What is in the public domain suggests the offence relates to a contested receipt of 700 pounds, which sounds a rather modest sum of money.
Even if found guilty, it must be doubtful whether this would lead to a custodial offence of more than a year, so I am not sure a by-election is even likely.
Dennis McShane pleased guilty to 13,000 pounds worth of fake receipts and got 6 months.
The only two parties who could win B&R are the Tories and the LibDems: as always in these rural Welsh seats, the quality of the candidate really matters.
Labour did come close at the July 1985 by election with the Tories being pushed into third place. For many years prior to 1979 it was a Labour seat - albeit the boundaries were then more favourable for them.
As you say, boundary changes.
The southern rim of B&R used to include the northern edge of the South Wales coalfield.
No more, it is a very rural seat. If the Tories want to win any by-election, then need to pick a farmer.
Indeed - though Labour did come close in the 1985 by election on current boundaries - Richard Willey was the candidate.
Poor man. What a name.
I recently saw a van bearing the name "Rick Hunter".
I think shortening Richard to Rick rather than Dick was a wise decision.
I have recently borrowed some vintage sporting equipment from someone called Richard Dick.
You would have thought his parents could have worked out that wasn't the best first name for their son...
"Conservative MP Philip Lee had been considered a possible Tory defector when he didn’t answer calls from reporters - only for it to transpire that he had been at the cinema with his wife. Now Jess Elgot reports that he has met with the Prime Minister:
"Lee, the chair of the pro-referendum Right To Vote campaign, met the prime minister in Downing Street on Thursday morning. Lee, who resigned as a justice minister over the party’s Brexit policy, and had been one of the MPs viewed as most likely to join the new Independent Group.
"Lee said he had decided not to quit but suggested his future movements would be governed by the response of the many ministers who have threatened to rebel next week to back an amendment to extend Article 50 to avoid no deal."
It would have been a bit wiser to have met with the pro-European MPs before three of them defected, rather than just fobbing them off with a "you can see a junior minister" letter, don't you think Theresa?
In response to this which @edmundintokyo wrote on a previous thread:
“t either way. It's like a supercharged version of the TB-GB stupids.”
I think this is to misunderstand the Corbyn project.
Once
From Corbyn’s perspective driving out the moderates, the Blairites, Jews etc is not breaking the party but making it more in line with his views and more suitable to achieve his aims.
Some of us said this would happen from the start. Control of the party is the most important thing to the hard left, not winning a GE too soon. The assumption is that a crisis, or just the natural pendulum of worn-out-governments, combined with FPTP, will eventually deliver power to a purist party.
So, as a Conservative, I wish the TIG well in replacing the rotten and institutionally racist Labour Party.
In broad terms, I think 20-25% of the voters very much like what Corbyn is offering. Some of them are to be found in parties like the Greens or SNP. Conversely, about one third are right wingers who support Brexit. About 5% support UKIP, and 28% support the Conservatives.
That leaves just over 40% who would potentially be receptive to the new group, although you should probably knock off a few percent to cover Scottish and Welsh Nationalists, Greens and Northern Irish.
Realistically, that probably gives a ceiling of about one third who would be willing to vote for TIG and Lib Dems combined.
Using Electoral Calculus with: Con 30% Lab 24% TIG/LD 33% UKIP/Brexit Party 7% All other parties unchanged results in: Con 275 MPs Lab 225 MPs TIG/LD 80 MPs SNP 46 MPs That really would be a mess.
Or if you separate out the Tiggers and Lib Dems and use the Electoral Calculus "Labour Split" option for the Tiggers:
That would put TIG+LDs perilously close to overtaking RumpLab Especially as we'd expect a coupon election between them, not fighting each other. Add 5-10 to TIG and 1-4 to LDs; take 1-4 from Con and 5-10 from Lab.
And that model assumes TIG and the LDs both fight every seat
Yes - but the opinion polls are 38.26.14.7 - which gives the tories a 1983ish result.
One poll, taken on the day of the Labour defections? Polls are even more worthless than usual right now, until some dust starts to settle.
OT but a developing problem for Trump and the Republicans here in the US and A Is that tax return season is in full swing as folks receive the necessary paperwork to file and lots of lower income families are discovering they’re not going to get a tax refund this year or even owe the IRS, sometimes into the thousands. Lots of Trumpists are tweeting their outrage at the prez right now.
The problem for the GOP seems to be that after the tax “cut” passed, they leant on the IRS to aggressively reduce the withholding (quasi-PAYE) rates to give more of a boost to the fortnightly paycheque. This means a lot of people haven’t been having enough of their income withheld and paid to the IRS and so now owe, or at the very least have had withheld just the right amount to come out even and not get a refund. This is potentialy a big deal for the exonomy as traditionally the standard withholding has meant most people get a few thousand dollars refunded at tax filing time and rely on that for big-ticket purchases like home maintenance or appliance replacement. It’s all a strategic own-goal for Trump: no-one much remembers that their paycheques got a small boost last year, but they’re certainly noticing their lack of refunds now.
As to us, we did the numbers last year and realized that we needed to up our withholding to effectively reject the by-paycheque tax cut. If we hadn’t, we’d probably be in the hole to the IRS by about $3,500 right now.
Eh ? I know it can't be done if you are self employed but why on earth isn't PAYE just used for people on regular employee payroll.
Good question. I suspect retailers like the fact that most folks get an effective windfall in the late winter, and tend to spend it?
Just seen someone on Sky News say by 2025 new homes shouldn't be on the gas grid.
I though gas boiled central heating was more efficient. Are we supposed to switch to electrical heating? Electric heating sucks in my experience.
Air source heat pumps. More efficient than a basic electric heating element.
Ground source heat pumps are more efficient, but ££££££ to install.
It apparently won't work nationwide without replacing the national grid
The gas network has 200 GW of capacity and it's this gas usage that ideally needs to end before 2050 The elec network has 8 GW spare capacity.
Huge problem whichever way you do it.
The best bet is probably electric heat pumps in the back of beyond - which shouldn't need new cables, as a lot of folk are on storage heaters and their demand would be reduced - and something like this in towns and cities
A narrow escape - of course Republican senators would never be attacked by liberals - would they?
16 minutes for the whataboutery hammer, the PB reactionaries are slowing up.
What attacks on Republican senators by 'liberals' were you thinking of?
Probably thinking of that guy that shot up a Republican congressional baseball team practice session a couple of years ago.
Yep, but I'm kind of struggling with the concept of that shooter as a 'liberal'. Of course I realise that the term in some circles is synonymous with Black Hand Anarchism and ISIS.
IIRC he was, sadly, a fairly mainstream liberal over all, but crazy.
OT but a developing problem for Trump and the Republicans here in the US and A Is that tax return season is in full swing as folks receive the necessary paperwork to file and lots of lower income families are discovering they’re not going to get a tax refund this year or even owe the IRS, sometimes into the thousands. Lots of Trumpists are tweeting their outrage at the prez right now.
The problem for the GOP seems to be that after the tax “cut” passed, they leant on the IRS to aggressively reduce the withholding (quasi-PAYE) rates to give more of a boost to the fortnightly paycheque. This means a lot of people haven’t been having enough of their income withheld and paid to the IRS and so now owe, or at the very least have had withheld just the right amount to come out even and not get a refund. This is potentialy a big deal for the exonomy as traditionally the standard withholding has meant most people get a few thousand dollars refunded at tax filing time and rely on that for big-ticket purchases like home maintenance or appliance replacement. It’s all a strategic own-goal for Trump: no-one much remembers that their paycheques got a small boost last year, but they’re certainly noticing their lack of refunds now.
As to us, we did the numbers last year and realized that we needed to up our withholding to effectively reject the by-paycheque tax cut. If we hadn’t, we’d probably be in the hole to the IRS by about $3,500 right now.
Eh ? I know it can't be done if you are self employed but why on earth isn't PAYE just used for people on regular employee payroll.
Good question. I suspect retailers like the fact that most folks get an effective windfall in the late winter, and tend to spend it?
A bit of a Gordon-Brown-esque giving people back their own money and hoping they are thankful for it perhaps?
OT but a developing problem for Trump and the Republicans here in the US and A Is that tax return season is in full swing as folks receive the necessary paperwork to file and lots of lower income families are discovering they’re not going to get a tax refund this year or even owe the IRS, sometimes into the thousands. Lots of Trumpists are tweeting their outrage at the prez right now.
The problem for the GOP seems to be that after the tax “cut” passed, they leant on the IRS to aggressively reduce the withholding (quasi-PAYE) rates to give more of a boost to the fortnightly paycheque. This means a lot of people haven’t been having enough of their income withheld and paid to the IRS and so now owe, or at the very least have had withheld just the right amount to come out even and not get a refund. This is potentialy a big deal for the exonomy as traditionally the standard withholding has meant most people get a few thousand dollars refunded at tax filing time and rely on that for big-ticket purchases like home maintenance or appliance replacement. It’s all a strategic own-goal for Trump: no-one much remembers that their paycheques got a small boost last year, but they’re certainly noticing their lack of refunds now.
As to us, we did the numbers last year and realized that we needed to up our withholding to effectively reject the by-paycheque tax cut. If we hadn’t, we’d probably be in the hole to the IRS by about $3,500 right now.
Eh ? I know it can't be done if you are self employed but why on earth isn't PAYE just used ?
These are Federal returns, and I think PAYE systems (such that they are) are don on a state level. It might even be a states' rights issue, not sure.
No, the states that have income tax tend to follow the federal rules and rates, pro-rated down. At least NYS does. I have no idea why HMRC can get it usually spot on with PAYE and the IRS can’t. It is a source of much frustration to me. I have read though that British PAYE is uniquely accurate in the world but requires the tax authorities to have more access to taxpayers’ financial affairs than most countries would be happy with. I have no idea if that’s actually true.
I think we also have a lot fewer exceptions and rebates than in America.
It would have been a bit wiser to have met with the pro-European MPs before three of them defected, rather than just fobbing them off with a "you can see a junior minister" letter, don't you think Theresa?
Well, if you *know* they're going to defect, there's a case for not seeing them. Otherwise they can use the meeting as a propaganda coup - "we went to see her, she was unreasonable, so we've left". Presumably the same applies to why Corbyn refused to take an intervention from Angela Smith the other week.
OT but a developing problem for Trump and the Republicans here in the US and A Is that tax return season is in full swing as folks receive the necessary paperwork to file and lots of lower income families are discovering they’re not going to get a tax refund this year or even owe the IRS, sometimes into the thousands. Lots of Trumpists are tweeting their outrage at the prez right now.
The problem for the GOP seems to be that after the tax “cut” passed, they leant on the IRS to aggressively reduce the withholding (quasi-PAYE) rates to give more of a boost to the fortnightly paycheque. This means a lot of people haven’t been having enough of their income withheld and paid to the IRS and so now owe, or at the very least have had withheld just the right amount to come out even and not get a refund. This is potentialy a big deal for the exonomy as traditionally the standard withholding has meant most people get a few thousand dollars refunded at tax filing time and rely on that for big-ticket purchases like home maintenance or appliance replacement. It’s all a strategic own-goal for Trump: no-one much remembers that their paycheques got a small boost last year, but they’re certainly noticing their lack of refunds now.
As to us, we did the numbers last year and realized that we needed to up our withholding to effectively reject the by-paycheque tax cut. If we hadn’t, we’d probably be in the hole to the IRS by about $3,500 right now.
Eh ? I know it can't be done if you are self employed but why on earth isn't PAYE just used ?
These are Federal returns, and I think PAYE systems (such that they are) are don on a state level. It might even be a states' rights issue, not sure.
No, the states that have income tax tend to follow the federal rules and rates, pro-rated down. At least NYS does. I have no idea why HMRC can get it usually spot on with PAYE and the IRS can’t. It is a source of much frustration to me. I have read though that British PAYE is uniquely accurate in the world but requires the tax authorities to have more access to taxpayers’ financial affairs than most countries would be happy with. I have no idea if that’s actually true.
I think we also have a lot fewer exceptions and rebates than in America.
Is that true for the average person on $20k per year?
Or are rebates most applicable to those self-assessing anyway, as here?
OT but a developing problem for Trump and the Republicans here in the US and A Is that tax return season is in full swing as folks receive the necessary paperwork to file and lots of lower income families are discovering they’re not going to get a tax refund this year or even owe the IRS, sometimes into the thousands. Lots of Trumpists are tweeting their outrage at the prez right now.
The problem for the GOP seems to be that after the tax “cut” passed, they leant on the IRS to aggressively reduce the withholding (quasi-PAYE) rates to give more of a boost to the fortnightly paycheque. This means a lot of people haven’t been having enough of their income withheld and paid to the IRS and so now owe, or at the very least have had withheld just the right amount to come out even and not get a refund. This is potentialy a big deal for the exonomy as traditionally the standard withholding has meant most people get a few thousand dollars refunded at tax filing time and rely on that for big-ticket purchases like home maintenance or appliance replacement. It’s all a strategic own-goal for Trump: no-one much remembers that their paycheques got a small boost last year, but they’re certainly noticing their lack of refunds now.
As to us, we did the numbers last year and realized that we needed to up our withholding to effectively reject the by-paycheque tax cut. If we hadn’t, we’d probably be in the hole to the IRS by about $3,500 right now.
Eh ? I know it can't be done if you are self employed but why on earth isn't PAYE just used for people on regular employee payroll.
Good question. I suspect retailers like the fact that most folks get an effective windfall in the late winter, and tend to spend it?
There’s also the tax preparation industry which has effectively blocked the IRS from offerng a simple online tax return system by lobbying against it for decades. Hiring a tax preparer or paying for tax software like TurboTax (which cost us about $150 this year as we’d sold stock) is a necessity here. Only the insane or masochistic would attempt to fill out the necessary forms by hand.
A narrow escape - of course Republican senators would never be attacked by liberals - would they?
16 minutes for the whataboutery hammer, the PB reactionaries are slowing up.
What attacks on Republican senators by 'liberals' were you thinking of?
Probably thinking of that guy that shot up a Republican congressional baseball team practice session a couple of years ago.
Yep, but I'm kind of struggling with the concept of that shooter as a 'liberal'. Of course I realise that the term in some circles is synonymous with Black Hand Anarchism and ISIS.
IIRC he was, sadly, a fairly mainstream liberal over all, but crazy.
He was a Sanders supporter in fact, and he really hated Republicans.
As to us, we did the numbers last year and realized that we needed to up our withholding to effectively reject the by-paycheque tax cut. If we hadn’t, we’d probably be in the hole to the IRS by about $3,500 right now.
My first year in the US I got a tax rebate.
The second year I got a big payrise without realising they didn't adjust the withholding, I spent my anticipated "rebate", then got a bill from the IRS.
OT but a developing problem for Trump and the Republicans here in the US and A Is that tax return season is in full swing as folks receive the necessary paperwork to file and lots of lower income families are discovering they’re not going to get a tax refund this year or even owe the IRS, sometimes into the thousands. Lots of Trumpists are tweeting their outrage at the prez right now.
The problem for the GOP seems to be that after the tax “cut” passed, they leant on the IRS to aggressively reduce the withholding (quasi-PAYE) rates to give more of a boost to the fortnightly paycheque. This means a lot of people haven’t been having enough of their income withheld and paid to the IRS and so now owe, or at the very least have had withheld just the right amount to come out even and not get a refund. This is potentialy a big deal for the exonomy as traditionally the standard withholding has meant most people get a few thousand dollars refunded at tax filing time and rely on that for big-ticket purchases like home maintenance or appliance replacement. It’s all a strategic own-goal for Trump: no-one much remembers that their paycheques got a small boost last year, but they’re certainly noticing their lack of refunds now.
As to us, we did the numbers last year and realized that we needed to up our withholding to effectively reject the by-paycheque tax cut. If we hadn’t, we’d probably be in the hole to the IRS by about $3,500 right now.
Eh ? I know it can't be done if you are self employed but why on earth isn't PAYE just used ?
These are Federal returns, and I think PAYE systems (such that they are) are don on a state level. It might even be a states' rights issue, not sure.
No, the states that have income tax tend to follow the federal rules and rates, pro-rated down. At least NYS does. I have no idea why HMRC can get it usually spot on with PAYE and the IRS can’t. It is a source of much frustration to me. I have read though that British PAYE is uniquely accurate in the world but requires the tax authorities to have more access to taxpayers’ financial affairs than most countries would be happy with. I have no idea if that’s actually true.
Sounds like excuses to me. You are right that HMRC's record is excellent in comparison to its international peers, but, for most people, the only income they have is their salary –anyone with even a half-decent grasp of maths really ought to be able to forecast it. As you say, HMRC usually get it spot on. Not always, particularly when employees have changed jobs during the later part of the tax year, but even then they have a pretty decent record.
Mr. Glenn, if the Labour leadership overtly backs a second referendum that'll discourage potential defectors. May, however, is unlikely to be able to make the same manoeuvre.
I cannot see any other possible route for Corbyn now. If he doesn't he'll be left with the rump of a Party. While he and his Morning Star advisers would be content with Brexit, it is important to note that many of his allies at the top of the leadership aren't so sanguine.
They want to be the left wing Labour party that gets into government. I suspect they may prefer a left wing party out of government to a right wing one in government.
OT but a developing problem for Trump and the Republicans here in the US and A Is that tax return season is in full swing as folks receive the necessary paperwork to file and lots of lower income families are discovering they’re not going to get a tax refund this year or even owe the IRS, sometimes into the thousands. Lots of Trumpists are tweeting their outrage at the prez right now.
The problem for the GOP seems to be that after the tax “cut” passed, they leant on the IRS to aggressively reduce the withholding (quasi-PAYE) rates to give more of a boost to the fortnightly paycheque. This means a lot of people haven’t been having enough of their income withheld and paid to the IRS and so now owe, or at the very least have had withheld just the right amount to come out even and not get a refund. This is potentialy a big deal for the exonomy as traditionally the standard withholding has meant most people get a few thousand dollars refunded at tax filing time and rely on that for big-ticket purchases like home maintenance or appliance replacement. It’s all a strategic own-goal for Trump: no-one much remembers that their paycheques got a small boost last year, but they’re certainly noticing their lack of refunds now.
As to us, we did the numbers last year and realized that we needed to up our withholding to effectively reject the by-paycheque tax cut. If we hadn’t, we’d probably be in the hole to the IRS by about $3,500 right now.
Eh ? I know it can't be done if you are self employed but why on earth isn't PAYE just used for people on regular employee payroll.
Good question. I suspect retailers like the fact that most folks get an effective windfall in the late winter, and tend to spend it?
A bit of a Gordon-Brown-esque giving people back their own money and hoping they are thankful for it perhaps?
Ha! Yes, I suppose so. It's a stupid system, really, but it perhaps is just ineptitude on the part of the IRS rather than any deliberate short-term cash injection.
OT but a developing problem for Trump and the Republicans here in the US and A Is that tax return season is in full swing as folks receive the necessary paperwork to file and lots of lower income families are discovering they’re not going to get a tax refund this year or even owe the IRS, sometimes into the thousands. Lots of Trumpists are tweeting their outrage at the prez right now.
The problem for the GOP seems to be that after the tax “cut” passed, they leant on the IRS to aggressively reduce the withholding (quasi-PAYE) rates to give more of a boost to the fortnightly paycheque. This means a lot of people haven’t been having enough of their income withheld and paid to the IRS and so now owe, or at the very least have had withheld just the right amount to come out even and not get a refund. This is potentialy a big deal for the exonomy as traditionally the standard withholding has meant most people get a few thousand dollars refunded at tax filing time and rely on that for big-ticket purchases like home maintenance or appliance replacement. It’s all a strategic own-goal for Trump: no-one much remembers that their paycheques got a small boost last year, but they’re certainly noticing their lack of refunds now.
As to us, we did the numbers last year and realized that we needed to up our withholding to effectively reject the by-paycheque tax cut. If we hadn’t, we’d probably be in the hole to the IRS by about $3,500 right now.
Eh ? I know it can't be done if you are self employed but why on earth isn't PAYE just used ?
These are Federal returns, and I think PAYE systems (such that they are) are don on a state level. It might even be a states' rights issue, not sure.
No, the states that have income tax tend to follow the federal rules and rates, pro-rated down. At least NYS does. I have no idea why HMRC can get it usually spot on with PAYE and the IRS can’t. It is a source of much frustration to me. I have read though that British PAYE is uniquely accurate in the world but requires the tax authorities to have more access to taxpayers’ financial affairs than most countries would be happy with. I have no idea if that’s actually true.
I think we also have a lot fewer exceptions and rebates than in America.
Is that true for the average person on $20k per year?
Or are rebates most applicable to those self-assessing anyway, as here?
I think so.
I thought in America you can get rebates for dependents (ie children) and if you have a mortgage.
In the UK child benefit (and later child tax credits) is not done via PAYE.
It would have been a bit wiser to have met with the pro-European MPs before three of them defected, rather than just fobbing them off with a "you can see a junior minister" letter, don't you think Theresa?
Well, if you *know* they're going to defect, there's a case for not seeing them. Otherwise they can use the meeting as a propaganda coup - "we went to see her, she was unreasonable, so we've left". Presumably the same applies to why Corbyn refused to take an intervention from Angela Smith the other week.
I very much doubt May is that clever, to be perfectly honest. It's more likely to be more simple cackhandedness on her part.
I am delighted to write of the excellent work the Supreme Leader's intelligence corps has done, driving out traitors from the People's Party, and even causing splits in the detested capitalist pigdog cabal!
Soon only those pure of heart and loyal in deed will be privileged enough to bask in the limitless benevolence of the Supreme Leader!
OT but a developing problem for Trump and the Republicans here in the US and A Is that tax return season is in full swing as folks receive the necessary paperwork to file and lots of lower income families are discovering they’re not going to get a tax refund this year or even owe the IRS, sometimes into the thousands. Lots of Trumpists are tweeting their outrage at the prez right now.
The problem for the GOP seems to be that after the tax “cut” passed, they leant on the IRS to aggressively reduce the withholding (quasi-PAYE) rates to give more of a boost to the fortnightly paycheque. This means a lot of people haven’t been having enough of their income withheld and paid to the IRS and so now owe, or at the very least have had withheld just the right amount to come out even and not get a refund. This is potentialy a big deal for the exonomy as traditionally the standard withholding has meant most people get a few thousand dollars refunded at tax filing time and rely on that for big-ticket purchases like home maintenance or appliance replacement. It’s all a strategic own-goal for Trump: no-one much remembers that their paycheques got a small boost last year, but they’re certainly noticing their lack of refunds now.
As to us, we did the numbers last year and realized that we needed to up our withholding to effectively reject the by-paycheque tax cut. If we hadn’t, we’d probably be in the hole to the IRS by about $3,500 right now.
Eh ? I know it can't be done if you are self employed but why on earth isn't PAYE just used for people on regular employee payroll.
Good question. I suspect retailers like the fact that most folks get an effective windfall in the late winter, and tend to spend it?
There’s also the tax preparation industry which has effectively blocked the IRS from offerng a simple online tax return system by lobbying against it for decades. Hiring a tax preparer or paying for tax software like TurboTax (which cost us about $150 this year as we’d sold stock) is a necessity here. Only the insane or masochistic would attempt to fill out the necessary forms by hand.
What a ludicrously expensive and inefficient system.
Clearly the same dolts who designed their healthcare system are behind their PAYE set up.
I am delighted to write of the excellent work the Supreme Leader's intelligence corps has done, driving out traitors from the People's Party, and even causing splits in the detested capitalist pigdog cabal!
Soon only those pure of heart and loyal in deed will be privileged enough to bask in the limitless benevolence of the Supreme Leader!
As to us, we did the numbers last year and realized that we needed to up our withholding to effectively reject the by-paycheque tax cut. If we hadn’t, we’d probably be in the hole to the IRS by about $3,500 right now.
My first year in the US I got a tax rebate.
The second year I got a big payrise without realising they didn't adjust the withholding, I spent my anticipated "rebate", then got a bill from the IRS.
Not happy
That's just stupid. How anyone is expected to manage their budgets with so much variance and opacity in the system is beyond me.
Just seen someone on Sky News say by 2025 new homes shouldn't be on the gas grid.
I though gas boiled central heating was more efficient. Are we supposed to switch to electrical heating? Electric heating sucks in my experience.
Air source heat pumps. More efficient than a basic electric heating element.
Ground source heat pumps are more efficient, but ££££££ to install.
It apparently won't work nationwide without replacing the national grid
The gas network has 200 GW of capacity and it's this gas usage that ideally needs to end before 2050 The elec network has 8 GW spare capacity.
Huge problem whichever way you do it.
The best bet is probably electric heat pumps in the back of beyond - which shouldn't need new cables, as a lot of folk are on storage heaters and their demand would be reduced - and something like this in towns and cities
What a ludicrously expensive and inefficient system.
Clearly the same dolts who designed their healthcare system are behind their PAYE set up.
Actually the odd man out internationally is the UK - we really do have a very good tax administration system. Of course that doesn't fit into the preferred narrative that our politicians and civil servants are a bunch of malevolent half-wits, so it's rarely mentioned.
Mr. Glenn, if the Labour leadership overtly backs a second referendum that'll discourage potential defectors. May, however, is unlikely to be able to make the same manoeuvre.
I cannot see any other possible route for Corbyn now. If he doesn't he'll be left with the rump of a Party. While he and his Morning Star advisers would be content with Brexit, it is important to note that many of his allies at the top of the leadership aren't so sanguine.
I’m still not convinced it’s possible for Labour to force a 2nd referendum without massive electoral damage. The position hasn’t changed: the best result for the Tories is for Labour to be seen to stop Brexit and the best result for Labour is the Tories to proceed with Brexit whilst Labour are seen to try and stop it.
No, the best result for the Tories is for Labour to back Brexit and rule out EUref2 enabling a surge of Labour Remainers to TIG and the LDs and the best result for Labour is for the to revoke Brexit enabling a surge of Tory Leavers to Farage's new Brexit Party and UKIP
That’s a fair point actually. I’m not sure I agree but the logic does break down completely if you posit credible splits to both the traditional left and right blocks. Only works if both split though, for example if LabLibTig can be tarred with blocking Brexit then the Tories stay together as the leave party and can continue winning small majorities by blaming foreigners for everything.
Depends what type of Leave the Tories advocate but it would be suicide for the Tories to revoke Brexit
I'd rather the Tories commit suicide than they murder the rest of us.
Manchester City say one of their fans is in "a critical condition in hospital" after an alleged assault following their Champions League win over Schalke in Germany on Wednesday.
Mr. P, the loyal and true/hated traitor Phillips was always going to show her gritty determination to fight for this nation/trample on decency and honour by splitting from the party to whom she owes everything. We support her loyalty/shall not miss her.
They want to be the left wing Labour party that gets into government. I suspect they may prefer a left wing party out of government to a right wing one in government.
I think that's right. If they were to get in and NOT implement any socialist policies, well what's the point.
That said, I do get the impression that John McDonnell is prepared to compromise quite a lot in order to get to Number 11.
Just seen someone on Sky News say by 2025 new homes shouldn't be on the gas grid.
I though gas boiled central heating was more efficient. Are we supposed to switch to electrical heating? Electric heating sucks in my experience.
Air source heat pumps. More efficient than a basic electric heating element.
Ground source heat pumps are more efficient, but ££££££ to install.
It apparently won't work nationwide without replacing the national grid
The gas network has 200 GW of capacity and it's this gas usage that ideally needs to end before 2050 The elec network has 8 GW spare capacity.
Huge problem whichever way you do it.
The best bet is probably electric heat pumps in the back of beyond - which shouldn't need new cables, as a lot of folk are on storage heaters and their demand would be reduced - and something like this in towns and cities
OT but a developing problem for Trump and the Republicans here in the US and A Is that tax return season is in full swing as folks receive the necessary paperwork to file and lots of lower income families are discovering they’re not going to get a tax refund this year or even owe the IRS, sometimes into the thousands. Lots of Trumpists are tweeting their outrage at the prez right now.
The problem for the GOP seems to be that after the tax “cut” passed, they leant on the IRS to aggressively reduce the withholding (quasi-PAYE) rates to give more of a boost to the fortnightly paycheque. This means a lot of people haven’t been having enough of their income withheld and paid to the IRS and so now owe, or at the very least have had withheld just the right amount to come out even and not get a refund. This is potentialy a big deal for the exonomy as traditionally the standard withholding has meant most people get a few thousand dollars refunded at tax filing time and rely on that for big-ticket purchases like home maintenance or appliance replacement. It’s all a strategic own-goal for Trump: no-one much remembers that their paycheques got a small boost last year, but they’re certainly noticing their lack of refunds now.
As to us, we did the numbers last year and realized that we needed to up our withholding to effectively reject the by-paycheque tax cut. If we hadn’t, we’d probably be in the hole to the IRS by about $3,500 right now.
Eh ? I know it can't be done if you are self employed but why on earth isn't PAYE just used ?
These are Federal returns, and I think PAYE systems (such that they are) are don on a state level. It might even be a states' rights issue, not sure.
No, the states that have income tax tend to follow the federal rules and rates, pro-rated down. At least NYS does. I have no idea why HMRC can get it usually spot on with PAYE and the IRS can’t. It is a source of much frustration to me. I have read though that British PAYE is uniquely accurate in the world but requires the tax authorities to have more access to taxpayers’ financial affairs than most countries would be happy with. I have no idea if that’s actually true.
I think we also have a lot fewer exceptions and rebates than in America.
Is that true for the average person on $20k per year?
Or are rebates most applicable to those self-assessing anyway, as here?
What a ludicrously expensive and inefficient system.
Clearly the same dolts who designed their healthcare system are behind their PAYE set up.
Actually the odd man out internationally is the UK - we really do have a very good tax administration system. Of course that doesn't fit into the preferred narrative that our politicians and civil servants are a bunch of malevolent half-wits, so it's rarely mentioned.
It is human nature.
People take for granted that which is good or works and bemoan that which isn't or doesn't.
What a ludicrously expensive and inefficient system.
Clearly the same dolts who designed their healthcare system are behind their PAYE set up.
Actually the odd man out internationally is the UK - we really do have a very good tax administration system. Of course that doesn't fit into the preferred narrative that our politicians and civil servants are a bunch of malevolent half-wits, so it's rarely mentioned.
A lot of basic administration works very well in this country (taxation, land registration, the courts, obtaining death certificates and probates etc). It's something that we take entirely for granted.
What a ludicrously expensive and inefficient system.
Clearly the same dolts who designed their healthcare system are behind their PAYE set up.
Actually the odd man out internationally is the UK - we really do have a very good tax administration system. Of course that doesn't fit into the preferred narrative that our politicians and civil servants are a bunch of malevolent half-wits, so it's rarely mentioned.
That's fair comment. I have spoken in the past that I had professional skin in this game, in a former role (don't worry, I was not a civil servant or politician!). HMRC is vastly underrated by the public – it really is an extremely competent department. And we have had some good tax ministers in the past – David Gauke being by far the best minister from a technical perspective (of either party) that I have met in recent times.
Out to lunch now folk. Part of our party are Kippers, so I hope we don't talk about either politics or that ISIS girl.
A forlorn hope, I would wager. Begum has become one of those topics. Last one I recall was Worboys, the 'black cab rapist'. Nobody wanted him out. Nobody wants her home.
That is what happens if you do lots of rapes or run off to join ISIS. The public take umbrage.
Me too, I'm part of the public, nothing special about me.
Trouble is, there would appear to be nothing special about the Home Secretary either, and that is not so great.
I don't know where this idea came from that it is the job of our political leaders actively to refuse to do things that the overwhelming majority of the public want. But I don't like it one bit.
The public doesn't know enough to make the decision. I mean, even the Home Secretary doesn't know enough to make the decision.
Mr. Glenn, if the Labour leadership overtly backs a second referendum that'll discourage potential defectors. May, however, is unlikely to be able to make the same manoeuvre.
I cannot see any other possible route for Corbyn now. If he doesn't he'll be left with the rump of a Party. While he and his Morning Star advisers would be content with Brexit, it is important to note that many of his allies at the top of the leadership aren't so sanguine.
I’m still not convinced it’s possible for Labour to force a 2nd referendum without massive electoral damage. The position hasn’t changed: the best result for the Tories is for Labour to be seen to stop Brexit and the best result for Labour is the Tories to proceed with Brexit whilst Labour are seen to try and stop it.
No, the best result for the Tories is for Labour to back Brexit and rule out EUref2 enabling a surge of Labour Remainers to TIG and the LDs and the best result for Labour is for the to revoke Brexit enabling a surge of Tory Leavers to Farage's new Brexit Party and UKIP
That’s a fair point actually. I’m not sure I agree but the logic does break down completely if you posit credible splits to both the traditional left and right blocks. Only works if both split though, for example if LabLibTig can be tarred with blocking Brexit then the Tories stay together as the leave party and can continue winning small majorities by blaming foreigners for everything.
Depends what type of Leave the Tories advocate but it would be suicide for the Tories to revoke Brexit
I'd rather the Tories commit suicide than they murder the rest of us.
The rest of us as a whole voted for Brexit remember?
The Tories are just implementing the will of the people.
OT but a developing problem for Trump and the Republicans here in the US and A Is that tax return season is in full swing as folks receive the necessary paperwork to file and lots of lower income families are discovering they’re not going to get a tax refund this year or even owe the IRS, sometimes into the thousands. Lots of Trumpists are tweeting their outrage at the prez right now.
Eh ? I know it can't be done if you are self employed but why on earth isn't PAYE just used ?
These are Federal returns, and I think PAYE systems (such that they are) are don on a state level. It might even be a states' rights issue, not sure.
No, the states that have income tax tend to follow the federal rules and rates, pro-rated down. At least NYS does. I have no idea why HMRC can get it usually spot on with PAYE and the IRS can’t. It is a source of much frustration to me. I have read though that British PAYE is uniquely accurate in the world but requires the tax authorities to have more access to taxpayers’ financial affairs than most countries would be happy with. I have no idea if that’s actually true.
I think we also have a lot fewer exceptions and rebates than in America.
Is that true for the average person on $20k per year?
Or are rebates most applicable to those self-assessing anyway, as here?
The tax break system is insanely complicated. For a start you can chose to itemize your deductions or simply take a “standard” deduction of about $12k per person. The new cap of $10,000 on how much you can deduct for state and local taxes paid this year meant that for the first time we were better off taking the standard deductions than itemizing. It still reduced the amount we could deduct from our taxable income by about $6k compared to previous years.
incidentally, that graph shows beautifully why chasing the monthly stats, as some in opposition were prone to do in 2010 - 2015, is such a futile gesture.
As the two main parties shake and splutter, Remainers are in raptures. Well, of course they are. This, after all, is their very own version of Brexit.
That’s the psychology of it. Whether they’re ex-Labour or ex-Tory, these Remain MPs have suddenly grasped the gleeful, defiant joy of leaving. Of sticking up two fingers at a vast, arrogant monolith that in their eyes treated them with contempt, and ignored their concerns. After years of pent-up resentment, they’ve decided to have done with it, and just walk out. And now, like Leavers in summer 2016, they’re riding the high, the righteous rush of rebellion. They’ve chosen to be free. Sovereign. Independent.
Deep down, no doubt, they know it’s a gamble. That in the short term, what they’ve done will cause disruption, even chaos, and very possibly cost them their jobs. But they don’t care. They’re ignoring Project Fear, and leaving anyway – partly for the sheer angry thrill of it, and partly because they’ve convinced themselves that, in the longer term, the pain will be worth it.
That’s “The Independent Group”. Brexit for people who hate Brexit.
What a ludicrously expensive and inefficient system.
Clearly the same dolts who designed their healthcare system are behind their PAYE set up.
Actually the odd man out internationally is the UK - we really do have a very good tax administration system. Of course that doesn't fit into the preferred narrative that our politicians and civil servants are a bunch of malevolent half-wits, so it's rarely mentioned.
Tbf civil servants are usually pretty far behind the pols on the malevolent half-wit scale.
Actually the odd man out internationally is the UK - we really do have a very good tax administration system. Of course that doesn't fit into the preferred narrative that our politicians and civil servants are a bunch of malevolent half-wits, so it's rarely mentioned.
People always rant about "government IT" being crap, by definition, but bits at least of HMRC, the DVLA, and the Passport Office have very effective online services.
In response to this which @edmundintokyo wrote on a previous thread:
“t either way. It's like a supercharged version of the TB-GB stupids.”
I think this is to misunderstand the Corbyn project.
Once
From Corbyn’s perspective driving out the moderates, the Blairites, Jews etc is not breaking the party but making it more in line with his views and more suitable to achieve his aims.
Some of us said this would happen from the start. Control of the party is the most important thing to the hard left, not winning a GE too soon. The assumption is that a crisis, or just the natural pendulum of worn-out-governments, combined with FPTP, will eventually deliver power to a purist party.
So, as a Conservative, I wish the TIG well in replacing the rotten and institutionally racist Labour Party.
That leaves just over 40% who would potentially be receptive to the new group, although you should probably knock off a few percent to cover Scottish and Welsh Nationalists, Greens and Northern Irish.
Realistically, that probably gives a ceiling of about one third who would be willing to vote for TIG and Lib Dems combined.
Using Electoral Calculus with: Con 30% Lab 24% TIG/LD 33% UKIP/Brexit Party 7% All other parties unchanged results in: Con 275 MPs Lab 225 MPs TIG/LD 80 MPs SNP 46 MPs That really would be a mess.
Or if you separate out the Tiggers and Lib Dems and use the Electoral Calculus "Labour Split" option for the Tiggers:
That would put TIG+LDs perilously close to overtaking RumpLab Especially as we'd expect a coupon election between them, not fighting each other. Add 5-10 to TIG and 1-4 to LDs; take 1-4 from Con and 5-10 from Lab.
And that model assumes TIG and the LDs both fight every seat
Yes - but the opinion polls are 38.26.14.7 - which gives the tories a 1983ish result.
One poll, taken on the day of the Labour defections? Polls are even more worthless than usual right now, until some dust starts to settle.
Difficult to see many Tories (the brexit party) rushing over to TIG, compared to Labour (although you are right re opinion polls, they are the only game in town.) And what happens if there is no election until 2022 and the WA/ everything is then history? Are we basically going to have "The antisemite party" and "The anti antisemite party"?
Actually the odd man out internationally is the UK - we really do have a very good tax administration system. Of course that doesn't fit into the preferred narrative that our politicians and civil servants are a bunch of malevolent half-wits, so it's rarely mentioned.
People always rant about "government IT" being crap, by definition, but bits at least of HMRC, the DVLA, and the Passport Office have very effective online services.
In my experience DVLA and Passport are very good (as long are you actually follow their rules for things like the photo). You hear people ranting about them and normally if you ask it is because they sent in their kids school photo and it got rejected as not fitting the specs, with them ranting but but you can see my kid clearly, I don't understand the problem.
You really do have to feel some sympathy for Theresa May. Herding cats is hard enough at the best of times, but she has to herd enough of them through the right lobby against an impossibly tight deadline.
You really do have to feel some sympathy for Theresa May. Herding cats is hard enough at the best of times, but she has to herd enough of them through the right lobby against an impossibly tight deadline.
Mr. Glenn, if the Labour leadership overtly backs a second referendum that'll discourage potential defectors. May, however, is unlikely to be able to make the same manoeuvre.
I cannot see any other possible route for Corbyn now. If he doesn't he'll be left with the rump of a Party. While he and his Morning Star advisers would be content with Brexit, it is important to note that many of his allies at the top of the leadership aren't so sanguine.
I’m still not convinced it’s possible for Labour to force a 2nd referendum without massive electoral damage. The position hasn’t changed: the best result for the Tories is for Labour to be seen to stop Brexit and the best result for Labour is the Tories to proceed with Brexit whilst Labour are seen to try and stop it.
No, the best result for the Tories is for Labour to back Brexit and rule out EUref2 enabling a surge of Labour Remainers to TIG and the LDs and the best result for Labour is for the to revoke Brexit enabling a surge of Tory Leavers to Farage's new Brexit Party and UKIP
That’s a fair point actually. I’m not sure I agree but the logic does break down completely if you posit credible splits to both the traditional left and right blocks. Only works if both split though, for example if LabLibTig can be tarred with blocking Brexit then the Tories stay together as the leave party and can continue winning small majorities by blaming foreigners for everything.
Depends what type of Leave the Tories advocate but it would be suicide for the Tories to revoke Brexit
I'd rather the Tories commit suicide than they murder the rest of us.
The rest of us as a whole voted for Brexit remember?
The Tories are just implementing the will of the people.
The Code of Conduct for Members of Parliament states at Part III(6) that "Members have a general duty to act in the interests of the nation as a whole; and a special duty to their constituents.". The "nation as a whole" is some 66 million people, not 17.4 million, and while MP's arguably have a duty to implement the 2016 referendum, they certainly have a duty to do so in a manner that is in the interests of the whole country and their constituents. In pushing the country over a No-Deal cliff they are not acting in anyone's interests. If the general well-being of the country as a whole is damaged by the way they implement Brexit then the legislature is failing in its duty to the whole people, leavers, remainers, abstainers, children, prisoners and everyone else.
You really do have to feel some sympathy for Theresa May. Herding cats is hard enough at the best of times, but she has to herd enough of them through the right lobby against an impossibly tight deadline.
No, I don't have sympathy for her. The impossibly tight deadline is largely of her own creation, as is most of the alienation of the cats.
incidentally, that graph shows beautifully why chasing the monthly stats, as some in opposition were prone to do in 2010 - 2015, is such a futile gesture.
Ed? yeah, you. I mean you.
I can understand if not approve of politicians doing it, but I wish the press would consistently point out that month to month stats are horribly misleading.
I cannot see any other possible route for Corbyn now. If he doesn't he'll be left with the rump of a Party. While he and his Morning Star advisers would be content with Brexit, it is important to note that many of his allies at the top of the leadership aren't so sanguine.
I’m still not convinced it’s possible for Labour to force a 2nd referendum without massive electoral damage. The position hasn’t changed: the best result for the Tories is for Labour to be seen to stop Brexit and the best result for Labour is the Tories to proceed with Brexit whilst Labour are seen to try and stop it.
No, the best result for the Tories is for Labour to back Brexit and rule out EUref2 enabling a surge of Labour Remainers to TIG and the LDs and the best result for Labour is for the to revoke Brexit enabling a surge of Tory Leavers to Farage's new Brexit Party and UKIP
That’s a fair point actually. I’m not sure I agree but the logic does break down completely if you posit credible splits to both the traditional left and right blocks. Only works if both split though, for example if LabLibTig can be tarred with blocking Brexit then the Tories stay together as the leave party and can continue winning small majorities by blaming foreigners for everything.
Depends what type of Leave the Tories advocate but it would be suicide for the Tories to revoke Brexit
I'd rather the Tories commit suicide than they murder the rest of us.
The rest of us as a whole voted for Brexit remember?
The Tories are just implementing the will of the people.
The Code of Conduct for Members of Parliament states at Part III(6) that "Members have a general duty to act in the interests of the nation as a whole; and a special duty to their constituents.". The "nation as a whole" is some 66 million people, not 17.4 million, and while MP's arguably have a duty to implement the 2016 referendum, they certainly have a duty to do so in a manner that is in the interests of the whole country and their constituents. In pushing the country over a No-Deal cliff they are not acting in anyone's interests. If the general well-being of the country as a whole is damaged by the way they implement Brexit then the legislature is failing in its duty to the whole people, leavers, remainers, abstainers, children, prisoners and everyone else.
OT but a developing problem for Trump and the Republicans here in the US and A Is that tax return season is in full swing as folks receive the necessary paperwork to file and lots of lower income families are discovering they’re not going to get a tax refund this year or even owe the IRS, sometimes into the thousands. Lots of Trumpists are tweeting their outrage at the prez right now.
Eh ? I know it can't be done if you are self employed but why on earth isn't PAYE just used ?
These are Federal returns, and I think PAYE systems (such that they are) are don on a state level. It might even be a states' rights issue, not sure.
No, the states that have income tax tend to follow the federal rules and rates, pro-rated down. At least NYS does. I have no idea why HMRC can get it usually spot on with PAYE and the IRS can’t. It is a source of much frustration to me. I have read though that British PAYE is uniquely accurate in the world but requires the tax authorities to have more access to taxpayers’ financial affairs than most countries would be happy with. I have no idea if that’s actually true.
I think we also have a lot fewer exceptions and rebates than in America.
Is that true for the average person on $20k per year?
Or are rebates most applicable to those self-assessing anyway, as here?
The tax break system is insanely complicated. For a start you can chose to itemize your deductions or simply take a “standard” deduction of about $12k per person. The new cap of $10,000 on how much you can deduct for state and local taxes paid this year meant that for the first time we were better off taking the standard deductions than itemizing. It still reduced the amount we could deduct from our taxable income by about $6k compared to previous years.
IANAE but I believe the IRS includes a lot in deductions etc that are complicated in the UK but dealt with elsewhere like with VAT.
Thus in the UK a lot of expenses are zero rated if they're essentials while for self employed and business expenses refunds are claimed via the VAT system. In the US I believe a lot of that is dealt with via deductions instead.
You really do have to feel some sympathy for Theresa May. Herding cats is hard enough at the best of times, but she has to herd enough of them through the right lobby against an impossibly tight deadline.
No, I don't have sympathy for her. The impossibly tight deadline is largely of her own creation, as is most of the alienation of the cats.
Some truth in that, but the deadline isn't entirely her fault. She after all had a deal agreed with the EU and ready to ratify back in November.
You really do have to feel some sympathy for Theresa May. Herding cats is hard enough at the best of times, but she has to herd enough of them through the right lobby against an impossibly tight deadline.
OT but a developing problem for Trump and the Republicans here in the US and A Is that tax return season is in full swing as folks receive the necessary paperwork to file and lots of lower income families are discovering they’re not going to get a tax refund this year or even owe the IRS, sometimes into the thousands. Lots of Trumpists are tweeting their outrage at the prez right now.
Eh ? I know it can't be done if you are self employed but why on earth isn't PAYE just used ?
These are Federal returns, and I think PAYE systems (such that they are) are don on a state level. It might even be a states' rights issue, not sure.
No, the states that have income tax tend to follow the federal rules and rates, pro-rated down. At least NYS does. I have no idea why HMRC can get it usually spot on with PAYE and the IRS can’t. It is a source of much frustration to me. I have read though that British PAYE is uniquely accurate in the world but requires the tax authorities to have more access to taxpayers’ financial affairs than most countries would be happy with. I have no idea if that’s actually true.
I think we also have a lot fewer exceptions and rebates than in America.
Is that true for the average person on $20k per year?
Or are rebates most applicable to those self-assessing anyway, as here?
The tax break system is insanely complicated. For a start you can chose to itemize your deductions or simply take a “standard” deduction of about $12k per person. The new cap of $10,000 on how much you can deduct for state and local taxes paid this year meant that for the first time we were better off taking the standard deductions than itemizing. It still reduced the amount we could deduct from our taxable income by about $6k compared to previous years.
IANAE but I believe the IRS includes a lot in deductions etc that are complicated in the UK but dealt with elsewhere like with VAT.
Thus in the UK a lot of expenses are zero rated if they're essentials while for self employed and business expenses refunds are claimed via the VAT system. In the US I believe a lot of that is dealt with via deductions instead.
They're not exactly zero-rated, but yes, most businesses get the VAT back as part of their VAT return whereas (I guess) small traders in the US only get their sales tax back(?) via return?
You really do have to feel some sympathy for Theresa May. Herding cats is hard enough at the best of times, but she has to herd enough of them through the right lobby against an impossibly tight deadline.
No, I don't have sympathy for her. The impossibly tight deadline is largely of her own creation, as is most of the alienation of the cats.
Some truth in that, but the deadline isn't entirely her fault. She after all had a deal agreed with the EU and ready to ratify back in November.
The Code of Conduct for Members of Parliament states at Part III(6) that "Members have a general duty to act in the interests of the nation as a whole; and a special duty to their constituents.". The "nation as a whole" is some 66 million people, not 17.4 million, and while MP's arguably have a duty to implement the 2016 referendum, they certainly have a duty to do so in a manner that is in the interests of the whole country and their constituents. In pushing the country over a No-Deal cliff they are not acting in anyone's interests. If the general well-being of the country as a whole is damaged by the way they implement Brexit then the legislature is failing in its duty to the whole people, leavers, remainers, abstainers, children, prisoners and everyone else.
I agree with that in general, but in the case of Brexit you make the mistake of equating forecast headline economic numbers with the interests of the nation as a whole. Gary Younge wrote what I thought was an excellent article about Brexit at the beginning of the month about why that argument was so weak.
You really do have to feel some sympathy for Theresa May. Herding cats is hard enough at the best of times, but she has to herd enough of them through the right lobby against an impossibly tight deadline.
No, I don't have sympathy for her. The impossibly tight deadline is largely of her own creation, as is most of the alienation of the cats.
Some truth in that, but the deadline isn't entirely her fault. She after all had a deal agreed with the EU and ready to ratify back in November.
She wasted a whole month after that.
True, but there's zero sign that anything would be different if she hadn't.
Out to lunch now folk. Part of our party are Kippers, so I hope we don't talk about either politics or that ISIS girl.
A forlorn hope, I would wager. Begum has become one of those topics. Last one I recall was Worboys, the 'black cab rapist'. Nobody wanted him out. Nobody wants her home.
That is what happens if you do lots of rapes or run off to join ISIS. The public take umbrage.
Me too, I'm part of the public, nothing special about me.
Trouble is, there would appear to be nothing special about the Home Secretary either, and that is not so great.
I don't know where this idea came from that it is the job of our political leaders actively to refuse to do things that the overwhelming majority of the public want. But I don't like it one bit.
The public doesn't know enough to make the decision. I mean, even the Home Secretary doesn't know enough to make the decision.
I don't agree with that (mainly the second bit - the public knows enough to have the right to an opinion), but it wasn't the point. People keep trying to say that the popularity of the decision is somehow proof that Javid got it wrong.
In my experience DVLA and Passport are very good (as long are you actually follow their rules for things like the photo). You hear people ranting about them and normally if you ask it is because they sent in their kids school photo and it got rejected as not fitting the specs, with them ranting but but you can see my kid clearly, I don't understand the problem.
Yes it's the government's fault that they didn't follow the simple instructions, or use a photo booth that actually shows them what they need to do for passport photos and lets them check the pictures before printing. Damn those incompetent civil servants!
Out to lunch now folk. Part of our party are Kippers, so I hope we don't talk about either politics or that ISIS girl.
A forlorn hope, I would wager. Begum has become one of those topics. Last one I recall was Worboys, the 'black cab rapist'. Nobody wanted him out. Nobody wants her home.
That is what happens if you do lots of rapes or run off to join ISIS. The public take umbrage.
Me too, I'm part of the public, nothing special about me.
Trouble is, there would appear to be nothing special about the Home Secretary either, and that is not so great.
I don't know where this idea came from that it is the job of our political leaders actively to refuse to do things that the overwhelming majority of the public want. But I don't like it one bit.
The public doesn't know enough to make the decision. I mean, even the Home Secretary doesn't know enough to make the decision.
People keep trying to say that the popularity of the decision is somehow proof that Javid got it wrong.
This appears to have become a bit of a thing.
Can you point us to a post where anyone is actually saying that?
Mr. Glenn, if the Labour leadership overtly backs a second referendum that'll discourage potential defectors. May, however, is unlikely to be able to make the same manoeuvre.
I guine.
I’m still not convinced it’s possible for Labour to force a 2nd referendum without massive electoral damage. The position hasn’t changed: the best result for the Tories is for Labour to be seen to stop Brexit and the best result for Labour is the Tories to proceed with Brexit whilst Labour are seen to try and stop it.
No, the best result for the Tories is for Labour to back Brexit and rule out EUref2 enabling a surge of Labour Remainers to TIG and the LDs and the best result for Labour is for the to revoke Brexit enabling a surge of Tory Leavers to Farage's new Brexit Party and UKIP
That’s a fair point actually. I’m not sure I agree but the logic does break down completely if you posit credible splits to both the traditional left and right blocks. Only works if both split though, for example if LabLibTig can be tarred with blocking Brexit then the Tories stay together as the leave party and can continue winning small majorities by blaming foreigners for everything.
Depends what type of Leave the Tories advocate but it would be suicide for the Tories to revoke Brexit
I'd rather the Tories commit suicide than they murder the rest of us.
The rest of us as a whole voted for Brexit remember?
The Tories are just implementing the will of the people.
The Code of Conduct for Members of Parliament states at Part III(6) that "Members have a general duty to act in the interests of the nation as a whole; and a special duty to their constituents.". The "nation as a whole" is some 66 million people, not 17.4 million, and while MP's arguably have a duty to implement the 2016 referendum, they certainly have a duty to do so in a manner that is in the interests of the whole country and their constituents. In pushing the country over a No-Deal cliff they are not acting in anyone's interests. If the general well-being of the country as a whole is damaged by the way they implement Brexit then the legislature is failing in its duty to the whole people, leavers, remainers, abstainers, children, prisoners and everyone else.
Out to lunch now folk. Part of our party are Kippers, so I hope we don't talk about either politics or that ISIS girl.
A forlorn hope, I would wager. Begum has become one of those topics. Last one I recall was Worboys, the 'black cab rapist'. Nobody wanted him out. Nobody wants her home.
That is what happens if you do lots of rapes or run off to join ISIS. The public take umbrage.
Me too, I'm part of the public, nothing special about me.
Trouble is, there would appear to be nothing special about the Home Secretary either, and that is not so great.
I don't know where this idea came from that it is the job of our political leaders actively to refuse to do things that the overwhelming majority of the public want. But I don't like it one bit.
The public doesn't know enough to make the decision. I mean, even the Home Secretary doesn't know enough to make the decision.
I don't agree with that (mainly the second bit - the public knows enough to have the right to an opinion), but it wasn't the point. People keep trying to say that the popularity of the decision is somehow proof that Javid got it wrong.
I think it's more a suspicion that he took the decision because he thought it would be popular.
Remainers (like me) need to account for this boon, as it seems to cut against the arguments we are making and have been making for some time.
Well the key point is that this income relates to 2017-2018 and so doesn't really reflect the recent relatively slow growth in the economy and the current uncertainty about Brexit. There have also been substantial increases in tax-raising by the Government.
For all the good news (for the Government), the UK is still borrowing more and more money and almost certainly once we get a balanceed budget there will be calls to increase spending.
You really do have to feel some sympathy for Theresa May. Herding cats is hard enough at the best of times, but she has to herd enough of them through the right lobby against an impossibly tight deadline.
No, I don't have sympathy for her. The impossibly tight deadline is largely of her own creation, as is most of the alienation of the cats.
Some truth in that, but the deadline isn't entirely her fault. She after all had a deal agreed with the EU and ready to ratify back in November.
She wasted a whole month after that.
True, but there's zero sign that anything would be different if she hadn't.
Getting the rejection in December and then the Malthouse compromise sooner would have given longer to talk to Europe to get a solution. The wasted month was pointless.
Mr. Glenn, if the Labour leadership overtly backs a second referendum that'll discourage potential defectors. May, however, is unlikely to be able to make the same manoeuvre.
I guine.
I’m still not convinced it’s possible for Labour to force a 2nd referendum without massive electoral damage. The position hasn’t changed: the best result for the Tories is for Labour to be seen to stop Brexit and the best result for Labour is the Tories to proceed with Brexit whilst Labour are seen to try and stop it.
No, the best result for the Tories is for Labour to back Brexit and rule out EUref2 enabling a surge of Labour Remainers to TIG and the LDs and the best result for Labour is for the to revoke Brexit enabling a surge of Tory Leavers to Farage's new Brexit Party and UKIP
That’s a fair point actually. I’m not sure I agree but the logic does break down completely if you posit credible splits to both the traditional left and right blocks. Only works if both split though, for example if LabLibTig can be tarred with blocking Brexit then the Tories stay together as the leave party and can continue winning small majorities by blaming foreigners for everything.
Depends what type of Leave the Tories advocate but it would be suicide for the Tories to revoke Brexit
I'd rather the Tories commit suicide than they murder the rest of us.
The rest of us as a whole voted for Brexit remember?
The Tories are just implementing the will of the people.
The Code of Conduct for Members of Parliament states at Part III(6) that "Members have a general duty to act in the interests of the nation as a whole; and a special duty to their constituents.". The "nation as a whole" is some 66 million people, not 17.4 million, and while MP's arguably have a duty to implement the 2016 referendum, they certainly have a duty to do so in a manner that is in the interests of the whole country and their constituents. In pushing the country over a No-Deal cliff they are not acting in anyone's interests. If the general well-being of the country as a whole is damaged by the way they implement Brexit then the legislature is failing in its duty to the whole people, leavers, remainers, abstainers, children, prisoners and everyone else.
Including, until 48 hours ago, Shamima Begum.
Wait, I thought the views of expats were irrelevant?
The only man in the known universe more useless than Kevin O'Connor of the Student Loan Company, who doesn't know what order the months of the year come in.
Remainers (like me) need to account for this boon, as it seems to cut against the arguments we are making and have been making for some time.
Well the key point is that this income relates to 2017-2018 and so doesn't really reflect the recent relatively slow growth in the economy and the current uncertainty about Brexit. There have also been substantial increases in tax-raising by the Government.
For all the good news (for the Government), the UK is still borrowing more and more money and almost certainly once we get a balanceed budget there will be calls to increase spending.
Officially, the economy was growing by 1.7% during that period.
Out to lunch now folk. Part of our party are Kippers, so I hope we don't talk about either politics or that ISIS girl.
A forlorn hope, I would wager. Begum has become one of those topics. Last one I recall was Worboys, the 'black cab rapist'. Nobody wanted him out. Nobody wants her home.
That is what happens if you do lots of rapes or run off to join ISIS. The public take umbrage.
Me too, I'm part of the public, nothing special about me.
Trouble is, there would appear to be nothing special about the Home Secretary either, and that is not so great.
I don't know where this idea came from that it is the job of our political leaders actively to refuse to do things that the overwhelming majority of the public want. But I don't like it one bit.
The public doesn't know enough to make the decision. I mean, even the Home Secretary doesn't know enough to make the decision.
People keep trying to say that the popularity of the decision is somehow proof that Javid got it wrong.
This appears to have become a bit of a thing.
Can you point us to a post where anyone is actually saying that?
It's the only implication I can draw from the post by @kinabalu that I originally responded to. Saying you disagree with the decision is one thing. But second guessing Javid's motives such that he's wrong because lots of ordinary people would have done the same, seems odd to me.
The only man in the known universe more useless than Kevin O'Connor of the Student Loan Company, who doesn't know what order the months of the year come in.
To be fair to Liam Fox (not something you hear often), he really can't finalise much until parliament gets off its backside and agrees what the relationship with the EU should look like, because all other trade deals will be heavily impacted by that.
Out to lunch now folk. Part of our party are Kippers, so I hope we don't talk about either politics or that ISIS girl.
A forlorn hope, I would wager. Begum has become one of those topics. Last one I recall was Worboys, the 'black cab rapist'. Nobody wanted him out. Nobody wants her home.
That is what happens if you do lots of rapes or run off to join ISIS. The public take umbrage.
Me too, I'm part of the public, nothing special about me.
Trouble is, there would appear to be nothing special about the Home Secretary either, and that is not so great.
I don't know where this idea came from that it is the job of our political leaders actively to refuse to do things that the overwhelming majority of the public want. But I don't like it one bit.
The public doesn't know enough to make the decision. I mean, even the Home Secretary doesn't know enough to make the decision.
People keep trying to say that the popularity of the decision is somehow proof that Javid got it wrong.
This appears to have become a bit of a thing.
Can you point us to a post where anyone is actually saying that?
It's the only implication I can draw from the post by @kinabalu that I originally responded to. Saying you disagree with the decision is one thing. But second guessing Javid's motives such that he's wrong because lots of ordinary people would have done the same, seems odd to me.
Surely Liam will have to resign. The Faeroe Islands are all very well, but the explicit promise of Brexit was that absolutely nothing would be worse than it now is, many things would be better and we'd be paid millions for the privilege. I'm not yet seeing it.
Surely Liam will have to resign. The Faeroe Islands are all very well, but the explicit promise of Brexit was that absolutely nothing would be worse than it now is, many things would be better and we'd be paid millions for the privilege. I'm not yet seeing it.
You assume that those trade deals are beneficial to the UK.
There seems to be a surprisingly regular pattern to this graph - lots of letter Ws. Anyone know why this should be the case?
Presumably because there are regular months (three or four times I imagine) a year where VAT, self-employed or other taxes are due which produce a spike in receipts
Comments
"Conservative MP Philip Lee had been considered a possible Tory defector when he didn’t answer calls from reporters - only for it to transpire that he had been at the cinema with his wife. Now Jess Elgot reports that he has met with the Prime Minister:
"Lee, the chair of the pro-referendum Right To Vote campaign, met the prime minister in Downing Street on Thursday morning. Lee, who resigned as a justice minister over the party’s Brexit policy, and had been one of the MPs viewed as most likely to join the new Independent Group.
"Lee said he had decided not to quit but suggested his future movements would be governed by the response of the many ministers who have threatened to rebel next week to back an amendment to extend Article 50 to avoid no deal."
It would have been a bit wiser to have met with the pro-European MPs before three of them defected, rather than just fobbing them off with a "you can see a junior minister" letter, don't you think Theresa?
The gas network has 200 GW of capacity and it's this gas usage that ideally needs to end before 2050
The elec network has 8 GW spare capacity.
Huge problem whichever way you do it.
The best bet is probably electric heat pumps in the back of beyond - which shouldn't need new cables, as a lot of folk are on storage heaters and their demand would be reduced - and something like this in towns and cities
http://solarheateurope.eu/about-solar-heat/solar-district-heating/
http://www.estif.org/st_energy/technology/district_heating/
Or are rebates most applicable to those self-assessing anyway, as here?
The second year I got a big payrise without realising they didn't adjust the withholding, I spent my anticipated "rebate", then got a bill from the IRS.
Not happy
I thought in America you can get rebates for dependents (ie children) and if you have a mortgage.
In the UK child benefit (and later child tax credits) is not done via PAYE.
I very much doubt May is that clever, to be perfectly honest. It's more likely to be more simple cackhandedness on her part.
I am delighted to write of the excellent work the Supreme Leader's intelligence corps has done, driving out traitors from the People's Party, and even causing splits in the detested capitalist pigdog cabal!
Soon only those pure of heart and loyal in deed will be privileged enough to bask in the limitless benevolence of the Supreme Leader!
Removing wreckers makes us stronger!
[Has anyone else defected?].
Clearly the same dolts who designed their healthcare system are behind their PAYE set up.
That said, I do get the impression that John McDonnell is prepared to compromise quite a lot in order to get to Number 11.
I guess the argument is that electricity will largely come from renewables and so fewer carbon emissions
People take for granted that which is good or works and bemoan that which isn't or doesn't.
The Tories are just implementing the will of the people.
Ed? yeah, you. I mean you.
As the two main parties shake and splutter, Remainers are in raptures. Well, of course they are. This, after all, is their very own version of Brexit.
That’s the psychology of it. Whether they’re ex-Labour or ex-Tory, these Remain MPs have suddenly grasped the gleeful, defiant joy of leaving. Of sticking up two fingers at a vast, arrogant monolith that in their eyes treated them with contempt, and ignored their concerns. After years of pent-up resentment, they’ve decided to have done with it, and just walk out. And now, like Leavers in summer 2016, they’re riding the high, the righteous rush of rebellion. They’ve chosen to be free. Sovereign. Independent.
Deep down, no doubt, they know it’s a gamble. That in the short term, what they’ve done will cause disruption, even chaos, and very possibly cost them their jobs. But they don’t care. They’re ignoring Project Fear, and leaving anyway – partly for the sheer angry thrill of it, and partly because they’ve convinced themselves that, in the longer term, the pain will be worth it.
That’s “The Independent Group”. Brexit for people who hate Brexit.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2019/02/20/remainers-gleeful-version-brexit/
https://twitter.com/nick_gutteridge/status/1098587285736640513
Thus in the UK a lot of expenses are zero rated if they're essentials while for self employed and business expenses refunds are claimed via the VAT system. In the US I believe a lot of that is dealt with via deductions instead.
Can you point us to a post where anyone is actually saying that?
For all the good news (for the Government), the UK is still borrowing more and more money and almost certainly once we get a balanceed budget there will be calls to increase spending.
The only man in the known universe more useless than Kevin O'Connor of the Student Loan Company, who doesn't know what order the months of the year come in.
Fairly predictable but will go down like a lead balloon with the voters who backed the Home Secretary by 78%
....
Edited extra bit: surprised Ferrari are still 2.87 for the Constructors', given the murmurings. 3.15 on Betfair.