If England had the Scottish system - perhaps with lower marginal rates at the top end to reflect the slightly more centre-right general political position, and Scotland wanted to adopt a system with pretty much infinite gradations at £125k and £250k they'd be laughed out of court.
It used to be just 1% over £60,000. When Labour introduced more property tax in 1997, they created the rather strange system we have today.
It is a very strange system indeed - imagine if it was done that way with wages. Suddenly your pay rise would become a rather hefty pay cut !
Well we almost do that with Child Benefit now. And there's a "hidden" 60% marginal rate above £100k too, as the personal allowance gets withdrawn.
It'll sadly hit my in-laws who own a rather nice 3 bed house overlooking the Isle of Arran.. I wonder if they know about this. It's already very difficult to sell houses in that area.
In the referendum Salmond stoked up to great effect fears of NHS privatization.These fears are not without foundation.Having just read Owen Jones book "The Establishment, the extent and rapidity of privatization is truly shocking. Labour needs to stand up and say the extent privatization shows that the NHS has not been safe in Tory hands and say no more.
It is a very strange system indeed - imagine if it was done that way with wages. Suddenly your pay rise would become a rather hefty pay cut !
It's how Osborne introduced his extra pension pension contributions for members of public service pension schemes. Now there are civil servants desperately hoping they dont get a pay increase that just brings them into the next tier of contribution rates.
The 'mansion tax' gets a poor response because it's badly packaged. Renaming the 'spare room subsidy' the 'bedroom tax' is a perfect example of how to get voters bums off seats. The 'poll tax' was another
I'm amazed that Labour decided to present a new policy at conference and didn't have the gumption to get a decent ad agency to help them present it in a marketable form first.
Don't understand why Lego didn't tell Greenpeace to go fcuk themselves over the Shell contract.
Me neither - fake charity obsessed by fake science.
6m people watched an anti-lego youtube video by Greenpeace
And what do they think Lego is made from ? Coconut husks ? No polar bears were saved by any of this nonsense. Ye the Greenpeace executives commute 250 miles between Luxembourg and Amsterdam by plane.
I'm amazed that Labour decided to present a new policy at conference and didn't have the gumption to get a decent ad agency to help them present it in a marketable form first.
Surely the blame lies with the Lib Dems? It was they who packaged the policy Labour stole so badly.
The 'mansion tax' gets a poor response because it's badly packaged. Renaming the 'spare room subsidy' the 'bedroom tax' is a perfect example of how to get voters bums off seats. The 'poll tax' was another
I'm amazed that Labour decided to present a new policy at conference and didn't have the gumption to get a decent ad agency to help them present it in a marketable form first.
They have failed to explain how they would assess values and collect the tax Roger. It's a dud.
In the referendum Salmond stoked up to great effect fears of NHS privatization.These fears are not without foundation.Having just read Owen Jones book "The Establishment, the extent and rapidity of privatization is truly shocking. Labour needs to stand up and say the extent privatization shows that the NHS has not been safe in Tory hands and say no more.
Is it funded from taxation? Is it free at the point of use? Is access based on need? Does it provide a good service with reasonable outcomes? If the answers to those questions are yes then who gives a toss who the person is employed by? Certainly not the patients.
Don't understand why Lego didn't tell Greenpeace to go fcuk themselves over the Shell contract.
Me neither - fake charity obsessed by fake science.
6m people watched an anti-lego youtube video by Greenpeace
And what do they think Lego is made from ? Coconut husks ? No polar bears were saved by any of this nonsense. Ye the Greenpeace executives commute 250 miles between Luxembourg and Amsterdam by plane.
From nostalgia, bright colours and the tears of little children.
Lego is a brand, and needs to protect that above all else
The 'mansion tax' gets a poor response because it's badly packaged. Renaming the 'spare room subsidy' the 'bedroom tax' is a perfect example of how to get voters bums off seats. The 'poll tax' was another
I'm amazed that Labour decided to present a new policy at conference and didn't have the gumption to get a decent ad agency to help them present it in a marketable form first.
The popular things in the Yougov list are the things that help and enable. The unpopular things are those that take away or punish.
Don't understand why Lego didn't tell Greenpeace to go fcuk themselves over the Shell contract.
Me neither - fake charity obsessed by fake science.
6m people watched an anti-lego youtube video by Greenpeace
And what do they think Lego is made from ? Coconut husks ? No polar bears were saved by any of this nonsense. Ye the Greenpeace executives commute 250 miles between Luxembourg and Amsterdam by plane.
From nostalgia, bright colours and the tears of little children.
Lego is a brand, and needs to protect that above all else
I was amused that the film was entirely CGI (bit with the humans excepted), but they introduced fake 'judder' to all movement to give it a stop-motion feel.
If they tried that in England, there would be screaming throughout the entirety of the south.
It could, at the margins, influence cross border home-buying activity.
If you lived slap bang along the line of the Scottish/English border, there is certainly a tax incentive to buy in Scotland at £251,000 rather than England at the same price. Meanwhile, if you're relatively loaded, the tax incentive is to buy in England.
As the majority of these expensive house owners probably have a large slice of their income from investment income and capital gains (neither of which will be devolved, even partially) it shouldn't hurt the Scottish tax base to any significant degree.
No-one driving around Scotland during the run up to the Referendum could have got the idea that the large houses were the ones with a disproportionate number of NO signs outside them. So no element of spiteful retribution could possibly be levelled at the SNP.
I wonder how many other people had a nasty shock when they heard the news today that, instead of checking people for ebola when they arrive in the UK, we're apparently relying on the origin country to check for the virus.
Is this because it would be racist to target travellers from West Africa?
It's happening here - travelers from the infected countries are to be questioned on arrival and have their temperature checked. The man who died in Dallas would not have been caught by this. It's more for PR and to calm the masses.
In a poll out yesterday 58% want flights stopped to and from West Africa.
UKIP will be calling for special Quarantine Camps to be built where travellers can sit it out for three weeks.
UKPR have today updated their averaging of the polls up to Sun/YouGov's of 8 Oct. Its revised figures (with last week's in brackets) are: Con 32 (31), Lab 34 (36), LD 8 (8) As a consequence, it is showing Labour now winning 331 seats, down 23 seats compared with last week, with a majority therefore of 12 seats compared with 58 seats previously. Doubtless this updated averaging of the polls will form the basis of Stephen Fisher's latest GE Seats projection, due to be published tomorrow morning.
Amusing to note that in a week which will be dominated by the Tories losing an MP (albeit one who will probably still vote with them 95% of the time), Ed manages to quietly lose 23 MPs....
Totally OT.. I get really irritated by journalists (or more likely subs) who can't use apostrophes correctly. Ed Balls provides them with many opportunities to prove their ignorance.
As recently as this morning, in a Telegraph blog, I saw a reference to "Ed Balls' plans". Does Stephen Bush, or whoever is paid to correct him, really not know that this implies that there is more than one Ed Ball, and their collective plans are what he is referring to?
I notice apostrophe abuse on here often, and suppress the anger it begins to cause by convincing myself that autocorrect, not idiocy, is to blame. But seeing it in our national papers really winds me up. It advertises to the world how little we know of or value the rules of our language.
Farage's Indy article today says he was 40 years old at the time of UKIP's first by-election in 1994. He was actually 30. I can't believe he made the mistake himself so it must be a poor piece of editing by the newspaper:
What does Council Tax actually pay for now... The Council just seems to be a middle man, so why is it particularly "progressive" to pay more than it costs for the service provision?
What does Council Tax actually pay for now... The Council just seems to be a middle man, so why is it particularly "progressive" to pay more than it costs for the service provision?
That's what the poll tax was about.
Simply privatise rubbish collection etc - why is it subsidised and electricity isn't ?
Now that school funding is direct, Council Tax now has a much closer relationship to actual expenditure than in the past. It's Business Rates that are now the major distorting factor, but that's inevitable, I'm afraid.
Simply privatise rubbish collection etc - why is it subsidised and electricity isn't ?
Could you imagine half a dozen of those big lorries turning up at the same time on the same day in the same street, each to collect from a handful of different houses?
Simply privatise rubbish collection etc - why is it subsidised and electricity isn't ?
Could you imagine half a dozen of those big lorries turning up at the same time on the same day in the same street, each to collect from a handful of different houses?
Like you have a choice of water suppliers ?
Fixed fee for rubbish collection by private company added to council tax. Would save a fortune.
UKIP hasn't attracted people from the conservatives directly it has attracted those who have already been driven away by disgust of your party. No one else to blame but the tory party and Cameron in particular
Only a certain and unusual type of voter takes the view that if, because of me, I get Miliband instead of Cameron, that must be Cameron's fault. It's not; it's your fault for failing to take on board the above and letting it happen. You can't say you weren't warned.
Frankly your response is bollocks.
I as a voter do not want to vote for someone because they are slightly less big state than labour. I want to vote for someone who is small state. Cameron is not for a small state merely for a less big state. If I was looking for a small pet would you wouldn't think me mad for rejecting an elephant even though it was smaller than a mammoth you would think it quite sane when I said no thanks to both and went away petless
in the same vein
I as a voter do not want to vote for someone because they will infringe on my civil liberties and free speech slightly less than labour I want to vote for a party that believes in civil liberties and actually supports them.
I as a voter do not want to vote for someone who will not let the debt grow quite as fast as labour I want to vote for someone who is serious about the deficit and then going after the debt.
Do not offer me your tawdry compromises I am not interested in you being slightly better than Labour is not good enough for me nor for a million like me anymore we do not want you, we will not vote for you. Want our votes go and earn them don't whinge at us for your incapacity to do so
You actually have no idea what a UKIP government would do. None at all.
So far we know that they have binned their entire 2010 manifesto - so that was obviously lies; that they're campaigning against an In/Out referendum, so wanting EU exit is obviously lies; and that their policy on anything is whatever Farage decides it is, so whether it's taxes on handbags or whatever else, it's a lie until Farage endorses it. Until he doesn't.
The outcome of your choice will not be what you claim to want. Voting UKIP will not get you a small-state low-tax government. It will get you a much bigger state, much higher tax government led by Ed Miliband.
You're being offered an Audi, but because you think the Audi should be a Mercedes, you insist it's no different to a Ford. So you'll settle for the Ford over the Audi. Except the Ford is not on offer any more. The offer is now of a Lada.
fly tipping - my council does not have a large item collection service, unless you have a van it is all difficult - and the people at the tip regard vans as commercial.
fly tipping - my council does not have a large item collection service, unless you have a van it is all difficult - and the people at the tip regard vans as commercial.
Private firms could do universal collection. Would not have to pay council salaries nor final salary pensions.
I think Scotland are stretching the definition of a "progressive" tax:
Purchase price LBTT rate
Up to £135,000 0% Above £135,000 to £250,000 2% Above £250,000 to £1,000,000 10% Above £1,000,000 12%
What they mean: you can buy a property up to the value of £250,000. After that we'll hammer you with tax (on the extra price) so it isn't worth you buying (unless you are super-rich).
Very communist.
I saw a yellow box and I thought for a moment Avery was back. He is much missed.
Early voting in Clacton was strong: about 40pc turnout incl postals by 3pm in East Clacton/Holland-on-sea part. That's a lot.
Now getting dark and starting to rain hard here in Frinton. Not much more going to happen between now and 10pm. You can hear the fat lady singing already.
UKIP vote is undeniably strong and Carswell will win well. Spoke to life-long Tory voter in TrueBlue Frinton this evening at the Fish + Chip Restaurant. He used the classic line "i'm not a racist but....". So he's voted for Carswell today but told us he will revert to form next May. That story repeated everywhere today. Surprising how many people mentioned the cost of the election and said that Carswell should have waited for May rather than cause a "£250K" by-election.
The heavy rain will limit final turnout in evening polling, which may make limiting a Carswell majority to sub-5000 possible and allow the Tories to claim some sort of consolation in news management terms: after all, if they can hold UKIP to 5000 in what is their self-confessed most advantageous seat, it makes it a realistic prospect for Watling to take in May.
But with the key Conservative Party personnel already in Rochester the focus has already moved on.
I do wish the central London Tube tunnels had been bored to 16ft diameter to take normal-height trains, instead of 12ft (max). 16ft tunnels were actually built in 1904 for the Moorgate to Finsbury Park line (which was part of the Tube until 1976, before becoming part of the Great Northern suburban network). It's really silly to see diminutive Tube trains at extremities like Heathrow, Edgware and Epping.
Campaign advertising is hotting up in the last few weeks. On October 2nd Obama made an incredibly stupid comment during a speech, saying that although he wasn't on the ballot, his policies are. Democrats groaned, as they are running as far as they can from Obama, and THAT NIGHT Republican commercials began running containing Obama's comment.
Democrats are broadly trying to make the campaign local, to take Obama and Obamacare out of the mix as much as possible. Both are major vote losers. Republicans want to make this a national campaign.
Today I see that in their new commercials House Democrats are trying to distance themselves from Nancy Pelosi, saying how they didn't vote for her etc.
Add to that the article in the NY Times yesterday saying Obama has been effectively benched, as nobody wants him anywhere ner them on the campaign trail, and it's getting interesting.
Speaking of Obamacare, on January 1 companies employing more than 50 people enter its embrace. As a result yesterday WalMart annonced that it would stop insuring part time employees on Jan 1, some 30,000 people. Target and Home Depot have already done so.
Wait until they have to face those huge deductions and copays on the bronze plans..
There were some Labour posters in evidence but nobody I met said that's how they were going to vote that way.
Must have had a couple of dozen conversations with people whilst knocking up. The 'immigration' point is quite nuanced: more than one blamed 'London authorities dumping people on us. There's no jobs so nobody has to bother checking up on them"
Does this explain why Labour has failed to get traction here in coastal Essex: the locals know that it's the Labour Boroughs who are complicit in aggravating the number of formerly rather grand homes in the Wellesley and Oxford Roads (for example) into overcrowded Houses of Multiple Occupation paying the Housing Benefit along the way. The 'immigrants' aren't just the foreigners.
Just sayin'
6pm - just spotted the UKIP poster van travelling north on the A140 near Ipswich. They've called it a day too.
You're being offered an Audi, but because you think the Audi should be a Mercedes, you insist it's no different to a Ford. So you'll settle for the Ford over the Audi. Except the Ford is not on offer any more. The offer is now of a Lada.
For God's sake just grow up.
Us Kippers can vote for who we want without having to feel guilty. Why should I vote for a party I do not believe in, one not much different from the other two, just to satisfy Tories who see us traitors, when in fact I have never voted Tory in my life.
If Dave had stuck to his cast iron guarantee (remember that? It was a lie) and kept Gove in power I may have considered voting for them for the first time.
Now I shall bring out the inner 'fruitcake, loony and closet racist' in me and vote for the party I truly support.
One piece of advice that Dave may do well to heed, when in tough times you may need someone's support so best make sure you have not constantly insulted that person at some point.
UKIP hasn't attracted people from the conservatives directly it has attracted those who have already interested in you being slightly better than Labour is not good enough for me nor for a million like me anymore we do not want you, we will not vote for you. Want our votes go and earn them don't whinge at us for your incapacity to do so
You actually have no idea what a UKIP government would do. None at all.
So far we know that they have binned their entire 2010 manifesto - so that was obviously lies; that they're campaigning against an In/Out referendum, so wanting EU exit is obviously lies; and that their policy on anything is whatever Farage decides it is, so whether it's taxes on handbags or whatever else, it's a lie until Farage endorses it. Until he doesn't.
The outcome of your choice will not be what you claim to want. Voting UKIP will not get you a small-state low-tax government. It will get you a much bigger state, much higher tax government led by Ed Miliband.
You're being offered an Audi, but because you think the Audi should be a Mercedes, you insist it's no different to a Ford. So you'll settle for the Ford over the Audi. Except the Ford is not on offer any more. The offer is now of a Lada.
arf
given Cameron isn't going to get a majority, you don't know what the conservatives are going to do if they get in to government, so what's the difference ?
the only thing that's certain is 5 years of "that big bully nick clegg wouldn't let us "
Early voting in Clacton was strong: about 40pc turnout incl postals by 3pm in East Clacton/Holland-on-sea part. That's a lot.
Now getting dark and starting to rain hard here in Frinton. Not much more going to happen between now and 10pm. You can hear the fat lady singing already.
UKIP vote is undeniably strong and Carswell will win well. Spoke to life-long Tory voter in TrueBlue Frinton this evening at the Fish + Chip Restaurant. He used the classic line "i'm not a racist but....". So he's voted for Carswell today but told us he will revert to form next May. That story repeated everywhere today. Surprising how many people mentioned the cost of the election and said that Carswell should have waited for May rather than cause a "£250K" by-election.
The heavy rain will limit final turnout in evening polling, which may make limiting a Carswell majority to sub-5000 possible and allow the Tories to claim some sort of consolation in news management terms: after all, if they can hold UKIP to 5000 in what is their self-confessed most advantageous seat, it makes it a realistic prospect for Watling to take in May.
But with the key Conservative Party personnel already in Rochester the focus has already moved on.
Bunnco - Your Man on the Spot
Thanks Bunnco. Looking good for my bet of turnout being higher than the general election — 64.2%. Well not really, but at least turnout is better than usual for a by-election.
Labour still has time to choose the right form of taxes and the tax on Big Tobacco is popular by its silence.It's the Robin Hood Tax that's staring them in the face,a no-brainer if there ever was one.
There were some Labour posters in evidence but nobody I met said that's how they were going to vote that way.
Must have had a couple of dozen conversations with people whilst knocking up. The 'immigration' point is quite nuanced: more than one blamed 'London authorities dumping people on us. There's no jobs so nobody has to bother checking up on them"
Does this explain why Labour has failed to get traction here in coastal Essex: the locals know that it's the Labour Boroughs who are complicit in aggravating the number of formerly rather grand homes in the Wellesley and Oxford Roads (for example) into overcrowded Houses of Multiple Occupation paying the Housing Benefit along the way. The 'immigrants' aren't just the foreigners.
Just sayin'
6pm - just spotted the UKIP poster van travelling north on the A140 near Ipswich. They've called it a day too.
Bunnco - Your Man on the Spot
How is Charlotte Rose doing?Do you think her support will hold up?
There were some Labour posters in evidence but nobody I met said that's how they were going to vote that way.
Must have had a couple of dozen conversations with people whilst knocking up. The 'immigration' point is quite nuanced: more than one blamed 'London authorities dumping people on us. There's no jobs so nobody has to bother checking up on them"
Does this explain why Labour has failed to get traction here in coastal Essex: the locals know that it's the Labour Boroughs who are complicit in aggravating the number of formerly rather grand homes in the Wellesley and Oxford Roads (for example) into overcrowded Houses of Multiple Occupation paying the Housing Benefit along the way. The 'immigrants' aren't just the foreigners.
Just sayin'
6pm - just spotted the UKIP poster van travelling north on the A140 near Ipswich. They've called it a day too.
Bunnco - Your Man on the Spot
In my brief visit on Tuesday, Bunnco, I was struck by how few immigrants there seemed to be around the place.
My usual stomping ground is North and East London and by comparison the visual contrast was quite stark - Clacton predominanty white working class, N/NE London much more obviously cosmopolitan.
I was particular surprised to be served lunch by a white girl with a local Essex accent. Can't remember the last time that happened to me.
Labour still has time to choose the right form of taxes and the tax on Big Tobacco is popular by its silence.It's the Robin Hood Tax that's staring them in the face,a no-brainer if there ever was one.
My bet would be that smokers are disproportionately Labour, though they might also be disproportionately of the disposition that Labour can keep hitting them in the face but they'll keep coming back to them.
There were some Labour posters in evidence but nobody I met said that's how they were going to vote that way.
Must have had a couple of dozen conversations with people whilst knocking up. The 'immigration' point is quite nuanced: more than one blamed 'London authorities dumping people on us. There's no jobs so nobody has to bother checking up on them"
Does this explain why Labour has failed to get traction here in coastal Essex: the locals know that it's the Labour Boroughs who are complicit in aggravating the number of formerly rather grand homes in the Wellesley and Oxford Roads (for example) into overcrowded Houses of Multiple Occupation paying the Housing Benefit along the way. The 'immigrants' aren't just the foreigners.
Just sayin'
6pm - just spotted the UKIP poster van travelling north on the A140 near Ipswich. They've called it a day too.
Bunnco - Your Man on the Spot
Great to see you back, Bunnco. Clear, interesting and insightful summaries, as always.
One thing that always impresses me: how come you always manage to be 'on the spot' no matter where it is, or when it is?
They faked stop-motion? Hmm, well I suppose it makes a difference from shakey-cam they use in horror movies, thought they'd plump for that given how polar bears are falling from the skies...
Don't understand why Lego didn't tell Greenpeace to go fcuk themselves over the Shell contract.
Me neither - fake charity obsessed by fake science.
6m people watched an anti-lego youtube video by Greenpeace
And what do they think Lego is made from ? Coconut husks ? No polar bears were saved by any of this nonsense. Ye the Greenpeace executives commute 250 miles between Luxembourg and Amsterdam by plane.
From nostalgia, bright colours and the tears of little children.
Lego is a brand, and needs to protect that above all else
I was amused that the film was entirely CGI (bit with the humans excepted), but they introduced fake 'judder' to all movement to give it a stop-motion feel.
It's the Robin Hood Tax that's staring them in the face,a no-brainer if there ever was one.
Yes and no.
I was reading that taxation on cigarettes is now so heavy that smuggling gangs can make more money out of tobacco than cocaine
The difference between what you can buy fags for on the continent and their UK shop price is about £50 per 200 carton, i.e. £5 per packet. I am amazed that the level of smuggling is not even higher than it is.
Labour still has time to choose the right form of taxes and the tax on Big Tobacco is popular by its silence.It's the Robin Hood Tax that's staring them in the face,a no-brainer if there ever was one.
My bet would be that smokers are disproportionately Labour, though they might also be disproportionately of the disposition that Labour can keep hitting them in the face but they'll keep coming back to them.
Labour still has time to choose the right form of taxes and the tax on Big Tobacco is popular by its silence.It's the Robin Hood Tax that's staring them in the face,a no-brainer if there ever was one.
My bet would be that smokers are disproportionately Labour, though they might also be disproportionately of the disposition that Labour can keep hitting them in the face but they'll keep coming back to them.
They probably disproportionately don't vote at all.
Labour still has time to choose the right form of taxes and the tax on Big Tobacco is popular by its silence.It's the Robin Hood Tax that's staring them in the face,a no-brainer if there ever was one.
My bet would be that smokers are disproportionately Labour, though they might also be disproportionately of the disposition that Labour can keep hitting them in the face but they'll keep coming back to them.
David, an open question to you and all smokers. Why do you do it?
When I were a lad, it was just about possible to believe the health effects were minor, but these days it is so blindingly obvious that it is a serious health hazard and for absolutely no benefit that it is tempting to believe that only the reckless and utterly stupid ever start in the first place.
And of course we now know how addictive it is, so not starting is by a very long way the easiest way to avoid wrecking your health.
mossadnews @mossadnews 51s51 seconds ago Is the killing of al-Baghdadi in Kobanî? Kurdish sources .. published these pictures!... http://fb.me/2yJxDgb1Z
Text in arabic but the picture look like al-Baghdadi, chief honcho of ISIL. So important news if true.
The SNP has this afternoon introduced a new Land Tax in Scotland to replace Stamp Duty. It has 4 bands and above £250k it is 10%. That should go down with most house purchasers like a bag of sick. They have also cut health spending I believe from what I am seeing on Twitter!!
10% above 250k???!!! That's insane. Any middle class person who needs to move house is going to get badly screwed. Tory revival nailed on (but not sure how big). IMHO the Nats have overreached. Even Scotland isn't that commie.
It is, actually. 84% of them voted for left wing parties in 2010. 45% of them thought, amazingly, that if they became independent, the country could somehow survive when 84% wants to ponce off the other 16%.
You actually have no idea what a UKIP government would do. None at all.
So far we know that they have binned their entire 2010 manifesto - so that was obviously lies; that they're campaigning against an In/Out referendum, so wanting EU exit is obviously lies; and that their policy on anything is whatever Farage decides it is, so whether it's taxes on handbags or whatever else, it's a lie until Farage endorses it. Until he doesn't.
The outcome of your choice will not be what you claim to want. Voting UKIP will not get you a small-state low-tax government. It will get you a much bigger state, much higher tax government led by Ed Miliband.
You're being offered an Audi, but because you think the Audi should be a Mercedes, you insist it's no different to a Ford. So you'll settle for the Ford over the Audi. Except the Ford is not on offer any more. The offer is now of a Lada.
1) Maybe you missed the point where I stated that the conservatives had lost my vote but I hadn't yet decided on another party?. Perhaps your sense of entitlement to my vote got in the way of your reading.
2) The choice between labour and conservatives to me at least if you want to play car analogies is between the engineless trabant that is labour and the wheeless robin reliant that is the conservatives. Neither will get me any nearer my destination and you are asking me to choose which I would feel less silly being seen sitting in.
Too long have people in this country held their nose and voted for parties which they didn't like purely because they liked the other party even less. All that happens is that the party that gets in counts the votes as a mandate and believes them to be positive votes for their policies when they are nothing of the kind.
The only way to change the politics of this country is to start voting for parties with policies we like not voting against parties because we think it is better to be only buried neck deep in the shit rather than chin deep.
If we all do this parties would actually have to start coming up with policies people actually wanted rather than relying on "but at least we aren't them over there"
Carry on your way and it is merely a vote for continuing the madness
mossadnews @mossadnews 51s51 seconds ago Is the killing of al-Baghdadi in Kobanî? Kurdish sources .. published these pictures!... http://fb.me/2yJxDgb1Z
Text in arabic but the picture look like al-Baghdadi, chief honcho of ISIL. So important news if true.
There's an interesting article in this month's Standpoint about the close relationship between the Kurds and Israel.
The SNP has this afternoon introduced a new Land Tax in Scotland to replace Stamp Duty. It has 4 bands and above £250k it is 10%. That should go down with most house purchasers like a bag of sick. They have also cut health spending I believe from what I am seeing on Twitter!!
10% above 250k???!!! That's insane. Any middle class person who needs to move house is going to get badly screwed. Tory revival nailed on (but not sure how big). IMHO the Nats have overreached. Even Scotland isn't that commie.
It is, actually. 84% of them voted for left wing parties in 2010. 45% of them thought, amazingly, that if they became independent, the country could somehow survive when 84% wants to ponce off the other 16%.
There is a market in Scotland for an overtly Unionist and right wing party that is bigger than what the Conservatives currently poll.
Labour still has time to choose the right form of taxes and the tax on Big Tobacco is popular by its silence.It's the Robin Hood Tax that's staring them in the face,a no-brainer if there ever was one.
My bet would be that smokers are disproportionately Labour, though they might also be disproportionately of the disposition that Labour can keep hitting them in the face but they'll keep coming back to them.
David, an open question to you and all smokers. Why do you do it?
When I were a lad, it was just about possible to believe the health effects were minor, but these days it is so blindingly obvious that it is a serious health hazard and for absolutely no benefit that it is tempting to believe that only the reckless and utterly stupid ever start in the first place.
And of course we now know how addictive it is, so not starting is by a very long way the easiest way to avoid wrecking your health.
So why does anybody do it? It's bonkers.
" a woman is only a woman, but a good Cigar is a Smoke"
Comments
http://www.ifs.org.uk/images/obs/child_benefit.jpg
When the assistant in the petrol station in Clacton asks how it's going and wishes you well, you know something special is happening."
twitter.com/RogerHelmerMEP/status/520235220772339712
Glasgow (£129,000): £0
Edinburgh (£262,000): £3,500
One of them voted 'Yes'......
I'm amazed that Labour decided to present a new policy at conference and didn't have the gumption to get a decent ad agency to help them present it in a marketable form first.
"Surely the blame lies with the Lib Dems? It was they who packaged the policy Labour stole so badly."
You're right. They can't even steal intelligently
'The 'mansion tax' gets a poor response because it's badly packaged'
Maybe they should just be honest and call it a property tax.
Calling a three bedroom terraced house or two bedroom flat a mansion is misleading by anyone's standards.
Lego is a brand, and needs to protect that above all else
"The Scottish government has sharply increased stamp duty on more expensive properties and cut it for modest homes"
"UEA students urged to urinate in shower"
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-norfolk-29552557
Tax cut for Edinburgh property = £4360
The Manse Tax.
Oil prices in free fall, Brent breaks down thru 90....
As recently as this morning, in a Telegraph blog, I saw a reference to "Ed Balls' plans". Does Stephen Bush, or whoever is paid to correct him, really not know that this implies that there is more than one Ed Ball, and their collective plans are what he is referring to?
I notice apostrophe abuse on here often, and suppress the anger it begins to cause by convincing myself that autocorrect, not idiocy, is to blame. But seeing it in our national papers really winds me up. It advertises to the world how little we know of or value the rules of our language.
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/clacton-byelection-what-an-incredible-journey-ukip-has-been-on--and-now-we-stand-on-the-brink-of-making-history-9785132.html
Simply privatise rubbish collection etc - why is it subsidised and electricity isn't ?
Because people don't generally fly tip electricity?
Fixed fee for rubbish collection by private company added to council tax. Would save a fortune.
This is what tube trains will look like in 10 years' time:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-29520761
So far we know that they have binned their entire 2010 manifesto - so that was obviously lies; that they're campaigning against an In/Out referendum, so wanting EU exit is obviously lies; and that their policy on anything is whatever Farage decides it is, so whether it's taxes on handbags or whatever else, it's a lie until Farage endorses it. Until he doesn't.
The outcome of your choice will not be what you claim to want. Voting UKIP will not get you a small-state low-tax government. It will get you a much bigger state, much higher tax government led by Ed Miliband.
You're being offered an Audi, but because you think the Audi should be a Mercedes, you insist it's no different to a Ford. So you'll settle for the Ford over the Audi. Except the Ford is not on offer any more. The offer is now of a Lada.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/29558071
They're not only the fastest, they're also the most fuel efficient and cheapest.
Councils should subcontract it as a minimum.
'What does Council Tax actually pay for now.'
Pensions for council employees?
Early voting in Clacton was strong: about 40pc turnout incl postals by 3pm in East Clacton/Holland-on-sea part. That's a lot.
Now getting dark and starting to rain hard here in Frinton. Not much more going to happen between now and 10pm. You can hear the fat lady singing already.
UKIP vote is undeniably strong and Carswell will win well.
Spoke to life-long Tory voter in TrueBlue Frinton this evening at the Fish + Chip Restaurant. He used the classic line "i'm not a racist but....". So he's voted for Carswell today but told us he will revert to form next May. That story repeated everywhere today. Surprising how many people mentioned the cost of the election and said that Carswell should have waited for May rather than cause a "£250K" by-election.
The heavy rain will limit final turnout in evening polling, which may make limiting a Carswell majority to sub-5000 possible and allow the Tories to claim some sort of consolation in news management terms: after all, if they can hold UKIP to 5000 in what is their self-confessed most advantageous seat, it makes it a realistic prospect for Watling to take in May.
But with the key Conservative Party personnel already in Rochester the focus has already moved on.
Bunnco - Your Man on the Spot
That choice (UKIP now, Conservative in 2015) seems a bit weird to me, but there we are.
Seconded.
Interesting that Mr Bunnco doesn't even mention the labour vote....
http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/video/2014/oct/09/driverless-tube-trains-boris-johnson-video
Democrats are broadly trying to make the campaign local, to take Obama and Obamacare out of the mix as much as possible. Both are major vote losers. Republicans want to make this a national campaign.
Today I see that in their new commercials House Democrats are trying to distance themselves from Nancy Pelosi, saying how they didn't vote for her etc.
Add to that the article in the NY Times yesterday saying Obama has been effectively benched, as nobody wants him anywhere ner them on the campaign trail, and it's getting interesting.
Speaking of Obamacare, on January 1 companies employing more than 50 people enter its embrace. As a result yesterday WalMart annonced that it would stop insuring part time employees on Jan 1, some 30,000 people. Target and Home Depot have already done so.
Wait until they have to face those huge deductions and copays on the bronze plans..
Actually the example you cite is acceptable English.
Not strictly correct but sanctioned by usage.
http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2014/10/labour-leaderships-attitude-heywood-and-middleton-deeply-frustrating
It's onIy taken 46 years since the Victoria Iine first gained the capabiity...
Curious little incident involving fire from the Syrian side of the border on a Turkish military position.
Lets see if it goes anywhere.
Must have had a couple of dozen conversations with people whilst knocking up. The 'immigration' point is quite nuanced: more than one blamed 'London authorities dumping people on us. There's no jobs so nobody has to bother checking up on them"
Does this explain why Labour has failed to get traction here in coastal Essex: the locals know that it's the Labour Boroughs who are complicit in aggravating the number of formerly rather grand homes in the Wellesley and Oxford Roads (for example) into overcrowded Houses of Multiple Occupation paying the Housing Benefit along the way. The 'immigrants' aren't just the foreigners.
Just sayin'
6pm - just spotted the UKIP poster van travelling north on the A140 near Ipswich. They've called it a day too.
Bunnco - Your Man on the Spot
The Tube drivers' Union is one of the last bastions of old fashioned trade unionism and it will drive a very hard bargain.
You're being offered an Audi, but because you think the Audi should be a Mercedes, you insist it's no different to a Ford. So you'll settle for the Ford over the Audi. Except the Ford is not on offer any more. The offer is now of a Lada.
For God's sake just grow up.
Us Kippers can vote for who we want without having to feel guilty. Why should I vote for a party I do not believe in, one not much different from the other two, just to satisfy Tories who see us traitors, when in fact I have never voted Tory in my life.
If Dave had stuck to his cast iron guarantee (remember that? It was a lie) and kept Gove in power I may have considered voting for them for the first time.
Now I shall bring out the inner 'fruitcake, loony and closet racist' in me and vote for the party I truly support.
One piece of advice that Dave may do well to heed, when in tough times you may need someone's support so best make sure you have not constantly insulted that person at some point.
So far we know that they have binned their entire 2010 manifesto - so that was obviously lies; that they're campaigning against an In/Out referendum, so wanting EU exit is obviously lies; and that their policy on anything is whatever Farage decides it is, so whether it's taxes on handbags or whatever else, it's a lie until Farage endorses it. Until he doesn't.
The outcome of your choice will not be what you claim to want. Voting UKIP will not get you a small-state low-tax government. It will get you a much bigger state, much higher tax government led by Ed Miliband.
You're being offered an Audi, but because you think the Audi should be a Mercedes, you insist it's no different to a Ford. So you'll settle for the Ford over the Audi. Except the Ford is not on offer any more. The offer is now of a Lada.
arf
given Cameron isn't going to get a majority, you don't know what the conservatives are going to do if they get in to government, so what's the difference ?
the only thing that's certain is 5 years of "that big bully nick clegg wouldn't let us "
Con, Julian Risdale: 19,532
Lab, Shirley Williams: 13,535
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harwich_by-election,_1954
http://news.sky.com/story/1350325/uk-man-dies-from-ebola-in-macedonia-reports
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/ebola/11152489/Ebola-crisis-British-man-dies-of-disease-in-Macedonia.html
My usual stomping ground is North and East London and by comparison the visual contrast was quite stark - Clacton predominanty white working class, N/NE London much more obviously cosmopolitan.
I was particular surprised to be served lunch by a white girl with a local Essex accent. Can't remember the last time that happened to me.
Yes and no.
I was reading that taxation on cigarettes is now so heavy that smuggling gangs can make more money out of tobacco than cocaine
One thing that always impresses me: how come you always manage to be 'on the spot' no matter where it is, or when it is?
Are you ubiquitous?
Why are they keeping shtum about an important political story? Not frit are they?
In fact no news on any BBC outlet regarding the by-elections.
When I were a lad, it was just about possible to believe the health effects were minor, but these days it is so blindingly obvious that it is a serious health hazard and for absolutely no benefit that it is tempting to believe that only the reckless and utterly stupid ever start in the first place.
And of course we now know how addictive it is, so not starting is by a very long way the easiest way to avoid wrecking your health.
So why does anybody do it? It's bonkers.
Is the killing of al-Baghdadi in Kobanî? Kurdish sources .. published these pictures!... http://fb.me/2yJxDgb1Z
Text in arabic but the picture look like al-Baghdadi, chief honcho of ISIL. So important news if true.
2) The choice between labour and conservatives to me at least if you want to play car analogies is between the engineless trabant that is labour and the wheeless robin reliant that is the conservatives. Neither will get me any nearer my destination and you are asking me to choose which I would feel less silly being seen sitting in.
Too long have people in this country held their nose and voted for parties which they didn't like purely because they liked the other party even less. All that happens is that the party that gets in counts the votes as a mandate and believes them to be positive votes for their policies when they are nothing of the kind.
The only way to change the politics of this country is to start voting for parties with policies we like not voting against parties because we think it is better to be only buried neck deep in the shit rather than chin deep.
If we all do this parties would actually have to start coming up with policies people actually wanted rather than relying on "but at least we aren't them over there"
Carry on your way and it is merely a vote for continuing the madness