I have to say (unless it was ruled out in the speech, but in the reporting I can’t see it) the tone of that Starmer speech makes me wonder if higher rate income tax is going to go up.
Reeve isn't stupid. The budget will surely have some tax grabs from the well off - pension tax relief on higher earners for example and goodies for everyone else - increase the basic tax threshold for example.
She should raise personal allowance marginally to ensure people on a basic state pension and a bit of interest from savings don't need to pay income tax. The increase in personal allowance should be restricted to pensioners and would part offset the removal of the winter fuel allowance.
I've advise anyone with a pension or an isa to put away everything they can into it during September and October, as soon as they can.
You think they'd really do "from midnight tonight" not "from April" on stuff this big?
Yes because they’ve already set a precedent with the VAT on school fees announcement.
Well, I don't pay higher rate tax. But I'll get the £4000 into my LISA (speaking of things which might be ripe for abolishment).
Giving everyone six months to stuff pensions and ISAs before they get severely restricted, is something that could cause all sorts of weird behaviours and unintended consequences for the Treasury.
Yes, we certainly need more saving and less consumption but you can have too much of a good thing if you get it all at once. Sales of new cars, houses and holidays collapse.
Plus a lot of personal loans taken out on false premises, probably.
Sounds like mortgage fraud when you put it that way.
I want to address this idea that as a one nation conservative I should 'shut up' when criticising Starmer and the Labour government
I did vote Labour in 1997 and 2001 as I was inspired by Blair and he was a charismatic positive leader and I did not regret my vote
Apart from these years I have voted conservative and in the past been an activist especially at election time
I know the 14 years of wasted conservative rule is now an established mantra, but it is political nonsense not least because of the inheritance of the 2010 conservative government, and then the coalition government that I consider to be the best government of the period
Johnson took us out of Europe and to many that is unforgivable, but it was the mandate of the people and no matter the problems I personally am quite content to be out of the EU though I do want closer relationships
Johnson did well with covid and frankly had it been Starmer, Drakeford and Sturgeon in charge we would have been locked down much longer with more economic damage
Johnson also excelled on Ukraine and it wasn't because of Brexit , covid or Ukraine that Johnson fell, but his own utter stupidly and behaviour that made his resignation inevitable
As far as Truss is concerned the less said the better and Sunak proved to be terrible at politics, but both he and Hunt have recovered the economy from the Truss debacle
I do not support the likes of Braverman, ERG, Farage or anything to do with Reform but I do hope someday a one nation conservative party will arrive because I genuinely believe Starmer and Labour can lose their majority at the next election considering they only won 33% of the vote this year
Anyway I will critise Labour as and when I wish and will not be cowed by attempts to close me down and I hope other conservatives and opponents of Labour will not give this government a free pass ' as they are only 7 weeks old'
QAnon conspiracy theorist/self-proclaimed "prophet" Johnny Enlow reports that Trump will soon receive the endorsement of "a major name star that has been assumed to be dead for a long time." https://x.com/RightWingWatch/status/1828151052761178373
Reeve isn't stupid. The budget will surely have some tax grabs from the well off - pension tax relief on higher earners for example and goodies for everyone else - increase the basic tax threshold for example.
She should raise personal allowance marginally to ensure people on a basic state pension and a bit of interest from savings don't need to pay income tax. The increase in personal allowance should be restricted to pensioners and would part offset the removal of the winter fuel allowance.
It would need to raise by about £1,000 to £2,000 to give back between £200 and £300 lost by the removal of WFA. But then you would be back into the situation in which everyone either gets the WFA, as they're on pension credit, or gets the equivalent because they are basic rate taxpayers. They'll be some scenarios in which both are possible... Pretty much any savings wiped away, add on complexities around WFA been a household payment whilst income tax is an individual payment. I can't see a way you that doesnt end up wiping out savings without bringing in a new means test. Ideas: - Payment restricted to council tax bands - until the two bed bungalow in Hartlepool loses out but a £2.5million house in Hackney still gets it. - Payment to non tax payers only - thresholds of tax allowance and pension/pension credit/slash small pension are very close - Payment stopped for higher rate tax payers - Easiest proposal but will yield few savings.
A sticky mess that seemed good on a scrap of paper when looking for easy wins.
Reeve isn't stupid. The budget will surely have some tax grabs from the well off - pension tax relief on higher earners for example and goodies for everyone else - increase the basic tax threshold for example.
How do high earning pensioners get pension tax relief, where do I apply
QAnon conspiracy theorist/self-proclaimed "prophet" Johnny Enlow reports that Trump will soon receive the endorsement of "a major name star that has been assumed to be dead for a long time." https://x.com/RightWingWatch/status/1828151052761178373
I always knew there was something funny about that business in the bunker.
QAnon conspiracy theorist/self-proclaimed "prophet" Johnny Enlow reports that Trump will soon receive the endorsement of "a major name star that has been assumed to be dead for a long time." https://x.com/RightWingWatch/status/1828151052761178373
I always knew there was something funny about that business in the bunker.
Reeve isn't stupid. The budget will surely have some tax grabs from the well off - pension tax relief on higher earners for example and goodies for everyone else - increase the basic tax threshold for example.
She should raise personal allowance marginally to ensure people on a basic state pension and a bit of interest from savings don't need to pay income tax. The increase in personal allowance should be restricted to pensioners and would part offset the removal of the winter fuel allowance.
Why should the increase in PA be restricted to pensioners? They get enough goodies as it is. How did we enter a world where ageism in the tax system and benefit system is acceptable? See also lower minimum wage for 18 year olds.
Pensioners should not have to pay tax, having paid it for 50 years it is a scandal.
QAnon conspiracy theorist/self-proclaimed "prophet" Johnny Enlow reports that Trump will soon receive the endorsement of "a major name star that has been assumed to be dead for a long time." https://x.com/RightWingWatch/status/1828151052761178373
I always knew there was something funny about that business in the bunker.
QAnon conspiracy theorist/self-proclaimed "prophet" Johnny Enlow reports that Trump will soon receive the endorsement of "a major name star that has been assumed to be dead for a long time." https://x.com/RightWingWatch/status/1828151052761178373
QAnon conspiracy theorist/self-proclaimed "prophet" Johnny Enlow reports that Trump will soon receive the endorsement of "a major name star that has been assumed to be dead for a long time." https://x.com/RightWingWatch/status/1828151052761178373
Elvis would be 89 if he were to be found alive today!
Reeve isn't stupid. The budget will surely have some tax grabs from the well off - pension tax relief on higher earners for example and goodies for everyone else - increase the basic tax threshold for example.
She should raise personal allowance marginally to ensure people on a basic state pension and a bit of interest from savings don't need to pay income tax. The increase in personal allowance should be restricted to pensioners and would part offset the removal of the winter fuel allowance.
Why should the increase in PA be restricted to pensioners? They get enough goodies as it is. How did we enter a world where ageism in the tax system and benefit system is acceptable? See also lower minimum wage for 18 year olds.
Pensioners should not have to pay tax, having paid it for 50 years it is a scandal.
Good idea, but we would surely have to start taxing our northern colonies a load more to compensate?
QAnon conspiracy theorist/self-proclaimed "prophet" Johnny Enlow reports that Trump will soon receive the endorsement of "a major name star that has been assumed to be dead for a long time." https://x.com/RightWingWatch/status/1828151052761178373
Terrible expectations management from the Trump campaign. If it's not Elvis there'll be enormous disappointment. And it won't be Elvis because he died in 1977.
QAnon conspiracy theorist/self-proclaimed "prophet" Johnny Enlow reports that Trump will soon receive the endorsement of "a major name star that has been assumed to be dead for a long time." https://x.com/RightWingWatch/status/1828151052761178373
Elvis would be 89 if he were to be found alive today!
QAnon conspiracy theorist/self-proclaimed "prophet" Johnny Enlow reports that Trump will soon receive the endorsement of "a major name star that has been assumed to be dead for a long time." https://x.com/RightWingWatch/status/1828151052761178373
QAnon conspiracy theorist/self-proclaimed "prophet" Johnny Enlow reports that Trump will soon receive the endorsement of "a major name star that has been assumed to be dead for a long time." https://x.com/RightWingWatch/status/1828151052761178373
Elvis would be 89 if he were to be found alive today!
QAnon conspiracy theorist/self-proclaimed "prophet" Johnny Enlow reports that Trump will soon receive the endorsement of "a major name star that has been assumed to be dead for a long time." https://x.com/RightWingWatch/status/1828151052761178373
Elvis would be 89 if he were to be found alive today!
I want to address this idea that as a one nation conservative I should 'shut up' when criticising Starmer and the Labour government
I did vote Labour in 1997 and 2001 as I was inspired by Blair and he was a charismatic positive leader and I did not regret my vote
Apart from these years I have voted conservative and in the past been an activist especially at election time
I know the 14 years of wasted conservative rule is now an established mantra, but it is political nonsense not least because of the inheritance of the 2010 conservative government, and then the coalition government that I consider to be the best government of the period
Johnson took us out of Europe and to many that is unforgivable, but it was the mandate of the people and no matter the problems I personally am quite content to be out of the EU though I do want closer relationships
Johnson did well with covid and frankly had it been Starmer, Drakeford and Sturgeon in charge we would have been locked down much longer with more economic damage
Johnson also excelled on Ukraine and it wasn't because of Brexit , covid or Ukraine that Johnson fell, but his own utter stupidly and behaviour that made his resignation inevitable
As far as Truss is concerned the less said the better and Sunak proved to be terrible at politics, but both he and Hunt have recovered the economy from the Truss debacle
I do not support the likes of Braverman, ERG, Farage or anything to do with Reform but I do hope someday a one nation conservative party will arrive because I genuinely believe Starmer and Labour can lose their majority at the next election considering they only won 33% of the vote this year
Anyway I will critise Labour as and when I wish and will not be cowed by attempts to close me down and I hope other conservatives and opponents of Labour will not give this government a free pass ' as they are only 7 weeks old'
You are perfectly entitled to call out the Starmer Government for failure, but after seven weeks they haven't failed - yet. Although the Winter Fuel issue has the making of a fiasco. Your attempt to paint the Ali story as sleaze with an equivalence to Johnson is a false narrative.
You spent most of your post defending Johnson, now Brexit aside, Johnson's record is to some of us absolutely disastrous. Now even if we were to concede he got all the big calls right (he didn't) his behaviour and lack of professionalism was shocking!
QAnon conspiracy theorist/self-proclaimed "prophet" Johnny Enlow reports that Trump will soon receive the endorsement of "a major name star that has been assumed to be dead for a long time." https://x.com/RightWingWatch/status/1828151052761178373
Elvis would be 89 if he were to be found alive today!
That's not very old.
All that time running a chip shop on the moon must have taken it's toll though.
Comparing Keir Starmer with Don Bradman is the most defamatory thread in the pb career of @TSE
There was nothing quirky about Bradman’s test average. He was the greatest batter in the history of the game. A Titan who scored runs at leisure. He averaged his c.100 by scoring at nearly a run a ball, long before Bazball.
Keir Starmer, by contrast, won a landslide because the main Opposition party became unelectable and detestable. He is mediocre. More of a Graham Onions.
Have a nice day
xx
batsman
Batter
But when talking about Don Bradman, we shouldn't need to specify men's test cricket...
If I was placing a bet in this market it would be on Bridget.
If I was placing a bet on this market, it would simply be to lay all the options.
One genuinely odd thing about that list is that David Lammy isn't on it.
Even before Lammy become FS there was discussion about who it should actually be instead. I don't think he is in the frame for leader.
Bridget has much going for her. Proper northern, Catholic, charm, can speak in meaningful sentences when she wants, perhaps a less posh Harriet Harman. Possible value.
Reeves and Streeting are likely to become less popular over time given their roles in government. I've no idea why anyone imagines Burnham might suddenly find himself in with a chance, and Khan (although much longer odds) is unlikely too.
I think Lammy has probably realised that he isn't up to the job of being PM, and seems quite happy in his current role.
So Phillipson does seem the most likely possibility, but I think we're a very long way off any change.
I think we're so far off change that none of today's Cabinet are likely.
Yeah - mostly with you.
A couple of factors though which could cause change; - government finances (this looks pretty grim) - the left (they never go quietly into the night)
I suspect that the government will avoid these perils, but who knows. The above, combined with Tory weakness, are also why I'm not laying Farage as next PM at the seemingly ludicrous 11.5s available. (Well that and if it's a good bet you just tie money up for years)
Thanks. On finances though, for how long can the Government "get away' with laying the blame on the Tories for the past 14 years? My recollection is that Brown's government didn't exactly leave a financial bed of roses. In fact the public finances have been in a mess since about 2005. The issue with the Coalition was that they cut where they shouldn't have, especially Sure Start and tuition fees and didn't raise taxes where they could have, on, for example, unearned income. Raising VAT was also counter-productive. If that puts me on the Left, so be it.
To be fair, the Conservatives in Government were still talking about the Winter of Discontent well into the mid-90s as a reason for not voting for Blair. I think there's a good bit of mileage in blaming the previous Conservative-led Governments - the prison system crisis can be laid entirely at the Conservative door for example.
I don't disagree with much of your analysis of the Coalition - in order to get to No.10, Cameron had to make some promises on not cutting the NHS or Education which were as deleterious as the LD commitment on tuition fees.
The public finances were in a bad state in 2010 - no one is arguing that - but Osborne and Alexander should have raised taxes more than they did and made shallower but broader cuts to public spending. The origins of the current crisis in local Government finance can be found here - in sheer headcount, the local Government sector has shrunk by a third since 2012 yet it has taken on increasing burdens such as public health and the growing demands on care for vulnerable adults and children.
To be fair, progress was made on reducing the deficit (the likes of Braverman trumpet that at every opportunity) but the way it was done was counter productive.
In 2010 the economy was already recovering until George Osborne imposed Plan A (austerity). Remember Ed Balls' (not Balls's) flatline hand gestures?
Why Ed Balls' (not Balls's)? Just curious. Balls' is wrong, but I've never heard anything authoritative says that it's right.
There's no particular rule. It's what you think sounds right, and then spell it as you say it.
I'd say there is a particular rule: a few trivial exceptions aside, to make the possessive of the singular noun you write the singular noun and then put 's at the end.
There's several alternative rules for singular proper nouns ending in s: -Always add apostrophe and s -Always add just an apostrophe -Add apostrophe plus s when you pronounce the extra s, otherwise just add an apostrophe. -Add apostrophe plus s except with classical names with more than one syllable (Pythagoras' theorem) and/or where the final s of the name is silent (Degas' Little Dancer) -Some other combination of the above.
QAnon conspiracy theorist/self-proclaimed "prophet" Johnny Enlow reports that Trump will soon receive the endorsement of "a major name star that has been assumed to be dead for a long time." https://x.com/RightWingWatch/status/1828151052761178373
Elvis would be 89 if he were to be found alive today!
That's not very old.
Jesus would be over 2000. I do assume he's been dead a long time, but others don't.
Could be Princess Di, who definitely fancied Trump
I want to address this idea that as a one nation conservative I should 'shut up' when criticising Starmer and the Labour government
I did vote Labour in 1997 and 2001 as I was inspired by Blair and he was a charismatic positive leader and I did not regret my vote
Apart from these years I have voted conservative and in the past been an activist especially at election time
I know the 14 years of wasted conservative rule is now an established mantra, but it is political nonsense not least because of the inheritance of the 2010 conservative government, and then the coalition government that I consider to be the best government of the period
Johnson took us out of Europe and to many that is unforgivable, but it was the mandate of the people and no matter the problems I personally am quite content to be out of the EU though I do want closer relationships
Johnson did well with covid and frankly had it been Starmer, Drakeford and Sturgeon in charge we would have been locked down much longer with more economic damage
Johnson also excelled on Ukraine and it wasn't because of Brexit , covid or Ukraine that Johnson fell, but his own utter stupidly and behaviour that made his resignation inevitable
As far as Truss is concerned the less said the better and Sunak proved to be terrible at politics, but both he and Hunt have recovered the economy from the Truss debacle
I do not support the likes of Braverman, ERG, Farage or anything to do with Reform but I do hope someday a one nation conservative party will arrive because I genuinely believe Starmer and Labour can lose their majority at the next election considering they only won 33% of the vote this year
Anyway I will critise Labour as and when I wish and will not be cowed by attempts to close me down and I hope other conservatives and opponents of Labour will not give this government a free pass ' as they are only 7 weeks old'
You are perfectly entitled to call out the Starmer Government for failure, but after seven weeks they haven't failed - yet. Although the Winter Fuel issue has the making of a fiasco. Your attempt to paint the Ali story as sleaze with an equivalence to Johnson is a false narrative.
You spent most of your post defending Johnson, now Brexit aside*, Johnson's record is to some of us absolutely disastrous. Now even if we were to concede he got all the big calls right (he didn't) his behaviour and lack of professionalism was shocking!
* Unfortunate comment, Brexit aside assumes my approval. I don't approve, Brexit was his single biggest error.
I want to address this idea that as a one nation conservative I should 'shut up' when criticising Starmer and the Labour government
I did vote Labour in 1997 and 2001 as I was inspired by Blair and he was a charismatic positive leader and I did not regret my vote
Apart from these years I have voted conservative and in the past been an activist especially at election time
I know the 14 years of wasted conservative rule is now an established mantra, but it is political nonsense not least because of the inheritance of the 2010 conservative government, and then the coalition government that I consider to be the best government of the period
Johnson took us out of Europe and to many that is unforgivable, but it was the mandate of the people and no matter the problems I personally am quite content to be out of the EU though I do want closer relationships
Johnson did well with covid and frankly had it been Starmer, Drakeford and Sturgeon in charge we would have been locked down much longer with more economic damage
Johnson also excelled on Ukraine and it wasn't because of Brexit , covid or Ukraine that Johnson fell, but his own utter stupidly and behaviour that made his resignation inevitable
As far as Truss is concerned the less said the better and Sunak proved to be terrible at politics, but both he and Hunt have recovered the economy from the Truss debacle
I do not support the likes of Braverman, ERG, Farage or anything to do with Reform but I do hope someday a one nation conservative party will arrive because I genuinely believe Starmer and Labour can lose their majority at the next election considering they only won 33% of the vote this year
Anyway I will critise Labour as and when I wish and will not be cowed by attempts to close me down and I hope other conservatives and opponents of Labour will not give this government a free pass ' as they are only 7 weeks old'
Have a word with yerself . No ones closing you down.
QAnon conspiracy theorist/self-proclaimed "prophet" Johnny Enlow reports that Trump will soon receive the endorsement of "a major name star that has been assumed to be dead for a long time." https://x.com/RightWingWatch/status/1828151052761178373
Elvis would be 89 if he were to be found alive today!
That's not very old.
All that time running a chip shop on the moon must have taken it's toll though.
"a major name star that has been assumed to be dead for a long time."
I want to address this idea that as a one nation conservative I should 'shut up' when criticising Starmer and the Labour government
I did vote Labour in 1997 and 2001 as I was inspired by Blair and he was a charismatic positive leader and I did not regret my vote
Apart from these years I have voted conservative and in the past been an activist especially at election time
I know the 14 years of wasted conservative rule is now an established mantra, but it is political nonsense not least because of the inheritance of the 2010 conservative government, and then the coalition government that I consider to be the best government of the period
Johnson took us out of Europe and to many that is unforgivable, but it was the mandate of the people and no matter the problems I personally am quite content to be out of the EU though I do want closer relationships
Johnson did well with covid and frankly had it been Starmer, Drakeford and Sturgeon in charge we would have been locked down much longer with more economic damage
Johnson also excelled on Ukraine and it wasn't because of Brexit , covid or Ukraine that Johnson fell, but his own utter stupidly and behaviour that made his resignation inevitable
As far as Truss is concerned the less said the better and Sunak proved to be terrible at politics, but both he and Hunt have recovered the economy from the Truss debacle
I do not support the likes of Braverman, ERG, Farage or anything to do with Reform but I do hope someday a one nation conservative party will arrive because I genuinely believe Starmer and Labour can lose their majority at the next election considering they only won 33% of the vote this year
Anyway I will critise Labour as and when I wish and will not be cowed by attempts to close me down and I hope other conservatives and opponents of Labour will not give this government a free pass ' as they are only 7 weeks old'
Have a word with yerself . No ones closing you down.
QAnon conspiracy theorist/self-proclaimed "prophet" Johnny Enlow reports that Trump will soon receive the endorsement of "a major name star that has been assumed to be dead for a long time." https://x.com/RightWingWatch/status/1828151052761178373
Cher? I remember people gloating now that cher's dead.
QAnon conspiracy theorist/self-proclaimed "prophet" Johnny Enlow reports that Trump will soon receive the endorsement of "a major name star that has been assumed to be dead for a long time." https://x.com/RightWingWatch/status/1828151052761178373
Elvis would be 89 if he were to be found alive today!
That's not very old.
All that time running a chip shop on the moon must have taken it's toll though.
"a major name star that has been assumed to be dead for a long time."
QAnon conspiracy theorist/self-proclaimed "prophet" Johnny Enlow reports that Trump will soon receive the endorsement of "a major name star that has been assumed to be dead for a long time." https://x.com/RightWingWatch/status/1828151052761178373
Cher? I remember people gloating now that cher's dead.
Starmer is faced with one massive problem and one massive advantage.
The massive problem is that he, personally, is utterly uninspiring. He simply cannot effectively deliver any positive vision or cases for his policies, and his team are also fairly uninspiring. Rayner seems to hate everyone who is not Labour, and Reeves is relentlessly negative. Labour desperately need a little sprinkling of Blair's hope and sunniness.
The massive advantage is that his opponents are in disarray. The Conservatives have to reorganise after a historic trouncing, and the SNP have their own issues. I see this state as continuing for some years.
There are SO MANY open goals at the moment. Reeves is utterly tin-earred, and Starmer is so flat footed in response to events that he's trailing what sounds like the least inspiring speech in history.
It is so frustrating. Tories would have done better to appoint someone quickly....
Yes. The possibility that being boring and negative and making silly mistakes is all part of a cunning plan for the medium term is looking unlikely. Obviously the government has to speak to single issue morons, but among those who voted for them are grown ups as well. They already know that the Tories were useless and that the problems are real and don't need to be told. But they do need to know the direction of travel, an outline of solutions and the route, and to have confidence that this government does not engage in double think, newspeak and evasion. We voted for change.
Few on PB are fond of Matt Goodwin, but OTOH fewer can give an account of how Labour propose to deal with the problems which he outlines (still problems once rhetoric and hyperbole are removed) here:
QAnon conspiracy theorist/self-proclaimed "prophet" Johnny Enlow reports that Trump will soon receive the endorsement of "a major name star that has been assumed to be dead for a long time." https://x.com/RightWingWatch/status/1828151052761178373
Elvis would be 89 if he were to be found alive today!
That's not very old.
All that time running a chip shop on the moon must have taken it's toll though.
"a major name star that has been assumed to be dead for a long time."
QAnon conspiracy theorist/self-proclaimed "prophet" Johnny Enlow reports that Trump will soon receive the endorsement of "a major name star that has been assumed to be dead for a long time." https://x.com/RightWingWatch/status/1828151052761178373
Cher? I remember people gloating now that cher's dead.
She fits in that she is alive and people might assume she's dead. BUT it also has to be a BIG name. It's either Leo Sayer or God Almighty.
Can't be Elvis or Hitler because they really are dead.
QAnon conspiracy theorist/self-proclaimed "prophet" Johnny Enlow reports that Trump will soon receive the endorsement of "a major name star that has been assumed to be dead for a long time." https://x.com/RightWingWatch/status/1828151052761178373
Cher? I remember people gloating now that cher's dead.
QAnon conspiracy theorist/self-proclaimed "prophet" Johnny Enlow reports that Trump will soon receive the endorsement of "a major name star that has been assumed to be dead for a long time." https://x.com/RightWingWatch/status/1828151052761178373
Elvis would be 89 if he were to be found alive today!
That's not very old.
All that time running a chip shop on the moon must have taken it's toll though.
"a major name star that has been assumed to be dead for a long time."
QAnon conspiracy theorist/self-proclaimed "prophet" Johnny Enlow reports that Trump will soon receive the endorsement of "a major name star that has been assumed to be dead for a long time." https://x.com/RightWingWatch/status/1828151052761178373
Elvis would be 89 if he were to be found alive today!
That's not very old.
All that time running a chip shop on the moon must have taken it's toll though.
"a major name star that has been assumed to be dead for a long time."
Could it be? Surely not. OMG!
It has to be:
LEO SAYER!!
Lord Lucan.
Shergar
Straight from the horse's mouth. Or in Trump's case from the other end of the horse.
QAnon conspiracy theorist/self-proclaimed "prophet" Johnny Enlow reports that Trump will soon receive the endorsement of "a major name star that has been assumed to be dead for a long time." https://x.com/RightWingWatch/status/1828151052761178373
Cher? I remember people gloating now that cher's dead.
She fits in that she is alive and people might assume she's dead. BUT it also has to be a BIG name. It's either Leo Sayer or God Almighty.
Can't be Elvis or Hitler because they really are dead.
QAnon conspiracy theorist/self-proclaimed "prophet" Johnny Enlow reports that Trump will soon receive the endorsement of "a major name star that has been assumed to be dead for a long time." https://x.com/RightWingWatch/status/1828151052761178373
Elvis would be 89 if he were to be found alive today!
That's not very old.
All that time running a chip shop on the moon must have taken it's toll though.
"a major name star that has been assumed to be dead for a long time."
QAnon conspiracy theorist/self-proclaimed "prophet" Johnny Enlow reports that Trump will soon receive the endorsement of "a major name star that has been assumed to be dead for a long time." https://x.com/RightWingWatch/status/1828151052761178373
Elvis would be 89 if he were to be found alive today!
That's not very old.
All that time running a chip shop on the moon must have taken it's toll though.
"a major name star that has been assumed to be dead for a long time."
I want to address this idea that as a one nation conservative I should 'shut up' when criticising Starmer and the Labour government
I did vote Labour in 1997 and 2001 as I was inspired by Blair and he was a charismatic positive leader and I did not regret my vote
Apart from these years I have voted conservative and in the past been an activist especially at election time
I know the 14 years of wasted conservative rule is now an established mantra, but it is political nonsense not least because of the inheritance of the 2010 conservative government, and then the coalition government that I consider to be the best government of the period
Johnson took us out of Europe and to many that is unforgivable, but it was the mandate of the people and no matter the problems I personally am quite content to be out of the EU though I do want closer relationships
Johnson did well with covid and frankly had it been Starmer, Drakeford and Sturgeon in charge we would have been locked down much longer with more economic damage
Johnson also excelled on Ukraine and it wasn't because of Brexit , covid or Ukraine that Johnson fell, but his own utter stupidly and behaviour that made his resignation inevitable
As far as Truss is concerned the less said the better and Sunak proved to be terrible at politics, but both he and Hunt have recovered the economy from the Truss debacle
I do not support the likes of Braverman, ERG, Farage or anything to do with Reform but I do hope someday a one nation conservative party will arrive because I genuinely believe Starmer and Labour can lose their majority at the next election considering they only won 33% of the vote this year
Anyway I will critise Labour as and when I wish and will not be cowed by attempts to close me down and I hope other conservatives and opponents of Labour will not give this government a free pass ' as they are only 7 weeks old'
You are perfectly entitled to call out the Starmer Government for failure, but after seven weeks they haven't failed - yet. Although the Winter Fuel issue has the making of a fiasco. Your attempt to paint the Ali story as sleaze with an equivalence to Johnson is a false narrative.
You spent most of your post defending Johnson, now Brexit aside, Johnson's record is to some of us absolutely disastrous. Now even if we were to concede he got all the big calls right (he didn't) his behaviour and lack of professionalism was shocking!
Agree, it sounds like criticising a Test opener for not getting to 50 in the first hour of a 5 day match.
QAnon conspiracy theorist/self-proclaimed "prophet" Johnny Enlow reports that Trump will soon receive the endorsement of "a major name star that has been assumed to be dead for a long time." https://x.com/RightWingWatch/status/1828151052761178373
Cher? I remember people gloating now that cher's dead.
She fits in that she is alive and people might assume she's dead. BUT it also has to be a BIG name. It's either Leo Sayer or God Almighty.
Can't be Elvis or Hitler because they really are dead.
I really hope it's not Leo Sayer.
Like finding out Morrissey is a complete arse, only worse
QAnon conspiracy theorist/self-proclaimed "prophet" Johnny Enlow reports that Trump will soon receive the endorsement of "a major name star that has been assumed to be dead for a long time." https://x.com/RightWingWatch/status/1828151052761178373
Elvis would be 89 if he were to be found alive today!
That's not very old.
All that time running a chip shop on the moon must have taken it's toll though.
"a major name star that has been assumed to be dead for a long time."
Reeve isn't stupid. The budget will surely have some tax grabs from the well off - pension tax relief on higher earners for example and goodies for everyone else - increase the basic tax threshold for example.
She should raise personal allowance marginally to ensure people on a basic state pension and a bit of interest from savings don't need to pay income tax. The increase in personal allowance should be restricted to pensioners and would part offset the removal of the winter fuel allowance.
It would need to raise by about £1,000 to £2,000 to give back between £200 and £300 lost by the removal of WFA. But then you would be back into the situation in which everyone either gets the WFA, as they're on pension credit, or gets the equivalent because they are basic rate taxpayers. They'll be some scenarios in which both are possible... Pretty much any savings wiped away, add on complexities around WFA been a household payment whilst income tax is an individual payment. I can't see a way you that doesnt end up wiping out savings without bringing in a new means test. Ideas: - Payment restricted to council tax bands - until the two bed bungalow in Hartlepool loses out but a £2.5million house in Hackney still gets it. - Payment to non tax payers only - thresholds of tax allowance and pension/pension credit/slash small pension are very close - Payment stopped for higher rate tax payers - Easiest proposal but will yield few savings.
A sticky mess that seemed good on a scrap of paper when looking for easy wins.
The WFA is a classic example of an add on solution to a problem which is much more simple to solve at the source. It also had the attraction of being politically eye catching at first.
Since the source of the problem is basic pensioner income for a minority, only resolving the core issue with respect to basic income levels will help.
For me WFA pays for additional wine at Christmas. This is painful as I am the only teetotal member of the family, but I'll cope.
Similarly I get cheap rail travel - great, a third off + cheaper tickets anyway because not working I can choose travel times. The poorest pensioners can't afford to do much rail travel. Proper basic pensions + taxing better off pensioners is the right answer, but not random subsidies.
Reeve isn't stupid. The budget will surely have some tax grabs from the well off - pension tax relief on higher earners for example and goodies for everyone else - increase the basic tax threshold for example.
She should raise personal allowance marginally to ensure people on a basic state pension and a bit of interest from savings don't need to pay income tax. The increase in personal allowance should be restricted to pensioners and would part offset the removal of the winter fuel allowance.
Why should the increase in PA be restricted to pensioners? They get enough goodies as it is. How did we enter a world where ageism in the tax system and benefit system is acceptable? See also lower minimum wage for 18 year olds.
The problem is that PA has not been raised for ages and now pensioners on the basic state pension are very near having to pay a small amount of tax. Pensions are paid before tax. Many pensioners will not be aware that they are due to pay tax or don't know how to make a declaration.
So ... there another carers allowance scandal on the horizon as a multitude of pensioners are chased for small sums plus penalties.
The answer is to slightly raise the PA. But this costs if it applies to everyone so I suggest it is restricted to pensioners. And it has the added PR benefit of partly addressing the WFA controversy.
However I entirely agree with your complaint about pensioners getting special treatment. I would remove the triple lock, make free travel passes benefits in kind and I support the removal of the WFA. My suggestion to slightly raise the PA for pensioners was avoid a cock-up (and save admin expenses) rather than to further molly coddle pensioners. I say this as an 81 year old pensioner.
QAnon conspiracy theorist/self-proclaimed "prophet" Johnny Enlow reports that Trump will soon receive the endorsement of "a major name star that has been assumed to be dead for a long time." https://x.com/RightWingWatch/status/1828151052761178373
Elvis would be 89 if he were to be found alive today!
That's not very old.
All that time running a chip shop on the moon must have taken it's toll though.
"a major name star that has been assumed to be dead for a long time."
Could it be? Surely not. OMG!
It has to be:
LEO SAYER!!
Lassie.
Nessie?
Never existed.
Lies. Nessie is a furry green creature that bags Munros, and I have the photos to prove it.
[Not a Trump supporter though, not since Foveran Links]
I want to address this idea that as a one nation conservative I should 'shut up' when criticising Starmer and the Labour government
I did vote Labour in 1997 and 2001 as I was inspired by Blair and he was a charismatic positive leader and I did not regret my vote
Apart from these years I have voted conservative and in the past been an activist especially at election time
I know the 14 years of wasted conservative rule is now an established mantra, but it is political nonsense not least because of the inheritance of the 2010 conservative government, and then the coalition government that I consider to be the best government of the period
Johnson took us out of Europe and to many that is unforgivable, but it was the mandate of the people and no matter the problems I personally am quite content to be out of the EU though I do want closer relationships
Johnson did well with covid and frankly had it been Starmer, Drakeford and Sturgeon in charge we would have been locked down much longer with more economic damage
Johnson also excelled on Ukraine and it wasn't because of Brexit , covid or Ukraine that Johnson fell, but his own utter stupidly and behaviour that made his resignation inevitable
As far as Truss is concerned the less said the better and Sunak proved to be terrible at politics, but both he and Hunt have recovered the economy from the Truss debacle
I do not support the likes of Braverman, ERG, Farage or anything to do with Reform but I do hope someday a one nation conservative party will arrive because I genuinely believe Starmer and Labour can lose their majority at the next election considering they only won 33% of the vote this year
Anyway I will critise Labour as and when I wish and will not be cowed by attempts to close me down and I hope other conservatives and opponents of Labour will not give this government a free pass ' as they are only 7 weeks old'
You are perfectly entitled to call out the Starmer Government for failure, but after seven weeks they haven't failed - yet. Although the Winter Fuel issue has the making of a fiasco. Your attempt to paint the Ali story as sleaze with an equivalence to Johnson is a false narrative.
You spent most of your post defending Johnson, now Brexit aside, Johnson's record is to some of us absolutely disastrous. Now even if we were to concede he got all the big calls right (he didn't) his behaviour and lack of professionalism was shocking!
QAnon conspiracy theorist/self-proclaimed "prophet" Johnny Enlow reports that Trump will soon receive the endorsement of "a major name star that has been assumed to be dead for a long time." https://x.com/RightWingWatch/status/1828151052761178373
Elvis would be 89 if he were to be found alive today!
That's not very old.
All that time running a chip shop on the moon must have taken it's toll though.
"a major name star that has been assumed to be dead for a long time."
Could it be? Surely not. OMG!
It has to be:
LEO SAYER!!
Lassie.
Nessie?
Never existed.
Lies. Nessie is a furry green creature that bags Munros, and I have the photos to prove it.
[Not a Trump supporter though, not since Foveran Links]
Reeve isn't stupid. The budget will surely have some tax grabs from the well off - pension tax relief on higher earners for example and goodies for everyone else - increase the basic tax threshold for example.
She should raise personal allowance marginally to ensure people on a basic state pension and a bit of interest from savings don't need to pay income tax. The increase in personal allowance should be restricted to pensioners and would part offset the removal of the winter fuel allowance.
Why should the increase in PA be restricted to pensioners? They get enough goodies as it is. How did we enter a world where ageism in the tax system and benefit system is acceptable? See also lower minimum wage for 18 year olds.
The problem is that PA has not been raised for ages and now pensioners on the basic state pension are very near having to pay a small amount of tax. Pensions are paid before tax. Many pensioners will not be aware that they are due to pay tax or don't know how to make a declaration.
So ... there another carers allowance scandal on the horizon as a multitude of pensioners are chased for small sums plus penalties.
The answer is to slightly raise the PA. But this costs if it applies to everyone so I suggest it is restricted to pensioners. And it has the added PR benefit of partly addressing the WFA controversy.
However I entirely agree with your complaint about pensioners getting special treatment. I would remove the triple lock, make free travel passes benefits in kind and I support the removal of the WFA. My suggestion to slightly raise the PA for pensioners was avoid a cock-up (and save admin expenses) rather than to further molly coddle pensioners. I say this as an 81 year old pensioner.
Add the factor that (a) DWP don't issue P60s and leave it to HMRC to amend the inevitable errors, and (2) the taxable sum for state pension in a given tax year is (uniquely for such a straightforward imcome of known sum) not what you actually get, but some notional figure calculated by a formula which is not easy to get right ...
I want to address this idea that as a one nation conservative I should 'shut up' when criticising Starmer and the Labour government
I did vote Labour in 1997 and 2001 as I was inspired by Blair and he was a charismatic positive leader and I did not regret my vote
Apart from these years I have voted conservative and in the past been an activist especially at election time
I know the 14 years of wasted conservative rule is now an established mantra, but it is political nonsense not least because of the inheritance of the 2010 conservative government, and then the coalition government that I consider to be the best government of the period
Johnson took us out of Europe and to many that is unforgivable, but it was the mandate of the people and no matter the problems I personally am quite content to be out of the EU though I do want closer relationships
Johnson did well with covid and frankly had it been Starmer, Drakeford and Sturgeon in charge we would have been locked down much longer with more economic damage
Johnson also excelled on Ukraine and it wasn't because of Brexit , covid or Ukraine that Johnson fell, but his own utter stupidly and behaviour that made his resignation inevitable
As far as Truss is concerned the less said the better and Sunak proved to be terrible at politics, but both he and Hunt have recovered the economy from the Truss debacle
I do not support the likes of Braverman, ERG, Farage or anything to do with Reform but I do hope someday a one nation conservative party will arrive because I genuinely believe Starmer and Labour can lose their majority at the next election considering they only won 33% of the vote this year
Anyway I will critise Labour as and when I wish and will not be cowed by attempts to close me down and I hope other conservatives and opponents of Labour will not give this government a free pass ' as they are only 7 weeks old'
You are perfectly entitled to call out the Starmer Government for failure, but after seven weeks they haven't failed - yet. Although the Winter Fuel issue has the making of a fiasco. Your attempt to paint the Ali story as sleaze with an equivalence to Johnson is a false narrative.
You spent most of your post defending Johnson, now Brexit aside, Johnson's record is to some of us absolutely disastrous. Now even if we were to concede he got all the big calls right (he didn't) his behaviour and lack of professionalism was shocking!
I don't suppose this government has actually failed yet. We won't know for a bit. But government is in some ways rather like batting rather than bowling or football. Part of the magic (and frustration) of cricket is that the batsperson (see posts above) can be out at any moment, for a number of causes, and that once out you are out. There is no way back. First ball or when n.o. 327, out is out.
So governing has, so to speak, always be aware that once you lose your wicket, that's it. You can be Boycott and boring, you can be Bradman or bazball, it's all the same. Out is out. I think SKS's aim is to be Boycott on the way to a 300 over a few years. WFA is a snick to the slips.
QAnon conspiracy theorist/self-proclaimed "prophet" Johnny Enlow reports that Trump will soon receive the endorsement of "a major name star that has been assumed to be dead for a long time." https://x.com/RightWingWatch/status/1828151052761178373
Cher? I remember people gloating now that cher's dead.
She fits in that she is alive and people might assume she's dead. BUT it also has to be a BIG name. It's either Leo Sayer or God Almighty.
Can't be Elvis or Hitler because they really are dead.
Reeve isn't stupid. The budget will surely have some tax grabs from the well off - pension tax relief on higher earners for example and goodies for everyone else - increase the basic tax threshold for example.
How do high earning pensioners get pension tax relief, where do I apply
You'd have to spend less time shouting at clouds on PB, get off your arse and get some EARNED income again
So is the big takeaway from Starmer's speech that, having given pay rises to the public sector, they are probably going to skim that salary increase away increasing income tax and removing pension tax relief for higher earners? And maybe make NI payable on pension income?
QAnon conspiracy theorist/self-proclaimed "prophet" Johnny Enlow reports that Trump will soon receive the endorsement of "a major name star that has been assumed to be dead for a long time." https://x.com/RightWingWatch/status/1828151052761178373
Cher? I remember people gloating now that cher's dead.
She fits in that she is alive and people might assume she's dead. BUT it also has to be a BIG name. It's either Leo Sayer or God Almighty.
Can't be Elvis or Hitler because they really are dead.
QAnon conspiracy theorist/self-proclaimed "prophet" Johnny Enlow reports that Trump will soon receive the endorsement of "a major name star that has been assumed to be dead for a long time." https://x.com/RightWingWatch/status/1828151052761178373
Elvis would be 89 if he were to be found alive today!
That's not very old.
All that time running a chip shop on the moon must have taken it's toll though.
"a major name star that has been assumed to be dead for a long time."
QAnon conspiracy theorist/self-proclaimed "prophet" Johnny Enlow reports that Trump will soon receive the endorsement of "a major name star that has been assumed to be dead for a long time." https://x.com/RightWingWatch/status/1828151052761178373
Cher? I remember people gloating now that cher's dead.
She fits in that she is alive and people might assume she's dead. BUT it also has to be a BIG name. It's either Leo Sayer or God Almighty.
Can't be Elvis or Hitler because they really are dead.
I really hope it's not Leo Sayer.
Like finding out Morrissey is a complete arse, only worse
Yes. Moonlighting would have to be removed from my playlists. Very sad.
So is the big takeaway from Starmer's speech that, having given pay rises to the public sector, they are probably going to skim that salary increase away increasing income tax and removing pension tax relief for higher earners? And maybe make NI payable on pension income?
Very weird tax given he said no increases in income tax, VAT or national insurance. And yes it has been very obvious all year pension tax relief will be in some way less generous, will have to wait for budget for details.
QAnon conspiracy theorist/self-proclaimed "prophet" Johnny Enlow reports that Trump will soon receive the endorsement of "a major name star that has been assumed to be dead for a long time." https://x.com/RightWingWatch/status/1828151052761178373
Reeve isn't stupid. The budget will surely have some tax grabs from the well off - pension tax relief on higher earners for example and goodies for everyone else - increase the basic tax threshold for example.
She should raise personal allowance marginally to ensure people on a basic state pension and a bit of interest from savings don't need to pay income tax. The increase in personal allowance should be restricted to pensioners and would part offset the removal of the winter fuel allowance.
Why should the increase in PA be restricted to pensioners? They get enough goodies as it is. How did we enter a world where ageism in the tax system and benefit system is acceptable? See also lower minimum wage for 18 year olds.
The problem is that PA has not been raised for ages and now pensioners on the basic state pension are very near having to pay a small amount of tax. Pensions are paid before tax. Many pensioners will not be aware that they are due to pay tax or don't know how to make a declaration.
So ... there another carers allowance scandal on the horizon as a multitude of pensioners are chased for small sums plus penalties.
The answer is to slightly raise the PA. But this costs if it applies to everyone so I suggest it is restricted to pensioners. And it has the added PR benefit of partly addressing the WFA controversy.
However I entirely agree with your complaint about pensioners getting special treatment. I would remove the triple lock, make free travel passes benefits in kind and I support the removal of the WFA. My suggestion to slightly raise the PA for pensioners was avoid a cock-up (and save admin expenses) rather than to further molly coddle pensioners. I say this as an 81 year old pensioner.
Add the factor that (a) DWP don't issue P60s and leave it to HMRC to amend the inevitable errors, and (2) the taxable sum for state pension in a given tax year is (uniquely for such a straightforward imcome of known sum) not what you actually get, but some notional figure calculated by a formula which is not easy to get right ...
Good reasons to increase the personal allowance for all taxpayers. Not a reason to exempt pensioners.
QAnon conspiracy theorist/self-proclaimed "prophet" Johnny Enlow reports that Trump will soon receive the endorsement of "a major name star that has been assumed to be dead for a long time." https://x.com/RightWingWatch/status/1828151052761178373
Cher? I remember people gloating now that cher's dead.
She fits in that she is alive and people might assume she's dead. BUT it also has to be a BIG name. It's either Leo Sayer or God Almighty.
Can't be Elvis or Hitler because they really are dead.
I really hope it's not Leo Sayer.
Like finding out Morrissey is a complete arse, only worse
Yes. Moonlighting would have to be removed from my playlists. Very sad.
QAnon conspiracy theorist/self-proclaimed "prophet" Johnny Enlow reports that Trump will soon receive the endorsement of "a major name star that has been assumed to be dead for a long time." https://x.com/RightWingWatch/status/1828151052761178373
So Starmer has cancelled the Helicopter contract for the Govt. This has all the hallmarks of Jim Hacker and "The Economy Drive".
The Media must be very watchful on Govt ministers in Helicopters even if loaned to them
That’s the sort of needless penny-pinching that ignores the value of time to the ministers.
Give it a few weeks and they’ll be taking off the seat covers from first class train carriages. Again.
IIRC part of the reason for helicopter usage was security. So when Starmer inevitably has to fly somewhere again he will look like a right tit when he tries to justify it.
QAnon conspiracy theorist/self-proclaimed "prophet" Johnny Enlow reports that Trump will soon receive the endorsement of "a major name star that has been assumed to be dead for a long time." https://x.com/RightWingWatch/status/1828151052761178373
Elvis would be 89 if he were to be found alive today!
That's not very old.
All that time running a chip shop on the moon must have taken it's toll though.
"a major name star that has been assumed to be dead for a long time."
Could it be? Surely not. OMG!
It has to be:
LEO SAYER!!
Lassie.
Nessie?
Never existed.
Lies. Nessie is a furry green creature that bags Munros, and I have the photos to prove it.
[Not a Trump supporter though, not since Foveran Links]
Jan Leeming? Bryan Ferry???
The Thin White Duke went through a brief drug-induced fascismo phase back in the 70s. Wouldn't be surprised if he's still actually with us. But Trump, surely, would be a bit too far even for Halloween Jack.
QAnon conspiracy theorist/self-proclaimed "prophet" Johnny Enlow reports that Trump will soon receive the endorsement of "a major name star that has been assumed to be dead for a long time." https://x.com/RightWingWatch/status/1828151052761178373
Cher? I remember people gloating now that cher's dead.
She fits in that she is alive and people might assume she's dead. BUT it also has to be a BIG name. It's either Leo Sayer or God Almighty.
Can't be Elvis or Hitler because they really are dead.
I really hope it's not Leo Sayer.
Like finding out Morrissey is a complete arse, only worse
Yes. Moonlighting would have to be removed from my playlists. Very sad.
QAnon conspiracy theorist/self-proclaimed "prophet" Johnny Enlow reports that Trump will soon receive the endorsement of "a major name star that has been assumed to be dead for a long time." https://x.com/RightWingWatch/status/1828151052761178373
QAnon conspiracy theorist/self-proclaimed "prophet" Johnny Enlow reports that Trump will soon receive the endorsement of "a major name star that has been assumed to be dead for a long time." https://x.com/RightWingWatch/status/1828151052761178373
Cher? I remember people gloating now that cher's dead.
She fits in that she is alive and people might assume she's dead. BUT it also has to be a BIG name. It's either Leo Sayer or God Almighty.
Can't be Elvis or Hitler because they really are dead.
I really hope it's not Leo Sayer.
Like finding out Morrissey is a complete arse, only worse
Yes. Moonlighting would have to be removed from my playlists. Very sad.
Oh, I dunno. The show must go on....
Indeed, @kinabalu is "Giving it all Away" (AGAIN) particularly after Roger Daltrey voted for Brexit.
Reeve isn't stupid. The budget will surely have some tax grabs from the well off - pension tax relief on higher earners for example and goodies for everyone else - increase the basic tax threshold for example.
She should raise personal allowance marginally to ensure people on a basic state pension and a bit of interest from savings don't need to pay income tax. The increase in personal allowance should be restricted to pensioners and would part offset the removal of the winter fuel allowance.
Why should the increase in PA be restricted to pensioners? They get enough goodies as it is. How did we enter a world where ageism in the tax system and benefit system is acceptable? See also lower minimum wage for 18 year olds.
The problem is that PA has not been raised for ages and now pensioners on the basic state pension are very near having to pay a small amount of tax. Pensions are paid before tax. Many pensioners will not be aware that they are due to pay tax or don't know how to make a declaration.
So ... there another carers allowance scandal on the horizon as a multitude of pensioners are chased for small sums plus penalties.
The answer is to slightly raise the PA. But this costs if it applies to everyone so I suggest it is restricted to pensioners. And it has the added PR benefit of partly addressing the WFA controversy.
However I entirely agree with your complaint about pensioners getting special treatment. I would remove the triple lock, make free travel passes benefits in kind and I support the removal of the WFA. My suggestion to slightly raise the PA for pensioners was avoid a cock-up (and save admin expenses) rather than to further molly coddle pensioners. I say this as an 81 year old pensioner.
Add the factor that (a) DWP don't issue P60s and leave it to HMRC to amend the inevitable errors, and (2) the taxable sum for state pension in a given tax year is (uniquely for such a straightforward imcome of known sum) not what you actually get, but some notional figure calculated by a formula which is not easy to get right ...
Good reasons to increase the personal allowance for all taxpayers. Not a reason to exempt pensioners.
Er, strictly not reasons to do so, because they affect all state pensioners irrespective of income. However, doing so would certainly alleviate the immediate particular problem for those many newly taxed pensioners to work out if they are taxable at all in the first place.
Reeve isn't stupid. The budget will surely have some tax grabs from the well off - pension tax relief on higher earners for example and goodies for everyone else - increase the basic tax threshold for example.
She should raise personal allowance marginally to ensure people on a basic state pension and a bit of interest from savings don't need to pay income tax. The increase in personal allowance should be restricted to pensioners and would part offset the removal of the winter fuel allowance.
Why should the increase in PA be restricted to pensioners? They get enough goodies as it is. How did we enter a world where ageism in the tax system and benefit system is acceptable? See also lower minimum wage for 18 year olds.
The problem is that PA has not been raised for ages and now pensioners on the basic state pension are very near having to pay a small amount of tax. Pensions are paid before tax. Many pensioners will not be aware that they are due to pay tax or don't know how to make a declaration.
So ... there another carers allowance scandal on the horizon as a multitude of pensioners are chased for small sums plus penalties.
The answer is to slightly raise the PA. But this costs if it applies to everyone so I suggest it is restricted to pensioners. And it has the added PR benefit of partly addressing the WFA controversy.
However I entirely agree with your complaint about pensioners getting special treatment. I would remove the triple lock, make free travel passes benefits in kind and I support the removal of the WFA. My suggestion to slightly raise the PA for pensioners was avoid a cock-up (and save admin expenses) rather than to further molly coddle pensioners. I say this as an 81 year old pensioner.
Add the factor that (a) DWP don't issue P60s and leave it to HMRC to amend the inevitable errors, and (2) the taxable sum for state pension in a given tax year is (uniquely for such a straightforward imcome of known sum) not what you actually get, but some notional figure calculated by a formula which is not easy to get right ...
Good reasons to increase the personal allowance for all taxpayers. Not a reason to exempt pensioners.
And finance it by moving the 45% tax rate to start at £100K and remove the PA taper and its cliff edge. I'd love to be in the Treasury working on Reeves's budget.
I did wonder whether the trailing of Starmers speech had missed out the hopey-changey stuff, but no, it actually was as unremittingly gloomy and miserable as trailed.
Part of Starmer’s job is to sell the tough decisions in a way to inspire people that things will get better on the other side. Politically, this feels to me to be a very tone-deaf announcement, and one that could hurt the government badly.
Reeve isn't stupid. The budget will surely have some tax grabs from the well off - pension tax relief on higher earners for example and goodies for everyone else - increase the basic tax threshold for example.
She should raise personal allowance marginally to ensure people on a basic state pension and a bit of interest from savings don't need to pay income tax. The increase in personal allowance should be restricted to pensioners and would part offset the removal of the winter fuel allowance.
It would need to raise by about £1,000 to £2,000 to give back between £200 and £300 lost by the removal of WFA. But then you would be back into the situation in which everyone either gets the WFA, as they're on pension credit, or gets the equivalent because they are basic rate taxpayers. They'll be some scenarios in which both are possible... Pretty much any savings wiped away, add on complexities around WFA been a household payment whilst income tax is an individual payment. I can't see a way you that doesnt end up wiping out savings without bringing in a new means test. Ideas: - Payment restricted to council tax bands - until the two bed bungalow in Hartlepool loses out but a £2.5million house in Hackney still gets it. - Payment to non tax payers only - thresholds of tax allowance and pension/pension credit/slash small pension are very close - Payment stopped for higher rate tax payers - Easiest proposal but will yield few savings.
A sticky mess that seemed good on a scrap of paper when looking for easy wins.
The purpose of increasing the PA would not be to compensate for the removal of the WFA. That would be pointless. It would be to remove the admin, errors, stress etc of basic state pensioners just topping out the PA. That's all.
QAnon conspiracy theorist/self-proclaimed "prophet" Johnny Enlow reports that Trump will soon receive the endorsement of "a major name star that has been assumed to be dead for a long time." https://x.com/RightWingWatch/status/1828151052761178373
QAnon conspiracy theorist/self-proclaimed "prophet" Johnny Enlow reports that Trump will soon receive the endorsement of "a major name star that has been assumed to be dead for a long time." https://x.com/RightWingWatch/status/1828151052761178373
Cher? I remember people gloating now that cher's dead.
She fits in that she is alive and people might assume she's dead. BUT it also has to be a BIG name. It's either Leo Sayer or God Almighty.
Can't be Elvis or Hitler because they really are dead.
I really hope it's not Leo Sayer.
Like finding out Morrissey is a complete arse, only worse
Yes. Moonlighting would have to be removed from my playlists. Very sad.
On that note, Gary Glitter is still quite popular over there.
QAnon conspiracy theorist/self-proclaimed "prophet" Johnny Enlow reports that Trump will soon receive the endorsement of "a major name star that has been assumed to be dead for a long time." https://x.com/RightWingWatch/status/1828151052761178373
QAnon conspiracy theorist/self-proclaimed "prophet" Johnny Enlow reports that Trump will soon receive the endorsement of "a major name star that has been assumed to be dead for a long time." https://x.com/RightWingWatch/status/1828151052761178373
Joe Biden?
Mike Pence...
Trump doesn't actually need any more celebrity endorsements - he's already got the so-called Big 3: Russell, Nigel and Andrew.
Reeve isn't stupid. The budget will surely have some tax grabs from the well off - pension tax relief on higher earners for example and goodies for everyone else - increase the basic tax threshold for example.
She should raise personal allowance marginally to ensure people on a basic state pension and a bit of interest from savings don't need to pay income tax. The increase in personal allowance should be restricted to pensioners and would part offset the removal of the winter fuel allowance.
I've advise anyone with a pension or an isa to put away everything they can into it during September and October, as soon as they can.
You think they'd really do "from midnight tonight" not "from April" on stuff this big?
So Starmer has cancelled the Helicopter contract for the Govt. This has all the hallmarks of Jim Hacker and "The Economy Drive".
The Media must be very watchful on Govt ministers in Helicopters even if loaned to them
That’s the sort of needless penny-pinching that ignores the value of time to the ministers.
Give it a few weeks and they’ll be taking off the seat covers from first class train carriages. Again.
IIRC part of the reason for helicopter usage was security. So when Starmer inevitably has to fly somewhere again he will look like a right tit when he tries to justify it.
Yes, the PM always travels with a handful of others, plus sufficient police to watch them. Using the helo rather than a car or train means fewer police need to be in involved and the logistics are simpler. Closing airspace is much easier than closing roads too, you just post the NOTAM and all the other pilots are responsible for getting out of your way!
The PM should really take advise from those in charge of his security and go with their recommendation, irrespective of what the media might think of it.
Wait for the long-haul overseas trips, with all the talk of the ‘private jet’. No it’s not a private jet you idiot hacks, it’s a government plane taking government ministers and their entourage to a meeting on government business.
I've read the story twice but have no idea what Tugendhat expects His Majesty's matelots actually to do and (to paraphrase Donald Trump) I don't think he does either.
QAnon conspiracy theorist/self-proclaimed "prophet" Johnny Enlow reports that Trump will soon receive the endorsement of "a major name star that has been assumed to be dead for a long time." https://x.com/RightWingWatch/status/1828151052761178373
Cher? I remember people gloating now that cher's dead.
She fits in that she is alive and people might assume she's dead. BUT it also has to be a BIG name. It's either Leo Sayer or God Almighty.
Can't be Elvis or Hitler because they really are dead.
I really hope it's not Leo Sayer.
Like finding out Morrissey is a complete arse, only worse
Yes. Moonlighting would have to be removed from my playlists. Very sad.
On that note, Gary Glitter is still quite popular over there.
Rock N Roll parts 1 and 2 are absolute belters. He made some great tracks.
Does Starmer every take a decision that isnt tough ?
"Tea or coffee Sir Keir ?
Ooh thats a tough one, if it wasnt for the failure of Tories hot beverage policy etc etc"
It started with Boris wanting both tea AND coffee, a completely unsustainable position Sunk did nothing to fix.
I thought Boris was about having tea, coffee, cake, not cake, giving the cake away, selling the cake, all at the same time?
If you are going to confuse things with cake both the coffee and the tea will be stone cold before a decision is made.
Dominic Cummins will have the cake before Boris has made a decision.
Nonsense
DC would
1) setup a cake procurement effort outside the civil service. 2) demand the creation of a cake procurement monitoring war room 3) quarrel with everyone 4) go for an eye test
QAnon conspiracy theorist/self-proclaimed "prophet" Johnny Enlow reports that Trump will soon receive the endorsement of "a major name star that has been assumed to be dead for a long time." https://x.com/RightWingWatch/status/1828151052761178373
Joe Biden?
Mike Pence...
Trump doesn't actually need any more celebrity endorsements - he's already got the so-called Big 3: Russell, Nigel and Andrew.
Comparing Keir Starmer with Don Bradman is the most defamatory thread in the pb career of @TSE
There was nothing quirky about Bradman’s test average. He was the greatest batter in the history of the game. A Titan who scored runs at leisure. He averaged his c.100 by scoring at nearly a run a ball, long before Bazball.
Keir Starmer, by contrast, won a landslide because the main Opposition party became unelectable and detestable. He is mediocre. More of a Graham Onions.
Have a nice day
xx
batsman
Batter
But when talking about Don Bradman, we shouldn't need to specify men's test cricket...
Trump, Israel/Gaza, trans, Lab in power finally...
...and you broke your silence by opining on the correct term for a batsman. Which is batsman, btw.
I've read the story twice but have no idea what Tugendhat expects His Majesty's matelots actually to do and (to paraphrase Donald Trump) I don't think he does either.
Strafe the boats! It's a Conservative leadership election winner.
Reeve isn't stupid. The budget will surely have some tax grabs from the well off - pension tax relief on higher earners for example and goodies for everyone else - increase the basic tax threshold for example.
She should raise personal allowance marginally to ensure people on a basic state pension and a bit of interest from savings don't need to pay income tax. The increase in personal allowance should be restricted to pensioners and would part offset the removal of the winter fuel allowance.
Why should the increase in PA be restricted to pensioners? They get enough goodies as it is. How did we enter a world where ageism in the tax system and benefit system is acceptable? See also lower minimum wage for 18 year olds.
The problem is that PA has not been raised for ages and now pensioners on the basic state pension are very near having to pay a small amount of tax. Pensions are paid before tax. Many pensioners will not be aware that they are due to pay tax or don't know how to make a declaration.
So ... there another carers allowance scandal on the horizon as a multitude of pensioners are chased for small sums plus penalties.
The answer is to slightly raise the PA. But this costs if it applies to everyone so I suggest it is restricted to pensioners. And it has the added PR benefit of partly addressing the WFA controversy.
However I entirely agree with your complaint about pensioners getting special treatment. I would remove the triple lock, make free travel passes benefits in kind and I support the removal of the WFA. My suggestion to slightly raise the PA for pensioners was avoid a cock-up (and save admin expenses) rather than to further molly coddle pensioners. I say this as an 81 year old pensioner.
Add the factor that (a) DWP don't issue P60s and leave it to HMRC to amend the inevitable errors, and (2) the taxable sum for state pension in a given tax year is (uniquely for such a straightforward imcome of known sum) not what you actually get, but some notional figure calculated by a formula which is not easy to get right ...
Good reasons to increase the personal allowance for all taxpayers. Not a reason to exempt pensioners.
And finance it by moving the 45% tax rate to start at £100K and remove the PA taper and its cliff edge. I'd love to be in the Treasury working on Reeves's budget.
And review the use (some might say abuse) of salary sacrifice to artificially lower salary for tax and benefit purposes.
Yes, but don't look back in anger if you can't get a ticket.
Glastonbury and Taylor Swift tickets are going to be relatively easy to buy compared to Oasis.
Seriously? I mean for a certain demographic Oasis are great. I saw them in the 90s and still remember the performance of Champagne Supernova and it was amazeballs (I also remember one of them calling out the audience for being posh twats and he wasn't entirely wrong). But that demographic is hardly the mass concert going demographic now, is it? Are those people really going to register, wait in the Ticketmaster queue, then input the code, etc, etc?
Not so sure.
Oasis have become a bit more niche than this board might think. But then just check out the demographic of this board...
All of my kids love Oasis. To be honest they reintroduced me to them after neglecting them for a few years. And anyway, the average age of concert goers has been creeping up for a long time.
If you think of any band of your youth, any one (we can try an experiment on here) then it's almost guaranteed that they are on tour somewhere this year. Everyone from Chris de Burgh to the UK Subs.
And I'm sure your children will be interested in the Oasis concert but it's not Glasto or Taylor Swift territory.
Edit: UK Subs are playing Luton on Friday ffs.
I think Oasis will probably headline Glasto. The tickets for the tour are going to sell out within minutes.
Oasis at Glasto? Perfect. Area munitions would solve very many problems in that case.
Oasis at Reading. Long ago....
The crowd was full of metalheads - Metallica were playing on Sunday night, and many had bought a ticket for the weekend, on the basis that the price wasn't far-off a one day ticket - and you could go in and out of the festival.
Liam started insulting the crowd - he didn't think they were sufficiently worshipping or something. Stuff was flying at the stage. I was expecting a riot.
Then James came on, the lead singer took one look, said "Sorry, but we have to do this" - and launched into Sit Down. Which was on every jukebox in the land - non fans knew it. The crowd went from lynch'in time to relaxed in about 3 seconds....
That sounds very unlikely to me. Surely Oasis would be headlining.
Reeve isn't stupid. The budget will surely have some tax grabs from the well off - pension tax relief on higher earners for example and goodies for everyone else - increase the basic tax threshold for example.
She should raise personal allowance marginally to ensure people on a basic state pension and a bit of interest from savings don't need to pay income tax. The increase in personal allowance should be restricted to pensioners and would part offset the removal of the winter fuel allowance.
I've advise anyone with a pension or an isa to put away everything they can into it during September and October, as soon as they can.
Put it in or take it out in case the 25 per cent tax free allowance is axed?
ETA that reminds me, I shall soon need to withdraw next year's living expenses.
Comments
[thought to be fair, he didn't suggest insulation should be flammable]
I did vote Labour in 1997 and 2001 as I was inspired by Blair and he was a charismatic positive leader and I did not regret my vote
Apart from these years I have voted conservative and in the past been an activist especially at election time
I know the 14 years of wasted conservative rule is now an established mantra, but it is political nonsense not least because of the inheritance of the 2010 conservative government, and then the coalition government that I consider to be the best government of the period
Johnson took us out of Europe and to many that is unforgivable, but it was the mandate of the people and no matter the problems I personally am quite content to be out of the EU though I do want closer relationships
Johnson did well with covid and frankly had it been Starmer, Drakeford and Sturgeon in charge we would have been locked down much longer with more economic damage
Johnson also excelled on Ukraine and it wasn't because of Brexit , covid or Ukraine that Johnson fell, but his own utter stupidly and behaviour that made his resignation inevitable
As far as Truss is concerned the less said the better and Sunak proved to be terrible at politics, but both he and Hunt have recovered the economy from the Truss debacle
I do not support the likes of Braverman, ERG, Farage or anything to do with Reform but I do hope someday a one nation conservative party will arrive because I genuinely believe Starmer and Labour can lose their majority at the next election considering they only won 33% of the vote this year
Anyway I will critise Labour as and when I wish and will not be cowed by attempts to close me down and I hope other conservatives and opponents of Labour will not give this government a free pass ' as they are only 7 weeks old'
QAnon conspiracy theorist/self-proclaimed "prophet" Johnny Enlow reports that Trump will soon receive the endorsement of "a major name star that has been assumed to be dead for a long time."
https://x.com/RightWingWatch/status/1828151052761178373
Pretty much any savings wiped away, add on complexities around WFA been a household payment whilst income tax is an individual payment.
I can't see a way you that doesnt end up wiping out savings without bringing in a new means test.
Ideas:
- Payment restricted to council tax bands - until the two bed bungalow in Hartlepool loses out but a £2.5million house in Hackney still gets it.
- Payment to non tax payers only - thresholds of tax allowance and pension/pension credit/slash small pension are very close
- Payment stopped for higher rate tax payers - Easiest proposal but will yield few savings.
A sticky mess that seemed good on a scrap of paper when looking for easy wins.
Enough fun I must get back to my painting
Just not smart politics.
You spent most of your post defending Johnson, now Brexit aside, Johnson's record is to some of us absolutely disastrous. Now even if we were to concede he got all the big calls right (he didn't) his behaviour and lack of professionalism was shocking!
But when talking about Don Bradman, we shouldn't need to specify men's test cricket...
-Always add apostrophe and s
-Always add just an apostrophe
-Add apostrophe plus s when you pronounce the extra s, otherwise just add an apostrophe.
-Add apostrophe plus s except with classical names with more than one syllable (Pythagoras' theorem) and/or where the final s of the name is silent (Degas' Little Dancer)
-Some other combination of the above.
Could be Princess Di, who definitely fancied Trump
Could it be? Surely not. OMG!
It has to be:
LEO SAYER!!
The Media must be very watchful on Govt ministers in Helicopters even if loaned to them
BUT it also has to be a BIG name.
It's either Leo Sayer or God Almighty.
Can't be Elvis or Hitler because they really are dead.
Give it a few weeks and they’ll be taking off the seat covers from first class train carriages. Again.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9n3A_-HRFfc
https://www1.politicalbetting.com/index.php/archives/2023/08/13/rishi-sunaks-chopper-is-going-to-get-him-into-a-lot-of-trouble/
Since the source of the problem is basic pensioner income for a minority, only resolving the core issue with respect to basic income levels will help.
For me WFA pays for additional wine at Christmas. This is painful as I am the only teetotal member of the family, but I'll cope.
Similarly I get cheap rail travel - great, a third off + cheaper tickets anyway because not working I can choose travel times. The poorest pensioners can't afford to do much rail travel. Proper basic pensions + taxing better off pensioners is the right answer, but not random subsidies.
So ... there another carers allowance scandal on the horizon as a multitude of pensioners are chased for small sums plus penalties.
The answer is to slightly raise the PA. But this costs if it applies to everyone so I suggest it is restricted to pensioners. And it has the added PR benefit of partly addressing the WFA controversy.
However I entirely agree with your complaint about pensioners getting special treatment. I would remove the triple lock, make free travel passes benefits in kind and I support the removal of the WFA. My suggestion to slightly raise the PA for pensioners was avoid a cock-up (and save admin expenses) rather than to further molly coddle pensioners. I say this as an 81 year old pensioner.
[Not a Trump supporter though, not since Foveran Links]
So governing has, so to speak, always be aware that once you lose your wicket, that's it. You can be Boycott and boring, you can be Bradman or bazball, it's all the same. Out is out. I think SKS's aim is to be Boycott on the way to a 300 over a few years. WFA is a snick to the slips.
That solves the problem for those just on the state pension and leaves other pensioners no better off. I like it.
He lives in Australia.
(He used to potter around Newbury...)
Part of Starmer’s job is to sell the tough decisions in a way to inspire people that things will get better on the other side. Politically, this feels to me to be a very tone-deaf announcement, and one that could hurt the government badly.
·
10m
Politics is about choices - and the government is choosing to inflict pain and poverty across the country.
Russell, Nigel and Andrew.
The PM should really take advise from those in charge of his security and go with their recommendation, irrespective of what the media might think of it.
Wait for the long-haul overseas trips, with all the talk of the ‘private jet’. No it’s not a private jet you idiot hacks, it’s a government plane taking government ministers and their entourage to a meeting on government business.
https://news.sky.com/story/tom-tugendhat-fight-illegal-migration-like-we-did-slavery-with-the-navy-13203985
I've read the story twice but have no idea what Tugendhat expects His Majesty's matelots actually to do and (to paraphrase Donald Trump) I don't think he does either.
I am glad I was never a LostProphets fan.
DC would
1) setup a cake procurement effort outside the civil service.
2) demand the creation of a cake procurement monitoring war room
3) quarrel with everyone
4) go for an eye test
...and you broke your silence by opining on the correct term for a batsman. Which is batsman, btw.
Metallica were playing last on Sunday.
The new Labour mantra
ETA that reminds me, I shall soon need to withdraw next year's living expenses.