Forum menu
With my worst Tory hat on : high taxes discourages high value individuals from locating there, which then requires higher tax rates on everyone else.
Remember when all the bankers were apparently going to leave London if tax was imposed on their bonuses?
Yep - look at Switzerland, Hong Kong, Australia - No HNW individuals there to speak of really.....
Sorry but that argument is an absolute fallacy - unfortunately,
I am so glad I can now visit the UK on a cheaper business class flight, to fully enjoy my non-dom status, and bask in the improved area around my hotel in Canary Wharf while I meet my banker.
Remember when all the bankers were apparently going to leave London if tax was imposed on their bonuses?
They kind of did, a friend worked in some sort of executive support function at one of the big investment banks. They didn't wholesale lay people off or move them. But they did stop recruitment in the UK and ramp it up in Germany and France. Brexit was a big factor too though.
It's just the kind of thing you do quietly though, some political donations here and there to try and influence rather than taking out a 2 page advert in the Guardian rubbing their noses in it as you swan of the Cayman Islands.
Economics is one of those "sciences" where the best you can conclude seems to be a bit of this model, a bit of that, and a sprinkling of some other. The current Tories policies / models they believe in / philosophies clearly aren't "right", but they're probably not wholly wrong either (NI cuts will boost growth, just not growth in the NHS or fixing potholes).
Not to mention taking a trip out to that impoverished northern town of Cambridge. If ever a city needed levelling up it was that wasteland with nothing but the most famous university in the world and an absolutely massive tech gold rush sector going for it.....
Brexit was a big factor too though.
Brexit was THE factor in that shift, not the bonuses. Look at the state of the FTSE 100 since 2016.
The global market has little faith in the UK political stability at the moment and have been slowly pulling out.
Regarding quality of life Vs higher taxes, the third element of that has been missed which is distribution of wealth.
The countries all listed all have a more equal distribution amongst the population.
I CBA to pull it up, but the FT did an eye opening comparison across Europe and 'murica, and the UK came out as a poor country with a few very rich people in it. The example they used was Slovenia, the vast majority of us are poorer than them in real terms and far behind the scandi country's, Germany, France, Netherlands etc. who we compare ourselves to.
The budget yesterday did nothing to move the needle on that
The tory on today's Politics Live has just repeated the same nonsense statement laura trott made yesterday...we borrowed £400 billion and that must be paid back.
As yesterday, that statement went completely unchallenged; why did no-one ask...who did we borrow it from? The UK can create and cancel money. There wasn't any borrowing.
With all this talk of cuts and how shit our services are, not to mention wage inequality just be thankful we don't have a corbyn government - we really dodged a bullet there so lets be thankfull for our benevolent tory ****s.
I still wonder longingly what chaos with Ed Milliband would have looked like
Oh, yes the capital flight from those rich bankers with their bonuses safely tucked away in an offshore tax haven living in a house owned by a foreign-domiciled shell company that pay no tax here.
I still wonder longingly what chaos with Ed Milliband would have looked like
Listen, right now I'm thinking wistfully about Strong and Stable with Theresa.
I still wonder longingly what chaos with Ed Milliband would have looked like
That would have been a dull short-lived docu-soap on Channel4
Not to mention taking a trip out to that impoverished northern town of Cambridge. If ever a city needed levelling up it was that wasteland with nothing but the most famous university in the world and an absolutely massive tech gold rush sector going for it…..
This isn't as good as it sounds. One of the highest property price Vs wages outside of London, terrible traffic, massive unaffordable house building and rental market, severe lack of social housing, poor state schools, some serious inequality, digging up greenbelt to free up brownfield sites, and no MTB riding nearby. I would prefer the gold rush to be a bit better distributed across the country.
Quick rundown on the Budget...
This isn’t as good as it sounds. One of the highest property price Vs wages outside of London, terrible traffic, massive unaffordable house building and rental market, severe lack of social housing, poor state schools, some serious inequality, digging up greenbelt to free up brownfield sites, and no MTB riding nearby. I would prefer the gold rush to be a bit better distributed across the country.
From almost any perspective then the solution is surely to reduce the incentives to locate there and increase them elsewhere. If you solve the traffic with more roads, you get more people, so house prices go up. If you build more houses, you make more traffic, and the schools struggle with even more oversubscription. etc, etc.
What you've described is what "leveled up" looks like, except the schools, that's just the Tories fault.
Listen, right now I’m thinking wistfully about Strong and Stable with Theresa.
Remember the ideologically poor but competent Cameron + Osbourne years?
Back on the topic of Rishi.
I did enjoy the exchange after the budget where Starmer asked him which bit of his economic legacy he was most proud of.
And Rishi replied with Furlough, the thing that briefly made us more socialist than we've ever been.
And meager credit where it's due, fiscal drag on the £50k/40% tax rate whilst aiming to abolish employee NI is a very progressive policy. Sure if you're earning >£50k that £450 saved in NI disappears pretty quickly, but you've got broader shoulders to deal with it than someone on an average wage who will get that £450.
But they did stop recruitment in the UK and ramp it up in Germany and France
And of course both Germany & France are known for their low taxation regimes...
I CBA to pull it up, but the FT did an eye opening comparison across Europe and ‘murica, and the UK came out as a poor country with a few very rich people in it.
As I've said before, "America, a rich country full of poor people".
Nice to se the governments continued commitment to ‘Levelling Up’ with the announcement of a massive investment in the disadvantaged northern town of…
*checks notes*
…Canary Wharf
Canary Wharf, or the Borough of Tower Hamlets which covers it?
Sure if you’re earning >£50k that £450 saved in NI disappears pretty quickly
People earning around about £50k are the biggest beneficiaries of the NI cut. Where as the lowest paid get bugger all help at all.
[ Some Guardian reading for the bored ]
So apparently the brain dead ex uk science minister recieved advice on her tweet that has led to us paying her legal bills
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2024/mar/07/uk-science-secretary-michelle-donelan-government-advice-tweet
Let's hope the info behind that will be dragged out for all to see
Canary Wharf, or the Borough of Tower Hamlets which covers it?
Hunt specifically said Canary Wharf. No mention of Tower Hamlets.
People earning around about £50k are the biggest beneficiaries of the NI cut. Where as the lowest paid get bugger all help at all.
I agree, but you could level the opposite but equally flawed criticism at a cut in income tax. If you took 1% off the 20% rate then that would net someone on £100k about £900, and someone on minimum wage only about £100. At least cutting NI effectively cuts tax for the most people, and doesn't offer additional benefit to those on significantly higher than average incomes.
NI is a weird tax, and as fiscal drag moves thresholds down it looks more and more regressive.
Just get rid of it and replace it with 10/20/30/40/50 thresholds which is effectively what we have anyway (just disguised).
Hunt specifically said Canary Wharf. No mention of Tower Hamlets.
Interesting then. Helping their property owning donor friends after all.
thisisnotaspoon
Free MemberBack on the topic of Rishi.
I did enjoy the exchange after the budget where Starmer asked him which bit of his economic legacy he was most proud of.
And Rishi replied with Furlough, the thing that briefly made us more socialist than we’ve ever been.
And which was pretty much entirely just copied homework to boot.
I agree, but you could level the opposite but equally flawed criticism at a cut in income tax.
Increasing the threshold to say £25K but then adding a new 45% level at say £70K would mean the lower paid are not paying any tax while those over £70k are still paying the same or a bit more.
And Rishi replied with Furlough, the thing that briefly made us more socialist than we’ve ever been
Yep - you gotta laugh at capitalists not recognising that the state provisions their economy, and not just in a pandemic.
morning!
https://twitter.com/ChrisO_wiki/status/1765970570762420227?t=0eiYZvHAaUhVcpfZN2Px8g&s=19
im starting to think a December GE is more likely than ever
yougov for the times (from the fail)
Whenever the election actually is it looks like theres going to be some serious competition for 'The Portillo Moment'. Something to look forward to. Rishi himself would be priceless. Has a sitting PM ever lost their seat before?
I see Theresa May is the latest one to head for the liferafts as the ship goes down
Remember the ideologically poor but competent Cameron + Osbourne years?
Nope, sorry.
Me neither, both complete ****ers although Dave probably hid it a bit better than the current lot (hold on, he is the current lot now isn't he)
I dunno, we had 4 years of Tory dominated coalition before Brexit, everything was going to shit, but at least it was a consistent shit, not a new shit each week, dead pigs excepted.
Increasing the threshold to say £25K but then adding a new 45% level at say £70K would mean the lower paid are not paying any tax while those over £70k are still paying the same or a bit more.
Steps on a road, we're arguing for the same or similar things but it's not going to happen overnight.
The other side of the equation is how do you solve the productivity problem, we need to somehow move towards a point where labour becomes more scarce and expensive in order to push up wages and encourage investment in things that improve GDP/capita (i.e. wages) rather than just GDP alongside a growing workforce.
the cameron austerity years laid the foundations for our current mess
cutting services saw, stalled investment & growth, housing bubble was kept propped up- widening inequality, people saw deterioration in living standards , all made fertile ground for scapegoating immigrants , blaming the EU & the rise of populism.
It seemed like the most desperate political act I'd ever seen when Rishi bought Dave back. A proper 'WTF?!!' moment
But that was a couple of months ago now and Rishi has upped the ante considerably since then
that yougov one ....
But that was a couple of months ago now and Rishi has upped the ante considerably since then
He does it on an almost daily basis.
The worst of them all.
I wonder when they release the full video of that magazine interview?
It will be so bad I'll have to watch.
yougov
HTF have ReformUK got 13% of votes?
Surely that poll is optimistic. No way the tories would be down to that few seats.
Would be amazing to see but i can't believe it
I wonder when they release the full video of that magazine interview?
They were discussing it on the radio the other day and the word used by people who'd seen the whole thing was 'excrutiating'
HTF have ReformUK got 13% of votes?
Easy. There's a chunk of people who are socially right wing but have lost faith in the current govt to do anything, so they've switched their vote.