Even the top rate tax cut/pasty tax Omnishambles Chancellor isn't that daft.
All other EU countries - apart from us, Ireland and Malta - have VAT on food. If anything, it is those who don't want VAT who are the outliers, by reference to what happens in the EU anyway. I make no comment on whether it would be politically daft or not, merely want to point out that they are in the mainstream of European thought and practice on this point.
The EU Commission has a helpful guide - as of July 2013 - on all the various different rates and exceptions.
It would be political suicide, but in itself it's a very sensible idea. The current system of imposing VAT at the full rate on loo paper, biscuits, over-the-counter medicines, and home care for the elderly, but not on foie gras, smoked salmon and fillet of beef, is pretty barmy. It will always be the case that having multiple rates leads to absurd distortions; it would much better to have a fixed lower rate for everything.
Even the top rate tax cut/pasty tax Omnishambles Chancellor isn't that daft.
All other EU countries - apart from us, Ireland and Malta - have VAT on food. If anything, it is those who don't want VAT who are the outliers, by reference to what happens in the EU anyway. I make no comment on whether it would be politically daft or not, merely want to point out that they are in the mainstream of European thought and practice on this point.
The EU Commission has a helpful guide - as of July 2013 - on all the various different rates and exceptions.
It would be political suicide, but in itself it's a very sensible idea. The current system of imposing VAT at the full rate on loo paper, biscuits, over-the-counter medicines, and home care for the elderly, but not on foie gras, smoked salmon and fillet of beef, is pretty barmy. It will always be the case that having multiple rates leads to absurd distortions; it would much better to have a fixed lower rate for everything.
Legislate for a living wage and increase benefits you could do it.
Be bloody funny watching the last Tory voting pensioner sod off to UKIP though.
If the tax base is widened then, mutatis mutandis, the tax rates can be lowered. We're going the opposite way here with 10% of taxpayers paying 30% of all tax revenues (at least according to this weekend's papers) and an increase in those paying no income tax at all (though they pay indirect taxes of course).
Given the scale of government debt and all the things we want the state to do, we will all have to pay more tax. If we want to pay less tax, we have to expect the state to do less or to do it at less cost.
Legislate for a living wage and increase benefits you could do it.
Be bloody funny watching the last Tory voting pensioner sod off to UKIP though.
I guess we could start gently, like with this anomaly (I kid you not):
Zero-rated: Prawn crackers made from tapioca Standard-rated: Prawn crackers made from cereals
I assume one is a raw material that has to be cooked and the other is the finished product?
No VAT on potatoes, VAT on crisps
Lord knows, but the whole set of rules seems to have been written by a bureaucrat with a well-developed sense of humour:
Zero rated: Bourbon and other biscuits where the chocolate or similar product forms a sandwich layer between two biscuit halves and is not continued onto the outer surface
Standard rated: Gingerbread men decorated with chocolate unless this amounts to no more than a couple of dots for eyes
I see Falkirk is having another massive negative effect
Foaming at the mouth is rarely a good sign. In dogs, it can indicate nausea, anxiety or (at worst) rabies. But what about in a Leader of the Opposition? Should we be nervous? During an interview with Sky News today, Ed Miliband was visibly frothing at the mouth, while explaining how he has ‘embarked on a major reform’ of the Labour party.
I see Falkirk is having another massive negative effect on Labour polling in todays Populus:
Labour - 41% Tory - 32% L Dem -10% Ukip - 9%
Another polling disaster for Red Ed.
I tell you where it did have an effect - brave Sir Ed was forced onto the tough interview trail this am - he got a right old grilling on ITV's "Daybreak" - think he's on "Strictly it takes two" next ...
I see Falkirk is having another massive negative effect on Labour polling in todays Populus:
Labour - 41% Tory - 32% L Dem -10% Ukip - 9%
Another polling disaster for Red Ed.
I tell you where it did have an effect - brave Sir Ed was forced onto the tough interview trail this am - he got a right old grilling on ITV's "Daybreak" - think he's on "Strictly it takes two" next ...
So Falkirk has forced Miliband to hide and be interviewed and is bad in the polls for Labour as illustrated by an increase in the Labour share.
I see Falkirk is having another massive negative effect on Labour polling in todays Populus:
Labour - 41% Tory - 32% L Dem -10% Ukip - 9%
Another polling disaster for Red Ed.
Most things occur with maturity.
Give it time.
The Tory grid and the PB Hodges on here have been battering it for weeks and instead of having an effect, the Labour lead has increased....keep going I say.
I suspect these Tories want higher rate tax cuts paid for by VAT on food,heating etc. As I say, watch their pensioner vote disappear.
There is VAT on heating / fuel already
They want to increase it from 5% to 15%
Freeze all the immigrants out. Clever idea. Get UKIP votes back.
The objective should be to have minimal sales taxes on items that are essential for living. Houses, Food, Heat, Light, Water and Food come to mind.
In the event that a higher rate is charged on essentials it needs to be a part of a package that mandates (is that a co op bank activity?) the item remains affordable to the lower deciles.
I see Falkirk is having another massive negative effect on Labour polling in todays Populus:
Labour - 41% Tory - 32% L Dem -10% Ukip - 9%
Another polling disaster for Red Ed.
I tell you where it did have an effect - brave Sir Ed was forced onto the tough interview trail this am - he got a right old grilling on ITV's "Daybreak" - think he's on "Strictly it takes two" next ...
How much has the Labour percentage fallen since it appeared on the Tory grid.....and the PB Hodges have jumped on it?
I see Falkirk is having another massive negative effect on Labour polling in todays Populus:
Labour - 41% Tory - 32% L Dem -10% Ukip - 9%
Another polling disaster for Red Ed.
Most things occur with maturity.
Give it time.
The Tory grid and the PB Hodges on here have been battering it for weeks and instead of having an effect, the Labour lead has increased....keep going I say.
I see Falkirk is having another massive negative effect on Labour polling in todays Populus:
Labour - 41% Tory - 32% L Dem -10% Ukip - 9%
Another polling disaster for Red Ed.
I tell you where it did have an effect - brave Sir Ed was forced onto the tough interview trail this am - he got a right old grilling on ITV's "Daybreak" - think he's on "Strictly it takes two" next ...
How much has the Labour percentage fallen since it appeared on the Tory grid.....and the PB Hodges have jumped on it?
Do you think what happened was right? Do you support such actions?
I suspect these Tories want higher rate tax cuts paid for by VAT on food,heating etc. As I say, watch their pensioner vote disappear.
There is VAT on heating / fuel already
At 5% only. Don't see that changing anytime soon. But the more anomalies there are the more of a nonsense the whole tax is. It would make more sense to have no exclusions but it would take a very brave government indeed to do this. So it's not going to happen anytime soon or, probably, ever.
I see Falkirk is having another massive negative effect on Labour polling in todays Populus:
Labour - 41% Tory - 32% L Dem -10% Ukip - 9%
Another polling disaster for Red Ed.
Most things occur with maturity.
Give it time.
The Tory grid and the PB Hodges on here have been battering it for weeks and instead of having an effect, the Labour lead has increased....keep going I say.
It will keep going.
Lets hope.....we could do with a steady Labour figure of 42%.
We're dealing with a huge incompetent in the White House. The Obamacare clusterfu
A bit overstated in terms of public reaction. 44% think Obama is doing a good or very good job - down on what it was but not terrible.58% are critical of Obamacare, not great but not surprising after the recent reports. We'll see in a few months whether the current problems look like teething trouble or serious long-term problems; I'm sceptical about some of your predictions - the early days of the NHS were pretty chaotic too, but it's turned out to be Britain's most popular institution, outpacing the monarchy and the Armed Forces. Obamacare is rather messier but terminally so?
We're dealing with a huge incompetent in the White House. The Obamacare clusterfu
A bit overstated in terms of public reaction. 44% think Obama is doing a good or very good job - down on what it was but not terrible.58% are critical of Obamacare, not great but not surprising after the recent reports. We'll see in a few months whether the current problems look like teething trouble or serious long-term problems; I'm sceptical about some of your predictions - the early days of the NHS were pretty chaotic too, but it's turned out to be Britain's most popular institution, outpacing the monarchy and the Armed Forces. Obamacare is rather messier but terminally so?
All the current moans about Obamacare prove is that those who supported it did not understand that, as better off people, they would have to pay more (via more expensive/not as good insurance plans) to provide healthcare to those who have not until now been able to afford or get it. Whether this is because Obama lied or because, like too many people, they thought the policy a good idea provided it did not affect them and/or thought others would pay, who can say?
But all Presidents lose popularity in their 2nd term, largely because by definition they are lame-duck and then recover about 2-3 years after they leave. Didn't the same even happen with Dubya? Insofar as I can tell (or care) Obama's neither as wonderful as he was painted nor as bad as some of his opponents claim.
I see Falkirk is having another massive negative effect on Labour polling in todays Populus:
Labour - 41% Tory - 32% L Dem -10% Ukip - 9%
Another polling disaster for Red Ed.
I tell you where it did have an effect - brave Sir Ed was forced onto the tough interview trail this am - he got a right old grilling on ITV's "Daybreak" - think he's on "Strictly it takes two" next ...
How much has the Labour percentage fallen since it appeared on the Tory grid.....and the PB Hodges have jumped on it?
Do you think what happened was right? Do you support such actions?
Do you think people who fund political parties should be given hospitals to run as a pay off, or was it just a coincidence?
Josias supports Cameron sitting on the Plebgate CCTV, he's got no standards whatsoever.
In the past five years inflation has risen by precisely twice as much as wages. CPI up 15.4%. Wages up 7.7% pic.twitter.com/mSf9GvR0P5
They're nuts for raising it at the moment. How much would VAT on food put on inflation.
As I said earlier you'd have to be brave/nuts to do it now. And I don't think it's likely to happen in the foreseeable future. But they - and not those who oppose it - are in the European mainstream.
In the past five years inflation has risen by precisely twice as much as wages. CPI up 15.4%. Wages up 7.7% pic.twitter.com/mSf9GvR0P5
They're nuts for raising it at the moment. How much would VAT on food put on inflation.
I know numbers aren't your strong point, but if you add 5% vat to food it will increase the food price inflation by about.......5% more than it would otherwise be.
I see Falkirk is having another massive negative effect on Labour polling in todays Populus:
Labour - 41% Tory - 32% L Dem -10% Ukip - 9%
Another polling disaster for Red Ed.
I tell you where it did have an effect - brave Sir Ed was forced onto the tough interview trail this am - he got a right old grilling on ITV's "Daybreak" - think he's on "Strictly it takes two" next ...
How much has the Labour percentage fallen since it appeared on the Tory grid.....and the PB Hodges have jumped on it?
None of Eds hair has fallen out nor has he been kidnapped - so its not bad news this Falkirk lark eh ?
Only Shane Warne is spining more balls than FSA, Co-Op Bank & Robert Peston over unsuitability of Rev Flowers. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-24984680 "In other words, the new management of Co-op Group is concerned to reform a governance system that allowed a small number of activists in the political wing of Co-op Group to control the group's commercial activities."
In the past five years inflation has risen by precisely twice as much as wages. CPI up 15.4%. Wages up 7.7% pic.twitter.com/mSf9GvR0P5
They're nuts for raising it at the moment. How much would VAT on food put on inflation.
I know numbers aren't your strong point, but if you add 5% vat to food it will increase the food price inflation by about.......5% more than it would otherwise be.
Did that help?
So how much does a 5% rise in food inflation put on inflation?
Go and look up the % of the value of the goods in the calculation that are food, and do the calculation.
Because of the rather odd set of items in the calculation (things like air fares), I suspect the effect on the official figure would appear smaller than expected, and the effect on the average family would be larger than the figures imply.
Back in July, I said I wanted to do more to protect our children online: a personal mission for me.
In the summer, we took some important steps to help parents. Internet service providers agreed to introduce family friendly filters, which are installed automatically in the home unless a parent chooses otherwise, and stop children from looking at inappropriate material online.
But when it came to stopping people accessing child abuse images and videos through internet searches, the search engine companies said that nothing could be done.
I refused to accept that.
Over the past few months we’ve worked closely with Google and Microsoft – and we’ve made important progress.
Today they have set out a number of measures to block child abuse images and videos. No illegal child abuse material will be returned for 100,000 search terms.
This is encouraging - but if the internet companies don’t continue to make progress I will not hesitate to take further action. We will do all that’s necessary to protect our children.
We'll see in a few months whether the current problems look like teething trouble or serious long-term problems; I'm sceptical about some of your predictions
I have to say it looks pretty bad, and the Democrats seem to be in a major panic over it.
It's true that some of the hitches are just teething problems, such as the issues with the websites for choosing Obamacare-compliant insurance products. No doubt those will be resolved.
However, it's hard to see how the more fundamental problems can be fixed. The whole idea of Obamacare was to ensure that people regarded as bad risks by the insurance company could get cover. That's fair enough as a goal, but, in order to make it work without the taxpayer putting up megabucks to pay for it, people regarded as good risks had to be coerced into paying more. Hence the fines for not buying an Obamacare-compliant product, and, even worse, the fact that existing policies have to be cancelled in order to be replaced by more expensive policies in order to provide the subsidy to the bad risks. That's not a bug, it's a feature, in fact it is absolutely fundamental to the whole scheme.
Even that might not have mattered, except that Obama promised people that their existing policies wouldn't be affected. Well, that was, to put it gently, somewhat optimistic. In fact, insurance companies are being obliged by the regulator to cancel existing policies - they have to do so, because otherwise the actuarial calculations just don't work. Without a large pool of low risk people paying over the odds to subsidise the bad risks, the insurance companies would go bust.
And, to compound it all, Obama has now said (although it's unclear on what legal basis) that people can keep their existing policies for a year. This is bonkers: it's too late (the whole thing starts in a few weeks, the computer systems have already been changed, the cancellation letters have gone out, and the insurance regulators would need to approve any new arrangements), and in any case it's just postponing the problem for a year. There are now multiple panic bills being proposed by Democrats to try to put a sticking plaster over the mess.
It's about as big a cock-up as it could possibly be.
We know no spectacle so ridiculous as the British public in one of its periodical fits of morality," wrote the great historian. As the moralising of the self-important reaches a hysterical crescendo, there will come a moment when moats and manure, bath plugs and tampons will be seen as a wonderful moment of British fiddling, but more on a Dad's Army scale than the real corruption of politics.....
In the past five years inflation has risen by precisely twice as much as wages. CPI up 15.4%. Wages up 7.7% pic.twitter.com/mSf9GvR0P5
They're nuts for raising it at the moment. How much would VAT on food put on inflation.
I know numbers aren't your strong point, but if you add 5% vat to food it will increase the food price inflation by about.......5% more than it would otherwise be.
Did that help?
Clearly, since understanding the English language is not your biggest strength, what he meant was how much it would add to the overall rate of inflation.
Dublin Criminal Court has sent out 1,500 jury summonses for the upcoming trial of Anglo Irish Bank executives. They intend to empanel 15 jurors so presumably the calculation was that one in a hundred Dubliners can be trusted to have an open mind about the activities of that bank over the years.
"For quite a long time I have read – or at least skimmed – through the New Statesman, mainly to try to understand the thinking of those with whom I generally disagree. Now and again I even find an article with which could I agree, and at least the copy was usually well argued and aimed at sentient beings.
What a disappointment it was to find an edition given over to the editorship of Mr Russell Brand, described as a comedian......"
We're dealing with a huge incompetent in the White House. The Obamacare clusterfu
A bit overstated in terms of public reaction. 44% think Obama is doing a good or very good job - down on what it was but not terrible.58% are critical of Obamacare, not great but not surprising after the recent reports. We'll see in a few months whether the current problems look like teething trouble or serious long-term problems; I'm sceptical about some of your predictions - the early days of the NHS were pretty chaotic too, but it's turned out to be Britain's most popular institution, outpacing the monarchy and the Armed Forces. Obamacare is rather messier but terminally so?
NHS & Obamacare? Its a false comparison to start and an implicit starting position of establishing what we have here as some kind of gold standard that the USA should have is plain wrong. Different country, different culture.
Bottom line is this, for the majority of the US population who have health insurance many of them are getting screwed over even though they had well established and paid for policies or existing statutory support systems. They expect to have their free choice to get their insurance as they have done for donkeys years.
We'll see in a few months whether the current problems look like teething trouble or serious long-term problems; I'm sceptical about some of your predictions
I have to say it looks pretty bad, and the Democrats seem to be in a major panic over it.
It's true that some of the hitches are just teething problems, such as the issues with the websites for choosing Obamacare-compliant insurance products. No doubt those will be resolved.
However, it's hard to see how the more fundamental problems can be fixed. The whole idea of Obamacare was to ensure that people regarded as bad risks by the insurance company could get cover. That's fair enough as a goal, but, in order to make it work without the taxpayer putting up megabucks to pay for it, people regarded as good risks had to be coerced into paying more. Hence the fines for not buying an Obamacare-compliant product, and, even worse, the fact that existing policies have to be cancelled in order to be replaced by more expensive policies in order to provide the subsidy to the bad risks. That's not a bug, it's a feature, in fact it is absolutely fundamental to the whole scheme.
Even that might not have mattered, except that Obama promised people that their existing policies wouldn't be affected. Well, that was, to put it gently, somewhat optimistic. In fact, insurance companies are being obliged by the regulator to cancel existing policies - they have to do so, because otherwise the actuarial calculations just don't work. Without a large pool of low risk people paying over the odds to subsidise the bad risks, the insurance companies would go bust.
And, to compound it all, Obama has now said (although it's unclear on what legal basis) that people can keep their existing policies for a year. This is bonkers: it's too late (the whole thing starts in a few weeks, the computer systems have already been changed, the cancellation letters have gone out, and the insurance regulators would need to approve any new arrangements), and in any case it's just postponing the problem for a year. There are now multiple panic bills being proposed by Democrats to try to put a sticking plaster over the mess.
It's about as big a cock-up as it could possibly be.
Obamacare compliant policies are also fully loaded. You can't choose catastrophe policies.
o/t - I was surprised to see that Ireland's proposed bid for the 2023 Rugby World Cup doesnt envisage any games being hosted overseas. One can only wonder what international rugby fans will make of Semple Stadium and the delights of Thurles, Co. Tipperary.
o/t - I was surprised to see that Ireland's proposed bid for the 2023 Rugby World Cup doesnt envisage any games being hosted overseas. One can only wonder what international rugby fans will make of Semple Stadium and the delights of Thurles, Co. Tipperary.
What about Croke park - is it now available for sports other than Quiddich ?
o/t - I was surprised to see that Ireland's proposed bid for the 2023 Rugby World Cup doesnt envisage any games being hosted overseas. One can only wonder what international rugby fans will make of Semple Stadium and the delights of Thurles, Co. Tipperary.
What about Croke park - is it now available for sports other than Quiddich ?
Croke Park is as modern as any sports stadium most fans will have been to. And it has hosted both football and rugby internationals as well as American football and Dire Straits. Semple Stadium will be more ... homely.
o/t - I was surprised to see that Ireland's proposed bid for the 2023 Rugby World Cup doesnt envisage any games being hosted overseas. One can only wonder what international rugby fans will make of Semple Stadium and the delights of Thurles, Co. Tipperary.
What about Croke park - is it now available for sports other than Quiddich ?
Croke Park is as modern as any sports stadium most fans will have been to. And it has hosted both football and rugby internationals as well as American football and Dire Straits. Semple Stadium will be more ... homely.
o/t - I was surprised to see that Ireland's proposed bid for the 2023 Rugby World Cup doesnt envisage any games being hosted overseas. One can only wonder what international rugby fans will make of Semple Stadium and the delights of Thurles, Co. Tipperary.
What about Croke park - is it now available for sports other than Quiddich ?
Croke Park is as modern as any sports stadium most fans will have been to. And it has hosted both football and rugby internationals as well as American football and Dire Straits. Semple Stadium will be more ... homely.
Who else is in the bid ?
Noone. Though there's no bid formally yet but the Minister all but announced it this morning.
o/t - I was surprised to see that Ireland's proposed bid for the 2023 Rugby World Cup doesnt envisage any games being hosted overseas. One can only wonder what international rugby fans will make of Semple Stadium and the delights of Thurles, Co. Tipperary.
What about Croke park - is it now available for sports other than Quiddich ?
Croke Park is as modern as any sports stadium most fans will have been to. And it has hosted both football and rugby internationals as well as American football and Dire Straits. Semple Stadium will be more ... homely.
Who else is in the bid ?
Noone. Though there's no bid formally yet but the Minister all but announced it this morning.
o/t - I was surprised to see that Ireland's proposed bid for the 2023 Rugby World Cup doesnt envisage any games being hosted overseas. One can only wonder what international rugby fans will make of Semple Stadium and the delights of Thurles, Co. Tipperary.
What about Croke park - is it now available for sports other than Quiddich ?
Croke Park is as modern as any sports stadium most fans will have been to. And it has hosted both football and rugby internationals as well as American football and Dire Straits. Semple Stadium will be more ... homely.
Who else is in the bid ?
Noone. Though there's no bid formally yet but the Minister all but announced it this morning.
Saffers interested surely - or Argies may want a pop at it.
Mr. Flashman (deceased), the Japanese should've had it last time, instead of the Kiwis. It's true Japan aren't up there, but it's good for rugby to grow beyond the Six Nations and, er, whatever the Tri-Nations Plus One is actually called.
Pity Ed's "Childcare crisis" didn't make the 6pm news - Cameron's Pron filter led it, followed by Labour's Crystal Methodist, then Labour's McShane......
VAT on food is instant death for any UK government.
The place it will go on eventually is the Royal Mail. All other couriers pay it.
Should be worth £1.5 billion a year at the standard rate.
Needs to go on now RM is a private business and all their competitors must transact it. In fact if it doesn't I'd venture to guess that other courier companies may well consider heading for the courts over it.
Suppose the 2016 Democratic presidential primary were held in your state today. If you had a choice between Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, Martin O’Malley, Andrew Cuomo, Antonio Villaraigosa or Cory Booker, for whom would you vote? •Hillary Clinton 70% [77%] (63%) •Joe Biden 10% [11%] (12%) •Andrew Cuomo 3%
Siena College 2016 New York
•Hillary Clinton (D) 56% •Chris Christie (R) 40%
•Chris Christie (R) 47% •Andrew Cuomo (D) 42%
Given the photo at the top of this thread will OGH have a role in her administration?
Pity Ed's "Childcare crisis" didn't make the 6pm news - Cameron's Pron filter led it, followed by Labour's Crystal Methodist, then Labour's McShane......
Wonder if it will effect the polls as much as the Falkirk issue. Will we see Labour get a porn surge to go with the Falkirk surge in the polls it has been getting recently?
Ed M wanted to talk about the Cameron Child Care Crisis this monday, but seems to have spent most of the time defending his relationship with his 2nd choice Shad Chancellor and answering more questions about Falkirk.
"Mr Flowers, who served as a Labour member of Bradford Council for a decade, has been suspended from Labour for "bringing the party into disrepute".He is also a former member of an industry and finance board for Labour, but party leader Ed Miliband said the board "no longer exists"."As I understand it the police are looking into this matter and I'm not going to comment on an ongoing investigation they have," Mr Miliband said. A party spokesman said the board Mr Flowers belonged to was a "relatively informal" one and he was "in no way influential". But Labour also said Mr Flowers had a meeting with Mr Miliband on 6 March this year - a meeting described as one resulting from the debate over banking reform."
However, people like David Skelton and his views are in a very minute minority in the Tory Party. Their current leadership couldn't be further from Skeltons article if they tried.
Actually still watching - one defence about his lack of any banking knowledge is to say but I did change the governing board from being all male... ....
I agree with it. The Tories need Michael Gove as leader next, he really is a quality and more important genuine performer. To see him at Education questions is an eye opener to how good he really is. He would give the whole party a proper shake-up.
Great response from the Skynews presenter at lunchtime when Ed Miliband tried to stretch their proposed Bank Levy again, this time to fund the 800m he wants to use to help with childcare costs. The Bank Levy, the gift that keeps on giving.
Pity Ed's "Childcare crisis" didn't make the 6pm news - Cameron's Pron filter led it, followed by Labour's Crystal Methodist, then Labour's McShane......
As Govey pointed out Labour have little to say on Sinfin school in Derby, which has been a sink school dumping ground for years and years under their control. At least with this one action has been taken swiftly.
Ed Miliband distancing himself from Flowers on TV - non person, nothing to see stuff. Trying to hide behind excuse of police investigation. Will Balls be keeping to this line as well?
Ed seems to have lost his love on enquiries lately.
Comments
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-24987953
Labour - 41%
Tory - 32%
L Dem -10%
Ukip - 9%
Another polling disaster for Red Ed.
Zero-rated: Prawn crackers made from tapioca
Standard-rated: Prawn crackers made from cereals
Given the scale of government debt and all the things we want the state to do, we will all have to pay more tax. If we want to pay less tax, we have to expect the state to do less or to do it at less cost.
Give it time.
Zero rated: Bourbon and other biscuits where the chocolate or similar product forms a sandwich layer between two biscuit halves and is not continued onto the outer surface
Standard rated: Gingerbread men decorated with chocolate unless this amounts to no more than a couple of dots for eyes
http://customs.hmrc.gov.uk/channelsPortalWebApp/channelsPortalWebApp.portal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=pageVAT_ShowContent&id=HMCE_CL_000118&propertyType=document#P26_988
http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/steerpike/2013/11/coffee-shots-ed-miliband-foams-at-the-mouth/
The objective should be to have minimal sales taxes on items that are essential for living. Houses, Food, Heat, Light, Water and Food come to mind.
In the event that a higher rate is charged on essentials it needs to be a part of a package that mandates (is that a co op bank activity?) the item remains affordable to the lower deciles.
But all Presidents lose popularity in their 2nd term, largely because by definition they are lame-duck and then recover about 2-3 years after they leave. Didn't the same even happen with Dubya? Insofar as I can tell (or care) Obama's neither as wonderful as he was painted nor as bad as some of his opponents claim.
Did that help?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-24984680
"In other words, the new management of Co-op Group is concerned to reform a governance system that allowed a small number of activists in the political wing of Co-op Group to control the group's commercial activities."
Because of the rather odd set of items in the calculation (things like air fares), I suspect the effect on the official figure would appear smaller than expected, and the effect on the average family would be larger than the figures imply.
It's true that some of the hitches are just teething problems, such as the issues with the websites for choosing Obamacare-compliant insurance products. No doubt those will be resolved.
However, it's hard to see how the more fundamental problems can be fixed. The whole idea of Obamacare was to ensure that people regarded as bad risks by the insurance company could get cover. That's fair enough as a goal, but, in order to make it work without the taxpayer putting up megabucks to pay for it, people regarded as good risks had to be coerced into paying more. Hence the fines for not buying an Obamacare-compliant product, and, even worse, the fact that existing policies have to be cancelled in order to be replaced by more expensive policies in order to provide the subsidy to the bad risks. That's not a bug, it's a feature, in fact it is absolutely fundamental to the whole scheme.
Even that might not have mattered, except that Obama promised people that their existing policies wouldn't be affected. Well, that was, to put it gently, somewhat optimistic. In fact, insurance companies are being obliged by the regulator to cancel existing policies - they have to do so, because otherwise the actuarial calculations just don't work. Without a large pool of low risk people paying over the odds to subsidise the bad risks, the insurance companies would go bust.
And, to compound it all, Obama has now said (although it's unclear on what legal basis) that people can keep their existing policies for a year. This is bonkers: it's too late (the whole thing starts in a few weeks, the computer systems have already been changed, the cancellation letters have gone out, and the insurance regulators would need to approve any new arrangements), and in any case it's just postponing the problem for a year. There are now multiple panic bills being proposed by Democrats to try to put a sticking plaster over the mess.
It's about as big a cock-up as it could possibly be.
We know no spectacle so ridiculous as the British public in one of its periodical fits of morality," wrote the great historian. As the moralising of the self-important reaches a hysterical crescendo, there will come a moment when moats and manure, bath plugs and tampons will be seen as a wonderful moment of British fiddling, but more on a Dad's Army scale than the real corruption of politics.....
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/may/12/lord-tebbit-ukip-bnp
You again have repeated libellous comments on the site, regarding corruption on the parts of two organisations, you were previously warned about this.
These comments are not acceptable here, or anywhere else, if you repeat these comments again, your ability to instantly publish will be revoked.
Can you confirm that you understand this instruction.
http://www.rte.ie/news/2013/1118/487477-anglo-trial/
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/normantebbit/100246494/russell-brand-likes-to-talk-about-revolution-why-doesnt-he-get-on-with-it/
"For quite a long time I have read – or at least skimmed – through the New Statesman, mainly to try to understand the thinking of those with whom I generally disagree. Now and again I even find an article with which could I agree, and at least the copy was usually well argued and aimed at sentient beings.
What a disappointment it was to find an edition given over to the editorship of Mr Russell Brand, described as a comedian......"
The place it will go on eventually is the Royal Mail. All other couriers pay it.
Should be worth £1.5 billion a year at the standard rate.
Bottom line is this, for the majority of the US population who have health insurance many of them are getting screwed over even though they had well established and paid for policies or existing statutory support systems. They expect to have their free choice to get their insurance as they have done for donkeys years.
Japan in 2019 - jesus...
I hope the Argies don't get it.
Sorry, I thought you meant who was bidding with Ireland. Reuters mentioned South Africa and France.
Suppose the 2016 Democratic presidential primary were held in your state today. If you had a choice between Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, Martin O’Malley, Andrew Cuomo, Antonio Villaraigosa or Cory Booker, for whom would you vote?
•Hillary Clinton 70% [77%] (63%)
•Joe Biden 10% [11%] (12%)
•Andrew Cuomo 3%
Siena College 2016 New York
•Hillary Clinton (D) 56%
•Chris Christie (R) 40%
•Chris Christie (R) 47%
•Andrew Cuomo (D) 42%
Given the photo at the top of this thread will OGH have a role in her administration?
No wonder he's spitting mad.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-24989742
Surbiton, don't talk about phone hacking directly or indirectly.
Any further infractions like that, will see your right to instantly post revoked.
Can you both confirm you understand this.
Nuala will be pleased that a fellow supporter of Sir Malc has survived the ignominy of deselection.
I can confirm you are not Ash.
It's unbelievable.
http://www.parliamentlive.tv/Main/Player.aspx?meetingId=14134
'Not sure we'll be able to search for Dave's Porn Surge soon.'
Is the Conman in favour,against or still waiting for direction from McCluskey?
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/politics/5268634/David-Cameron-loses-rugby-wager-with-New-Zealand-PM.html
'It's unbelievable.'
Pure comedy gold.
No wonder the Conman appeared on TV frothing at the mouth, after a performance like that from his favorite banker.
Live in Mid Worcs? Register to vote for the Conservative Parliamentary Candidate at this Friday's Open Primary http://www.midworcestershireconservatives.org.uk/news/press-release-conservative-candidate-your-choice …"
twitter.com/HBaldwinMP/status/402520499680317440
'Great response from the Skynews presenter at lunchtime when Ed Miliband tried to stretch their proposed Bank Levy again,'
Must be a truly massive Levy based on how many policies are going to be funded by it.
Could it be one of Flowers ideas when he was on Labour's finance & Industry board?
Very strange.