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Politics, politics, politics (so long and thanks for all the fish)

Silly McSilly Face said:
I was 8 years old when Thatcher left office, although most of that time wasn't spent in the UK (i was also born abroad). I think its pretty well established and agreed that Thatcher presided over probably the biggest economic and societal change the country had seen since the industrial revolution. She closed down traditional British industry and focused growth in services. Whether what she did was a good thing is obviously still a matter of fierce debate. My parents can't stand Thatcher: Dad's been a pretty much life long member of the Labour Party and Fabian Society so definitely didn't learn it from them :)
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Yes indeed, a topic of fierce debate. I was a teenager. I remember it very, very well. I agree with what you've said in this post 100%. As you said (and to repeat myself LOL) this is a topic of fierce debate, and probably best left alone here (at least for the time being 😉). Thanks for answering BTW, I was genuinely interested as I think it is an important factor with regards to how one might hold their opinion.
 
markysimmo said:
and Net Zero and Illegals and we're quids in !!
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Have you ever met an Illegal? Do you know what they look like?

My uncle was an Illegal. He was a WASP. He was a Desert Storm war hero. He could have been an EDL poster boy. He fell in love. He overstayed his tourist visit. He spent a decade working bloody hard in black market roles. Fixing you car. Doing your gardening. One day his heart seemed a bit funny. He wouldnt let anyone call an ambulance or take him to hospital, because he knew he'd be arrested. The next day he died of a heart attack.

That's what Illegals look like.
 
Nothing sums up the sh** show of British government than the letter from energy companies and campaigners today pointing out that the reason Heat Pump boilers are proving unpopular is their higher cost, due to.....wait for it....."Green levies".
 
monkeybarry said:
Historic highs?! Do you write for the mail?

Our taxes are higher than the US, but lower than EU 14 and G7avg.

Interestingly, most western type economies have had a steady increase in tax rates post WWII.
The UK has a seriously volatile rate.
The current rate are similar to all rates since WWII, except for the 90s. The lower tax periods all look like reactions to recession, but built on debt.

obr.uk

The UK’s tax burden in historical and international context - Office for Budget Responsibility

In our March 2023 Economic and fiscal outlook, we forecast that the UK's tax burden was set to rise to a post-war high. This box considered the UK's tax burden in international and historical context.
obr.uk obr.uk

We have to accept that the current societal set up is no longer possible. It's built on post war economics and then boomers era economy. As are the fiscal rules we create.

Look at many of those factors for "living standards" - they are financial. They don't focus on happiness, they focus on wealth being the measure of living standards, with housing being a core part of it - you can't use equity in Tesco.
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Never came back on this. You can't really compare the UK's overall tax burden with those other economies as the UK is the world's no. 1 processor of offshore transactions. We still clear the majority of euro-denominated transactions in the world, despite not being in the EU anymore, just for example. Many international free-trade zones are governed by English law and therefore you get these huge international transactions and deals being done that contribute to UK GDP in terms of activity, but aren't really occurring here and therefore aren't producing direct tax revenue. The article alludes to the similar factors contributing to Ireland's low "tax burden" ratio.

Direct and indirect taxation of British people and businesses is, however, rising and one factor is that wage growth has pushed many into the high income tax bracket, which hasn't been adjusted according to wage growth and inflation.

Saying that, I don't disagree with the last points as we are getting to a fundamental tipping point where a rethink of the whole system is required. There are two fundamentally opposed forces taking place, particularly at pace in advanced economies, which have the potential to push down hard on living standards and societal stability if we don't tackle them now:
1) rapid population growth. Two primary pressures in the west: a) people are living longer and while the birth rate is dropping, it's not dropping fast enough to outweigh the slow down in the death rate. Effective management or "cure" for cancer probably not that far away in the near to medium future which will impact significantly on this also b) immigration.
2) Reducing labour market due to increased automation and use of AI. In my own workplace, AI has replaced c. 5K jobs in the space of 3 years since I joined the company. Jobs that will be left will likely be highly technical squeezing out traditional trades of the working classes (servicing and maintenance of self-driving intelligent electric vehicles will likely be a degree-level job).
Further pressure in the mix is finite resources being utilised by an ever increasing population, raising prices globally and further squeezing those at the bottom.
 
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Waste water companies got permission from govt to uplift bills to pay for infrastructure upgrades to prevent sewerage discharges into sea and fresh water during over capacity events. Ironically Labour are finding privatisation v. useful as it allows investment in public infrastructure funded by the tax payers but without breaking their promise not to raise taxes on working people. Our water bill gone through the roof too. Total joke.
 
Silly McSilly Face said:
Waste water companies got permission from govt to uplift bills to pay for infrastructure upgrades to prevent sewerage discharges into sea and fresh water during over capacity events. Ironically Labour are finding privatisation v. useful as it allows investment in public infrastructure funded by the tax payers but without breaking their promise not to raise taxes on working people. Our water bill gone through the roof too. Total joke.
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Once again a twiddling bookkeeping exercise. It's ironic they harp on about adjusting this and that and it gives the working man x amount in their pocket. Then a (incompetent) water firm will just extract an extra £220pa from your pocket in a heartbeat.

It's about knowing what's important (and water is high on that list), governing for the overall benefit of the public, and avoiding, or not allowing, privately owned companies to sleepwalk into these situations in the first place. If that too politically difficult, don't lean on the public, take the situation under control yourself and realise, more than anything, the importance of it.

I truly think they'll be a pushback on this, yes, prices go up, but by this much and from companies that have been operating and delivering such a tinkle poor service...I think people might just stop paying. (Yes there's credit rating risk potential blah blah )
 
ricky2tricky4city said:
Once again a twiddling bookkeeping exercise. It's ironic they harp on about adjusting this and that and it gives the working man x amount in their pocket. Then a (incompetent) water firm will just extract an extra £220pa from your pocket in a heartbeat.

It's about knowing what's important (and water is high on that list), governing for the overall benefit of the public, and avoiding, or not allowing, privately owned companies to sleepwalk into these situations in the first place. If that too politically difficult, don't lean on the public, take the situation under control yourself and realise, more than anything, the importance of it.

I truly think they'll be a pushback on this, yes, prices go up, but by this much and from companies that have been operating and delivering such a tinkle poor service...I think people might just stop paying. (Yes there's credit rating risk potential blah blah )
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What would pay for supply in a year, ballpark?
 
It's just the basic ridiculousness of American pension companies and the Chinese government having ownership of the one thing the UK produces the best of in the world - our rain.
 
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