls.
Thank you, it may take a while.LadyCentauria wrote:Hope you feel better soon, @cJA x
I understand & agree completely.PorFavor wrote:Thank you!citizenJA wrote:I just burst into tears.PorFavor wrote:Northern Powerhouse and Long-term Economic Plan.
Altogether now -
All thanks to Chancellor Jeff, Dave & Tory ne'er-do-wells.
I'm putting the kettle on.
Help yourself to the chocolate rolls.
Five more years? I honestly don't think so. I can't let myself think so, come to that.
Thank youHindleA wrote:Yes,hope you feel better soon.CJA .
A very long, but disturbing and interesting, read.Revealed: how developers exploit flawed planning system to minimise affordable housing (Guardian)
Ha ha, yes. Maybe Nicky Sturgeon stopped these schemes though.PorFavor wrote:Well, as long as the Lincoln by-pass goes ahead . . . . .Network Rail chairman to step down amid spiralling costs of upgrade
Government freezes part of £38.5bn, five-year plan and replaces Richard Parry-Jones with London’s transport commissioner, Sir Peter Hendy
Network Rail’s chairman, Richard Parry-Jones, is to step down and will be replaced by London’s transport commissioner, Sir Peter Hendy.
Patrick McLoughlin, the transport secretary, announced Parry-Jones’s departure and said major improvements to rail lines in the Midlands and the north of England would now be shelved.
McLoughlin conceded that the vaunted biggest investment in the railways since Victorian times was not going to deliver the projects promised in a £38.5bn five-year plan. (Guardian)
http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015 ... re-delayed
It has done pretty well. Though you have to factor in that, as with the ONS, the media don't really care about the government lying. Unscrupulous politicians can usually phrase something so that it isn't an outright lie- Cameron saying the OBR were clear austerity hadn't reduced growth was unusually reckless lying. Figures like those the Scottish Government stuck out before independence would have to be verified by a Scottish OBR, I think.rebeccariots2 wrote:Eh?David Maddox @DavidPBMaddox 41m41 minutes ago
UK government "seriously considering"'a Scottish Office for Budget Responsibility to hold SNP ministers to account http://www.scotsman.com/news/uk/cameron ... hambles-1-" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Like the OBR has held this and the last government to account ....?
is still doing the rounds despite having disproved. By the Guardian amongst others.vaunted biggest investment in the railways since Victorian times
Cameron's concepts arePorFavor wrote:Re David Cameron's EU negotiations -
According to Donald Tusk, the fundamentals of the EU (I paraphrase a bit) are "not for sale" (BBC News).
David Cameron will have great difficulty in grasping that concept.
Quite possibly the biggest for some time, I'd have thought.RogerOThornhill wrote:I see that the
is still doing the rounds despite having disproved. By the Guardian amongst others.vaunted biggest investment in the railways since Victorian times
Make sure it's all packed into that one sentence, now.Business groups reject PM's plan to replace tax credits with higher pay
Industry organisations...deny pay levels are linked to receipt of tax credit and....warn small employers may not be able to afford salary increases
Business groups have warned David Cameron that he cannot expect companies to automatically raise wages to compensate for cuts in tax credits that are likely to be unveiled in the summer budget. Industry organisations, including the British Chamber of Commerce (BCC) and Institute of Directors (IoD), spoke out after Cameron gave a speech criticising what he claimed was a “welfare merry-go-round” and suggested higher pay should replace tax credits.
...Labour pointed out that there would need to be a 25% across-the-board rise in the minimum wage to compensate the lowest paid workers if Cameron were to cut tax credits by £5bn. This is a figure the Institute for Fiscal Studies has said would take the child tax credit to 2003 levels, plus inflation.
http://www.theguardian.com/money/2015/j ... CMP=twt_gu" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
(my bold)Tubby Isaacs wrote:Quite possibly the biggest for some time, I'd have thought.RogerOThornhill wrote:I see that the
is still doing the rounds despite having disproved. By the Guardian amongst others.vaunted biggest investment in the railways since Victorian times
They don't like to tell you that passengers are funding it...