Question about the AD bill. If this does indeed become law, what's to stop anyone that's suicidal asking the NHS to kill them?
What's the difference, legally and practically, between someone who's terminally ill being suicidal and a healthy young person in their middle 20s being suicidal?
Michael Weiss @michaeldweiss · 3h Assad is in Moscow as Aleppo is falling.
A fascinating character. A mild mannered boy who was never supposed to be president. He was in London training to be an opthalmologist when his elder brother died in a car crash. Apparently power corrupted nonetheless.
I recall reading years ago that even as President he was not the most powerful member of the ruling family, he was the 'softer' more urbane figurehead. No idea if that was ever true or is today of the regime.
There was a rather interesting TV show awhile back about the son of a middle eastern dictator who had been living in the West working as a doctor and who was called back as the dictator was dying, only in this case the older brother survived a car crash in the first epusode
In the show he started out as well intentioned but becamejust as bad as his evil dad and psychotic elder brother.
"Atkins, rh Victoria Bedford, Mr Peter Brandreth, Aphra Cartlidge, James Davis, rh David Dinenage, Dame Caroline Dowden, rh Sir Oliver Evans, Dr Luke Fox, Sir Ashley Freeman, George Garnier, Mark Hollinrake, Kevin Hunt, rh Jeremy Kearns, Alicia Malthouse, rh Kit Mitchell, rh Mr Andrew Philp, rh Chris Shastri-Hurst, Dr Neil Snowden, Mr Andrew Stride, rh Mel Sunak, rh Rishi Trott, rh Laura Wild, James"
Question about the AD bill. If this does indeed become law, what's to stop anyone that's suicidal asking the NHS to kill them?
What's the difference, legally and practically, between someone who's terminally ill being suicidal and a healthy young person in their middle 20s being suicidal?
AD seems like a huge can of worms to me...
As written, you would need a doctor to conclude that you only had six months to live, and another doctor to confirm that. That would seem to preclude your scenario from being considered.
However, there is understandably some pressure to remove the six months left to live proviso, on the basis that there are some conditions which are intolerable to live with, but where people might live for many years. So the law might get there.
It's also possible that, over time, some doctors may come to conclude that severe depression is a terminal illness, in the sense that a suicidally depressed person is likely to attempt to take their own life, possibly repeatedly until successful.
Question about the AD bill. If this does indeed become law, what's to stop anyone that's suicidal asking the NHS to kill them?
What's the difference, legally and practically, between someone who's terminally ill being suicidal and a healthy young person in their middle 20s being suicidal?
AD seems like a huge can of worms to me...
As written, you would need a doctor to conclude that you only had six months to live, and another doctor to confirm that. That would seem to preclude your scenario from being considered.
However, there is understandably some pressure to remove the six months left to live proviso, on the basis that there are some conditions which are intolerable to live with, but where people might live for many years. So the law might get there.
It's also possible that, over time, some doctors may come to conclude that severe depression is a terminal illness, in the sense that a suicidally depressed person is likely to attempt to take their own life, possibly repeatedly until successful.
Wasn't one of the points made today that it isn't a doctor necessarily, just a medical practitioner. Was this a spurious point?
Also noting the Telegraph story from a couple of days ago that the Ontario Coroner has found over 400 cases of MAID since 2018 where doctors had breached the guidance including igoring cool down times.
These are the sorts of things I would like to see dealt with in the bill before it becomes law.
Tight for first preference indeed In the 2020 Irish general election, Sinn Féin secured 24.53% first preference votes, while Fianna Fáil obtained 22.18% and Fine Gael got 20.86%.
Professor Gary Murphy has said that the Exit Poll has suggested a level of fragmentation at the top with all of the other parties "fighting for the carcass".
Isn't their economy at least better than ours, so the carcass is still worth something?
Question about the AD bill. If this does indeed become law, what's to stop anyone that's suicidal asking the NHS to kill them?
What's the difference, legally and practically, between someone who's terminally ill being suicidal and a healthy young person in their middle 20s being suicidal?
AD seems like a huge can of worms to me...
As written, you would need a doctor to conclude that you only had six months to live, and another doctor to confirm that. That would seem to preclude your scenario from being considered.
However, there is understandably some pressure to remove the six months left to live proviso, on the basis that there are some conditions which are intolerable to live with, but where people might live for many years. So the law might get there.
It's also possible that, over time, some doctors may come to conclude that severe depression is a terminal illness, in the sense that a suicidally depressed person is likely to attempt to take their own life, possibly repeatedly until successful.
Wasn't one of the points made today that it isn't a doctor necessarily, just a medical practitioner. Was this a spurious point?
Also noting the Telegraph story from a couple of days ago that the Ontario Coroner has found over 400 cases of MAID since 2018 where doctors had breached the guidance including igoring cool down times.
These are the sorts of things I would like to see dealt with in the bill before it becomes law.
Looking v briefly at the relevant previous act about medics - "registered medical practitioner" is a doctor with the required degrees etc etc.
1983 medical act talks about degrees for surgeons and physicians granted by key bodies like royal colleges etc.
Tight for first preference indeed In the 2020 Irish general election, Sinn Féin secured 24.53% first preference votes, while Fianna Fáil obtained 22.18% and Fine Gael got 20.86%.
The 2020 exit poll was 22.4 - 22.3 - 22.2 but it didn't write turn out that close in votes.
Professor Gary Murphy has said that the Exit Poll has suggested a level of fragmentation at the top with all of the other parties "fighting for the carcass".
Isn't their economy at least better than ours, so the carcass is still worth something?
The Irish state is rolling in money, but it's mostly corporation tax receipts that aren't expected to be sustainable. Without the windfall corporation tax receipts the Irish budget is €5bn in deficit.
As a country Ireland has a lot of the same problems Britain has - underinvestment in public infrastructure, lack of housing, poorly performing public services (arguably except Education to an extent). But Ireland is doing better at attracting private investment in export industries such as pharmaceuticals. But really quite badly at offshore wind farms.
My wife and I sometimes have this conversation about which of the two countries is most theocratic. Ireland had a special place for Catholicism in the constitution, Britain has bishops in the House of Lords. The Today programme in Britain has Thought for the Day, while the main evening news in Ireland starts at 6:01pm so the Angelus can be broadcast. And so on.
The economic differences are kinda similar. Some things are better in one country than the other, and vice versa. The budget surplus in Ireland certainly looks great right now, but when the tide goes out the country is very vulnerable.
Me too. Was it not common, pre-central heating, for homes to be unheated upstairs, or was this a particular horror for us council tenants in deprived areas?
NEW: Parents of Labour MP Henry Tufnell gave 2,200 acres of land to his brother 20 days before Rachel Reeves put Inheritance Tax on land worth more than £1m [
NEW: Parents of Labour MP Henry Tufnell gave 2,200 acres of land to his brother 20 days before Rachel Reeves put Inheritance Tax on land worth more than £1m [
NEW: Parents of Labour MP Henry Tufnell gave 2,200 acres of land to his brother 20 days before Rachel Reeves put Inheritance Tax on land worth more than £1m [
NEW: Parents of Labour MP Henry Tufnell gave 2,200 acres of land to his brother 20 days before Rachel Reeves put Inheritance Tax on land worth more than £1m [
Proper Pretty Polly Pounder, married her beau for his quarter pounder - it’s more like a tongue twister.
It’s far worse than a few bob on July 4th election date - it’s “we will announce sacrificial death of all first born daughters, you’ve got two months to hide yours in the Australian Outback” level political corruption this is.
Incidentally, not a single person can be successfully prosecuted for betting on the July 4th General Election date from 3 weeks before the announcement. They merely have to say they are followers of MoonRabbit on politicalbetting.com - the clever lady had psephologically worked the date out before the government had even been able to. 😇
NEW: Parents of Labour MP Henry Tufnell gave 2,200 acres of land to his brother 20 days before Rachel Reeves put Inheritance Tax on land worth more than £1m [
The Mail story is many, many paragraphs about how rich and posh the family is, and what little there is about the land transfer seems to exonerate the MP:-
Gareth Wyn Jones, a campaigner and author of The Hill Farmer, whose 375-year-old family farm in North Wales is threatened by Labour's tax raid, tells me: 'This shows up exactly what is wrong with the country, when policies hammer working people and real farming families, but huge landowners with fancy lawyers can get around them. I am absolutely f****** fuming at this and have to ask: did the MP's family have inside information?'
The answer to the latter question is, so far as I can make out, a resounding no.
A source close to the Tufnell family tells me that both they and Henry had no forewarning about the family farm tax when they took steps to mitigate their liabilities prior to Budget day.
Although the Labour MP was informed about both of his parents' transactions, he will not directly benefit from the one involving the transfer of Upper Colne Farm and Stud, and was not involved in the setting up of the trust that will benefit any children he might have.
'What happened here, essentially, is that after the election, Mark and Jane thought, 'Uh-oh, new Government, might be taxes coming in, so let's get things in order before the budget,' says the source.
'They currently farm Calmsden in partnership with Albie, who is likely to eventually inherit the estate because Henry has decided not to go down that route. Transferring ownership of the company was a relatively quick and easy way to mitigate any risk of capital gains or inheritance taxes that might come in.'
The source pointed out that around 1,700 acres of Calmsden remains in the ownership of Mark and Jane, meaning the family still faces considerable liabilities under the Labour party's tax raid.
Henry Tufnell, for his part, tells me: 'I appreciate that it looks bad, but there's nothing that I can do about it. I guess the point is that your family is your family, and Dad has taken tax advice and spoken to financial advisers and has started succession planning. But it's not because of something I told him.'
Asked how farmers in his largely rural constituency might view the whole thing, Henry takes the (perhaps ambitious) view that they ought to watch and learn.
'The government has been very clear that succession planning is important, and people need to take advice to get it right,' he says. 'My family is like many farming families, and you could say they are doing the exact thing that every farmer in Pembrokeshire should be doing, which is to take advice from an adviser and act on it.' https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14141123/Labour-taxman-Budget-farmers.html
To be cynical, it looks like the reporter thought he had a story but on investigation, it evaporated, but has published all the background research to show how the other half lives (very well, thank you, as it turns out).
NEW: Parents of Labour MP Henry Tufnell gave 2,200 acres of land to his brother 20 days before Rachel Reeves put Inheritance Tax on land worth more than £1m [
Proper Pretty Polly Pounder, married her beau for his quarter pounder - it’s more like a tongue twister.
It’s far worse than a few bob on July 4th election date - it’s “we will announce sacrificial death of all first born daughters, you’ve got two months to hide yours in the Australian Outback” level political corruption this is.
Incidentally, not a single person can be successfully prosecuted for betting on the July 4th General Election date from 3 weeks before the announcement. They merely have to say they are followers of MoonRabbit on politicalbetting.com - the clever lady had psephologically worked the date out before the government had even been able to. 😇
NEW: Parents of Labour MP Henry Tufnell gave 2,200 acres of land to his brother 20 days before Rachel Reeves put Inheritance Tax on land worth more than £1m [
Proper Pretty Polly Pounder, married her beau for his quarter pounder - it’s more like a tongue twister.
It’s far worse than a few bob on July 4th election date - it’s “we will announce sacrificial death of all first born daughters, you’ve got two months to hide yours in the Australian Outback” level political corruption this is.
Incidentally, not a single person can be successfully prosecuted for betting on the July 4th General Election date from 3 weeks before the announcement. They merely have to say they are followers of MoonRabbit on politicalbetting.com - the clever lady had psephologically worked the date out before the government had even been able to. 😇
Careful now, see my adjacent post.
you have zero evidence there was absolutely no insider dealing. Though admittedly, it will probably be very hard for anyone to prove there was.
But. It’s the old “I’m sure he hadn’t been porking pigs, but make him come to the microphone and deny it” which is why Sunday Papers will go crazy over this story, and the Conservatives and Lib Dem’s will win next week by getting government to concede to an enquiry.
I posted straight away, we won’t be paying a single penny of Rachel’s new tax, but the money going to accountants and insurers would be better in the business is the point Labour not smart enough to understand.
NEW: Parents of Labour MP Henry Tufnell gave 2,200 acres of land to his brother 20 days before Rachel Reeves put Inheritance Tax on land worth more than £1m [
Proper Pretty Polly Pounder, married her beau for his quarter pounder - it’s more like a tongue twister.
It’s far worse than a few bob on July 4th election date - it’s “we will announce sacrificial death of all first born daughters, you’ve got two months to hide yours in the Australian Outback” level political corruption this is.
Incidentally, not a single person can be successfully prosecuted for betting on the July 4th General Election date from 3 weeks before the announcement. They merely have to say they are followers of MoonRabbit on politicalbetting.com - the clever lady had psephologically worked the date out before the government had even been able to. 😇
Careful now, see my adjacent post.
you have zero evidence there was absolutely no insider dealing. Though admittedly, it will probably be very hard for anyone to prove there was.
But. It’s the old “I’m sure he hadn’t been porking pigs, but make him come to the microphone and deny it” which is why Sunday Papers will go crazy over this story, and the Conservatives and Lib Dem’s will win next week by getting government to concede to an enquiry.
I posted straight away, we won’t be paying a single penny of Rachel’s new tax, but the money going to accountants and insurers would be better in the business is the point Labour not smart enough to understand.
It is not me who has no evidence; I'd not heard of this MP until asked for the TwiX link within the last half hour. It is the Mail which could not stand up the story.
NEW: Parents of Labour MP Henry Tufnell gave 2,200 acres of land to his brother 20 days before Rachel Reeves put Inheritance Tax on land worth more than £1m [
Proper Pretty Polly Pounder, married her beau for his quarter pounder - it’s more like a tongue twister.
It’s far worse than a few bob on July 4th election date - it’s “we will announce sacrificial death of all first born daughters, you’ve got two months to hide yours in the Australian Outback” level political corruption this is.
Incidentally, not a single person can be successfully prosecuted for betting on the July 4th General Election date from 3 weeks before the announcement. They merely have to say they are followers of MoonRabbit on politicalbetting.com - the clever lady had psephologically worked the date out before the government had even been able to. 😇
Careful now, see my adjacent post.
you have zero evidence there was absolutely no insider dealing. Though admittedly, it will probably be very hard for anyone to prove there was.
But. It’s the old “I’m sure he hadn’t been porking pigs, but make him come to the microphone and deny it” which is why Sunday Papers will go crazy over this story, and the Conservatives and Lib Dem’s will win next week by getting government to concede to an enquiry.
I posted straight away, we won’t be paying a single penny of Rachel’s new tax, but the money going to accountants and insurers would be better in the business is the point Labour not smart enough to understand.
It is not me who has no evidence; I'd not heard of this MP until asked for the TwiX link within the last half hour. It is the Mail which could not stand up the story.
No. You don’t get why there will now be a hoohaa. The opposition don’t have to prove anyone’s guilt, they merely have to demand the government proves its innocence. That’s how politics works.
And if another example is unearthed, and another, the killer line is rolled out “there’s a pattern of this developing.”
NEW: Parents of Labour MP Henry Tufnell gave 2,200 acres of land to his brother 20 days before Rachel Reeves put Inheritance Tax on land worth more than £1m [
Me too. Was it not common, pre-central heating, for homes to be unheated upstairs, or was this a particular horror for us council tenants in deprived areas?
Not a council house, but when I grew up the only heating was a downstairs coal fire.
NEW: Parents of Labour MP Henry Tufnell gave 2,200 acres of land to his brother 20 days before Rachel Reeves put Inheritance Tax on land worth more than £1m [
The Mail story is many, many paragraphs about how rich and posh the family is, and what little there is about the land transfer seems to exonerate the MP:-
Gareth Wyn Jones, a campaigner and author of The Hill Farmer, whose 375-year-old family farm in North Wales is threatened by Labour's tax raid, tells me: 'This shows up exactly what is wrong with the country, when policies hammer working people and real farming families, but huge landowners with fancy lawyers can get around them. I am absolutely f****** fuming at this and have to ask: did the MP's family have inside information?'
The answer to the latter question is, so far as I can make out, a resounding no.
A source close to the Tufnell family tells me that both they and Henry had no forewarning about the family farm tax when they took steps to mitigate their liabilities prior to Budget day.
Although the Labour MP was informed about both of his parents' transactions, he will not directly benefit from the one involving the transfer of Upper Colne Farm and Stud, and was not involved in the setting up of the trust that will benefit any children he might have.
'What happened here, essentially, is that after the election, Mark and Jane thought, 'Uh-oh, new Government, might be taxes coming in, so let's get things in order before the budget,' says the source.
'They currently farm Calmsden in partnership with Albie, who is likely to eventually inherit the estate because Henry has decided not to go down that route. Transferring ownership of the company was a relatively quick and easy way to mitigate any risk of capital gains or inheritance taxes that might come in.'
The source pointed out that around 1,700 acres of Calmsden remains in the ownership of Mark and Jane, meaning the family still faces considerable liabilities under the Labour party's tax raid.
Henry Tufnell, for his part, tells me: 'I appreciate that it looks bad, but there's nothing that I can do about it. I guess the point is that your family is your family, and Dad has taken tax advice and spoken to financial advisers and has started succession planning. But it's not because of something I told him.'
Asked how farmers in his largely rural constituency might view the whole thing, Henry takes the (perhaps ambitious) view that they ought to watch and learn.
'The government has been very clear that succession planning is important, and people need to take advice to get it right,' he says. 'My family is like many farming families, and you could say they are doing the exact thing that every farmer in Pembrokeshire should be doing, which is to take advice from an adviser and act on it.' https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14141123/Labour-taxman-Budget-farmers.html
To be cynical, it looks like the reporter thought he had a story but on investigation, it evaporated, but has published all the background research to show how the other half lives (very well, thank you, as it turns out).
That is how the Daily Mail works. Never let the facts get in the way of a good story.
NEW: Parents of Labour MP Henry Tufnell gave 2,200 acres of land to his brother 20 days before Rachel Reeves put Inheritance Tax on land worth more than £1m [
The Mail story is many, many paragraphs about how rich and posh the family is, and what little there is about the land transfer seems to exonerate the MP:-
Gareth Wyn Jones, a campaigner and author of The Hill Farmer, whose 375-year-old family farm in North Wales is threatened by Labour's tax raid, tells me: 'This shows up exactly what is wrong with the country, when policies hammer working people and real farming families, but huge landowners with fancy lawyers can get around them. I am absolutely f****** fuming at this and have to ask: did the MP's family have inside information?'
The answer to the latter question is, so far as I can make out, a resounding no.
A source close to the Tufnell family tells me that both they and Henry had no forewarning about the family farm tax when they took steps to mitigate their liabilities prior to Budget day.
Although the Labour MP was informed about both of his parents' transactions, he will not directly benefit from the one involving the transfer of Upper Colne Farm and Stud, and was not involved in the setting up of the trust that will benefit any children he might have.
'What happened here, essentially, is that after the election, Mark and Jane thought, 'Uh-oh, new Government, might be taxes coming in, so let's get things in order before the budget,' says the source.
'They currently farm Calmsden in partnership with Albie, who is likely to eventually inherit the estate because Henry has decided not to go down that route. Transferring ownership of the company was a relatively quick and easy way to mitigate any risk of capital gains or inheritance taxes that might come in.'
The source pointed out that around 1,700 acres of Calmsden remains in the ownership of Mark and Jane, meaning the family still faces considerable liabilities under the Labour party's tax raid.
Henry Tufnell, for his part, tells me: 'I appreciate that it looks bad, but there's nothing that I can do about it. I guess the point is that your family is your family, and Dad has taken tax advice and spoken to financial advisers and has started succession planning. But it's not because of something I told him.'
Asked how farmers in his largely rural constituency might view the whole thing, Henry takes the (perhaps ambitious) view that they ought to watch and learn.
'The government has been very clear that succession planning is important, and people need to take advice to get it right,' he says. 'My family is like many farming families, and you could say they are doing the exact thing that every farmer in Pembrokeshire should be doing, which is to take advice from an adviser and act on it.' https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14141123/Labour-taxman-Budget-farmers.html
To be cynical, it looks like the reporter thought he had a story but on investigation, it evaporated, but has published all the background research to show how the other half lives (very well, thank you, as it turns out).
That is how the Daily Mail works. Never let the facts get in the way of a good story.
If you really think this is trivial then you are truly clueless to what has happened here. I can barely control my anger at this story. This vile MP needs to resign today. Do not think the Welsh Farmers will go away before he does. This government is truly EVIL.
NEW: Parents of Labour MP Henry Tufnell gave 2,200 acres of land to his brother 20 days before Rachel Reeves put Inheritance Tax on land worth more than £1m [
The Mail story is many, many paragraphs about how rich and posh the family is, and what little there is about the land transfer seems to exonerate the MP:-
Gareth Wyn Jones, a campaigner and author of The Hill Farmer, whose 375-year-old family farm in North Wales is threatened by Labour's tax raid, tells me: 'This shows up exactly what is wrong with the country, when policies hammer working people and real farming families, but huge landowners with fancy lawyers can get around them. I am absolutely f****** fuming at this and have to ask: did the MP's family have inside information?'
The answer to the latter question is, so far as I can make out, a resounding no.
A source close to the Tufnell family tells me that both they and Henry had no forewarning about the family farm tax when they took steps to mitigate their liabilities prior to Budget day.
Although the Labour MP was informed about both of his parents' transactions, he will not directly benefit from the one involving the transfer of Upper Colne Farm and Stud, and was not involved in the setting up of the trust that will benefit any children he might have.
'What happened here, essentially, is that after the election, Mark and Jane thought, 'Uh-oh, new Government, might be taxes coming in, so let's get things in order before the budget,' says the source.
'They currently farm Calmsden in partnership with Albie, who is likely to eventually inherit the estate because Henry has decided not to go down that route. Transferring ownership of the company was a relatively quick and easy way to mitigate any risk of capital gains or inheritance taxes that might come in.'
The source pointed out that around 1,700 acres of Calmsden remains in the ownership of Mark and Jane, meaning the family still faces considerable liabilities under the Labour party's tax raid.
Henry Tufnell, for his part, tells me: 'I appreciate that it looks bad, but there's nothing that I can do about it. I guess the point is that your family is your family, and Dad has taken tax advice and spoken to financial advisers and has started succession planning. But it's not because of something I told him.'
Asked how farmers in his largely rural constituency might view the whole thing, Henry takes the (perhaps ambitious) view that they ought to watch and learn.
'The government has been very clear that succession planning is important, and people need to take advice to get it right,' he says. 'My family is like many farming families, and you could say they are doing the exact thing that every farmer in Pembrokeshire should be doing, which is to take advice from an adviser and act on it.' https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14141123/Labour-taxman-Budget-farmers.html
To be cynical, it looks like the reporter thought he had a story but on investigation, it evaporated, but has published all the background research to show how the other half lives (very well, thank you, as it turns out).
That is how the Daily Mail works. Never let the facts get in the way of a good story.
If you believe the 'source close to the Tufnell family'...
F1: nothing like backing a driver to be top 2 and he ends up 3rd.
I've been watching/following F1 since the late 1970s. I'm therefore in a nostalgic move as Mohammed Ben Sulayem moves the FIA back towards the heady days of Jean-Marie Balestre presidency.
Me too. Was it not common, pre-central heating, for homes to be unheated upstairs, or was this a particular horror for us council tenants in deprived areas?
Not a council house, but when I grew up the only heating was a downstairs coal fire.
Aye, 'n we kept coal in't bath...
Real coal? That were paradise for some. They had to make do with soot held together with lick spittle. And had to make do with a downstairs - all the upstairs had been burnt on fire just trying to keep warm. The closest they came to a bath was puddle in middle of road. And even that closed Wednesday afternoons.
NEW: Parents of Labour MP Henry Tufnell gave 2,200 acres of land to his brother 20 days before Rachel Reeves put Inheritance Tax on land worth more than £1m [
The Mail story is many, many paragraphs about how rich and posh the family is, and what little there is about the land transfer seems to exonerate the MP:-
Gareth Wyn Jones, a campaigner and author of The Hill Farmer, whose 375-year-old family farm in North Wales is threatened by Labour's tax raid, tells me: 'This shows up exactly what is wrong with the country, when policies hammer working people and real farming families, but huge landowners with fancy lawyers can get around them. I am absolutely f****** fuming at this and have to ask: did the MP's family have inside information?'
The answer to the latter question is, so far as I can make out, a resounding no.
A source close to the Tufnell family tells me that both they and Henry had no forewarning about the family farm tax when they took steps to mitigate their liabilities prior to Budget day.
Although the Labour MP was informed about both of his parents' transactions, he will not directly benefit from the one involving the transfer of Upper Colne Farm and Stud, and was not involved in the setting up of the trust that will benefit any children he might have.
'What happened here, essentially, is that after the election, Mark and Jane thought, 'Uh-oh, new Government, might be taxes coming in, so let's get things in order before the budget,' says the source.
'They currently farm Calmsden in partnership with Albie, who is likely to eventually inherit the estate because Henry has decided not to go down that route. Transferring ownership of the company was a relatively quick and easy way to mitigate any risk of capital gains or inheritance taxes that might come in.'
The source pointed out that around 1,700 acres of Calmsden remains in the ownership of Mark and Jane, meaning the family still faces considerable liabilities under the Labour party's tax raid.
Henry Tufnell, for his part, tells me: 'I appreciate that it looks bad, but there's nothing that I can do about it. I guess the point is that your family is your family, and Dad has taken tax advice and spoken to financial advisers and has started succession planning. But it's not because of something I told him.'
Asked how farmers in his largely rural constituency might view the whole thing, Henry takes the (perhaps ambitious) view that they ought to watch and learn.
'The government has been very clear that succession planning is important, and people need to take advice to get it right,' he says. 'My family is like many farming families, and you could say they are doing the exact thing that every farmer in Pembrokeshire should be doing, which is to take advice from an adviser and act on it.' https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14141123/Labour-taxman-Budget-farmers.html
To be cynical, it looks like the reporter thought he had a story but on investigation, it evaporated, but has published all the background research to show how the other half lives (very well, thank you, as it turns out).
That is how the Daily Mail works. Never let the facts get in the way of a good story.
If you believe the 'source close to the Tufnell family'...
The point is that the Mail could not find a smoking gun. Common sense suggests there was no inside information. First, the MP was not part of the government; second, everyone and their sheepdog expected an IHT change since it was about the only thing that was not ruled out.
Me too. Was it not common, pre-central heating, for homes to be unheated upstairs, or was this a particular horror for us council tenants in deprived areas?
It is one of these things where something that was fairly unusual fifty or sixty years ago has now become the norm.
My dad once jokingly said: "I was raised in a home with no TV!" The first regular broadcasts started the year he was born...
Likewise, my son is amazed that I did not have a computer until my teens, and I first got on t'Internet aged 16.
What seems normal now was not then, and people managed. Likewise, my dad was taught to plough a field using horses - though because he was sensible he preferred using their new tractor. Now, ploughing with horses is a niche 'traditional' activity, rather than something done routinely.
Michael Weiss @michaeldweiss · 3h Assad is in Moscow as Aleppo is falling.
There's going to be a lot of gaslighting on Syria from the people that did the same routine 10 years ago, that the Islamist rebels could potentially end up worse than the dictator who runs death camps & gasses children.
They simply don't know what the fuck they're talking about
NEW: Parents of Labour MP Henry Tufnell gave 2,200 acres of land to his brother 20 days before Rachel Reeves put Inheritance Tax on land worth more than £1m [
The Mail story is many, many paragraphs about how rich and posh the family is, and what little there is about the land transfer seems to exonerate the MP:-
Gareth Wyn Jones, a campaigner and author of The Hill Farmer, whose 375-year-old family farm in North Wales is threatened by Labour's tax raid, tells me: 'This shows up exactly what is wrong with the country, when policies hammer working people and real farming families, but huge landowners with fancy lawyers can get around them. I am absolutely f****** fuming at this and have to ask: did the MP's family have inside information?'
The answer to the latter question is, so far as I can make out, a resounding no.
A source close to the Tufnell family tells me that both they and Henry had no forewarning about the family farm tax when they took steps to mitigate their liabilities prior to Budget day.
Although the Labour MP was informed about both of his parents' transactions, he will not directly benefit from the one involving the transfer of Upper Colne Farm and Stud, and was not involved in the setting up of the trust that will benefit any children he might have.
'What happened here, essentially, is that after the election, Mark and Jane thought, 'Uh-oh, new Government, might be taxes coming in, so let's get things in order before the budget,' says the source.
'They currently farm Calmsden in partnership with Albie, who is likely to eventually inherit the estate because Henry has decided not to go down that route. Transferring ownership of the company was a relatively quick and easy way to mitigate any risk of capital gains or inheritance taxes that might come in.'
The source pointed out that around 1,700 acres of Calmsden remains in the ownership of Mark and Jane, meaning the family still faces considerable liabilities under the Labour party's tax raid.
Henry Tufnell, for his part, tells me: 'I appreciate that it looks bad, but there's nothing that I can do about it. I guess the point is that your family is your family, and Dad has taken tax advice and spoken to financial advisers and has started succession planning. But it's not because of something I told him.'
Asked how farmers in his largely rural constituency might view the whole thing, Henry takes the (perhaps ambitious) view that they ought to watch and learn.
'The government has been very clear that succession planning is important, and people need to take advice to get it right,' he says. 'My family is like many farming families, and you could say they are doing the exact thing that every farmer in Pembrokeshire should be doing, which is to take advice from an adviser and act on it.' https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14141123/Labour-taxman-Budget-farmers.html
To be cynical, it looks like the reporter thought he had a story but on investigation, it evaporated, but has published all the background research to show how the other half lives (very well, thank you, as it turns out).
That is how the Daily Mail works. Never let the facts get in the way of a good story.
If you believe the 'source close to the Tufnell family'...
The point is that the Mail could not find a smoking gun. Common sense suggests there was no inside information. First, the MP was not part of the government; second, everyone and their sheepdog expected an IHT change since it was about the only thing that was not ruled out.
I doubt a Tory in the same situation would get the same latitude from some. But there's another point: that this change is not going to hurt the people it is supposed to be targeting, and will hurt those who do not have the resources to efficiently tax plan.
NEW: Parents of Labour MP Henry Tufnell gave 2,200 acres of land to his brother 20 days before Rachel Reeves put Inheritance Tax on land worth more than £1m [
The Mail story is many, many paragraphs about how rich and posh the family is, and what little there is about the land transfer seems to exonerate the MP:-
Gareth Wyn Jones, a campaigner and author of The Hill Farmer, whose 375-year-old family farm in North Wales is threatened by Labour's tax raid, tells me: 'This shows up exactly what is wrong with the country, when policies hammer working people and real farming families, but huge landowners with fancy lawyers can get around them. I am absolutely f****** fuming at this and have to ask: did the MP's family have inside information?'
The answer to the latter question is, so far as I can make out, a resounding no.
A source close to the Tufnell family tells me that both they and Henry had no forewarning about the family farm tax when they took steps to mitigate their liabilities prior to Budget day.
Although the Labour MP was informed about both of his parents' transactions, he will not directly benefit from the one involving the transfer of Upper Colne Farm and Stud, and was not involved in the setting up of the trust that will benefit any children he might have.
'What happened here, essentially, is that after the election, Mark and Jane thought, 'Uh-oh, new Government, might be taxes coming in, so let's get things in order before the budget,' says the source.
'They currently farm Calmsden in partnership with Albie, who is likely to eventually inherit the estate because Henry has decided not to go down that route. Transferring ownership of the company was a relatively quick and easy way to mitigate any risk of capital gains or inheritance taxes that might come in.'
The source pointed out that around 1,700 acres of Calmsden remains in the ownership of Mark and Jane, meaning the family still faces considerable liabilities under the Labour party's tax raid.
Henry Tufnell, for his part, tells me: 'I appreciate that it looks bad, but there's nothing that I can do about it. I guess the point is that your family is your family, and Dad has taken tax advice and spoken to financial advisers and has started succession planning. But it's not because of something I told him.'
Asked how farmers in his largely rural constituency might view the whole thing, Henry takes the (perhaps ambitious) view that they ought to watch and learn.
'The government has been very clear that succession planning is important, and people need to take advice to get it right,' he says. 'My family is like many farming families, and you could say they are doing the exact thing that every farmer in Pembrokeshire should be doing, which is to take advice from an adviser and act on it.' https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14141123/Labour-taxman-Budget-farmers.html
To be cynical, it looks like the reporter thought he had a story but on investigation, it evaporated, but has published all the background research to show how the other half lives (very well, thank you, as it turns out).
That is how the Daily Mail works. Never let the facts get in the way of a good story.
If you believe the 'source close to the Tufnell family'...
The point is that the Mail could not find a smoking gun. Common sense suggests there was no inside information. First, the MP was not part of the government; second, everyone and their sheepdog expected an IHT change since it was about the only thing that was not ruled out.
I doubt a Tory in the same situation would get the same latitude from some. But there's another point: that this change is not going to hurt the people it is supposed to be targeting, and will hurt those who do not have the resources to efficiently tax plan.
Perhaps that will also be the part that damages the MP, who comes close to saying let them eat cake.
NEW: Parents of Labour MP Henry Tufnell gave 2,200 acres of land to his brother 20 days before Rachel Reeves put Inheritance Tax on land worth more than £1m [
The Mail story is many, many paragraphs about how rich and posh the family is, and what little there is about the land transfer seems to exonerate the MP:-
Gareth Wyn Jones, a campaigner and author of The Hill Farmer, whose 375-year-old family farm in North Wales is threatened by Labour's tax raid, tells me: 'This shows up exactly what is wrong with the country, when policies hammer working people and real farming families, but huge landowners with fancy lawyers can get around them. I am absolutely f****** fuming at this and have to ask: did the MP's family have inside information?'
The answer to the latter question is, so far as I can make out, a resounding no.
A source close to the Tufnell family tells me that both they and Henry had no forewarning about the family farm tax when they took steps to mitigate their liabilities prior to Budget day.
Although the Labour MP was informed about both of his parents' transactions, he will not directly benefit from the one involving the transfer of Upper Colne Farm and Stud, and was not involved in the setting up of the trust that will benefit any children he might have.
'What happened here, essentially, is that after the election, Mark and Jane thought, 'Uh-oh, new Government, might be taxes coming in, so let's get things in order before the budget,' says the source.
'They currently farm Calmsden in partnership with Albie, who is likely to eventually inherit the estate because Henry has decided not to go down that route. Transferring ownership of the company was a relatively quick and easy way to mitigate any risk of capital gains or inheritance taxes that might come in.'
The source pointed out that around 1,700 acres of Calmsden remains in the ownership of Mark and Jane, meaning the family still faces considerable liabilities under the Labour party's tax raid.
Henry Tufnell, for his part, tells me: 'I appreciate that it looks bad, but there's nothing that I can do about it. I guess the point is that your family is your family, and Dad has taken tax advice and spoken to financial advisers and has started succession planning. But it's not because of something I told him.'
Asked how farmers in his largely rural constituency might view the whole thing, Henry takes the (perhaps ambitious) view that they ought to watch and learn.
'The government has been very clear that succession planning is important, and people need to take advice to get it right,' he says. 'My family is like many farming families, and you could say they are doing the exact thing that every farmer in Pembrokeshire should be doing, which is to take advice from an adviser and act on it.' https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14141123/Labour-taxman-Budget-farmers.html
To be cynical, it looks like the reporter thought he had a story but on investigation, it evaporated, but has published all the background research to show how the other half lives (very well, thank you, as it turns out).
That is how the Daily Mail works. Never let the facts get in the way of a good story.
If you believe the 'source close to the Tufnell family'...
The point is that the Mail could not find a smoking gun. Common sense suggests there was no inside information. First, the MP was not part of the government; second, everyone and their sheepdog expected an IHT change since it was about the only thing that was not ruled out.
I doubt a Tory in the same situation would get the same latitude from some. But there's another point: that this change is not going to hurt the people it is supposed to be targeting, and will hurt those who do not have the resources to efficiently tax plan.
I am incredulous that people do not think this makes the MP's position as an MP untenable. They have done nothing wrong ? They raise a son who is serving as a Labour MP, that is pretty bad surely.
NEW: Parents of Labour MP Henry Tufnell gave 2,200 acres of land to his brother 20 days before Rachel Reeves put Inheritance Tax on land worth more than £1m [
The Mail story is many, many paragraphs about how rich and posh the family is, and what little there is about the land transfer seems to exonerate the MP:-
Gareth Wyn Jones, a campaigner and author of The Hill Farmer, whose 375-year-old family farm in North Wales is threatened by Labour's tax raid, tells me: 'This shows up exactly what is wrong with the country, when policies hammer working people and real farming families, but huge landowners with fancy lawyers can get around them. I am absolutely f****** fuming at this and have to ask: did the MP's family have inside information?'
The answer to the latter question is, so far as I can make out, a resounding no.
A source close to the Tufnell family tells me that both they and Henry had no forewarning about the family farm tax when they took steps to mitigate their liabilities prior to Budget day.
Although the Labour MP was informed about both of his parents' transactions, he will not directly benefit from the one involving the transfer of Upper Colne Farm and Stud, and was not involved in the setting up of the trust that will benefit any children he might have.
'What happened here, essentially, is that after the election, Mark and Jane thought, 'Uh-oh, new Government, might be taxes coming in, so let's get things in order before the budget,' says the source.
'They currently farm Calmsden in partnership with Albie, who is likely to eventually inherit the estate because Henry has decided not to go down that route. Transferring ownership of the company was a relatively quick and easy way to mitigate any risk of capital gains or inheritance taxes that might come in.'
The source pointed out that around 1,700 acres of Calmsden remains in the ownership of Mark and Jane, meaning the family still faces considerable liabilities under the Labour party's tax raid.
Henry Tufnell, for his part, tells me: 'I appreciate that it looks bad, but there's nothing that I can do about it. I guess the point is that your family is your family, and Dad has taken tax advice and spoken to financial advisers and has started succession planning. But it's not because of something I told him.'
Asked how farmers in his largely rural constituency might view the whole thing, Henry takes the (perhaps ambitious) view that they ought to watch and learn.
'The government has been very clear that succession planning is important, and people need to take advice to get it right,' he says. 'My family is like many farming families, and you could say they are doing the exact thing that every farmer in Pembrokeshire should be doing, which is to take advice from an adviser and act on it.' https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14141123/Labour-taxman-Budget-farmers.html
To be cynical, it looks like the reporter thought he had a story but on investigation, it evaporated, but has published all the background research to show how the other half lives (very well, thank you, as it turns out).
That is how the Daily Mail works. Never let the facts get in the way of a good story.
If you believe the 'source close to the Tufnell family'...
The point is that the Mail could not find a smoking gun. Common sense suggests there was no inside information. First, the MP was not part of the government; second, everyone and their sheepdog expected an IHT change since it was about the only thing that was not ruled out.
Thirdly, the changes to IHT on farms come in in April 2026. Anyone who really did have inside information knew they had no reason to act for some time.
Michael Weiss @michaeldweiss · 3h Assad is in Moscow as Aleppo is falling.
There's going to be a lot of gaslighting on Syria from the people that did the same routine 10 years ago, that the Islamist rebels could potentially end up worse than the dictator who runs death camps & gasses children.
They simply don't know what the fuck they're talking about
Michael Weiss @michaeldweiss · 3h Assad is in Moscow as Aleppo is falling.
A fascinating character. A mild mannered boy who was never supposed to be president. He was in London training to be an opthalmologist when his elder brother died in a car crash. Apparently power corrupted nonetheless.
I recall reading years ago that even as President he was not the most powerful member of the ruling family, he was the 'softer' more urbane figurehead. No idea if that was ever true or is today of the regime.
There was a rather interesting TV show awhile back about the son of a middle eastern dictator who had been living in the West working as a doctor and who was called back as the dictator was dying, only in this case the older brother survived a car crash in the first epusode
In the show he started out as well intentioned but becamejust as bad as his evil dad and psychotic elder brother.
Just saw some pictures of Notre Dame and have to say well done to the French, it looks like a great restoration and they've avoided some of the idiotic suggestions of modernisation and they've done it much faster than we would have. Bravo.
The Russians took over 8 months of intense fighting to take Alleppo. A city twice as large as Kharkiv.
The SSG have taken it back in 72 hours, with the Russians routed.
That's what a 3 day SMO looks like, Putin.
It seems likely that the Russians and Iranians have militarily stretched themselves too far. They have tried having military influence in too many countries, and made too many enemies, for their strength.
I do wonder if there are any Ukrainian 'advisers' amongst the rebels; the Ukrainians have had small teams fighting Russian/Wagner interests in Mali, and allegedly elsewhere.
Just saw some pictures of Notre Dame and have to say well done to the French, it looks like a great restoration and they've avoided some of the idiotic suggestions of modernisation and they've done it much faster than we would have. Bravo.
Ain't that the truth?
"Much faster than we would have" - we'd have tied it up in all sorts of legal, planning and compliance shit, with thousands of reviews, gateways, and boxtickers.
Just saw some pictures of Notre Dame and have to say well done to the French, it looks like a great restoration and they've avoided some of the idiotic suggestions of modernisation and they've done it much faster than we would have. Bravo.
I agree that they've done a stunning job, but think your snark about the UK is unnecessary. We rebuilt the South Transept of York Minster in four years after the fire there in 1984. True, the damage was not as widespread (though devastating); but it was also not treated as a national prestige project in the way the French have treated Notre Dame.
The damage from the Windsor Castle fire was also repaired in five years.
The Russians took over 8 months of intense fighting to take Alleppo. A city twice as large as Kharkiv.
The SSG have taken it back in 72 hours, with the Russians routed.
That's what a 3 day SMO looks like, Putin.
The Russians were only there because Ed Miliband was a weak, callous, backsliding, incompetent, treacherous turd. He should never have been let anywhere near government again after his betrayal of the Syrian people.
NEW: Parents of Labour MP Henry Tufnell gave 2,200 acres of land to his brother 20 days before Rachel Reeves put Inheritance Tax on land worth more than £1m [
The Mail story is many, many paragraphs about how rich and posh the family is, and what little there is about the land transfer seems to exonerate the MP:-
Gareth Wyn Jones, a campaigner and author of The Hill Farmer, whose 375-year-old family farm in North Wales is threatened by Labour's tax raid, tells me: 'This shows up exactly what is wrong with the country, when policies hammer working people and real farming families, but huge landowners with fancy lawyers can get around them. I am absolutely f****** fuming at this and have to ask: did the MP's family have inside information?'
The answer to the latter question is, so far as I can make out, a resounding no.
A source close to the Tufnell family tells me that both they and Henry had no forewarning about the family farm tax when they took steps to mitigate their liabilities prior to Budget day.
Although the Labour MP was informed about both of his parents' transactions, he will not directly benefit from the one involving the transfer of Upper Colne Farm and Stud, and was not involved in the setting up of the trust that will benefit any children he might have.
'What happened here, essentially, is that after the election, Mark and Jane thought, 'Uh-oh, new Government, might be taxes coming in, so let's get things in order before the budget,' says the source.
'They currently farm Calmsden in partnership with Albie, who is likely to eventually inherit the estate because Henry has decided not to go down that route. Transferring ownership of the company was a relatively quick and easy way to mitigate any risk of capital gains or inheritance taxes that might come in.'
The source pointed out that around 1,700 acres of Calmsden remains in the ownership of Mark and Jane, meaning the family still faces considerable liabilities under the Labour party's tax raid.
Henry Tufnell, for his part, tells me: 'I appreciate that it looks bad, but there's nothing that I can do about it. I guess the point is that your family is your family, and Dad has taken tax advice and spoken to financial advisers and has started succession planning. But it's not because of something I told him.'
Asked how farmers in his largely rural constituency might view the whole thing, Henry takes the (perhaps ambitious) view that they ought to watch and learn.
'The government has been very clear that succession planning is important, and people need to take advice to get it right,' he says. 'My family is like many farming families, and you could say they are doing the exact thing that every farmer in Pembrokeshire should be doing, which is to take advice from an adviser and act on it.' https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14141123/Labour-taxman-Budget-farmers.html
To be cynical, it looks like the reporter thought he had a story but on investigation, it evaporated, but has published all the background research to show how the other half lives (very well, thank you, as it turns out).
That is how the Daily Mail works. Never let the facts get in the way of a good story.
If you believe the 'source close to the Tufnell family'...
The point is that the Mail could not find a smoking gun. Common sense suggests there was no inside information. First, the MP was not part of the government; second, everyone and their sheepdog expected an IHT change since it was about the only thing that was not ruled out.
I doubt a Tory in the same situation would get the same latitude from some. But there's another point: that this change is not going to hurt the people it is supposed to be targeting, and will hurt those who do not have the resources to efficiently tax plan.
I am incredulous that people do not think this makes the MP's position as an MP untenable. They have done nothing wrong ? They raise a son who is serving as a Labour MP, that is pretty bad surely.
I'm not saying that. Just that some of the people hand-waving it away would be apoplectic if it was a Tory in the same situation.
As we have already seen on many occasions over the last few months. It's quite fun to see the attackers turn into defenders now their party's in power.
Just saw some pictures of Notre Dame and have to say well done to the French, it looks like a great restoration and they've avoided some of the idiotic suggestions of modernisation and they've done it much faster than we would have. Bravo.
I agree that they've done a stunning job, but think your snark about the UK is unnecessary. We rebuilt the South Transept of York Minster in four years after the fire there in 1984. True, the damage was not as widespread (though devastating); but it was also not treated as a national prestige project in the way the French have treated Notre Dame.
The damage from the Windsor Castle fire was also repaired in five years.
That was 40 years ago. Today there would have been 20 years worth of planning and other crap to deal with.
Comedian Tony Hinchcliffe talking on stage for half an hour, about how he ended up as the most talked-about person in the world for a week before the US elections.
Just saw some pictures of Notre Dame and have to say well done to the French, it looks like a great restoration and they've avoided some of the idiotic suggestions of modernisation and they've done it much faster than we would have. Bravo.
I agree that they've done a stunning job, but think your snark about the UK is unnecessary. We rebuilt the South Transept of York Minster in four years after the fire there in 1984. True, the damage was not as widespread (though devastating); but it was also not treated as a national prestige project in the way the French have treated Notre Dame.
The damage from the Windsor Castle fire was also repaired in five years.
That was 40 years ago. Today there would have been 20 years worth of planning and other crap to deal with.
I actually disagree with that.
It's good to see 'patriots' talking up the country!
"Atkins, rh Victoria Bedford, Mr Peter Brandreth, Aphra Cartlidge, James Davis, rh David Dinenage, Dame Caroline Dowden, rh Sir Oliver Evans, Dr Luke Fox, Sir Ashley Freeman, George Garnier, Mark Hollinrake, Kevin Hunt, rh Jeremy Kearns, Alicia Malthouse, rh Kit Mitchell, rh Mr Andrew Philp, rh Chris Shastri-Hurst, Dr Neil Snowden, Mr Andrew Stride, rh Mel Sunak, rh Rishi Trott, rh Laura Wild, James"
Mr. Jessop, the "I can't believe it's not Andretti" new team will have funding from the Qataris, so they may be another source of discontent with MBS.
I hadn't heard that auditor/banker story, but it seems eminently possible.
Got to love his F1 morality drive. Going to countries with concentration camps or that decapitate people for being gay? Sure. Swearing in a press conference? Oh noes!
I think we can rule out mass hysteria. Also, this is not “local hobbyists”. The US/UK appear seriously concerned
Suspicion falls on Russia, but that means Russia has the ability to fly drones over UK/US military assets - bases and ships - and with apparent impunity
Just saw some pictures of Notre Dame and have to say well done to the French, it looks like a great restoration and they've avoided some of the idiotic suggestions of modernisation and they've done it much faster than we would have. Bravo.
I agree that they've done a stunning job, but think your snark about the UK is unnecessary. We rebuilt the South Transept of York Minster in four years after the fire there in 1984. True, the damage was not as widespread (though devastating); but it was also not treated as a national prestige project in the way the French have treated Notre Dame.
The damage from the Windsor Castle fire was also repaired in five years.
That was 40 years ago. Today there would have been 20 years worth of planning and other crap to deal with.
You'd also have EDI and pressure to make it a more "inclusive" space and more "sustainable".
This is the problem we have - just look at this lot:
"‘Sickfluencers’ advise benefit claimants as 15,000 a week signed off work
Social media influencers are helping their followers maximise claims for universal credit and personal independence payments as the benefits bill grows"
The Russians took over 8 months of intense fighting to take Alleppo. A city twice as large as Kharkiv.
The SSG have taken it back in 72 hours, with the Russians routed.
That's what a 3 day SMO looks like, Putin.
It seems likely that the Russians and Iranians have militarily stretched themselves too far. They have tried having military influence in too many countries, and made too many enemies, for their strength.
I do wonder if there are any Ukrainian 'advisers' amongst the rebels; the Ukrainians have had small teams fighting Russian/Wagner interests in Mali, and allegedly elsewhere.
The Russian Black Sea Fleet base in Tartus, Syria, must be looking a bit shaky now. Putin could be rather more relaxed about losing Crimea as a warm deep-water port if he had Syria. But over-stretch in Ukraine causes another hit to strategic aims - along with Finland and Sweden joining NATO.
I wonder if the Ukrainian ATACMS hits on Russian airfieds have taken even more Russian bombers out than has been acknowledged, to the point where they have to bring the planes back from Syria.
SKS has abandoned his pledge to achieve the highest highest growth in the G7.
The pledge was central to Labour's election campaign, and was the top promise of SKS's "Five Missions".
Less than 150 days into power, it's been dumped.
Explaining to do from his fans on here methinks
Good. Because you can't "pledge" something like that. The UK government has only a marginal impact on how much we grow and no impact at all on how much other G7 countries do.
The second part of that is certainly true. On the first, well, we're buffetted about by the financial weather - but some basic economic common sense would at least point the rudder in the right direction. I freely admit there are things to prioritise as well as growth, but the contrast between that pledge and Reeves' subsequent decision making does seem quite glaring.
She's borrowing more and splitting it between the NHS and investment. It's not anti growth.
We are now deep enough into the Labour term in office to make reasonable predictions. And one is this: the Labour government's economic policies are so dated, wrong-headed and anti-growth - driving away investment, scaring away the rich, piling up debt to spook the markets - it is highly likely we will have the SLOWEST growth in the G7, with the probable exception of Germany, which is in a peculiar crisis of its own
It is therefore not surprising they have abandoned the stupid "target"
Starmer and Co are going to be utterly vanquished in the next election, as angry voters turn on them - they were never popular in the first place - and there is a pretty good chance Reform will hugely benefit, as per the threader
Labour has been a PR disaster and full of unforced errors. That is conceded. But WRT economic policies as such, governing has to be done with precision and actual concrete decision. Critics are permitted to generalise and pick and choose.
So, Leon, in econonic policy what exactly should they have done instead?
Fuck knows. Not my job. Their job
I'd need to spend a few hours mulling over a reasonable answer (which you deserve), I may do it at some point
But I know for a fact that what they have announced, and planned, shows zero ideas for amping up growth. It is mere verbiage, and the few things they have done - tax jobs - drive non doms and rich people away - are actually anti-growth
I have a theory that rich people generally do fuck all for growth. I'm quite rich and I suspect you're even richer. We do fuck-all for growth.
Poor people OTOH spend every penny they get. Give the poorest 10% an extra £1bn and that's an extra £bn of growth right away.
Er, fuck off
In the last 20 years I have generated millions - literally - in tax for HMRC. And that comes from money earned overseas, going into UK coffers. And marketing and selling my flints employs, in part, a fair few people
What else am I expected to do, to personally generate growth?
So, yeah, fuck off
Ben Pointer is an affable chap whose posts show evidence of good humour.
In his politics however, he acknowledges that he has zero ambitions for Britain's economy to grow, and indeed he thinks it's probably right that it shrinks.
That removes any ounce of respect I have for his political arguments, or any policy that he might ever recommend as being beneficial to our economy.
Yes, I like @Benpointer - and his life story is a genuine inspiration
My "fuck off" is only aimed at his outrageous assertion that I am some affluent dude who just sits back and does fuck all but faff about in nice hotels in Bali. I am self-employed, successfully, and I have in my later years generated large amounts of income and business from abroad, all of which comes to the UK and a large chunk of the taxable cash goes to the Inland Revenue; and the marketing, promoting and selling of my products in the UK employs a large number of people (not full time, but they all spend part of their time doing that)
I am pretty certain I add more "growth" to the UK economy than 95% of Britons. Earning money abroad and paying tax on it in Britain is surely one of the purest ways of benefiting the UK
There are two different arguments being conflated here.
Do rich people contribute disproportionately to spending and tax revenue, as a result of being rich and having the capacity to invest? Yes.
Does a pound in tax cuts or benefits given to a poor person get recycled back into the economy more quickly than the equivalent pound given to a rich person? Yes.
No. If you are self employed and a successful primary producer - like a gold miner or a farmer or, most of all, an artist - you are creating wealth and value when there was none before. It comes out of my mind and with hard work I turn my thoughts into something that can make a six figure salary. That is taxed by HMRC, and it also brings in lots of money from abroad, also taxed by HMRC
At the same time the promoting, making, advertising and selling of my mental efforts turned into flints itself generates employment, and profit, and thus further adds to the wealth of the UK and money the government can then spend as it wishes, eg stimulating more business elsewhere
If that doesn't boost growth, what does? I readily confess I am not exactly James Dyson, but I am pretty sure I do more for the UK economy and UK "growth" than 19 out of 20 of my fellow Brits. I create valuable stuff from scratch
Wealth is created by moving assets from low-value to high-value uses. Value is expressed by the amount of money one is willing to provide to purchase that asset. By changing stone from a sharp-edged monolith that nobody wants to a smoothly polished dildo that somebody wants to fill their guts with, you are creating wealth. The amount of wealth is the increase in value.
There y'go. That's proper economics. You can carve it into your goods if you like.
Value for who?
Let’s say someone is very good at advertising fizzy pop. That person’s work is of value to a fizzy pop manufacturer, the fizzy pop manufacturer becomes more wealthy from their work, but have they created wealth or have they just re-distributed it? Likewise, the tax lawyer that gets the company’s tax bill lower, they are valuable to the company, but have they created wealth?
Compare the person who increases the yield of an acre of sugar beet, or makes solar panels more efficient. They have created wealth.
Question about the AD bill. If this does indeed become law, what's to stop anyone that's suicidal asking the NHS to kill them?
What's the difference, legally and practically, between someone who's terminally ill being suicidal and a healthy young person in their middle 20s being suicidal?
AD seems like a huge can of worms to me...
The bill requires you to be within 6 months of dying, so a young person in their 20s can’t apply. Two doctors need to sign off on the decision: the doctors won’t sign off for someone who is suicidal rather than facing a painful death.
NEW: Parents of Labour MP Henry Tufnell gave 2,200 acres of land to his brother 20 days before Rachel Reeves put Inheritance Tax on land worth more than £1m [
The Mail story is many, many paragraphs about how rich and posh the family is, and what little there is about the land transfer seems to exonerate the MP:-
Gareth Wyn Jones, a campaigner and author of The Hill Farmer, whose 375-year-old family farm in North Wales is threatened by Labour's tax raid, tells me: 'This shows up exactly what is wrong with the country, when policies hammer working people and real farming families, but huge landowners with fancy lawyers can get around them. I am absolutely f****** fuming at this and have to ask: did the MP's family have inside information?'
The answer to the latter question is, so far as I can make out, a resounding no.
A source close to the Tufnell family tells me that both they and Henry had no forewarning about the family farm tax when they took steps to mitigate their liabilities prior to Budget day.
Although the Labour MP was informed about both of his parents' transactions, he will not directly benefit from the one involving the transfer of Upper Colne Farm and Stud, and was not involved in the setting up of the trust that will benefit any children he might have.
'What happened here, essentially, is that after the election, Mark and Jane thought, 'Uh-oh, new Government, might be taxes coming in, so let's get things in order before the budget,' says the source.
'They currently farm Calmsden in partnership with Albie, who is likely to eventually inherit the estate because Henry has decided not to go down that route. Transferring ownership of the company was a relatively quick and easy way to mitigate any risk of capital gains or inheritance taxes that might come in.'
The source pointed out that around 1,700 acres of Calmsden remains in the ownership of Mark and Jane, meaning the family still faces considerable liabilities under the Labour party's tax raid.
Henry Tufnell, for his part, tells me: 'I appreciate that it looks bad, but there's nothing that I can do about it. I guess the point is that your family is your family, and Dad has taken tax advice and spoken to financial advisers and has started succession planning. But it's not because of something I told him.'
Asked how farmers in his largely rural constituency might view the whole thing, Henry takes the (perhaps ambitious) view that they ought to watch and learn.
'The government has been very clear that succession planning is important, and people need to take advice to get it right,' he says. 'My family is like many farming families, and you could say they are doing the exact thing that every farmer in Pembrokeshire should be doing, which is to take advice from an adviser and act on it.' https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14141123/Labour-taxman-Budget-farmers.html
To be cynical, it looks like the reporter thought he had a story but on investigation, it evaporated, but has published all the background research to show how the other half lives (very well, thank you, as it turns out).
That is how the Daily Mail works. Never let the facts get in the way of a good story.
And always has done. "The paragraph itself could only have been written by a cad", as Baldwin put it about a century ago.
Just saw some pictures of Notre Dame and have to say well done to the French, it looks like a great restoration and they've avoided some of the idiotic suggestions of modernisation and they've done it much faster than we would have. Bravo.
I agree that they've done a stunning job, but think your snark about the UK is unnecessary. We rebuilt the South Transept of York Minster in four years after the fire there in 1984. True, the damage was not as widespread (though devastating); but it was also not treated as a national prestige project in the way the French have treated Notre Dame.
The damage from the Windsor Castle fire was also repaired in five years.
That was 40 years ago. Today there would have been 20 years worth of planning and other crap to deal with.
You'd also have EDI and pressure to make it a more "inclusive" space and more "sustainable".
Yes, it would be declared non inclusive to non-christians I'm sure. Protests and legal challenges by atheists around public money being used for restoration of a church, ignoring the cultural significance.
@JosiasJessop it's nothing to do with running down the country, it's just being realistic based on current experience of building anything in this country vs how quickly and cheaply other countries do it. Would the French be spending £50bn and 20 years building 150 miles of train track?
Question about the AD bill. If this does indeed become law, what's to stop anyone that's suicidal asking the NHS to kill them?
What's the difference, legally and practically, between someone who's terminally ill being suicidal and a healthy young person in their middle 20s being suicidal?
AD seems like a huge can of worms to me...
As written, you would need a doctor to conclude that you only had six months to live, and another doctor to confirm that. That would seem to preclude your scenario from being considered.
However, there is understandably some pressure to remove the six months left to live proviso, on the basis that there are some conditions which are intolerable to live with, but where people might live for many years. So the law might get there.
It's also possible that, over time, some doctors may come to conclude that severe depression is a terminal illness, in the sense that a suicidally depressed person is likely to attempt to take their own life, possibly repeatedly until successful.
Doctors have never seen severe depression as a terminal illness and they’re not going to start doing so because of this law.
This is the problem we have - just look at this lot:
"‘Sickfluencers’ advise benefit claimants as 15,000 a week signed off work
Social media influencers are helping their followers maximise claims for universal credit and personal independence payments as the benefits bill grows"
This is what comes of having a hugely complex web of benefits and an apathetic bureaucracy that finds it easier to say yes to make the problem go away. Labour needs to tackle benefits culture and "self-diagnosis" of "disabilities".
Mr. Jessop, the "I can't believe it's not Andretti" new team will have funding from the Qataris, so they may be another source of discontent with MBS.
I hadn't heard that auditor/banker story, but it seems eminently possible.
Got to love his F1 morality drive. Going to countries with concentration camps or that decapitate people for being gay? Sure. Swearing in a press conference? Oh noes!
I can sorta see the swearing thing: with the likes of 'Drive to Survive', F1 is trying to attract a younger (and more female...) demographic than was traditionally the case. And parents frequently don't like their kids hearing swearing on TV.
But driving an F1 car is a high-pressure environment, and drivers react to that pressure by occasionally swearing - as we all do. That's excusable. But I can see an argument that swearing should be kept out of things like press conferences, except in extremis.
I also think the FIA have bene dicks over things like Hamilton's jewellery. Explain the risks, and let the adult drivers make adult decisions.
Anyway, I'd go a step further. Any driver saying "For sure" in an interview should be forced to drive a 2007 Super Aguri.
Just saw some pictures of Notre Dame and have to say well done to the French, it looks like a great restoration and they've avoided some of the idiotic suggestions of modernisation and they've done it much faster than we would have. Bravo.
I agree that they've done a stunning job, but think your snark about the UK is unnecessary. We rebuilt the South Transept of York Minster in four years after the fire there in 1984. True, the damage was not as widespread (though devastating); but it was also not treated as a national prestige project in the way the French have treated Notre Dame.
The damage from the Windsor Castle fire was also repaired in five years.
That was 40 years ago. Today there would have been 20 years worth of planning and other crap to deal with.
You'd also have EDI and pressure to make it a more "inclusive" space and more "sustainable".
Yes, it would be declared non inclusive to non-christians I'm sure. Protests and legal challenges by atheists around public money being used for restoration of a church, ignoring the cultural significance.
@JosiasJessop it's nothing to do with running down the country, it's just being realistic based on current experience of building anything in this country vs how quickly and cheaply other countries do it. Would the French be spending £50bn and 20 years building 150 miles of train track?
France has always been quicker and better at building public infrastructure than us. Throughout the post war period. The state has much more clear cut and draconian powers over compulsory purchase and planning. In Britain the Englishman’s home is his castle tendency holds things back.
Restoration of historic buildings is another matter though. My experience is that the two countries are both somewhat similar, and rather more respectful of heritage than some of our Eastern European (knock it down but restore a pastiche of the facade) neighbours.
NEW: Parents of Labour MP Henry Tufnell gave 2,200 acres of land to his brother 20 days before Rachel Reeves put Inheritance Tax on land worth more than £1m [
The Mail story is many, many paragraphs about how rich and posh the family is, and what little there is about the land transfer seems to exonerate the MP:-
Gareth Wyn Jones, a campaigner and author of The Hill Farmer, whose 375-year-old family farm in North Wales is threatened by Labour's tax raid, tells me: 'This shows up exactly what is wrong with the country, when policies hammer working people and real farming families, but huge landowners with fancy lawyers can get around them. I am absolutely f****** fuming at this and have to ask: did the MP's family have inside information?'
The answer to the latter question is, so far as I can make out, a resounding no.
A source close to the Tufnell family tells me that both they and Henry had no forewarning about the family farm tax when they took steps to mitigate their liabilities prior to Budget day.
Although the Labour MP was informed about both of his parents' transactions, he will not directly benefit from the one involving the transfer of Upper Colne Farm and Stud, and was not involved in the setting up of the trust that will benefit any children he might have.
'What happened here, essentially, is that after the election, Mark and Jane thought, 'Uh-oh, new Government, might be taxes coming in, so let's get things in order before the budget,' says the source.
'They currently farm Calmsden in partnership with Albie, who is likely to eventually inherit the estate because Henry has decided not to go down that route. Transferring ownership of the company was a relatively quick and easy way to mitigate any risk of capital gains or inheritance taxes that might come in.'
The source pointed out that around 1,700 acres of Calmsden remains in the ownership of Mark and Jane, meaning the family still faces considerable liabilities under the Labour party's tax raid.
Henry Tufnell, for his part, tells me: 'I appreciate that it looks bad, but there's nothing that I can do about it. I guess the point is that your family is your family, and Dad has taken tax advice and spoken to financial advisers and has started succession planning. But it's not because of something I told him.'
Asked how farmers in his largely rural constituency might view the whole thing, Henry takes the (perhaps ambitious) view that they ought to watch and learn.
'The government has been very clear that succession planning is important, and people need to take advice to get it right,' he says. 'My family is like many farming families, and you could say they are doing the exact thing that every farmer in Pembrokeshire should be doing, which is to take advice from an adviser and act on it.' https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14141123/Labour-taxman-Budget-farmers.html
To be cynical, it looks like the reporter thought he had a story but on investigation, it evaporated, but has published all the background research to show how the other half lives (very well, thank you, as it turns out).
That is how the Daily Mail works. Never let the facts get in the way of a good story.
If you believe the 'source close to the Tufnell family'...
The point is that the Mail could not find a smoking gun. Common sense suggests there was no inside information. First, the MP was not part of the government; second, everyone and their sheepdog expected an IHT change since it was about the only thing that was not ruled out.
Thirdly, the changes to IHT on farms come in in April 2026. Anyone who really did have inside information knew they had no reason to act for some time.
The MP's wife, Poppy Rimmington-Pounder, is a barrister who advertises her specialisations as setting up trusts ands IHT.
The Russians took over 8 months of intense fighting to take Alleppo. A city twice as large as Kharkiv.
The SSG have taken it back in 72 hours, with the Russians routed.
That's what a 3 day SMO looks like, Putin.
It seems likely that the Russians and Iranians have militarily stretched themselves too far. They have tried having military influence in too many countries, and made too many enemies, for their strength.
I do wonder if there are any Ukrainian 'advisers' amongst the rebels; the Ukrainians have had small teams fighting Russian/Wagner interests in Mali, and allegedly elsewhere.
You would guess lines of communication exist, like between anti-Putin Chechen forces fighting with Ukraine and in Syria.
Just saw some pictures of Notre Dame and have to say well done to the French, it looks like a great restoration and they've avoided some of the idiotic suggestions of modernisation and they've done it much faster than we would have. Bravo.
I agree that they've done a stunning job, but think your snark about the UK is unnecessary. We rebuilt the South Transept of York Minster in four years after the fire there in 1984. True, the damage was not as widespread (though devastating); but it was also not treated as a national prestige project in the way the French have treated Notre Dame.
The damage from the Windsor Castle fire was also repaired in five years.
That was 40 years ago. Today there would have been 20 years worth of planning and other crap to deal with.
You'd also have EDI and pressure to make it a more "inclusive" space and more "sustainable".
Yes, it would be declared non inclusive to non-christians I'm sure. Protests and legal challenges by atheists around public money being used for restoration of a church, ignoring the cultural significance.
@JosiasJessop it's nothing to do with running down the country, it's just being realistic based on current experience of building anything in this country vs how quickly and cheaply other countries do it. Would the French be spending £50bn and 20 years building 150 miles of train track?
As I've pointed out in the past, we build many things successfully in this country. In fact, it is the norm. Many super-large projects have well-known and well-publicised problems, but many others run along absolutely fine.
It's all this fucking doom-laden shit we get from the right about this country, especially from middle-managers (who incidentally are where many of the problems originate... ) It's just as bad as the fucking doom-laden shit we get from the left.
Just saw some pictures of Notre Dame and have to say well done to the French, it looks like a great restoration and they've avoided some of the idiotic suggestions of modernisation and they've done it much faster than we would have. Bravo.
I agree that they've done a stunning job, but think your snark about the UK is unnecessary. We rebuilt the South Transept of York Minster in four years after the fire there in 1984. True, the damage was not as widespread (though devastating); but it was also not treated as a national prestige project in the way the French have treated Notre Dame.
The damage from the Windsor Castle fire was also repaired in five years.
That was 40 years ago. Today there would have been 20 years worth of planning and other crap to deal with.
You'd also have EDI and pressure to make it a more "inclusive" space and more "sustainable".
Yes, it would be declared non inclusive to non-christians I'm sure. Protests and legal challenges by atheists around public money being used for restoration of a church, ignoring the cultural significance.
@JosiasJessop it's nothing to do with running down the country, it's just being realistic based on current experience of building anything in this country vs how quickly and cheaply other countries do it. Would the French be spending £50bn and 20 years building 150 miles of train track?
It's all lottery money anyway, so there aren't those sort of complaints.
(There's also a grant to cover VAT for listed places of worship from central government funds.)
The key issue is the reluctance of anyone to spend money on anything that has a payback measured in more than minutes.
This is the problem we have - just look at this lot:
"‘Sickfluencers’ advise benefit claimants as 15,000 a week signed off work
Social media influencers are helping their followers maximise claims for universal credit and personal independence payments as the benefits bill grows"
This is what comes of having a hugely complex web of benefits and an apathetic bureaucracy that finds it easier to say yes to make the problem go away. Labour needs to tackle benefits culture and "self-diagnosis" of "disabilities".
This is the problem we have - just look at this lot:
"‘Sickfluencers’ advise benefit claimants as 15,000 a week signed off work
Social media influencers are helping their followers maximise claims for universal credit and personal independence payments as the benefits bill grows"
This is what comes of having a hugely complex web of benefits and an apathetic bureaucracy that finds it easier to say yes to make the problem go away. Labour needs to tackle benefits culture and "self-diagnosis" of "disabilities".
"Another DWP assessor, a trained GP, told Nelson: “What strikes me about this job is how few people I speak to who are genuinely too sick to work. Most of the claims are to do with stress or anxiety. I’m speaking to people who, as a GP, I would not say were too sick to work.
“But my opinion as a GP does not count in this system. It’s all about points, ‘risk’ and other triggers that they [claimants] seem familiar with before they call.”
It's fun seeing people look at France and say: "Look how much better they do projects over there!" When the truth is they (and the Germans...) can be just as bad as us.
"In 2008, Saeju Jeong and Artem Petakov founded Noom because they were dissatisfied with how the American healthcare system focused on sick care instead of health care."
It's fun seeing people look at France and say: "Look how much better they do projects over there!" When the truth is they (and the Germans...) can be just as bad as us.
Comments
What's the difference, legally and practically, between someone who's terminally ill being suicidal and a healthy young person in their middle 20s being suicidal?
AD seems like a huge can of worms to me...
There was a rather interesting TV show awhile back about the son of a middle eastern dictator who had been living in the West working as a doctor and who was called back as the dictator was dying, only in this case the older brother survived a car crash in the first epusode
In the show he started out as well intentioned but becamejust as bad as his evil dad and psychotic elder brother.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyrant_(TV_series)
However, there is understandably some pressure to remove the six months left to live proviso, on the basis that there are some conditions which are intolerable to live with, but where people might live for many years. So the law might get there.
It's also possible that, over time, some doctors may come to conclude that severe depression is a terminal illness, in the sense that a suicidally depressed person is likely to attempt to take their own life, possibly repeatedly until successful.
Also noting the Telegraph story from a couple of days ago that the Ontario Coroner has found over 400 cases of MAID since 2018 where doctors had breached the guidance including igoring cool down times.
These are the sorts of things I would like to see dealt with in the bill before it becomes law.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cz9x9wn802ko
In the 2020 Irish general election, Sinn Féin secured 24.53% first preference votes, while Fianna Fáil obtained 22.18% and Fine Gael got 20.86%.
In fact a small swing from SF to FG since the last Irish election with SF down 3% and FG up 0.2% and FF down 2.5%
https://www.rte.ie/news/2024/1129/1483674-election-live-blog/
Professor Gary Murphy has said that the Exit Poll has suggested a level of fragmentation at the top with all of the other parties "fighting for the carcass".
Isn't their economy at least better than ours, so the carcass is still worth something?
https://x.com/paul_b_coleman/status/1862413981849194579
1983 medical act talks about degrees for surgeons and physicians granted by key bodies like royal colleges etc.
As a country Ireland has a lot of the same problems Britain has - underinvestment in public infrastructure, lack of housing, poorly performing public services (arguably except Education to an extent). But Ireland is doing better at attracting private investment in export industries such as pharmaceuticals. But really quite badly at offshore wind farms.
My wife and I sometimes have this conversation about which of the two countries is most theocratic. Ireland had a special place for Catholicism in the constitution, Britain has bishops in the House of Lords. The Today programme in Britain has Thought for the Day, while the main evening news in Ireland starts at 6:01pm so the Angelus can be broadcast. And so on.
The economic differences are kinda similar. Some things are better in one country than the other, and vice versa. The budget surplus in Ireland certainly looks great right now, but when the tide goes out the country is very vulnerable.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bridget_Phillipson
Me too. Was it not common, pre-central heating, for homes to be unheated upstairs, or was this a particular horror for us council tenants in deprived areas?
To be applauded, surely?
I'm also not clear how that relates to iHT. Can't they find a story that has relevance to the budget.
(BTW can you flag up the link to Twitter.)
but that just links back to the Daily Mail story:-
Revealed: How parents of Labour's poshest MP put hundreds of acres beyond the reach of the taxman just 20 days before the Budget clobbered farmers.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14141123/Labour-taxman-Budget-farmers.html
It’s far worse than a few bob on July 4th election date - it’s “we will announce sacrificial death of all first born daughters, you’ve got two months to hide yours in the Australian Outback” level political corruption this is.
Incidentally, not a single person can be successfully prosecuted for betting on the July 4th General Election date from 3 weeks before the announcement. They merely have to say they are followers of MoonRabbit on politicalbetting.com - the clever lady had psephologically worked the date out before the government had even been able to. 😇
Gareth Wyn Jones, a campaigner and author of The Hill Farmer, whose 375-year-old family farm in North Wales is threatened by Labour's tax raid, tells me: 'This shows up exactly what is wrong with the country, when policies hammer working people and real farming families, but huge landowners with fancy lawyers can get around them. I am absolutely f****** fuming at this and have to ask: did the MP's family have inside information?'
The answer to the latter question is, so far as I can make out, a resounding no.
A source close to the Tufnell family tells me that both they and Henry had no forewarning about the family farm tax when they took steps to mitigate their liabilities prior to Budget day.
Although the Labour MP was informed about both of his parents' transactions, he will not directly benefit from the one involving the transfer of Upper Colne Farm and Stud, and was not involved in the setting up of the trust that will benefit any children he might have.
'What happened here, essentially, is that after the election, Mark and Jane thought, 'Uh-oh, new Government, might be taxes coming in, so let's get things in order before the budget,' says the source.
'They currently farm Calmsden in partnership with Albie, who is likely to eventually inherit the estate because Henry has decided not to go down that route. Transferring ownership of the company was a relatively quick and easy way to mitigate any risk of capital gains or inheritance taxes that might come in.'
The source pointed out that around 1,700 acres of Calmsden remains in the ownership of Mark and Jane, meaning the family still faces considerable liabilities under the Labour party's tax raid.
Henry Tufnell, for his part, tells me: 'I appreciate that it looks bad, but there's nothing that I can do about it. I guess the point is that your family is your family, and Dad has taken tax advice and spoken to financial advisers and has started succession planning. But it's not because of something I told him.'
Asked how farmers in his largely rural constituency might view the whole thing, Henry takes the (perhaps ambitious) view that they ought to watch and learn.
'The government has been very clear that succession planning is important, and people need to take advice to get it right,' he says. 'My family is like many farming families, and you could say they are doing the exact thing that every farmer in Pembrokeshire should be doing, which is to take advice from an adviser and act on it.'
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14141123/Labour-taxman-Budget-farmers.html
To be cynical, it looks like the reporter thought he had a story but on investigation, it evaporated, but has published all the background research to show how the other half lives (very well, thank you, as it turns out).
But. It’s the old “I’m sure he hadn’t been porking pigs, but make him come to the microphone and deny it” which is why Sunday Papers will go crazy over this story, and the Conservatives and Lib Dem’s will win next week by getting government to concede to an enquiry.
I posted straight away, we won’t be paying a single penny of Rachel’s new tax, but the money going to accountants and insurers would be better in the business is the point Labour not smart enough to understand.
And if another example is unearthed, and another, the killer line is rolled out “there’s a pattern of this developing.”
Best slogan imo: "So smooth, 9 out of 10 cats prefer them."
Insiders believe Left-wing MP had a target on her back since ‘going rogue’ with unauthorised pay deal for train drivers
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2024/11/29/how-labour-insiders-trying-depose-louise-haigh/ (£££)
Aye, 'n we kept coal in't bath...
F1: nothing like backing a driver to be top 2 and he ends up 3rd.
https://doodles.google/doodle/st-andrews-day-2024/
My dad once jokingly said: "I was raised in a home with no TV!" The first regular broadcasts started the year he was born...
Likewise, my son is amazed that I did not have a computer until my teens, and I first got on t'Internet aged 16.
What seems normal now was not then, and people managed. Likewise, my dad was taught to plough a field using horses - though because he was sensible he preferred using their new tractor. Now, ploughing with horses is a niche 'traditional' activity, rather than something done routinely.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Helmets_(Syrian_civil_war)#Information_warfare_campaign
The SSG have taken it back in 72 hours, with the Russians routed.
That's what a 3 day SMO looks like, Putin.
I do wonder if there are any Ukrainian 'advisers' amongst the rebels; the Ukrainians have had small teams fighting Russian/Wagner interests in Mali, and allegedly elsewhere.
"Much faster than we would have" - we'd have tied it up in all sorts of legal, planning and compliance shit, with thousands of reviews, gateways, and boxtickers.
The damage from the Windsor Castle fire was also repaired in five years.
As we have already seen on many occasions over the last few months. It's quite fun to see the attackers turn into defenders now their party's in power.
Comedian Tony Hinchcliffe talking on stage for half an hour, about how he ended up as the most talked-about person in the world for a week before the US elections.
(Contains NSFW language)
https://x.com/tonyhinchcliffe/status/1862668654434746733
It's good to see 'patriots' talking up the country!
The Speaker has to remember all of these formal addresses for 650 of them!
https://www.thetimes.com/sport/formula-one/article/fia-president-mohammed-ben-sulayem-committee-formula-one-kjwmmrgjv
(Two bankers/auditors removed for questioning where the FIA was spending its money. And their removal was apparently kept rather quiet.)
I hadn't heard that auditor/banker story, but it seems eminently possible.
Got to love his F1 morality drive. Going to countries with concentration camps or that decapitate people for being gay? Sure. Swearing in a press conference? Oh noes!
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/crk4g3zddexo
I think we can rule out mass hysteria. Also, this is not “local hobbyists”. The US/UK appear seriously concerned
Suspicion falls on Russia, but that means Russia has the ability to fly drones over UK/US military assets - bases and ships - and with apparent impunity
"‘Sickfluencers’ advise benefit claimants as 15,000 a week signed off work
Social media influencers are helping their followers maximise claims for universal credit and personal independence payments as the benefits bill grows"
https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/sickfluencers-advise-benefit-claimants-as-15000-a-week-signed-off-work-zqjbg00rq
I wonder if the Ukrainian ATACMS hits on Russian airfieds have taken even more Russian bombers out than has been acknowledged, to the point where they have to bring the planes back from Syria.
Let’s say someone is very good at advertising fizzy pop. That person’s work is of value to a fizzy pop manufacturer, the fizzy pop manufacturer becomes more wealthy from their work, but have they created wealth or have they just re-distributed it? Likewise, the tax lawyer that gets the company’s tax bill lower, they are valuable to the company, but have they created wealth?
Compare the person who increases the yield of an acre of sugar beet, or makes solar panels more efficient. They have created wealth.
@JosiasJessop it's nothing to do with running down the country, it's just being realistic based on current experience of building anything in this country vs how quickly and cheaply other countries do it. Would the French be spending £50bn and 20 years building 150 miles of train track?
But driving an F1 car is a high-pressure environment, and drivers react to that pressure by occasionally swearing - as we all do. That's excusable. But I can see an argument that swearing should be kept out of things like press conferences, except in extremis.
I also think the FIA have bene dicks over things like Hamilton's jewellery. Explain the risks, and let the adult drivers make adult decisions.
Anyway, I'd go a step further. Any driver saying "For sure" in an interview should be forced to drive a 2007 Super Aguri.
Restoration of historic buildings is another matter though. My experience is that the two countries are both somewhat similar, and rather more respectful of heritage than some of our Eastern European (knock it down but restore a pastiche of the facade) neighbours.
It's all this fucking doom-laden shit we get from the right about this country, especially from middle-managers (who incidentally are where many of the problems originate...
(There's also a grant to cover VAT for listed places of worship from central government funds.)
The key issue is the reluctance of anyone to spend money on anything that has a payback measured in more than minutes.
NEW THREAD
“But my opinion as a GP does not count in this system. It’s all about points, ‘risk’ and other triggers that they [claimants] seem familiar with before they call.”
It's classic the-grass-is-always-greener.
So here are some French construction overruns:
Flamanville-3 nuclear power plant (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flamanville_Nuclear_Power_Plant)
Grand Paris Express (https://www.constructionbriefing.com/news/the-engineering-challenges-of-grand-paris-express-europes-largest-transport-infrastructure-project/8028954.article)
Paris 2024 Olympics (https://www.constructionbriefing.com/news/can-the-paris-2024-olympics-really-avoid-a-construction-budget-overspend/8037638.article)
And let's not forget the fatal collapse of a new airport building at CdG (https://simpleflying.com/paris-cdg-airport-2004-terminal-2e-collapse/)
And a similar list can be produced for Germany.
(Besides, noominess is very much in the eye of the beholder.)
https://www.noom.com/
https://www.noom.com/about-us/
"In 2008, Saeju Jeong and Artem Petakov founded Noom because they were dissatisfied with how the American healthcare system focused on sick care instead of health care."
Sorry.