Unbiased Guradian reporting here..

I can honestly say I am jealous of those of you in scotlandshire, free prescriptions, no tuition fees and now your legislature are kicking tesco’s arse. This make’s me proud to be near you, even if it is about 650 miles..

though tesco’s in scotland do sell Empire biscuits…

shame they do not stock in england

The customers will end up paying any tax anyway, so why not just collect it in a bucket at the door?

Shit rolls downhill etc.

uplink – Member
The customers will end up paying any tax anyway, so why not just collect it in a bucket at the door?

Shit rolls downhill etc.

They could always not shop there.

The Scottish Retail Consortium said the new tax on large shops…was “a blatant fundraising exercise which is illogical and discriminatory”.

Well, illogical is a matter for debate, but it’s obviously discriminatory (in that its application discriminates between different people), blatant (they announced it in parliament) and fundraising (it’s a tax). Thanks for that quote, Captain Obvious!

Very easy for a lot of us to pontificate about buying in supermarkets
The brutal truth is an awful lot of people are living on very tight incomes with very little time and the supermarkets are the only viable means to get their provisions

The SNP were attacked by the Unionist parties( in Scotland) for wanting to introduce a minimum price on alcohol, claiming it would simply line the pockets of the larger supermarkets (Labour in England were happy to consider it for UK-wide roll-out.

Tesco grumbling about tax?
Well, well, well.

…no tuition fees…

scottish students still need to borrow money from the student loans company, to cover things like rent, food, bills, cheap vodka, and so on.

after 3ish years, they’ll owe about £15k (or more) to the student loans company, which is more than most will ever be able to pay off.
(the interest will be higher than the repayments)

in other words, more or less every scottish graduate will end up paying exactly the same as every english/welsh graduate, about £40/month for 30 years.

(paying back about £15k in total. Even if you can afford to pay the rent/bills/food/vodka without any student loans, you’d be mad not to take them, And put your money into an ISA or something)

Nothing the SNP ever do will satisfy the uninionist parties – see Druidhs comments on minimum alcohol pricing. This has been repeated many times – especially laughable from labour who will oppose an SNP policy even if its the same as london labour policy

My understanding is this will not have a significant effect on poorer families as its aimed at the large out of town type supermarkets – the huge sainsburies or waitrose that you have to drive to not the local lidl or aldi or co op or farmfoods that are situated in the poorer areas.

There’s generally bus services to the big out-of-town places though…

My understanding is this will not have a significant effect on poorer families as its aimed at the large out of town type supermarkets – the huge sainsburies or waitrose that you have to drive to not the local lidl or aldi or co op or farmfoods that are situated in the poorer areas.

I’d love to believe that, but I don’t
I have no axe to grind on this being a resident and citizen of the premier country of the union 😉

Anyway, the likes of Aldi, Lidl and Farmfoods don’t just compete with each other they also price according to the big boys, if the majors up their prices it’ll then allow the Aldis of this world to do the same

Taxes paid by businesses will only come from one place.

aye they wont pay it out of their profts now will they …we are all in this together my arse

The Scottish Government really are **** useless. What do they think will happen in 5yrs time? Someone else picking up the mess?

Same as the idiot policy of the ‘oil company windfall tax’ down here.

Who do you think will end up paying in higher prices? The taxpayers. ITs just a backdoor tax on consumers trying to call their own voters thick.

A mini-Greece in the making?

in other words, more or less every scottish graduate will end up paying exactly the same as every english/welsh graduate, about £40/month for 30 years.

Why so low? I have to pay 9% of everything over 15k as student loan tax (it is a tax…). Few hundred for most grads surely after a few years?

Oi! Don’t accuse Scotland of being like Greece! Its part of the Arc of Prosperity with Ireland and Iceland!!

Oh…… erm….

It looks like a long line of vote-grabbing policies that worked and ended up with them winning by a landslide.

The issue is the headline grabbers are going to end up costing their economy alot more in other areas that are/were considered the ‘basics’ of a society IMO.

Well with all that tax raised I’m sure they’ll find something to spend it wisely on; just look at their excellent track record with a Parliment and Trams………….

On the news last night they said there are plans to spend £3billion on new roads.

One measure is to raise £110m by a new levy through a business rates supplement over the next 3yrs.

**** hell. Chicken feed compared to the spend they have planned.

Where are they getting £3billion from?!!

Where are they getting £3billion from?!!

Sales of fwuffy toy highland coooooooos

Or oil. One of the two. I forget

Someone round my way is at war with Tesco – last year this
ARSON

It’s just opened back up and now the Tesco about a mile away has been done Arson2.

Ewan – Member
Why so low? I have to pay 9% of everything over 15k as student loan tax (it is a tax…). Few hundred for most grads surely after a few years?

it’s the new fees/repayment system that everyone complained about last year.

the fees are higher (so more debt), but the repayments are lower (so most people will actually pay back less*)

now it’s 10ish % of everything over £21k.

average salary is about £26k, so the average repayments will be about £500/year.

you only need to owe about £17k for your repayments and interest to cancel each other out*.

(*based on an interest rate of 3%)

it’s not a perfect system, but it’s really not that bad. it’s arguably better than the old one, because most people will end up paying less. But it’s got bog-all to do with ‘the deficit’…

Do I recall that Scotland did have the ability to vary it’s income tax rates to some degree but then lost the ability because they didn’t pay the bill for the required software update?

———– likely to get flamed if I recalled incorrectly I guess 🙂 ——-

Income tax is a far better tool for raising revenue than taxing the food retailers who’ll then pass it on to the customers

Who do you think will end up paying in higher prices? The taxpayers. ITs just a backdoor tax on consumers trying to call their own voters thick.

Income tax is a far better tool for raising revenue than taxing the food retailers who’ll then pass it on to the customers

The food retailers who day pay the tax will still be subject to the competitive pressure of the food retailers who don’t. The additional expense can also come out of the shop’s profit rather than higher prices.

Ideally, of course, you’d e.g. raise tax on booze to reduce alcohol abuse and pay for alcohol public health programmes.

(I assume Hora means “supermarket shoppers” rather than “taxpayers” seeing as there’s a difference).

The additional expense can also come out of the shop’s profit rather than higher prices.

Oh I’m 100% sure it could, it won’t though

The food retailers who day pay the tax will still be subject to the competitive pressure of the food retailers who don’t

all the majors will be subject to it and they’re the only ones that interest each other, at least this side of Utopia that is

Same as the idiot policy of the ‘oil company windfall tax’ down here.

Who do you think will end up paying in higher prices? The taxpayers. ITs just a backdoor tax on consumers trying to call their own voters thick.

Whilst I don’t agree with the windfall tax on north sea oil, it’s a cost that will not and indeed cannot be passed on the customer. This tax is what the oil production companies pay to the government from production in the UK sector of the north sea only; it is not applied to money earned in other parts of the business. As the prices of oil is set in the global market the price of north sea oil cannot be increased to compensate as no downstream customers would buy it.

The idea of picking a degree is to earn above the national average though, surely the average includes many people earning below the average and with no degree.

I speak from the experience of having just 2 re-payments left to make approx 10 years after graduating … roll on not owing them anything more!

The company(s) will still offset the tax in some form.

all the majors will be subject to it and they’re the only ones that interest each other, at least this side of Utopia that is

Well if they all raise their costs then maybe the smaller retailers will get a look in, which is a good thing. Food is too cheap.

Food is too cheap.

That all depends on what you eat. Have you seen the price of swans livers?

Food is too cheap.

I missed that. Is it really? How much do you earn? Try earning 12k a year with a family and saying that at the checkout.

Well if they all raise their costs then maybe the smaller retailers will get a look in,

They won’t the gap is too large, the supermarkets control the production and distribution of a lot of it
Middle class shit like getting veg boxes delivered and using artisan bakers is just not viable and never will be again for most people
There’s plenty of scope for raising more money through taxation without targeting the less well off families

Middle class shit like getting veg boxes delivered and using artisan bakers is just not viable and never will be again for most people

I’m not talking about that, I’m talking about high streets in towns/suburbs with butchers bakers and veg shops.

The supermarket/time thing is a myth. People just cannot be arsed to make shopping a part of life rather than see it as a chore. If you don’t buy and interact locally then community breaks down.

The supermarket/time thing is a myth.

oh right, interesting

what sort of hours do these butchers and bakers generally keep then?

butcher near me is open from 6am til 5:30 pm. Also sells veg and bread. Meat is all local and cheaper than supermarket “finest” rubbish, but not as cheap as supermarket “value” rubbish. Lots of local shops are raising their game in terms of hours. I don’t see why you have to be so combative. I am really disappointed at the loss of community and supermarkets have a lot to answer for.

all the majors will be subject to it and they’re the only ones that interest each other

the likes of Aldi, Lidl and Farmfoods don’t just compete with each other they also price according to the big boys, if the majors up their prices it’ll then allow the Aldis of this world to do the same

It’s a weird model of the market you have in which competitive pressures work in one direction only…

There’s plenty of scope for raising more money through taxation without targeting the less well off families

…and you could hardly say that raising taxes on major supermarkets targets the poor. At most, “is likely to affect poor consumers disproportionately more than rich ones”.

That supermarkets are cheaper is indeed a myth.

Where I recently lived there were 3 grocers within walking distance. All open til abou 9pm. All in competition. Fresh fruit an veg was about 50% of the supermarket price and far far better quality. Also seasonal stuff was all locally sourced.

As for meat and fish – they were again cheaper from local shops, and quality/freshness-wise there was absolutely no comparison

I expect I lived in one of six places in the UK where there is geniune competition to the supermarkets

Where?

I don’t see why you have to be so combative. I am really disappointed at the loss of community and supermarkets have a lot to answer for.

I don’t feel I’m being combative, I just feel you’re hankering after the impossible given how most families have to live now
Luckily I can now choose a bit more but most families I know can’t
I think supermarkets are great, I love the choice and the prices of course

I just feel you’re hankering after the impossible given how most families have to live now

If you aim high and miss, you’ll much further up than if you aimed low.