The NHS app being developed for contact tracing (I believe it is going to be very similar to the US one). It will be voluntary and only use bluetooth.
Shakes head.
I think it would be difficult to compel people to use such a thing.
It is why we need the debate over what level of state surveillance (while we have the issue of CV) is appropriate. These apps won't really do much, especially if it voluntary and only uses bluetooth.
I wonder what fraction of people will actually install/use it. I thought bluetooth would be ideal for this as it's short range only.
A lot of people however never turn bluetooth on their phone on. I know I am one of them but then I only have my mobile either at home or at work I don't take it with me when I go out shopping or to a bar or restaurant
Well I assume that the app will say that turning bluetooth on is needed for it to work, and will prompt them to do so!
I used to love the Goodies, but it aged very badly. It is barely watchable now.
Same here. A philosophical conundrum: was it always crap but we liked crap back then, or was it good back than but became crap over time?
It's an odd one, 70's music (& arguably film) becomes greater as time marches on while 70s comedy looks increasingly awful. Heresy, but I even find Python a bit not-in-a-good-way embarrassing on occasion.
Almost all comedy ages badly.
Shakespeare. Chaplin. Hancock’s half hour of yawning. Dreadful.
In fact it’s difficult to find exceptions to this rule. The only one I can think of is Wodehouse, who is still lol funny eighty years later. Any others?
Theres Something About Mary is still as funny as the first time I saw it. That’s only just over 20 years ago though
Only Fools And Horses second series, from 1982 I think, still makes me laugh, but a lot of it is not PC
BlackAdder II Has aged well, 35 years old ish
Fawlty Towers
I was going back further (I should have made that clear)
I’m trying to think of comedy from any time before world war 2 that still works. That can actually make you lol.
It’s very hard. Wodehouse is definitely one. Laurel & Hardy also, occasionally?
First four Marx brothers movies.
Will Hay "Oh, Mr Porter" and from the silent era Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd and more occasionally Chaplin.
From the evidence of what the left do and propose this is what I believe. They have no interest in helping the poor they would rather have them reliant on state handouts so they can use it to buy votes. People being self sufficient threatens the left's ideal of a socialist dystopia.
Not all ICU admissions require ventilation. Circulatory and renal support are also needed in Covid 19. In the ICU reports 17% didn't need advanced respiratory support.
Right. But my sense is that they were (quite rightly) taking no chances with the PM.
The NHS app being developed for contact tracing (I believe it is going to be very similar to the US one). It will be voluntary and only use bluetooth.
Shakes head.
I think it would be difficult to compel people to use such a thing.
It is why we need the debate over what level of state surveillance (while we have the issue of CV) is appropriate. These apps won't really do much, especially if it voluntary and only uses bluetooth.
I wonder what fraction of people will actually install/use it. I thought bluetooth would be ideal for this as it's short range only.
The problem is you don't need that many who don't for it to be problematic. Also, I turn my bluetooth off a lot, saves battery and for security.
And you will also get twats who deliberately claim they have it and decide for the LOLs to go to as many packed places as possible.
I used to love the Goodies, but it aged very badly. It is barely watchable now.
Same here. A philosophical conundrum: was it always crap but we liked crap back then, or was it good back than but became crap over time?
It's an odd one, 70's music (& arguably film) becomes greater as time marches on while 70s comedy looks increasingly awful. Heresy, but I even find Python a bit not-in-a-good-way embarrassing on occasion.
Almost all comedy ages badly.
Shakespeare. Chaplin. Hancock’s half hour of yawning. Dreadful.
In fact it’s difficult to find exceptions to this rule. The only one I can think of is Wodehouse, who is still lol funny eighty years later. Any others?
Theres Something About Mary is still as funny as the first time I saw it. That’s only just over 20 years ago though
Only Fools And Horses second series, from 1982 I think, still makes me laugh, but a lot of it is not PC
BlackAdder II Has aged well, 35 years old ish
Fawlty Towers
I was going back further (I should have made that clear)
I’m trying to think of comedy from any time before world war 2 that still works. That can actually make you lol.
It’s very hard. Wodehouse is definitely one. Laurel & Hardy also, occasionally?
I used to sniff at Chaplin but, having watched the films recently, have reversed my opinion. A lot of sentimentality in there (and what's wrong with that) but also a lot of humour. If we are going back then Plautus was really funny and the basis of much modern comedy. Greek comedy doesn't work, though, as it's a lot of in jokes that refer to specific figures and society of the time.
Disagree, there are bits of Aristophanes I find funny once you have worked out the in jokes, whereas Plautus is Menander-level unfunny.
Only Fools and Horses, Porridge, Fawlty Towers are all still watchable for me.
I rewatched Phoenix Nights the other week, it is 20 years old. It kinda of still funny. Does the UK office still work?
I can't think of much more recent stuff that I would bother to watch. Feels like for so many years, just become dominated by crap panel shows.
Unscripted or partially-scripted panel shows are way cheaper and easier to make than sitcoms, only need a dozen or so people to make the whole show, and can make a couple of hours of TV in one day.
Modern stand-up comedy is very good, there's around 200 one-hour specials on Netflix at the moment.
Can it get anymore vomit inducing , character has nothing to do with it . Looks like the politburo have ordered the BBC to milk this . Just waiting for the doves and gospel choir to show up !
This why we're going to abolish it
Good luck with that in terms of older people who tend to vote Tory ! It’s a vote loser and the government will regret that . Pissing of your key base of voters won’t end well .
A lot of older voters like my father have had their first experience of things like netflix and prime since this covid thing started. His view is its brilliant and in his words "so much better than the crap they broadcast". He is considering dropping his tv license.
Besides which more and more are cancelling tv licenses so that is not going to be viable for too much longer it was 860,000 cancelled 2017-2018 for example
From deaths door to recovery in a few days ! If he was that ill he’d have been on a ventilator and the Mail on Sunday can now stop its hyperbole .
Are you a doctor and how many days ill if you know so much
I’m glad he’s recovered quickly but the level of hyperbole by some of the press has been ridiculous. He clearly wasn’t close to death otherwise he’d have been on a ventilator . That’s my point !
You have no way of knowing that
Only those close to death go on a ventilator. Johnson didn’t need that and not sure why you refuse to accept that medical fact .
Is it true that everyone who died from coronavirus was on a ventilator immediately prior?
A very good friend of mine died from coronavirus last night. She was admitted to hospital ten days ago into HDU on oxygen and CPAP but not a ventilator.
Sad to hear. Did she have underlying conditions?
No. She was in her early eighties. Very feisty and active. I last saw her face to face in early February. She was in great form.
The NHS app being developed for contact tracing (I believe it is going to be very similar to the US one). It will be voluntary and only use bluetooth.
Shakes head.
I think it would be difficult to compel people to use such a thing.
It is why we need the debate over what level of state surveillance (while we have the issue of CV) is appropriate. These apps won't really do much, especially if it voluntary and only uses bluetooth.
I wonder what fraction of people will actually install/use it. I thought bluetooth would be ideal for this as it's short range only.
The problem is you don't need that many who don't for it to be problematic. Also, I turn my bluetooth off a lot, saves battery and for security.
And you will also get twats who deliberately claim they have it and decide for the LOLs to go to as many packed places as possible.
Is there a suitable alternative to bluetooth? Having your phone broadcast a wifi signal all the time will also drain the battery quite a bit.
As for pranksters like that, perhaps being classified as having it is done by the NHS and not the user.
Intellectual integrity was vital to my old life in academia. But I'd sacrifice it a hundred times over to avoid the hellworld you're describing. Things will get very dark indeed if that's the only alternative, because people aren't going to go willingly...
Living within our means is hell! Now you're sounding like a snowflake.
I used to love the Goodies, but it aged very badly. It is barely watchable now.
Same here. A philosophical conundrum: was it always crap but we liked crap back then, or was it good back than but became crap over time?
It's an odd one, 70's music (& arguably film) becomes greater as time marches on while 70s comedy looks increasingly awful. Heresy, but I even find Python a bit not-in-a-good-way embarrassing on occasion.
Almost all comedy ages badly.
Shakespeare. Chaplin. Hancock’s half hour of yawning. Dreadful.
In fact it’s difficult to find exceptions to this rule. The only one I can think of is Wodehouse, who is still lol funny eighty years later. Any others?
Theres Something About Mary is still as funny as the first time I saw it. That’s only just over 20 years ago though
Only Fools And Horses second series, from 1982 I think, still makes me laugh, but a lot of it is not PC
BlackAdder II Has aged well, 35 years old ish
Fawlty Towers
I was going back further (I should have made that clear)
I’m trying to think of comedy from any time before world war 2 that still works. That can actually make you lol.
It’s very hard. Wodehouse is definitely one. Laurel & Hardy also, occasionally?
First four Marx brothers movies.
Will Hay "Oh, Mr Porter" and from the silent era Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd and more occasionally Chaplin.
Buster Keaton is a genius at physical comedy. I watched The Detective last night, and what an inventive genre smasher it was.
Intellectual integrity was vital to my old life in academia. But I'd sacrifice it a hundred times over to avoid the hellworld you're describing. Things will get very dark indeed if that's the only alternative, because people aren't going to go willingly...
Living within our means is hell! Now you're sounding like a snowflake.
When have the left you want ever lived within their means, you supported Corbyn and he certainly didn't believe in it
It’s startling to see so many politics experts have transitioned seamlessly to being medical and epidemiology experts. With a bad case of, “We must immediately do everything that I always wanted to do, because COVID”.
The NHS app being developed for contact tracing (I believe it is going to be very similar to the US one). It will be voluntary and only use bluetooth.
Shakes head.
I think it would be difficult to compel people to use such a thing.
It is why we need the debate over what level of state surveillance (while we have the issue of CV) is appropriate. These apps won't really do much, especially if it voluntary and only uses bluetooth.
I wonder what fraction of people will actually install/use it. I thought bluetooth would be ideal for this as it's short range only.
The problem is you don't need that many who don't for it to be problematic. Also, I turn my bluetooth off a lot, saves battery and for security.
And you will also get twats who deliberately claim they have it and decide for the LOLs to go to as many packed places as possible.
Mine doesn’t even have bluetooth. My ipad does but, without a wifi signal would that work? Apologies if that’s an obvious question, my knowledge of the technology is non existent!
I used to love the Goodies, but it aged very badly. It is barely watchable now.
Same here. A philosophical conundrum: was it always crap but we liked crap back then, or was it good back than but became crap over time?
It's an odd one, 70's music (& arguably film) becomes greater as time marches on while 70s comedy looks increasingly awful. Heresy, but I even find Python a bit not-in-a-good-way embarrassing on occasion.
Almost all comedy ages badly.
Shakespeare. Chaplin. Hancock’s half hour of yawning. Dreadful.
In fact it’s difficult to find exceptions to this rule. The only one I can think of is Wodehouse, who is still lol funny eighty years later. Any others?
Theres Something About Mary is still as funny as the first time I saw it. That’s only just over 20 years ago though
Only Fools And Horses second series, from 1982 I think, still makes me laugh, but a lot of it is not PC
BlackAdder II Has aged well, 35 years old ish
Fawlty Towers
I was going back further (I should have made that clear)
I’m trying to think of comedy from any time before world war 2 that still works. That can actually make you lol.
It’s very hard. Wodehouse is definitely one. Laurel & Hardy also, occasionally?
I used to sniff at Chaplin but, having watched the films recently, have reversed my opinion. A lot of sentimentality in there (and what's wrong with that) but also a lot of humour. If we are going back then Plautus was really funny and the basis of much modern comedy. Greek comedy doesn't work, though, as it's a lot of in jokes that refer to specific figures and society of the time.
Disagree, there are bits of Aristophanes I find funny once you have worked out the in jokes, whereas Plautus is Menander-level unfunny.
Depends on taste, the caricature, broad comedy of Plautus eventually found its way into Shakespeare and it has informed much of our humour ever since. Comedy of Errors is a direct Plautus ripoff for example.
The NHS app being developed for contact tracing (I believe it is going to be very similar to the US one). It will be voluntary and only use bluetooth.
Shakes head.
I think it would be difficult to compel people to use such a thing.
It is why we need the debate over what level of state surveillance (while we have the issue of CV) is appropriate. These apps won't really do much, especially if it voluntary and only uses bluetooth.
I wonder what fraction of people will actually install/use it. I thought bluetooth would be ideal for this as it's short range only.
The problem is you don't need that many who don't for it to be problematic. Also, I turn my bluetooth off a lot, saves battery and for security.
And you will also get twats who deliberately claim they have it and decide for the LOLs to go to as many packed places as possible.
Is there a suitable alternative to bluetooth? Having your phone broadcast a wifi signal all the time will also drain the battery quite a bit.
As for pranksters like that, perhaps being classified as having it is done by the NHS and not the user.
Well all the mobile companies know where every handset on their network is because they poll your phone and can use signal strength to triangulate it.
Really you need to combine as many data points as possible, the mobile signal, bluetooth, wifi, facial recognition on cctv, debit / credit card, osyter card, etc.
Re the NHS setting you to being positive. You would hope at the very least you get given a code which can only be inputted to one device. Again the problem is are we going to give the NHS / government all the details of which handset is ours.
Yes - generally the daily reporting of numbers can be misleading any way and is almost as useless as the daily press conferences. The polling shows clearly that the press are having a bad pandemic. This is partly due to their continued attempts to politicise at way too early a stage but also they need to understand that less is more. We need fewer of them and less often. Please God save me from the grammar police attacking my reckless] or is it reckfewer!] use of less and fewer.
The NHS app being developed for contact tracing (I believe it is going to be very similar to the US one). It will be voluntary and only use bluetooth.
Shakes head.
I think it would be difficult to compel people to use such a thing.
It is why we need the debate over what level of state surveillance (while we have the issue of CV) is appropriate. These apps won't really do much, especially if it voluntary and only uses bluetooth.
I wonder what fraction of people will actually install/use it. I thought bluetooth would be ideal for this as it's short range only.
The problem is you don't need that many who don't for it to be problematic. Also, I turn my bluetooth off a lot, saves battery and for security.
And you will also get twats who deliberately claim they have it and decide for the LOLs to go to as many packed places as possible.
Is there a suitable alternative to bluetooth? Having your phone broadcast a wifi signal all the time will also drain the battery quite a bit.
As for pranksters like that, perhaps being classified as having it is done by the NHS and not the user.
Well all the mobile companies know where every handset on their network is because they poll your phone and can use signal strength to triangulate it.
Really you need to combine as many data points as possible, the mobile signal, bluetooth, wifi, facial recognition on cctv, debit / credit card, osyter card, etc.
Re the NHS setting you to being positive. You would hope at the very least you get given a code which can only be inputted to one device. Again the problem is are we going to give the NHS / government all the details of which handset is ours.
Can they really triangulate your position to better than a few meters? You are going to get a hell of a lot of false positives if it's not precise.
Of those that died, patients were aged between 26 and 100 years old, and 42 of the 657 patients (aged between 30 and 98 years old) had no known underlying health condition.
The NHS app being developed for contact tracing (I believe it is going to be very similar to the US one). It will be voluntary and only use bluetooth.
Shakes head.
I think it would be difficult to compel people to use such a thing.
It is why we need the debate over what level of state surveillance (while we have the issue of CV) is appropriate. These apps won't really do much, especially if it voluntary and only uses bluetooth.
I wonder what fraction of people will actually install/use it. I thought bluetooth would be ideal for this as it's short range only.
The problem is you don't need that many who don't for it to be problematic. Also, I turn my bluetooth off a lot, saves battery and for security.
And you will also get twats who deliberately claim they have it and decide for the LOLs to go to as many packed places as possible.
Is there a suitable alternative to bluetooth? Having your phone broadcast a wifi signal all the time will also drain the battery quite a bit.
As for pranksters like that, perhaps being classified as having it is done by the NHS and not the user.
Well all the mobile companies know where every handset on their network is because they poll your phone and can use signal strength to triangulate it.
Really you need to combine as many data points as possible, the mobile signal, bluetooth, wifi, facial recognition on cctv, debit / credit card, osyter card, etc.
Re the NHS setting you to being positive. You would hope at the very least you get given a code which can only be inputted to one device. Again the problem is are we going to give the NHS / government all the details of which handset is ours.
Can they really triangulate your position to better than a few meters? You are going to get a hell of a lot of false positives if it's not precise.
The social distancing thing would work best with bluetooth - remember it's not absolute precision of location you want - it's who you haven been x meters from. Bluetooth is quite good for that.
I used to love the Goodies, but it aged very badly. It is barely watchable now.
Same here. A philosophical conundrum: was it always crap but we liked crap back then, or was it good back than but became crap over time?
It's an odd one, 70's music (& arguably film) becomes greater as time marches on while 70s comedy looks increasingly awful. Heresy, but I even find Python a bit not-in-a-good-way embarrassing on occasion.
Almost all comedy ages badly.
Shakespeare. Chaplin. Hancock’s half hour of yawning. Dreadful.
In fact it’s difficult to find exceptions to this rule. The only one I can think of is Wodehouse, who is still lol funny eighty years later. Any others?
Theres Something About Mary is still as funny as the first time I saw it. That’s only just over 20 years ago though
Only Fools And Horses second series, from 1982 I think, still makes me laugh, but a lot of it is not PC
BlackAdder II Has aged well, 35 years old ish
Fawlty Towers
I was going back further (I should have made that clear)
I’m trying to think of comedy from any time before world war 2 that still works. That can actually make you lol.
It’s very hard. Wodehouse is definitely one. Laurel & Hardy also, occasionally?
The NHS app being developed for contact tracing (I believe it is going to be very similar to the US one). It will be voluntary and only use bluetooth.
Shakes head.
I think it would be difficult to compel people to use such a thing.
It is why we need the debate over what level of state surveillance (while we have the issue of CV) is appropriate. These apps won't really do much, especially if it voluntary and only uses bluetooth.
I wonder what fraction of people will actually install/use it. I thought bluetooth would be ideal for this as it's short range only.
The problem is you don't need that many who don't for it to be problematic. Also, I turn my bluetooth off a lot, saves battery and for security.
And you will also get twats who deliberately claim they have it and decide for the LOLs to go to as many packed places as possible.
Is there a suitable alternative to bluetooth? Having your phone broadcast a wifi signal all the time will also drain the battery quite a bit.
As for pranksters like that, perhaps being classified as having it is done by the NHS and not the user.
Well all the mobile companies know where every handset on their network is because they poll your phone and can use signal strength to triangulate it.
Really you need to combine as many data points as possible, the mobile signal, bluetooth, wifi, facial recognition on cctv, debit / credit card, osyter card, etc.
Re the NHS setting you to being positive. You would hope at the very least you get given a code which can only be inputted to one device. Again the problem is are we going to give the NHS / government all the details of which handset is ours.
Can they really triangulate your position to better than a few meters? You are going to get a hell of a lot of false positives if it's not precise.
The social distancing thing would work best with bluetooth - remember it's not absolute precision of location you want - it's who you haven been x meters from. Bluetooth is quite good for that.
I used to love the Goodies, but it aged very badly. It is barely watchable now.
Same here. A philosophical conundrum: was it always crap but we liked crap back then, or was it good back than but became crap over time?
It's an odd one, 70's music (& arguably film) becomes greater as time marches on while 70s comedy looks increasingly awful. Heresy, but I even find Python a bit not-in-a-good-way embarrassing on occasion.
They replayed Life of Brian in the cinema a couple of months ago, that seemed to mostly hold up, though there were some shifts in the audience in the bit about the chap who wanted to be a woman so he could have babies (even though it was comparively progressive), but outside of the very best stuff I can easily believe much of it would be not great.
The German Philosophers vs the Greek Philosophers football match holds up for Python. Oddly, it did not air in the UK, only in Germany, I believe.
From deaths door to recovery in a few days ! If he was that ill he’d have been on a ventilator and the Mail on Sunday can now stop its hyperbole .
Are you a doctor and how many days ill if you know so much
I’m glad he’s recovered quickly but the level of hyperbole by some of the press has been ridiculous. He clearly wasn’t close to death otherwise he’d have been on a ventilator . That’s my point !
You have no way of knowing that
Only those close to death go on a ventilator. Johnson didn’t need that and not sure why you refuse to accept that medical fact .
Is it true that everyone who died from coronavirus was on a ventilator immediately prior?
A very good friend of mine died from coronavirus last night. She was admitted to hospital ten days ago into HDU on oxygen and CPAP but not a ventilator.
Foxy made a good point this morning, that there will sadly be a lot of cash prematurely going to the younger generation. Perhaps IHT needs looking at fast? I`ve never understood people`s aversion to this tax (second most unpopular after council tax). IHT is my favourite tax. I`d much rather pay tax when I`m dead than when I`m alive.
I'm also an IHT fan, but I have no heirs so I could reasonably be accused of having no skin in that particular game!
Resistance to IHT is the ultimate validation of Thatcher's infamous "no such thing as society" comment, rooted as it is in biology. People (or a very great proportion of people, at any rate) resent the state - i.e. unrelated strangers - getting their hands on their resources when they kick the bucket. They want their own offspring to have it all.
Good luck getting elected after any IHT reform, except for abolishing it.
The amounts concerned are so big that people will find any way they can to avoid it, and you end up with a system that tries to punitively tax birthday or graduation presents from children and grandchildren, paid for by income that’s already been taxed once.
When you buy a bar of chocolate, you pay VAT from income that has "already been taxed once". This is not something peculiar to IHT. You can make the same argument for almost any tax.
Tax reform may be needed but first we must start to think seriously. Mrs Thatcher's great trick was to persuade the country that only income tax matters. Most Conservatives believe theirs is the party of low taxation. They are wrong. VAT is charged at 20 per cent: it was a mere 8 per cent before the Thatcher government increased it to 15 per cent (after denying plans to double VAT which, I suppose, is technically true but does not add to politicians' reputation for veracity). Air Passenger Duty is a recent innovation, and so on. It is only last year the Conservative Chancellor of the Exchequer announced record tax receipts.
To be honest, I would far prefer to see VAT abolished than IHT. It’s the most regressive, vicious, unpleasant tax going.
Just abolish IHT, but treat inheritances as taxable income. With some mechanism (such as a special account available from banks) to shelter an inheritance and take it as income spread over, say, up to ten years.
Problem solved.
People will just start formally employing their children, purely for the lower marginal tax rate.
I doubt it, and incur NI on top. The child only gets one tax allowance whether employed or inheriting, anyway, so it makes no difference.
I used to love the Goodies, but it aged very badly. It is barely watchable now.
Same here. A philosophical conundrum: was it always crap but we liked crap back then, or was it good back than but became crap over time?
It's an odd one, 70's music (& arguably film) becomes greater as time marches on while 70s comedy looks increasingly awful. Heresy, but I even find Python a bit not-in-a-good-way embarrassing on occasion.
Almost all comedy ages badly.
Shakespeare. Chaplin. Hancock’s half hour of yawning. Dreadful.
In fact it’s difficult to find exceptions to this rule. The only one I can think of is Wodehouse, who is still lol funny eighty years later. Any others?
Theres Something About Mary is still as funny as the first time I saw it. That’s only just over 20 years ago though
Only Fools And Horses second series, from 1982 I think, still makes me laugh, but a lot of it is not PC
BlackAdder II Has aged well, 35 years old ish
Fawlty Towers
I was going back further (I should have made that clear)
I’m trying to think of comedy from any time before world war 2 that still works. That can actually make you lol.
It’s very hard. Wodehouse is definitely one. Laurel & Hardy also, occasionally?
Oh right, I’ve not really seen any.
Oh I have! Harold Lloyd when I was little was on BBC2. Long time ago though
I think, electorally, Boris is quite lucky as things stand. He now has perfect cover to act as the soft left politician he probably is, can increase taxes to pay off the debt uncultured by locking us up, which people seem ok with, and increase spending to satisfy the Brexit voters motivated by £350m per week for the NHS. If Tories don’t like it, the other parties will be further to the left, with higher taxes, so they’ve nowhere to go.
I love the optimism of starry eyed Tories!
I wouldn’t say I fitted that description really. December was the first time I’ve voted for the Tories, until 2015 I’d only ever voted Labour.
Foxy made a good point this morning, that there will sadly be a lot of cash prematurely going to the younger generation. Perhaps IHT needs looking at fast? I`ve never understood people`s aversion to this tax (second most unpopular after council tax). IHT is my favourite tax. I`d much rather pay tax when I`m dead than when I`m alive.
I'm also an IHT fan, but I have no heirs so I could reasonably be accused of having no skin in that particular game!
Resistance to IHT is the ultimate validation of Thatcher's infamous "no such thing as society" comment, rooted as it is in biology. People (or a very great proportion of people, at any rate) resent the state - i.e. unrelated strangers - getting their hands on their resources when they kick the bucket. They want their own offspring to have it all.
Good luck getting elected after any IHT reform, except for abolishing it.
The amounts concerned are so big that people will find any way they can to avoid it, and you end up with a system that tries to punitively tax birthday or graduation presents from children and grandchildren, paid for by income that’s already been taxed once.
When you buy a bar of chocolate, you pay VAT from income that has "already been taxed once". This is not something peculiar to IHT. You can make the same argument for almost any tax.
Tax reform may be needed but first we must start to think seriously. Mrs Thatcher's great trick was to persuade the country that only income tax matters. Most Conservatives believe theirs is the party of low taxation. They are wrong. VAT is charged at 20 per cent: it was a mere 8 per cent before the Thatcher government increased it to 15 per cent (after denying plans to double VAT which, I suppose, is technically true but does not add to politicians' reputation for veracity). Air Passenger Duty is a recent innovation, and so on. It is only last year the Conservative Chancellor of the Exchequer announced record tax receipts.
To be honest, I would far prefer to see VAT abolished than IHT. It’s the most regressive, vicious, unpleasant tax going.
Just abolish IHT, but treat inheritances as taxable income. With some mechanism (such as a special account available from banks) to shelter an inheritance and take it as income spread over, say, up to ten years.
Problem solved.
People will just start formally employing their children, purely for the lower marginal tax rate.
I doubt it, and incur NI on top. The child only gets one tax allowance whether employed or inheriting, anyway, so it makes no difference.
Yes, but if their family 'gift' is their only income (they're children, after all), the marginal and average rates will be much lower than the 40% IHT rate. You could get a couple of hundred grand to a child by the time they graduate, paying only NI and very little income tax.
I think, electorally, Boris is quite lucky as things stand. He now has perfect cover to act as the soft left politician he probably is, can increase taxes to pay off the debt uncultured by locking us up, which people seem ok with, and increase spending to satisfy the Brexit voters motivated by £350m per week for the NHS. If Tories don’t like it, the other parties will be further to the left, with higher taxes, so they’ve nowhere to go.
I was musing this morning as to whether his near-death experience will have an impact. Most of us aren't confronted with our own mortality so starkly and I can't believe it won't change him in some way.
Having already primed the economy with stimulus in advance of us leaving the EU I'm not sure there's much else he can or should do. There will probably be spending cuts down the road from which the NHS will be excluded and there may be more appetite for tax rises especially increasing the take from the very wealthy (who I know already pay a lot in tax).
I begin to suspect having waited all my time for a liberal Prime Minister and having been conned a couple of times I might just be getting the real thing this time - we'll see.
Surprised me that people think of him as right wing. Then again, I think limiting immigration to protect low income workers from unfair competition is left wing, and the opposite is very right wing.
Not to sound too poncey, but I’ve seen RSC productions of Merry Wives of Windsor and Twelfth Night that have made me LOL. I guess the difference is direction and interpretation. Old films and TV programmes are stuck with what they were. Fawlty Towers, Morecambe & Wise, Dad’s Army and Tommy Cooper still make me roar, as do Victoria Wood and Billy Connolly. I’d also put in a shout for Sgt Bilko.
I used to love the Goodies, but it aged very badly. It is barely watchable now.
Same here. A philosophical conundrum: was it always crap but we liked crap back then, or was it good back than but became crap over time?
It's an odd one, 70's music (& arguably film) becomes greater as time marches on while 70s comedy looks increasingly awful. Heresy, but I even find Python a bit not-in-a-good-way embarrassing on occasion.
Almost all comedy ages badly.
Shakespeare. Chaplin. Hancock’s half hour of yawning. Dreadful.
In fact it’s difficult to find exceptions to this rule. The only one I can think of is Wodehouse, who is still lol funny eighty years later. Any others?
Theres Something About Mary is still as funny as the first time I saw it. That’s only just over 20 years ago though
Only Fools And Horses second series, from 1982 I think, still makes me laugh, but a lot of it is not PC
BlackAdder II Has aged well, 35 years old ish
Fawlty Towers
I was going back further (I should have made that clear)
I’m trying to think of comedy from any time before world war 2 that still works. That can actually make you lol.
It’s very hard. Wodehouse is definitely one. Laurel & Hardy also, occasionally?
First four Marx brothers movies.
Will Hay "Oh, Mr Porter" and from the silent era Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd and more occasionally Chaplin.
Buster Keaton is a genius at physical comedy. I watched The Detective last night, and what an inventive genre smasher it was.
Foxy made a good point this morning, that there will sadly be a lot of cash prematurely going to the younger generation. Perhaps IHT needs looking at fast? I`ve never understood people`s aversion to this tax (second most unpopular after council tax). IHT is my favourite tax. I`d much rather pay tax when I`m dead than when I`m alive.
I'm also an IHT fan, but I have no heirs so I could reasonably be accused of having no skin in that particular game!
Resistance to IHT is the ultimate validation of Thatcher's infamous "no such thing as society" comment, rooted as it is in biology. People (or a very great proportion of people, at any rate) resent the state - i.e. unrelated strangers - getting their hands on their resources when they kick the bucket. They want their own offspring to have it all.
Good luck getting elected after any IHT reform, except for abolishing it.
The amounts concerned are so big that people will find any way they can to avoid it, and you end up with a system that tries to punitively tax birthday or graduation presents from children and grandchildren, paid for by income that’s already been taxed once.
When you buy a bar of chocolate, you pay VAT from income that has "already been taxed once". This is not something peculiar to IHT. You can make the same argument for almost any tax.
Tax reform may be needed but first we must start to think seriously. Mrs Thatcher's great trick was to persuade the country that only income tax matters. Most Conservatives believe theirs is the party of low taxation. They are wrong. VAT is charged at 20 per cent: it was a mere 8 per cent before the Thatcher government increased it to 15 per cent (after denying plans to double VAT which, I suppose, is technically true but does not add to politicians' reputation for veracity). Air Passenger Duty is a recent innovation, and so on. It is only last year the Conservative Chancellor of the Exchequer announced record tax receipts.
To be honest, I would far prefer to see VAT abolished than IHT. It’s the most regressive, vicious, unpleasant tax going.
Just abolish IHT, but treat inheritances as taxable income. With some mechanism (such as a special account available from banks) to shelter an inheritance and take it as income spread over, say, up to ten years.
Problem solved.
People will just start formally employing their children, purely for the lower marginal tax rate.
I doubt it, and incur NI on top. The child only gets one tax allowance whether employed or inheriting, anyway, so it makes no difference.
Yes, but if their family 'gift' is their only income (they're children, after all), the marginal and average rates will be much lower than the 40% IHT rate. You could get a couple of hundred grand to a child by the time they graduate, paying only NI and very little income tax.
If you pay your child under 169 a week there is no ni to pay nor income tax
Not to sound too poncey, but I’ve seen RSC productions of Merry Wives of Windsor and Twelfth Night that have made me LOL. I guess the difference is direction and interpretation. Old films and TV programmes are stuck with what they were. Fawlty Towers, Morecambe & Wise, Dad’s Army and Tommy Cooper still make me roar, as do Victoria Wood and Billy Connolly. I’d also put in a shout for Sgt Bilko.
God I haven't seen the Phil Silvers show for years. I might have to go and watch one now.
Can it get anymore vomit inducing , character has nothing to do with it . Looks like the politburo have ordered the BBC to milk this . Just waiting for the doves and gospel choir to show up !
I don't know what your complaint is against the BBC, but I agree they're becoming increasingly unwatchable and unlistenable.
From deaths door to recovery in a few days ! If he was that ill he’d have been on a ventilator and the Mail on Sunday can now stop its hyperbole .
Are you a doctor and how many days ill if you know so much
I’m glad he’s recovered quickly but the level of hyperbole by some of the press has been ridiculous. He clearly wasn’t close to death otherwise he’d have been on a ventilator . That’s my point !
You have no way of knowing that
Only those close to death go on a ventilator. Johnson didn’t need that and not sure why you refuse to accept that medical fact .
There are other ways of being seriously ill with this disease as others have pointed out. Why do you refuse to accept that your way isn't the only way?
I am genuinely pleased that Johnson is out of the woods. I think it is entirely right that every precaution was taken with him as he is our PM but I seriously doubt you are I would not have been in an ICU with the same symptoms and is certainly not beyond the realms of possibility that the Daily ("Pray for Boris") Mail hasn't been playing this up for political gain.
Surprised me that people think of him as right wing. Then again, I think limiting immigration to protect low income workers from unfair competition is left wing, and the opposite is very right wing.
My view on Johnson has always been he will say whatever he thinks the audience in front of him wants to hear. That makes him a populist but the current circumstances combined with a brush with his own mortality may well send him off in a direction with which some Conservatives will feel uncomfortable.
He may well be able to argue higher taxes for example - he will be able to argue increased spending for and within the NHS with staff being beneficiaries.
Not to sound too poncey, but I’ve seen RSC productions of Merry Wives of Windsor and Twelfth Night that have made me LOL. I guess the difference is direction and interpretation. Old films and TV programmes are stuck with what they were. Fawlty Towers, Morecambe & Wise, Dad’s Army and Tommy Cooper still make me roar, as do Victoria Wood and Billy Connolly. I’d also put in a shout for Sgt Bilko.
Comedy of Errors can be made fairly funny (I once saw a brilliant production in, of all places, Santa Cruz), but even the best productions have long tedious bits. Midsummer Night’s Dream and Twelfth Night, though, are genuinely funny. Even some of the rude mechanical bits.
From deaths door to recovery in a few days ! If he was that ill he’d have been on a ventilator and the Mail on Sunday can now stop its hyperbole .
Are you a doctor and how many days ill if you know so much
I’m glad he’s recovered quickly but the level of hyperbole by some of the press has been ridiculous. He clearly wasn’t close to death otherwise he’d have been on a ventilator . That’s my point !
You have no way of knowing that
Only those close to death go on a ventilator. Johnson didn’t need that and not sure why you refuse to accept that medical fact .
Is it true that everyone who died from coronavirus was on a ventilator immediately prior?
A very good friend of mine died from coronavirus last night. She was admitted to hospital ten days ago into HDU on oxygen and CPAP but not a ventilator.
Scottish Cons should be advocating for lower rates of income tax in Scotland over England - not higher as is now. would raise more revenue and boost the economy. Ask the CoTE if they can keep the extra revenue.
Harry, you cannot help lying, tax in Scotland is less than England, 65% pay less tax and the others when you count all the free services are the same. You can lie as often as you like but the truth is there to see.
It's already starting. The world will diversify away from China. Not because the virus came from there, but because of the dishonesty of the Chinese government in reporting the stats which has put the whole world in danger.
It was always a crap business model to outsource all your manufacturing to someone else.
Malc first I hope you are all recovering.
And secondly, I don't think anyone has yet managed to repeal the law of comparative advantage.
Hello Topping, wife is not too bad considering , cannot get further treatment given the state of things at present but lucky to be home before it all went Pete Tong. Thanks for asking.
It's already starting. The world will diversify away from China. Not because the virus came from there, but because of the dishonesty of the Chinese government in reporting the stats which has put the whole world in danger.
It was always a crap business model to outsource all your manufacturing to someone else.
Indeed, the question is how do we bring it back and make sure that employees are properly paid without having too much product price inflation. Does that mean more automation or wage subsidies?
LOL, before I even tread it I know it will be wheeling out the swivel eyed union jack nutjobs as normal. SNPbad and no indyref2 , The Scottish Tory sockpuppet regional office manifesto.
What does any of that have to do with the Scottish government not offering as much financial support to businesses as the English government?
You moron , what do you know regarding what the Scottish Government policy is or is not. They have given out all the consequentials , ie the same as England in financial support. They have chosen to match it to the Scottish economy rather than copy the completely different English economy and you have a few sad sack greedy unionists who think they should get more than others , rounded up by the inept Tory leader to whinge about it. This causes moronic unionists like yourself to slavishly whine and moan without having a clue what you are a talking about. Stick to posting about cars spinning round a bit of tarmac it suits your brain power a lot better.
I guess you don’t like oppositions asking questions?
They are not asking questions, he knows well that they are supporting everybody they can. He is grandstanding with a few disgruntled unionists who want a bigger slice of the pie, greedy gits. He should not be asking his questions via a newspaper , why did he not ask it at FM' questions on Thursday. He got his arse reamed there as well as he does every week. A clown devoid of any use or sense, his only cry is no referendum. Oh to actually have an opposition.
LOL, before I even tread it I know it will be wheeling out the swivel eyed union jack nutjobs as normal. SNPbad and no indyref2 , The Scottish Tory sockpuppet regional office manifesto.
What does any of that have to do with the Scottish government not offering as much financial support to businesses as the English government?
You moron , what do you know regarding what the Scottish Government policy is or is not. They have given out all the consequentials , ie the same as England in financial support. They have chosen to match it to the Scottish economy rather than copy the completely different English economy and you have a few sad sack greedy unionists who think they should get more than others , rounded up by the inept Tory leader to whinge about it. This causes moronic unionists like yourself to slavishly whine and moan without having a clue what you are a talking about. Stick to posting about cars spinning round a bit of tarmac it suits your brain power a lot better.
Playing the ball as usual then Malky.
I see you are unable to support your ridiculous post.
From deaths door to recovery in a few days ! If he was that ill he’d have been on a ventilator and the Mail on Sunday can now stop its hyperbole .
The hyperbole over Boris is vomit inducing , now the crap is that two nurses sat with him for 48 hours, for common people they would be lucky to have a nurse pop in twice a night given they would never have made ICU with his symptoms if even they had made hospital. Pathetic exaggeration for political gain and the thick compliant media play along.
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And you will also get twats who deliberately claim they have it and decide for the LOLs to go to as many packed places as possible.
Modern stand-up comedy is very good, there's around 200 one-hour specials on Netflix at the moment.
Caveat Emptor - Weekend reporting.
Besides which more and more are cancelling tv licenses so that is not going to be viable for too much longer it was 860,000 cancelled 2017-2018 for example
As for pranksters like that, perhaps being classified as having it is done by the NHS and not the user.
Still be weeks until things return to normal.
Edited extra bit: should've said before things start to return to normal.
Really you need to combine as many data points as possible, the mobile signal, bluetooth, wifi, facial recognition on cctv, debit / credit card, osyter card, etc.
Re the NHS setting you to being positive. You would hope at the very least you get given a code which can only be inputted to one device. Again the problem is are we going to give the NHS / government all the details of which handset is ours.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkPSds6085I
Sometimes.
Kubrick's Dr Strangelove is still as macabrely funny as it was in 1964.
Sorry to hear about Barnesian's friend.
We haven't had anyone as close as that though Stirling Moss was a friend of a friend, and a great role model.
and p.s. Johnson really did have a near miss according to the Mail Online.
Oh I have! Harold Lloyd when I was little was on BBC2. Long time ago though
https://twitter.com/robinwigg/status/1249304690745126912?s=21
Fawlty Towers, Morecambe & Wise, Dad’s Army and Tommy Cooper still make me roar, as do Victoria Wood and Billy Connolly. I’d also put in a shout for Sgt Bilko.
https://twitter.com/ChelseaFC/status/1249334458530103298?s=20
https://www.gov.uk/national-insurance-rates-letters
NEW THREAD
He may well be able to argue higher taxes for example - he will be able to argue increased spending for and within the NHS with staff being beneficiaries.
Midsummer Night’s Dream and Twelfth Night, though, are genuinely funny. Even some of the rude mechanical bits.
https://twitter.com/jamesdoleman/status/1249324020446658561?s=20