The UK deserves some credit for having politicians who are willing to discuss the need for more affordable housing. That simply isn't an issue in most of the US, even in places where the problem is the worst. And the ways for NIMBYs to block new housing are numerous.
Here's some data: "Over that span, ever-tightening zoning regulations have choked off housing options for countless middle-class families. Townhouses, duplexes and small apartment buildings are widely banned — including on 75 percent of residential land in Los Angeles and 94 percent in San Jose.
State lawmakers periodically try to attack the problem at its root, but ambitious bills that would address the supply problem have repeatedly died in Sacramento at the hands of politicians fearing retribution from not-in-my-backyard voters. Hence the politically safer but financially dubious move to subsidize down payments for first-time home buyers." source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/28/california-home-buying-assistance-counterproductive/
(Years ago, I read of a California firm that would help NIMBYs by . . . . finding a new species in the area where the NIMBYs wanted to block new construction. There are, for example, so many beatles that apparently it is not too difficult, or wasn't, for an entomologist to find a new one.
I have no idea how successful the firm was. And I have to admit that I admired the firm a little, in somewhat the same way one might admire a burglar's skill.)
Up until 1979 we had top quality public sector housing in the UK.
It was all sold off at a knockdown price to tenants and later these were bought up by buy to rent investors.
We also had a phenomenal amount of military housing stock. As military bases were closed as part of the post Soviet peace dividend these were auctioned off for a small fraction of their market value. Up the road from me is St Athan. 3 bed terraced houses were being auctioned for less than £50k.
So the problem was created by successive Governments.
Truss wants a "strong economics unit in No10" and said the Bank of England's mandate may be up for review:
"One of the issues I want to look at is the control of the money supply and particularly the quantitative easing policy and the impact that’s had"
Utter lunacy
Yes, “printing” £900bn, 45% of GDP, is utter lunacy.
The only thing more lunatic, is the games with the “income” on the “bonds” represented by this “money”.
The whole thing needs to be unwound over time, and it’s going to be horrible.
Someone once told me on here that quantitative easing was not problematic as high demand, short supply led consumer (so long as it wasn't wage spiral) inflation would magic the debt away. He no longer posts, but he had a pirate avatar.
Oksana Pokalchuk, the head of Amnesty International Ukraine to resign over disagreements with @amnesty’s leadership. “If you don’t live in a country, that’s being torn apart, you’ll never understand what it means, to blame the army of its defenders”.
Truss on whether she'll offer more help with spiralling fuel bills this winter:
"Of course I will look at what more can be done. But the way I would do things is in a Conservative way of lowering the tax burden, not giving out handouts
Truss on whether she'll offer more help with spiralling fuel bills this winter:
"Of course I will look at what more can be done. But the way I would do things is in a Conservative way of lowering the tax burden, not giving out handouts
Muppet
Indeed, so no help for the poorest then.
I think that edit's probably more realistic.
Fair point.
Um, why? This helps those who gross 12,500 p.a. or more, and does nothing for the 40% odd of the population who do not. In what sense does an income tax cut not "help" an income tax payer?
Truss on whether she'll offer more help with spiralling fuel bills this winter:
"Of course I will look at what more can be done. But the way I would do things is in a Conservative way of lowering the tax burden, not giving out handouts
Muppet
Indeed, so no help for the poorest then.
I think that edit's probably more realistic.
Fair point.
Um, why? This helps those who gross 12,500 p.a. or more, and does nothing for the 40% odd of the population who do not. In what sense does an income tax cut not "help" an income tax payer?
More likely she'd take VAT off fuel bills than income tax changes
Oksana Pokalchuk, the head of Amnesty International Ukraine to resign over disagreements with @amnesty’s leadership. “If you don’t live in a country, that’s being torn apart, you’ll never understand what it means, to blame the army of its defenders”.
Good on her, we should offer her asylum in the UK, if she wants it.
Good girl, respect.
Amnesty seems to have done a Stonewall. Sadly having been the good guys back in the 1970s counts for zilch these days.
Indeed. This lady will also have a large pile of documentation of war crimes from the Russians. She’ll now be a military target and really needs to leave the country.
Truss wants a "strong economics unit in No10" and said the Bank of England's mandate may be up for review:
"One of the issues I want to look at is the control of the money supply and particularly the quantitative easing policy and the impact that’s had"
Utter lunacy
No. “Utter lunacy” was running the money printer pretty much 24/7 since the GFC. And to do so without meaningful democratic oversight was crazy.
There was a reasonable argument for moderate QE in the immediate aftermath of ‘08, but it should have ended and been fully reversed by now.
What should they have done differently out of interest? 'The recession we had to have'?
They should have undone the 2008 and 2009 money printing, before the next recession came along.
2020 was going to have been a tough year anyway, before the you-know-what intervened.
ROFL you were not calling for this until after the fact
I was not calling for what until after when?
I’ve always been against excessive QE. It was of course necessary during the pandemic, but 12 years after the last recession the public finances still hadn’t properly recovered when we went into the next one.
Truss on whether she'll offer more help with spiralling fuel bills this winter:
"Of course I will look at what more can be done. But the way I would do things is in a Conservative way of lowering the tax burden, not giving out handouts
Muppet
Indeed, so no help for the poorest then.
I think that edit's probably more realistic.
Fair point.
Um, why? This helps those who gross 12,500 p.a. or more, and does nothing for the 40% odd of the population who do not. In what sense does an income tax cut not "help" an income tax payer?
Technically you are of course right.
But the most 'help' will be going to those who least need it, whilst poorer income tax payers will get less benefit and the 40% who do not pay tax get none at all.
On reflection, I think that as far as solving the UK's fuel price crisis is concerned @ydoethur is right, tax cuts are no help.
Interesting stat from Adam Tooze’s “Ones and Tooze” podcast;
Only 13% of Americans leave the country every year.
And what stat are we meant to compare that with? New Hampshire to California is in all ways as big a deal as Manchester to the Costas, and probably about level pegging in the English vs Spanish speaker stakes, so who is the more adventurous? Why does it matter?
Truss on whether she'll offer more help with spiralling fuel bills this winter:
"Of course I will look at what more can be done. But the way I would do things is in a Conservative way of lowering the tax burden, not giving out handouts
Muppet
Indeed, so no help for the poorest then.
I think that edit's probably more realistic.
Fair point.
Um, why? This helps those who gross 12,500 p.a. or more, and does nothing for the 40% odd of the population who do not. In what sense does an income tax cut not "help" an income tax payer?
Technically you are of course right.
But the most 'help' will be going to those who least need it, whilst poorer income tax payers will get less benefit and the 40% who do not pay tax get none at all.
On reflection, I think that as far as solving the UK's fuel price crisis is concerned @ydoethur is right, tax cuts are no help.
Um, OK. There is a crisis of something costing too much, but reducing the price of it does nothing at all to address the issue.
Truss on whether she'll offer more help with spiralling fuel bills this winter:
"Of course I will look at what more can be done. But the way I would do things is in a Conservative way of lowering the tax burden, not giving out handouts
Muppet
Indeed, so no help for the poorest then.
I think that edit's probably more realistic.
Fair point.
Um, why? This helps those who gross 12,500 p.a. or more, and does nothing for the 40% odd of the population who do not. In what sense does an income tax cut not "help" an income tax payer?
Technically you are of course right.
But the most 'help' will be going to those who least need it, whilst poorer income tax payers will get less benefit and the 40% who do not pay tax get none at all.
On reflection, I think that as far as solving the UK's fuel price crisis is concerned @ydoethur is right, tax cuts are no help.
The way you fix the petrol issue is with cuts in Fuel Duty. Cuts in VAT on fuel do nothing for businesses, who don’t really pay VAT.
As far as domestic electicity and gas goes, AIUI there are “green levy” taxes that could be removed, as well as VAT.
Truss wants uk to develop its own google or apple.
Doubt she has a clue how that would actually happen.
It's good that she's said it though.
Its the UK. Her party would be very happy form someone to develop a Google or Apple. Which would then be flogged to foreign investors for a one-off cut to a Tory-donor middleman.
Thats all they do.
I don't disagree, however, taken at face value, the sentiment is welcome.
Truss wants a "strong economics unit in No10" and said the Bank of England's mandate may be up for review:
"One of the issues I want to look at is the control of the money supply and particularly the quantitative easing policy and the impact that’s had"
Utter lunacy
No. “Utter lunacy” was running the money printer pretty much 24/7 since the GFC. And to do so without meaningful democratic oversight was crazy.
There was a reasonable argument for moderate QE in the immediate aftermath of ‘08, but it should have ended within a few years and been fully reversed by now.
Indeed.
But not sure what Truss is going to do about it. We are now into QT. QE is over. So she's going to "look into it" and what? Conclude it was a mistake? Vow never to let it happen again?
Left Devon and onto Cornwall, via 1) an appropriately enormous mixed grill in a pub in Tredagillet, called, with puzzling vagary, both the Eliot Arms and the Square and Compass. Food was very good, in a satisfyingly non-gastropubby way; and 2) a little jaunt through the much overlooked Bodmin Moor. Very pleasant on a sunny day - wild ponies, little stone bridges over burbling streams, wide open spaces, that sort of thing. I expect it is gothically bleak in poorer weather but today was lovely. And arrived at a holiday house outside Polzeath - a group of thirteen family members all confusingly talking at once all the time. Rather overwhelming for somewhere grew up as an only child with no cousins, but enjoyably like being thrust into the sort of media-concocted family I half suspected didn't really exist in real life. Anyway, all this is by way of preamble to posting a picture of the view over the mouth of the Camel at sunset.
Truss on whether she'll offer more help with spiralling fuel bills this winter:
"Of course I will look at what more can be done. But the way I would do things is in a Conservative way of lowering the tax burden, not giving out handouts
Muppet
Indeed, so no help for the poorest then.
I think that edit's probably more realistic.
Fair point.
Um, why? This helps those who gross 12,500 p.a. or more, and does nothing for the 40% odd of the population who do not. In what sense does an income tax cut not "help" an income tax payer?
Technically you are of course right.
But the most 'help' will be going to those who least need it, whilst poorer income tax payers will get less benefit and the 40% who do not pay tax get none at all.
On reflection, I think that as far as solving the UK's fuel price crisis is concerned @ydoethur is right, tax cuts are no help.
Um, OK. There is a crisis of something costing too much, but reducing the price of it does nothing at all to address the issue.
Truss wants a "strong economics unit in No10" and said the Bank of England's mandate may be up for review:
"One of the issues I want to look at is the control of the money supply and particularly the quantitative easing policy and the impact that’s had"
Utter lunacy
Actually no. If she is intent on confronting the utter lunacy of quantitative easing then she goes up (very fractionally) in my estimation. She won't of course.
Exactly. Another instance of her actually saying something quite good, when she doesn't have to.
Sunak isn't doing the same. If you look at his policy ideas, you see stuff like 'I'll send Britain-haters for re-education' - that is a widening of intrusive state power, it is totally in line with the authoritarian march of the blob, just gussied up in a Union flag to appeal to what Sunak thinks members want.
Left Devon and onto Cornwall, via 1) an appropriately enormous mixed grill in a pub in Tredagillet, called, with puzzling vagary, both the Eliot Arms and the Square and Compass. Food was very good, in a satisfyingly non-gastropubby way; and 2) a little jaunt through the much overlooked Bodmin Moor. Very pleasant on a sunny day - wild ponies, little stone bridges over burbling streams, wide open spaces, that sort of thing. I expect it is gothically bleak in poorer weather but today was lovely. And arrived at a holiday house outside Polzeath - a group of thirteen family members all confusingly talking at once all the time. Rather overwhelming for somewhere grew up as an only child with no cousins, but enjoyably like being thrust into the sort of media-concocted family I half suspected didn't really exist in real life. Anyway, all this is by way of preamble to posting a picture of the view over the mouth of the Camel at sunset.
MFTS relies on "blue suit" civvie instructors. Unfortunately the only job that prepares you for being a civvie instructor is being a military one for years first. The pipeline was dramatically constricted, in part by Cameron making a lot of trainee pilots redundant in 2010, so that shortage is working its way through and we are now at the point where that some of that slaughtered 2010 intake would be becoming instructors...
The RAF has to have a training cell inside the Red Arrrows(!) to qualify Hawk T1 pilots for the RAF Flight Medicine role because the tories scrapped No. 100 and there are no other T1 units remaining. Absolute madness. This (and the pissed up shenanigans in Greece) are the reason that many RAFAT displays are 7 ship this year.
Interesting stat from Adam Tooze’s “Ones and Tooze” podcast;
Only 13% of Americans leave the country every year.
12% too many!
How does that compare to others?
It’s better than it used to be, the old saying was that only 10% of Americans even had a passport.
That said, it’s a very big country, and you can experience pretty much any holiday in any season there if you want it.
There’s also the business travellers, which have definitely grown over time.
Fuck it, it is inside 5 hours to fly LHR to Istanbul. It's 6 hours JFK to LAX. What point is being made here?
But how many Brits would leave the country if Britain had Colorado, Florida, Howard, California ... and the appealing of European city breaks need an Atlantic crossing to achieve? I don't think Americans are inherently insular. They just start from a different geographical context.
Interesting stat from Adam Tooze’s “Ones and Tooze” podcast;
Only 13% of Americans leave the country every year.
And what stat are we meant to compare that with? New Hampshire to California is in all ways as big a deal as Manchester to the Costas, and probably about level pegging in the English vs Spanish speaker stakes, so who is the more adventurous? Why does it matter?
Indeed, of the 2/3 of Britons who go abroad each year, in 2019 for example of the top 10 nations visited only the US was outside Europe. However the US trailed well behind France, Spain and Italy
A few holiday thoughts. El Campello is rammed full of people. We've been coming here for 20 years (as Spanish FIL lives up the mountain) and I've never seen it this busy. OK so this is the first week of Spanish school holidays and the hordes have come to the Costa from inland. But even so. Its *buzzing*.
A question. We have a problem in the UK with people who cant handle a drink and people who are getting increasingly angry and abusive to front line employees of pretty much anything. Would we be more placid and chilled like the wonderful Spanish if we enforced a siesta?
OK so there is little point insisting on an afternoon snooze in Scotland in February, but doing things to chill people the fuck out would help. And yet Mistress Truss thinks people are feckless and lazy and need to work harder.
No wonder half of my friends are on the happy pills...
I'm not sure why the Scots shouldn't have an afternoon nap in February?
As I no longer work I have taken to a 20 min or so nap after lunch and I can heartedly recommend it and wish I had some how managed it when working.
Interesting stat from Adam Tooze’s “Ones and Tooze” podcast;
Only 13% of Americans leave the country every year.
12% too many!
How does that compare to others?
It’s better than it used to be, the old saying was that only 10% of Americans even had a passport.
That said, it’s a very big country, and you can experience pretty much any holiday in any season there if you want it.
There’s also the business travellers, which have definitely grown over time.
Fuck it, it is inside 5 hours to fly LHR to Istanbul. It's 6 hours JFK to LAX. What point is being made here?
First thing I taught politics students when studying America.
It's Big. Very Big. More like a medium-sized continent than a country.
It is, yes... although a lot of Americans live near an international border. Most Americans live round the edges. The big population centres in the north east, and over to Detroit and Chicago, and Seattle in the west, are all pretty near Canada. The Texans and Californians are near Mexico. The Floridans are near The Bahamas and Cuba. New York to LA is a long journey, but New York to Montreal isn't.
MFTS relies on "blue suit" civvie instructors. Unfortunately the only job that prepares you for being a civvie instructor is being a military one for years first. The pipeline was dramatically constricted, in part by Cameron making a lot of trainee pilots redundant in 2010, so that shortage is working its way through and we are now at the point where that some of that slaughtered 2010 intake would be becoming instructors...
The RAF has to have a training cell inside the Red Arrrows(!) to qualify Hawk T1 pilots for the RAF Flight Medicine role because the tories scrapped No. 100 and there are no other T1 units remaining. Absolute madness. This (and the pissed up shenanigans in Greece) are the reason that many RAFAT displays are 7 ship this year.
I noticed the RAFAT 7-ships, was wondering why they were flying ‘short’.
Truss on whether she'll offer more help with spiralling fuel bills this winter:
"Of course I will look at what more can be done. But the way I would do things is in a Conservative way of lowering the tax burden, not giving out handouts
Muppet
Indeed, so no help for the poorest then.
I think that edit's probably more realistic.
Fair point.
Um, why? This helps those who gross 12,500 p.a. or more, and does nothing for the 40% odd of the population who do not. In what sense does an income tax cut not "help" an income tax payer?
Technically you are of course right.
But the most 'help' will be going to those who least need it, whilst poorer income tax payers will get less benefit and the 40% who do not pay tax get none at all.
On reflection, I think that as far as solving the UK's fuel price crisis is concerned @ydoethur is right, tax cuts are no help.
The way you fix the petrol issue is with cuts in Fuel Duty. Cuts in VAT on fuel do nothing for businesses, who don’t really pay VAT.
As far as domestic electicity and gas goes, AIUI there are “green levy” taxes that could be removed, as well as VAT.
As of now, a typical household fuel bill is about £1900 a year, compared with £1400 a year last autumn. Of that, VAT is a bit less than £100 and policy costs (including the green stuff) is about £150. So there's about £250 that could be cut off bills there (though if we're going to cut those taxes, we really ought to work out what spending we're going to cut as well).
The estimate from the experts is that the annual bill will go up to about £3350 in October, and £3600 in January. That's a rise of about £2000 in a year. Even cutting those taxes to zero wouldn't begin to touch the sides of this.
As things stand, poorer households are set to get about £1050 in one-off support, and poorer pensioner households about £1350. Neither of those looks like enough.
People at the bottom of the pile are going to need a lot of help to get through this winter, much more than tax reductions could give. And helping the neediest adequately is not going to leave anything for the rest of us. That's not going to be much fun, but that's maths for you.
My wife, who is pro-Blair and very centrist Tory, is massively pro-Truss. Hates Sunak.
Threatened to leave me if I don't vote for Truss.
Hmm..
If she was pro Blair and voted for him she is a swing voter not a true Tory, maybe that is why she likes ex LD Liz. Rishi at least has always been a Tory.
A few holiday thoughts. El Campello is rammed full of people. We've been coming here for 20 years (as Spanish FIL lives up the mountain) and I've never seen it this busy. OK so this is the first week of Spanish school holidays and the hordes have come to the Costa from inland. But even so. Its *buzzing*.
A question. We have a problem in the UK with people who cant handle a drink and people who are getting increasingly angry and abusive to front line employees of pretty much anything. Would we be more placid and chilled like the wonderful Spanish if we enforced a siesta?
OK so there is little point insisting on an afternoon snooze in Scotland in February, but doing things to chill people the fuck out would help. And yet Mistress Truss thinks people are feckless and lazy and need to work harder.
No wonder half of my friends are on the happy pills...
I'm not sure why the Scots shouldn't have an afternoon nap in February?
As I no longer work I have taken to a 20 min or so nap after lunch and I can heartedly recommend it and wish I had some how managed it when working.
"even before the new PM is announced" is begging the question. OMG IT IS LIZ is not going to be an Everybody suddenly burst out singing moment. Could boost Labour.
Accordng to Google -- and they are usually right about such things -- the distance from New York City to Honolulu is 4,956 miles and the flight time is "about 10 hours and 45 minutes".
(The distance from JFK to the Adak airport in the Aleutians is almost identical.)
"even before the new PM is announced" is begging the question. OMG IT IS LIZ is not going to be an Everybody suddenly burst out singing moment. Could boost Labour.
Which absolute helmet thought it a good idea to let this head-to-head bore off drag on all summer?
At least The Weakest Link daily heats had a certain geeky appeal.
My wife, who is pro-Blair and very centrist Tory, is massively pro-Truss. Hates Sunak.
Threatened to leave me if I don't vote for Truss.
Hmm..
If she was pro Blair and voted for him she is a swing voter not a true Tory, maybe that is why she likes ex LD Liz. Rishi at least has always been a Tory.
Well, err, what do you think that tells you about a GE mate?
Truss on whether she'll offer more help with spiralling fuel bills this winter:
"Of course I will look at what more can be done. But the way I would do things is in a Conservative way of lowering the tax burden, not giving out handouts
Muppet
Indeed, so no help for the poorest then.
I think that edit's probably more realistic.
Fair point.
Um, why? This helps those who gross 12,500 p.a. or more, and does nothing for the 40% odd of the population who do not. In what sense does an income tax cut not "help" an income tax payer?
Technically you are of course right.
But the most 'help' will be going to those who least need it, whilst poorer income tax payers will get less benefit and the 40% who do not pay tax get none at all.
On reflection, I think that as far as solving the UK's fuel price crisis is concerned @ydoethur is right, tax cuts are no help.
The way you fix the petrol issue is with cuts in Fuel Duty. Cuts in VAT on fuel do nothing for businesses, who don’t really pay VAT.
As far as domestic electicity and gas goes, AIUI there are “green levy” taxes that could be removed, as well as VAT.
As of now, a typical household fuel bill is about £1900 a year, compared with £1400 a year last autumn. Of that, VAT is a bit less than £100 and policy costs (including the green stuff) is about £150. So there's about £250 that could be cut off bills there (though if we're going to cut those taxes, we really ought to work out what spending we're going to cut as well).
The estimate from the experts is that the annual bill will go up to about £3350 in October, and £3600 in January. That's a rise of about £2000 in a year. Even cutting those taxes to zero wouldn't begin to touch the sides of this.
As things stand, poorer households are set to get about £1050 in one-off support, and poorer pensioner households about £1350. Neither of those looks like enough.
People at the bottom of the pile are going to need a lot of help to get through this winter, much more than tax reductions could give. And helping the neediest adequately is not going to leave anything for the rest of us. That's not going to be much fun, but that's maths for you.
Agreed. (As someone about to go to bed, three time zones ahead of most of you, definitely not driving anywhere tomorrow morning, and with little understanding of the modern UK energy bills system).
Truss on whether she'll offer more help with spiralling fuel bills this winter:
"Of course I will look at what more can be done. But the way I would do things is in a Conservative way of lowering the tax burden, not giving out handouts
Muppet
Indeed, so no help for the poorest then.
I think that edit's probably more realistic.
Fair point.
Um, why? This helps those who gross 12,500 p.a. or more, and does nothing for the 40% odd of the population who do not. In what sense does an income tax cut not "help" an income tax payer?
Technically you are of course right.
But the most 'help' will be going to those who least need it, whilst poorer income tax payers will get less benefit and the 40% who do not pay tax get none at all.
On reflection, I think that as far as solving the UK's fuel price crisis is concerned @ydoethur is right, tax cuts are no help.
The way you fix the petrol issue is with cuts in Fuel Duty. Cuts in VAT on fuel do nothing for businesses, who don’t really pay VAT.
As far as domestic electicity and gas goes, AIUI there are “green levy” taxes that could be removed, as well as VAT.
As of now, a typical household fuel bill is about £1900 a year, compared with £1400 a year last autumn. Of that, VAT is a bit less than £100 and policy costs (including the green stuff) is about £150. So there's about £250 that could be cut off bills there (though if we're going to cut those taxes, we really ought to work out what spending we're going to cut as well).
The estimate from the experts is that the annual bill will go up to about £3350 in October, and £3600 in January. That's a rise of about £2000 in a year. Even cutting those taxes to zero wouldn't begin to touch the sides of this.
As things stand, poorer households are set to get about £1050 in one-off support, and poorer pensioner households about £1350. Neither of those looks like enough.
People at the bottom of the pile are going to need a lot of help to get through this winter, much more than tax reductions could give. And helping the neediest adequately is not going to leave anything for the rest of us. That's not going to be much fun, but that's maths for you.
The sums are straightforward as you say, but no one in power wants to do them.
"even before the new PM is announced" is begging the question. OMG IT IS LIZ is not going to be an Everybody suddenly burst out singing moment. Could boost Labour.
Which absolute helmet thought it a good idea to let this head-to-head bore off continue all summer?
At least The Weakest Link daily heats had a certain geeky appeal.
Yeah, no one is making us watch them. It's not like the 1970s with 3 channels and ppbs shown on all 3 simultaneously (how Stalinist was that?) But it would still be good if it stopped.
Accordng to Google -- and they are usually right about such things -- the distance from New York City to Honolulu is 4,956 miles and the flight time is "about 10 hours and 45 minutes".
(The distance from JFK to the Adak airport in the Aleutians is almost identical.)
Nearly a day and a half for London to Stanley (Falklands)...
Haven't really understood why, if there has to be tax cuts, why Council Tax is never looked at? Abolishing it would cost £42 bn. It's hugely regressive. It would also be a good way of levelling up.
Haven't really understood why, if there has to be tax cuts, why Council Tax is never looked at? Abolishing it would cost £42 bn. It's hugely regressive.
It's long been LibDem policy to switch to a local income tax.
"even before the new PM is announced" is begging the question. OMG IT IS LIZ is not going to be an Everybody suddenly burst out singing moment. Could boost Labour.
Which absolute helmet thought it a good idea to let this head-to-head bore off continue all summer?
At least The Weakest Link daily heats had a certain geeky appeal.
Yeah, no one is making us watch them. It's not like the 1970s with 3 channels and ppbs shown on all 3 simultaneously (how Stalinist was that?
) But it would still be good if it stopped.
True, it’s not compulsory and I’m not watching any of it, but it still fills the papers, when we could be reading about something useful / vaguely interesting. Clearly Truss will win.
Haven't really understood why, if there has to be tax cuts, why Council Tax is never looked at? Abolishing it would cost £42 bn. It's hugely regressive.
It's long been LibDem policy to switch to a local income tax.
Moving the burden of taxation away from the pensioners and towards the employed?
"even before the new PM is announced" is begging the question. OMG IT IS LIZ is not going to be an Everybody suddenly burst out singing moment. Could boost Labour.
Which absolute helmet thought it a good idea to let this head-to-head bore off continue all summer?
At least The Weakest Link daily heats had a certain geeky appeal.
Yeah, no one is making us watch them. It's not like the 1970s with 3 channels and ppbs shown on all 3 simultaneously (how Stalinist was that?
) But it would still be good if it stopped.
True, it’s not compulsory and I’m not watching any of it, but it still fills the papers, when we could be reading about something useful / vaguely interesting. Clearly Truss will win.
It also shamefully leaves the country rudderless for six weeks at a time when urgent action is required.
My wife, who is pro-Blair and very centrist Tory, is massively pro-Truss. Hates Sunak.
Threatened to leave me if I don't vote for Truss.
Hmm..
How will she know?
She wants to see my ballot paper.
Honestly, this isn't easy.
Can't you explain why you disagree and think that Sunak is the better choice? Seems a bit unreasonable so long as your justification is reasonable.
Still I'm hardly one to be giving advice on relationships.
You start from the premise that Rishi is an open and shut case.
I'm on the fence.
Her view?
She connects with her more. Likes the fact she's come from a modest background and comprehensive school and worked her way up. Likes the fact she works hard and succeeded. Thinks she knows how it is. Think she has more experience. Likes the fact she's loyal. Admires the fact she's willing to listen and change her mind. Likes her low tax and free market principles - exactly how my wife tends to think. Hates Sunak: thinks he's privileged and narrow-minded and obsessed with monetary balance alone and ideological about it. Said she would vote Lib Dem if he was PM.
She thinks Liz Truss is the real deal and really likes her. I'm not sure how often this is commented on here but I think she breaks through to female voters more than is recognised.
Haven't really understood why, if there has to be tax cuts, why Council Tax is never looked at? Abolishing it would cost £42 bn. It's hugely regressive.
It's long been LibDem policy to switch to a local income tax.
I can't see that working. Not without redistribution from wealthy areas.
There has been talk for a while that Russia would launch a renewed offensive in Kherson on 6 August. The Ukrainians have said for several months that August would be key in terms of a counteroffensive and Zelensky has stated publicly he wants to retake Kherson before the Autumn.
What Sir Alex Ferguson once called squeaky bum time.
Haven't really understood why, if there has to be tax cuts, why Council Tax is never looked at? Abolishing it would cost £42 bn. It's hugely regressive.
It's long been LibDem policy to switch to a local income tax.
Moving the burden of taxation away from the pensioners and towards the employed?
Reading the 2019 manifesto, I think I am out of date! It no longer appears to be policy. Apologies for any confusion.
"even before the new PM is announced" is begging the question. OMG IT IS LIZ is not going to be an Everybody suddenly burst out singing moment. Could boost Labour.
Which absolute helmet thought it a good idea to let this head-to-head bore off continue all summer?
At least The Weakest Link daily heats had a certain geeky appeal.
Yeah, no one is making us watch them. It's not like the 1970s with 3 channels and ppbs shown on all 3 simultaneously (how Stalinist was that?) But it would still be good if it stopped.
The party political broadcasts were good. I loved Jeremy Thorpe with his watch chain and Harold Wilson with his pipe, and
"even before the new PM is announced" is begging the question. OMG IT IS LIZ is not going to be an Everybody suddenly burst out singing moment. Could boost Labour.
Which absolute helmet thought it a good idea to let this head-to-head bore off continue all summer?
At least The Weakest Link daily heats had a certain geeky appeal.
Yeah, no one is making us watch them. It's not like the 1970s with 3 channels and ppbs shown on all 3 simultaneously (how Stalinist was that?) But it would still be good if it stopped.
I enjoyed them, especially Jeremy Thorpe with his watch chain and gear sense of humour. Didn't he once even shoot someone
"even before the new PM is announced" is begging the question. OMG IT IS LIZ is not going to be an Everybody suddenly burst out singing moment. Could boost Labour.
Which absolute helmet thought it a good idea to let this head-to-head bore off continue all summer?
At least The Weakest Link daily heats had a certain geeky appeal.
Yeah, no one is making us watch them. It's not like the 1970s with 3 channels and ppbs shown on all 3 simultaneously (how Stalinist was that?) But it would still be good if it stopped.
I loved them and Mike Yarwood's imitations too. Especially Jeremy Thorpe with his watch chain and practical jokes. Didn't he once shoot someone's dog for a prank?
My wife, who is pro-Blair and very centrist Tory, is massively pro-Truss. Hates Sunak.
Threatened to leave me if I don't vote for Truss.
Hmm..
How will she know?
She wants to see my ballot paper.
Honestly, this isn't easy.
Can't you explain why you disagree and think that Sunak is the better choice? Seems a bit unreasonable so long as your justification is reasonable.
Still I'm hardly one to be giving advice on relationships.
You start from the premise that Rishi is an open and shut case.
I'm on the fence.
Her view?
She connects with her more. Likes the fact she's come from a modest background and comprehensive school and worked her way up. Likes the fact she works hard and succeeded. Thinks she knows how it is. Think she has more experience. Likes the fact she's loyal. Admires the fact she's willing to listen and change her mind. Likes her low tax and free market principles - exactly how my wife tends to think. Hates Sunak: thinks he's privileged and narrow-minded and obsessed with monetary balance alone and ideological about it. Said she would vote Lib Dem if he was PM.
She thinks Liz Truss is the real deal and really likes her. I'm not sure how often this is commented on here but I think she breaks through to female voters more than is recognised.
Worth noting.
Truss isn't really from a modest background. Very middle class suburban, daughter of an academic.
You can be loyal to a fault. And what about putting your loyalty to Britain above loyalty to Johnson?
Sunak also has low tax/free market principles. Just more pragmatic about it.
There has been talk for a while that Russia would launch a renewed offensive in Kherson on 6 August. The Ukrainians have said for several months that August would be key in terms of a counteroffensive and Zelensky has stated publicly he wants to retake Kherson before the Autumn.
What Sir Alex Ferguson once called squeaky bum time.
Yes, there does seem to have been a big shift of Russians to the West. That river may well be quite an obstacle to supply.
My wife, who is pro-Blair and very centrist Tory, is massively pro-Truss. Hates Sunak.
Threatened to leave me if I don't vote for Truss.
Hmm..
How will she know?
She wants to see my ballot paper.
Honestly, this isn't easy.
Can't you explain why you disagree and think that Sunak is the better choice? Seems a bit unreasonable so long as your justification is reasonable.
Still I'm hardly one to be giving advice on relationships.
You start from the premise that Rishi is an open and shut case.
I'm on the fence.
Her view?
She connects with her more. Likes the fact she's come from a modest background and comprehensive school and worked her way up. Likes the fact she works hard and succeeded. Thinks she knows how it is. Think she has more experience. Likes the fact she's loyal. Admires the fact she's willing to listen and change her mind. Likes her low tax and free market principles - exactly how my wife tends to think. Hates Sunak: thinks he's privileged and narrow-minded and obsessed with monetary balance alone and ideological about it. Said she would vote Lib Dem if he was PM.
She thinks Liz Truss is the real deal and really likes her. I'm not sure how often this is commented on here but I think she breaks through to female voters more than is recognised.
Worth noting.
Truss isn't really from a modest background. Very middle class suburban, daughter of an academic.
You can be loyal to a fault. And what about putting your loyalty to Britain above loyalty to Johnson?
Sunak also has low tax/free market principles. Just more pragmatic about it.
That's about the best I can do!
Compared to the guy who’s so rich he’s forgotten how to put petrol in his car, she’s the working class girl.
My wife, who is pro-Blair and very centrist Tory, is massively pro-Truss. Hates Sunak.
Threatened to leave me if I don't vote for Truss.
Hmm..
How will she know?
She wants to see my ballot paper.
Honestly, this isn't easy.
Can't you explain why you disagree and think that Sunak is the better choice? Seems a bit unreasonable so long as your justification is reasonable.
Still I'm hardly one to be giving advice on relationships.
You start from the premise that Rishi is an open and shut case.
I'm on the fence.
Her view?
She connects with her more. Likes the fact she's come from a modest background and comprehensive school and worked her way up. Likes the fact she works hard and succeeded. Thinks she knows how it is. Think she has more experience. Likes the fact she's loyal. Admires the fact she's willing to listen and change her mind. Likes her low tax and free market principles - exactly how my wife tends to think. Hates Sunak: thinks he's privileged and narrow-minded and obsessed with monetary balance alone and ideological about it. Said she would vote Lib Dem if he was PM.
She thinks Liz Truss is the real deal and really likes her. I'm not sure how often this is commented on here but I think she breaks through to female voters more than is recognised.
Worth noting.
Truss isn't really from a modest background. Very middle class suburban, daughter of an academic.
You can be loyal to a fault. And what about putting your loyalty to Britain above loyalty to Johnson?
Sunak also has low tax/free market principles. Just more pragmatic about it.
That's about the best I can do!
And apart from the endless photo stunts and 'Fizz with Liz' leadership manoeuvres what does she work hard on?
My wife, who is pro-Blair and very centrist Tory, is massively pro-Truss. Hates Sunak.
Threatened to leave me if I don't vote for Truss.
Hmm..
How will she know?
She wants to see my ballot paper.
Honestly, this isn't easy.
Can't you explain why you disagree and think that Sunak is the better choice? Seems a bit unreasonable so long as your justification is reasonable.
Still I'm hardly one to be giving advice on relationships.
You start from the premise that Rishi is an open and shut case.
I'm on the fence.
Her view?
She connects with her more. Likes the fact she's come from a modest background and comprehensive school and worked her way up. Likes the fact she works hard and succeeded. Thinks she knows how it is. Think she has more experience. Likes the fact she's loyal. Admires the fact she's willing to listen and change her mind. Likes her low tax and free market principles - exactly how my wife tends to think. Hates Sunak: thinks he's privileged and narrow-minded and obsessed with monetary balance alone and ideological about it. Said she would vote Lib Dem if he was PM.
She thinks Liz Truss is the real deal and really likes her. I'm not sure how often this is commented on here but I think she breaks through to female voters more than is recognised.
Worth noting.
Truss isn't really from a modest background. Very middle class suburban, daughter of an academic.
You can be loyal to a fault. And what about putting your loyalty to Britain above loyalty to Johnson?
Sunak also has low tax/free market principles. Just more pragmatic about it.
That's about the best I can do!
Compared to the guy who’s so rich he’s forgotten how to put petrol in his car, she’s the working class girl.
@Casino_Royale point about connecting to female voters may turn out to be crucial. Worth keeping an eye on.
My wife, who is pro-Blair and very centrist Tory, is massively pro-Truss. Hates Sunak.
Threatened to leave me if I don't vote for Truss.
Hmm..
How will she know?
She wants to see my ballot paper.
Honestly, this isn't easy.
Can't you explain why you disagree and think that Sunak is the better choice? Seems a bit unreasonable so long as your justification is reasonable.
Still I'm hardly one to be giving advice on relationships.
You start from the premise that Rishi is an open and shut case.
I'm on the fence.
Her view?
She connects with her more. Likes the fact she's come from a modest background and comprehensive school and worked her way up. Likes the fact she works hard and succeeded. Thinks she knows how it is. Think she has more experience. Likes the fact she's loyal. Admires the fact she's willing to listen and change her mind. Likes her low tax and free market principles - exactly how my wife tends to think. Hates Sunak: thinks he's privileged and narrow-minded and obsessed with monetary balance alone and ideological about it. Said she would vote Lib Dem if he was PM.
She thinks Liz Truss is the real deal and really likes her. I'm not sure how often this is commented on here but I think she breaks through to female voters more than is recognised.
Worth noting.
Truss isn't really from a modest background. Very middle class suburban, daughter of an academic.
You can be loyal to a fault. And what about putting your loyalty to Britain above loyalty to Johnson?
Sunak also has low tax/free market principles. Just more pragmatic about it.
That's about the best I can do!
Well yes, but Boris was the literal embodiment of the Metropolitan Elite, yet he won an election partly by presenting himself as the opposite of that
My wife, who is pro-Blair and very centrist Tory, is massively pro-Truss. Hates Sunak.
Threatened to leave me if I don't vote for Truss.
Hmm..
How will she know?
She wants to see my ballot paper.
Honestly, this isn't easy.
Can't you explain why you disagree and think that Sunak is the better choice? Seems a bit unreasonable so long as your justification is reasonable.
Still I'm hardly one to be giving advice on relationships.
You start from the premise that Rishi is an open and shut case.
I'm on the fence.
Her view?
She connects with her more. Likes the fact she's come from a modest background and comprehensive school and worked her way up. Likes the fact she works hard and succeeded. Thinks she knows how it is. Think she has more experience. Likes the fact she's loyal. Admires the fact she's willing to listen and change her mind. Likes her low tax and free market principles - exactly how my wife tends to think. Hates Sunak: thinks he's privileged and narrow-minded and obsessed with monetary balance alone and ideological about it. Said she would vote Lib Dem if he was PM.
She thinks Liz Truss is the real deal and really likes her. I'm not sure how often this is commented on here but I think she breaks through to female voters more than is recognised.
Worth noting.
Truss isn't really from a modest background. Very middle class suburban, daughter of an academic.
You can be loyal to a fault. And what about putting your loyalty to Britain above loyalty to Johnson?
Sunak also has low tax/free market principles. Just more pragmatic about it.
That's about the best I can do!
Well yes, but Boris was the literal embodiment of the Metropolitan Elite, yet he won an election partly by presenting himself as the opposite of that
Good use of "literal" not. Meaningless claim because any party leader is elite and hangs out in London.
My wife, who is pro-Blair and very centrist Tory, is massively pro-Truss. Hates Sunak.
Threatened to leave me if I don't vote for Truss.
Hmm..
How will she know?
She wants to see my ballot paper.
Honestly, this isn't easy.
Can't you explain why you disagree and think that Sunak is the better choice? Seems a bit unreasonable so long as your justification is reasonable.
Still I'm hardly one to be giving advice on relationships.
You start from the premise that Rishi is an open and shut case.
I'm on the fence.
Her view?
She connects with her more. Likes the fact she's come from a modest background and comprehensive school and worked her way up. Likes the fact she works hard and succeeded. Thinks she knows how it is. Think she has more experience. Likes the fact she's loyal. Admires the fact she's willing to listen and change her mind. Likes her low tax and free market principles - exactly how my wife tends to think. Hates Sunak: thinks he's privileged and narrow-minded and obsessed with monetary balance alone and ideological about it. Said she would vote Lib Dem if he was PM.
She thinks Liz Truss is the real deal and really likes her. I'm not sure how often this is commented on here but I think she breaks through to female voters more than is recognised.
Worth noting.
Truss isn't really from a modest background. Very middle class suburban, daughter of an academic.
You can be loyal to a fault. And what about putting your loyalty to Britain above loyalty to Johnson?
Sunak also has low tax/free market principles. Just more pragmatic about it.
That's about the best I can do!
Compared to the guy who’s so rich he’s forgotten how to put petrol in his car, she’s the working class girl.
They are both from middle class professional backgrounds. Rishi's parents were immigrants though. Where she may have an edge would be in mixing with less privileged people at her school compared to Winchester.
Anyway I'm not saying I agree, just trying to provide counter arguments for CR.
My wife, who is pro-Blair and very centrist Tory, is massively pro-Truss. Hates Sunak.
Threatened to leave me if I don't vote for Truss.
Hmm..
How will she know?
She wants to see my ballot paper.
Honestly, this isn't easy.
Can't you explain why you disagree and think that Sunak is the better choice? Seems a bit unreasonable so long as your justification is reasonable.
Still I'm hardly one to be giving advice on relationships.
You start from the premise that Rishi is an open and shut case.
I'm on the fence.
Her view?
She connects with her more. Likes the fact she's come from a modest background and comprehensive school and worked her way up. Likes the fact she works hard and succeeded. Thinks she knows how it is. Think she has more experience. Likes the fact she's loyal. Admires the fact she's willing to listen and change her mind. Likes her low tax and free market principles - exactly how my wife tends to think. Hates Sunak: thinks he's privileged and narrow-minded and obsessed with monetary balance alone and ideological about it. Said she would vote Lib Dem if he was PM.
She thinks Liz Truss is the real deal and really likes her. I'm not sure how often this is commented on here but I think she breaks through to female voters more than is recognised.
Worth noting.
Truss isn't really from a modest background. Very middle class suburban, daughter of an academic.
You can be loyal to a fault. And what about putting your loyalty to Britain above loyalty to Johnson?
Sunak also has low tax/free market principles. Just more pragmatic about it.
That's about the best I can do!
Well yes, but Boris was the literal embodiment of the Metropolitan Elite, yet he won an election partly by presenting himself as the opposite of that
Boris actually spent part of his childhood in rural Somerset
Comments
It was all sold off at a knockdown price to tenants and later these were bought up by buy to rent investors.
We also had a phenomenal amount of military housing stock. As military bases were closed as part of the post Soviet peace dividend these were auctioned off for a small fraction of their market value. Up the road from me is St Athan. 3 bed terraced houses were being auctioned for less than £50k.
So the problem was created by successive Governments. Someone once told me on here that quantitative easing was not problematic as high demand, short supply led consumer (so long as it wasn't wage spiral) inflation would magic the debt away. He no longer posts, but he had a pirate avatar.
Amnesty seems to have done a Stonewall. Sadly having been the good guys back in the 1970s counts for zilch these days.
2020 was going to have been a tough year anyway, before the you-know-what intervened.
I’ve always been against excessive QE. It was of course necessary during the pandemic, but 12 years after the last recession the public finances still hadn’t properly recovered when we went into the next one.
How does that compare to others?
But the most 'help' will be going to those who least need it, whilst poorer income tax payers will get less benefit and the 40% who do not pay tax get none at all.
On reflection, I think that as far as solving the UK's fuel price crisis is concerned @ydoethur is right, tax cuts are no help.
Edit: I see @ydoethur beat me to it! Again.
In her garden, Mum's got tomatoes, peppers, chillies, and pumpkins.
That said, it’s a very big country, and you can experience pretty much any holiday in any season there if you want it.
There’s also the business travellers, which have definitely grown over time.
OK.
As far as domestic electicity and gas goes, AIUI there are “green levy” taxes that could be removed, as well as VAT.
But not sure what Truss is going to do about it. We are now into QT. QE is over. So she's going to "look into it" and what? Conclude it was a mistake? Vow never to let it happen again?
And arrived at a holiday house outside Polzeath - a group of thirteen family members all confusingly talking at once all the time. Rather overwhelming for somewhere grew up as an only child with no cousins, but enjoyably like being thrust into the sort of media-concocted family I half suspected didn't really exist in real life.
Anyway, all this is by way of preamble to posting a picture of the view over the mouth of the Camel at sunset.
Sunak isn't doing the same. If you look at his policy ideas, you see stuff like 'I'll send Britain-haters for re-education' - that is a widening of intrusive state power, it is totally in line with the authoritarian march of the blob, just gussied up in a Union flag to appeal to what Sunak thinks members want.
Truss is throwing out some very positive stuff.
The RAF has to have a training cell inside the Red Arrrows(!) to qualify Hawk T1 pilots for the RAF Flight Medicine role because the tories scrapped No. 100 and there are no other T1 units remaining. Absolute madness. This (and the pissed up shenanigans in Greece) are the reason that many RAFAT displays are 7 ship this year.
It's Big. Very Big. More like a medium-sized continent than a country.
Bottle of Chapel Down and Mount Gay rum. I am battered. Bat-ard.
Star Trek: Jean-Luc Bat-ard.
https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/leisureandtourism/articles/traveltrends/2019#:~:text=There were 93.1 million visits,of 7% compared with 2018.
@BritainElects
Westminster voting intention:
LAB: 39% (-1)
CON: 34% (+1)
LDEM: 13% (+1)
GRN: 5% (-1)
via @techneUK, 03 - 04 Aug"
Threatened to leave me if I don't vote for Truss.
Hmm..
As I no longer work I have taken to a 20 min or so nap after lunch and I can heartedly recommend it and wish I had some how managed it when working.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-58090533
As of now, a typical household fuel bill is about £1900 a year, compared with £1400 a year last autumn. Of that, VAT is a bit less than £100 and policy costs (including the green stuff) is about £150. So there's about £250 that could be cut off bills there (though if we're going to cut those taxes, we really ought to work out what spending we're going to cut as well).
The estimate from the experts is that the annual bill will go up to about £3350 in October, and £3600 in January. That's a rise of about £2000 in a year. Even cutting those taxes to zero wouldn't begin to touch the sides of this.
As things stand, poorer households are set to get about £1050 in one-off support, and poorer pensioner households about £1350. Neither of those looks like enough.
People at the bottom of the pile are going to need a lot of help to get through this winter, much more than tax reductions could give. And helping the neediest adequately is not going to leave anything for the rest of us. That's not going to be much fun, but that's maths for you.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Three-Sheets-Wind-Quest-Meaning/dp/0330442473
(The distance from JFK to the Adak airport in the Aleutians is almost identical.)
At least The Weakest Link daily heats had a certain geeky appeal.
Honestly, this isn't easy.
(As someone about to go to bed, three time zones ahead of most of you, definitely not driving anywhere tomorrow morning, and with little understanding of the modern UK energy bills system).
(I should have taken my nap before commenting.)
Of course, once Truss starts up her cavalcade of disasters thing may not go as well.
Abolishing it would cost £42 bn. It's hugely regressive.
It would also be a good way of levelling up.
Still I'm hardly one to be giving advice on relationships.
A rare example of a track that switches from drum and bass to tech-house.
Good choice.
But, that being said, To The Moon & Back is a bloody good song.
Give me more mate.
I'm on the fence.
Her view?
She connects with her more. Likes the fact she's come from a modest background and comprehensive school and worked her way up. Likes the fact she works hard and succeeded. Thinks she knows how it is. Think she has more experience. Likes the fact she's loyal. Admires the fact she's willing to listen and change her mind. Likes her low tax and free market principles - exactly how my wife tends to think. Hates Sunak: thinks he's privileged and narrow-minded and obsessed with monetary balance alone and ideological about it. Said she would vote Lib Dem if he was PM.
She thinks Liz Truss is the real deal and really likes her. I'm not sure how often this is commented on here but I think she breaks through to female voters more than is recognised.
Worth noting.
What Sir Alex Ferguson once called squeaky bum time.
With more cases to come.
Christ, takes me back. Think I've still got that on vinyl somewhere.
The Bomb / Bucketheads
A pair of 10-minute epics.
Around the World / Daft Punk
You can be loyal to a fault. And what about putting your loyalty to Britain above loyalty to Johnson?
Sunak also has low tax/free market principles. Just more pragmatic about it.
That's about the best I can do!
The sales figures were based on albums and singles, which were all CDs by then. The DJ market, on the other hand, was very much still playing records.
Captain Hollywood Project - More and More
GALA - Freed from desire
Livin' Joy - Dreamer
Anyway I'm not saying I agree, just trying to provide counter arguments for CR.