So when I edit PB, does this give me an excuse to embed pictures of pretty ladies in hot pants?
The Producers sounds like a play with a very poor taste theme. Doubt it'll do very well at the box office - wouldn't like to be a backer of it personally.
I just have to say that the Marf cartoon is as damming as it is poignant as it is utterly brilliant all in equal measures. By far the best I have seen from on this specific subject not only here but in the mainstream.
In sums up entirely in one drawing the complete and terrible mess we are in from cradle to grave.
1. Somehow those earning over £150k will only be allowed to get 20p in £ tax relief on pension contributions.... Labour's never heard of salary sacrifice I presume?
1. Somehow those earning over £150k will only be allowed to get 20p in £ tax relief on pension contributions.... Labour's never heard of salary sacrifice I presume?
1. Somehow those earning over £150k will only be allowed to get 20p in £ tax relief on pension contributions.... Labour's never heard of salary sacrifice I presume?
2. LTA reduced to £1m
3. AA reduced to £30k pa.
Pillocks.
Why would anyone not be on salary sacrifice ?
Indeed so how would that policy raise any money then? Surely not symbolic slam the rich banker politics?
Mind you, I know a hedge fund who won't do sal sac as they fear it would be 'politically' seen as unacceptable tax avoidance... totally risk averse on reputation if you can believe that.
@MaxPB If the shares are such a good investment, why do the public have to sell theirs?
Because the government are not in the business of owning banks. As long as the taxpayer doesn't lose money then it isn't a great concern. I think the Treasury should aim for a 3% pa ROI backdated to 2008 essentially to offset the debt interest incurred when the stake was paid for. That I think requires a target price of 90p per share for the rest which is well within reach.
Also, the public have been free to buy Lloyds shares, I did that back in 2011 at the bargain price of 27p.
@Pulpstar Chris Atkins, several former RBS bankers, and various associates. The guy who shot back into "fame" for the strange UKIP fantasy programme on CH4? A career mainly in investigative journalism and expose. At the very least, it is ironic, but with the possibility of a real comedy.
1. Somehow those earning over £150k will only be allowed to get 20p in £ tax relief on pension contributions.... Labour's never heard of salary sacrifice I presume?
2. LTA reduced to £1m
3. AA reduced to £30k pa.
Pillocks.
Why would anyone not be on salary sacrifice ?
Presume they will find a way to avoid this loophole.
I real worry, I think, is that a significant chunk of HE funding is now no longer guaranteed. It will have to be negotiated with Treasury every few years.
But back to Labour's tuition fee debacle. Is there some collective insanity going on here? It seems the media, Labour, and most posters here can't count.
£9000 fees paid by provision of loans, costs the Treasury £9000 per student. £6000 fees paid by provision of loans and £3000 paid directly to Universities costs the Treasury £9000 per student.
It is the same figure. - the Treasury pays out £9000 per student.
It does not require new "funding".
It is Fiscally neutral in the current budget and in future budgets for at least 10 years, if not forever (given NPV of the money and the likely repayment rates).
@Scrapheap_as_was They need to simplify the tax system, put everyone on PAYE and then let them argue about a rebate.
Who puts the self employed on PAYE ?
Urgh...
Each self employed person would need to be their own employer, set-up a LTD co to take the income and pay salary, PAYE and NI etc..
ok - But pretty much most GENUINELY self employed small/single person business in the land would pay themselves minimum wage if this was the case...
Not really, company directors are exempt from minimum wage, so they generally pay themselves just under the personal allowance, and extract profits via dividends.
@Pulpstar Chris Atkins, several former RBS bankers, and various associates. The guy who shot back into "fame" for the strange UKIP fantasy programme on CH4? A career mainly in investigative journalism and expose. At the very least, it is ironic, but with the possibility of a real comedy.
Oh Hah yes forgot about that... life imitates art.
@Scrapheap_as_was They need to simplify the tax system, put everyone on PAYE and then let them argue about a rebate.
Who puts the self employed on PAYE ?
Urgh...
Each self employed person would need to be their own employer, set-up a LTD co to take the income and pay salary, PAYE and NI etc..
ok - But pretty much most GENUINELY self employed small/single person business in the land would pay themselves minimum wage if this was the case...
How do you mean genuinely? Either you're employed, as in earning money for the company and being payed a salary, or you're not earning for the company and the company is dormant (and you are not employed by it)
@Scrapheap_as_was They need to simplify the tax system, put everyone on PAYE and then let them argue about a rebate.
Who puts the self employed on PAYE ?
Urgh...
Each self employed person would need to be their own employer, set-up a LTD co to take the income and pay salary, PAYE and NI etc..
ok - But pretty much most GENUINELY self employed small/single person business in the land would pay themselves minimum wage if this was the case...
Not really, company directors are exempt from minimum wage, so they generally pay themselves just under the personal allowance, and extract profits via dividends.
Yes, that's entirely compatible with paying yourself minimum wage.
@Scrapheap_as_was They need to simplify the tax system, put everyone on PAYE and then let them argue about a rebate.
Who puts the self employed on PAYE ?
Urgh...
Each self employed person would need to be their own employer, set-up a LTD co to take the income and pay salary, PAYE and NI etc..
ok - But pretty much most GENUINELY self employed small/single person business in the land would pay themselves minimum wage if this was the case...
How do you mean genuinely? Either you're employed, as in earning money for the company and being payed a salary, or you're not earning for the company and the company is dormant (and you are not employed by it)
IR35.... where you run a limited company as a director, but could be considered to be an employee of the business the company is working for.
Be interesting to see how Osborne responds to Labour's pensions/tuition fees notions in the Budget. He has a couple of weeks to dream up something.
Personally, I would keep University fees up at 9,000 quid so they don't get a drop in funding - but announce a Govt. contribution to personal repayment of student fees. So when students finally DO have to start making repayments, then the Govt. will pay the first X thousand as that falls due. With an aspiration that this will be raised to Y thousand over time as these graduates share in the proceeds of economic growth they are helping to underpin. It pushes back the time when students who go into work will have to make their own contribution. Perhaps significantly. Which helps the Bank of Mum and Dad in the meantime. But the hit to the Exchequer isn't too harsh too soon, as it only kicks in when students enter full-time employment.
Make it clear that the contribution comes from the Govt taxing the rich at a 5% higher rate than Labour did for 98% of their term of office.
Politically it paints the LibDems as the bad guys and Labour as the mad guys.
@Scrapheap_as_was They need to simplify the tax system, put everyone on PAYE and then let them argue about a rebate.
Who puts the self employed on PAYE ?
Urgh...
Each self employed person would need to be their own employer, set-up a LTD co to take the income and pay salary, PAYE and NI etc..
I'm rather worried that labour will somehow turn small companies into having to do that....
Stupid idea. If they do that, I'll sell my house, buy a cheaper one and retire early.
With more people becoming self-employed, this problem will grow. But there are lots of easy ways to streamline self-employed income tax payments, reducing my admin. costs and making life easier for HMRC. The trouble is that no-one who thinks of new tax legislation seems to have the slightest idea of life in the real world or ask for small businesses' opinions.
Has any Labour front bencher ever been self-employed and dealt with HMRC, the monster which they created in 2005? The HMRC staff who post anonymously on www.hmrcisshite.co.uk seem to think it's totally f***ed.
@Scrapheap_as_was They need to simplify the tax system, put everyone on PAYE and then let them argue about a rebate.
Who puts the self employed on PAYE ?
Urgh...
Each self employed person would need to be their own employer, set-up a LTD co to take the income and pay salary, PAYE and NI etc..
ok - But pretty much most GENUINELY self employed small/single person business in the land would pay themselves minimum wage if this was the case...
How do you mean genuinely? Either you're employed, as in earning money for the company and being payed a salary, or you're not earning for the company and the company is dormant (and you are not employed by it)
IR35.... where you run a limited company as a director, but could be considered to be an employee of the business the company is working for.
Sorry, yeah just got that...
I know all about IR35 sadly... HMRC took 2 years to declare that I was not operating within its remit.
@TheWatcher Allegedly exploited? (you should know better than that, you pull enough people up for it) At the last comment I know of, he was "looking forward to his day in court to prove his innocence" (the upcoming appearance is a pleading diet, or English equivalent)
@TheWatcher Allegedly exploited? (you should know better than that, you pull enough people up for it) At the last comment I know of, he was "looking forward to his day in court to prove his innocence" (the upcoming appearance is a pleading diet, or English equivalent)
Read my post again. I was referring to Dair's mention of Ingenious Film Partners, not the Atkins case.
I just have to say that the Marf cartoon is as damming as it is poignant as it is utterly brilliant all in equal measures. By far the best I have seen from on this specific subject not only here but in the mainstream.
In sums up entirely in one drawing the complete and terrible mess we are in from cradle to grave.
Yes, I agree, Moses.
As it happened I saw Marf this morning and she showed me an early draft. I thought it was good, but not imo out of the ordinary. It did not at that stage however have the sinister eye behind the door. Chilling, and exceptional.
Btw, the 'portrait' format of the Site does the cartoon no favours when the original is 'landscape' as this one is. Can't be helped, but a more sympathetic layout would make the impact greater still. (Nonetheless I believe the toon is trending heavily on Twitter already.)
Doesn't look good for Ed M, I'm afraid. Will this be another case where Ed B was right? He clearly has dragged his feet over this for months.
Lewis is basically arguing that the current system is better because most people get part of the debt written off as they can't afford to pay it all within 30 years, so it's only high earners who manage to repay it. But a system based on the assumption that half the stated debt will never be paid back is essentially dumb in an entirely non-political way.
@TheWatcher Sorry. you were talking about "Ingenious"., where the plot revolved round a loophole created by the last Labour government? I am glad you cleared that up.
The politics of Ed's announcement are a bit odd. If we assume for the sake of argument that the tax-increase side is correct, i.e. that they could raise £3bn from their pension raid, then spending that money on reducing the contribution which well-off graduates will in the future have to make to their university education is an interesting priority at a time of tough spending decisions.
Doesn't look good for Ed M, I'm afraid. Will this be another case where Ed B was right? He clearly has dragged his feet over this for months.
Lewis is basically arguing that the current system is better because most people get part of the debt written off as they can't afford to pay it all within 30 years, so it's only high earners who manage to repay it. But a system based on the assumption that half the stated debt will never be paid back is essentially dumb in an entirely non-political way.
Your point is entirely unrelated to reducing the amounts Universities will get from nine thousand to six thousand. That is hardly a piece of accounting dumbness....
The politics of Ed's announcement are a bit odd. If we assume for the sake of argument that the tax-increase side is correct, i.e. that they could raise £3bn from their pension raid, then spending that money on reducing the contribution which well-off graduates will in the future have to make to their university education is an interesting priority at a time of tough spending decisions.
The figures look in the right ball-park to me (I'm using the HMT's estimates of the impact of Osborne's pension raid that they're copying and extrapolating fairly simply from there). The choice of spending is pure politics obviously. That's politicians for you.
So when I edit PB, does this give me an excuse to embed pictures of pretty ladies in hot pants?
The Producers sounds like a play with a very poor taste theme. Doubt it'll do very well at the box office - wouldn't like to be a backer of it personally.
I'm assuming you are being sarcastic?
After 33 previews, the original Broadway production opened at the St. James Theatre on April 19, 2001, starring Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick, and ran for 2,502 performances, winning a record-breaking 12 Tony Awards.
So when I edit PB, does this give me an excuse to embed pictures of pretty ladies in hot pants?
The Producers sounds like a play with a very poor taste theme. Doubt it'll do very well at the box office - wouldn't like to be a backer of it personally.
When Labour had a similar policy on pension tax relief for over £150k earners in 2009/10 they had a complicated mechanism for including employers pension contributions in determining whether you were above the £150k barrier in order to prevent salary sacrifice mechanisms.
Now such a mechanism may not be required since an annual £30k pension limit would restrict salary sacrifice mechanisms to those under £180k. In contrast in 2009/10 the annual limit on pension contributions was your annual earnings.
@NickPalmer You are missing the cunning part, where the government sells off the loans book to the private sector. (seems there was an unexpected hold up though)
Doesn't look good for Ed M, I'm afraid. Will this be another case where Ed B was right? He clearly has dragged his feet over this for months.
Lewis is basically arguing that the current system is better because most people get part of the debt written off as they can't afford to pay it all within 30 years, so it's only high earners who manage to repay it. But a system based on the assumption that half the stated debt will never be paid back is essentially dumb in an entirely non-political way.
So what's the long term answer? Personally, I'd like a world where higher education would be free, but in reality I think a graduate tax was the least worst proposal.
But a system based on the assumption that half the stated debt will never be paid back is essentially dumb in an entirely non-political way.
Why? It's just a question of terminology. If you call it (as Martin Lewis sensibly suggests) a 'high-earning graduate contribution', it makes good sense.
Doesn't look good for Ed M, I'm afraid. Will this be another case where Ed B was right? He clearly has dragged his feet over this for months.
Lewis is basically arguing that the current system is better because most people get part of the debt written off as they can't afford to pay it all within 30 years, so it's only high earners who manage to repay it. But a system based on the assumption that half the stated debt will never be paid back is essentially dumb in an entirely non-political way.
To be honest Nick, loans aside, a system based upon sending 50% of young adults to university is dumb in an entirely non-political way when there is no need for 50% of the working population to be graduates, and actual shortages of skilled and unskilled workforce in non graduate jobs.
Of course no one will say it, but this country was more socially mobile when fewer people attended university.
IF ANY JOURNALISTS READ PB, PLEASE ASK LABOUR HOW THEIR STUPID POLICY OF RESTRICTING PENSON RELIEF TO 20% FOR THOSE WHO EARN £150K+ WORKS WITH SALARY SACRIFICE/EXCHANGE?
THOSE EARNERS ARE LIKELY ALREADY DOING IT NOW - WILL THAT BE STOPPED - HOW?
The politics of Ed's announcement are a bit odd. If we assume for the sake of argument that the tax-increase side is correct, i.e. that they could raise £3bn from their pension raid, then spending that money on reducing the contribution which well-off graduates will in the future have to make to their university education is an interesting priority at a time of tough spending decisions.
That' why the first time they announced this pensions wheeze it was to pay for something completely different.
@PeterMannionMP: Labour's new policy: 'Live fast, die young, kids...cos we'll have pissed away all the pensions cash if you live to be old.."
@MaxPB If the shares are such a good investment, why do the public have to sell theirs?
Because the government are not in the business of owning banks. As long as the taxpayer doesn't lose money then it isn't a great concern. I think the Treasury should aim for a 3% pa ROI backdated to 2008 essentially to offset the debt interest incurred when the stake was paid for. That I think requires a target price of 90p per share for the rest which is well within reach.
Also, the public have been free to buy Lloyds shares, I did that back in 2011 at the bargain price of 27p.
They've made a chunky profit on the insurance schemes and other fee-based part of the structures.
I think, from memory, their in-price is around 72p and the break-even price (including the fees etc) is around 65p
Doesn't look good for Ed M, I'm afraid. Will this be another case where Ed B was right? He clearly has dragged his feet over this for months.
Lewis is basically arguing that the current system is better because most people get part of the debt written off as they can't afford to pay it all within 30 years, so it's only high earners who manage to repay it. But a system based on the assumption that half the stated debt will never be paid back is essentially dumb in an entirely non-political way.
So what's the long term answer? Personally, I'd like a world where higher education would be free, but in reality I think a graduate tax was the least worst proposal.
Theres no such thing as 'free' someone's got to pay it.
In a world where the loan doesn't get paid off, then the system works as a de-facto graduate tax anyway.
@NickPalmer You are missing the cunning part, where the government sells off the loans book to the private sector. (seems there was an unexpected hold up though)
What % of fair value did the pre '99 book get sold off for ?
So when I edit PB, does this give me an excuse to embed pictures of pretty ladies in hot pants?
The Producers sounds like a play with a very poor taste theme. Doubt it'll do very well at the box office - wouldn't like to be a backer of it personally.
I'm assuming you are being sarcastic?
After 33 previews, the original Broadway production opened at the St. James Theatre on April 19, 2001, starring Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick, and ran for 2,502 performances, winning a record-breaking 12 Tony Awards.
So what you're saying is that despite the poor taste theme about nazis, The Producers did much better than Pulpstar suggested and didn't lose its backers money after all? How unexpected, somebody should write a play about that!
Doesn't look good for Ed M, I'm afraid. Will this be another case where Ed B was right? He clearly has dragged his feet over this for months.
Lewis is basically arguing that the current system is better because most people get part of the debt written off as they can't afford to pay it all within 30 years, so it's only high earners who manage to repay it. But a system based on the assumption that half the stated debt will never be paid back is essentially dumb in an entirely non-political way.
Exactly what I've been saying ever since this system came in.
It is nothing less than Madhouse politics that a system is sold on the fact that, er, it's ok you won't pay it back anyway (and there are *even* less people paying it back than the models suggested just a few years ago).
It is ironic that at a time debt is deemed to be really really really bad (copyright Tories everywhere) that it is deemed ok to lump such burdens onto young people. Another example of how Tories (and New Labour before them) have screwed over the young in favour of the old - who let's not forget didn't have pay anything directly towards their higher education.
@MaxPB "Because the government are not in the business of owning banks" Only our government, they prefer other countries nationalized businesses to run things instead.
When Labour had a similar policy on pension tax relief for over £150k earners in 2009/10 they had a complicated mechanism for including employers pension contributions in determining whether you were above the £150k barrier in order to prevent salary sacrifice mechanisms.
Now such a mechanism may not be required since an annual £30k pension limit would restrict salary sacrifice mechanisms to those under £180k. In contrast in 2009/10 the annual limit on pension contributions was your annual earnings.
True - eventually - but there's the 3 year unused AA carry forward too which would apply if not already used - or is that to go as well?
So when I edit PB, does this give me an excuse to embed pictures of pretty ladies in hot pants?
The Producers sounds like a play with a very poor taste theme. Doubt it'll do very well at the box office - wouldn't like to be a backer of it personally.
I'm assuming you are being sarcastic?
After 33 previews, the original Broadway production opened at the St. James Theatre on April 19, 2001, starring Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick, and ran for 2,502 performances, winning a record-breaking 12 Tony Awards.
So what you're saying is that despite the poor taste theme about nazis, The Producers did much better than Pulpstar suggested and didn't lose its backers money after all? How unexpected, somebody should write a play about that!
When Labour had a similar policy on pension tax relief for over £150k earners in 2009/10 they had a complicated mechanism for including employers pension contributions in determining whether you were above the £150k barrier in order to prevent salary sacrifice mechanisms.
Now such a mechanism may not be required since an annual £30k pension limit would restrict salary sacrifice mechanisms to those under £180k. In contrast in 2009/10 the annual limit on pension contributions was your annual earnings.
True - eventually - but there's the 3 year unused AA carry forward too which would apply if not already used - or is that to go as well?
With Labour, assume the worst possible scenario. Then assume it is going to be worse than that.
When Labour had a similar policy on pension tax relief for over £150k earners in 2009/10 they had a complicated mechanism for including employers pension contributions in determining whether you were above the £150k barrier in order to prevent salary sacrifice mechanisms.
Now such a mechanism may not be required since an annual £30k pension limit would restrict salary sacrifice mechanisms to those under £180k. In contrast in 2009/10 the annual limit on pension contributions was your annual earnings.
True - eventually - but there's the 3 year unused AA carry forward too which would apply if not already used - or is that to go as well?
One would guess that no, carry forward arrangements are not going.
The only person who has suggested ending salary sacrifice for pension contributions recently (as far as I can see) is Steve Webb (he seemed to suggest employers would be happy to give the arrangements up voluntarily in the report I read if either that or my memory of it can be trusted).
Ros Altmann@rosaltmann·14m14 minutes ago Calcns used for final salary-type pensions allow members £50kpa pension (20x£50k=£1m) but DC members need £2m for £50k jtlife infln annuity
So when I edit PB, does this give me an excuse to embed pictures of pretty ladies in hot pants?
The Producers sounds like a play with a very poor taste theme. Doubt it'll do very well at the box office - wouldn't like to be a backer of it personally.
I'm assuming you are being sarcastic?
After 33 previews, the original Broadway production opened at the St. James Theatre on April 19, 2001, starring Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick, and ran for 2,502 performances, winning a record-breaking 12 Tony Awards.
So what you're saying is that despite the poor taste theme about nazis, The Producers did much better than Pulpstar suggested and didn't lose its backers money after all? How unexpected, somebody should write a play about that!
Hurrah !
Hey, you kids must be very young!
Anybody of my generation will remember Mel Brookes' film as one of the funniest and most cutting comedies ever to hit the silver screen. (It was made in 1968 and yes it was a Talkie.)
If you haven't seen it, just get a copy and watch. You won't regret it.
FFS....so sick of the dripping wets and their excuses for "Jihadi John".
Peter Allen earlier on the radio wondered if he had gone to Syria for the noble cause of fighting Assad. When corrected by an expert that he had previously tried to join Al Shabaab, he then decided based upon the strength of a vox pops of current students like "Jose" saying nope never seen any radical stuff here, that Mohammed Emwazi definitely couldn't have been radicalized at University of Westminster...and besides aren't universities all about radical ideas.....oh and that these ISIS lot aren't really any threat to the West.
Again the expert had to explain that this guy tried to join Al Shabaab only months after graduating, that they have proof that University of Westminster has serious issues with radical and extremist material being openly shared and equally extreme speakers being invited to talk (which are often segregated) and those challenging the speakers are silenced.
The Times sure seems to have it in for Christie though.
Sorry, wasn't around yesterday. Yes, the NYT will have it in for any GOP candidate who they fear could compete with Hillary in the GE. It is entirely partisan in that respect.
But it is a very valid point that Christie shot to fame as someone to take on the unions and fix the budget problems arising from pensions and mandated benefits and that now that storyline is falling apart, particularly as Walker has risen with a far more compelling version of the same story AND has strong real conservative credentials. It perhaps makes Walker less attractive in the GE, but makes it a lot more likely that he can prevail in the primaries.
Ros Altmann@rosaltmann·14m14 minutes ago Calcns used for final salary-type pensions allow members £50kpa pension (20x£50k=£1m) but DC members need £2m for £50k jtlife infln annuity
Labour doing exactly the same thing Osborne did to the private sector once again.
Do you know what the comparable figures for applications filed in the US are, though? I would have thought from my own experience that that was a much better measure.
The politics of Ed's announcement are a bit odd. If we assume for the sake of argument that the tax-increase side is correct, i.e. that they could raise £3bn from their pension raid, then spending that money on reducing the contribution which well-off graduates will in the future have to make to their university education is an interesting priority at a time of tough spending decisions.
By being one, do I really constantly have to remind people on here about how idiots see this?
We are lowering the cost of going to University. For poorer people. For young, poorer people.
Ta-daaarh!
You can take your Mr Lewises and your fiscal implications and your marginal tax rates and your propensity to earn and stick them where the sun don't shine.
Ros Altmann@rosaltmann·14m14 minutes ago Calcns used for final salary-type pensions allow members £50kpa pension (20x£50k=£1m) but DC members need £2m for £50k jtlife infln annuity
Labour doing exactly the same thing Osborne did to the private sector once again.
Ros Altmann@rosaltmann·14m14 minutes ago Calcns used for final salary-type pensions allow members £50kpa pension (20x£50k=£1m) but DC members need £2m for £50k jtlife infln annuity
Labour doing exactly the same thing Osborne did to the private sector once again.
Comments
We are all cartoonists now!
Burger! For a moment I thought you had said demolition.
Labour lead by 0.8%
Interesting split between the four YG polls and five non-YouGov polls so far this week.
ELBOW of the four YG polls gives Tories a 0.2% lead.
ELBOW of the five non-YG polls gives Labour a 1.9% lead
There are number of people going to court on Monday(?).. that thought stuff like that was a spiffing idea.
In sums up entirely in one drawing the complete and terrible mess we are in from cradle to grave.
1. Somehow those earning over £150k will only be allowed to get 20p in £ tax relief on pension contributions.... Labour's never heard of salary sacrifice I presume?
2. LTA reduced to £1m
3. AA reduced to £30k pa.
Pillocks.
Could have announced that before Ed made his speech...
They need to simplify the tax system, put everyone on PAYE and then let them argue about a rebate.
Yes, but the case coming up fascinates me.
(mainly for possible defence comedy value)
A knife-wielding mob has hacked to death a US-Bangladeshi blogger whose writing on religion had brought threats from Islamist hardliners.
Mind you, I know a hedge fund who won't do sal sac as they fear it would be 'politically' seen as unacceptable tax avoidance... totally risk averse on reputation if you can believe that.
You are normally smart enough to avoid the obvious wind ups
Ran out of coffee?
Each self employed person would need to be their own employer, set-up a LTD co to take the income and pay salary, PAYE and NI etc..
Also, the public have been free to buy Lloyds shares, I did that back in 2011 at the bargain price of 27p.
Chris Atkins, several former RBS bankers, and various associates.
The guy who shot back into "fame" for the strange UKIP fantasy programme on CH4?
A career mainly in investigative journalism and expose.
At the very least, it is ironic, but with the possibility of a real comedy.
I real worry, I think, is that a significant chunk of HE funding is now no longer guaranteed. It will have to be negotiated with Treasury every few years.
But back to Labour's tuition fee debacle. Is there some collective insanity going on here? It seems the media, Labour, and most posters here can't count.
£9000 fees paid by provision of loans, costs the Treasury £9000 per student.
£6000 fees paid by provision of loans and £3000 paid directly to Universities costs the Treasury £9000 per student.
It is the same figure. - the Treasury pays out £9000 per student.
It does not require new "funding".
It is Fiscally neutral in the current budget and in future budgets for at least 10 years, if not forever (given NPV of the money and the likely repayment rates).
You could cut and paste that URL for different stories, and fill in the blank...
>> Labours Plan ................. is a financially illiterate policy. <<
But do the voters care?
Everything is going to be paid for by one tax.
Oh I see he didn't mean that one. I'd have thought Ingenious was closer to The Producers script than the Atkins case.
I have no idea about the content, but the cast list looks interesting?
Either you're employed, as in earning money for the company and being payed a salary, or you're not earning for the company and the company is dormant (and you are not employed by it)
Personally, I would keep University fees up at 9,000 quid so they don't get a drop in funding - but announce a Govt. contribution to personal repayment of student fees. So when students finally DO have to start making repayments, then the Govt. will pay the first X thousand as that falls due. With an aspiration that this will be raised to Y thousand over time as these graduates share in the proceeds of economic growth they are helping to underpin. It pushes back the time when students who go into work will have to make their own contribution. Perhaps significantly. Which helps the Bank of Mum and Dad in the meantime. But the hit to the Exchequer isn't too harsh too soon, as it only kicks in when students enter full-time employment.
Make it clear that the contribution comes from the Govt taxing the rich at a 5% higher rate than Labour did for 98% of their term of office.
Politically it paints the LibDems as the bad guys and Labour as the mad guys.
With more people becoming self-employed, this problem will grow. But there are lots of easy ways to streamline self-employed income tax payments, reducing my admin. costs and making life easier for HMRC. The trouble is that no-one who thinks of new tax legislation seems to have the slightest idea of life in the real world or ask for small businesses' opinions.
Has any Labour front bencher ever been self-employed and dealt with HMRC, the monster which they created in 2005? The HMRC staff who post anonymously on www.hmrcisshite.co.uk seem to think it's totally f***ed.
I know all about IR35 sadly... HMRC took 2 years to declare that I was not operating within its remit.
(the life of an IT Contractor)
Way to go Labour.....
Allegedly exploited? (you should know better than that, you pull enough people up for it)
At the last comment I know of, he was "looking forward to his day in court to prove his innocence" (the upcoming appearance is a pleading diet, or English equivalent)
As it happened I saw Marf this morning and she showed me an early draft. I thought it was good, but not imo out of the ordinary. It did not at that stage however have the sinister eye behind the door. Chilling, and exceptional.
Btw, the 'portrait' format of the Site does the cartoon no favours when the original is 'landscape' as this one is. Can't be helped, but a more sympathetic layout would make the impact greater still. (Nonetheless I believe the toon is trending heavily on Twitter already.)
Sorry. you were talking about "Ingenious"., where the plot revolved round a loophole created by the last Labour government?
I am glad you cleared that up.
Amongst its many virtues is the ruthlessness with which it kicks political correctness into the long grass and stamps it mercilessly into the dirt.
After 33 previews, the original Broadway production opened at the St. James Theatre on April 19, 2001, starring Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick, and ran for 2,502 performances, winning a record-breaking 12 Tony Awards.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Producers_(musical)
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/26/opinion/gail-collins-adieu-chris-christie-adieu.html?ref=todayspaper
Now such a mechanism may not be required since an annual £30k pension limit would restrict salary sacrifice mechanisms to those under £180k. In contrast in 2009/10 the annual limit on pension contributions was your annual earnings.
You are missing the cunning part, where the government sells off the loans book to the private sector.
(seems there was an unexpected hold up though)
Of course no one will say it, but this country was more socially mobile when fewer people attended university.
THOSE EARNERS ARE LIKELY ALREADY DOING IT NOW - WILL THAT BE STOPPED - HOW?
The Times sure seems to have it in for Christie though.
@PeterMannionMP: Labour's new policy: 'Live fast, die young, kids...cos we'll have pissed away all the pensions cash if you live to be old.."
I think, from memory, their in-price is around 72p and the break-even price (including the fees etc) is around 65p
In a world where the loan doesn't get paid off, then the system works as a de-facto graduate tax anyway.
It is nothing less than Madhouse politics that a system is sold on the fact that, er, it's ok you won't pay it back anyway (and there are *even* less people paying it back than the models suggested just a few years ago).
It is ironic that at a time debt is deemed to be really really really bad (copyright Tories everywhere) that it is deemed ok to lump such burdens onto young people. Another example of how Tories (and New Labour before them) have screwed over the young in favour of the old - who let's not forget didn't have pay anything directly towards their higher education.
"Because the government are not in the business of owning banks"
Only our government, they prefer other countries nationalized businesses to run things instead.
http://www.epo.org/about-us/annual-reports-statistics/annual-report/2014/statistics/patent-applications.html?tab=6
The only person who has suggested ending salary sacrifice for pension contributions recently (as far as I can see) is Steve Webb (he seemed to suggest employers would be happy to give the arrangements up voluntarily in the report I read if either that or my memory of it can be trusted).
Comparable to the damage Brown did a decade or so ago?
Ros Altmann@rosaltmann·14m14 minutes ago
Calcns used for final salary-type pensions allow members £50kpa pension (20x£50k=£1m) but DC members need £2m for £50k jtlife infln annuity
Anybody of my generation will remember Mel Brookes' film as one of the funniest and most cutting comedies ever to hit the silver screen. (It was made in 1968 and yes it was a Talkie.)
If you haven't seen it, just get a copy and watch. You won't regret it.
Peter Allen earlier on the radio wondered if he had gone to Syria for the noble cause of fighting Assad. When corrected by an expert that he had previously tried to join Al Shabaab, he then decided based upon the strength of a vox pops of current students like "Jose" saying nope never seen any radical stuff here, that Mohammed Emwazi definitely couldn't have been radicalized at University of Westminster...and besides aren't universities all about radical ideas.....oh and that these ISIS lot aren't really any threat to the West.
Again the expert had to explain that this guy tried to join Al Shabaab only months after graduating, that they have proof that University of Westminster has serious issues with radical and extremist material being openly shared and equally extreme speakers being invited to talk (which are often segregated) and those challenging the speakers are silenced.
But it is a very valid point that Christie shot to fame as someone to take on the unions and fix the budget problems arising from pensions and mandated benefits and that now that storyline is falling apart, particularly as Walker has risen with a far more compelling version of the same story AND has strong real conservative credentials. It perhaps makes Walker less attractive in the GE, but makes it a lot more likely that he can prevail in the primaries.
We are lowering the cost of going to University. For poorer people. For young, poorer people.
Ta-daaarh!
You can take your Mr Lewises and your fiscal implications and your marginal tax rates and your propensity to earn and stick them where the sun don't shine.
"Don't be dumb, be a smarty
Come and join the Nazi Party"
Lethal.