Just seen the National Insurance announcement - really good to see that cut, a total 180 on Sunak's disgraceful increase of it. Well done Hunt!
Shame though to see tax thresholds are still frozen.
Long term though, cutting National Insurance absolutely should be the priority, ideally it should be abolished/merged into Income Tax, so that earned and unearned incomes are treated exactly the same.
PS is it just Employees NI that has been cut? What about Employers NIC?
Nothing tonight on here about Stockton being, allegedly, a s***hole?
Having done some work for a firm there a few years ago, when I went that description seemed entirely accurate.
Specifically, Stockton NORTH is, allegedly, a shithole. Stockton South is quite nice.
Stockton is one of a troika of unfashionable east coast towns in which I have bought really good trousers, along with Hartlepool and Boston. Black pin striped jeans, in this case. *brief lament for the long-gone 21-year-old Cookie who could carry off pin striped jeans.
is Stockton on the coast?
It is. Stockton and Darlington Railway was built to communicate with shipping. Though replaced as a port by Middlesborough some decades on.
Stockton is much nicer than Middlesbrough though. Widest high street in the country, apparently. Middlesbrough has the slightly depressing air of any town which sprang to existence out of nothing in the Victorian era. (c.f. Crewe). Stockton feels more like the old market town it is, even if it is largely a product of the industrial revolution and not desperately well off. But the reason Stockton North is so poor is that it is largely Billingham. And you'd be working very hard at looking on the bright side to say that Billingham isn't a shithole.
Used to go to play hockey against Billingham once a year, before Synthonia closed down. Really nice place.
Ironic that the Tories almost won Stockton North at the last election.
And would have done had it not been for the Brexit Party splitting the right's vote.
Assuming Brexit party voters would otherwise have voted Tory. Which is always a slightly dubious assumption - though the margin here was so small you may well be right.
This is I think the last election of 2023 (Stodge may know better! ) but certainly the last for me.
Voting closes at 8pm UK time, and as I'm sure many of you know, the Dutch voting system is the polar opposite of the UK's, with pure PR - there are 150 seats (zetels) in the Tweede Kamer, so 0.67% of the vote wins a seat, and 76 seats needed for a majority, but a government will also need a majority in the Senate to pass legislation.
17 parties won seats at the 2021 election, with four parties needed to form the government (VVD, CDA, D66, CU). The VVD's Mark Rutte, PM since 2010, is stepping down so this election will see a new prime minister emerge.
Despite the pure PR system and large number of parties, the Dutch actually have had fewer PM's than the UK, even pre-2010, with Den Uyl, Van Agt, Lubbers, Kok, and Balkenende from 1973 to 2010, compared to Heath, Wilson, Callaghan, Thatcher, Major, Blair, and Brown, and obviously only one since 2010 v our five.
As with Israel, there is often a lot of churn in the party constellations between elections, and 2023 is no different, with the Greens and Labour having merged (GL-PvdA led by Frans Timmermans), and the new party on the block being the NSC led by Pieter Omtzigt, essentially a breakaway from the Christian Democrats. The other major parties in the frame are Rutte's VVD, now led by Dilan Yeşilgöz (the first Dutch female PM?) and the rightwing PVV led by Geert Wilders. Up to 16 other parties might win seats, but none of these have been into 10+ seats consistently in recent polls.
Opinion polls often see large swings in the Netherlands - the new BBB surged during and after March's provincial elections, but is now very much an also ran, the new NSC was making the running only two weeks ago but has fallen back, while the PVV has led in the last two polls.
So it really is anyone's guess who the new PM will be - Wilders is a possibility but might struggle for coalition partners, it could also be Timmermans or Yeşilgöz. Either way it will be a long government formation, probably well into the new year and quite possibly not even this side of Easter.
Votes will be counted by hand at polling stations, but the large number of parties and candidates mean that the ballot papers are the size of a small shower towel and so counting won't be especially quick. It might be 60-90 minutes for the first result, probably one of Rozendaal (likely VVD), Renswoude (maybe NSC), or the Frisian island of Schiermonnikoog (probably either VVD or GL-PvDA).
Lee Harvey Oswald, The lone nut and nobody who wanted to make a name for himself. The only problem with this theory is that when asked if he shot the president LHO replied " I didn't shoot anybody, I'm a patsy".
I appreciate that British cargo-cult Ameriphilia leads it to spend far too much time on the death of JFK (whilst neglecting the death of CS Lewis). But I must also point out that the 60th anniversary of Doctor Who is tomorrow. To celebrate this wonder of British TV the BBC are hosting the following.
- and several more over the coming months and years
It is a crux point for the programme: its new funding via Disney+ and return of its most popular showrunner (Russell T Davies) and star (David Tennant) point to great possibilities, although Disney+ has this habit of killing its purchases (see Star Wars), RTD 2022 is not RTD 2005, Tennant is only back for three episodes, and Tennant's successor Ncuti Gatwa has untested appeal on the global stage.
But however it turns out I am looking forward to the next few days, and I hope you will join me in that.
Lee Harvey Oswald, The lone nut and nobody who wanted to make a name for himself. The only problem with this theory is that when asked if he shot the president LHO replied " I didn't shoot anybody, I'm a patsy".
This is I think the last election of 2023 (Stodge may know better! ) but certainly the last for me.
Voting closes at 8pm UK time, and as I'm sure many of you know, the Dutch voting system is the polar opposite of the UK's, with pure PR - there are 150 seats (zetels) in the Tweede Kamer, so 0.67% of the vote wins a seat, and 76 seats needed for a majority, but a government will also need a majority in the Senate to pass legislation.
17 parties won seats at the 2021 election, with four parties needed to form the government (VVD, CDA, D66, CU). The VVD's Mark Rutte, PM since 2010, is stepping down so this election will see a new prime minister emerge.
Despite the pure PR system and large number of parties, the Dutch actually have had fewer PM's than the UK, even pre-2010, with Den Uyl, Van Agt, Lubbers, Kok, and Balkenende from 1973 to 2010, compared to Heath, Wilson, Callaghan, Thatcher, Major, Blair, and Brown, and obviously only one since 2010 v our five.
As with Israel, there is often a lot of churn in the party constellations between elections, and 2023 is no different, with the Greens and Labour having merged (GL-PvdA led by Frans Timmermans), and the new party on the block being the NSC led by Pieter Omtzigt, essentially a breakaway from the Christian Democrats. The other major parties in the frame are Rutte's VVD, now led by Dilan Yeşilgöz (the first Dutch female PM?) and the rightwing PVV led by Geert Wilders. Up to 16 other parties might win seats, but none of these have been into 10+ seats consistently in recent polls.
Opinion polls often see large swings in the Netherlands - the new BBB surged during and after March's provincial elections, but is now very much an also ran, the new NSC was making the running only two weeks ago but has fallen back, while the PVV has led in the last two polls.
So it really is anyone's guess who the new PM will be - Wilders is a possibility but might struggle for coalition partners, it could also be Timmermans or Yeşilgöz. Either way it will be a long government formation, probably well into the new year and quite possibly not even this side of Easter.
Votes will be counted by hand at polling stations, but the large number of parties and candidates mean that the ballot papers are the size of a small shower towel and so counting won't be especially quick. It might be 60-90 minutes for the first result, probably one of Rozendaal (likely VVD), Renswoude (maybe NSC), or the Frisian island of Schiermonnikoog (probably either VVD or GL-PvDA).
Is it weird that people develop conspiracy theories over successful assassinations but not unsuccessful ones? I mean, Hinkley very nearly did kill Reagan and I dont think anyone doubts the official story there despite it being nearly successful.
I read an "alternative history" story once where JFK survives the shooting. But the conspiracy theorists say he actually died, and was replaced by a doppelganger! Spoiler alert - the end of the story results in President Perot.
Ironic that the Tories almost won Stockton North at the last election.
And would have done had it not been for the Brexit Party splitting the right's vote.
Assuming Brexit party voters would otherwise have voted Tory. Which is always a slightly dubious assumption - though the margin here was so small you may well be right.
Having seen the BXP lot at several Stockton hustings many of them were ex-Tory members / voters explicitly voting against their former party.
Lee Harvey Oswald, The lone nut and nobody who wanted to make a name for himself. The only problem with this theory is that when asked if he shot the president LHO replied " I didn't shoot anybody, I'm a patsy".
Criminals have quite often denied their crimes.
But not lone nuts who are out to make a name for themselves.
Lee Harvey Oswald, The lone nut and nobody who wanted to make a name for himself. The only problem with this theory is that when asked if he shot the president LHO replied " I didn't shoot anybody, I'm a patsy".
Criminals have quite often denied their crimes.
I think the point was it showed Oswald was not motivated by fame, as theorised.
Lee Harvey Oswald, The lone nut and nobody who wanted to make a name for himself. The only problem with this theory is that when asked if he shot the president LHO replied " I didn't shoot anybody, I'm a patsy".
Ironic that the Tories almost won Stockton North at the last election.
And would have done had it not been for the Brexit Party splitting the right's vote.
Assuming Brexit party voters would otherwise have voted Tory. Which is always a slightly dubious assumption - though the margin here was so small you may well be right.
Having seen the BXP lot at several Stockton hustings many of them were ex-Tory members / voters explicitly voting against their former party.
Fair enough - you'd know Stockton North better than most. Though amazing the Tories amassed so many votes in SN if so many of their erstwhile voters had gone to another party.
This is I think the last election of 2023 (Stodge may know better! ) but certainly the last for me.
Voting closes at 8pm UK time, and as I'm sure many of you know, the Dutch voting system is the polar opposite of the UK's, with pure PR - there are 150 seats (zetels) in the Tweede Kamer, so 0.67% of the vote wins a seat, and 76 seats needed for a majority, but a government will also need a majority in the Senate to pass legislation.
17 parties won seats at the 2021 election, with four parties needed to form the government (VVD, CDA, D66, CU). The VVD's Mark Rutte, PM since 2010, is stepping down so this election will see a new prime minister emerge.
Despite the pure PR system and large number of parties, the Dutch actually have had fewer PM's than the UK, even pre-2010, with Den Uyl, Van Agt, Lubbers, Kok, and Balkenende from 1973 to 2010, compared to Heath, Wilson, Callaghan, Thatcher, Major, Blair, and Brown, and obviously only one since 2010 v our five.
As with Israel, there is often a lot of churn in the party constellations between elections, and 2023 is no different, with the Greens and Labour having merged (GL-PvdA led by Frans Timmermans), and the new party on the block being the NSC led by Pieter Omtzigt, essentially a breakaway from the Christian Democrats. The other major parties in the frame are Rutte's VVD, now led by Dilan Yeşilgöz (the first Dutch female PM?) and the rightwing PVV led by Geert Wilders. Up to 16 other parties might win seats, but none of these have been into 10+ seats consistently in recent polls.
Opinion polls often see large swings in the Netherlands - the new BBB surged during and after March's provincial elections, but is now very much an also ran, the new NSC was making the running only two weeks ago but has fallen back, while the PVV has led in the last two polls.
So it really is anyone's guess who the new PM will be - Wilders is a possibility but might struggle for coalition partners, it could also be Timmermans or Yeşilgöz. Either way it will be a long government formation, probably well into the new year and quite possibly not even this side of Easter.
Votes will be counted by hand at polling stations, but the large number of parties and candidates mean that the ballot papers are the size of a small shower towel and so counting won't be especially quick. It might be 60-90 minutes for the first result, probably one of Rozendaal (likely VVD), Renswoude (maybe NSC), or the Frisian island of Schiermonnikoog (probably either VVD or GL-PvDA).
Maybe some will be persuaded by the tax cut today. But overall the impression I’m getting is people are less worried about the tax they pay and more about the state of the services the government is funding.
I don’t think people are looking at the issues the country faces right now and thinking “if only my taxes were lower”, rightly or wrongly.
The fact is that the Tories have lost the argument on tax for the time being, if not from an economic perspective then certainly with the public. In time, they might start winning that argument again, but not in 2024.
The triumph of neolibs is that they have managed trigger a pavlovian reaction to 'tax', even amongst those who don't pay and won't ever pay the specific tax that's being discussed e.g. IHT.
Labour seem afraid to challenge this and one can understand why. But people want good public services and those need to be paid for by us, not by borrowing, not by some mythological 'efficiency savings'.
The honest approach would be to say to the country something like:
Do you want a top class health service with short waiting times? Do you want fully staffed schools in buildings that aren't going to fall down? Do you want good public transport and roads that aren't congested, closed or riddled with potholes? Do you want councils that can deliver good local services without going bankrupt. Do you want a well funded police service that actively prevents and investigates crime? Do you want a criminal justice system that prosecutes criminal quickly and justly? Do you want a robust immigration service that deals quickly and humanely with illegal immigrants?
Do you want all these things?
So do we, but here's the truth: those things need to be paid for, and you should understand that that means the country has to raise enough taxes to do these things properly without borrowing and adding to our debt.
We will do that and we will do so in a way that ensures the poorest pay no more but the wealthiest will see their taxes increase. Everyone, no matter what their wealth or income will benefit from better public services and, in time, reduced national debt.
I don't generally go for conspiracy theories at all. But one single fact about the JFK thing is persuasive: It just isn't credible that the establishment would put LHO in the way of being shot by a randomer unless someone significant wanted this to be the case.
All things being equal the single most important issue on the planet at that point was being able to question LHO, in which case it would be made 100% certain he could neither commit suicide nor be attacked.
It is therefore probable that someone/s who had the power to achieve his death achieved it and had reasons to. That there was a conspiracy inescapably follows.
Cock up is, in this case, the only alternative. That is not credible.
I personally don't find that particularly persuasive. People f**k up; and security was a lot more lax sixty years ago.
That counter argument would do in a trivial case, or in the immediate unorganised, chaotic aftermath of the event. Not later on when handling the most significant murder case in modern American (and modern world) history and when, unless there were something awry in the system, everyone would be super keen to have him interrogated.
Security was pretty poor with LHO.
In one of the strange footnotes of history John Peel (later the notorious DJ) was there in the room with LHO and Jack Ruby. 5.09 in this YouTube clip, narrated by JP.
I don't think Peel was part of any conspiracy, just good at blagging entry.
Just seen the National Insurance announcement - really good to see that cut, a total 180 on Sunak's disgraceful increase of it. Well done Hunt!
Shame though to see tax thresholds are still frozen.
Long term though, cutting National Insurance absolutely should be the priority, ideally it should be abolished/merged into Income Tax, so that earned and unearned incomes are treated exactly the same.
PS is it just Employees NI that has been cut? What about Employers NIC?
Only Employees unfortunately.
Currently (after these changes) at basic tax level the Government is taking 44.3% of an employers pay bill in tax/NI/levy after the first £12,584.
If the employee is on higher tax then the Government is taking 56.3% of an employers pay bill in tax/NI/levy for any earnings over approx. £50K
Lee Harvey Oswald, The lone nut and nobody who wanted to make a name for himself. The only problem with this theory is that when asked if he shot the president LHO replied " I didn't shoot anybody, I'm a patsy".
Criminals have quite often denied their crimes.
I think the point was it showed Oswald was not motivated by fame, as theorised.
He was questioned by Dallas police from Friday afternoon until Sunday morning but we dont know what his motive was because apparently no tape recording or transcript of the questioning exists.
Just seen the National Insurance announcement - really good to see that cut, a total 180 on Sunak's disgraceful increase of it. Well done Hunt!
Shame though to see tax thresholds are still frozen.
Long term though, cutting National Insurance absolutely should be the priority, ideally it should be abolished/merged into Income Tax, so that earned and unearned incomes are treated exactly the same.
PS is it just Employees NI that has been cut? What about Employers NIC?
There were cuts to class 2 and 4 NI too in the bit about self employment.
Just seen the National Insurance announcement - really good to see that cut, a total 180 on Sunak's disgraceful increase of it. Well done Hunt!
Shame though to see tax thresholds are still frozen.
Long term though, cutting National Insurance absolutely should be the priority, ideally it should be abolished/merged into Income Tax, so that earned and unearned incomes are treated exactly the same.
PS is it just Employees NI that has been cut? What about Employers NIC?
No it should not be merged into income tax, it should be ringfenced to fund JSA and some of the state pension and NHS and social care as it was originally intended to do
Maybe some will be persuaded by the tax cut today. But overall the impression I’m getting is people are less worried about the tax they pay and more about the state of the services the government is funding.
I don’t think people are looking at the issues the country faces right now and thinking “if only my taxes were lower”, rightly or wrongly.
The fact is that the Tories have lost the argument on tax for the time being, if not from an economic perspective then certainly with the public. In time, they might start winning that argument again, but not in 2024.
Yougov today finds 46% of voters (including 59% of Conservative voters) agreeing it is now realistic for the Government to cut taxes.
Just seen the National Insurance announcement - really good to see that cut, a total 180 on Sunak's disgraceful increase of it. Well done Hunt!
Shame though to see tax thresholds are still frozen.
Long term though, cutting National Insurance absolutely should be the priority, ideally it should be abolished/merged into Income Tax, so that earned and unearned incomes are treated exactly the same.
PS is it just Employees NI that has been cut? What about Employers NIC?
No it should not be merged into income tax, it should be ringfenced to fund JSA and some of the state pension and NHS and social care as it was originally intended to do
Given NI raises approx £172 billion and the NHS budget is approx £168 billion, you're proposing *really* savage cuts in social care, pensions and JSA.
I appreciate that British cargo-cult Ameriphilia leads it to spend far too much time on the death of JFK (whilst neglecting the death of CS Lewis). But I must also point out that the 60th anniversary of Doctor Who is tomorrow. To celebrate this wonder of British TV the BBC are hosting the following.
- and several more over the coming months and years
It is a crux point for the programme: its new funding via Disney+ and return of its most popular showrunner (Russell T Davies) and star (David Tennant) point to great possibilities, although Disney+ has this habit of killing its purchases (see Star Wars), RTD 2022 is not RTD 2005, Tennant is only back for three episodes, and Tennant's successor Ncuti Gatwa has untested appeal on the global stage.
But however it turns out I am looking forward to the next few days, and I hope you will join me in that.
The Daleks in colour will be interesting especially as there is some revoicing and some new scenes written by RTD. A new score too. I’ll watch it. I won’t buy the DVD. Especially as it is a cut down compilation.
War Games is next.
I’m more interested in the growing rumours, and not the usual nonsense, about missing episode returns.
Star Beast I look forward too. Even though gender identify is a part of it I suspect RTD will handle it well.
Is it weird that people develop conspiracy theories over successful assassinations but not unsuccessful ones? I mean, Hinkley very nearly did kill Reagan and I dont think anyone doubts the official story there despite it being nearly successful.
I read an "alternative history" story once where JFK survives the shooting.
"The Winterberry" by Nick DiChario. I can't find a easy copy. I read it. It is narrated by an invalid child wondering why Uncle Teddy and the pretty lady come to see him and why they are so sad. It becomes apparent that the "child" is the adult JFK, brain-damaged after the assassination, and that "Uncle Teddy" and the pretty lady are Edward and Jackie Kennedy. It's really good and I wish I could show you a copy.
Just seen the National Insurance announcement - really good to see that cut, a total 180 on Sunak's disgraceful increase of it. Well done Hunt!
Shame though to see tax thresholds are still frozen.
Long term though, cutting National Insurance absolutely should be the priority, ideally it should be abolished/merged into Income Tax, so that earned and unearned incomes are treated exactly the same.
PS is it just Employees NI that has been cut? What about Employers NIC?
Only Employees unfortunately.
Currently (after these changes) at basic tax level the Government is taking 44.3% of an employers pay bill in tax/NI/levy after the first £12,584.
If the employee is on higher tax then the Government is taking 56.3% of an employers pay bill in tax/NI/levy for any earnings over approx. £50K
And I'm guessing that's not counting the graduate tax which kicks in at £25k nowadays which is barely more than minimum wage?
Or if someone is on UC so the taper rate applies, in which case its adding up to nearly 100%.
Nowadays people can be on both taper and graduate tax too.
Just seen the National Insurance announcement - really good to see that cut, a total 180 on Sunak's disgraceful increase of it. Well done Hunt!
Shame though to see tax thresholds are still frozen.
Long term though, cutting National Insurance absolutely should be the priority, ideally it should be abolished/merged into Income Tax, so that earned and unearned incomes are treated exactly the same.
PS is it just Employees NI that has been cut? What about Employers NIC?
No it should not be merged into income tax, it should be ringfenced to fund JSA and some of the state pension and NHS and social care as it was originally intended to do
Given NI raises approx £172 billion and the NHS budget is approx £168 billion, you're proposing *really* savage cuts in social care, pensions and JSA.
I didn't say it should only fund the NHS, obviously income tax would still fund it partly too but most OECD nations fund healthcare at least partly via insurance
Just seen the National Insurance announcement - really good to see that cut, a total 180 on Sunak's disgraceful increase of it. Well done Hunt!
Shame though to see tax thresholds are still frozen.
Long term though, cutting National Insurance absolutely should be the priority, ideally it should be abolished/merged into Income Tax, so that earned and unearned incomes are treated exactly the same.
PS is it just Employees NI that has been cut? What about Employers NIC?
No it should not be merged into income tax, it should be ringfenced to fund JSA and some of the state pension and NHS and social care as it was originally intended to do
Given NI raises approx £172 billion and the NHS budget is approx £168 billion, you're proposing *really* savage cuts in social care, pensions and JSA.
I didn't say it should only fund the NHS, obviously income tax would still fund it partly too but most OECD nations fund healthcare at least partly via insurance
Yes, but we don't. Its a tax, the fact it has a name insurance does not mean anything, its still a tax.
Ironic that the Tories almost won Stockton North at the last election.
And would have done had it not been for the Brexit Party splitting the right's vote.
Assuming Brexit party voters would otherwise have voted Tory. Which is always a slightly dubious assumption - though the margin here was so small you may well be right.
Having seen the BXP lot at several Stockton hustings many of them were ex-Tory members / voters explicitly voting against their former party.
Fair enough - you'd know Stockton North better than most. Though amazing the Tories amassed so many votes in SN if so many of their erstwhile voters had gone to another party.
Labour switchers, Rochdale, making up for the loss of Tories to BXP ?
Ironic that the Tories almost won Stockton North at the last election.
And would have done had it not been for the Brexit Party splitting the right's vote.
Assuming Brexit party voters would otherwise have voted Tory. Which is always a slightly dubious assumption - though the margin here was so small you may well be right.
Having seen the BXP lot at several Stockton hustings many of them were ex-Tory members / voters explicitly voting against their former party.
Fair enough - you'd know Stockton North better than most. Though amazing the Tories amassed so many votes in SN if so many of their erstwhile voters had gone to another party.
It was the same across Teesside and the wider NE of England. An avalanche of non-voters turning out for the second time in their lives to vote in unbelievable numbers.
Maybe some will be persuaded by the tax cut today. But overall the impression I’m getting is people are less worried about the tax they pay and more about the state of the services the government is funding.
I don’t think people are looking at the issues the country faces right now and thinking “if only my taxes were lower”, rightly or wrongly.
The fact is that the Tories have lost the argument on tax for the time being, if not from an economic perspective then certainly with the public. In time, they might start winning that argument again, but not in 2024.
Yougov today finds 46% of voters (including 59% of Conservative voters) agreeing it is now realistic for the Government to cut taxes.
Just seen the National Insurance announcement - really good to see that cut, a total 180 on Sunak's disgraceful increase of it. Well done Hunt!
Shame though to see tax thresholds are still frozen.
Long term though, cutting National Insurance absolutely should be the priority, ideally it should be abolished/merged into Income Tax, so that earned and unearned incomes are treated exactly the same.
PS is it just Employees NI that has been cut? What about Employers NIC?
No it should not be merged into income tax, it should be ringfenced to fund JSA and some of the state pension and NHS and social care as it was originally intended to do
Given NI raises approx £172 billion and the NHS budget is approx £168 billion, you're proposing *really* savage cuts in social care, pensions and JSA.
I didn't say it should only fund the NHS, obviously income tax would still fund it partly too but most OECD nations fund healthcare at least partly via insurance
Yes, but we don't. Its a tax, the fact it has a name insurance does not mean anything, its still a tax.
It isn't entirely, you can't claim JSA now without NI contributions for example, only UC if you are below the savings threshold.
The state pension also needs NI contributions or NI credits
Looks like Wilders has come first then if that exit poll is accurate, second win for a hard right nationalist party in Western Europe after Meloni's in Italy. Though he may still not be able to form a coalition government unlike her.
Governing centre right Liberals collapse to 3rd behind Wilders' Party of Freedom and the Left Green and Labour alliance of GL-PvdA
Just seen the National Insurance announcement - really good to see that cut, a total 180 on Sunak's disgraceful increase of it. Well done Hunt!
Shame though to see tax thresholds are still frozen.
Long term though, cutting National Insurance absolutely should be the priority, ideally it should be abolished/merged into Income Tax, so that earned and unearned incomes are treated exactly the same.
PS is it just Employees NI that has been cut? What about Employers NIC?
No it should not be merged into income tax, it should be ringfenced to fund JSA and some of the state pension and NHS and social care as it was originally intended to do
Given NI raises approx £172 billion and the NHS budget is approx £168 billion, you're proposing *really* savage cuts in social care, pensions and JSA.
I didn't say it should only fund the NHS, obviously income tax would still fund it partly too but most OECD nations fund healthcare at least partly via insurance
Yes, but we don't. Its a tax, the fact it has a name insurance does not mean anything, its still a tax.
It isn't entirely, you can't claim JSA now without NI contributions for example, only UC if you are below the savings threshold.
The state pension also needs NI contributions or NI credits
Yes and since you get NI credits for being unemployed, how exactly is that an insurance?
Now we need an expert to say if this aligns with expectations, and how many months of negotiations will follow over a coalition, or whether they already have alliances lined up.
I appreciate that British cargo-cult Ameriphilia leads it to spend far too much time on the death of JFK (whilst neglecting the death of CS Lewis). But I must also point out that the 60th anniversary of Doctor Who is tomorrow. To celebrate this wonder of British TV the BBC are hosting the following.
- and several more over the coming months and years
It is a crux point for the programme: its new funding via Disney+ and return of its most popular showrunner (Russell T Davies) and star (David Tennant) point to great possibilities, although Disney+ has this habit of killing its purchases (see Star Wars), RTD 2022 is not RTD 2005, Tennant is only back for three episodes, and Tennant's successor Ncuti Gatwa has untested appeal on the global stage.
But however it turns out I am looking forward to the next few days, and I hope you will join me in that.
The Daleks in colour will be interesting especially as there is some revoicing and some new scenes written by RTD. A new score too. I’ll watch it. I won’t buy the DVD. Especially as it is a cut down compilation.
War Games is next.
I’m more interested in the growing rumours, and not the usual nonsense, about missing episode returns.
Star Beast I look forward too. Even though gender identify is a part of it I suspect RTD will handle it well.
Given how long the original Dalek serial dragged on for, cutting it down would actually be a good thing. They spread over seven parts what could easily have been crammed into four, largely because I think they didn't have another script to go (which may also explain why 'The Edge of Destruction' was a rather a lash up).
Just seen the National Insurance announcement - really good to see that cut, a total 180 on Sunak's disgraceful increase of it. Well done Hunt!
Shame though to see tax thresholds are still frozen.
Long term though, cutting National Insurance absolutely should be the priority, ideally it should be abolished/merged into Income Tax, so that earned and unearned incomes are treated exactly the same.
PS is it just Employees NI that has been cut? What about Employers NIC?
No change to Employers NI. I expect because no one is really aware it exists, so is a poor use of political capital.
As suggested by someone on the previous thread, we first need to make employer's NI visible. Make it compulsory to show gross pay prior to it. Needs a few years so it doesn't result in stealth pay cuts.
Next, we should merge employees and employers NI. And equalise the rates between employed and self employed. No reason tax rates should vary by type of work.
Finally, we should merge NI into income tax and simply link the state pension to having paid tax over a certain number of years, if needed.
Once the true tax rate is transparent and fairly applied, we may choose to shift the tax burden onto less productive areas such as wealth.
Maybe some will be persuaded by the tax cut today. But overall the impression I’m getting is people are less worried about the tax they pay and more about the state of the services the government is funding.
I don’t think people are looking at the issues the country faces right now and thinking “if only my taxes were lower”, rightly or wrongly.
The fact is that the Tories have lost the argument on tax for the time being, if not from an economic perspective then certainly with the public. In time, they might start winning that argument again, but not in 2024.
The triumph of neolibs is that they have managed trigger a pavlovian reaction to 'tax', even amongst those who don't pay and won't ever pay the specific tax that's being discussed e.g. IHT.
Labour seem afraid to challenge this and one can understand why. But people want good public services and those need to be paid for by us, not by borrowing, not by some mythological 'efficiency savings'.
The honest approach would be to say to the country something like:
Do you want a top class health service with short waiting times? Do you want fully staffed schools in buildings that aren't going to fall down? Do you want good public transport and roads that aren't congested, closed or riddled with potholes? Do you want councils that can deliver good local services without going bankrupt. Do you want a well funded police service that actively prevents and investigates crime? Do you want a criminal justice system that prosecutes criminal quickly and justly? Do you want a robust immigration service that deals quickly and humanely with illegal immigrants?
Do you want all these things?
So do we, but here's the truth: those things need to be paid for, and you should understand that that means the country has to raise enough taxes to do these things properly without borrowing and adding to our debt.
We will do that and we will do so in a way that ensures the poorest pay no more but the wealthiest will see their taxes increase. Everyone, no matter what their wealth or income will benefit from better public services and, in time, reduced national debt.
The 'Labour's Tax Bombshell' election of 1992 casts a long shadow. I think there remains a statistically significant chance that a party that tells the truth about tax and spend will lose the election. So no-one is going to be the first to break ranks with the post-1992 consensus of 'Avoid'.
Lee Harvey Oswald, The lone nut and nobody who wanted to make a name for himself. The only problem with this theory is that when asked if he shot the president LHO replied " I didn't shoot anybody, I'm a patsy".
Criminals have quite often denied their crimes.
I think the point was it showed Oswald was not motivated by fame, as theorised.
He was questioned by Dallas police from Friday afternoon until Sunday morning but we dont know what his motive was because apparently no tape recording or transcript of the questioning exists.
American authorities did everything to fuel conspiracy theories, from the inept Dallas police through the Feds ignoring legal niceties to hightail it out of Texas, to letting the assassin himself be killed while in police custody.
That's a big result for Wilders and higher than I was expecting, if these numbers hold then PVV, VVD, NSC is a majority, as is GL-PvdA, VVD, NSC, D66 - so currently looks like VVD and NSC are kingmakers as to whether Wilders or Timmermans is next PM.
But a long way to go obviously and a lot can change, turnout at 8.45pm local time was 77%
Now we need an expert to say if this aligns with expectations, and how many months of negotiations will follow over a coalition, or whether they already have alliances lined up.
PVV doing well as they’ve gained votes from the NSC in the last week of the campaign . They’re doing better than the final polls. It’s only the first exit poll with I think some more to come .
I don't generally go for conspiracy theories at all. But one single fact about the JFK thing is persuasive: It just isn't credible that the establishment would put LHO in the way of being shot by a randomer unless someone significant wanted this to be the case.
All things being equal the single most important issue on the planet at that point was being able to question LHO, in which case it would be made 100% certain he could neither commit suicide nor be attacked.
It is therefore probable that someone/s who had the power to achieve his death achieved it and had reasons to. That there was a conspiracy inescapably follows.
Cock up is, in this case, the only alternative. That is not credible.
I personally don't find that particularly persuasive. People f**k up; and security was a lot more lax sixty years ago.
That counter argument would do in a trivial case, or in the immediate unorganised, chaotic aftermath of the event. Not later on when handling the most significant murder case in modern American (and modern world) history and when, unless there were something awry in the system, everyone would be super keen to have him interrogated.
Security was pretty poor with LHO.
In one of the strange footnotes of history John Peel (later the notorious DJ) was there in the room with LHO and Jack Ruby. 5.09 in this YouTube clip, narrated by JP.
I don't think Peel was part of any conspiracy, just good at blagging entry.
I appreciate that British cargo-cult Ameriphilia leads it to spend far too much time on the death of JFK (whilst neglecting the death of CS Lewis). But I must also point out that the 60th anniversary of Doctor Who is tomorrow. To celebrate this wonder of British TV the BBC are hosting the following.
- and several more over the coming months and years
It is a crux point for the programme: its new funding via Disney+ and return of its most popular showrunner (Russell T Davies) and star (David Tennant) point to great possibilities, although Disney+ has this habit of killing its purchases (see Star Wars), RTD 2022 is not RTD 2005, Tennant is only back for three episodes, and Tennant's successor Ncuti Gatwa has untested appeal on the global stage.
But however it turns out I am looking forward to the next few days, and I hope you will join me in that.
The Daleks in colour will be interesting especially as there is some revoicing and some new scenes written by RTD. A new score too. I’ll watch it. I won’t buy the DVD. Especially as it is a cut down compilation.
War Games is next.
I’m more interested in the growing rumours, and not the usual nonsense, about missing episode returns.
Star Beast I look forward too. Even though gender identify is a part of it I suspect RTD will handle it well.
Given how long the original Dalek serial dragged on for, cutting it down would actually be a good thing. They spread over seven parts what could easily have been crammed into four, largely because I think they didn't have another script to go (which may also explain why 'The Edge of Destruction' was a rather a lash up).
War Games being cut down to 4 episodes I think will work pretty well. Ep 1, cut 2-9 down to two episodes, then ep 10.
I think that one went to 10 as a four parter fell through, Space Prison IIRC.
This is I think the last election of 2023 (Stodge may know better! ) but certainly the last for me.
Voting closes at 8pm UK time, and as I'm sure many of you know, the Dutch voting system is the polar opposite of the UK's, with pure PR - there are 150 seats (zetels) in the Tweede Kamer, so 0.67% of the vote wins a seat, and 76 seats needed for a majority, but a government will also need a majority in the Senate to pass legislation.
17 parties won seats at the 2021 election, with four parties needed to form the government (VVD, CDA, D66, CU). The VVD's Mark Rutte, PM since 2010, is stepping down so this election will see a new prime minister emerge.
Despite the pure PR system and large number of parties, the Dutch actually have had fewer PM's than the UK, even pre-2010, with Den Uyl, Van Agt, Lubbers, Kok, and Balkenende from 1973 to 2010, compared to Heath, Wilson, Callaghan, Thatcher, Major, Blair, and Brown, and obviously only one since 2010 v our five.
As with Israel, there is often a lot of churn in the party constellations between elections, and 2023 is no different, with the Greens and Labour having merged (GL-PvdA led by Frans Timmermans), and the new party on the block being the NSC led by Pieter Omtzigt, essentially a breakaway from the Christian Democrats. The other major parties in the frame are Rutte's VVD, now led by Dilan Yeşilgöz (the first Dutch female PM?) and the rightwing PVV led by Geert Wilders. Up to 16 other parties might win seats, but none of these have been into 10+ seats consistently in recent polls.
Opinion polls often see large swings in the Netherlands - the new BBB surged during and after March's provincial elections, but is now very much an also ran, the new NSC was making the running only two weeks ago but has fallen back, while the PVV has led in the last two polls.
So it really is anyone's guess who the new PM will be - Wilders is a possibility but might struggle for coalition partners, it could also be Timmermans or Yeşilgöz. Either way it will be a long government formation, probably well into the new year and quite possibly not even this side of Easter.
Votes will be counted by hand at polling stations, but the large number of parties and candidates mean that the ballot papers are the size of a small shower towel and so counting won't be especially quick. It might be 60-90 minutes for the first result, probably one of Rozendaal (likely VVD), Renswoude (maybe NSC), or the Frisian island of Schiermonnikoog (probably either VVD or GL-PvDA).
I'll post any other useful links, especially a live results map, as I find them.
Many thanks,
DC
The last week has been very good for Wilders and the PVV and disappointing for Omtzigt's NSC. It could be the Green/Labour bloc which emerges as the party with the largest number of seats but that's on a knife edge. VVD seems to be in the upper 20s as well if the polling is right.
The four main groupings will have 100 or so seats between them with the other 50 being shared out between a plethora of a dozen parties.
Unless three of the "big four" get together it's going to be an interesting process to see what coalition comes out the other side. My "money" would be on a VVD/Green/Labour/D66 government.
Just seen the National Insurance announcement - really good to see that cut, a total 180 on Sunak's disgraceful increase of it. Well done Hunt!
Shame though to see tax thresholds are still frozen.
Long term though, cutting National Insurance absolutely should be the priority, ideally it should be abolished/merged into Income Tax, so that earned and unearned incomes are treated exactly the same.
PS is it just Employees NI that has been cut? What about Employers NIC?
No change to Employers NI. I expect because no one is really aware it exists, so is a poor use of political capital.
As suggested by someone on the previous thread, we first need to make employer's NI visible. Make it compulsory to show gross pay prior to it. Needs a few years so it doesn't result in stealth pay cuts.
Next, we should merge employees and employers NI. And equalise the rates between employed and self employed. No reason tax rates should vary by type of work.
Finally, we should merge NI into income tax and simply link the state pension to having paid tax over a certain number of years, if needed.
Once the true tax rate is transparent and fairly applied, we may choose to shift the tax burden onto less productive areas such as wealth.
No we should not merge NI into income tax, we should use NI to move to a more contributory welfare and health system
Now we need an expert to say if this aligns with expectations, and how many months of negotiations will follow over a coalition, or whether they already have alliances lined up.
It looks like Wilders has won around 23% of the vote which is significantly higher than any of the opinion polls.
That's a big result for Wilders and higher than I was expecting, if these numbers hold then PVV, VVD, NSC is a majority, as is GL-PvdA, VVD, NSC, D66 - so currently looks like VVD and NSC are kingmakers as to whether Wilders or Timmermans is next PM.
But a long way to go obviously and a lot can change, turnout at 8.45pm local time was 77%
Was the poster concerned unaware of the context? That they were mentioning a Nazi-designed passive genocide as a serious alternative to what became the state of Israel?
Ken Livingstone is clearly now posting on PB despite health issues...
This is I think the last election of 2023 (Stodge may know better! ) but certainly the last for me.
Voting closes at 8pm UK time, and as I'm sure many of you know, the Dutch voting system is the polar opposite of the UK's, with pure PR - there are 150 seats (zetels) in the Tweede Kamer, so 0.67% of the vote wins a seat, and 76 seats needed for a majority, but a government will also need a majority in the Senate to pass legislation.
17 parties won seats at the 2021 election, with four parties needed to form the government (VVD, CDA, D66, CU). The VVD's Mark Rutte, PM since 2010, is stepping down so this election will see a new prime minister emerge.
Despite the pure PR system and large number of parties, the Dutch actually have had fewer PM's than the UK, even pre-2010, with Den Uyl, Van Agt, Lubbers, Kok, and Balkenende from 1973 to 2010, compared to Heath, Wilson, Callaghan, Thatcher, Major, Blair, and Brown, and obviously only one since 2010 v our five.
As with Israel, there is often a lot of churn in the party constellations between elections, and 2023 is no different, with the Greens and Labour having merged (GL-PvdA led by Frans Timmermans), and the new party on the block being the NSC led by Pieter Omtzigt, essentially a breakaway from the Christian Democrats. The other major parties in the frame are Rutte's VVD, now led by Dilan Yeşilgöz (the first Dutch female PM?) and the rightwing PVV led by Geert Wilders. Up to 16 other parties might win seats, but none of these have been into 10+ seats consistently in recent polls.
Opinion polls often see large swings in the Netherlands - the new BBB surged during and after March's provincial elections, but is now very much an also ran, the new NSC was making the running only two weeks ago but has fallen back, while the PVV has led in the last two polls.
So it really is anyone's guess who the new PM will be - Wilders is a possibility but might struggle for coalition partners, it could also be Timmermans or Yeşilgöz. Either way it will be a long government formation, probably well into the new year and quite possibly not even this side of Easter.
Votes will be counted by hand at polling stations, but the large number of parties and candidates mean that the ballot papers are the size of a small shower towel and so counting won't be especially quick. It might be 60-90 minutes for the first result, probably one of Rozendaal (likely VVD), Renswoude (maybe NSC), or the Frisian island of Schiermonnikoog (probably either VVD or GL-PvDA).
I'll post any other useful links, especially a live results map, as I find them.
Many thanks,
DC
The last week has been very good for Wilders and the PVV and disappointing for Omtzigt's NSC. It could be the Green/Labour bloc which emerges as the party with the largest number of seats but that's on a knife edge. VVD seems to be in the upper 20s as well if the polling is right.
The four main groupings will have 100 or so seats between them with the other 50 being shared out between a plethora of a dozen parties.
Unless three of the "big four" get together it's going to be an interesting process to see what coalition comes out the other side. My "money" would be on a VVD/Green/Labour/D66 government.
Knife edge? The exit poll has those parties on 35 and 26 seats. Not particularly close.
I appreciate that British cargo-cult Ameriphilia leads it to spend far too much time on the death of JFK (whilst neglecting the death of CS Lewis). But I must also point out that the 60th anniversary of Doctor Who is tomorrow. To celebrate this wonder of British TV the BBC are hosting the following.
- and several more over the coming months and years
It is a crux point for the programme: its new funding via Disney+ and return of its most popular showrunner (Russell T Davies) and star (David Tennant) point to great possibilities, although Disney+ has this habit of killing its purchases (see Star Wars), RTD 2022 is not RTD 2005, Tennant is only back for three episodes, and Tennant's successor Ncuti Gatwa has untested appeal on the global stage.
But however it turns out I am looking forward to the next few days, and I hope you will join me in that.
The Daleks in colour will be interesting especially as there is some revoicing and some new scenes written by RTD. A new score too. I’ll watch it. I won’t buy the DVD. Especially as it is a cut down compilation.
War Games is next.
I’m more interested in the growing rumours, and not the usual nonsense, about missing episode returns.
Star Beast I look forward too. Even though gender identify is a part of it I suspect RTD will handle it well.
Given how long the original Dalek serial dragged on for, cutting it down would actually be a good thing. They spread over seven parts what could easily have been crammed into four, largely because I think they didn't have another script to go (which may also explain why 'The Edge of Destruction' was a rather a lash up).
War Games being cut down to 4 episodes I think will work pretty well. Ep 1, cut 2-9 down to two episodes, then ep 10.
I think that one went to 10 as a four parter fell through, Space Prison IIRC.
Heretic.
War Games is perfect in it's drawn-outedness.
If we carry on down this route we'll shorten most of the 70s and 80s down to an hour.
Just seen the National Insurance announcement - really good to see that cut, a total 180 on Sunak's disgraceful increase of it. Well done Hunt!
Shame though to see tax thresholds are still frozen.
Long term though, cutting National Insurance absolutely should be the priority, ideally it should be abolished/merged into Income Tax, so that earned and unearned incomes are treated exactly the same.
PS is it just Employees NI that has been cut? What about Employers NIC?
No change to Employers NI. I expect because no one is really aware it exists, so is a poor use of political capital.
As suggested by someone on the previous thread, we first need to make employer's NI visible. Make it compulsory to show gross pay prior to it. Needs a few years so it doesn't result in stealth pay cuts.
Next, we should merge employees and employers NI. And equalise the rates between employed and self employed. No reason tax rates should vary by type of work.
Finally, we should merge NI into income tax and simply link the state pension to having paid tax over a certain number of years, if needed.
Once the true tax rate is transparent and fairly applied, we may choose to shift the tax burden onto less productive areas such as wealth.
No we should not merge NI into income tax, we should use NI to move to a more contributory welfare and health system
Considering you get NI credits for being unemployed, how is anything contributory?
Why not just merge NI into income tax, then use income tax to move to a more contributory welfare and health system if that's what you want?
Just seen the National Insurance announcement - really good to see that cut, a total 180 on Sunak's disgraceful increase of it. Well done Hunt!
Shame though to see tax thresholds are still frozen.
Long term though, cutting National Insurance absolutely should be the priority, ideally it should be abolished/merged into Income Tax, so that earned and unearned incomes are treated exactly the same.
PS is it just Employees NI that has been cut? What about Employers NIC?
No it should not be merged into income tax, it should be ringfenced to fund JSA and some of the state pension and NHS and social care as it was originally intended to do
Given NI raises approx £172 billion and the NHS budget is approx £168 billion, you're proposing *really* savage cuts in social care, pensions and JSA.
I didn't say it should only fund the NHS, obviously income tax would still fund it partly too but most OECD nations fund healthcare at least partly via insurance
Yes, but we don't. Its a tax, the fact it has a name insurance does not mean anything, its still a tax.
It isn't entirely, you can't claim JSA now without NI contributions for example, only UC if you are below the savings threshold.
The state pension also needs NI contributions or NI credits
Yes and since you get NI credits for being unemployed, how exactly is that an insurance?
And you can claim JSA with a history of NI credits too.
Its utterly meaningless and is a tax.
Then we should scrap NI credits being used for JSA given you can now only claim it for 6 months and there is UC, we should keep NI and just use NI contributions only for JSA eligibility
Tories Can Block Labour Majority With Six-Point Shift, Poll Says
(Bloomberg) -- Prime Minister Rishi Sunak could prevent the opposition Labour Party from winning a parliamentary majority at the next election if his Conservatives can claw back just six points in the polls from voters who would have otherwise stayed at home or supported one of the UK’s minor political parties, according to data published by research consultancy Stonehaven. https://uk.movies.yahoo.com/tories-block-labour-majority-six-050000293.html
Just seen the National Insurance announcement - really good to see that cut, a total 180 on Sunak's disgraceful increase of it. Well done Hunt!
Shame though to see tax thresholds are still frozen.
Long term though, cutting National Insurance absolutely should be the priority, ideally it should be abolished/merged into Income Tax, so that earned and unearned incomes are treated exactly the same.
PS is it just Employees NI that has been cut? What about Employers NIC?
No it should not be merged into income tax, it should be ringfenced to fund JSA and some of the state pension and NHS and social care as it was originally intended to do
Given NI raises approx £172 billion and the NHS budget is approx £168 billion, you're proposing *really* savage cuts in social care, pensions and JSA.
I didn't say it should only fund the NHS, obviously income tax would still fund it partly too but most OECD nations fund healthcare at least partly via insurance
Yes, but we don't. Its a tax, the fact it has a name insurance does not mean anything, its still a tax.
It isn't entirely, you can't claim JSA now without NI contributions for example, only UC if you are below the savings threshold.
The state pension also needs NI contributions or NI credits
Yes and since you get NI credits for being unemployed, how exactly is that an insurance?
Maybe some will be persuaded by the tax cut today. But overall the impression I’m getting is people are less worried about the tax they pay and more about the state of the services the government is funding.
I don’t think people are looking at the issues the country faces right now and thinking “if only my taxes were lower”, rightly or wrongly.
The fact is that the Tories have lost the argument on tax for the time being, if not from an economic perspective then certainly with the public. In time, they might start winning that argument again, but not in 2024.
Yougov today finds 46% of voters (including 59% of Conservative voters) agreeing it is now realistic for the Government to cut taxes.
That's a big result for Wilders and higher than I was expecting, if these numbers hold then PVV, VVD, NSC is a majority, as is GL-PvdA, VVD, NSC, D66 - so currently looks like VVD and NSC are kingmakers as to whether Wilders or Timmermans is next PM.
But a long way to go obviously and a lot can change, turnout at 8.45pm local time was 77%
Just seen the National Insurance announcement - really good to see that cut, a total 180 on Sunak's disgraceful increase of it. Well done Hunt!
Shame though to see tax thresholds are still frozen.
Long term though, cutting National Insurance absolutely should be the priority, ideally it should be abolished/merged into Income Tax, so that earned and unearned incomes are treated exactly the same.
PS is it just Employees NI that has been cut? What about Employers NIC?
No change to Employers NI. I expect because no one is really aware it exists, so is a poor use of political capital.
As suggested by someone on the previous thread, we first need to make employer's NI visible. Make it compulsory to show gross pay prior to it. Needs a few years so it doesn't result in stealth pay cuts.
Next, we should merge employees and employers NI. And equalise the rates between employed and self employed. No reason tax rates should vary by type of work.
Finally, we should merge NI into income tax and simply link the state pension to having paid tax over a certain number of years, if needed.
Once the true tax rate is transparent and fairly applied, we may choose to shift the tax burden onto less productive areas such as wealth.
No we should not merge NI into income tax, we should use NI to move to a more contributory welfare and health system
Considering you get NI credits for being unemployed, how is anything contributory?
Why not just merge NI into income tax, then use income tax to move to a more contributory welfare and health system if that's what you want?
You can't use income tax for contributory welfare as it is also paid by pensioners not workers and is not an insurance.
Just seen the National Insurance announcement - really good to see that cut, a total 180 on Sunak's disgraceful increase of it. Well done Hunt!
Shame though to see tax thresholds are still frozen.
Long term though, cutting National Insurance absolutely should be the priority, ideally it should be abolished/merged into Income Tax, so that earned and unearned incomes are treated exactly the same.
PS is it just Employees NI that has been cut? What about Employers NIC?
Only Employees unfortunately.
Currently (after these changes) at basic tax level the Government is taking 44.3% of an employers pay bill in tax/NI/levy after the first £12,584.
If the employee is on higher tax then the Government is taking 56.3% of an employers pay bill in tax/NI/levy for any earnings over approx. £50K
And I'm guessing that's not counting the graduate tax which kicks in at £25k nowadays which is barely more than minimum wage?
Or if someone is on UC so the taper rate applies, in which case its adding up to nearly 100%.
Nowadays people can be on both taper and graduate tax too.
Maybe some will be persuaded by the tax cut today. But overall the impression I’m getting is people are less worried about the tax they pay and more about the state of the services the government is funding.
I don’t think people are looking at the issues the country faces right now and thinking “if only my taxes were lower”, rightly or wrongly.
The fact is that the Tories have lost the argument on tax for the time being, if not from an economic perspective then certainly with the public. In time, they might start winning that argument again, but not in 2024.
Yougov today finds 46% of voters (including 59% of Conservative voters) agreeing it is now realistic for the Government to cut taxes.
Just seen the National Insurance announcement - really good to see that cut, a total 180 on Sunak's disgraceful increase of it. Well done Hunt!
Shame though to see tax thresholds are still frozen.
Long term though, cutting National Insurance absolutely should be the priority, ideally it should be abolished/merged into Income Tax, so that earned and unearned incomes are treated exactly the same.
PS is it just Employees NI that has been cut? What about Employers NIC?
No change to Employers NI. I expect because no one is really aware it exists, so is a poor use of political capital.
As suggested by someone on the previous thread, we first need to make employer's NI visible. Make it compulsory to show gross pay prior to it. Needs a few years so it doesn't result in stealth pay cuts.
Next, we should merge employees and employers NI. And equalise the rates between employed and self employed. No reason tax rates should vary by type of work.
Finally, we should merge NI into income tax and simply link the state pension to having paid tax over a certain number of years, if needed.
Once the true tax rate is transparent and fairly applied, we may choose to shift the tax burden onto less productive areas such as wealth.
No we should not merge NI into income tax, we should use NI to move to a more contributory welfare and health system
Considering you get NI credits for being unemployed, how is anything contributory?
Why not just merge NI into income tax, then use income tax to move to a more contributory welfare and health system if that's what you want?
You can't use income tax for contributory welfare as it is also paid by pensioners not workers and is not an insurance.
National insurance is not an insurance either, and why shouldn't pensioners pay towards welfare?
Maybe some will be persuaded by the tax cut today. But overall the impression I’m getting is people are less worried about the tax they pay and more about the state of the services the government is funding.
I don’t think people are looking at the issues the country faces right now and thinking “if only my taxes were lower”, rightly or wrongly.
The fact is that the Tories have lost the argument on tax for the time being, if not from an economic perspective then certainly with the public. In time, they might start winning that argument again, but not in 2024.
Yougov today finds 46% of voters (including 59% of Conservative voters) agreeing it is now realistic for the Government to cut taxes.
No, they redistributed some of the tax rises on income tax and National Insurance, to fund a cut in the rate of National Insurance, which is really a tax.
Holding the threshold frozen, while cutting the rate, is a tax rise not a tax cut.
Can I highly recommend, for anyone who hasn’t read it, James Ellroy’s “the cold six thousand “. It is a quite brilliant book. Although fiction it gives fascinating insights into early 60’s America and feels like it should be the truth, even if it isn’t.
It is an America where the CIA are running a private army and are out of control; where the Mafia has a finger in everything; where the Klan is still powerful, where the Mormons have the power of Howard Hughes money and the FBI are also under the control of the deeply weird J Edgar Hoover, where all these different power bases interact and bounce off each other in unpredictable ways and the consequences were a dead President.
A lot of the US wanted the Kennedys gone and Robert gone from being AG in particular. I think the shooting was done by Oswald alone but how he came to be there, who motivated him and who manipulated the event is a much more complex story.
Just seen the National Insurance announcement - really good to see that cut, a total 180 on Sunak's disgraceful increase of it. Well done Hunt!
Shame though to see tax thresholds are still frozen.
Long term though, cutting National Insurance absolutely should be the priority, ideally it should be abolished/merged into Income Tax, so that earned and unearned incomes are treated exactly the same.
PS is it just Employees NI that has been cut? What about Employers NIC?
No it should not be merged into income tax, it should be ringfenced to fund JSA and some of the state pension and NHS and social care as it was originally intended to do
Given NI raises approx £172 billion and the NHS budget is approx £168 billion, you're proposing *really* savage cuts in social care, pensions and JSA.
I didn't say it should only fund the NHS, obviously income tax would still fund it partly too but most OECD nations fund healthcare at least partly via insurance
Yes, but we don't. Its a tax, the fact it has a name insurance does not mean anything, its still a tax.
It isn't entirely, you can't claim JSA now without NI contributions for example, only UC if you are below the savings threshold.
The state pension also needs NI contributions or NI credits
Yes and since you get NI credits for being unemployed, how exactly is that an insurance?
And you can claim JSA with a history of NI credits too.
Its utterly meaningless and is a tax.
Then we should scrap NI credits being used for JSA given you can now only claim it for 6 months and there is UC, we should keep NI
Why should we?
Merge them, and have income tax used. Pay your taxes, get a contribution, don't and you don't.
Tax is supposed to fund non contributory spending, defence, the police, culture, schools, buses etc, things everyone should be able to benefit from (plus UC, pensioners credit, legal aid and healthcare where recipients have not contributed enough to benefit).
NI should fund JSA and state pensions and a more insurance based healthcare system
Was the poster concerned unaware of the context? That they were mentioning a Nazi-designed passive genocide as a serious alternative to what became the state of Israel?
Ken Livingstone is clearly now posting on PB despite health issues...
“Resettlement to Madagascar” would have been as much a euphemism as “special treatment.”
Just seen the National Insurance announcement - really good to see that cut, a total 180 on Sunak's disgraceful increase of it. Well done Hunt!
Shame though to see tax thresholds are still frozen.
Long term though, cutting National Insurance absolutely should be the priority, ideally it should be abolished/merged into Income Tax, so that earned and unearned incomes are treated exactly the same.
PS is it just Employees NI that has been cut? What about Employers NIC?
No change to Employers NI. I expect because no one is really aware it exists, so is a poor use of political capital.
As suggested by someone on the previous thread, we first need to make employer's NI visible. Make it compulsory to show gross pay prior to it. Needs a few years so it doesn't result in stealth pay cuts.
Next, we should merge employees and employers NI. And equalise the rates between employed and self employed. No reason tax rates should vary by type of work.
Finally, we should merge NI into income tax and simply link the state pension to having paid tax over a certain number of years, if needed.
Once the true tax rate is transparent and fairly applied, we may choose to shift the tax burden onto less productive areas such as wealth.
No we should not merge NI into income tax, we should use NI to move to a more contributory welfare and health system
Considering you get NI credits for being unemployed, how is anything contributory?
Why not just merge NI into income tax, then use income tax to move to a more contributory welfare and health system if that's what you want?
You can't use income tax for contributory welfare as it is also paid by pensioners not workers and is not an insurance.
National insurance is not an insurance either, and why shouldn't pensioners pay towards welfare?
I appreciate that British cargo-cult Ameriphilia leads it to spend far too much time on the death of JFK (whilst neglecting the death of CS Lewis). But I must also point out that the 60th anniversary of Doctor Who is tomorrow. To celebrate this wonder of British TV the BBC are hosting the following.
- and several more over the coming months and years
It is a crux point for the programme: its new funding via Disney+ and return of its most popular showrunner (Russell T Davies) and star (David Tennant) point to great possibilities, although Disney+ has this habit of killing its purchases (see Star Wars), RTD 2022 is not RTD 2005, Tennant is only back for three episodes, and Tennant's successor Ncuti Gatwa has untested appeal on the global stage.
But however it turns out I am looking forward to the next few days, and I hope you will join me in that.
The Daleks in colour will be interesting especially as there is some revoicing and some new scenes written by RTD. A new score too. I’ll watch it. I won’t buy the DVD. Especially as it is a cut down compilation.
War Games is next.
I’m more interested in the growing rumours, and not the usual nonsense, about missing episode returns.
Star Beast I look forward too. Even though gender identify is a part of it I suspect RTD will handle it well.
Given how long the original Dalek serial dragged on for, cutting it down would actually be a good thing. They spread over seven parts what could easily have been crammed into four, largely because I think they didn't have another script to go (which may also explain why 'The Edge of Destruction' was a rather a lash up).
War Games being cut down to 4 episodes I think will work pretty well. Ep 1, cut 2-9 down to two episodes, then ep 10.
I think that one went to 10 as a four parter fell through, Space Prison IIRC.
Heretic.
War Games is perfect in it's drawn-outedness.
If we carry on down this route we'll shorten most of the 70s and 80s down to an hour.
True, very true. Plenty of padding going on. Cutting something like Warriors of the Deep down to an hour would be a blessing.
I do like the 10 part war games but I think the cut down would work.
I’m really interested to see how the colourisation of what they keep from eps 9 and 10 goes.
I appreciate that British cargo-cult Ameriphilia leads it to spend far too much time on the death of JFK (whilst neglecting the death of CS Lewis). But I must also point out that the 60th anniversary of Doctor Who is tomorrow. To celebrate this wonder of British TV the BBC are hosting the following.
- and several more over the coming months and years
It is a crux point for the programme: its new funding via Disney+ and return of its most popular showrunner (Russell T Davies) and star (David Tennant) point to great possibilities, although Disney+ has this habit of killing its purchases (see Star Wars), RTD 2022 is not RTD 2005, Tennant is only back for three episodes, and Tennant's successor Ncuti Gatwa has untested appeal on the global stage.
But however it turns out I am looking forward to the next few days, and I hope you will join me in that.
The Daleks in colour will be interesting especially as there is some revoicing and some new scenes written by RTD. A new score too. I’ll watch it. I won’t buy the DVD. Especially as it is a cut down compilation.
War Games is next.
I’m more interested in the growing rumours, and not the usual nonsense, about missing episode returns.
Star Beast I look forward too. Even though gender identify is a part of it I suspect RTD will handle it well.
Given how long the original Dalek serial dragged on for, cutting it down would actually be a good thing. They spread over seven parts what could easily have been crammed into four, largely because I think they didn't have another script to go (which may also explain why 'The Edge of Destruction' was a rather a lash up).
War Games being cut down to 4 episodes I think will work pretty well. Ep 1, cut 2-9 down to two episodes, then ep 10.
I think that one went to 10 as a four parter fell through, Space Prison IIRC.
I seem to recall reading The War Games novel at standard Target books length and assuming it had been four episodes. I was amazed it was 10, but then watching it you can see how it is stretched very very thin.
We are very used to modern pacing in our TV - older stuff can really drag!
Just seen the National Insurance announcement - really good to see that cut, a total 180 on Sunak's disgraceful increase of it. Well done Hunt!
Shame though to see tax thresholds are still frozen.
Long term though, cutting National Insurance absolutely should be the priority, ideally it should be abolished/merged into Income Tax, so that earned and unearned incomes are treated exactly the same.
PS is it just Employees NI that has been cut? What about Employers NIC?
No it should not be merged into income tax, it should be ringfenced to fund JSA and some of the state pension and NHS and social care as it was originally intended to do
Given NI raises approx £172 billion and the NHS budget is approx £168 billion, you're proposing *really* savage cuts in social care, pensions and JSA.
I didn't say it should only fund the NHS, obviously income tax would still fund it partly too but most OECD nations fund healthcare at least partly via insurance
Yes, but we don't. Its a tax, the fact it has a name insurance does not mean anything, its still a tax.
It isn't entirely, you can't claim JSA now without NI contributions for example, only UC if you are below the savings threshold.
The state pension also needs NI contributions or NI credits
Yes and since you get NI credits for being unemployed, how exactly is that an insurance?
And you can claim JSA with a history of NI credits too.
Its utterly meaningless and is a tax.
Then we should scrap NI credits being used for JSA given you can now only claim it for 6 months and there is UC, we should keep NI
Why should we?
Merge them, and have income tax used. Pay your taxes, get a contribution, don't and you don't.
Tax is supposed to fund non contributory spending, defence, the police, culture, schools etc, things everyone should be able to benefit from (plus UC, pensioners credit and healthcare where recipients have not contributed enough to benefit).
NI should fund JSA and state pensions and a more insurance based healthcare system
NI is a tax though.
If you want insurance, pay for a private policy. The state taxing us is taxes, and everyone should pay the same tax rates.
Maybe some will be persuaded by the tax cut today. But overall the impression I’m getting is people are less worried about the tax they pay and more about the state of the services the government is funding.
I don’t think people are looking at the issues the country faces right now and thinking “if only my taxes were lower”, rightly or wrongly.
The fact is that the Tories have lost the argument on tax for the time being, if not from an economic perspective then certainly with the public. In time, they might start winning that argument again, but not in 2024.
Yougov today finds 46% of voters (including 59% of Conservative voters) agreeing it is now realistic for the Government to cut taxes.
Just seen the National Insurance announcement - really good to see that cut, a total 180 on Sunak's disgraceful increase of it. Well done Hunt!
Shame though to see tax thresholds are still frozen.
Long term though, cutting National Insurance absolutely should be the priority, ideally it should be abolished/merged into Income Tax, so that earned and unearned incomes are treated exactly the same.
PS is it just Employees NI that has been cut? What about Employers NIC?
No change to Employers NI. I expect because no one is really aware it exists, so is a poor use of political capital.
As suggested by someone on the previous thread, we first need to make employer's NI visible. Make it compulsory to show gross pay prior to it. Needs a few years so it doesn't result in stealth pay cuts.
Next, we should merge employees and employers NI. And equalise the rates between employed and self employed. No reason tax rates should vary by type of work.
Finally, we should merge NI into income tax and simply link the state pension to having paid tax over a certain number of years, if needed.
Once the true tax rate is transparent and fairly applied, we may choose to shift the tax burden onto less productive areas such as wealth.
No we should not merge NI into income tax, we should use NI to move to a more contributory welfare and health system
Considering you get NI credits for being unemployed, how is anything contributory?
Why not just merge NI into income tax, then use income tax to move to a more contributory welfare and health system if that's what you want?
You can't use income tax for contributory welfare as it is also paid by pensioners not workers and is not an insurance.
National insurance is not an insurance either, and why shouldn't pensioners pay towards welfare?
They paid in when they paid NI
No, they didn't, they paid taxes that funded current expenditure at the time. They paid in nothing. There is no magical pot of money for that.
Current expenditure is still ongoing, and still needs paying for.
Maybe some will be persuaded by the tax cut today. But overall the impression I’m getting is people are less worried about the tax they pay and more about the state of the services the government is funding.
I don’t think people are looking at the issues the country faces right now and thinking “if only my taxes were lower”, rightly or wrongly.
The fact is that the Tories have lost the argument on tax for the time being, if not from an economic perspective then certainly with the public. In time, they might start winning that argument again, but not in 2024.
Yougov today finds 46% of voters (including 59% of Conservative voters) agreeing it is now realistic for the Government to cut taxes.
No, they redistributed some of the tax rises on income tax and National Insurance, to fund a cut in the rate of National Insurance, which is really a tax.
Holding the threshold frozen, while cutting the rate, is a tax rise not a tax cut.
Thresholds should be subject to independent control, or at least subject to external recommendations like the low pay commission.
I appreciate that British cargo-cult Ameriphilia leads it to spend far too much time on the death of JFK (whilst neglecting the death of CS Lewis). But I must also point out that the 60th anniversary of Doctor Who is tomorrow. To celebrate this wonder of British TV the BBC are hosting the following.
- and several more over the coming months and years
It is a crux point for the programme: its new funding via Disney+ and return of its most popular showrunner (Russell T Davies) and star (David Tennant) point to great possibilities, although Disney+ has this habit of killing its purchases (see Star Wars), RTD 2022 is not RTD 2005, Tennant is only back for three episodes, and Tennant's successor Ncuti Gatwa has untested appeal on the global stage.
But however it turns out I am looking forward to the next few days, and I hope you will join me in that.
The Daleks in colour will be interesting especially as there is some revoicing and some new scenes written by RTD. A new score too. I’ll watch it. I won’t buy the DVD. Especially as it is a cut down compilation.
War Games is next.
I’m more interested in the growing rumours, and not the usual nonsense, about missing episode returns.
Star Beast I look forward too. Even though gender identify is a part of it I suspect RTD will handle it well.
Given how long the original Dalek serial dragged on for, cutting it down would actually be a good thing. They spread over seven parts what could easily have been crammed into four, largely because I think they didn't have another script to go (which may also explain why 'The Edge of Destruction' was a rather a lash up).
War Games being cut down to 4 episodes I think will work pretty well. Ep 1, cut 2-9 down to two episodes, then ep 10.
I think that one went to 10 as a four parter fell through, Space Prison IIRC.
I seem to recall reading The War Games novel at standard Target books length and assuming it had been four episodes. I was amazed it was 10, but then watching it you can see how it is stretched very very thin.
We are very used to modern pacing in our TV - older stuff can really drag!
Yes, it was just a standard target length novel from the prolific Terrance Dicks.
The novelisation of Daleks Masterplan was over two standard target books.
Modern TV needs to grab people, it has far more competition for peoples attention than TV in the seventies and sixties.
Just seen the National Insurance announcement - really good to see that cut, a total 180 on Sunak's disgraceful increase of it. Well done Hunt!
Shame though to see tax thresholds are still frozen.
Long term though, cutting National Insurance absolutely should be the priority, ideally it should be abolished/merged into Income Tax, so that earned and unearned incomes are treated exactly the same.
PS is it just Employees NI that has been cut? What about Employers NIC?
No it should not be merged into income tax, it should be ringfenced to fund JSA and some of the state pension and NHS and social care as it was originally intended to do
Given NI raises approx £172 billion and the NHS budget is approx £168 billion, you're proposing *really* savage cuts in social care, pensions and JSA.
I didn't say it should only fund the NHS, obviously income tax would still fund it partly too but most OECD nations fund healthcare at least partly via insurance
Yes, but we don't. Its a tax, the fact it has a name insurance does not mean anything, its still a tax.
It isn't entirely, you can't claim JSA now without NI contributions for example, only UC if you are below the savings threshold.
The state pension also needs NI contributions or NI credits
Yes and since you get NI credits for being unemployed, how exactly is that an insurance?
And you can claim JSA with a history of NI credits too.
Its utterly meaningless and is a tax.
Then we should scrap NI credits being used for JSA given you can now only claim it for 6 months and there is UC, we should keep NI
Why should we?
Merge them, and have income tax used. Pay your taxes, get a contribution, don't and you don't.
Tax is supposed to fund non contributory spending, defence, the police, culture, schools etc, things everyone should be able to benefit from (plus UC, pensioners credit and healthcare where recipients have not contributed enough to benefit).
NI should fund JSA and state pensions and a more insurance based healthcare system
NI is a tax though.
If you want insurance, pay for a private policy. The state taxing us is taxes, and everyone should pay the same tax rates.
The top 10% of income earners already largely do, they have private health insurance, use private schools, have private pensions and rarely claim unemployment benefits or UC and if they do lose their jobs get big redundancy packages.
It is expanding contributory welfare and health to the remaining 80% (other than the bottom earning 10% who can't afford it)
Maybe some will be persuaded by the tax cut today. But overall the impression I’m getting is people are less worried about the tax they pay and more about the state of the services the government is funding.
I don’t think people are looking at the issues the country faces right now and thinking “if only my taxes were lower”, rightly or wrongly.
The fact is that the Tories have lost the argument on tax for the time being, if not from an economic perspective then certainly with the public. In time, they might start winning that argument again, but not in 2024.
Yougov today finds 46% of voters (including 59% of Conservative voters) agreeing it is now realistic for the Government to cut taxes.
The Leader of the VVD scored an own goal but opening up the prospect of working with the PVV. That was controversial and although later ruling out supporting Wilders as PM the damage was done .
Just seen the National Insurance announcement - really good to see that cut, a total 180 on Sunak's disgraceful increase of it. Well done Hunt!
Shame though to see tax thresholds are still frozen.
Long term though, cutting National Insurance absolutely should be the priority, ideally it should be abolished/merged into Income Tax, so that earned and unearned incomes are treated exactly the same.
PS is it just Employees NI that has been cut? What about Employers NIC?
No it should not be merged into income tax, it should be ringfenced to fund JSA and some of the state pension and NHS and social care as it was originally intended to do
Given NI raises approx £172 billion and the NHS budget is approx £168 billion, you're proposing *really* savage cuts in social care, pensions and JSA.
I didn't say it should only fund the NHS, obviously income tax would still fund it partly too but most OECD nations fund healthcare at least partly via insurance
Yes, but we don't. Its a tax, the fact it has a name insurance does not mean anything, its still a tax.
It isn't entirely, you can't claim JSA now without NI contributions for example, only UC if you are below the savings threshold.
The state pension also needs NI contributions or NI credits
Yes and since you get NI credits for being unemployed, how exactly is that an insurance?
And you can claim JSA with a history of NI credits too.
Its utterly meaningless and is a tax.
Then we should scrap NI credits being used for JSA given you can now only claim it for 6 months and there is UC, we should keep NI
Why should we?
Merge them, and have income tax used. Pay your taxes, get a contribution, don't and you don't.
Tax is supposed to fund non contributory spending, defence, the police, culture, schools etc, things everyone should be able to benefit from (plus UC, pensioners credit and healthcare where recipients have not contributed enough to benefit).
NI should fund JSA and state pensions and a more insurance based healthcare system
NI is a tax though.
If you want insurance, pay for a private policy. The state taxing us is taxes, and everyone should pay the same tax rates.
The top 10% of income earners already largely do, they have private health insurance, use private schools, have private pensions and rarely claim unemployment benefits or UC.
It is expanding contributory welfare and health to the remaining 80% (other than the bottom earning 10% who can't afford it)
There is no such thing as contributory welfare.
If you want to get people to start taking out private policies, then advocate that as a policy, in the meantime for any taxes everybody should pay the same rate of tax.
There is no need for, or excuse to have, National Insurance.
The Leader of the VVD scored an own goal but opening up the prospect of working with the PVV. That was controversial and although later ruling out supporting Wilders as PM the damage was done .
Some of their voters last time will have gone PVV though given PVV have come first not the Left
Maybe some will be persuaded by the tax cut today. But overall the impression I’m getting is people are less worried about the tax they pay and more about the state of the services the government is funding.
I don’t think people are looking at the issues the country faces right now and thinking “if only my taxes were lower”, rightly or wrongly.
The fact is that the Tories have lost the argument on tax for the time being, if not from an economic perspective then certainly with the public. In time, they might start winning that argument again, but not in 2024.
Yougov today finds 46% of voters (including 59% of Conservative voters) agreeing it is now realistic for the Government to cut taxes.
No, they redistributed some of the tax rises on income tax and National Insurance, to fund a cut in the rate of National Insurance, which is really a tax.
Holding the threshold frozen, while cutting the rate, is a tax rise not a tax cut.
Thresholds should be subject to independent control, or at least subject to external recommendations like the low pay commission.
In theory, there's a principle to do that; thresholds rise with inflation as the default, unless the government decides not to do that.
Sunak and Hunt have both decided to freeze them for several years at a go. And because it sounds boring and technical, I don't think we've clocked how much those mumbled sentences have brought in.
Just seen the National Insurance announcement - really good to see that cut, a total 180 on Sunak's disgraceful increase of it. Well done Hunt!
Shame though to see tax thresholds are still frozen.
Long term though, cutting National Insurance absolutely should be the priority, ideally it should be abolished/merged into Income Tax, so that earned and unearned incomes are treated exactly the same.
PS is it just Employees NI that has been cut? What about Employers NIC?
No it should not be merged into income tax, it should be ringfenced to fund JSA and some of the state pension and NHS and social care as it was originally intended to do
Given NI raises approx £172 billion and the NHS budget is approx £168 billion, you're proposing *really* savage cuts in social care, pensions and JSA.
I didn't say it should only fund the NHS, obviously income tax would still fund it partly too but most OECD nations fund healthcare at least partly via insurance
Yes, but we don't. Its a tax, the fact it has a name insurance does not mean anything, its still a tax.
It isn't entirely, you can't claim JSA now without NI contributions for example, only UC if you are below the savings threshold.
The state pension also needs NI contributions or NI credits
Yes and since you get NI credits for being unemployed, how exactly is that an insurance?
And you can claim JSA with a history of NI credits too.
Its utterly meaningless and is a tax.
Then we should scrap NI credits being used for JSA given you can now only claim it for 6 months and there is UC, we should keep NI
Why should we?
Merge them, and have income tax used. Pay your taxes, get a contribution, don't and you don't.
Tax is supposed to fund non contributory spending, defence, the police, culture, schools etc, things everyone should be able to benefit from (plus UC, pensioners credit and healthcare where recipients have not contributed enough to benefit).
NI should fund JSA and state pensions and a more insurance based healthcare system
NI is a tax though.
If you want insurance, pay for a private policy. The state taxing us is taxes, and everyone should pay the same tax rates.
The top 10% of income earners already largely do, they have private health insurance, use private schools, have private pensions and rarely claim unemployment benefits or UC.
It is expanding contributory welfare and health to the remaining 80% (other than the bottom earning 10% who can't afford it)
There is no such thing as contributory welfare.
If you want to get people to start taking out private policies, then advocate that as a policy, in the meantime for any taxes everybody should pay the same rate of tax.
There is no need for, or excuse to have, National Insurance.
Yes there is, in the US for example you can't get any unemployment benefits at all without sufficient employment contributions, most other OECD nations have an element of contributions based unemployment benefits too.
Most nations also have an insurance based element for state healthcare not just private healthcare, except for the very poorest.
This is I think the last election of 2023 (Stodge may know better! ) but certainly the last for me.
Voting closes at 8pm UK time, and as I'm sure many of you know, the Dutch voting system is the polar opposite of the UK's, with pure PR - there are 150 seats (zetels) in the Tweede Kamer, so 0.67% of the vote wins a seat, and 76 seats needed for a majority, but a government will also need a majority in the Senate to pass legislation.
17 parties won seats at the 2021 election, with four parties needed to form the government (VVD, CDA, D66, CU). The VVD's Mark Rutte, PM since 2010, is stepping down so this election will see a new prime minister emerge.
Despite the pure PR system and large number of parties, the Dutch actually have had fewer PM's than the UK, even pre-2010, with Den Uyl, Van Agt, Lubbers, Kok, and Balkenende from 1973 to 2010, compared to Heath, Wilson, Callaghan, Thatcher, Major, Blair, and Brown, and obviously only one since 2010 v our five.
As with Israel, there is often a lot of churn in the party constellations between elections, and 2023 is no different, with the Greens and Labour having merged (GL-PvdA led by Frans Timmermans), and the new party on the block being the NSC led by Pieter Omtzigt, essentially a breakaway from the Christian Democrats. The other major parties in the frame are Rutte's VVD, now led by Dilan Yeşilgöz (the first Dutch female PM?) and the rightwing PVV led by Geert Wilders. Up to 16 other parties might win seats, but none of these have been into 10+ seats consistently in recent polls.
Opinion polls often see large swings in the Netherlands - the new BBB surged during and after March's provincial elections, but is now very much an also ran, the new NSC was making the running only two weeks ago but has fallen back, while the PVV has led in the last two polls.
So it really is anyone's guess who the new PM will be - Wilders is a possibility but might struggle for coalition partners, it could also be Timmermans or Yeşilgöz. Either way it will be a long government formation, probably well into the new year and quite possibly not even this side of Easter.
Votes will be counted by hand at polling stations, but the large number of parties and candidates mean that the ballot papers are the size of a small shower towel and so counting won't be especially quick. It might be 60-90 minutes for the first result, probably one of Rozendaal (likely VVD), Renswoude (maybe NSC), or the Frisian island of Schiermonnikoog (probably either VVD or GL-PvDA).
I'll post any other useful links, especially a live results map, as I find them.
Many thanks,
DC
The last week has been very good for Wilders and the PVV and disappointing for Omtzigt's NSC. It could be the Green/Labour bloc which emerges as the party with the largest number of seats but that's on a knife edge. VVD seems to be in the upper 20s as well if the polling is right.
The four main groupings will have 100 or so seats between them with the other 50 being shared out between a plethora of a dozen parties.
Unless three of the "big four" get together it's going to be an interesting process to see what coalition comes out the other side. My "money" would be on a VVD/Green/Labour/D66 government.
Knife edge? The exit poll has those parties on 35 and 26 seats. Not particularly close.
Yes I can't see the PVV not being the largest, would have to be a huge polling failure. Greens/Labour down one to 25, VVD up one to 24 on exit poll update, so I think the real knife edge is the race to be the second party and potentially the next PM if Wilders doesn't have enough partners.
If any country has bigger ballot papers than the Netherlands, I would love to see them.
Just seen the National Insurance announcement - really good to see that cut, a total 180 on Sunak's disgraceful increase of it. Well done Hunt!
Shame though to see tax thresholds are still frozen.
Long term though, cutting National Insurance absolutely should be the priority, ideally it should be abolished/merged into Income Tax, so that earned and unearned incomes are treated exactly the same.
PS is it just Employees NI that has been cut? What about Employers NIC?
No it should not be merged into income tax, it should be ringfenced to fund JSA and some of the state pension and NHS and social care as it was originally intended to do
Given NI raises approx £172 billion and the NHS budget is approx £168 billion, you're proposing *really* savage cuts in social care, pensions and JSA.
I didn't say it should only fund the NHS, obviously income tax would still fund it partly too but most OECD nations fund healthcare at least partly via insurance
Yes, but we don't. Its a tax, the fact it has a name insurance does not mean anything, its still a tax.
It isn't entirely, you can't claim JSA now without NI contributions for example, only UC if you are below the savings threshold.
The state pension also needs NI contributions or NI credits
Yes and since you get NI credits for being unemployed, how exactly is that an insurance?
And you can claim JSA with a history of NI credits too.
Its utterly meaningless and is a tax.
Then we should scrap NI credits being used for JSA given you can now only claim it for 6 months and there is UC, we should keep NI
Why should we?
Merge them, and have income tax used. Pay your taxes, get a contribution, don't and you don't.
Tax is supposed to fund non contributory spending, defence, the police, culture, schools etc, things everyone should be able to benefit from (plus UC, pensioners credit and healthcare where recipients have not contributed enough to benefit).
NI should fund JSA and state pensions and a more insurance based healthcare system
NI is a tax though.
If you want insurance, pay for a private policy. The state taxing us is taxes, and everyone should pay the same tax rates.
The top 10% of income earners already largely do, they have private health insurance, use private schools, have private pensions and rarely claim unemployment benefits or UC.
It is expanding contributory welfare and health to the remaining 80% (other than the bottom earning 10% who can't afford it)
There is no such thing as contributory welfare.
If you want to get people to start taking out private policies, then advocate that as a policy, in the meantime for any taxes everybody should pay the same rate of tax.
There is no need for, or excuse to have, National Insurance.
Yes there is, in the US for example you can't get any unemployment benefits at all without sufficient employment contributions, most other OECD nations have an element of contributions based benefits too.
Most nations also have an insurance based element for state healthcare not just private healthcare, except for the very poorest.
Other nations have insurance systems yes, we don't. So NI should be wrapped into income tax, since that's all it is, a tax.
If you want to introduce an insurance based system then introduce that as a new policy.
Just seen the National Insurance announcement - really good to see that cut, a total 180 on Sunak's disgraceful increase of it. Well done Hunt!
Shame though to see tax thresholds are still frozen.
Long term though, cutting National Insurance absolutely should be the priority, ideally it should be abolished/merged into Income Tax, so that earned and unearned incomes are treated exactly the same.
PS is it just Employees NI that has been cut? What about Employers NIC?
No it should not be merged into income tax, it should be ringfenced to fund JSA and some of the state pension and NHS and social care as it was originally intended to do
Given NI raises approx £172 billion and the NHS budget is approx £168 billion, you're proposing *really* savage cuts in social care, pensions and JSA.
I didn't say it should only fund the NHS, obviously income tax would still fund it partly too but most OECD nations fund healthcare at least partly via insurance
Yes, but we don't. Its a tax, the fact it has a name insurance does not mean anything, its still a tax.
It isn't entirely, you can't claim JSA now without NI contributions for example, only UC if you are below the savings threshold.
The state pension also needs NI contributions or NI credits
Yes and since you get NI credits for being unemployed, how exactly is that an insurance?
And you can claim JSA with a history of NI credits too.
Its utterly meaningless and is a tax.
Then we should scrap NI credits being used for JSA given you can now only claim it for 6 months and there is UC, we should keep NI
Why should we?
Merge them, and have income tax used. Pay your taxes, get a contribution, don't and you don't.
Tax is supposed to fund non contributory spending, defence, the police, culture, schools etc, things everyone should be able to benefit from (plus UC, pensioners credit and healthcare where recipients have not contributed enough to benefit).
NI should fund JSA and state pensions and a more insurance based healthcare system
NI is a tax though.
If you want insurance, pay for a private policy. The state taxing us is taxes, and everyone should pay the same tax rates.
The top 10% of income earners already largely do, they have private health insurance, use private schools, have private pensions and rarely claim unemployment benefits or UC.
It is expanding contributory welfare and health to the remaining 80% (other than the bottom earning 10% who can't afford it)
There is no such thing as contributory welfare.
If you want to get people to start taking out private policies, then advocate that as a policy, in the meantime for any taxes everybody should pay the same rate of tax.
There is no need for, or excuse to have, National Insurance.
Yes there is, in the US for example you can't get any unemployment benefits at all without sufficient employment contributions, most other OECD nations have an element of contributions based benefits too.
Most nations also have an insurance based element for state healthcare not just private healthcare, except for the very poorest.
Other nations have insurance systems yes, we don't. So NI should be wrapped into income tax, since that's all it is, a tax.
If you want to introduce an insurance based system then introduce that as a new policy.
That is not NI though.
We do, that was what NI was set up to be, an insurance based fund for the unemployed and healthcare and later the state pension as well.
Comments
Just seen the National Insurance announcement - really good to see that cut, a total 180 on Sunak's disgraceful increase of it. Well done Hunt!
Shame though to see tax thresholds are still frozen.
Long term though, cutting National Insurance absolutely should be the priority, ideally it should be abolished/merged into Income Tax, so that earned and unearned incomes are treated exactly the same.
PS is it just Employees NI that has been cut? What about Employers NIC?
Apart from pointing to Alistair Cooke's Letter from America from that date:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00yqhr6
I think he was much closer to the assassination of Bobby Kennedy, but that's one for another day.
Evening all,
This is I think the last election of 2023 (Stodge may know better!
Voting closes at 8pm UK time, and as I'm sure many of you know, the Dutch voting system is the polar opposite of the UK's, with pure PR - there are 150 seats (zetels) in the Tweede Kamer, so 0.67% of the vote wins a seat, and 76 seats needed for a majority, but a government will also need a majority in the Senate to pass legislation.
17 parties won seats at the 2021 election, with four parties needed to form the government (VVD, CDA, D66, CU). The VVD's Mark Rutte, PM since 2010, is stepping down so this election will see a new prime minister emerge.
Despite the pure PR system and large number of parties, the Dutch actually have had fewer PM's than the UK, even pre-2010, with Den Uyl, Van Agt, Lubbers, Kok, and Balkenende from 1973 to 2010, compared to Heath, Wilson, Callaghan, Thatcher, Major, Blair, and Brown, and obviously only one since 2010 v our five.
As with Israel, there is often a lot of churn in the party constellations between elections, and 2023 is no different, with the Greens and Labour having merged (GL-PvdA led by Frans Timmermans), and the new party on the block being the NSC led by Pieter Omtzigt, essentially a breakaway from the Christian Democrats. The other major parties in the frame are Rutte's VVD, now led by Dilan Yeşilgöz (the first Dutch female PM?) and the rightwing PVV led by Geert Wilders. Up to 16 other parties might win seats, but none of these have been into 10+ seats consistently in recent polls.
Opinion polls often see large swings in the Netherlands - the new BBB surged during and after March's provincial elections, but is now very much an also ran, the new NSC was making the running only two weeks ago but has fallen back, while the PVV has led in the last two polls.
So it really is anyone's guess who the new PM will be - Wilders is a possibility but might struggle for coalition partners, it could also be Timmermans or Yeşilgöz. Either way it will be a long government formation, probably well into the new year and quite possibly not even this side of Easter.
Votes will be counted by hand at polling stations, but the large number of parties and candidates mean that the ballot papers are the size of a small shower towel and so counting won't be especially quick. It might be 60-90 minutes for the first result, probably one of Rozendaal (likely VVD), Renswoude (maybe NSC), or the Frisian island of Schiermonnikoog (probably either VVD or GL-PvDA).
https://nos.nl/livestream/2498871-kijk-hier-mee-met-de-uitslagenavond
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opinion_polling_for_the_2023_Dutch_general_election
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2023_Dutch_general_election
I'll post any other useful links, especially a live results map, as I find them.
Many thanks,
DC
The only problem with this theory is that when asked if he shot the president LHO replied " I didn't shoot anybody, I'm a patsy".
* https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001snnz : The Daleks in Colour (a colourised and edited 75-min version of the 1963 serial)
* https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01kqt9x : An Adventure in Space and Time (a drama about the early years of the programme)
* https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001sx3h : The Star Beast (first episode of a new series with the return-ish of David Tennant)
- and several more over the coming months and years
It is a crux point for the programme: its new funding via Disney+ and return of its most popular showrunner (Russell T Davies) and star (David Tennant) point to great possibilities, although Disney+ has this habit of killing its purchases (see Star Wars), RTD 2022 is not RTD 2005, Tennant is only back for three episodes, and Tennant's successor Ncuti Gatwa has untested appeal on the global stage.
But however it turns out I am looking forward to the next few days, and I hope you will join me in that.
But the conspiracy theorists say he actually died, and was replaced by a doppelganger!
Spoiler alert - the end of the story results in President Perot.
https://twitter.com/rawsalerts/status/1727414307716014308
Awaiting tinfoil-hatters to point out the blast occurred conveniently off-camera...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Election_day
Labour seem afraid to challenge this and one can understand why. But people want good public services and those need to be paid for by us, not by borrowing, not by some mythological 'efficiency savings'.
The honest approach would be to say to the country something like:
Do you want a top class health service with short waiting times?
Do you want fully staffed schools in buildings that aren't going to fall down?
Do you want good public transport and roads that aren't congested, closed or riddled with potholes?
Do you want councils that can deliver good local services without going bankrupt.
Do you want a well funded police service that actively prevents and investigates crime?
Do you want a criminal justice system that prosecutes criminal quickly and justly?
Do you want a robust immigration service that deals quickly and humanely with illegal immigrants?
Do you want all these things?
So do we, but here's the truth: those things need to be paid for, and you should understand that that means the country has to raise enough taxes to do these things properly without borrowing and adding to our debt.
We will do that and we will do so in a way that ensures the poorest pay no more but the wealthiest will see their taxes increase. Everyone, no matter what their wealth or income will benefit from better public services and, in time, reduced national debt.
In one of the strange footnotes of history John Peel (later the notorious DJ) was there in the room with LHO and Jack Ruby. 5.09 in this YouTube clip, narrated by JP.
I don't think Peel was part of any conspiracy, just good at blagging entry.
https://youtu.be/0aHDJy0R8nQ?feature=shared
Currently (after these changes) at basic tax level the Government is taking 44.3% of an employers pay bill in tax/NI/levy after the first £12,584.
If the employee is on higher tax then the Government is taking 56.3% of an employers pay bill in tax/NI/levy for any earnings over approx. £50K
Only 32% of voters (including 42% of Labour voters) disagree
https://x.com/YouGov/status/1727397193374708173?s=20
Also, since I'm at it, was JFK perhaps the last great orator? Why do we not have great public speakers these days?
War Games is next.
I’m more interested in the growing rumours, and not the usual nonsense, about missing episode returns.
Star Beast I look forward too. Even though gender identify is a part of it I suspect RTD will handle it well.
PVV 35 +18
GL-PvdA 26 +9
VVD 23 -11
NSC 20 +20
D66 10 -14
Or if someone is on UC so the taper rate applies, in which case its adding up to nearly 100%.
Nowadays people can be on both taper and graduate tax too.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kp43kSehR_0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8zHURhs0DbM
https://twitter.com/BestForBritain/status/1727335590742442139?t=okA27t9jXX268eJDHGALzg&s=19
The state pension also needs NI contributions or NI credits
Governing centre right Liberals collapse to 3rd behind Wilders' Party of Freedom and the Left Green and Labour alliance of GL-PvdA
https://www.gov.uk/national-insurance-credits
And you can claim JSA with a history of NI credits too.
Its utterly meaningless and is a tax.
As suggested by someone on the previous thread, we first need to make employer's NI visible. Make it compulsory to show gross pay prior to it. Needs a few years so it doesn't result in stealth pay cuts.
Next, we should merge employees and employers NI. And equalise the rates between employed and self employed. No reason tax rates should vary by type of work.
Finally, we should merge NI into income tax and simply link the state pension to having paid tax over a certain number of years, if needed.
Once the true tax rate is transparent and fairly applied, we may choose to shift the tax burden onto less productive areas such as wealth.
Kinnock, 1983: The "warn you" speech: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yjLr5fMX4A
Kinnock, 1985: The "Militant" speech: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5HViOcwNDuU
PB. The memory of a mayfly...
But a long way to go obviously and a lot can change, turnout at 8.45pm local time was 77%
Full exit poll plus results map, coalition builder etc here: https://app.nos.nl/nieuws/tk2023/
Live blog: https://www.dutchnews.nl/category/election-2023/
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-67487777 with the best artwork I've ever seen at a polling station - the UK may have dogs at polling stations but the Dutch have old masters.
Watching the race between Schiermonnikoog and Vlieland with the counting staff wrestling with the massive ballot papers that look like paper rugs
ETA in your linked video, Oswald's eye looks swollen.
I think that one went to 10 as a four parter fell through, Space Prison IIRC.
The four main groupings will have 100 or so seats between them with the other 50 being shared out between a plethora of a dozen parties.
Unless three of the "big four" get together it's going to be an interesting process to see what coalition comes out the other side. My "money" would be on a VVD/Green/Labour/D66 government.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opinion_polling_for_the_2023_Dutch_general_election#Vote_share
This looks to have bucked the trend?
Did a certain poster seriously suggest that there was discussion about where a new Jewish homeland should be and mention Madagascar?
https://vf.politicalbetting.com/discussion/comment/4612615/#Comment_4612615
Was the poster concerned unaware of the context? That they were mentioning a Nazi-designed passive genocide as a serious alternative to what became the state of Israel?
Ken Livingstone is clearly now posting on PB despite health issues...
War Games is perfect in it's drawn-outedness.
If we carry on down this route we'll shorten most of the 70s and 80s down to an hour.
Why not just merge NI into income tax, then use income tax to move to a more contributory welfare and health system if that's what you want?
(Bloomberg) -- Prime Minister Rishi Sunak could prevent the opposition Labour Party from winning a parliamentary majority at the next election if his Conservatives can claw back just six points in the polls from voters who would have otherwise stayed at home or supported one of the UK’s minor political parties, according to data published by research consultancy Stonehaven.
https://uk.movies.yahoo.com/tories-block-labour-majority-six-050000293.html
Merge them, and have income tax used. Pay your taxes, get a contribution, don't and you don't.
Holding the threshold frozen, while cutting the rate, is a tax rise not a tax cut.
It is an America where the CIA are running a private army and are out of control; where the Mafia has a finger in everything; where the Klan is still powerful, where the Mormons have the power of Howard Hughes money and the FBI are also under the control of the deeply weird J Edgar Hoover, where all these different power bases interact and bounce off each other in unpredictable ways and the consequences were a dead President.
A lot of the US wanted the Kennedys gone and Robert gone from being AG in particular. I think the shooting was done by Oswald alone but how he came to be there, who motivated him and who manipulated the event is a much more complex story.
NI should fund JSA and state pensions and a more insurance based healthcare system
I do like the 10 part war games but I think the cut down would work.
I’m really interested to see how the colourisation of what they keep from eps 9 and 10 goes.
We are very used to modern pacing in our TV - older stuff can really drag!
If you want insurance, pay for a private policy. The state taxing us is taxes, and everyone should pay the same tax rates.
Current expenditure is still ongoing, and still needs paying for.
The novelisation of Daleks Masterplan was over two standard target books.
Modern TV needs to grab people, it has far more competition for peoples attention than TV in the seventies and sixties.
It is expanding contributory welfare and health to the remaining 80% (other than the bottom earning 10% who can't afford it)
If you want to get people to start taking out private policies, then advocate that as a policy, in the meantime for any taxes everybody should pay the same rate of tax.
There is no need for, or excuse to have, National Insurance.
Sunak and Hunt have both decided to freeze them for several years at a go. And because it sounds boring and technical, I don't think we've clocked how much those mumbled sentences have brought in.
But Jeremy says 2p off.
Most nations also have an insurance based element for state healthcare not just private healthcare, except for the very poorest.
If any country has bigger ballot papers than the Netherlands, I would love to see them.
The unsuccessful auditonees for the role of the first companion.
Not a lot it seems.
http://doctorwhocastandcrew.blogspot.com/2023/11/whatever-happened-to-other-susan.html
If you want to introduce an insurance based system then introduce that as a new policy.
That is not NI though.
He's been a better POTUS than Obama, best since Clinton in my view.
It should be ringfenced for that not used for what taxes should fund
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Insurance_Act_1911