You've never had it so good

[gingerjon]

Slowing recovery, borrowing going up, tax receipts under target, household debt nudging £40bn ...

 

Now is a really good time to be distracted with a debate about the EU, eh?

[Wolford6]

So UK residents owe £40 billion and, according to the House of Commons Briefing Paper Number 06091 we are paying a nett national contribution to the EU of £10 bilion.

 

When we pull out, we can work towards paying off the £40 billion in, say, 10 years. And have the bonus of kicking out those EU migrant spongers who have never had a job.

[gingerjon]

So UK residents owe £40 billion and, according to the House of Commons Briefing Paper Number 06091 we are paying a nett national contribution to the EU of £10 bilion.

 

When we pull out, we can work towards paying off the £40 billion in, say, 10 years. And have the bonus of kicking out those EU migrant spongers who have never had a job.

 

That's personal debt, apparently.  The government isn't going to pay it off for you.

[Griff9of13]

So UK residents owe £40 billion and, according to the House of Commons Briefing Paper Number 06091 we are paying a nett national contribution to the EU of £10 bilion.

When we pull out, we can work towards paying off the £40 billion in, say, 10 years. And have the bonus of kicking out those EU migrant spongers who have never had a job.

The 'KIPers need to make their mind up; I thought the EU migrants were nicking jobs from the British workers. They're a clever lot if they can be both hard working and "spongers who have never had a job".

[Wolford6]

The 'KIPers need to make their mind up; I thought the EU migrants were nicking jobs from the British workers. They're a clever lot if they can be both hard working and "spongers who have never had a job".

 

The numerous Eastern European beggars in Bradford City Centre probably class that as a job.

[Griff9of13]

Slowing recovery, borrowing going up, tax receipts under target, household debt nudging £40bn ...

 

Now is a really good time to be distracted with a debate about the EU, eh?

 

No need to worry, Gideon has it covered: George Osborne set to raise retirement age to 70 in 'work until you drop' bombshell

[Shadow45]

Why can't we just print more money, like they did for the banks and pay off all our debts? ;-)

[Phil]

No need to worry, Gideon has it covered: George Osborne set to raise retirement age to 70 in 'work until you drop' bombshell

Surely one of the measures of a civilised society should be a reduction of the retirement age?

[ckn]

I'm just waiting for the next focus group driven genius concept of tying retirement age to average life expectancy.  That way, the working class oiks who tend to die at younger ages than wealthy people can just clock off on their expected death date, if they make it that far, and go home to sit and wait for the hearse rather than take up their expensive pensions.  After all, why should the state give them money when they've decided to no longer work for a living!

[gingerjon]

Surely one of the measures of a civilised society should be a reduction of the retirement age?

 

100% agree with you.

[Griff9of13]

I'm just waiting for the next focus group driven genius concept of tying retirement age to average life expectancy. That way, the working class oiks who tend to die at younger ages than wealthy people can just clock off on their expected death date, if they make it that far, and go home to sit and wait for the hearse rather than take up their expensive pensions. After all, why should the state give them money when they've decided to no longer work for a living!

That's exactly how it was when the Old-Age Pensions Act 1908 was introduced. And that's exactly where we're going back to.

[JohnM]

You all need to take more water with your Christmas drink, either that or you are victim of some highy infectious mass hysteria.

[ckn]

You all need to take more water with your Christmas drink, either that or you are victim of some highy infectious mass hysteria.

If you're in a decent job, have a mortgage, or even better have it paid off, have few debts then this is a great time to be in Britain.  All it would take is a few % mortgage rate rise for a lot of people who have overspent in the last few years, or even those who haven't but are on the last bit of their reserves, to go bankrupt.  All it would take is an illness that's no longer really covered by the NHS for you to end up in a seriously bad way very quickly.  The coalition government in 2010 and the Tories in 2015 had all these wonderful ideas of how they'd "fix" the economy but all they've done is shuffle the deckchairs a bit and hope no-one notices.  Superficially good, substantially just fluff.

 

See, now, I know about some of that.  I know for about 99.9999% surety that my wife would probably be dead right now if I didn't have the private means that came from a few lucky breaks in my working life, and all because the NHS had been cut so badly there was no help to be had for her.  I still have to pay over £1000 per month in healthcare costs out of my own pocket for her care, all because the NHS can't do basic stuff on mental health.  My wife has spent over 1/5th of this year in private hospitals at a ridiculous rate and all because the NHS has been cut so badly that you have to be a danger to others to get their attention.  I know I'm extraordinarily fortunate to be in the tiny fraction of a percentage of society who could afford to do that but my bank balance is running scarily low now.

 

I've seen the NHS stats on the inside, that I shared on the NHS thread, about the Victorian era diseases making a comeback because of cuts to those services.

 

I've seen the stats from the inside about people admitted to hospital for malnutrition in greater numbers than since the 1930s.  I've seen the official insider stats on referrals to food banks because people have been sanctioned for stupid reasons.  I've seen people evicted from their homes and the council declaring them "intentionally homeless" because they had their housing benefit stopped for some obscure reason.  I've seen homeless shelters having to turn more people away than ever because the police have "confiscated" sleeping bags and food from homeless people to try to drive them out of gentrified areas.

 

I've seen today's news of the top 7 investment banks declaring £3.5bn in profits in the UK yet paying £20m in tax, that's not even 1% yet HMRC have hired 1000 additional inspectors to target avoidance tactics by small businesses and self-employed people.

 

 

Oh, and large company taxes are coming down again for the 6th year in a row.  After all, we've no other problems that we need to fix with the money, do we?

[Griff9of13]

If you're in a decent job, have a mortgage, or even better have it paid off, have few debts then this is a great time to be in Britain. All it would take is a few % mortgage rate rise for a lot of people who have overspent in the last few years, or even those who haven't but are on the last bit of their reserves, to go bankrupt. All it would take is an illness that's no longer really covered by the NHS for you to end up in a seriously bad way very quickly. The coalition government in 2010 and the Tories in 2015 had all these wonderful ideas of how they'd "fix" the economy but all they've done is shuffle the deckchairs a bit and hope no-one notices. Superficially good, substantially just fluff.

See, now, I know about some of that. I know for about 99.9999% surety that my wife would probably be dead right now if I didn't have the private means that came from a few lucky breaks in my working life, and all because the NHS had been cut so badly there was no help to be had for her. I still have to pay over £1000 per month in healthcare costs out of my own pocket for her care, all because the NHS can't do basic stuff on mental health. My wife has spent over 1/5th of this year in private hospitals at a ridiculous rate and all because the NHS has been cut so badly that you have to be a danger to others to get their attention. I know I'm extraordinarily fortunate to be in the tiny fraction of a percentage of society who could afford to do that but my bank balance is running scarily low now.

I've seen the NHS stats on the inside, that I shared on the NHS thread, about the Victorian era diseases making a comeback because of cuts to those services.

I've seen the stats from the inside about people admitted to hospital for malnutrition in greater numbers than since the 1930s. I've seen the official insider stats on referrals to food banks because people have been sanctioned for stupid reasons. I've seen people evicted from their homes and the council declaring them "intentionally homeless" because they had their housing benefit stopped for some obscure reason. I've seen homeless shelters having to turn more people away than ever because the police have "confiscated" sleeping bags and food from homeless people to try to drive them out of gentrified areas.

I've seen today's news of the top 7 investment banks declaring £3.5bn in profits in the UK yet paying £20m in tax, that's not even 1% yet HMRC have hired 1000 additional inspectors to target avoidance tactics by small businesses and self-employed people.

Oh, and large company taxes are coming down again for the 6th year in a row. After all, we've no other problems that we need to fix with the money, do we?

*Applause*

Absolutely nailed it.

[RabbitRhinoovOZ]

No need to worry, Gideon has it covered: George Osborne set to raise retirement age to 70 in 'work until you drop' bombshell

Same thing is happening hear in Australia as well, I have worked since 16yo in the Brick Laying, Mining &

Electricity industries and like many others will have no chance of being able to lay bricks etc when I'm in

my late 60's-70, I've payed a mountain of tax to my country & never once been unemployed on welfare so it is it really so much to ask that honest working people get to enjoy an

retirement rather than work till we die?

None of this surprises me one bit we do after all have right wing governments in both

countries .

[Ramite]

*Applause*

Absolutely nailed it.

I would agree with all that, bar the bit about banks only paying £20m in tax. I believe that was corporation tax. I would think they would pay a 9 figure sum in total tax paid.

[Griff9of13]

No need to worry, Gideon has it covered: George Osborne set to raise retirement age to 70 in 'work until you drop' bombshell

And here's another money spinner: Rent costs to soar for half a million disabled and elderly as Tories wield axe on housing benefit

[getdownmonkeyman]

I would agree with all that, bar the bit about banks only paying £20m in tax. I believe that was corporation tax. I would think they would pay a 9 figure sum in total tax paid.

£20 million on £3.6 billion is nowhere near the 20% corporation tax rate, regardless of other taxes.

[Ramite]

They offset previous years losses against this. All in the rules since I think the sixties. No government of any colour has changed this.

[ckn]

They offset previous years losses against this. All in the rules since I think the sixties. No government of any colour has changed this.

Only about 1/3 of it was offset against losses going back to FY2007/8, much of it has come from overseas tax breaks elsewhere and so on.  The breaks big companies get by having one man in an office somewhere with really ropey tax laws can then be offset here.

[Derwent]

Only about 1/3 of it was offset against losses going back to FY2007/8, much of it has come from overseas tax breaks elsewhere and so on. The breaks big companies get by having one man in an office somewhere with really ropey tax laws can then be offset here.

If HSBC go ahead with the proposal to relocate their HQ from London to another country, and other banks inevitably follow, what will you all moan about then ? Them not paying much corporation tax will be the least of our problems, but at least we'll be shot of them nasty bankers hey ?

[ckn]

If HSBC go ahead with the proposal to relocate their HQ from London to another country, and other banks inevitably follow, what will you all moan about then ? Them not paying much corporation tax will be the least of our problems, but at least we'll be shot of them nasty bankers hey ?

Good luck with that given that we're the lowest overall big business tax liability country in the G20. By quite a distance as well.

They still have to do their transactions here and all their support is here. The banks know that they'd be giving up a pretty lucrative country if they went elsewhere. Call their bluff then implement protective measures to assist those who stay.

[Derwent]

Good luck with that given that we're the lowest overall big business tax liability country in the G20. By quite a distance as well.

They still have to do their transactions here and all their support is here. The banks know that they'd be giving up a pretty lucrative country if they went elsewhere. Call their bluff then implement protective measures to assist those who stay.

The point you are missing is that the banks are already "taxed" via the bank levy to the tune of around £2.5 billion per year. Moving elsewhere might increase their bottom line tax burden slightly but they will still be better off. This country, meanwhile, will have a huge financial hole to fill.