Starmer is the most trustworthy GB wide politician – politicalbetting.com

System · 2:41PM

Starmer is the most trustworthy GB wide politician – politicalbetting.com

The highly anticipated new series of Celebrity Traitors airs tomorrow – but who do you trust more, the contestants or politicians?Our latest research for @BigIssue reveals:? Stephen Fry tops trust at 57% (vs Boris Johnson 16%)? Jonathan Ross is more trusted than Keir… pic.twitter.com/dAyD3zWW8J

Read the full story here

viewcode · 2:44PM

FPT

Taz said:

viewcode said:

Taz said:

Mexicanpete said:

Taz said:

MattW said:

Taz said:

MattW said:
Listening to her speech, the single biggest problem is that all the things she says need to be done are precisely the things her party has spent a decade demonstrating that they are incapable of doing.
.
Exactly.

Why should anyone believe them.
A decade in purgatory beckons.
Deservedly so
Very, very positive response to the Tories on WATO. And a blast from the past, Julie Kirkbride who is now a More in Common pollster.

Helen Whateley very impressed with Kemi today. Whateley suggesting that the ending of stamp duty will be paid for by cuts. There is no replacement tax ( yet) apparently.
I’d be more surprised if Whateley was not impressed.

I haven’t listened to WATO in years. I’m watching the last Michael Praed episode of Robin of Sherwood. The Greatest Enema. It’s quite good.
(hums Clannad)
It’s a great theme

You’re a cult tv fan.

Have you ever rewatched an old tv show you had happy memories of that disappointed.

I have, it was this.

It’s okay but nothing special

Rather sadly, I was also disappointed when I rewatched Robin of Sherwood: not because it was bad, but the slow pace didn't work any more. What was appropriate in the era of four channels and rainy afternoons doesn't work in the 2020s. I have a horrible feeling the same thing would happen if I rewatched The Children Of The Stones or Airwolf. And I'm not going near Space:1999 (1st series), just in case.

It's not all bad news: when I went to the BFI to see a film (see previous posts), I spent about a hour in its "mediatheque", a free-access row of terminals where you could rewatch programmes. I watched an episode of Edge of Darkness ("Northmoor") and it really stood up. And I think/hope Our Friends In The North would too. And I rewatched some episodes of Big Deal and they really worked, at least for a bit. How about Tales Of The Unexpected, at least the early scripts. Perhaps they would too.

Now I'm wondering. Now we are past the laugh-at-the-tacky effects, if we considered Blake's 7 as a period piece: would it still stand up? Similarly, Miami Vice. Hmmm

TheScreamingEagles · 2:45PM

So a lawyer is the most trustworthy politician whilst a Cambridge man is the most trusted celebrity.

So a Cambridge educated lawyer might be what the country is after in its political leaders.

Carnyx · 2:46PM

Pity they didn't ask about Sir David Attenborough.

Plus his rating is markedly more politically significant than some might think at first glance.

rcs1000 · 2:48PM

Sandpit said:

DavidL said:

Eabhal said:

Sandpit said:

Flatlander said:

Sandpit said:

Battlebus said:

HYUFD said:

Eabhal said:

HYUFD said:

dixiedean said:
Tories pre speech.
"We must tackle the deficit and do something for the young."
After.
"A £15bn bung to homeowners to inflate house prices!"
Superb.
Yes, net zero spending scrapped, welfare scrapped for those with mild mental health problems who can be got back into work, overseas aid cut, no more cars for those with ADHD funded by taxpayer.

Then with those savings stamp duty scrapped benefiting young first time buyers most
Overall that's possibly true because of a more efficient market, but in terms of actual tax paid it's nonsense - Stamp Duty is primarily paid by the richest moving from mansion to mansion.
å
There's also no duty for first time buyers up to £300k - so a load bollocks from you there.
£300k is below even the average house price in London and the home counties so it will be very welcome to first time buyers there
Here's a visual representation of who will benefit from the removal of Stamp Duty. Average House Prices by Constituency. It's looking more like a desperate stunt rather than taking on Reform or even Labour. Who was it said they think CCHQ has it in for her?

Except that’s not how the housing market works, in practice you end up with a long chain of dependent sales at wildly variable prices, houses that could be all over the country.
We should worry most about taxes produce the biggest drag on the economy per £ for the treasury and not so much about who benefits.

Stamp duty must surely be high up there.

Has anyone prepared such a list?

[NB, I have never paid stamp duty]
Good question.

I’d say the biggest is Employer NI, quite literally a tax on jobs but it raises a fortune.
Business rates on retail and hospitality is probably next.
Fuel duty, especially on commercial diesel, feeds into the price of everything. The top 25% now drive EVs for the tax advantages, turning a progressive tax into a regressive one.
Stamp duty SDLT, adds a lot of friction to the economy, and stops people moving out of the London catchment area for a job.
Fixed motoring costs, such as tax and insurance, really regressive on 2nd quartile who need car for work.
TV Tax, massively regressive and with a large admin overhead, plus the criminal convictions of many poor people and tying up courts. Just fund public service programming from general taxation.

There’s a thread header in there somewhere, with a couple of hours of research over the weekend. Let me see…
There's a recent survey of economists here: https://x.com/dc_lawrence/status/1974762991074566474?t=73x_NC_WVV1a8gWIY2ibqA&s=19
If SDLT is replaced by a capital tax based on values the winners and losers on that map will be reversed. Most in London would be paying at least £5k a year (assuming 1%) but most around here in east Scotland would be paying nearer £2k.
Over time this might even out our bizarre property market a bit making property outside London more attractive, not less.
But how does the “key worker” afford the £5k a year on a 2-bed rented flat in London?

You’re putting all the losers in the same place, with potentially catastrophic consequences.

Do a property tax to replace SDLT and Council Tax, but have the local authorities set the rate rather than a national scale.

You don't need anything like 1%.

According to Savill's the total value of residential real estate in the UK is 9.1 trillion. 1% would therefore raise 91 billion.

Not only that, but you would also want to have higher rates for properties that are unoccupied more than (say) 180 days per year, to discourage people from having homes they don't live in. (Conveniently, those homes are often the most expensive and owned by non-UK taxpayers, so it's win-win.)

Mexicanpete · 2:49PM

There is a glaring omission in the survey. Where is Honest Bob?

Someone called "Honest Bob" must be very trustworthy.

Leon · 2:52PM

Here’s a really eye catching policy - that any of the major right wing parties could introduce

Add an extra hour to the day. Take three minutes off each of the other hours (no one will notice) then combine all that into a new hour

And here’s the right wing libertarian angle. Allow people to spend their new hour when they like. ie if you really enjoy early morning you could add your extra Leon-hour between six and seven. An extra hour to get things done while all the world snoozes!

Night owls could prolong the sultry mood at 1am. A Leon-hour of the night

And if you’re simply knackered just get an extra Leon-hour of sleep

This is what British politics needs. Not tax tweaks. Proper changes

OldKingCole · 2:53PM

rcs1000 said:

Sandpit said:

DavidL said:

Eabhal said:

Sandpit said:

Flatlander said:

Sandpit said:

Battlebus said:

HYUFD said:

Eabhal said:

HYUFD said:

dixiedean said:
Tories pre speech.
"We must tackle the deficit and do something for the young."
After.
"A £15bn bung to homeowners to inflate house prices!"
Superb.
Yes, net zero spending scrapped, welfare scrapped for those with mild mental health problems who can be got back into work, overseas aid cut, no more cars for those with ADHD funded by taxpayer.

Then with those savings stamp duty scrapped benefiting young first time buyers most
Overall that's possibly true because of a more efficient market, but in terms of actual tax paid it's nonsense - Stamp Duty is primarily paid by the richest moving from mansion to mansion.
å
There's also no duty for first time buyers up to £300k - so a load bollocks from you there.
£300k is below even the average house price in London and the home counties so it will be very welcome to first time buyers there
Here's a visual representation of who will benefit from the removal of Stamp Duty. Average House Prices by Constituency. It's looking more like a desperate stunt rather than taking on Reform or even Labour. Who was it said they think CCHQ has it in for her?

Except that’s not how the housing market works, in practice you end up with a long chain of dependent sales at wildly variable prices, houses that could be all over the country.
We should worry most about taxes produce the biggest drag on the economy per £ for the treasury and not so much about who benefits.

Stamp duty must surely be high up there.

Has anyone prepared such a list?

[NB, I have never paid stamp duty]
Good question.

I’d say the biggest is Employer NI, quite literally a tax on jobs but it raises a fortune.
Business rates on retail and hospitality is probably next.
Fuel duty, especially on commercial diesel, feeds into the price of everything. The top 25% now drive EVs for the tax advantages, turning a progressive tax into a regressive one.
Stamp duty SDLT, adds a lot of friction to the economy, and stops people moving out of the London catchment area for a job.
Fixed motoring costs, such as tax and insurance, really regressive on 2nd quartile who need car for work.
TV Tax, massively regressive and with a large admin overhead, plus the criminal convictions of many poor people and tying up courts. Just fund public service programming from general taxation.

There’s a thread header in there somewhere, with a couple of hours of research over the weekend. Let me see…
There's a recent survey of economists here: https://x.com/dc_lawrence/status/1974762991074566474?t=73x_NC_WVV1a8gWIY2ibqA&s=19
If SDLT is replaced by a capital tax based on values the winners and losers on that map will be reversed. Most in London would be paying at least £5k a year (assuming 1%) but most around here in east Scotland would be paying nearer £2k.
Over time this might even out our bizarre property market a bit making property outside London more attractive, not less.
But how does the “key worker” afford the £5k a year on a 2-bed rented flat in London?

You’re putting all the losers in the same place, with potentially catastrophic consequences.

Do a property tax to replace SDLT and Council Tax, but have the local authorities set the rate rather than a national scale.
You don't need anything like 1%.

According to Savill's the total value of residential real estate in the UK is 9.1 trillion. 1% would therefore raise 91 billion.

Not only that, but you would also want to have higher rates for properties that are unoccupied more than (say) 180 days per year, to discourage people from having homes they don't live in. (Conveniently, those homes are often the most expensive and owned by non-UK taxpayers, so it's win-win.)

Good idea to sort property taxation. Not sure this is the way to go about, though.

Carnyx · 2:56PM

Leon said:
Here’s a really eye catching policy - that any of the major right wing parties could introduce

Add an extra hour to the day. Take three minutes off each of the other hours (no one will notice) then combine all that into a new hour

And here’s the right wing libertarian angle. Allow people to spend their new hour when they like. ie if you really enjoy early morning you could add your extra Leon-hour between six and seven. An extra hour to get things done while all the world snoozes!

Night owls could prolong the sultry mood at 1am. A Leon-hour of the night

And if you’re simply knackered just get an extra Leon-hour of sleep

This is what British politics needs. Not tax tweaks. Proper changes

Why don't you ask the nice aliens to sort it with the earth's orbit?

Big_G_NorthWales · 2:57PM

If I were Ed Davey I would be worried about being seen less trustworthy than Boris Johnson. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

DavidL · 2:57PM

rcs1000 said:

Sandpit said:

DavidL said:

Eabhal said:

Sandpit said:

Flatlander said:

Sandpit said:

Battlebus said:

HYUFD said:

Eabhal said:

HYUFD said:

dixiedean said:
Tories pre speech.
"We must tackle the deficit and do something for the young."
After.
"A £15bn bung to homeowners to inflate house prices!"
Superb.
Yes, net zero spending scrapped, welfare scrapped for those with mild mental health problems who can be got back into work, overseas aid cut, no more cars for those with ADHD funded by taxpayer.

Then with those savings stamp duty scrapped benefiting young first time buyers most
Overall that's possibly true because of a more efficient market, but in terms of actual tax paid it's nonsense - Stamp Duty is primarily paid by the richest moving from mansion to mansion.
å
There's also no duty for first time buyers up to £300k - so a load bollocks from you there.
£300k is below even the average house price in London and the home counties so it will be very welcome to first time buyers there
Here's a visual representation of who will benefit from the removal of Stamp Duty. Average House Prices by Constituency. It's looking more like a desperate stunt rather than taking on Reform or even Labour. Who was it said they think CCHQ has it in for her?

Except that’s not how the housing market works, in practice you end up with a long chain of dependent sales at wildly variable prices, houses that could be all over the country.
We should worry most about taxes produce the biggest drag on the economy per £ for the treasury and not so much about who benefits.

Stamp duty must surely be high up there.

Has anyone prepared such a list?

[NB, I have never paid stamp duty]
Good question.

I’d say the biggest is Employer NI, quite literally a tax on jobs but it raises a fortune.
Business rates on retail and hospitality is probably next.
Fuel duty, especially on commercial diesel, feeds into the price of everything. The top 25% now drive EVs for the tax advantages, turning a progressive tax into a regressive one.
Stamp duty SDLT, adds a lot of friction to the economy, and stops people moving out of the London catchment area for a job.
Fixed motoring costs, such as tax and insurance, really regressive on 2nd quartile who need car for work.
TV Tax, massively regressive and with a large admin overhead, plus the criminal convictions of many poor people and tying up courts. Just fund public service programming from general taxation.

There’s a thread header in there somewhere, with a couple of hours of research over the weekend. Let me see…
There's a recent survey of economists here: https://x.com/dc_lawrence/status/1974762991074566474?t=73x_NC_WVV1a8gWIY2ibqA&s=19
If SDLT is replaced by a capital tax based on values the winners and losers on that map will be reversed. Most in London would be paying at least £5k a year (assuming 1%) but most around here in east Scotland would be paying nearer £2k.
Over time this might even out our bizarre property market a bit making property outside London more attractive, not less.
But how does the “key worker” afford the £5k a year on a 2-bed rented flat in London?

You’re putting all the losers in the same place, with potentially catastrophic consequences.

Do a property tax to replace SDLT and Council Tax, but have the local authorities set the rate rather than a national scale.
You don't need anything like 1%.

According to Savill's the total value of residential real estate in the UK is 9.1 trillion. 1% would therefore raise 91 billion.

Not only that, but you would also want to have higher rates for properties that are unoccupied more than (say) 180 days per year, to discourage people from having homes they don't live in. (Conveniently, those homes are often the most expensive and owned by non-UK taxpayers, so it's win-win.)

What does Council Tax currently generate? If that is included I think 1% would not be far off, especially when you provide for the inevitable special pleading for various groups such as @Sandpit’s key workers.

Flatlander · 2:57PM

viewcode said:
FPT
Taz said:

viewcode said:

Taz said:

Mexicanpete said:

Taz said:

MattW said:

Taz said:

MattW said:
Listening to her speech, the single biggest problem is that all the things she says need to be done are precisely the things her party has spent a decade demonstrating that they are incapable of doing.
.
Exactly.

Why should anyone believe them.
A decade in purgatory beckons.
Deservedly so
Very, very positive response to the Tories on WATO. And a blast from the past, Julie Kirkbride who is now a More in Common pollster.

Helen Whateley very impressed with Kemi today. Whateley suggesting that the ending of stamp duty will be paid for by cuts. There is no replacement tax ( yet) apparently.
I’d be more surprised if Whateley was not impressed.

I haven’t listened to WATO in years. I’m watching the last Michael Praed episode of Robin of Sherwood. The Greatest Enema. It’s quite good.
(hums Clannad)
It’s a great theme

You’re a cult tv fan.

Have you ever rewatched an old tv show you had happy memories of that disappointed.

I have, it was this.

It’s okay but nothing special
Rather sadly, I was also disappointed when I rewatched Robin of Sherwood: not because it was bad, but the slow pace didn't work any more. What was appropriate in the era of four channels and rainy afternoons doesn't work in the 2020s. I have a horrible feeling the same thing would happen if I rewatched The Children Of The Stones or Airwolf. And I'm not going near Space:1999 (1st series), just in case.

It's not all bad news: when I went to the BFI to see a film (see previous posts), I spent about a hour in its "mediatheque", a free-access row of terminals where you could rewatch programmes. I watched an episode of Edge of Darkness ("Northmoor") and it really stood up. And I think/hope Our Friends In The North would too. And I rewatched some episodes of Big Deal and they really worked, at least for a bit. How about Tales Of The Unexpected, at least the early scripts. Perhaps they would too.

Now I'm wondering. Now we are past the laugh-at-the-tacky effects, if we considered Blake's 7 as a period piece: would it still stand up? Similarly, Miami Vice. Hmmm

I rewatched Edge of Darkness not long ago. Definitely stands up. A classic.

My Dad watched a fair few Tales of the Unexpected at times and when passing I found they were vaguely amusing but getting rather dated.

noneoftheabove · 2:59PM

Leon said:
Here’s a really eye catching policy - that any of the major right wing parties could introduce

Add an extra hour to the day. Take three minutes off each of the other hours (no one will notice) then combine all that into a new hour

And here’s the right wing libertarian angle. Allow people to spend their new hour when they like. ie if you really enjoy early morning you could add your extra Leon-hour between six and seven. An extra hour to get things done while all the world snoozes!

Night owls could prolong the sultry mood at 1am. A Leon-hour of the night

And if you’re simply knackered just get an extra Leon-hour of sleep

This is what British politics needs. Not tax tweaks. Proper changes

Sounds like a socialist extension of the right to rest breaks for employees .

Stark_Dawning · 2:59PM

Leon said:
Here’s a really eye catching policy - that any of the major right wing parties could introduce

Add an extra hour to the day. Take three minutes off each of the other hours (no one will notice) then combine all that into a new hour

And here’s the right wing libertarian angle. Allow people to spend their new hour when they like. ie if you really enjoy early morning you could add your extra Leon-hour between six and seven. An extra hour to get things done while all the world snoozes!

Night owls could prolong the sultry mood at 1am. A Leon-hour of the night

And if you’re simply knackered just get an extra Leon-hour of sleep

This is what British politics needs. Not tax tweaks. Proper changes

I pity the poor IT minions who'll have convert every piece of software to use 25-hour days purely for British usage.

DavidL · 3:00PM

Leon said:
Here’s a really eye catching policy - that any of the major right wing parties could introduce

Add an extra hour to the day. Take three minutes off each of the other hours (no one will notice) then combine all that into a new hour

And here’s the right wing libertarian angle. Allow people to spend their new hour when they like. ie if you really enjoy early morning you could add your extra Leon-hour between six and seven. An extra hour to get things done while all the world snoozes!

Night owls could prolong the sultry mood at 1am. A Leon-hour of the night

And if you’re simply knackered just get an extra Leon-hour of sleep

This is what British politics needs. Not tax tweaks. Proper changes

“It may be me,” as the late great Lord Macfadyen used to say to me in the Commercial court, but the key utility of time is that it is the same for everyone. If we all have different times organising anything becomes impossible.

Eabhal · 3:01PM

DavidL said:

rcs1000 said:

Sandpit said:

DavidL said:

Eabhal said:

Sandpit said:

Flatlander said:

Sandpit said:

Battlebus said:

HYUFD said:

Eabhal said:

HYUFD said:

dixiedean said:
Tories pre speech.
"We must tackle the deficit and do something for the young."
After.
"A £15bn bung to homeowners to inflate house prices!"
Superb.
Yes, net zero spending scrapped, welfare scrapped for those with mild mental health problems who can be got back into work, overseas aid cut, no more cars for those with ADHD funded by taxpayer.

Then with those savings stamp duty scrapped benefiting young first time buyers most
Overall that's possibly true because of a more efficient market, but in terms of actual tax paid it's nonsense - Stamp Duty is primarily paid by the richest moving from mansion to mansion.
å
There's also no duty for first time buyers up to £300k - so a load bollocks from you there.
£300k is below even the average house price in London and the home counties so it will be very welcome to first time buyers there
Here's a visual representation of who will benefit from the removal of Stamp Duty. Average House Prices by Constituency. It's looking more like a desperate stunt rather than taking on Reform or even Labour. Who was it said they think CCHQ has it in for her?

Except that’s not how the housing market works, in practice you end up with a long chain of dependent sales at wildly variable prices, houses that could be all over the country.
We should worry most about taxes produce the biggest drag on the economy per £ for the treasury and not so much about who benefits.

Stamp duty must surely be high up there.

Has anyone prepared such a list?

[NB, I have never paid stamp duty]
Good question.

I’d say the biggest is Employer NI, quite literally a tax on jobs but it raises a fortune.
Business rates on retail and hospitality is probably next.
Fuel duty, especially on commercial diesel, feeds into the price of everything. The top 25% now drive EVs for the tax advantages, turning a progressive tax into a regressive one.
Stamp duty SDLT, adds a lot of friction to the economy, and stops people moving out of the London catchment area for a job.
Fixed motoring costs, such as tax and insurance, really regressive on 2nd quartile who need car for work.
TV Tax, massively regressive and with a large admin overhead, plus the criminal convictions of many poor people and tying up courts. Just fund public service programming from general taxation.

There’s a thread header in there somewhere, with a couple of hours of research over the weekend. Let me see…
There's a recent survey of economists here: https://x.com/dc_lawrence/status/1974762991074566474?t=73x_NC_WVV1a8gWIY2ibqA&s=19
If SDLT is replaced by a capital tax based on values the winners and losers on that map will be reversed. Most in London would be paying at least £5k a year (assuming 1%) but most around here in east Scotland would be paying nearer £2k.
Over time this might even out our bizarre property market a bit making property outside London more attractive, not less.
But how does the “key worker” afford the £5k a year on a 2-bed rented flat in London?

You’re putting all the losers in the same place, with potentially catastrophic consequences.

Do a property tax to replace SDLT and Council Tax, but have the local authorities set the rate rather than a national scale.
You don't need anything like 1%.

According to Savill's the total value of residential real estate in the UK is 9.1 trillion. 1% would therefore raise 91 billion.

Not only that, but you would also want to have higher rates for properties that are unoccupied more than (say) 180 days per year, to discourage people from having homes they don't live in. (Conveniently, those homes are often the most expensive and owned by non-UK taxpayers, so it's win-win.)
What does Council Tax currently generate? If that is included I think 1% would not be far off, especially when you provide for the inevitable special pleading for various groups such as @Sandpit’s key workers.

Council tax is equivalent to 0.5%. Stamp Duty 0.2%.

1% would allow you to abolish CGT and IHT too, which is what I'd do.

noneoftheabove · 3:01PM

Stark_Dawning said:

Leon said:
Here’s a really eye catching policy - that any of the major right wing parties could introduce

Add an extra hour to the day. Take three minutes off each of the other hours (no one will notice) then combine all that into a new hour

And here’s the right wing libertarian angle. Allow people to spend their new hour when they like. ie if you really enjoy early morning you could add your extra Leon-hour between six and seven. An extra hour to get things done while all the world snoozes!

Night owls could prolong the sultry mood at 1am. A Leon-hour of the night

And if you’re simply knackered just get an extra Leon-hour of sleep

This is what British politics needs. Not tax tweaks. Proper changes
I pity the poor IT minions who'll have convert every piece of software to use 25-hour days purely for British usage.

It is also 24 x 57 minute hour plus 1 72 minute hour just to confuse things further.

Carnyx · 3:02PM

DavidL said:

Leon said:
Here’s a really eye catching policy - that any of the major right wing parties could introduce

Add an extra hour to the day. Take three minutes off each of the other hours (no one will notice) then combine all that into a new hour

And here’s the right wing libertarian angle. Allow people to spend their new hour when they like. ie if you really enjoy early morning you could add your extra Leon-hour between six and seven. An extra hour to get things done while all the world snoozes!

Night owls could prolong the sultry mood at 1am. A Leon-hour of the night

And if you’re simply knackered just get an extra Leon-hour of sleep

This is what British politics needs. Not tax tweaks. Proper changes
“It may be me,” as the late great Lord Macfadyen used to say to me in the Commercial court, but the key utility of time is that it is the same for everyone. If we all have different times organising anything becomes impossible.

Like the railway companies discovered, very quickly.

DougSeal · 3:02PM

TheScreamingEagles said:
So a lawyer is the most trustworthy politician whilst a Cambridge man is the most trusted celebrity.

So a Cambridge educated lawyer might be what the country is after in its political leaders.

Robert Jenrick? Okay then…

MarqueeMark · 3:03PM

On the other hand...Starmer is held 18% lower than Russell Brand's sidekick, Jonathan Ross...

eek · 3:03PM

Eabhal said:

DavidL said:

rcs1000 said:

Sandpit said:

DavidL said:

Eabhal said:

Sandpit said:

Flatlander said:

Sandpit said:

Battlebus said:

HYUFD said:

Eabhal said:

HYUFD said:

dixiedean said:
Tories pre speech.
"We must tackle the deficit and do something for the young."
After.
"A £15bn bung to homeowners to inflate house prices!"
Superb.
Yes, net zero spending scrapped, welfare scrapped for those with mild mental health problems who can be got back into work, overseas aid cut, no more cars for those with ADHD funded by taxpayer.

Then with those savings stamp duty scrapped benefiting young first time buyers most
Overall that's possibly true because of a more efficient market, but in terms of actual tax paid it's nonsense - Stamp Duty is primarily paid by the richest moving from mansion to mansion.
å
There's also no duty for first time buyers up to £300k - so a load bollocks from you there.
£300k is below even the average house price in London and the home counties so it will be very welcome to first time buyers there
Here's a visual representation of who will benefit from the removal of Stamp Duty. Average House Prices by Constituency. It's looking more like a desperate stunt rather than taking on Reform or even Labour. Who was it said they think CCHQ has it in for her?

Except that’s not how the housing market works, in practice you end up with a long chain of dependent sales at wildly variable prices, houses that could be all over the country.
We should worry most about taxes produce the biggest drag on the economy per £ for the treasury and not so much about who benefits.

Stamp duty must surely be high up there.

Has anyone prepared such a list?

[NB, I have never paid stamp duty]
Good question.

I’d say the biggest is Employer NI, quite literally a tax on jobs but it raises a fortune.
Business rates on retail and hospitality is probably next.
Fuel duty, especially on commercial diesel, feeds into the price of everything. The top 25% now drive EVs for the tax advantages, turning a progressive tax into a regressive one.
Stamp duty SDLT, adds a lot of friction to the economy, and stops people moving out of the London catchment area for a job.
Fixed motoring costs, such as tax and insurance, really regressive on 2nd quartile who need car for work.
TV Tax, massively regressive and with a large admin overhead, plus the criminal convictions of many poor people and tying up courts. Just fund public service programming from general taxation.

There’s a thread header in there somewhere, with a couple of hours of research over the weekend. Let me see…
There's a recent survey of economists here: https://x.com/dc_lawrence/status/1974762991074566474?t=73x_NC_WVV1a8gWIY2ibqA&s=19
If SDLT is replaced by a capital tax based on values the winners and losers on that map will be reversed. Most in London would be paying at least £5k a year (assuming 1%) but most around here in east Scotland would be paying nearer £2k.
Over time this might even out our bizarre property market a bit making property outside London more attractive, not less.
But how does the “key worker” afford the £5k a year on a 2-bed rented flat in London?

You’re putting all the losers in the same place, with potentially catastrophic consequences.

Do a property tax to replace SDLT and Council Tax, but have the local authorities set the rate rather than a national scale.
You don't need anything like 1%.

According to Savill's the total value of residential real estate in the UK is 9.1 trillion. 1% would therefore raise 91 billion.

Not only that, but you would also want to have higher rates for properties that are unoccupied more than (say) 180 days per year, to discourage people from having homes they don't live in. (Conveniently, those homes are often the most expensive and owned by non-UK taxpayers, so it's win-win.)
What does Council Tax currently generate? If that is included I think 1% would not be far off, especially when you provide for the inevitable special pleading for various groups such as @Sandpit’s key workers.
Council tax is equivalent to 0.5%.

Depending where you are - up north it's probably 1% and I could probably find properties where it's 2-3% of the valuation without much difficulty...

DavidL · 3:04PM

Carnyx said:

DavidL said:

Leon said:
Here’s a really eye catching policy - that any of the major right wing parties could introduce

Add an extra hour to the day. Take three minutes off each of the other hours (no one will notice) then combine all that into a new hour

And here’s the right wing libertarian angle. Allow people to spend their new hour when they like. ie if you really enjoy early morning you could add your extra Leon-hour between six and seven. An extra hour to get things done while all the world snoozes!

Night owls could prolong the sultry mood at 1am. A Leon-hour of the night

And if you’re simply knackered just get an extra Leon-hour of sleep

This is what British politics needs. Not tax tweaks. Proper changes
“It may be me,” as the late great Lord Macfadyen used to say to me in the Commercial court, but the key utility of time is that it is the same for everyone. If we all have different times organising anything becomes impossible.
Like the railway companies discovered, very quickly.

Not sure they have ever come to terms with it in my experience.

Dopermean · 3:04PM

Flatlander said:

viewcode said:
FPT
Taz said:

viewcode said:

Taz said:

Mexicanpete said:

Taz said:

MattW said:

Taz said:

MattW said:
Listening to her speech, the single biggest problem is that all the things she says need to be done are precisely the things her party has spent a decade demonstrating that they are incapable of doing.
.
Exactly.

Why should anyone believe them.
A decade in purgatory beckons.
Deservedly so
Very, very positive response to the Tories on WATO. And a blast from the past, Julie Kirkbride who is now a More in Common pollster.

Helen Whateley very impressed with Kemi today. Whateley suggesting that the ending of stamp duty will be paid for by cuts. There is no replacement tax ( yet) apparently.
I’d be more surprised if Whateley was not impressed.

I haven’t listened to WATO in years. I’m watching the last Michael Praed episode of Robin of Sherwood. The Greatest Enema. It’s quite good.
(hums Clannad)
It’s a great theme

You’re a cult tv fan.

Have you ever rewatched an old tv show you had happy memories of that disappointed.

I have, it was this.

It’s okay but nothing special
Rather sadly, I was also disappointed when I rewatched Robin of Sherwood: not because it was bad, but the slow pace didn't work any more. What was appropriate in the era of four channels and rainy afternoons doesn't work in the 2020s. I have a horrible feeling the same thing would happen if I rewatched The Children Of The Stones or Airwolf. And I'm not going near Space:1999 (1st series), just in case.

It's not all bad news: when I went to the BFI to see a film (see previous posts), I spent about a hour in its "mediatheque", a free-access row of terminals where you could rewatch programmes. I watched an episode of Edge of Darkness ("Northmoor") and it really stood up. And I think/hope Our Friends In The North would too. And I rewatched some episodes of Big Deal and they really worked, at least for a bit. How about Tales Of The Unexpected, at least the early scripts. Perhaps they would too.

Now I'm wondering. Now we are past the laugh-at-the-tacky effects, if we considered Blake's 7 as a period piece: would it still stand up? Similarly, Miami Vice. Hmmm
I rewatched Edge of Darkness not long ago. Definitely stands up. A classic.

My Dad watched a fair few Tales of the Unexpected at times and when passing I found they were vaguely amusing but getting rather dated.

Bought EoD on DVD after catching random reruns.

Eabhal · 3:04PM

eek said:

Eabhal said:

DavidL said:

rcs1000 said:

Sandpit said:

DavidL said:

Eabhal said:

Sandpit said:

Flatlander said:

Sandpit said:

Battlebus said:

HYUFD said:

Eabhal said:

HYUFD said:

dixiedean said:
Tories pre speech.
"We must tackle the deficit and do something for the young."
After.
"A £15bn bung to homeowners to inflate house prices!"
Superb.
Yes, net zero spending scrapped, welfare scrapped for those with mild mental health problems who can be got back into work, overseas aid cut, no more cars for those with ADHD funded by taxpayer.

Then with those savings stamp duty scrapped benefiting young first time buyers most
Overall that's possibly true because of a more efficient market, but in terms of actual tax paid it's nonsense - Stamp Duty is primarily paid by the richest moving from mansion to mansion.
å
There's also no duty for first time buyers up to £300k - so a load bollocks from you there.
£300k is below even the average house price in London and the home counties so it will be very welcome to first time buyers there
Here's a visual representation of who will benefit from the removal of Stamp Duty. Average House Prices by Constituency. It's looking more like a desperate stunt rather than taking on Reform or even Labour. Who was it said they think CCHQ has it in for her?

Except that’s not how the housing market works, in practice you end up with a long chain of dependent sales at wildly variable prices, houses that could be all over the country.
We should worry most about taxes produce the biggest drag on the economy per £ for the treasury and not so much about who benefits.

Stamp duty must surely be high up there.

Has anyone prepared such a list?

[NB, I have never paid stamp duty]
Good question.

I’d say the biggest is Employer NI, quite literally a tax on jobs but it raises a fortune.
Business rates on retail and hospitality is probably next.
Fuel duty, especially on commercial diesel, feeds into the price of everything. The top 25% now drive EVs for the tax advantages, turning a progressive tax into a regressive one.
Stamp duty SDLT, adds a lot of friction to the economy, and stops people moving out of the London catchment area for a job.
Fixed motoring costs, such as tax and insurance, really regressive on 2nd quartile who need car for work.
TV Tax, massively regressive and with a large admin overhead, plus the criminal convictions of many poor people and tying up courts. Just fund public service programming from general taxation.

There’s a thread header in there somewhere, with a couple of hours of research over the weekend. Let me see…
There's a recent survey of economists here: https://x.com/dc_lawrence/status/1974762991074566474?t=73x_NC_WVV1a8gWIY2ibqA&s=19
If SDLT is replaced by a capital tax based on values the winners and losers on that map will be reversed. Most in London would be paying at least £5k a year (assuming 1%) but most around here in east Scotland would be paying nearer £2k.
Over time this might even out our bizarre property market a bit making property outside London more attractive, not less.
But how does the “key worker” afford the £5k a year on a 2-bed rented flat in London?

You’re putting all the losers in the same place, with potentially catastrophic consequences.

Do a property tax to replace SDLT and Council Tax, but have the local authorities set the rate rather than a national scale.
You don't need anything like 1%.

According to Savill's the total value of residential real estate in the UK is 9.1 trillion. 1% would therefore raise 91 billion.

Not only that, but you would also want to have higher rates for properties that are unoccupied more than (say) 180 days per year, to discourage people from having homes they don't live in. (Conveniently, those homes are often the most expensive and owned by non-UK taxpayers, so it's win-win.)
What does Council Tax currently generate? If that is included I think 1% would not be far off, especially when you provide for the inevitable special pleading for various groups such as @Sandpit’s key workers.
Council tax is equivalent to 0.5%.
Depending where you are - up north it's probably 1% and I could probably find properties where it's 2-3% of the valuation without much difficulty...

*In aggregate. It's applied grossly unfairly if you consider it a property tax.

Flatlander · 3:05PM

Carnyx said:

Leon said:
Here’s a really eye catching policy - that any of the major right wing parties could introduce

Add an extra hour to the day. Take three minutes off each of the other hours (no one will notice) then combine all that into a new hour

And here’s the right wing libertarian angle. Allow people to spend their new hour when they like. ie if you really enjoy early morning you could add your extra Leon-hour between six and seven. An extra hour to get things done while all the world snoozes!

Night owls could prolong the sultry mood at 1am. A Leon-hour of the night

And if you’re simply knackered just get an extra Leon-hour of sleep

This is what British politics needs. Not tax tweaks. Proper changes
Why don't you ask the nice aliens to sort it with the earth's orbit?

A slower spin and a slightly bigger orbit to get a nice even number of days? Just enough extra distance to counteract climate change?

Why not.

Good practice for when we'll need a much bigger skycrane in a few billion years.

dixiedean · 3:06PM

Leon said:
Here’s a really eye catching policy - that any of the major right wing parties could introduce

Add an extra hour to the day. Take three minutes off each of the other hours (no one will notice) then combine all that into a new hour

And here’s the right wing libertarian angle. Allow people to spend their new hour when they like. ie if you really enjoy early morning you could add your extra Leon-hour between six and seven. An extra hour to get things done while all the world snoozes!

Night owls could prolong the sultry mood at 1am. A Leon-hour of the night

And if you’re simply knackered just get an extra Leon-hour of sleep

This is what British politics needs. Not tax tweaks. Proper changes

Mealy mouthed incrementalism.
I propose a 100 hour day.
Each of 14 minutes and 24 seconds.
We could quadruple productivity instantly by introducing a standard 30 hour working day.
And all get 30 hours sleep too.
Leaving 40 hours free time. Every day!
Your sort just aren't ambitious enough.

Nigelb · 3:09PM

Flatlander said:

viewcode said:
FPT
Taz said:

viewcode said:

Taz said:

Mexicanpete said:

Taz said:

MattW said:

Taz said:

MattW said:
Listening to her speech, the single biggest problem is that all the things she says need to be done are precisely the things her party has spent a decade demonstrating that they are incapable of doing.
.
Exactly.

Why should anyone believe them.
A decade in purgatory beckons.
Deservedly so
Very, very positive response to the Tories on WATO. And a blast from the past, Julie Kirkbride who is now a More in Common pollster.

Helen Whateley very impressed with Kemi today. Whateley suggesting that the ending of stamp duty will be paid for by cuts. There is no replacement tax ( yet) apparently.
I’d be more surprised if Whateley was not impressed.

I haven’t listened to WATO in years. I’m watching the last Michael Praed episode of Robin of Sherwood. The Greatest Enema. It’s quite good.
(hums Clannad)
It’s a great theme

You’re a cult tv fan.

Have you ever rewatched an old tv show you had happy memories of that disappointed.

I have, it was this.

It’s okay but nothing special
Rather sadly, I was also disappointed when I rewatched Robin of Sherwood: not because it was bad, but the slow pace didn't work any more. What was appropriate in the era of four channels and rainy afternoons doesn't work in the 2020s. I have a horrible feeling the same thing would happen if I rewatched The Children Of The Stones or Airwolf. And I'm not going near Space:1999 (1st series), just in case.

It's not all bad news: when I went to the BFI to see a film (see previous posts), I spent about a hour in its "mediatheque", a free-access row of terminals where you could rewatch programmes. I watched an episode of Edge of Darkness ("Northmoor") and it really stood up. And I think/hope Our Friends In The North would too. And I rewatched some episodes of Big Deal and they really worked, at least for a bit. How about Tales Of The Unexpected, at least the early scripts. Perhaps they would too.

Now I'm wondering. Now we are past the laugh-at-the-tacky effects, if we considered Blake's 7 as a period piece: would it still stand up? Similarly, Miami Vice. Hmmm
I rewatched Edge of Darkness not long ago. Definitely stands up. A classic.

My Dad watched a fair few Tales of the Unexpected at times and when passing I found they were vaguely amusing but getting rather dated.

The Water Margin.
Exotic and strange to a kid fifty years ago, but now more than a bit rubbish.

Has China ever remade it ? It's based on classic ancient legends.

rottenborough · 3:09PM

Leon said:
Here’s a really eye catching policy - that any of the major right wing parties could introduce

Add an extra hour to the day. Take three minutes off each of the other hours (no one will notice) then combine all that into a new hour

And here’s the right wing libertarian angle. Allow people to spend their new hour when they like. ie if you really enjoy early morning you could add your extra Leon-hour between six and seven. An extra hour to get things done while all the world snoozes!

Night owls could prolong the sultry mood at 1am. A Leon-hour of the night

And if you’re simply knackered just get an extra Leon-hour of sleep

This is what British politics needs. Not tax tweaks. Proper changes

No, the people actually want free sea otters.

OldKingCole · 3:11PM

dixiedean said:

Leon said:
Here’s a really eye catching policy - that any of the major right wing parties could introduce

Add an extra hour to the day. Take three minutes off each of the other hours (no one will notice) then combine all that into a new hour

And here’s the right wing libertarian angle. Allow people to spend their new hour when they like. ie if you really enjoy early morning you could add your extra Leon-hour between six and seven. An extra hour to get things done while all the world snoozes!

Night owls could prolong the sultry mood at 1am. A Leon-hour of the night

And if you’re simply knackered just get an extra Leon-hour of sleep

This is what British politics needs. Not tax tweaks. Proper changes
Mealy mouthed incrementalism.
I propose a 100 hour day.
Each of 14 minutes and 24 seconds.
We could quadruple productivity instantly by introducing a standard 30 hour working day.
And all get 30 hours sleep too.
Leaving 40 hours free time. Every day!
Your sort just aren't ambitious enough.

If the current system was good enough for the Babylonians/Sumerians, surely it should be good enough for us. Anyway, didn't the Revolutionary French try something like Leon's scheme.
And quickly abandoned it!

Carnyx · 3:12PM

DavidL said:

Carnyx said:

DavidL said:

Leon said:
Here’s a really eye catching policy - that any of the major right wing parties could introduce

Add an extra hour to the day. Take three minutes off each of the other hours (no one will notice) then combine all that into a new hour

And here’s the right wing libertarian angle. Allow people to spend their new hour when they like. ie if you really enjoy early morning you could add your extra Leon-hour between six and seven. An extra hour to get things done while all the world snoozes!

Night owls could prolong the sultry mood at 1am. A Leon-hour of the night

And if you’re simply knackered just get an extra Leon-hour of sleep

This is what British politics needs. Not tax tweaks. Proper changes
“It may be me,” as the late great Lord Macfadyen used to say to me in the Commercial court, but the key utility of time is that it is the same for everyone. If we all have different times organising anything becomes impossible.
Like the railway companies discovered, very quickly.
Not sure they have ever come to terms with it in my experience.

Christ Church at Oxford certainly hasn't worked out how to change its clock to GMT rather than Old Oxford Time, either.

rottenborough · 3:13PM

‪Kevin Schofield‬
‪@kevinschofied.bsky.social‬
· 47m

EXCL: PM facing Labour rebellion over Digital ID.

No10 setting up "outreach" meetings to win over unhappy MPs.

MP says: "Overtures from them won’t shift people and those who support it think No.10′s reverse Midas touch has tainted it for another 5 years.”

https://bsky.app/profile/kevinschofied.bsky.social/post/3m2otukhmm22m

Flatlander · 3:13PM

Carnyx said:

DavidL said:

Carnyx said:

DavidL said:

Leon said:
Here’s a really eye catching policy - that any of the major right wing parties could introduce

Add an extra hour to the day. Take three minutes off each of the other hours (no one will notice) then combine all that into a new hour

And here’s the right wing libertarian angle. Allow people to spend their new hour when they like. ie if you really enjoy early morning you could add your extra Leon-hour between six and seven. An extra hour to get things done while all the world snoozes!

Night owls could prolong the sultry mood at 1am. A Leon-hour of the night

And if you’re simply knackered just get an extra Leon-hour of sleep

This is what British politics needs. Not tax tweaks. Proper changes
“It may be me,” as the late great Lord Macfadyen used to say to me in the Commercial court, but the key utility of time is that it is the same for everyone. If we all have different times organising anything becomes impossible.
Like the railway companies discovered, very quickly.
Not sure they have ever come to terms with it in my experience.
Christ Church at Oxford certainly hasn't worked out how to change its clock to GMT rather than Old Oxford Time, either.

"Oxford Time" was always a good excuse for being 5 minutes late.

Carnyx · 3:13PM

OldKingCole said:

dixiedean said:

Leon said:
Here’s a really eye catching policy - that any of the major right wing parties could introduce

Add an extra hour to the day. Take three minutes off each of the other hours (no one will notice) then combine all that into a new hour

And here’s the right wing libertarian angle. Allow people to spend their new hour when they like. ie if you really enjoy early morning you could add your extra Leon-hour between six and seven. An extra hour to get things done while all the world snoozes!

Night owls could prolong the sultry mood at 1am. A Leon-hour of the night

And if you’re simply knackered just get an extra Leon-hour of sleep

This is what British politics needs. Not tax tweaks. Proper changes
Mealy mouthed incrementalism.
I propose a 100 hour day.
Each of 14 minutes and 24 seconds.
We could quadruple productivity instantly by introducing a standard 30 hour working day.
And all get 30 hours sleep too.
Leaving 40 hours free time. Every day!
Your sort just aren't ambitious enough.
If the current system was good enough for the Babylonians/Sumerians, surely it should be good enough for us. Anyway, didn't the Revolutionary French try something like Leon's scheme.
And quickly abandoned it!

All this is wimpish stuff. Be a stern Ancient Roman and go for 12 hours of the day and 12 of night, the divisions of day/night defined by sunrise and sunset.

Only a Mediterranean culture could conceive such a thing ...

TheScreamingEagles · 3:15PM

DougSeal said:

TheScreamingEagles said:
So a lawyer is the most trustworthy politician whilst a Cambridge man is the most trusted celebrity.

So a Cambridge educated lawyer might be what the country is after in its political leaders.
Robert Jenrick? Okay then…

There’s also Suella Braverman.

Nigelb · 3:16PM

OldKingCole said:

dixiedean said:

Leon said:
Here’s a really eye catching policy - that any of the major right wing parties could introduce

Add an extra hour to the day. Take three minutes off each of the other hours (no one will notice) then combine all that into a new hour

And here’s the right wing libertarian angle. Allow people to spend their new hour when they like. ie if you really enjoy early morning you could add your extra Leon-hour between six and seven. An extra hour to get things done while all the world snoozes!

Night owls could prolong the sultry mood at 1am. A Leon-hour of the night

And if you’re simply knackered just get an extra Leon-hour of sleep

This is what British politics needs. Not tax tweaks. Proper changes
Mealy mouthed incrementalism.
I propose a 100 hour day.
Each of 14 minutes and 24 seconds.
We could quadruple productivity instantly by introducing a standard 30 hour working day.
And all get 30 hours sleep too.
Leaving 40 hours free time. Every day!
Your sort just aren't ambitious enough.
If the current system was good enough for the Babylonians/Sumerians, surely it should be good enough for us. Anyway, didn't the Revolutionary French try something like Leon's scheme.
And quickly abandoned it!

Yes, similarly crackers.
Though I think they were serious about it.

viewcode · 3:17PM

Nigelb said:

Flatlander said:

viewcode said:
FPT
Taz said:

viewcode said:

Taz said:

Mexicanpete said:

Taz said:

MattW said:

Taz said:

MattW said:
Listening to her speech, the single biggest problem is that all the things she says need to be done are precisely the things her party has spent a decade demonstrating that they are incapable of doing.
.
Exactly.

Why should anyone believe them.
A decade in purgatory beckons.
Deservedly so
Very, very positive response to the Tories on WATO. And a blast from the past, Julie Kirkbride who is now a More in Common pollster.

Helen Whateley very impressed with Kemi today. Whateley suggesting that the ending of stamp duty will be paid for by cuts. There is no replacement tax ( yet) apparently.
I’d be more surprised if Whateley was not impressed.

I haven’t listened to WATO in years. I’m watching the last Michael Praed episode of Robin of Sherwood. The Greatest Enema. It’s quite good.
(hums Clannad)
It’s a great theme

You’re a cult tv fan.

Have you ever rewatched an old tv show you had happy memories of that disappointed.

I have, it was this.

It’s okay but nothing special
Rather sadly, I was also disappointed when I rewatched Robin of Sherwood: not because it was bad, but the slow pace didn't work any more. What was appropriate in the era of four channels and rainy afternoons doesn't work in the 2020s. I have a horrible feeling the same thing would happen if I rewatched The Children Of The Stones or Airwolf. And I'm not going near Space:1999 (1st series), just in case.

It's not all bad news: when I went to the BFI to see a film (see previous posts), I spent about a hour in its "mediatheque", a free-access row of terminals where you could rewatch programmes. I watched an episode of Edge of Darkness ("Northmoor") and it really stood up. And I think/hope Our Friends In The North would too. And I rewatched some episodes of Big Deal and they really worked, at least for a bit. How about Tales Of The Unexpected, at least the early scripts. Perhaps they would too.

Now I'm wondering. Now we are past the laugh-at-the-tacky effects, if we considered Blake's 7 as a period piece: would it still stand up? Similarly, Miami Vice. Hmmm
I rewatched Edge of Darkness not long ago. Definitely stands up. A classic.

My Dad watched a fair few Tales of the Unexpected at times and when passing I found they were vaguely amusing but getting rather dated.
The Water Margin.
Exotic and strange to a kid fifty years ago, but now more than a bit rubbish.

Has China ever remade it ? It's based on classic ancient legends.

Yes

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_Margin#Television
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Water_Margin_(1973_TV_series)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Water_Margin_(1998_TV_series)

Cookie · 3:17PM

OldKingCole said:

dixiedean said:

Leon said:
Here’s a really eye catching policy - that any of the major right wing parties could introduce

Add an extra hour to the day. Take three minutes off each of the other hours (no one will notice) then combine all that into a new hour

And here’s the right wing libertarian angle. Allow people to spend their new hour when they like. ie if you really enjoy early morning you could add your extra Leon-hour between six and seven. An extra hour to get things done while all the world snoozes!

Night owls could prolong the sultry mood at 1am. A Leon-hour of the night

And if you’re simply knackered just get an extra Leon-hour of sleep

This is what British politics needs. Not tax tweaks. Proper changes
Mealy mouthed incrementalism.
I propose a 100 hour day.
Each of 14 minutes and 24 seconds.
We could quadruple productivity instantly by introducing a standard 30 hour working day.
And all get 30 hours sleep too.
Leaving 40 hours free time. Every day!
Your sort just aren't ambitious enough.
If the current system was good enough for the Babylonians/Sumerians, surely it should be good enough for us. Anyway, didn't the Revolutionary French try something like Leon's scheme.
And quickly abandoned it!

How about four extra hours?
https://www.bin.sh/28/benefit2.html?utm_source=chatgpt.com

OldKingCole · 3:19PM

Nigelb said:

OldKingCole said:

dixiedean said:

Leon said:
Here’s a really eye catching policy - that any of the major right wing parties could introduce

Add an extra hour to the day. Take three minutes off each of the other hours (no one will notice) then combine all that into a new hour

And here’s the right wing libertarian angle. Allow people to spend their new hour when they like. ie if you really enjoy early morning you could add your extra Leon-hour between six and seven. An extra hour to get things done while all the world snoozes!

Night owls could prolong the sultry mood at 1am. A Leon-hour of the night

And if you’re simply knackered just get an extra Leon-hour of sleep

This is what British politics needs. Not tax tweaks. Proper changes
Mealy mouthed incrementalism.
I propose a 100 hour day.
Each of 14 minutes and 24 seconds.
We could quadruple productivity instantly by introducing a standard 30 hour working day.
And all get 30 hours sleep too.
Leaving 40 hours free time. Every day!
Your sort just aren't ambitious enough.
If the current system was good enough for the Babylonians/Sumerians, surely it should be good enough for us. Anyway, didn't the Revolutionary French try something like Leon's scheme.
And quickly abandoned it!
Yes, similarly crackers.
Though I think they were serious about it.

Yes, they were serious about a lot of things. Some good, some daft.

Mexicanpete · 3:19PM

...

rottenborough said:

‪Kevin Schofield‬
‪@kevinschofied.bsky.social‬
· 47m

EXCL: PM facing Labour rebellion over Digital ID.

No10 setting up "outreach" meetings to win over unhappy MPs.

MP says: "Overtures from them won’t shift people and those who support it think No.10′s reverse Midas touch has tainted it for another 5 years.”

https://bsky.app/profile/kevinschofied.bsky.social/post/3m2otukhmm22m

I'm still waiting to hear about David Davis's vanity by election.

It would be a genuinely brave roll.of the dice this cycle. Not so much back in 2008.

JohnLilburne · 3:21PM

rcs1000 said:

Sandpit said:

DavidL said:

Eabhal said:

Sandpit said:

Flatlander said:

Sandpit said:

Battlebus said:

HYUFD said:

Eabhal said:

HYUFD said:

dixiedean said:
Tories pre speech.
"We must tackle the deficit and do something for the young."
After.
"A £15bn bung to homeowners to inflate house prices!"
Superb.
Yes, net zero spending scrapped, welfare scrapped for those with mild mental health problems who can be got back into work, overseas aid cut, no more cars for those with ADHD funded by taxpayer.

Then with those savings stamp duty scrapped benefiting young first time buyers most
Overall that's possibly true because of a more efficient market, but in terms of actual tax paid it's nonsense - Stamp Duty is primarily paid by the richest moving from mansion to mansion.
å
There's also no duty for first time buyers up to £300k - so a load bollocks from you there.
£300k is below even the average house price in London and the home counties so it will be very welcome to first time buyers there
Here's a visual representation of who will benefit from the removal of Stamp Duty. Average House Prices by Constituency. It's looking more like a desperate stunt rather than taking on Reform or even Labour. Who was it said they think CCHQ has it in for her?

Except that’s not how the housing market works, in practice you end up with a long chain of dependent sales at wildly variable prices, houses that could be all over the country.
We should worry most about taxes produce the biggest drag on the economy per £ for the treasury and not so much about who benefits.

Stamp duty must surely be high up there.

Has anyone prepared such a list?

[NB, I have never paid stamp duty]
Good question.

I’d say the biggest is Employer NI, quite literally a tax on jobs but it raises a fortune.
Business rates on retail and hospitality is probably next.
Fuel duty, especially on commercial diesel, feeds into the price of everything. The top 25% now drive EVs for the tax advantages, turning a progressive tax into a regressive one.
Stamp duty SDLT, adds a lot of friction to the economy, and stops people moving out of the London catchment area for a job.
Fixed motoring costs, such as tax and insurance, really regressive on 2nd quartile who need car for work.
TV Tax, massively regressive and with a large admin overhead, plus the criminal convictions of many poor people and tying up courts. Just fund public service programming from general taxation.

There’s a thread header in there somewhere, with a couple of hours of research over the weekend. Let me see…
There's a recent survey of economists here: https://x.com/dc_lawrence/status/1974762991074566474?t=73x_NC_WVV1a8gWIY2ibqA&s=19
If SDLT is replaced by a capital tax based on values the winners and losers on that map will be reversed. Most in London would be paying at least £5k a year (assuming 1%) but most around here in east Scotland would be paying nearer £2k.
Over time this might even out our bizarre property market a bit making property outside London more attractive, not less.
But how does the “key worker” afford the £5k a year on a 2-bed rented flat in London?

You’re putting all the losers in the same place, with potentially catastrophic consequences.

Do a property tax to replace SDLT and Council Tax, but have the local authorities set the rate rather than a national scale.
You don't need anything like 1%.

According to Savill's the total value of residential real estate in the UK is 9.1 trillion. 1% would therefore raise 91 billion.

Not only that, but you would also want to have higher rates for properties that are unoccupied more than (say) 180 days per year, to discourage people from having homes they don't live in. (Conveniently, those homes are often the most expensive and owned by non-UK taxpayers, so it's win-win.)

Why would you only tax residential property?

Replace business rates with land tax which the property owner pays and just includes it in the rent

Property developers pay land tax based on what they have just paid for the land, and on the value of the house once it is completed

Taz · 3:21PM

viewcode said:
FPT
Taz said:

viewcode said:

Taz said:

Mexicanpete said:

Taz said:

MattW said:

Taz said:

MattW said:
Listening to her speech, the single biggest problem is that all the things she says need to be done are precisely the things her party has spent a decade demonstrating that they are incapable of doing.
.
Exactly.

Why should anyone believe them.
A decade in purgatory beckons.
Deservedly so
Very, very positive response to the Tories on WATO. And a blast from the past, Julie Kirkbride who is now a More in Common pollster.

Helen Whateley very impressed with Kemi today. Whateley suggesting that the ending of stamp duty will be paid for by cuts. There is no replacement tax ( yet) apparently.
I’d be more surprised if Whateley was not impressed.

I haven’t listened to WATO in years. I’m watching the last Michael Praed episode of Robin of Sherwood. The Greatest Enema. It’s quite good.
(hums Clannad)
It’s a great theme

You’re a cult tv fan.

Have you ever rewatched an old tv show you had happy memories of that disappointed.

I have, it was this.

It’s okay but nothing special
Rather sadly, I was also disappointed when I rewatched Robin of Sherwood: not because it was bad, but the slow pace didn't work any more. What was appropriate in the era of four channels and rainy afternoons doesn't work in the 2020s. I have a horrible feeling the same thing would happen if I rewatched The Children Of The Stones or Airwolf. And I'm not going near Space:1999 (1st series), just in case.

It's not all bad news: when I went to the BFI to see a film (see previous posts), I spent about a hour in its "mediatheque", a free-access row of terminals where you could rewatch programmes. I watched an episode of Edge of Darkness ("Northmoor") and it really stood up. And I think/hope Our Friends In The North would too. And I rewatched some episodes of Big Deal and they really worked, at least for a bit. How about Tales Of The Unexpected, at least the early scripts. Perhaps they would too.

Now I'm wondering. Now we are past the laugh-at-the-tacky effects, if we considered Blake's 7 as a period piece: would it still stand up? Similarly, Miami Vice. Hmmm

I e rewatched Tinker Tailor, Smileys People and some early Tales of the Unexpected and they all stand up well.

Early Blakes 7 I found too as well, but I forgive the effects 😂

Taz · 3:23PM

Flatlander said:

viewcode said:
FPT
Taz said:

viewcode said:

Taz said:

Mexicanpete said:

Taz said:

MattW said:

Taz said:

MattW said:
Listening to her speech, the single biggest problem is that all the things she says need to be done are precisely the things her party has spent a decade demonstrating that they are incapable of doing.
.
Exactly.

Why should anyone believe them.
A decade in purgatory beckons.
Deservedly so
Very, very positive response to the Tories on WATO. And a blast from the past, Julie Kirkbride who is now a More in Common pollster.

Helen Whateley very impressed with Kemi today. Whateley suggesting that the ending of stamp duty will be paid for by cuts. There is no replacement tax ( yet) apparently.
I’d be more surprised if Whateley was not impressed.

I haven’t listened to WATO in years. I’m watching the last Michael Praed episode of Robin of Sherwood. The Greatest Enema. It’s quite good.
(hums Clannad)
It’s a great theme

You’re a cult tv fan.

Have you ever rewatched an old tv show you had happy memories of that disappointed.

I have, it was this.

It’s okay but nothing special
Rather sadly, I was also disappointed when I rewatched Robin of Sherwood: not because it was bad, but the slow pace didn't work any more. What was appropriate in the era of four channels and rainy afternoons doesn't work in the 2020s. I have a horrible feeling the same thing would happen if I rewatched The Children Of The Stones or Airwolf. And I'm not going near Space:1999 (1st series), just in case.

It's not all bad news: when I went to the BFI to see a film (see previous posts), I spent about a hour in its "mediatheque", a free-access row of terminals where you could rewatch programmes. I watched an episode of Edge of Darkness ("Northmoor") and it really stood up. And I think/hope Our Friends In The North would too. And I rewatched some episodes of Big Deal and they really worked, at least for a bit. How about Tales Of The Unexpected, at least the early scripts. Perhaps they would too.

Now I'm wondering. Now we are past the laugh-at-the-tacky effects, if we considered Blake's 7 as a period piece: would it still stand up? Similarly, Miami Vice. Hmmm
I rewatched Edge of Darkness not long ago. Definitely stands up. A classic.

My Dad watched a fair few Tales of the Unexpected at times and when passing I found they were vaguely amusing but getting rather dated.

The Flypaper is a rather disturbing episode

Sandpit · 3:26PM

Today’s first Russian fire, is at a military electonics factory in Novosibirsk.

https://x.com/gerashchenko_en/status/1975879764671156268

dixiedean · 3:27PM

eek said:

Eabhal said:

DavidL said:

rcs1000 said:

Sandpit said:

DavidL said:

Eabhal said:

Sandpit said:

Flatlander said:

Sandpit said:

Battlebus said:

HYUFD said:

Eabhal said:

HYUFD said:

dixiedean said:
Tories pre speech.
"We must tackle the deficit and do something for the young."
After.
"A £15bn bung to homeowners to inflate house prices!"
Superb.
Yes, net zero spending scrapped, welfare scrapped for those with mild mental health problems who can be got back into work, overseas aid cut, no more cars for those with ADHD funded by taxpayer.

Then with those savings stamp duty scrapped benefiting young first time buyers most
Overall that's possibly true because of a more efficient market, but in terms of actual tax paid it's nonsense - Stamp Duty is primarily paid by the richest moving from mansion to mansion.
å
There's also no duty for first time buyers up to £300k - so a load bollocks from you there.
£300k is below even the average house price in London and the home counties so it will be very welcome to first time buyers there
Here's a visual representation of who will benefit from the removal of Stamp Duty. Average House Prices by Constituency. It's looking more like a desperate stunt rather than taking on Reform or even Labour. Who was it said they think CCHQ has it in for her?

Except that’s not how the housing market works, in practice you end up with a long chain of dependent sales at wildly variable prices, houses that could be all over the country.
We should worry most about taxes produce the biggest drag on the economy per £ for the treasury and not so much about who benefits.

Stamp duty must surely be high up there.

Has anyone prepared such a list?

[NB, I have never paid stamp duty]
Good question.

I’d say the biggest is Employer NI, quite literally a tax on jobs but it raises a fortune.
Business rates on retail and hospitality is probably next.
Fuel duty, especially on commercial diesel, feeds into the price of everything. The top 25% now drive EVs for the tax advantages, turning a progressive tax into a regressive one.
Stamp duty SDLT, adds a lot of friction to the economy, and stops people moving out of the London catchment area for a job.
Fixed motoring costs, such as tax and insurance, really regressive on 2nd quartile who need car for work.
TV Tax, massively regressive and with a large admin overhead, plus the criminal convictions of many poor people and tying up courts. Just fund public service programming from general taxation.

There’s a thread header in there somewhere, with a couple of hours of research over the weekend. Let me see…
There's a recent survey of economists here: https://x.com/dc_lawrence/status/1974762991074566474?t=73x_NC_WVV1a8gWIY2ibqA&s=19
If SDLT is replaced by a capital tax based on values the winners and losers on that map will be reversed. Most in London would be paying at least £5k a year (assuming 1%) but most around here in east Scotland would be paying nearer £2k.
Over time this might even out our bizarre property market a bit making property outside London more attractive, not less.
But how does the “key worker” afford the £5k a year on a 2-bed rented flat in London?

You’re putting all the losers in the same place, with potentially catastrophic consequences.

Do a property tax to replace SDLT and Council Tax, but have the local authorities set the rate rather than a national scale.
You don't need anything like 1%.

According to Savill's the total value of residential real estate in the UK is 9.1 trillion. 1% would therefore raise 91 billion.

Not only that, but you would also want to have higher rates for properties that are unoccupied more than (say) 180 days per year, to discourage people from having homes they don't live in. (Conveniently, those homes are often the most expensive and owned by non-UK taxpayers, so it's win-win.)
What does Council Tax currently generate? If that is included I think 1% would not be far off, especially when you provide for the inevitable special pleading for various groups such as @Sandpit’s key workers.
Council tax is equivalent to 0.5%.
Depending where you are - up north it's probably 1% and I could probably find properties where it's 2-3% of the valuation without much difficulty...

My former flat in Ashington.
Value £35k.
Council Tax £1450 p.a.

viewcode · 3:30PM

Taz said:

Flatlander said:

viewcode said:
FPT
Taz said:

viewcode said:

Taz said:

Mexicanpete said:

Taz said:

MattW said:

Taz said:

MattW said:
Listening to her speech, the single biggest problem is that all the things she says need to be done are precisely the things her party has spent a decade demonstrating that they are incapable of doing.
.
Exactly.

Why should anyone believe them.
A decade in purgatory beckons.
Deservedly so
Very, very positive response to the Tories on WATO. And a blast from the past, Julie Kirkbride who is now a More in Common pollster.

Helen Whateley very impressed with Kemi today. Whateley suggesting that the ending of stamp duty will be paid for by cuts. There is no replacement tax ( yet) apparently.
I’d be more surprised if Whateley was not impressed.

I haven’t listened to WATO in years. I’m watching the last Michael Praed episode of Robin of Sherwood. The Greatest Enema. It’s quite good.
(hums Clannad)
It’s a great theme

You’re a cult tv fan.

Have you ever rewatched an old tv show you had happy memories of that disappointed.

I have, it was this.

It’s okay but nothing special
Rather sadly, I was also disappointed when I rewatched Robin of Sherwood: not because it was bad, but the slow pace didn't work any more. What was appropriate in the era of four channels and rainy afternoons doesn't work in the 2020s. I have a horrible feeling the same thing would happen if I rewatched The Children Of The Stones or Airwolf. And I'm not going near Space:1999 (1st series), just in case.

It's not all bad news: when I went to the BFI to see a film (see previous posts), I spent about a hour in its "mediatheque", a free-access row of terminals where you could rewatch programmes. I watched an episode of Edge of Darkness ("Northmoor") and it really stood up. And I think/hope Our Friends In The North would too. And I rewatched some episodes of Big Deal and they really worked, at least for a bit. How about Tales Of The Unexpected, at least the early scripts. Perhaps they would too.

Now I'm wondering. Now we are past the laugh-at-the-tacky effects, if we considered Blake's 7 as a period piece: would it still stand up? Similarly, Miami Vice. Hmmm
I rewatched Edge of Darkness not long ago. Definitely stands up. A classic.

My Dad watched a fair few Tales of the Unexpected at times and when passing I found they were vaguely amusing but getting rather dated.
The Flypaper is a rather disturbing episode

I never saw it. I've just googled it. Ouch...

Mexicanpete · 3:33PM

Sandpit said:
Today’s first Russian fire, is at a military electonics factory in Novosibirsk.

https://x.com/gerashchenko_en/status/1975879764671156268

Electrical fires can be a real hazard. I can provide them with a fire prevention plan and a risk assessment if you wouldn't mind passing on my details.

Battlebus · 3:35PM

noneoftheabove said:

Stark_Dawning said:

Leon said:
Here’s a really eye catching policy - that any of the major right wing parties could introduce

Add an extra hour to the day. Take three minutes off each of the other hours (no one will notice) then combine all that into a new hour

And here’s the right wing libertarian angle. Allow people to spend their new hour when they like. ie if you really enjoy early morning you could add your extra Leon-hour between six and seven. An extra hour to get things done while all the world snoozes!

Night owls could prolong the sultry mood at 1am. A Leon-hour of the night

And if you’re simply knackered just get an extra Leon-hour of sleep

This is what British politics needs. Not tax tweaks. Proper changes
I pity the poor IT minions who'll have convert every piece of software to use 25-hour days purely for British usage.
It is also 24 x 57 minute hour plus 1 72 minute hour just to confuse things further.

It's because the lawyers want 6 minute units.

JohnLilburne · 3:36PM

dixiedean said:

eek said:

Eabhal said:

DavidL said:

rcs1000 said:

Sandpit said:

DavidL said:

Eabhal said:

Sandpit said:

Flatlander said:

Sandpit said:

Battlebus said:

HYUFD said:

Eabhal said:

HYUFD said:

dixiedean said:
Tories pre speech.
"We must tackle the deficit and do something for the young."
After.
"A £15bn bung to homeowners to inflate house prices!"
Superb.
Yes, net zero spending scrapped, welfare scrapped for those with mild mental health problems who can be got back into work, overseas aid cut, no more cars for those with ADHD funded by taxpayer.

Then with those savings stamp duty scrapped benefiting young first time buyers most
Overall that's possibly true because of a more efficient market, but in terms of actual tax paid it's nonsense - Stamp Duty is primarily paid by the richest moving from mansion to mansion.
å
There's also no duty for first time buyers up to £300k - so a load bollocks from you there.
£300k is below even the average house price in London and the home counties so it will be very welcome to first time buyers there
Here's a visual representation of who will benefit from the removal of Stamp Duty. Average House Prices by Constituency. It's looking more like a desperate stunt rather than taking on Reform or even Labour. Who was it said they think CCHQ has it in for her?

Except that’s not how the housing market works, in practice you end up with a long chain of dependent sales at wildly variable prices, houses that could be all over the country.
We should worry most about taxes produce the biggest drag on the economy per £ for the treasury and not so much about who benefits.

Stamp duty must surely be high up there.

Has anyone prepared such a list?

[NB, I have never paid stamp duty]
Good question.

I’d say the biggest is Employer NI, quite literally a tax on jobs but it raises a fortune.
Business rates on retail and hospitality is probably next.
Fuel duty, especially on commercial diesel, feeds into the price of everything. The top 25% now drive EVs for the tax advantages, turning a progressive tax into a regressive one.
Stamp duty SDLT, adds a lot of friction to the economy, and stops people moving out of the London catchment area for a job.
Fixed motoring costs, such as tax and insurance, really regressive on 2nd quartile who need car for work.
TV Tax, massively regressive and with a large admin overhead, plus the criminal convictions of many poor people and tying up courts. Just fund public service programming from general taxation.

There’s a thread header in there somewhere, with a couple of hours of research over the weekend. Let me see…
There's a recent survey of economists here: https://x.com/dc_lawrence/status/1974762991074566474?t=73x_NC_WVV1a8gWIY2ibqA&s=19
If SDLT is replaced by a capital tax based on values the winners and losers on that map will be reversed. Most in London would be paying at least £5k a year (assuming 1%) but most around here in east Scotland would be paying nearer £2k.
Over time this might even out our bizarre property market a bit making property outside London more attractive, not less.
But how does the “key worker” afford the £5k a year on a 2-bed rented flat in London?

You’re putting all the losers in the same place, with potentially catastrophic consequences.

Do a property tax to replace SDLT and Council Tax, but have the local authorities set the rate rather than a national scale.
You don't need anything like 1%.

According to Savill's the total value of residential real estate in the UK is 9.1 trillion. 1% would therefore raise 91 billion.

Not only that, but you would also want to have higher rates for properties that are unoccupied more than (say) 180 days per year, to discourage people from having homes they don't live in. (Conveniently, those homes are often the most expensive and owned by non-UK taxpayers, so it's win-win.)
What does Council Tax currently generate? If that is included I think 1% would not be far off, especially when you provide for the inevitable special pleading for various groups such as @Sandpit’s key workers.
Council tax is equivalent to 0.5%.
Depending where you are - up north it's probably 1% and I could probably find properties where it's 2-3% of the valuation without much difficulty...
My former flat in Ashington.
Value £35k.
Council Tax £1450 p.a.

I suppose the answer is that Northumberland needs to raise as much tax as Hampshire, possibly more, despite lower property prices.

Two options, one is to abandon the idea of local government raising its own taxes, the other is to have both a national element of land tax, and a local elwnent

Sandpit · 3:38PM

Stark_Dawning said:

Leon said:
Here’s a really eye catching policy - that any of the major right wing parties could introduce

Add an extra hour to the day. Take three minutes off each of the other hours (no one will notice) then combine all that into a new hour

And here’s the right wing libertarian angle. Allow people to spend their new hour when they like. ie if you really enjoy early morning you could add your extra Leon-hour between six and seven. An extra hour to get things done while all the world snoozes!

Night owls could prolong the sultry mood at 1am. A Leon-hour of the night

And if you’re simply knackered just get an extra Leon-hour of sleep

This is what British politics needs. Not tax tweaks. Proper changes
I pity the poor IT minions who'll have convert every piece of software to use 25-hour days purely for British usage.

Obviously it’s time (haha) for this one again…

https://infiniteundo.com/post/25326999628/falsehoods-programmers-believe-about-time

SirNorfolkPassmore · 3:40PM

Big_G_NorthWales said:
If I were Ed Davey I would be worried about being seen less trustworthy than Boris Johnson. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's not what the poll says. These are head to heads, so Davey is seen as less trustworthy than Clare Balding, and Johnson is seen as less trustworthy than Stephen Fry.

The figures for politicians aren't comparable with one another as it depends who they are up against. Starmer gets an okay rating only because he's up against Jonathan Ross, who was involved in the "Sachsgate" scandal - well over 15 years ago now, but I suspect quite a few will remember it.

rcs1000 · 3:40PM

JohnLilburne said:

rcs1000 said:

Sandpit said:

DavidL said:

Eabhal said:

Sandpit said:

Flatlander said:

Sandpit said:

Battlebus said:

HYUFD said:

Eabhal said:

HYUFD said:

dixiedean said:
Tories pre speech.
"We must tackle the deficit and do something for the young."
After.
"A £15bn bung to homeowners to inflate house prices!"
Superb.
Yes, net zero spending scrapped, welfare scrapped for those with mild mental health problems who can be got back into work, overseas aid cut, no more cars for those with ADHD funded by taxpayer.

Then with those savings stamp duty scrapped benefiting young first time buyers most
Overall that's possibly true because of a more efficient market, but in terms of actual tax paid it's nonsense - Stamp Duty is primarily paid by the richest moving from mansion to mansion.
å
There's also no duty for first time buyers up to £300k - so a load bollocks from you there.
£300k is below even the average house price in London and the home counties so it will be very welcome to first time buyers there
Here's a visual representation of who will benefit from the removal of Stamp Duty. Average House Prices by Constituency. It's looking more like a desperate stunt rather than taking on Reform or even Labour. Who was it said they think CCHQ has it in for her?

Except that’s not how the housing market works, in practice you end up with a long chain of dependent sales at wildly variable prices, houses that could be all over the country.
We should worry most about taxes produce the biggest drag on the economy per £ for the treasury and not so much about who benefits.

Stamp duty must surely be high up there.

Has anyone prepared such a list?

[NB, I have never paid stamp duty]
Good question.

I’d say the biggest is Employer NI, quite literally a tax on jobs but it raises a fortune.
Business rates on retail and hospitality is probably next.
Fuel duty, especially on commercial diesel, feeds into the price of everything. The top 25% now drive EVs for the tax advantages, turning a progressive tax into a regressive one.
Stamp duty SDLT, adds a lot of friction to the economy, and stops people moving out of the London catchment area for a job.
Fixed motoring costs, such as tax and insurance, really regressive on 2nd quartile who need car for work.
TV Tax, massively regressive and with a large admin overhead, plus the criminal convictions of many poor people and tying up courts. Just fund public service programming from general taxation.

There’s a thread header in there somewhere, with a couple of hours of research over the weekend. Let me see…
There's a recent survey of economists here: https://x.com/dc_lawrence/status/1974762991074566474?t=73x_NC_WVV1a8gWIY2ibqA&s=19
If SDLT is replaced by a capital tax based on values the winners and losers on that map will be reversed. Most in London would be paying at least £5k a year (assuming 1%) but most around here in east Scotland would be paying nearer £2k.
Over time this might even out our bizarre property market a bit making property outside London more attractive, not less.
But how does the “key worker” afford the £5k a year on a 2-bed rented flat in London?

You’re putting all the losers in the same place, with potentially catastrophic consequences.

Do a property tax to replace SDLT and Council Tax, but have the local authorities set the rate rather than a national scale.
You don't need anything like 1%.

According to Savill's the total value of residential real estate in the UK is 9.1 trillion. 1% would therefore raise 91 billion.

Not only that, but you would also want to have higher rates for properties that are unoccupied more than (say) 180 days per year, to discourage people from having homes they don't live in. (Conveniently, those homes are often the most expensive and owned by non-UK taxpayers, so it's win-win.)
Why would you only tax residential property?

Replace business rates with land tax which the property owner pays and just includes it in the rent

Property developers pay land tax based on what they have just paid for the land, and on the value of the house once it is completed

I'm merely pointing out that @DavidL is exaggerating the size of the hole that needs to be filled by taxing residential property.

Sandpit · 3:41PM

Battlebus said:

noneoftheabove said:

Stark_Dawning said:

Leon said:
Here’s a really eye catching policy - that any of the major right wing parties could introduce

Add an extra hour to the day. Take three minutes off each of the other hours (no one will notice) then combine all that into a new hour

And here’s the right wing libertarian angle. Allow people to spend their new hour when they like. ie if you really enjoy early morning you could add your extra Leon-hour between six and seven. An extra hour to get things done while all the world snoozes!

Night owls could prolong the sultry mood at 1am. A Leon-hour of the night

And if you’re simply knackered just get an extra Leon-hour of sleep

This is what British politics needs. Not tax tweaks. Proper changes
I pity the poor IT minions who'll have convert every piece of software to use 25-hour days purely for British usage.
It is also 24 x 57 minute hour plus 1 72 minute hour just to confuse things further.
It's because the lawyers want 6 minute units.

The lawyers want a decimal of of hour.

Make an hour 72 minutes and they’d bill in 7.2 minute units. (At 20% more than the current rate).

rcs1000 · 3:44PM

DavidL said:

rcs1000 said:

Sandpit said:

DavidL said:

Eabhal said:

Sandpit said:

Flatlander said:

Sandpit said:

Battlebus said:

HYUFD said:

Eabhal said:

HYUFD said:

dixiedean said:
Tories pre speech.
"We must tackle the deficit and do something for the young."
After.
"A £15bn bung to homeowners to inflate house prices!"
Superb.
Yes, net zero spending scrapped, welfare scrapped for those with mild mental health problems who can be got back into work, overseas aid cut, no more cars for those with ADHD funded by taxpayer.

Then with those savings stamp duty scrapped benefiting young first time buyers most
Overall that's possibly true because of a more efficient market, but in terms of actual tax paid it's nonsense - Stamp Duty is primarily paid by the richest moving from mansion to mansion.
å
There's also no duty for first time buyers up to £300k - so a load bollocks from you there.
£300k is below even the average house price in London and the home counties so it will be very welcome to first time buyers there
Here's a visual representation of who will benefit from the removal of Stamp Duty. Average House Prices by Constituency. It's looking more like a desperate stunt rather than taking on Reform or even Labour. Who was it said they think CCHQ has it in for her?

Except that’s not how the housing market works, in practice you end up with a long chain of dependent sales at wildly variable prices, houses that could be all over the country.
We should worry most about taxes produce the biggest drag on the economy per £ for the treasury and not so much about who benefits.

Stamp duty must surely be high up there.

Has anyone prepared such a list?

[NB, I have never paid stamp duty]
Good question.

I’d say the biggest is Employer NI, quite literally a tax on jobs but it raises a fortune.
Business rates on retail and hospitality is probably next.
Fuel duty, especially on commercial diesel, feeds into the price of everything. The top 25% now drive EVs for the tax advantages, turning a progressive tax into a regressive one.
Stamp duty SDLT, adds a lot of friction to the economy, and stops people moving out of the London catchment area for a job.
Fixed motoring costs, such as tax and insurance, really regressive on 2nd quartile who need car for work.
TV Tax, massively regressive and with a large admin overhead, plus the criminal convictions of many poor people and tying up courts. Just fund public service programming from general taxation.

There’s a thread header in there somewhere, with a couple of hours of research over the weekend. Let me see…
There's a recent survey of economists here: https://x.com/dc_lawrence/status/1974762991074566474?t=73x_NC_WVV1a8gWIY2ibqA&s=19
If SDLT is replaced by a capital tax based on values the winners and losers on that map will be reversed. Most in London would be paying at least £5k a year (assuming 1%) but most around here in east Scotland would be paying nearer £2k.
Over time this might even out our bizarre property market a bit making property outside London more attractive, not less.
But how does the “key worker” afford the £5k a year on a 2-bed rented flat in London?

You’re putting all the losers in the same place, with potentially catastrophic consequences.

Do a property tax to replace SDLT and Council Tax, but have the local authorities set the rate rather than a national scale.
You don't need anything like 1%.

According to Savill's the total value of residential real estate in the UK is 9.1 trillion. 1% would therefore raise 91 billion.

Not only that, but you would also want to have higher rates for properties that are unoccupied more than (say) 180 days per year, to discourage people from having homes they don't live in. (Conveniently, those homes are often the most expensive and owned by non-UK taxpayers, so it's win-win.)
What does Council Tax currently generate? If that is included I think 1% would not be far off, especially when you provide for the inevitable special pleading for various groups such as @Sandpit’s key workers.

Well, if you want to get rid of council tax too, then it will clearly need to be very significantly more. But you don't *need* to do so much all at once. Simply replacing residential stamp duty with a very small (0.05-0.1%) annual levy would raise clearly be a positive for labour market mobility, would make it easier to buy a property, would increase residential construction, and wouldn't require any special treatment for key workers.

(Also, if you are having difficulty attracting key workers, pay them more, don't complicate the tax and benefits system. Simplify. Simplfy. Simplify.)

Taz · 3:45PM

viewcode said:

Taz said:

Flatlander said:

viewcode said:
FPT
Taz said:

viewcode said:

Taz said:

Mexicanpete said:

Taz said:

MattW said:

Taz said:

MattW said:
Listening to her speech, the single biggest problem is that all the things she says need to be done are precisely the things her party has spent a decade demonstrating that they are incapable of doing.
.
Exactly.

Why should anyone believe them.
A decade in purgatory beckons.
Deservedly so
Very, very positive response to the Tories on WATO. And a blast from the past, Julie Kirkbride who is now a More in Common pollster.

Helen Whateley very impressed with Kemi today. Whateley suggesting that the ending of stamp duty will be paid for by cuts. There is no replacement tax ( yet) apparently.
I’d be more surprised if Whateley was not impressed.

I haven’t listened to WATO in years. I’m watching the last Michael Praed episode of Robin of Sherwood. The Greatest Enema. It’s quite good.
(hums Clannad)
It’s a great theme

You’re a cult tv fan.

Have you ever rewatched an old tv show you had happy memories of that disappointed.

I have, it was this.

It’s okay but nothing special
Rather sadly, I was also disappointed when I rewatched Robin of Sherwood: not because it was bad, but the slow pace didn't work any more. What was appropriate in the era of four channels and rainy afternoons doesn't work in the 2020s. I have a horrible feeling the same thing would happen if I rewatched The Children Of The Stones or Airwolf. And I'm not going near Space:1999 (1st series), just in case.

It's not all bad news: when I went to the BFI to see a film (see previous posts), I spent about a hour in its "mediatheque", a free-access row of terminals where you could rewatch programmes. I watched an episode of Edge of Darkness ("Northmoor") and it really stood up. And I think/hope Our Friends In The North would too. And I rewatched some episodes of Big Deal and they really worked, at least for a bit. How about Tales Of The Unexpected, at least the early scripts. Perhaps they would too.

Now I'm wondering. Now we are past the laugh-at-the-tacky effects, if we considered Blake's 7 as a period piece: would it still stand up? Similarly, Miami Vice. Hmmm
I rewatched Edge of Darkness not long ago. Definitely stands up. A classic.

My Dad watched a fair few Tales of the Unexpected at times and when passing I found they were vaguely amusing but getting rather dated.
The Flypaper is a rather disturbing episode
I never saw it. I've just googled it. Ouch...

I watched it as part of a sequential watch. Never expected that !!

Leon · 3:45PM

DavidL said:

Leon said:
Here’s a really eye catching policy - that any of the major right wing parties could introduce

Add an extra hour to the day. Take three minutes off each of the other hours (no one will notice) then combine all that into a new hour

And here’s the right wing libertarian angle. Allow people to spend their new hour when they like. ie if you really enjoy early morning you could add your extra Leon-hour between six and seven. An extra hour to get things done while all the world snoozes!

Night owls could prolong the sultry mood at 1am. A Leon-hour of the night

And if you’re simply knackered just get an extra Leon-hour of sleep

This is what British politics needs. Not tax tweaks. Proper changes
“It may be me,” as the late great Lord Macfadyen used to say to me in the Commercial court, but the key utility of time is that it is the same for everyone. If we all have different times organising anything becomes impossible.

Now you're just nit picking

rcs1000 · 3:46PM

Eabhal said:

DavidL said:

rcs1000 said:

Sandpit said:

DavidL said:

Eabhal said:

Sandpit said:

Flatlander said:

Sandpit said:

Battlebus said:

HYUFD said:

Eabhal said:

HYUFD said:

dixiedean said:
Tories pre speech.
"We must tackle the deficit and do something for the young."
After.
"A £15bn bung to homeowners to inflate house prices!"
Superb.
Yes, net zero spending scrapped, welfare scrapped for those with mild mental health problems who can be got back into work, overseas aid cut, no more cars for those with ADHD funded by taxpayer.

Then with those savings stamp duty scrapped benefiting young first time buyers most
Overall that's possibly true because of a more efficient market, but in terms of actual tax paid it's nonsense - Stamp Duty is primarily paid by the richest moving from mansion to mansion.
å
There's also no duty for first time buyers up to £300k - so a load bollocks from you there.
£300k is below even the average house price in London and the home counties so it will be very welcome to first time buyers there
Here's a visual representation of who will benefit from the removal of Stamp Duty. Average House Prices by Constituency. It's looking more like a desperate stunt rather than taking on Reform or even Labour. Who was it said they think CCHQ has it in for her?

Except that’s not how the housing market works, in practice you end up with a long chain of dependent sales at wildly variable prices, houses that could be all over the country.
We should worry most about taxes produce the biggest drag on the economy per £ for the treasury and not so much about who benefits.

Stamp duty must surely be high up there.

Has anyone prepared such a list?

[NB, I have never paid stamp duty]
Good question.

I’d say the biggest is Employer NI, quite literally a tax on jobs but it raises a fortune.
Business rates on retail and hospitality is probably next.
Fuel duty, especially on commercial diesel, feeds into the price of everything. The top 25% now drive EVs for the tax advantages, turning a progressive tax into a regressive one.
Stamp duty SDLT, adds a lot of friction to the economy, and stops people moving out of the London catchment area for a job.
Fixed motoring costs, such as tax and insurance, really regressive on 2nd quartile who need car for work.
TV Tax, massively regressive and with a large admin overhead, plus the criminal convictions of many poor people and tying up courts. Just fund public service programming from general taxation.

There’s a thread header in there somewhere, with a couple of hours of research over the weekend. Let me see…
There's a recent survey of economists here: https://x.com/dc_lawrence/status/1974762991074566474?t=73x_NC_WVV1a8gWIY2ibqA&s=19
If SDLT is replaced by a capital tax based on values the winners and losers on that map will be reversed. Most in London would be paying at least £5k a year (assuming 1%) but most around here in east Scotland would be paying nearer £2k.
Over time this might even out our bizarre property market a bit making property outside London more attractive, not less.
But how does the “key worker” afford the £5k a year on a 2-bed rented flat in London?

You’re putting all the losers in the same place, with potentially catastrophic consequences.

Do a property tax to replace SDLT and Council Tax, but have the local authorities set the rate rather than a national scale.
You don't need anything like 1%.

According to Savill's the total value of residential real estate in the UK is 9.1 trillion. 1% would therefore raise 91 billion.

Not only that, but you would also want to have higher rates for properties that are unoccupied more than (say) 180 days per year, to discourage people from having homes they don't live in. (Conveniently, those homes are often the most expensive and owned by non-UK taxpayers, so it's win-win.)
What does Council Tax currently generate? If that is included I think 1% would not be far off, especially when you provide for the inevitable special pleading for various groups such as @Sandpit’s key workers.
Council tax is equivalent to 0.5%. Stamp Duty 0.2%.

1% would allow you to abolish CGT and IHT too, which is what I'd do.

If you abolish CGT, then people like me will just convert all their income into capital gains.

SirNorfolkPassmore · 3:47PM

Leon said:
Here’s a really eye catching policy - that any of the major right wing parties could introduce

Add an extra hour to the day. Take three minutes off each of the other hours (no one will notice) then combine all that into a new hour

And here’s the right wing libertarian angle. Allow people to spend their new hour when they like. ie if you really enjoy early morning you could add your extra Leon-hour between six and seven. An extra hour to get things done while all the world snoozes!

Night owls could prolong the sultry mood at 1am. A Leon-hour of the night

And if you’re simply knackered just get an extra Leon-hour of sleep

This is what British politics needs. Not tax tweaks. Proper changes

Agree with this.

They also need to add an extra month in the summer, which could easily be created from days taken from months at drearier times of year (it's madness that January has 31 days, for example).

It's be a double whammy - a whole extra month of summer, and less winter grot to wade through.

rcs1000 · 3:51PM

dixiedean said:

eek said:

Eabhal said:

DavidL said:

rcs1000 said:

Sandpit said:

DavidL said:

Eabhal said:

Sandpit said:

Flatlander said:

Sandpit said:

Battlebus said:

HYUFD said:

Eabhal said:

HYUFD said:

dixiedean said:
Tories pre speech.
"We must tackle the deficit and do something for the young."
After.
"A £15bn bung to homeowners to inflate house prices!"
Superb.
Yes, net zero spending scrapped, welfare scrapped for those with mild mental health problems who can be got back into work, overseas aid cut, no more cars for those with ADHD funded by taxpayer.

Then with those savings stamp duty scrapped benefiting young first time buyers most
Overall that's possibly true because of a more efficient market, but in terms of actual tax paid it's nonsense - Stamp Duty is primarily paid by the richest moving from mansion to mansion.
å
There's also no duty for first time buyers up to £300k - so a load bollocks from you there.
£300k is below even the average house price in London and the home counties so it will be very welcome to first time buyers there
Here's a visual representation of who will benefit from the removal of Stamp Duty. Average House Prices by Constituency. It's looking more like a desperate stunt rather than taking on Reform or even Labour. Who was it said they think CCHQ has it in for her?

Except that’s not how the housing market works, in practice you end up with a long chain of dependent sales at wildly variable prices, houses that could be all over the country.
We should worry most about taxes produce the biggest drag on the economy per £ for the treasury and not so much about who benefits.

Stamp duty must surely be high up there.

Has anyone prepared such a list?

[NB, I have never paid stamp duty]
Good question.

I’d say the biggest is Employer NI, quite literally a tax on jobs but it raises a fortune.
Business rates on retail and hospitality is probably next.
Fuel duty, especially on commercial diesel, feeds into the price of everything. The top 25% now drive EVs for the tax advantages, turning a progressive tax into a regressive one.
Stamp duty SDLT, adds a lot of friction to the economy, and stops people moving out of the London catchment area for a job.
Fixed motoring costs, such as tax and insurance, really regressive on 2nd quartile who need car for work.
TV Tax, massively regressive and with a large admin overhead, plus the criminal convictions of many poor people and tying up courts. Just fund public service programming from general taxation.

There’s a thread header in there somewhere, with a couple of hours of research over the weekend. Let me see…
There's a recent survey of economists here: https://x.com/dc_lawrence/status/1974762991074566474?t=73x_NC_WVV1a8gWIY2ibqA&s=19
If SDLT is replaced by a capital tax based on values the winners and losers on that map will be reversed. Most in London would be paying at least £5k a year (assuming 1%) but most around here in east Scotland would be paying nearer £2k.
Over time this might even out our bizarre property market a bit making property outside London more attractive, not less.
But how does the “key worker” afford the £5k a year on a 2-bed rented flat in London?

You’re putting all the losers in the same place, with potentially catastrophic consequences.

Do a property tax to replace SDLT and Council Tax, but have the local authorities set the rate rather than a national scale.
You don't need anything like 1%.

According to Savill's the total value of residential real estate in the UK is 9.1 trillion. 1% would therefore raise 91 billion.

Not only that, but you would also want to have higher rates for properties that are unoccupied more than (say) 180 days per year, to discourage people from having homes they don't live in. (Conveniently, those homes are often the most expensive and owned by non-UK taxpayers, so it's win-win.)
What does Council Tax currently generate? If that is included I think 1% would not be far off, especially when you provide for the inevitable special pleading for various groups such as @Sandpit’s key workers.
Council tax is equivalent to 0.5%.
Depending where you are - up north it's probably 1% and I could probably find properties where it's 2-3% of the valuation without much difficulty...
My former flat in Ashington.
Value £35k.
Council Tax £1450 p.a.

A 1% property tax (which you can probably cut to 0.6-75% if you have higher tiers for rarely used properties) could have been a fabulous driver of leveling up. It would have made living (and having businesses) in places outside the South East that bit more attractive.

Theuniondivvie · 3:51PM

viewcode said:
FPT
Taz said:

viewcode said:

Taz said:

Mexicanpete said:

Taz said:

MattW said:

Taz said:

MattW said:
Listening to her speech, the single biggest problem is that all the things she says need to be done are precisely the things her party has spent a decade demonstrating that they are incapable of doing.
.
Exactly.

Why should anyone believe them.
A decade in purgatory beckons.
Deservedly so
Very, very positive response to the Tories on WATO. And a blast from the past, Julie Kirkbride who is now a More in Common pollster.

Helen Whateley very impressed with Kemi today. Whateley suggesting that the ending of stamp duty will be paid for by cuts. There is no replacement tax ( yet) apparently.
I’d be more surprised if Whateley was not impressed.

I haven’t listened to WATO in years. I’m watching the last Michael Praed episode of Robin of Sherwood. The Greatest Enema. It’s quite good.
(hums Clannad)
It’s a great theme

You’re a cult tv fan.

Have you ever rewatched an old tv show you had happy memories of that disappointed.

I have, it was this.

It’s okay but nothing special
Rather sadly, I was also disappointed when I rewatched Robin of Sherwood: not because it was bad, but the slow pace didn't work any more. What was appropriate in the era of four channels and rainy afternoons doesn't work in the 2020s. I have a horrible feeling the same thing would happen if I rewatched The Children Of The Stones or Airwolf. And I'm not going near Space:1999 (1st series), just in case.

It's not all bad news: when I went to the BFI to see a film (see previous posts), I spent about a hour in its "mediatheque", a free-access row of terminals where you could rewatch programmes. I watched an episode of Edge of Darkness ("Northmoor") and it really stood up. And I think/hope Our Friends In The North would too. And I rewatched some episodes of Big Deal and they really worked, at least for a bit. How about Tales Of The Unexpected, at least the early scripts. Perhaps they would too.

Now I'm wondering. Now we are past the laugh-at-the-tacky effects, if we considered Blake's 7 as a period piece: would it still stand up? Similarly, Miami Vice. Hmmm

The Thing (1982 version) was absolutely cemented in my mind as a classic from when I first saw it but I was pretty disappointed when I recently caught it on tv. Not terrible but just a bit quaint, not what you want in scarily bleak sci-fi.

SirNorfolkPassmore · 3:52PM

rcs1000 said:

Eabhal said:

DavidL said:

rcs1000 said:

Sandpit said:

DavidL said:

Eabhal said:

Sandpit said:

Flatlander said:

Sandpit said:

Battlebus said:

HYUFD said:

Eabhal said:

HYUFD said:

dixiedean said:
Tories pre speech.
"We must tackle the deficit and do something for the young."
After.
"A £15bn bung to homeowners to inflate house prices!"
Superb.
Yes, net zero spending scrapped, welfare scrapped for those with mild mental health problems who can be got back into work, overseas aid cut, no more cars for those with ADHD funded by taxpayer.

Then with those savings stamp duty scrapped benefiting young first time buyers most
Overall that's possibly true because of a more efficient market, but in terms of actual tax paid it's nonsense - Stamp Duty is primarily paid by the richest moving from mansion to mansion.
å
There's also no duty for first time buyers up to £300k - so a load bollocks from you there.
£300k is below even the average house price in London and the home counties so it will be very welcome to first time buyers there
Here's a visual representation of who will benefit from the removal of Stamp Duty. Average House Prices by Constituency. It's looking more like a desperate stunt rather than taking on Reform or even Labour. Who was it said they think CCHQ has it in for her?

Except that’s not how the housing market works, in practice you end up with a long chain of dependent sales at wildly variable prices, houses that could be all over the country.
We should worry most about taxes produce the biggest drag on the economy per £ for the treasury and not so much about who benefits.

Stamp duty must surely be high up there.

Has anyone prepared such a list?

[NB, I have never paid stamp duty]
Good question.

I’d say the biggest is Employer NI, quite literally a tax on jobs but it raises a fortune.
Business rates on retail and hospitality is probably next.
Fuel duty, especially on commercial diesel, feeds into the price of everything. The top 25% now drive EVs for the tax advantages, turning a progressive tax into a regressive one.
Stamp duty SDLT, adds a lot of friction to the economy, and stops people moving out of the London catchment area for a job.
Fixed motoring costs, such as tax and insurance, really regressive on 2nd quartile who need car for work.
TV Tax, massively regressive and with a large admin overhead, plus the criminal convictions of many poor people and tying up courts. Just fund public service programming from general taxation.

There’s a thread header in there somewhere, with a couple of hours of research over the weekend. Let me see…
There's a recent survey of economists here: https://x.com/dc_lawrence/status/1974762991074566474?t=73x_NC_WVV1a8gWIY2ibqA&s=19
If SDLT is replaced by a capital tax based on values the winners and losers on that map will be reversed. Most in London would be paying at least £5k a year (assuming 1%) but most around here in east Scotland would be paying nearer £2k.
Over time this might even out our bizarre property market a bit making property outside London more attractive, not less.
But how does the “key worker” afford the £5k a year on a 2-bed rented flat in London?

You’re putting all the losers in the same place, with potentially catastrophic consequences.

Do a property tax to replace SDLT and Council Tax, but have the local authorities set the rate rather than a national scale.
You don't need anything like 1%.

According to Savill's the total value of residential real estate in the UK is 9.1 trillion. 1% would therefore raise 91 billion.

Not only that, but you would also want to have higher rates for properties that are unoccupied more than (say) 180 days per year, to discourage people from having homes they don't live in. (Conveniently, those homes are often the most expensive and owned by non-UK taxpayers, so it's win-win.)
What does Council Tax currently generate? If that is included I think 1% would not be far off, especially when you provide for the inevitable special pleading for various groups such as @Sandpit’s key workers.
Council tax is equivalent to 0.5%. Stamp Duty 0.2%.

1% would allow you to abolish CGT and IHT too, which is what I'd do.
If you abolish CGT, then people like me will just convert all their income into capital gains.

There are a whole load of anti-avoidance rules against that dating back from at least the 1960s, including the "Beatles clause" which was introduced when the Fab Four did exactly that. I'm not saying tax schemes of this nature don't still get dreamt up, but they are always at fairly high risk of being found unlawful and slapped down by HMRC.

AnneJGP · 4:01PM

dixiedean said:

Leon said:
Here’s a really eye catching policy - that any of the major right wing parties could introduce

Add an extra hour to the day. Take three minutes off each of the other hours (no one will notice) then combine all that into a new hour

And here’s the right wing libertarian angle. Allow people to spend their new hour when they like. ie if you really enjoy early morning you could add your extra Leon-hour between six and seven. An extra hour to get things done while all the world snoozes!

Night owls could prolong the sultry mood at 1am. A Leon-hour of the night

And if you’re simply knackered just get an extra Leon-hour of sleep

This is what British politics needs. Not tax tweaks. Proper changes
Mealy mouthed incrementalism.
I propose a 100 hour day.
Each of 14 minutes and 24 seconds.
We could quadruple productivity instantly by introducing a standard 30 hour working day.
And all get 30 hours sleep too.
Leaving 40 hours free time. Every day!
Your sort just aren't ambitious enough.

You remind me about a job advert I saw many years ago. The splashed attraction was Have every day off! Yup, advertising for night shift workers.

HYUFD · 4:04PM

Though a narrow 1% lead for Starmer over Farage in trustworthiness is hardly huge

Foss · 4:07PM

The Beeb is reporting that Jihad Al-Shamie pledged himself to IS.

Cicero · 4:09PM

Dopermean said:

Flatlander said:

viewcode said:
FPT
Taz said:

viewcode said:

Taz said:

Mexicanpete said:

Taz said:

MattW said:

Taz said:

MattW said:
Listening to her speech, the single biggest problem is that all the things she says need to be done are precisely the things her party has spent a decade demonstrating that they are incapable of doing.
.
Exactly.

Why should anyone believe them.
A decade in purgatory beckons.
Deservedly so
Very, very positive response to the Tories on WATO. And a blast from the past, Julie Kirkbride who is now a More in Common pollster.

Helen Whateley very impressed with Kemi today. Whateley suggesting that the ending of stamp duty will be paid for by cuts. There is no replacement tax ( yet) apparently.
I’d be more surprised if Whateley was not impressed.

I haven’t listened to WATO in years. I’m watching the last Michael Praed episode of Robin of Sherwood. The Greatest Enema. It’s quite good.
(hums Clannad)
It’s a great theme

You’re a cult tv fan.

Have you ever rewatched an old tv show you had happy memories of that disappointed.

I have, it was this.

It’s okay but nothing special
Rather sadly, I was also disappointed when I rewatched Robin of Sherwood: not because it was bad, but the slow pace didn't work any more. What was appropriate in the era of four channels and rainy afternoons doesn't work in the 2020s. I have a horrible feeling the same thing would happen if I rewatched The Children Of The Stones or Airwolf. And I'm not going near Space:1999 (1st series), just in case.

It's not all bad news: when I went to the BFI to see a film (see previous posts), I spent about a hour in its "mediatheque", a free-access row of terminals where you could rewatch programmes. I watched an episode of Edge of Darkness ("Northmoor") and it really stood up. And I think/hope Our Friends In The North would too. And I rewatched some episodes of Big Deal and they really worked, at least for a bit. How about Tales Of The Unexpected, at least the early scripts. Perhaps they would too.

Now I'm wondering. Now we are past the laugh-at-the-tacky effects, if we considered Blake's 7 as a period piece: would it still stand up? Similarly, Miami Vice. Hmmm
I rewatched Edge of Darkness not long ago. Definitely stands up. A classic.

My Dad watched a fair few Tales of the Unexpected at times and when passing I found they were vaguely amusing but getting rather dated.
Bought EoD on DVD after catching random reruns.

It's genuinely brilliant. Speaking of which, I see that fine actor, John Woodvine died this week.

Nigelb · 4:10PM

viewcode said:

Nigelb said:

Flatlander said:

viewcode said:
FPT
Taz said:

viewcode said:

Taz said:

Mexicanpete said:

Taz said:

MattW said:

Taz said:

MattW said:
Listening to her speech, the single biggest problem is that all the things she says need to be done are precisely the things her party has spent a decade demonstrating that they are incapable of doing.
.
Exactly.

Why should anyone believe them.
A decade in purgatory beckons.
Deservedly so
Very, very positive response to the Tories on WATO. And a blast from the past, Julie Kirkbride who is now a More in Common pollster.

Helen Whateley very impressed with Kemi today. Whateley suggesting that the ending of stamp duty will be paid for by cuts. There is no replacement tax ( yet) apparently.
I’d be more surprised if Whateley was not impressed.

I haven’t listened to WATO in years. I’m watching the last Michael Praed episode of Robin of Sherwood. The Greatest Enema. It’s quite good.
(hums Clannad)
It’s a great theme

You’re a cult tv fan.

Have you ever rewatched an old tv show you had happy memories of that disappointed.

I have, it was this.

It’s okay but nothing special
Rather sadly, I was also disappointed when I rewatched Robin of Sherwood: not because it was bad, but the slow pace didn't work any more. What was appropriate in the era of four channels and rainy afternoons doesn't work in the 2020s. I have a horrible feeling the same thing would happen if I rewatched The Children Of The Stones or Airwolf. And I'm not going near Space:1999 (1st series), just in case.

It's not all bad news: when I went to the BFI to see a film (see previous posts), I spent about a hour in its "mediatheque", a free-access row of terminals where you could rewatch programmes. I watched an episode of Edge of Darkness ("Northmoor") and it really stood up. And I think/hope Our Friends In The North would too. And I rewatched some episodes of Big Deal and they really worked, at least for a bit. How about Tales Of The Unexpected, at least the early scripts. Perhaps they would too.

Now I'm wondering. Now we are past the laugh-at-the-tacky effects, if we considered Blake's 7 as a period piece: would it still stand up? Similarly, Miami Vice. Hmmm
I rewatched Edge of Darkness not long ago. Definitely stands up. A classic.

My Dad watched a fair few Tales of the Unexpected at times and when passing I found they were vaguely amusing but getting rather dated.
The Water Margin.
Exotic and strange to a kid fifty years ago, but now more than a bit rubbish.

Has China ever remade it ? It's based on classic ancient legends.
Yes

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_Margin#Television
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Water_Margin_(1973_TV_series)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Water_Margin_(1998_TV_series)

Any good ?
There was also this.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Outlaws_of_the_Marsh_(TV_series)&wprov=rarw1

Foxy · 4:11PM

SirNorfolkPassmore said:

Leon said:
Here’s a really eye catching policy - that any of the major right wing parties could introduce

Add an extra hour to the day. Take three minutes off each of the other hours (no one will notice) then combine all that into a new hour

And here’s the right wing libertarian angle. Allow people to spend their new hour when they like. ie if you really enjoy early morning you could add your extra Leon-hour between six and seven. An extra hour to get things done while all the world snoozes!

Night owls could prolong the sultry mood at 1am. A Leon-hour of the night

And if you’re simply knackered just get an extra Leon-hour of sleep

This is what British politics needs. Not tax tweaks. Proper changes
Agree with this.

They also need to add an extra month in the summer, which could easily be created from days taken from months at drearier times of year (it's madness that January has 31 days, for example).

It's be a double whammy - a whole extra month of summer, and less winter grot to wade through.

Ethiopia already has 13 months, so they are way ahead of us.

They are also are only a month into 2018, so have yet to experience Covid.

Stuartinromford · 4:11PM

HYUFD said:
Though a narrow 1% lead for Starmer over Farage in trustworthiness is hardly huge

Though not a fair test, since the National Treasure comparisons aren't the same, as noted upthread.

But doesn't this just say that we like people whose only duty is to be nice on television and we don't like people who have to make difficult decisions that inevitably annoy someone?

Alphabet_Soup · 4:12PM

rcs1000 said:

dixiedean said:

eek said:

Eabhal said:

DavidL said:

rcs1000 said:

Sandpit said:

DavidL said:

Eabhal said:

Sandpit said:

Flatlander said:

Sandpit said:

Battlebus said:

HYUFD said:

Eabhal said:

HYUFD said:

dixiedean said:
Tories pre speech.
"We must tackle the deficit and do something for the young."
After.
"A £15bn bung to homeowners to inflate house prices!"
Superb.
Yes, net zero spending scrapped, welfare scrapped for those with mild mental health problems who can be got back into work, overseas aid cut, no more cars for those with ADHD funded by taxpayer.

Then with those savings stamp duty scrapped benefiting young first time buyers most
Overall that's possibly true because of a more efficient market, but in terms of actual tax paid it's nonsense - Stamp Duty is primarily paid by the richest moving from mansion to mansion.
å
There's also no duty for first time buyers up to £300k - so a load bollocks from you there.
£300k is below even the average house price in London and the home counties so it will be very welcome to first time buyers there
Here's a visual representation of who will benefit from the removal of Stamp Duty. Average House Prices by Constituency. It's looking more like a desperate stunt rather than taking on Reform or even Labour. Who was it said they think CCHQ has it in for her?

Except that’s not how the housing market works, in practice you end up with a long chain of dependent sales at wildly variable prices, houses that could be all over the country.
We should worry most about taxes produce the biggest drag on the economy per £ for the treasury and not so much about who benefits.

Stamp duty must surely be high up there.

Has anyone prepared such a list?

[NB, I have never paid stamp duty]
Good question.

I’d say the biggest is Employer NI, quite literally a tax on jobs but it raises a fortune.
Business rates on retail and hospitality is probably next.
Fuel duty, especially on commercial diesel, feeds into the price of everything. The top 25% now drive EVs for the tax advantages, turning a progressive tax into a regressive one.
Stamp duty SDLT, adds a lot of friction to the economy, and stops people moving out of the London catchment area for a job.
Fixed motoring costs, such as tax and insurance, really regressive on 2nd quartile who need car for work.
TV Tax, massively regressive and with a large admin overhead, plus the criminal convictions of many poor people and tying up courts. Just fund public service programming from general taxation.

There’s a thread header in there somewhere, with a couple of hours of research over the weekend. Let me see…
There's a recent survey of economists here: https://x.com/dc_lawrence/status/1974762991074566474?t=73x_NC_WVV1a8gWIY2ibqA&s=19
If SDLT is replaced by a capital tax based on values the winners and losers on that map will be reversed. Most in London would be paying at least £5k a year (assuming 1%) but most around here in east Scotland would be paying nearer £2k.
Over time this might even out our bizarre property market a bit making property outside London more attractive, not less.
But how does the “key worker” afford the £5k a year on a 2-bed rented flat in London?

You’re putting all the losers in the same place, with potentially catastrophic consequences.

Do a property tax to replace SDLT and Council Tax, but have the local authorities set the rate rather than a national scale.
You don't need anything like 1%.

According to Savill's the total value of residential real estate in the UK is 9.1 trillion. 1% would therefore raise 91 billion.

Not only that, but you would also want to have higher rates for properties that are unoccupied more than (say) 180 days per year, to discourage people from having homes they don't live in. (Conveniently, those homes are often the most expensive and owned by non-UK taxpayers, so it's win-win.)
What does Council Tax currently generate? If that is included I think 1% would not be far off, especially when you provide for the inevitable special pleading for various groups such as @Sandpit’s key workers.
Council tax is equivalent to 0.5%.
Depending where you are - up north it's probably 1% and I could probably find properties where it's 2-3% of the valuation without much difficulty...
My former flat in Ashington.
Value £35k.
Council Tax £1450 p.a.
A 1% property tax (which you can probably cut to 0.6-75% if you have higher tiers for rarely used properties) could have been a fabulous driver of leveling up. It would have made living (and having businesses) in places outside the South East that bit more attractive.

A few years ago I looked into buying a place in the Florida Keys. No state income tax, but annual land value tax to squeeze the snow birds. Each town appeared to set their own % and they seemed to compete with each other to keep it low. 0.5% or 0.6% wasn't uncommon.

SirNorfolkPassmore · 4:13PM

HYUFD said:
Though a narrow 1% lead for Starmer over Farage in trustworthiness is hardly huge

Again, it's just not what the poll is saying. These are head to heads, so Starmer is seen as less trustworthy than Ross (41/23) and Farage less trustworthy than Carr (50/22).

We don't know how Starmer would have been rated against Carr or Farage against Ross, which would give us a marginally clearer view of opinion on the two politicians' comparative trustworthiness... although not as clear as simply asking whether people found Farage or Starmer more trustworthy.

Basically, it's a fun survey created to publicise Celebrity Traitors, but it's meaningless in terms of political insight.

Cookie · 4:13PM

Theuniondivvie said:

viewcode said:
FPT
Taz said:

viewcode said:

Taz said:

Mexicanpete said:

Taz said:

MattW said:

Taz said:

MattW said:
Listening to her speech, the single biggest problem is that all the things she says need to be done are precisely the things her party has spent a decade demonstrating that they are incapable of doing.
.
Exactly.

Why should anyone believe them.
A decade in purgatory beckons.
Deservedly so
Very, very positive response to the Tories on WATO. And a blast from the past, Julie Kirkbride who is now a More in Common pollster.

Helen Whateley very impressed with Kemi today. Whateley suggesting that the ending of stamp duty will be paid for by cuts. There is no replacement tax ( yet) apparently.
I’d be more surprised if Whateley was not impressed.

I haven’t listened to WATO in years. I’m watching the last Michael Praed episode of Robin of Sherwood. The Greatest Enema. It’s quite good.
(hums Clannad)
It’s a great theme

You’re a cult tv fan.

Have you ever rewatched an old tv show you had happy memories of that disappointed.

I have, it was this.

It’s okay but nothing special
Rather sadly, I was also disappointed when I rewatched Robin of Sherwood: not because it was bad, but the slow pace didn't work any more. What was appropriate in the era of four channels and rainy afternoons doesn't work in the 2020s. I have a horrible feeling the same thing would happen if I rewatched The Children Of The Stones or Airwolf. And I'm not going near Space:1999 (1st series), just in case.

It's not all bad news: when I went to the BFI to see a film (see previous posts), I spent about a hour in its "mediatheque", a free-access row of terminals where you could rewatch programmes. I watched an episode of Edge of Darkness ("Northmoor") and it really stood up. And I think/hope Our Friends In The North would too. And I rewatched some episodes of Big Deal and they really worked, at least for a bit. How about Tales Of The Unexpected, at least the early scripts. Perhaps they would too.

Now I'm wondering. Now we are past the laugh-at-the-tacky effects, if we considered Blake's 7 as a period piece: would it still stand up? Similarly, Miami Vice. Hmmm
The Thing (1982 version) was absolutely cemented in my mind as a classic from when I first saw it but I was pretty disappointed when I recently caught it on tv. Not terrible but just a bit quaint, not what you want in scarily bleak sci-fi.

In a fit of insomnia, early one morning, I recently watched ‘Minder’ on one of the channels you have to scroll quite a long way down for. It was absolutely brilliant. I don’t know if I ever knew telly could be this good. Good storytelling, good characters, well thought out, twist at the end.
Ditto ‘Randall and Hopkirk deceased’.

I can’t believe ALL old telly was this good. But the best of it would appear to knock spots off anything on TV now.

Sandpit · 4:15PM

Alphabet_Soup said:

rcs1000 said:

dixiedean said:

eek said:

Eabhal said:

DavidL said:

rcs1000 said:

Sandpit said:

DavidL said:

Eabhal said:

Sandpit said:

Flatlander said:

Sandpit said:

Battlebus said:

HYUFD said:

Eabhal said:

HYUFD said:

dixiedean said:
Tories pre speech.
"We must tackle the deficit and do something for the young."
After.
"A £15bn bung to homeowners to inflate house prices!"
Superb.
Yes, net zero spending scrapped, welfare scrapped for those with mild mental health problems who can be got back into work, overseas aid cut, no more cars for those with ADHD funded by taxpayer.

Then with those savings stamp duty scrapped benefiting young first time buyers most
Overall that's possibly true because of a more efficient market, but in terms of actual tax paid it's nonsense - Stamp Duty is primarily paid by the richest moving from mansion to mansion.
å
There's also no duty for first time buyers up to £300k - so a load bollocks from you there.
£300k is below even the average house price in London and the home counties so it will be very welcome to first time buyers there
Here's a visual representation of who will benefit from the removal of Stamp Duty. Average House Prices by Constituency. It's looking more like a desperate stunt rather than taking on Reform or even Labour. Who was it said they think CCHQ has it in for her?

Except that’s not how the housing market works, in practice you end up with a long chain of dependent sales at wildly variable prices, houses that could be all over the country.
We should worry most about taxes produce the biggest drag on the economy per £ for the treasury and not so much about who benefits.

Stamp duty must surely be high up there.

Has anyone prepared such a list?

[NB, I have never paid stamp duty]
Good question.

I’d say the biggest is Employer NI, quite literally a tax on jobs but it raises a fortune.
Business rates on retail and hospitality is probably next.
Fuel duty, especially on commercial diesel, feeds into the price of everything. The top 25% now drive EVs for the tax advantages, turning a progressive tax into a regressive one.
Stamp duty SDLT, adds a lot of friction to the economy, and stops people moving out of the London catchment area for a job.
Fixed motoring costs, such as tax and insurance, really regressive on 2nd quartile who need car for work.
TV Tax, massively regressive and with a large admin overhead, plus the criminal convictions of many poor people and tying up courts. Just fund public service programming from general taxation.

There’s a thread header in there somewhere, with a couple of hours of research over the weekend. Let me see…
There's a recent survey of economists here: https://x.com/dc_lawrence/status/1974762991074566474?t=73x_NC_WVV1a8gWIY2ibqA&s=19
If SDLT is replaced by a capital tax based on values the winners and losers on that map will be reversed. Most in London would be paying at least £5k a year (assuming 1%) but most around here in east Scotland would be paying nearer £2k.
Over time this might even out our bizarre property market a bit making property outside London more attractive, not less.
But how does the “key worker” afford the £5k a year on a 2-bed rented flat in London?

You’re putting all the losers in the same place, with potentially catastrophic consequences.

Do a property tax to replace SDLT and Council Tax, but have the local authorities set the rate rather than a national scale.
You don't need anything like 1%.

According to Savill's the total value of residential real estate in the UK is 9.1 trillion. 1% would therefore raise 91 billion.

Not only that, but you would also want to have higher rates for properties that are unoccupied more than (say) 180 days per year, to discourage people from having homes they don't live in. (Conveniently, those homes are often the most expensive and owned by non-UK taxpayers, so it's win-win.)
What does Council Tax currently generate? If that is included I think 1% would not be far off, especially when you provide for the inevitable special pleading for various groups such as @Sandpit’s key workers.
Council tax is equivalent to 0.5%.
Depending where you are - up north it's probably 1% and I could probably find properties where it's 2-3% of the valuation without much difficulty...
My former flat in Ashington.
Value £35k.
Council Tax £1450 p.a.
A 1% property tax (which you can probably cut to 0.6-75% if you have higher tiers for rarely used properties) could have been a fabulous driver of leveling up. It would have made living (and having businesses) in places outside the South East that bit more attractive.
A few years ago I looked into buying a place in the Florida Keys. No state income tax, but annual land value tax to squeeze the snow birds. Each town appeared to set their own % and they seemed to compete with each other to keep it low. 0.5% or 0.6% wasn't uncommon.

Which is exactly what you want, local authorities competing with each other to attract residents and businesses.

Phil · 4:18PM

JohnLilburne said:

dixiedean said:

eek said:

Eabhal said:

DavidL said:

rcs1000 said:

Sandpit said:

DavidL said:

Eabhal said:

Sandpit said:

Flatlander said:

Sandpit said:

Battlebus said:

HYUFD said:

Eabhal said:

HYUFD said:

dixiedean said:
Tories pre speech.
"We must tackle the deficit and do something for the young."
After.
"A £15bn bung to homeowners to inflate house prices!"
Superb.
Yes, net zero spending scrapped, welfare scrapped for those with mild mental health problems who can be got back into work, overseas aid cut, no more cars for those with ADHD funded by taxpayer.

Then with those savings stamp duty scrapped benefiting young first time buyers most
Overall that's possibly true because of a more efficient market, but in terms of actual tax paid it's nonsense - Stamp Duty is primarily paid by the richest moving from mansion to mansion.
å
There's also no duty for first time buyers up to £300k - so a load bollocks from you there.
£300k is below even the average house price in London and the home counties so it will be very welcome to first time buyers there
Here's a visual representation of who will benefit from the removal of Stamp Duty. Average House Prices by Constituency. It's looking more like a desperate stunt rather than taking on Reform or even Labour. Who was it said they think CCHQ has it in for her?

Except that’s not how the housing market works, in practice you end up with a long chain of dependent sales at wildly variable prices, houses that could be all over the country.
We should worry most about taxes produce the biggest drag on the economy per £ for the treasury and not so much about who benefits.

Stamp duty must surely be high up there.

Has anyone prepared such a list?

[NB, I have never paid stamp duty]
Good question.

I’d say the biggest is Employer NI, quite literally a tax on jobs but it raises a fortune.
Business rates on retail and hospitality is probably next.
Fuel duty, especially on commercial diesel, feeds into the price of everything. The top 25% now drive EVs for the tax advantages, turning a progressive tax into a regressive one.
Stamp duty SDLT, adds a lot of friction to the economy, and stops people moving out of the London catchment area for a job.
Fixed motoring costs, such as tax and insurance, really regressive on 2nd quartile who need car for work.
TV Tax, massively regressive and with a large admin overhead, plus the criminal convictions of many poor people and tying up courts. Just fund public service programming from general taxation.

There’s a thread header in there somewhere, with a couple of hours of research over the weekend. Let me see…
There's a recent survey of economists here: https://x.com/dc_lawrence/status/1974762991074566474?t=73x_NC_WVV1a8gWIY2ibqA&s=19
If SDLT is replaced by a capital tax based on values the winners and losers on that map will be reversed. Most in London would be paying at least £5k a year (assuming 1%) but most around here in east Scotland would be paying nearer £2k.
Over time this might even out our bizarre property market a bit making property outside London more attractive, not less.
But how does the “key worker” afford the £5k a year on a 2-bed rented flat in London?

You’re putting all the losers in the same place, with potentially catastrophic consequences.

Do a property tax to replace SDLT and Council Tax, but have the local authorities set the rate rather than a national scale.
You don't need anything like 1%.

According to Savill's the total value of residential real estate in the UK is 9.1 trillion. 1% would therefore raise 91 billion.

Not only that, but you would also want to have higher rates for properties that are unoccupied more than (say) 180 days per year, to discourage people from having homes they don't live in. (Conveniently, those homes are often the most expensive and owned by non-UK taxpayers, so it's win-win.)
What does Council Tax currently generate? If that is included I think 1% would not be far off, especially when you provide for the inevitable special pleading for various groups such as @Sandpit’s key workers.
Council tax is equivalent to 0.5%.
Depending where you are - up north it's probably 1% and I could probably find properties where it's 2-3% of the valuation without much difficulty...
My former flat in Ashington.
Value £35k.
Council Tax £1450 p.a.
I suppose the answer is that Northumberland needs to raise as much tax as Hampshire, possibly more, despite lower property prices.

Two options, one is to abandon the idea of local government raising its own taxes, the other is to have both a national element of land tax, and a local elwnent

I see PB has recreated something close to Tim Leunig’s propery tax proposal to replace both stamp duty & council tax from first principles!

https://ukonward.com/reports/a-fairer-property-tax/

He suggests that, to solve the local government income problem noted above, local councils should set the rate on the value of property < £500k which would replace council tax. So northern councils would presumably set a higher % rate in order to generate the same income as they do now.

Under this proposal the value of property over £500k would be subject to a national property tax which would replace stamp duty, possibly a tiered tax if the government so chose.

Full PDF outlining his proposal here: https://www.ukonward.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Onward-A-Fairer-Property-Tax.pdf

Scott_xP · 4:20PM

Cookie said:

Theuniondivvie said:

viewcode said:
FPT
Taz said:

viewcode said:

Taz said:

Mexicanpete said:

Taz said:

MattW said:

Taz said:

MattW said:
Listening to her speech, the single biggest problem is that all the things she says need to be done are precisely the things her party has spent a decade demonstrating that they are incapable of doing.
.
Exactly.

Why should anyone believe them.
A decade in purgatory beckons.
Deservedly so
Very, very positive response to the Tories on WATO. And a blast from the past, Julie Kirkbride who is now a More in Common pollster.

Helen Whateley very impressed with Kemi today. Whateley suggesting that the ending of stamp duty will be paid for by cuts. There is no replacement tax ( yet) apparently.
I’d be more surprised if Whateley was not impressed.

I haven’t listened to WATO in years. I’m watching the last Michael Praed episode of Robin of Sherwood. The Greatest Enema. It’s quite good.
(hums Clannad)
It’s a great theme

You’re a cult tv fan.

Have you ever rewatched an old tv show you had happy memories of that disappointed.

I have, it was this.

It’s okay but nothing special
Rather sadly, I was also disappointed when I rewatched Robin of Sherwood: not because it was bad, but the slow pace didn't work any more. What was appropriate in the era of four channels and rainy afternoons doesn't work in the 2020s. I have a horrible feeling the same thing would happen if I rewatched The Children Of The Stones or Airwolf. And I'm not going near Space:1999 (1st series), just in case.

It's not all bad news: when I went to the BFI to see a film (see previous posts), I spent about a hour in its "mediatheque", a free-access row of terminals where you could rewatch programmes. I watched an episode of Edge of Darkness ("Northmoor") and it really stood up. And I think/hope Our Friends In The North would too. And I rewatched some episodes of Big Deal and they really worked, at least for a bit. How about Tales Of The Unexpected, at least the early scripts. Perhaps they would too.

Now I'm wondering. Now we are past the laugh-at-the-tacky effects, if we considered Blake's 7 as a period piece: would it still stand up? Similarly, Miami Vice. Hmmm
The Thing (1982 version) was absolutely cemented in my mind as a classic from when I first saw it but I was pretty disappointed when I recently caught it on tv. Not terrible but just a bit quaint, not what you want in scarily bleak sci-fi.
In a fit of insomnia, early one morning, I recently watched ‘Minder’ on one of the channels you have to scroll quite a long way down for. It was absolutely brilliant. I don’t know if I ever knew telly could be this good. Good storytelling, good characters, well thought out, twist at the end.
Ditto ‘Randall and Hopkirk deceased’.

I can’t believe ALL old telly was this good. But the best of it would appear to knock spots off anything on TV now.

One the channels showed The Professionals Series 1 in HD a couple of years ago. The calibre of actors they were able to recruit is astounding.

SirNorfolkPassmore · 4:21PM

Sandpit said:

Alphabet_Soup said:

rcs1000 said:

dixiedean said:

eek said:

Eabhal said:

DavidL said:

rcs1000 said:

Sandpit said:

DavidL said:

Eabhal said:

Sandpit said:

Flatlander said:

Sandpit said:

Battlebus said:

HYUFD said:

Eabhal said:

HYUFD said:

dixiedean said:
Tories pre speech.
"We must tackle the deficit and do something for the young."
After.
"A £15bn bung to homeowners to inflate house prices!"
Superb.
Yes, net zero spending scrapped, welfare scrapped for those with mild mental health problems who can be got back into work, overseas aid cut, no more cars for those with ADHD funded by taxpayer.

Then with those savings stamp duty scrapped benefiting young first time buyers most
Overall that's possibly true because of a more efficient market, but in terms of actual tax paid it's nonsense - Stamp Duty is primarily paid by the richest moving from mansion to mansion.
å
There's also no duty for first time buyers up to £300k - so a load bollocks from you there.
£300k is below even the average house price in London and the home counties so it will be very welcome to first time buyers there
Here's a visual representation of who will benefit from the removal of Stamp Duty. Average House Prices by Constituency. It's looking more like a desperate stunt rather than taking on Reform or even Labour. Who was it said they think CCHQ has it in for her?

Except that’s not how the housing market works, in practice you end up with a long chain of dependent sales at wildly variable prices, houses that could be all over the country.
We should worry most about taxes produce the biggest drag on the economy per £ for the treasury and not so much about who benefits.

Stamp duty must surely be high up there.

Has anyone prepared such a list?

[NB, I have never paid stamp duty]
Good question.

I’d say the biggest is Employer NI, quite literally a tax on jobs but it raises a fortune.
Business rates on retail and hospitality is probably next.
Fuel duty, especially on commercial diesel, feeds into the price of everything. The top 25% now drive EVs for the tax advantages, turning a progressive tax into a regressive one.
Stamp duty SDLT, adds a lot of friction to the economy, and stops people moving out of the London catchment area for a job.
Fixed motoring costs, such as tax and insurance, really regressive on 2nd quartile who need car for work.
TV Tax, massively regressive and with a large admin overhead, plus the criminal convictions of many poor people and tying up courts. Just fund public service programming from general taxation.

There’s a thread header in there somewhere, with a couple of hours of research over the weekend. Let me see…
There's a recent survey of economists here: https://x.com/dc_lawrence/status/1974762991074566474?t=73x_NC_WVV1a8gWIY2ibqA&s=19
If SDLT is replaced by a capital tax based on values the winners and losers on that map will be reversed. Most in London would be paying at least £5k a year (assuming 1%) but most around here in east Scotland would be paying nearer £2k.
Over time this might even out our bizarre property market a bit making property outside London more attractive, not less.
But how does the “key worker” afford the £5k a year on a 2-bed rented flat in London?

You’re putting all the losers in the same place, with potentially catastrophic consequences.

Do a property tax to replace SDLT and Council Tax, but have the local authorities set the rate rather than a national scale.
You don't need anything like 1%.

According to Savill's the total value of residential real estate in the UK is 9.1 trillion. 1% would therefore raise 91 billion.

Not only that, but you would also want to have higher rates for properties that are unoccupied more than (say) 180 days per year, to discourage people from having homes they don't live in. (Conveniently, those homes are often the most expensive and owned by non-UK taxpayers, so it's win-win.)
What does Council Tax currently generate? If that is included I think 1% would not be far off, especially when you provide for the inevitable special pleading for various groups such as @Sandpit’s key workers.
Council tax is equivalent to 0.5%.
Depending where you are - up north it's probably 1% and I could probably find properties where it's 2-3% of the valuation without much difficulty...
My former flat in Ashington.
Value £35k.
Council Tax £1450 p.a.
A 1% property tax (which you can probably cut to 0.6-75% if you have higher tiers for rarely used properties) could have been a fabulous driver of leveling up. It would have made living (and having businesses) in places outside the South East that bit more attractive.
A few years ago I looked into buying a place in the Florida Keys. No state income tax, but annual land value tax to squeeze the snow birds. Each town appeared to set their own % and they seemed to compete with each other to keep it low. 0.5% or 0.6% wasn't uncommon.
Which is exactly what you want, local authorities competing with each other to attract residents and businesses.

In terms of businesses, that isn't what you tend to get when you have large local variations in taxes. The local authorities compete for the highly mobile businesses that can locate anywhere and up sticks quite easily, so they all get a free lunch while the poor bugger running a quarry or whatever pays their bill for them.

numbertwelve · 4:21PM

Stuartinromford said:

HYUFD said:
Though a narrow 1% lead for Starmer over Farage in trustworthiness is hardly huge
Though not a fair test, since the National Treasure comparisons aren't the same, as noted upthread.

But doesn't this just say that we like people whose only duty is to be nice on television and we don't like people who have to make difficult decisions that inevitably annoy someone?

Yes. It’s a very silly poll.

Daveyboy1961 · 4:26PM

rcs1000 said:

Eabhal said:

DavidL said:

rcs1000 said:

Sandpit said:

DavidL said:

Eabhal said:

Sandpit said:

Flatlander said:

Sandpit said:

Battlebus said:

HYUFD said:

Eabhal said:

HYUFD said:

dixiedean said:
Tories pre speech.
"We must tackle the deficit and do something for the young."
After.
"A £15bn bung to homeowners to inflate house prices!"
Superb.
Yes, net zero spending scrapped, welfare scrapped for those with mild mental health problems who can be got back into work, overseas aid cut, no more cars for those with ADHD funded by taxpayer.

Then with those savings stamp duty scrapped benefiting young first time buyers most
Overall that's possibly true because of a more efficient market, but in terms of actual tax paid it's nonsense - Stamp Duty is primarily paid by the richest moving from mansion to mansion.
å
There's also no duty for first time buyers up to £300k - so a load bollocks from you there.
£300k is below even the average house price in London and the home counties so it will be very welcome to first time buyers there
Here's a visual representation of who will benefit from the removal of Stamp Duty. Average House Prices by Constituency. It's looking more like a desperate stunt rather than taking on Reform or even Labour. Who was it said they think CCHQ has it in for her?

Except that’s not how the housing market works, in practice you end up with a long chain of dependent sales at wildly variable prices, houses that could be all over the country.
We should worry most about taxes produce the biggest drag on the economy per £ for the treasury and not so much about who benefits.

Stamp duty must surely be high up there.

Has anyone prepared such a list?

[NB, I have never paid stamp duty]
Good question.

I’d say the biggest is Employer NI, quite literally a tax on jobs but it raises a fortune.
Business rates on retail and hospitality is probably next.
Fuel duty, especially on commercial diesel, feeds into the price of everything. The top 25% now drive EVs for the tax advantages, turning a progressive tax into a regressive one.
Stamp duty SDLT, adds a lot of friction to the economy, and stops people moving out of the London catchment area for a job.
Fixed motoring costs, such as tax and insurance, really regressive on 2nd quartile who need car for work.
TV Tax, massively regressive and with a large admin overhead, plus the criminal convictions of many poor people and tying up courts. Just fund public service programming from general taxation.

There’s a thread header in there somewhere, with a couple of hours of research over the weekend. Let me see…
There's a recent survey of economists here: https://x.com/dc_lawrence/status/1974762991074566474?t=73x_NC_WVV1a8gWIY2ibqA&s=19
If SDLT is replaced by a capital tax based on values the winners and losers on that map will be reversed. Most in London would be paying at least £5k a year (assuming 1%) but most around here in east Scotland would be paying nearer £2k.
Over time this might even out our bizarre property market a bit making property outside London more attractive, not less.
But how does the “key worker” afford the £5k a year on a 2-bed rented flat in London?

You’re putting all the losers in the same place, with potentially catastrophic consequences.

Do a property tax to replace SDLT and Council Tax, but have the local authorities set the rate rather than a national scale.
You don't need anything like 1%.

According to Savill's the total value of residential real estate in the UK is 9.1 trillion. 1% would therefore raise 91 billion.

Not only that, but you would also want to have higher rates for properties that are unoccupied more than (say) 180 days per year, to discourage people from having homes they don't live in. (Conveniently, those homes are often the most expensive and owned by non-UK taxpayers, so it's win-win.)
What does Council Tax currently generate? If that is included I think 1% would not be far off, especially when you provide for the inevitable special pleading for various groups such as @Sandpit’s key workers.
Council tax is equivalent to 0.5%. Stamp Duty 0.2%.

1% would allow you to abolish CGT and IHT too, which is what I'd do.
If you abolish CGT, then people like me will just convert all their income into capital gains.

I'm not sure what that means. You can't spend capital down the shops.

TheScreamingEagles · 4:26PM

numbertwelve said:

Stuartinromford said:

HYUFD said:
Though a narrow 1% lead for Starmer over Farage in trustworthiness is hardly huge
Though not a fair test, since the National Treasure comparisons aren't the same, as noted upthread.

But doesn't this just say that we like people whose only duty is to be nice on television and we don't like people who have to make difficult decisions that inevitably annoy someone?
Yes. It’s a very silly poll.

I know, but every so often you need a fun thread.

Mexicanpete · 4:27PM

All the Lou Grade ITC dramas, most notably the colour episodes of the Saint, the Avengers (I still have a thing for Linda Thorson) the Champions, the Protectors, Department S, Man In a Suitcase, the Zoo Gang, the Prisoner, the Baron and the Persuaders etc were all very well written and performed. Even if a street in London looked exactly the same as a Street in Monte Carlo. The only series that didn't really work was the Adventurer because Gene Barry couldn't work with any actor who was taller than him, and apparently he was short!

The Verity Lambert, Thames productions like the Sweeney and Minder all stand up to scrutiny too.

Sandpit · 4:29PM

SirNorfolkPassmore said:

Sandpit said:

Alphabet_Soup said:

rcs1000 said:

dixiedean said:

eek said:

Eabhal said:

DavidL said:

rcs1000 said:

Sandpit said:

DavidL said:

Eabhal said:

Sandpit said:

Flatlander said:

Sandpit said:

Battlebus said:

HYUFD said:

Eabhal said:

HYUFD said:

dixiedean said:
Tories pre speech.
"We must tackle the deficit and do something for the young."
After.
"A £15bn bung to homeowners to inflate house prices!"
Superb.
Yes, net zero spending scrapped, welfare scrapped for those with mild mental health problems who can be got back into work, overseas aid cut, no more cars for those with ADHD funded by taxpayer.

Then with those savings stamp duty scrapped benefiting young first time buyers most
Overall that's possibly true because of a more efficient market, but in terms of actual tax paid it's nonsense - Stamp Duty is primarily paid by the richest moving from mansion to mansion.
å
There's also no duty for first time buyers up to £300k - so a load bollocks from you there.
£300k is below even the average house price in London and the home counties so it will be very welcome to first time buyers there
Here's a visual representation of who will benefit from the removal of Stamp Duty. Average House Prices by Constituency. It's looking more like a desperate stunt rather than taking on Reform or even Labour. Who was it said they think CCHQ has it in for her?

Except that’s not how the housing market works, in practice you end up with a long chain of dependent sales at wildly variable prices, houses that could be all over the country.
We should worry most about taxes produce the biggest drag on the economy per £ for the treasury and not so much about who benefits.

Stamp duty must surely be high up there.

Has anyone prepared such a list?

[NB, I have never paid stamp duty]
Good question.

I’d say the biggest is Employer NI, quite literally a tax on jobs but it raises a fortune.
Business rates on retail and hospitality is probably next.
Fuel duty, especially on commercial diesel, feeds into the price of everything. The top 25% now drive EVs for the tax advantages, turning a progressive tax into a regressive one.
Stamp duty SDLT, adds a lot of friction to the economy, and stops people moving out of the London catchment area for a job.
Fixed motoring costs, such as tax and insurance, really regressive on 2nd quartile who need car for work.
TV Tax, massively regressive and with a large admin overhead, plus the criminal convictions of many poor people and tying up courts. Just fund public service programming from general taxation.

There’s a thread header in there somewhere, with a couple of hours of research over the weekend. Let me see…
There's a recent survey of economists here: https://x.com/dc_lawrence/status/1974762991074566474?t=73x_NC_WVV1a8gWIY2ibqA&s=19
If SDLT is replaced by a capital tax based on values the winners and losers on that map will be reversed. Most in London would be paying at least £5k a year (assuming 1%) but most around here in east Scotland would be paying nearer £2k.
Over time this might even out our bizarre property market a bit making property outside London more attractive, not less.
But how does the “key worker” afford the £5k a year on a 2-bed rented flat in London?

You’re putting all the losers in the same place, with potentially catastrophic consequences.

Do a property tax to replace SDLT and Council Tax, but have the local authorities set the rate rather than a national scale.
You don't need anything like 1%.

According to Savill's the total value of residential real estate in the UK is 9.1 trillion. 1% would therefore raise 91 billion.

Not only that, but you would also want to have higher rates for properties that are unoccupied more than (say) 180 days per year, to discourage people from having homes they don't live in. (Conveniently, those homes are often the most expensive and owned by non-UK taxpayers, so it's win-win.)
What does Council Tax currently generate? If that is included I think 1% would not be far off, especially when you provide for the inevitable special pleading for various groups such as @Sandpit’s key workers.
Council tax is equivalent to 0.5%.
Depending where you are - up north it's probably 1% and I could probably find properties where it's 2-3% of the valuation without much difficulty...
My former flat in Ashington.
Value £35k.
Council Tax £1450 p.a.
A 1% property tax (which you can probably cut to 0.6-75% if you have higher tiers for rarely used properties) could have been a fabulous driver of leveling up. It would have made living (and having businesses) in places outside the South East that bit more attractive.
A few years ago I looked into buying a place in the Florida Keys. No state income tax, but annual land value tax to squeeze the snow birds. Each town appeared to set their own % and they seemed to compete with each other to keep it low. 0.5% or 0.6% wasn't uncommon.
Which is exactly what you want, local authorities competing with each other to attract residents and businesses.
In terms of businesses, that isn't what you tend to get when you have large local variations in taxes. The local authorities compete for the highly mobile businesses that can locate anywhere and up sticks quite easily, so they all get a free lunch while the poor bugger running a quarry or whatever pays their bill for them.

The important part is that a tax on businesses is applicable to all businesses, you don’t want to get into the American system where towns and cities can and do pass legislation reducing taxes on specific companies.

Eabhal · 4:31PM

SirNorfolkPassmore said:

Sandpit said:

Alphabet_Soup said:

rcs1000 said:

dixiedean said:

eek said:

Eabhal said:

DavidL said:

rcs1000 said:

Sandpit said:

DavidL said:

Eabhal said:

Sandpit said:

Flatlander said:

Sandpit said:

Battlebus said:

HYUFD said:

Eabhal said:

HYUFD said:

dixiedean said:
Tories pre speech.
"We must tackle the deficit and do something for the young."
After.
"A £15bn bung to homeowners to inflate house prices!"
Superb.
Yes, net zero spending scrapped, welfare scrapped for those with mild mental health problems who can be got back into work, overseas aid cut, no more cars for those with ADHD funded by taxpayer.

Then with those savings stamp duty scrapped benefiting young first time buyers most
Overall that's possibly true because of a more efficient market, but in terms of actual tax paid it's nonsense - Stamp Duty is primarily paid by the richest moving from mansion to mansion.
å
There's also no duty for first time buyers up to £300k - so a load bollocks from you there.
£300k is below even the average house price in London and the home counties so it will be very welcome to first time buyers there
Here's a visual representation of who will benefit from the removal of Stamp Duty. Average House Prices by Constituency. It's looking more like a desperate stunt rather than taking on Reform or even Labour. Who was it said they think CCHQ has it in for her?

Except that’s not how the housing market works, in practice you end up with a long chain of dependent sales at wildly variable prices, houses that could be all over the country.
We should worry most about taxes produce the biggest drag on the economy per £ for the treasury and not so much about who benefits.

Stamp duty must surely be high up there.

Has anyone prepared such a list?

[NB, I have never paid stamp duty]
Good question.

I’d say the biggest is Employer NI, quite literally a tax on jobs but it raises a fortune.
Business rates on retail and hospitality is probably next.
Fuel duty, especially on commercial diesel, feeds into the price of everything. The top 25% now drive EVs for the tax advantages, turning a progressive tax into a regressive one.
Stamp duty SDLT, adds a lot of friction to the economy, and stops people moving out of the London catchment area for a job.
Fixed motoring costs, such as tax and insurance, really regressive on 2nd quartile who need car for work.
TV Tax, massively regressive and with a large admin overhead, plus the criminal convictions of many poor people and tying up courts. Just fund public service programming from general taxation.

There’s a thread header in there somewhere, with a couple of hours of research over the weekend. Let me see…
There's a recent survey of economists here: https://x.com/dc_lawrence/status/1974762991074566474?t=73x_NC_WVV1a8gWIY2ibqA&s=19
If SDLT is replaced by a capital tax based on values the winners and losers on that map will be reversed. Most in London would be paying at least £5k a year (assuming 1%) but most around here in east Scotland would be paying nearer £2k.
Over time this might even out our bizarre property market a bit making property outside London more attractive, not less.
But how does the “key worker” afford the £5k a year on a 2-bed rented flat in London?

You’re putting all the losers in the same place, with potentially catastrophic consequences.

Do a property tax to replace SDLT and Council Tax, but have the local authorities set the rate rather than a national scale.
You don't need anything like 1%.

According to Savill's the total value of residential real estate in the UK is 9.1 trillion. 1% would therefore raise 91 billion.

Not only that, but you would also want to have higher rates for properties that are unoccupied more than (say) 180 days per year, to discourage people from having homes they don't live in. (Conveniently, those homes are often the most expensive and owned by non-UK taxpayers, so it's win-win.)
What does Council Tax currently generate? If that is included I think 1% would not be far off, especially when you provide for the inevitable special pleading for various groups such as @Sandpit’s key workers.
Council tax is equivalent to 0.5%.
Depending where you are - up north it's probably 1% and I could probably find properties where it's 2-3% of the valuation without much difficulty...
My former flat in Ashington.
Value £35k.
Council Tax £1450 p.a.
A 1% property tax (which you can probably cut to 0.6-75% if you have higher tiers for rarely used properties) could have been a fabulous driver of leveling up. It would have made living (and having businesses) in places outside the South East that bit more attractive.
A few years ago I looked into buying a place in the Florida Keys. No state income tax, but annual land value tax to squeeze the snow birds. Each town appeared to set their own % and they seemed to compete with each other to keep it low. 0.5% or 0.6% wasn't uncommon.
Which is exactly what you want, local authorities competing with each other to attract residents and businesses.
In terms of businesses, that isn't what you tend to get when you have large local variations in taxes. The local authorities compete for the highly mobile businesses that can locate anywhere and up sticks quite easily, so they all get a free lunch while the poor bugger running a quarry or whatever pays their bill for them.

It wouldn't really work because most council spending in the UK is a statutory duty, as well as 0.5% in Middlesbrough raising much less then that raised in Kensington.

A national property tax minima + LA grants based on population + optional top ups might work.

eek · 4:32PM

Phil said:

JohnLilburne said:

dixiedean said:

eek said:

Eabhal said:

DavidL said:

rcs1000 said:

Sandpit said:

DavidL said:

Eabhal said:

Sandpit said:

Flatlander said:

Sandpit said:

Battlebus said:

HYUFD said:

Eabhal said:

HYUFD said:

dixiedean said:
Tories pre speech.
"We must tackle the deficit and do something for the young."
After.
"A £15bn bung to homeowners to inflate house prices!"
Superb.
Yes, net zero spending scrapped, welfare scrapped for those with mild mental health problems who can be got back into work, overseas aid cut, no more cars for those with ADHD funded by taxpayer.

Then with those savings stamp duty scrapped benefiting young first time buyers most
Overall that's possibly true because of a more efficient market, but in terms of actual tax paid it's nonsense - Stamp Duty is primarily paid by the richest moving from mansion to mansion.
å
There's also no duty for first time buyers up to £300k - so a load bollocks from you there.
£300k is below even the average house price in London and the home counties so it will be very welcome to first time buyers there
Here's a visual representation of who will benefit from the removal of Stamp Duty. Average House Prices by Constituency. It's looking more like a desperate stunt rather than taking on Reform or even Labour. Who was it said they think CCHQ has it in for her?

Except that’s not how the housing market works, in practice you end up with a long chain of dependent sales at wildly variable prices, houses that could be all over the country.
We should worry most about taxes produce the biggest drag on the economy per £ for the treasury and not so much about who benefits.

Stamp duty must surely be high up there.

Has anyone prepared such a list?

[NB, I have never paid stamp duty]
Good question.

I’d say the biggest is Employer NI, quite literally a tax on jobs but it raises a fortune.
Business rates on retail and hospitality is probably next.
Fuel duty, especially on commercial diesel, feeds into the price of everything. The top 25% now drive EVs for the tax advantages, turning a progressive tax into a regressive one.
Stamp duty SDLT, adds a lot of friction to the economy, and stops people moving out of the London catchment area for a job.
Fixed motoring costs, such as tax and insurance, really regressive on 2nd quartile who need car for work.
TV Tax, massively regressive and with a large admin overhead, plus the criminal convictions of many poor people and tying up courts. Just fund public service programming from general taxation.

There’s a thread header in there somewhere, with a couple of hours of research over the weekend. Let me see…
There's a recent survey of economists here: https://x.com/dc_lawrence/status/1974762991074566474?t=73x_NC_WVV1a8gWIY2ibqA&s=19
If SDLT is replaced by a capital tax based on values the winners and losers on that map will be reversed. Most in London would be paying at least £5k a year (assuming 1%) but most around here in east Scotland would be paying nearer £2k.
Over time this might even out our bizarre property market a bit making property outside London more attractive, not less.
But how does the “key worker” afford the £5k a year on a 2-bed rented flat in London?

You’re putting all the losers in the same place, with potentially catastrophic consequences.

Do a property tax to replace SDLT and Council Tax, but have the local authorities set the rate rather than a national scale.
You don't need anything like 1%.

According to Savill's the total value of residential real estate in the UK is 9.1 trillion. 1% would therefore raise 91 billion.

Not only that, but you would also want to have higher rates for properties that are unoccupied more than (say) 180 days per year, to discourage people from having homes they don't live in. (Conveniently, those homes are often the most expensive and owned by non-UK taxpayers, so it's win-win.)
What does Council Tax currently generate? If that is included I think 1% would not be far off, especially when you provide for the inevitable special pleading for various groups such as @Sandpit’s key workers.
Council tax is equivalent to 0.5%.
Depending where you are - up north it's probably 1% and I could probably find properties where it's 2-3% of the valuation without much difficulty...
My former flat in Ashington.
Value £35k.
Council Tax £1450 p.a.
I suppose the answer is that Northumberland needs to raise as much tax as Hampshire, possibly more, despite lower property prices.

Two options, one is to abandon the idea of local government raising its own taxes, the other is to have both a national element of land tax, and a local elwnent
I see PB has recreated something close to Tim Leunig’s propery tax proposal to replace both stamp duty & council tax from first principles!

https://ukonward.com/reports/a-fairer-property-tax/

He suggests that, to solve the local government income problem noted above, local councils should set the rate on the value of property < £500k which would replace council tax. So northern councils would presumably set a higher % rate in order to generate the same income as they do now.

Under this proposal the value of property over £500k would be subject to a national property tax which would replace stamp duty, possibly a tiered tax if the government so chose.

Full PDF outlining his proposal here: https://www.ukonward.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Onward-A-Fairer-Property-Tax.pdf

Except we've had this proposal going round here since at least 2023 and quite possibly 2022...

Edit a quick search has us discussing this in November 2022 so it may be earlier than that.

viewcode · 4:33PM

Sandpit said:

Stark_Dawning said:

Leon said:
Here’s a really eye catching policy - that any of the major right wing parties could introduce

Add an extra hour to the day. Take three minutes off each of the other hours (no one will notice) then combine all that into a new hour

And here’s the right wing libertarian angle. Allow people to spend their new hour when they like. ie if you really enjoy early morning you could add your extra Leon-hour between six and seven. An extra hour to get things done while all the world snoozes!

Night owls could prolong the sultry mood at 1am. A Leon-hour of the night

And if you’re simply knackered just get an extra Leon-hour of sleep

This is what British politics needs. Not tax tweaks. Proper changes
I pity the poor IT minions who'll have convert every piece of software to use 25-hour days purely for British usage.
Obviously it’s time (haha) for this one again…

https://infiniteundo.com/post/25326999628/falsehoods-programmers-believe-about-time

That blogpost (and the one it links to) was polite, humourous and informative.

Remember when all the web used to be like that?

Flatlander · 4:34PM

Eabhal said:

SirNorfolkPassmore said:

Sandpit said:

Alphabet_Soup said:

rcs1000 said:

dixiedean said:

eek said:

Eabhal said:

DavidL said:

rcs1000 said:

Sandpit said:

DavidL said:

Eabhal said:

Sandpit said:

Flatlander said:

Sandpit said:

Battlebus said:

HYUFD said:

Eabhal said:

HYUFD said:

dixiedean said:
Tories pre speech.
"We must tackle the deficit and do something for the young."
After.
"A £15bn bung to homeowners to inflate house prices!"
Superb.
Yes, net zero spending scrapped, welfare scrapped for those with mild mental health problems who can be got back into work, overseas aid cut, no more cars for those with ADHD funded by taxpayer.

Then with those savings stamp duty scrapped benefiting young first time buyers most
Overall that's possibly true because of a more efficient market, but in terms of actual tax paid it's nonsense - Stamp Duty is primarily paid by the richest moving from mansion to mansion.
å
There's also no duty for first time buyers up to £300k - so a load bollocks from you there.
£300k is below even the average house price in London and the home counties so it will be very welcome to first time buyers there
Here's a visual representation of who will benefit from the removal of Stamp Duty. Average House Prices by Constituency. It's looking more like a desperate stunt rather than taking on Reform or even Labour. Who was it said they think CCHQ has it in for her?

Except that’s not how the housing market works, in practice you end up with a long chain of dependent sales at wildly variable prices, houses that could be all over the country.
We should worry most about taxes produce the biggest drag on the economy per £ for the treasury and not so much about who benefits.

Stamp duty must surely be high up there.

Has anyone prepared such a list?

[NB, I have never paid stamp duty]
Good question.

I’d say the biggest is Employer NI, quite literally a tax on jobs but it raises a fortune.
Business rates on retail and hospitality is probably next.
Fuel duty, especially on commercial diesel, feeds into the price of everything. The top 25% now drive EVs for the tax advantages, turning a progressive tax into a regressive one.
Stamp duty SDLT, adds a lot of friction to the economy, and stops people moving out of the London catchment area for a job.
Fixed motoring costs, such as tax and insurance, really regressive on 2nd quartile who need car for work.
TV Tax, massively regressive and with a large admin overhead, plus the criminal convictions of many poor people and tying up courts. Just fund public service programming from general taxation.

There’s a thread header in there somewhere, with a couple of hours of research over the weekend. Let me see…
There's a recent survey of economists here: https://x.com/dc_lawrence/status/1974762991074566474?t=73x_NC_WVV1a8gWIY2ibqA&s=19
If SDLT is replaced by a capital tax based on values the winners and losers on that map will be reversed. Most in London would be paying at least £5k a year (assuming 1%) but most around here in east Scotland would be paying nearer £2k.
Over time this might even out our bizarre property market a bit making property outside London more attractive, not less.
But how does the “key worker” afford the £5k a year on a 2-bed rented flat in London?

You’re putting all the losers in the same place, with potentially catastrophic consequences.

Do a property tax to replace SDLT and Council Tax, but have the local authorities set the rate rather than a national scale.
You don't need anything like 1%.

According to Savill's the total value of residential real estate in the UK is 9.1 trillion. 1% would therefore raise 91 billion.

Not only that, but you would also want to have higher rates for properties that are unoccupied more than (say) 180 days per year, to discourage people from having homes they don't live in. (Conveniently, those homes are often the most expensive and owned by non-UK taxpayers, so it's win-win.)
What does Council Tax currently generate? If that is included I think 1% would not be far off, especially when you provide for the inevitable special pleading for various groups such as @Sandpit’s key workers.
Council tax is equivalent to 0.5%.
Depending where you are - up north it's probably 1% and I could probably find properties where it's 2-3% of the valuation without much difficulty...
My former flat in Ashington.
Value £35k.
Council Tax £1450 p.a.
A 1% property tax (which you can probably cut to 0.6-75% if you have higher tiers for rarely used properties) could have been a fabulous driver of leveling up. It would have made living (and having businesses) in places outside the South East that bit more attractive.
A few years ago I looked into buying a place in the Florida Keys. No state income tax, but annual land value tax to squeeze the snow birds. Each town appeared to set their own % and they seemed to compete with each other to keep it low. 0.5% or 0.6% wasn't uncommon.
Which is exactly what you want, local authorities competing with each other to attract residents and businesses.
In terms of businesses, that isn't what you tend to get when you have large local variations in taxes. The local authorities compete for the highly mobile businesses that can locate anywhere and up sticks quite easily, so they all get a free lunch while the poor bugger running a quarry or whatever pays their bill for them.
It wouldn't really work because most council spending in the UK is a statutory duty, as well as 0.5% in Middlesbrough bring a bit different to that raised in Kensington.

A national property tax minima + optional top ups might work.

Perhaps we could sort out social care funding at the same time...

There has to be some element of local tax otherwise local democracy becomes barely worth doing.

Scott_xP · 4:34PM

Mexicanpete said:
The Verity Lambert, Thames productions like the Sweeney and Minder all stand up to scrutiny too.

This website is GOLD

https://civictv83.com/sweenealogy/

Taz · 4:35PM

Scott_xP said:

Cookie said:

Theuniondivvie said:

viewcode said:
FPT
Taz said:

viewcode said:

Taz said:

Mexicanpete said:

Taz said:

MattW said:

Taz said:

MattW said:
Listening to her speech, the single biggest problem is that all the things she says need to be done are precisely the things her party has spent a decade demonstrating that they are incapable of doing.
.
Exactly.

Why should anyone believe them.
A decade in purgatory beckons.
Deservedly so
Very, very positive response to the Tories on WATO. And a blast from the past, Julie Kirkbride who is now a More in Common pollster.

Helen Whateley very impressed with Kemi today. Whateley suggesting that the ending of stamp duty will be paid for by cuts. There is no replacement tax ( yet) apparently.
I’d be more surprised if Whateley was not impressed.

I haven’t listened to WATO in years. I’m watching the last Michael Praed episode of Robin of Sherwood. The Greatest Enema. It’s quite good.
(hums Clannad)
It’s a great theme

You’re a cult tv fan.

Have you ever rewatched an old tv show you had happy memories of that disappointed.

I have, it was this.

It’s okay but nothing special
Rather sadly, I was also disappointed when I rewatched Robin of Sherwood: not because it was bad, but the slow pace didn't work any more. What was appropriate in the era of four channels and rainy afternoons doesn't work in the 2020s. I have a horrible feeling the same thing would happen if I rewatched The Children Of The Stones or Airwolf. And I'm not going near Space:1999 (1st series), just in case.

It's not all bad news: when I went to the BFI to see a film (see previous posts), I spent about a hour in its "mediatheque", a free-access row of terminals where you could rewatch programmes. I watched an episode of Edge of Darkness ("Northmoor") and it really stood up. And I think/hope Our Friends In The North would too. And I rewatched some episodes of Big Deal and they really worked, at least for a bit. How about Tales Of The Unexpected, at least the early scripts. Perhaps they would too.

Now I'm wondering. Now we are past the laugh-at-the-tacky effects, if we considered Blake's 7 as a period piece: would it still stand up? Similarly, Miami Vice. Hmmm
The Thing (1982 version) was absolutely cemented in my mind as a classic from when I first saw it but I was pretty disappointed when I recently caught it on tv. Not terrible but just a bit quaint, not what you want in scarily bleak sci-fi.
In a fit of insomnia, early one morning, I recently watched ‘Minder’ on one of the channels you have to scroll quite a long way down for. It was absolutely brilliant. I don’t know if I ever knew telly could be this good. Good storytelling, good characters, well thought out, twist at the end.
Ditto ‘Randall and Hopkirk deceased’.

I can’t believe ALL old telly was this good. But the best of it would appear to knock spots off anything on TV now.
One the channels showed The Professionals Series 1 in HD a couple of years ago. The calibre of actors they were able to recruit is astounding.

There’s a YouTube channel that has all of the professionals in HD.

The latter episodes are really poor.

But the guest Cast is excellent.

bondegezou · 4:36PM

Nigelb said:

Flatlander said:

viewcode said:
FPT
Taz said:

viewcode said:

Taz said:

Mexicanpete said:

Taz said:

MattW said:

Taz said:

MattW said:
Listening to her speech, the single biggest problem is that all the things she says need to be done are precisely the things her party has spent a decade demonstrating that they are incapable of doing.
.
Exactly.

Why should anyone believe them.
A decade in purgatory beckons.
Deservedly so
Very, very positive response to the Tories on WATO. And a blast from the past, Julie Kirkbride who is now a More in Common pollster.

Helen Whateley very impressed with Kemi today. Whateley suggesting that the ending of stamp duty will be paid for by cuts. There is no replacement tax ( yet) apparently.
I’d be more surprised if Whateley was not impressed.

I haven’t listened to WATO in years. I’m watching the last Michael Praed episode of Robin of Sherwood. The Greatest Enema. It’s quite good.
(hums Clannad)
It’s a great theme

You’re a cult tv fan.

Have you ever rewatched an old tv show you had happy memories of that disappointed.

I have, it was this.

It’s okay but nothing special
Rather sadly, I was also disappointed when I rewatched Robin of Sherwood: not because it was bad, but the slow pace didn't work any more. What was appropriate in the era of four channels and rainy afternoons doesn't work in the 2020s. I have a horrible feeling the same thing would happen if I rewatched The Children Of The Stones or Airwolf. And I'm not going near Space:1999 (1st series), just in case.

It's not all bad news: when I went to the BFI to see a film (see previous posts), I spent about a hour in its "mediatheque", a free-access row of terminals where you could rewatch programmes. I watched an episode of Edge of Darkness ("Northmoor") and it really stood up. And I think/hope Our Friends In The North would too. And I rewatched some episodes of Big Deal and they really worked, at least for a bit. How about Tales Of The Unexpected, at least the early scripts. Perhaps they would too.

Now I'm wondering. Now we are past the laugh-at-the-tacky effects, if we considered Blake's 7 as a period piece: would it still stand up? Similarly, Miami Vice. Hmmm
I rewatched Edge of Darkness not long ago. Definitely stands up. A classic.

My Dad watched a fair few Tales of the Unexpected at times and when passing I found they were vaguely amusing but getting rather dated.
The Water Margin.
Exotic and strange to a kid fifty years ago, but now more than a bit rubbish.

Has China ever remade it ? It's based on classic ancient legends.

There have been multiple othe adaptations of the same ancient story, I believe. My reaction to the TV show shown here was the same. Monkey has held up slightly better.

Taz · 4:39PM

Mexicanpete said:
All the Lou Grade ITC dramas, most notably the colour episodes of the Saint, the Avengers (I still have a thing for Linda Thorson) the Champions, the Protectors, Department S, Man In a Suitcase, the Zoo Gang, the Prisoner, the Baron and the Persuaders etc were all very well written and performed. Even if a street in London looked exactly the same as a Street in Monte Carlo. The only series that didn't really work was the Adventurer because Gene Barry couldn't work with any actor who was taller than him, and apparently he was short!

The Verity Lambert, Thames productions like the Sweeney and Minder all stand up to scrutiny too.

Verity Lambert wasn’t involved in The Sweeney

Some of those ITC series had some belting themes too.

Me and my two buddies used to drive around in my old Triumph Acclaim like we were Regan, Carter and Daniel’s fr9 the sweeney.

Happy days. I remember my mate came out of Shirley police station. Rolled over the bonnet for effect . He’d been called in to make peace with a whovian twat he’d upset. And we drove off up the M42 to the wood for some chips

Ace days

It’s a great series.

viewcode · 4:40PM

Theuniondivvie said:

viewcode said:
FPT
Taz said:

viewcode said:

Taz said:

Mexicanpete said:

Taz said:

MattW said:

Taz said:

MattW said:
Listening to her speech, the single biggest problem is that all the things she says need to be done are precisely the things her party has spent a decade demonstrating that they are incapable of doing.
.
Exactly.

Why should anyone believe them.
A decade in purgatory beckons.
Deservedly so
Very, very positive response to the Tories on WATO. And a blast from the past, Julie Kirkbride who is now a More in Common pollster.

Helen Whateley very impressed with Kemi today. Whateley suggesting that the ending of stamp duty will be paid for by cuts. There is no replacement tax ( yet) apparently.
I’d be more surprised if Whateley was not impressed.

I haven’t listened to WATO in years. I’m watching the last Michael Praed episode of Robin of Sherwood. The Greatest Enema. It’s quite good.
(hums Clannad)
It’s a great theme

You’re a cult tv fan.

Have you ever rewatched an old tv show you had happy memories of that disappointed.

I have, it was this.

It’s okay but nothing special
Rather sadly, I was also disappointed when I rewatched Robin of Sherwood: not because it was bad, but the slow pace didn't work any more. What was appropriate in the era of four channels and rainy afternoons doesn't work in the 2020s. I have a horrible feeling the same thing would happen if I rewatched The Children Of The Stones or Airwolf. And I'm not going near Space:1999 (1st series), just in case.

It's not all bad news: when I went to the BFI to see a film (see previous posts), I spent about a hour in its "mediatheque", a free-access row of terminals where you could rewatch programmes. I watched an episode of Edge of Darkness ("Northmoor") and it really stood up. And I think/hope Our Friends In The North would too. And I rewatched some episodes of Big Deal and they really worked, at least for a bit. How about Tales Of The Unexpected, at least the early scripts. Perhaps they would too.

Now I'm wondering. Now we are past the laugh-at-the-tacky effects, if we considered Blake's 7 as a period piece: would it still stand up? Similarly, Miami Vice. Hmmm
The Thing (1982 version) was absolutely cemented in my mind as a classic from when I first saw it but I was pretty disappointed when I recently caught it on tv. Not terrible but just a bit quaint, not what you want in scarily bleak sci-fi.

Damn, I wish you hadn't said that.

There's a trend for directors to release cuts that aren't as good as the original. Coppola ruined "Apocalypse Now" with his "Final Cut" . I'm pretty sure the "Aliens" extended version is worse than the original. I didn't know Ridley, bless his cotton socks, had *also* tweaked "Alien" and that was the version they showed at the recent BFI showing...which was why I didn't go and see it (well, that and the storm). This "new" version has an argument with Lambert and Ripley (good) and a clip of a cocooned Dallas (bad), and you just think: dude, you had it the first time. Stop messing around.

If Michael Mann edits "Manhunter" or "Heat" I'm going to throw things.

IanB2 · 4:40PM

Taz said:

Scott_xP said:

Cookie said:

Theuniondivvie said:

viewcode said:
FPT
Taz said:

viewcode said:

Taz said:

Mexicanpete said:

Taz said:

MattW said:

Taz said:

MattW said:
Listening to her speech, the single biggest problem is that all the things she says need to be done are precisely the things her party has spent a decade demonstrating that they are incapable of doing.
.
Exactly.

Why should anyone believe them.
A decade in purgatory beckons.
Deservedly so
Very, very positive response to the Tories on WATO. And a blast from the past, Julie Kirkbride who is now a More in Common pollster.

Helen Whateley very impressed with Kemi today. Whateley suggesting that the ending of stamp duty will be paid for by cuts. There is no replacement tax ( yet) apparently.
I’d be more surprised if Whateley was not impressed.

I haven’t listened to WATO in years. I’m watching the last Michael Praed episode of Robin of Sherwood. The Greatest Enema. It’s quite good.
(hums Clannad)
It’s a great theme

You’re a cult tv fan.

Have you ever rewatched an old tv show you had happy memories of that disappointed.

I have, it was this.

It’s okay but nothing special
Rather sadly, I was also disappointed when I rewatched Robin of Sherwood: not because it was bad, but the slow pace didn't work any more. What was appropriate in the era of four channels and rainy afternoons doesn't work in the 2020s. I have a horrible feeling the same thing would happen if I rewatched The Children Of The Stones or Airwolf. And I'm not going near Space:1999 (1st series), just in case.

It's not all bad news: when I went to the BFI to see a film (see previous posts), I spent about a hour in its "mediatheque", a free-access row of terminals where you could rewatch programmes. I watched an episode of Edge of Darkness ("Northmoor") and it really stood up. And I think/hope Our Friends In The North would too. And I rewatched some episodes of Big Deal and they really worked, at least for a bit. How about Tales Of The Unexpected, at least the early scripts. Perhaps they would too.

Now I'm wondering. Now we are past the laugh-at-the-tacky effects, if we considered Blake's 7 as a period piece: would it still stand up? Similarly, Miami Vice. Hmmm
The Thing (1982 version) was absolutely cemented in my mind as a classic from when I first saw it but I was pretty disappointed when I recently caught it on tv. Not terrible but just a bit quaint, not what you want in scarily bleak sci-fi.
In a fit of insomnia, early one morning, I recently watched ‘Minder’ on one of the channels you have to scroll quite a long way down for. It was absolutely brilliant. I don’t know if I ever knew telly could be this good. Good storytelling, good characters, well thought out, twist at the end.
Ditto ‘Randall and Hopkirk deceased’.

I can’t believe ALL old telly was this good. But the best of it would appear to knock spots off anything on TV now.
One the channels showed The Professionals Series 1 in HD a couple of years ago. The calibre of actors they were able to recruit is astounding.
There’s a YouTube channel that has all of the professionals in HD.

The latter episodes are really poor.

But the guest Cast is excellent.

The dramas stand up much better than the comedies. Both Blakes Seven and Secret Army remain very watchable today.

HYUFD · 4:40PM

Sir Lenny Henry wants the British government to pay £18 trillion of reparations to Caribbean nations and Black British people

"Lenny Henry’s reparations demands won’t end racism. They’ll fuel it like never before" https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/10/08/reparations-wont-end-racism-lenny-henry/

Sandpit · 4:40PM

Today’s second Russian fire.

Well it’s the one at the Crimean oil depot from three days ago, which is still very much on fire.

https://x.com/kyivpost/status/1975904572339339542

They won’t be rebuilding this one any time soon!

Sean_F · 4:43PM

HYUFD said:
Sir Lenny Henry wants the British government to pay £18 trillion of reparations to Caribbean nations and Black British people

"Lenny Henry’s reparations demands won’t end racism. They’ll fuel it like never before" https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/10/08/reparations-wont-end-racism-lenny-henry/

As Michael Corleone said to Senator Geary, “my offer is … nothing.”

Taz · 4:44PM

HYUFD said:
Sir Lenny Henry wants the British government to pay £18 trillion of reparations to Caribbean nations and Black British people

"Lenny Henry’s reparations demands won’t end racism. They’ll fuel it like never before" https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/10/08/reparations-wont-end-racism-lenny-henry/

I love Lenny, used to see him in Nostalgia and Comics in the early eighties reading the DC comics.

He used to be fab before reinventing himself as a race grifter

Tell him to GFH

Phil · 4:45PM

eek said:

Phil said:

JohnLilburne said:

dixiedean said:

eek said:

Eabhal said:

DavidL said:

rcs1000 said:

Sandpit said:

DavidL said:

Eabhal said:

Sandpit said:

Flatlander said:

Sandpit said:

Battlebus said:

HYUFD said:

Eabhal said:

HYUFD said:

dixiedean said:
Tories pre speech.
"We must tackle the deficit and do something for the young."
After.
"A £15bn bung to homeowners to inflate house prices!"
Superb.
Yes, net zero spending scrapped, welfare scrapped for those with mild mental health problems who can be got back into work, overseas aid cut, no more cars for those with ADHD funded by taxpayer.

Then with those savings stamp duty scrapped benefiting young first time buyers most
Overall that's possibly true because of a more efficient market, but in terms of actual tax paid it's nonsense - Stamp Duty is primarily paid by the richest moving from mansion to mansion.
å
There's also no duty for first time buyers up to £300k - so a load bollocks from you there.
£300k is below even the average house price in London and the home counties so it will be very welcome to first time buyers there
Here's a visual representation of who will benefit from the removal of Stamp Duty. Average House Prices by Constituency. It's looking more like a desperate stunt rather than taking on Reform or even Labour. Who was it said they think CCHQ has it in for her?

Except that’s not how the housing market works, in practice you end up with a long chain of dependent sales at wildly variable prices, houses that could be all over the country.
We should worry most about taxes produce the biggest drag on the economy per £ for the treasury and not so much about who benefits.

Stamp duty must surely be high up there.

Has anyone prepared such a list?

[NB, I have never paid stamp duty]
Good question.

I’d say the biggest is Employer NI, quite literally a tax on jobs but it raises a fortune.
Business rates on retail and hospitality is probably next.
Fuel duty, especially on commercial diesel, feeds into the price of everything. The top 25% now drive EVs for the tax advantages, turning a progressive tax into a regressive one.
Stamp duty SDLT, adds a lot of friction to the economy, and stops people moving out of the London catchment area for a job.
Fixed motoring costs, such as tax and insurance, really regressive on 2nd quartile who need car for work.
TV Tax, massively regressive and with a large admin overhead, plus the criminal convictions of many poor people and tying up courts. Just fund public service programming from general taxation.

There’s a thread header in there somewhere, with a couple of hours of research over the weekend. Let me see…
There's a recent survey of economists here: https://x.com/dc_lawrence/status/1974762991074566474?t=73x_NC_WVV1a8gWIY2ibqA&s=19
If SDLT is replaced by a capital tax based on values the winners and losers on that map will be reversed. Most in London would be paying at least £5k a year (assuming 1%) but most around here in east Scotland would be paying nearer £2k.
Over time this might even out our bizarre property market a bit making property outside London more attractive, not less.
But how does the “key worker” afford the £5k a year on a 2-bed rented flat in London?

You’re putting all the losers in the same place, with potentially catastrophic consequences.

Do a property tax to replace SDLT and Council Tax, but have the local authorities set the rate rather than a national scale.
You don't need anything like 1%.

According to Savill's the total value of residential real estate in the UK is 9.1 trillion. 1% would therefore raise 91 billion.

Not only that, but you would also want to have higher rates for properties that are unoccupied more than (say) 180 days per year, to discourage people from having homes they don't live in. (Conveniently, those homes are often the most expensive and owned by non-UK taxpayers, so it's win-win.)
What does Council Tax currently generate? If that is included I think 1% would not be far off, especially when you provide for the inevitable special pleading for various groups such as @Sandpit’s key workers.
Council tax is equivalent to 0.5%.
Depending where you are - up north it's probably 1% and I could probably find properties where it's 2-3% of the valuation without much difficulty...
My former flat in Ashington.
Value £35k.
Council Tax £1450 p.a.
I suppose the answer is that Northumberland needs to raise as much tax as Hampshire, possibly more, despite lower property prices.

Two options, one is to abandon the idea of local government raising its own taxes, the other is to have both a national element of land tax, and a local elwnent
I see PB has recreated something close to Tim Leunig’s propery tax proposal to replace both stamp duty & council tax from first principles!

https://ukonward.com/reports/a-fairer-property-tax/

He suggests that, to solve the local government income problem noted above, local councils should set the rate on the value of property < £500k which would replace council tax. So northern councils would presumably set a higher % rate in order to generate the same income as they do now.

Under this proposal the value of property over £500k would be subject to a national property tax which would replace stamp duty, possibly a tiered tax if the government so chose.

Full PDF outlining his proposal here: https://www.ukonward.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Onward-A-Fairer-Property-Tax.pdf
Except we've had this proposal going round here since at least 2023 and quite possibly 2022...

Edit a quick search has us discussing this in November 2022 so it may be earlier than that.

Sure, the basics are fairly obvious once you start thinking about the issues.

The barrier to getting it done is politics of course.

Sean_F · 4:45PM

Taz said:

HYUFD said:
Sir Lenny Henry wants the British government to pay £18 trillion of reparations to Caribbean nations and Black British people

"Lenny Henry’s reparations demands won’t end racism. They’ll fuel it like never before" https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/10/08/reparations-wont-end-racism-lenny-henry/
I love Lenny, used to see him in Nostalgia and Comics in the early eighties reading the DC comics.

He used to be fab before reinventing himself as a race grifter

Tell him to GFH

I enjoyed him in Not the Nine O’Clock News.

Taz · 4:46PM

Scott_xP said:

Mexicanpete said:
The Verity Lambert, Thames productions like the Sweeney and Minder all stand up to scrutiny too.
This website is GOLD

https://civictv83.com/sweenealogy/

Also the YouTube channel I subscribed to.

Someone here posted a link to it

https://youtube.com/@sweenealogy?si=NRY_QcaRpkb3MQsh

Peter_the_Punter · 4:47PM

Taz said:

HYUFD said:
Sir Lenny Henry wants the British government to pay £18 trillion of reparations to Caribbean nations and Black British people

"Lenny Henry’s reparations demands won’t end racism. They’ll fuel it like never before" https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/10/08/reparations-wont-end-racism-lenny-henry/
I love Lenny, used to see him in Nostalgia and Comics in the early eighties reading the DC comics.

He used to be fab before reinventing himself as a race grifter

Tell him to GFH

Latecomer. I first watched him on Tiswas.

He has produced a fabulous body of work during his lifetime so I have to forgive any foibles in his old age.

Sandpit · 4:47PM

viewcode said:

Sandpit said:

Stark_Dawning said:

Leon said:
Here’s a really eye catching policy - that any of the major right wing parties could introduce

Add an extra hour to the day. Take three minutes off each of the other hours (no one will notice) then combine all that into a new hour

And here’s the right wing libertarian angle. Allow people to spend their new hour when they like. ie if you really enjoy early morning you could add your extra Leon-hour between six and seven. An extra hour to get things done while all the world snoozes!

Night owls could prolong the sultry mood at 1am. A Leon-hour of the night

And if you’re simply knackered just get an extra Leon-hour of sleep

This is what British politics needs. Not tax tweaks. Proper changes
I pity the poor IT minions who'll have convert every piece of software to use 25-hour days purely for British usage.
Obviously it’s time (haha) for this one again…

https://infiniteundo.com/post/25326999628/falsehoods-programmers-believe-about-time
That blogpost (and the one it links to) was polite, humourous and informative.

Remember when all the web used to be like that?

Yes, it’s a totally classic series of blogposts, that anyone who works with computers should have read several times. It’s both informative and humorous, skills that appear to have been lost over the past couple of decades…

bondegezou · 4:48PM

Mexicanpete said:
All the Lou Grade ITC dramas, most notably the colour episodes of the Saint, the Avengers (I still have a thing for Linda Thorson) the Champions, the Protectors, Department S, Man In a Suitcase, the Zoo Gang, the Prisoner, the Baron and the Persuaders etc were all very well written and performed. Even if a street in London looked exactly the same as a Street in Monte Carlo. The only series that didn't really work was the Adventurer because Gene Barry couldn't work with any actor who was taller than him, and apparently he was short!

The Verity Lambert, Thames productions like the Sweeney and Minder all stand up to scrutiny too.

I find Rigg and Thorson Avengers very slow if I watch them now, although The New Avengers holds up better.

TheScreamingEagles · 4:48PM

HYUFD said:
Sir Lenny Henry wants the British government to pay £18 trillion of reparations to Caribbean nations and Black British people

"Lenny Henry’s reparations demands won’t end racism. They’ll fuel it like never before" https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/10/08/reparations-wont-end-racism-lenny-henry/

I will need a similar amount for how the British Empire treated my antecedents in British India.

Carnyx · 4:49PM

Daveyboy1961 said:

rcs1000 said:

Eabhal said:

DavidL said:

rcs1000 said:

Sandpit said:

DavidL said:

Eabhal said:

Sandpit said:

Flatlander said:

Sandpit said:

Battlebus said:

HYUFD said:

Eabhal said:

HYUFD said:

dixiedean said:
Tories pre speech.
"We must tackle the deficit and do something for the young."
After.
"A £15bn bung to homeowners to inflate house prices!"
Superb.
Yes, net zero spending scrapped, welfare scrapped for those with mild mental health problems who can be got back into work, overseas aid cut, no more cars for those with ADHD funded by taxpayer.

Then with those savings stamp duty scrapped benefiting young first time buyers most
Overall that's possibly true because of a more efficient market, but in terms of actual tax paid it's nonsense - Stamp Duty is primarily paid by the richest moving from mansion to mansion.
å
There's also no duty for first time buyers up to £300k - so a load bollocks from you there.
£300k is below even the average house price in London and the home counties so it will be very welcome to first time buyers there
Here's a visual representation of who will benefit from the removal of Stamp Duty. Average House Prices by Constituency. It's looking more like a desperate stunt rather than taking on Reform or even Labour. Who was it said they think CCHQ has it in for her?

Except that’s not how the housing market works, in practice you end up with a long chain of dependent sales at wildly variable prices, houses that could be all over the country.
We should worry most about taxes produce the biggest drag on the economy per £ for the treasury and not so much about who benefits.

Stamp duty must surely be high up there.

Has anyone prepared such a list?

[NB, I have never paid stamp duty]
Good question.

I’d say the biggest is Employer NI, quite literally a tax on jobs but it raises a fortune.
Business rates on retail and hospitality is probably next.
Fuel duty, especially on commercial diesel, feeds into the price of everything. The top 25% now drive EVs for the tax advantages, turning a progressive tax into a regressive one.
Stamp duty SDLT, adds a lot of friction to the economy, and stops people moving out of the London catchment area for a job.
Fixed motoring costs, such as tax and insurance, really regressive on 2nd quartile who need car for work.
TV Tax, massively regressive and with a large admin overhead, plus the criminal convictions of many poor people and tying up courts. Just fund public service programming from general taxation.

There’s a thread header in there somewhere, with a couple of hours of research over the weekend. Let me see…
There's a recent survey of economists here: https://x.com/dc_lawrence/status/1974762991074566474?t=73x_NC_WVV1a8gWIY2ibqA&s=19
If SDLT is replaced by a capital tax based on values the winners and losers on that map will be reversed. Most in London would be paying at least £5k a year (assuming 1%) but most around here in east Scotland would be paying nearer £2k.
Over time this might even out our bizarre property market a bit making property outside London more attractive, not less.
But how does the “key worker” afford the £5k a year on a 2-bed rented flat in London?

You’re putting all the losers in the same place, with potentially catastrophic consequences.

Do a property tax to replace SDLT and Council Tax, but have the local authorities set the rate rather than a national scale.
You don't need anything like 1%.

According to Savill's the total value of residential real estate in the UK is 9.1 trillion. 1% would therefore raise 91 billion.

Not only that, but you would also want to have higher rates for properties that are unoccupied more than (say) 180 days per year, to discourage people from having homes they don't live in. (Conveniently, those homes are often the most expensive and owned by non-UK taxpayers, so it's win-win.)
What does Council Tax currently generate? If that is included I think 1% would not be far off, especially when you provide for the inevitable special pleading for various groups such as @Sandpit’s key workers.
Council tax is equivalent to 0.5%. Stamp Duty 0.2%.

1% would allow you to abolish CGT and IHT too, which is what I'd do.
If you abolish CGT, then people like me will just convert all their income into capital gains.
I'm not sure what that means. You can't spend capital down the shops.

Someone ought to have told Mrs T and her successors before they did that with the UK.

Starmer is the most trustworthy GB wide politician – politicalbetting.com

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