Politics

[Kevin Carr's Gloves 3894]

1 hour ago, Renton said:

 

If you restricted the proposed tax to that group, which is effectively applying an additional 1% on their total income tax, you would raise £187 million. In the grand scale of things, that is peanuts. You could multiply this 100 fold though if it were taxed on assets, but I can't see a practical or fair way of doing that.  

It would raise that much if they only had £1m the number of British billionaires has risen by 20% over the last 3 years however.

[Renton 21627]

1 minute ago, Kevin Carr's Gloves said:

It would raise that much if they only had £1m the number of British billionaires has risen by 20% over the last 3 years however.

 

Yeah, so would I. The original suggestion was for a flat one-off tax of £10,000 per person "with" a million pounds though. Although I'm actually all for taxing this from @Dr Gloom in any case. 

[Kevin Carr's Gloves 3894]

4 hours ago, Renton said:

 

Yeah, so would I. The original suggestion was for a flat one-off tax of £10,000 per person "with" a million pounds though. Although I'm actually all for taxing this from @Dr Gloom in any case. 

I thought it was a 1%

[Howmanheyman 33245]

BBC news this morning interviewing someone from the nightclub industry who are having big worries about a sharp downturn in expected business. Although he mentioned different factors he never mentioned train strikes despite the presenter twice prompting him. It was the exact opposite of previous interviews where somebody always mentions Brexit as a factor towards losses but the presenters were usually reticent to bring it up despite the interviewee bringing it up. Also saw a banner seeing how Jeremy Clarkson was 'horrified' by any hurt he's caused one of the royal bits. Poor Jeremy being hurt.

[Renton 21627]

I see Rees-Mogg's latest comment about the army should just do what they are told like good plebs has become so normalised that's it's barely been reported. How to win friends and influence people. What a cockwomble this bloke is. 

 

https://metro.co.uk/2022/12/20/jacob-rees-mogg-pushes-back-over-armed-forces-strike-concerns-17965569/

 

[ewerk 30620]

With any luck it will spark a coup. A military junta couldn’t be any worse than this lot.

[Alex 35095]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-64041140

[Alex 35095]

8 hours ago, Renton said:

I see Rees-Mogg's latest comment about the army should just do what they are told like good plebs has become so normalised that's it's barely been reported. How to win friends and influence people. What a cockwomble this bloke is. 

 

https://metro.co.uk/2022/12/20/jacob-rees-mogg-pushes-back-over-armed-forces-strike-concerns-17965569/

 

Vaguely related but the appalling soi-disant comedy To the Manor Born is currently being repeated on the BBC. A programme where the bloke vulgar enough to actually buy the stately home using his own money is depicted as being inferior to the stuck up woman who inherited it then had to sell it (but was still allowed to live on the estate). It should’ve been an outmoded way of thinking nigh on 40 years ago and we’re still a nation of forelock tugging morons 

Edited December 20, 2022 by Alex

[Meenzer 15531]

Of course it was Gullis. What a relentless ARSEHOLE that man is

 

 

[Gemmill 44900]

https://www.bigissue.com/opinion/joe-lycett-imagine-if-you-will-that-the-country-was-asked-to-vote-on-whether-or-not-to-take-a-massive-dump-on-itself/

 

[Gemmill 44900]

4 minutes ago, Meenzer said:

Of course it was Gullis. What a relentless ARSEHOLE that man is

 

 

 

He's such a fucking embarrassment this one. You can actually see him trying to style himself as some sort of mini Johnson when he's at the dispatch box. He's as much of a cunt, I'll give him that. 

[ewerk 30620]

11 minutes ago, Gemmill said:

 

He's such a fucking embarrassment this one. You can actually see him trying to style himself as some sort of mini Johnson when he's at the dispatch box. He's as much of a cunt, I'll give him that. 

You mean during the 50 days he managed as a junior minister? For which he was at the dispatch box once and got told off by the speaker for being a twat.

[Gemmill 44900]

That's the occasion I'm talking about, aye. CONGRATULATIONS ON NARROWING IT DOWN, INSPECTOR CUNT FACE! 

[ewerk 30620]

While you paint in broad strokes some of us are actually artists, dahling.

[RobinRobin 11281]

6 hours ago, Meenzer said:

Of course it was Gullis. What a relentless ARSEHOLE that man is

 

 

Burnt by the Archbishop of Canterbury. 

 

[ewerk 30620]

I’m not sure that these nurses in Scotland are doing themselves any favours rejecting an average 7.5% pay rise. I think most of the public would say that’s reasonable. The unions may have created unrealistic expectations with their stated demands for 19%

[Renton 21627]

3 hours ago, ewerk said:

I’m not sure that these nurses in Scotland are doing themselves any favours rejecting an average 7.5% pay rise. I think most of the public would say that’s reasonable. The unions may have created unrealistic expectations with their stated demands for 19%

 

Well it's less than half of 19% and way less than inflation, following more than a decade of consecutive real-term pay cuts year on year. Basically you're saying they should be happy with a 3% pay cut on top of the 20% cut they've already had since 2010? No. The minimum they  should get is to match inflation, and from then onwards there pay should be automatically linked to inflation as a minimum, as it is with benefits. Same for all public sector workers. 

Edited December 22, 2022 by Renton

[Renton 21627]

By the way, no fucking way is real iinflation at around 10% imo. My outgoings have probably gone up 30% in the last year or so. All the big ticket items - mortgage, energy, credit card bills, through the roof. Weekly food shop gone up massively despite the fact I no longer even buy any alcohol. I can perfectly see why some nurses are reduced to using food banks. 

Edited December 22, 2022 by Renton

[ewerk 30620]

8 minutes ago, Renton said:

 

Well it's less than half of 19% and way less than inflation, following more than a decade of consecutive real-term pay cuts year on year. Basically you're saying they should be happy with a 3% pay cut on top of the 20% cut they've already had since 2010? No. The minimum they  should get is to match inflation, and from then onwards there pay should be automatically linked to inflation as a minimum, as it is with benefits. Same for all public sector workers. 

I’m not saying anything. The biggest weapon those striking have right now is public support. 11% pay rises are very uncommon. Nearly everyone is getting a real terms pay cut and most people will see 7.5% as a decent offer. If they lose the support of the public then they’ve got little leverage. I take your point about previous real terms pay cuts but that is definitely not going to be resolved in the current financial climate.

[Renton 21627]

1 minute ago, ewerk said:

I’m not saying anything. The biggest weapon those striking have right now is public support. 11% pay rises are very uncommon. Nearly everyone is getting a real terms pay cut and most people will see 7.5% as a decent offer. If they lose the support of the public then they’ve got little leverage. I take your point about previous real terms pay cuts but that is definitely not going to be resolved in the current financial climate.

 

I think the tories have hopelessly misjudged this one and the public are right behind them. Of course the usual suspects will select the odd vox pop to say differently but the polls speak for themselves. As for leverage, they have huge leverage because the public is utterly dependent on the NHS, especially front line workers like nurses and paramedics. Most of us know we simply can't afford to move ot a US style insurance system for healthcare. Which will be the inevitable result of underpaying NHS staff hamorrhaging skilled personell through lack of retention. They have to make a stand now.  

 

I think they should get and settle for 10% for now but the important thing going forward has to be to index link pay to inflation to stop the shithousery of the tories once and for all. 

[Renton 21627]

Real food price inflation.

 

[PaddockLad 17281]

21 minutes ago, Renton said:

 

Most of us know we simply can't afford to move ot a US style insurance system for healthcare. Which will be the inevitable result of underpaying NHS staff hamorrhaging skilled personell through lack of retention. They have to make a stand now.  

 

This is the bottom line and I think the government have been planning it since 2010. It’s out of the Thatcher playbook. Striking is playing into their hands but it’s the same as the miners, it’s the last stand. They’re deliberately running nursing and emergency services into the ground to privatise them.  I think the only thing that’s might save the NHS in anything approaching it’s current form is a Labour government. 

[Renton 21627]

3 minutes ago, PaddockLad said:

 

This is the bottom line and I think the government have been planning it since 2010. It’s out of the Thatcher playbook. Striking is playing into their hands but it’s the same as the miners, it’s the last stand. They’re deliberately running nursing and emergency services into the ground to privatise them.  I think the only thing that’s might save the NHS in anything approaching it’s current form is a Labour government. 

 

The amount of money spunked up the wall in the NHS on agency workers, no doubt to the benefit of tory donors, all because the NHS can't retain staff, and who can blame them? Not me certainly. Two years ago I was employed by the NHS to ensure only cost-effective interventions are used in the service. Lack of opportunity and a decade of real-term pay cuts ensured I jumped ship and now I am basically paid by Big Pharma to extract as much money as I can from the NHS. And I'm fucking good at it, knowing how the system works.

 

Someone, can't remember who and I'm paraphrasing, recently said the UK is a poor version of the USA with an NHS. Shortly it will be a poor version of the USA without an NHS. Honestly, it makes me so fucking mad but I've practically given up at this point, from now on all I can do is think of my family first and insulate myself from what's coming. 

[Renton 21627]

National nebt now approachig 2.5 TRILLION quid. I'm confused, didn't the Best Prime Minister of our lifetimes say it would be gone by around 2015 ish?

 

 

[Craig 6682]

Alex was spot on the other day when he said we all need to stop tormenting ourselves by reading the depressing political shit on Twitter. I've steered clear of it since and definitely feel better for it.