Don’t see too much of Russia on fire this morning, so instead have the 15km queue of thousands of vehicles waiting to get over the Kerch Bridge out of Crimea.
Ukraine is telling everyone on the peninsula, civilian and military, to leave as soon as possible, and the Kerch Bridge is now the only reliable way out still left, for light vehicles only. There’s extensive disruption to power and water already, with the promise of more disruption to come.
The Ukrainian campaign against Russian hydrocarbons is going quite well. Reuters reported yesterday that the Moscow oil refinery will be out of action until at least 2027.
I also saw that demand in Russia for converting cars to run on LPG has been soaring, and then the next day Ukraine hit the Orenburg gas processing plant.
Ukraine are now communicating mixed messages on their war aims. On the one hand, Zelensky has authorised a 40-day plan for pressuring Russia into peace (a ceasefire on the current front lines) and on the other they're telling the UN that option won't be available for much longer if the UN don't act to force Russia to accept a ceasefire, and the Defence minister is talking about the training for amphibious landings that Ukrainian marines are doing to take advantage of the campaign to isolate Crimea.
Truth is, there never was. How Loopy Liz managed to progress from radical young liberal to Tory member to Tory MP to Tory government minister to becoming PM, if rather briefly, should be a story that exposes multiple flaws in how our political system currently works.
A possible Labour "it's different" line on a GE could be that Truss trashed any semblance of the manifesto and thus, by Sunak it stood trashed.
Where as the deliverables on the 2024 manifesto will remain the framework for the Burnham government.
It might lead to some questions on tax and spend but those should be reasonably answerable.
Look where that got Liz Truss.
Truss' problem was she cut tax but not spending too, Burnham can increase spending but it would require him to increase taxes too
I hope he’s heard of the Laffer curve.
I suspect, as there seems to be an active campaign in the left wing media to get him the job, Jedward Miliband will be Chancellor which is a frightening thought.
Where's the peak of the Laffer curve then Taz?
A: No one has a scooby-do.
Actually I think I read an article by Paul Krugman that said two or three academic papers in the US pointed to 70% for Income Tax in America!
Not in favour of that, I think as an absolute top there is a psychological barrier at 50%.
Now given people on the Right tend to raise the Laffer curve to justify tax cuts, it’s worth noting that it only works at a certain level.
Worth a discussion on where that exactly is for various taxes in the UK as something better than “Cuts Good/Rises Bad!”
I know PB has probably had too much* discussion of the head of a Unionist party in government in NI and that supported a Westminster government being a multiple abuser and rapist, but it seems a shitload of people knew.
*hardly any
Jeffrey Donaldson: child rapist
Edwin Poots: ‘caught Donaldson on lies’, said nothing
Jim Wells: ‘knew Donaldson to be immoral’, said nothing
Paisley Jr: knew of a “victim” of Donaldson, said nothing
Anon DUP sources: knew Donaldson told lies, said nothing
And, strangely, those posters who liked adding up Ref+Con and comparing it to Lab+LD+Green+SNP stopped doing so, by coincidence around the same time that the former total no longer exceeded the latter. And all the evidence - so far - is that the latter voters (now in a clear majority) are rather better at redeploying their votes in each seat than are either Ref or Con.
I know PB has probably had too much* discussion of the head of a Unionist party in government in NI and that supported a Westminster government being a multiple abuser and rapist, but it seems a shitload of people knew.
*hardly any
Jeffrey Donaldson: child rapist
Edwin Poots: ‘caught Donaldson on lies’, said nothing
Jim Wells: ‘knew Donaldson to be immoral’, said nothing
Paisley Jr: knew of a “victim” of Donaldson, said nothing
Anon DUP sources: knew Donaldson told lies, said nothing
Hello G, yes very well thanks, hope same with you and better half. We are at 21 with thunder at present , very muggy. HE is reprehensible often with his biased crass comments, he loses all perspective with his Tory/Little Englander specs on.
I know PB has probably had too much* discussion of the head of a Unionist party in government in NI and that supported a Westminster government being a multiple abuser and rapist, but it seems a shitload of people knew.
*hardly any
Jeffrey Donaldson: child rapist
Edwin Poots: ‘caught Donaldson on lies’, said nothing
Jim Wells: ‘knew Donaldson to be immoral’, said nothing
Paisley Jr: knew of a “victim” of Donaldson, said nothing
Anon DUP sources: knew Donaldson told lies, said nothing
A possible Labour "it's different" line on a GE could be that Truss trashed any semblance of the manifesto and thus, by Sunak it stood trashed.
Where as the deliverables on the 2024 manifesto will remain the framework for the Burnham government.
It might lead to some questions on tax and spend but those should be reasonably answerable.
Look where that got Liz Truss.
Truss' problem was she cut tax but not spending too, Burnham can increase spending but it would require him to increase taxes too
I hope he’s heard of the Laffer curve.
I suspect, as there seems to be an active campaign in the left wing media to get him the job, Jedward Miliband will be Chancellor which is a frightening thought.
Where's the peak of the Laffer curve then Taz?
A: No one has a scooby-do.
I’m sure raising taxes further will bring lots more revenue. 👍
Taxes have been increased or decreased by governments with some frequency. One could do an analysis of which tax raises increased revenue (or not) and which tax decreases decreased revenue (or not). As far as I recall, the vast majority of tax raises have increased revenue, suggesting we're to the left of any Laffer inflection.
Truth is, there never was. How Loopy Liz managed to progress from radical young liberal to Tory member to Tory MP to Tory government minister to becoming PM, if rather briefly, should be a story that exposes multiple flaws in how our political system currently works.
Tbh the one politician Liz Truss reminds me of in terms of shameless self-promotion is Andy Burnham. Likewise their claims that internal party elections created a mandate. I hope it ends better.
Don’t see too much of Russia on fire this morning, so instead have the 15km queue of thousands of vehicles waiting to get over the Kerch Bridge out of Crimea.
Ukraine is telling everyone on the peninsula, civilian and military, to leave as soon as possible, and the Kerch Bridge is now the only reliable way out still left, for light vehicles only. There’s extensive disruption to power and water already, with the promise of more disruption to come.
The Ukrainian campaign against Russian hydrocarbons is going quite well. Reuters reported yesterday that the Moscow oil refinery will be out of action until at least 2027.
I also saw that demand in Russia for converting cars to run on LPG has been soaring, and then the next day Ukraine hit the Orenburg gas processing plant.
Ukraine are now communicating mixed messages on their war aims. On the one hand, Zelensky has authorised a 40-day plan for pressuring Russia into peace (a ceasefire on the current front lines) and on the other they're telling the UN that option won't be available for much longer if the UN don't act to force Russia to accept a ceasefire, and the Defence minister is talking about the training for amphibious landings that Ukrainian marines are doing to take advantage of the campaign to isolate Crimea.
Ukraine probably want a ceasefire before next winter - but not too much before.
The UN or maybe the Gulf nations should be looking to buy off the head of the Russians' Crimea garrisson to surrender the peninsular. (Payback to Ukraine for providing air defence drones to the GUlf against It=ranina threats.) Crimea is going to be damn near uninhabitable in two months. It would be the humanitarian thing to do - not to mention a wise act of self-preservation.
The dominoes would then start falling out of windows in Moscow.
If anyone followed me on betting on Scotland to get knocked out in the group stage, you can close out your position for a small bet the other way on Betfair. Alas, my bet on a draw between Norway and Senegal was a poor one. I underestimated how good Norway are - Iraq did quite a good job on them for much of the game between them.
It’s end of term here in Edinburgh. Just back from seeing No. 2 child finish primary school. 10 years and 2 kids through the school and we’re done. Now we have 2 high school kids. Bittersweet tears were shed. Hugs were had. Memories were made.
I know PB has probably had too much* discussion of the head of a Unionist party in government in NI and that supported a Westminster government being a multiple abuser and rapist, but it seems a shitload of people knew.
*hardly any
Jeffrey Donaldson: child rapist
Edwin Poots: ‘caught Donaldson on lies’, said nothing
Jim Wells: ‘knew Donaldson to be immoral’, said nothing
Paisley Jr: knew of a “victim” of Donaldson, said nothing
Anon DUP sources: knew Donaldson told lies, said nothing
I know PB has probably had too much* discussion of the head of a Unionist party in government in NI and that supported a Westminster government being a multiple abuser and rapist, but it seems a shitload of people knew.
*hardly any
Jeffrey Donaldson: child rapist
Edwin Poots: ‘caught Donaldson on lies’, said nothing
Jim Wells: ‘knew Donaldson to be immoral’, said nothing
Paisley Jr: knew of a “victim” of Donaldson, said nothing
Anon DUP sources: knew Donaldson told lies, said nothing
It's our hottest yet here in North Brum. Currently 35.7C at our nearest weather station on Weather Underground.
The June record has gone again today. Currently Wattisham is winning but it is still getting hotter and might just reach the "magic" 100F (something that was never reached when we actually used F).
Utterly horrible here in the Flatlands, dewpoint is above 25C (which will be an absolute UK record if confirmed somewhere official). It is like breathing warm soup.
I know PB has probably had too much* discussion of the head of a Unionist party in government in NI and that supported a Westminster government being a multiple abuser and rapist, but it seems a shitload of people knew.
*hardly any
Jeffrey Donaldson: child rapist
Edwin Poots: ‘caught Donaldson on lies’, said nothing
Jim Wells: ‘knew Donaldson to be immoral’, said nothing
Paisley Jr: knew of a “victim” of Donaldson, said nothing
Anon DUP sources: knew Donaldson told lies, said nothing
Hello G, yes very well thanks, hope same with you and better half. We are at 21 with thunder at present , very muggy. HE is reprehensible often with his biased crass comments, he loses all perspective with his Tory/Little Englander specs on.
Good to hear from you and yes my wife and I are really struggling but simply doing nothing and drinking lots of tea and water
A niece has just posted a picture of a fisherman carrying her husband to his fishing boat to keep his feet dry
Those were the days before harbours and life was tough but they just got on with it and of course with no benefits
My wife's grandma had 12 children but never complained
I know PB has probably had too much* discussion of the head of a Unionist party in government in NI and that supported a Westminster government being a multiple abuser and rapist, but it seems a shitload of people knew.
*hardly any
Jeffrey Donaldson: child rapist
Edwin Poots: ‘caught Donaldson on lies’, said nothing
Jim Wells: ‘knew Donaldson to be immoral’, said nothing
Paisley Jr: knew of a “victim” of Donaldson, said nothing
Anon DUP sources: knew Donaldson told lies, said nothing
Just like nobody in the SNP said anything about Murrell nicking hundreds of thousands of pounds I suppose!
The SNP have the excuse that they were all tired out from not saying anything about Salmond being a sex pest.
The other cheek of Hyfud's arse joins in
I have been called many things, but...
Anyway, I think y'all are being harsh on @HYUFD . He was not equating Donaldson's and Murrell's crimes. He was pointing out that political parties generally have a tendency to cover up or look the other way when it comes to prominent politicians' crimes. I would've thought that's an observation with which you agree, malcolmg.
I know PB has probably had too much* discussion of the head of a Unionist party in government in NI and that supported a Westminster government being a multiple abuser and rapist, but it seems a shitload of people knew.
*hardly any
Jeffrey Donaldson: child rapist
Edwin Poots: ‘caught Donaldson on lies’, said nothing
Jim Wells: ‘knew Donaldson to be immoral’, said nothing
Paisley Jr: knew of a “victim” of Donaldson, said nothing
Anon DUP sources: knew Donaldson told lies, said nothing
Supermarket sitrep: ice cream supplies are low. According to the news, Lidl has sold out of air conditioners after one day.
What we've not mentioned that is all over the front pages – the King has decided not to move into Buckingham Palace after £300 million was spent doing it up.
I know PB has probably had too much* discussion of the head of a Unionist party in government in NI and that supported a Westminster government being a multiple abuser and rapist, but it seems a shitload of people knew.
*hardly any
Jeffrey Donaldson: child rapist
Edwin Poots: ‘caught Donaldson on lies’, said nothing
Jim Wells: ‘knew Donaldson to be immoral’, said nothing
Paisley Jr: knew of a “victim” of Donaldson, said nothing
Anon DUP sources: knew Donaldson told lies, said nothing
Supermarket sitrep: ice cream supplies are low. According to the news, Lidl has sold out of air conditioners after one day.
What we've not mentioned that is all over the front pages – the King has decided not to move into Buckingham Palace after £300 million was spent doing it up.
And?-
1) that's peanuts compared to Parliament,. 2) Buckingham Palace is awful to live in - I know people who have and it's both cold and long distances to do anything 3) Churchill forced the Queen to live there rather than Clarence House. 4) Over time it's going to be opened more and more which means another Tourist attraction for London not just over the Summer.
Supermarket sitrep: ice cream supplies are low. According to the news, Lidl has sold out of air conditioners after one day.
What we've not mentioned that is all over the front pages – the King has decided not to move into Buckingham Palace after £300 million was spent doing it up.
So the government can now use the vacant accommodation to house asylum seekers. Result.
This is a bit of a weird one. It looks like Putin's dacha in Valdai has been demolished. Recently lots of air defence assets have been concentrated in the area, presumably to defend the residence, and work to protect trucks nearby has also been observed. But now it looks like the building has been levelled. Possibly to pre-empt a Ukrainian drone attack? Feels like a really weird sort of paranoid move for the regime to have taken.
Supermarket sitrep: ice cream supplies are low. According to the news, Lidl has sold out of air conditioners after one day.
What we've not mentioned that is all over the front pages – the King has decided not to move into Buckingham Palace after £300 million was spent doing it up.
And?-
1) that's peanuts compared to Parliament,. 2) Buckingham Palace is awful to live in - I know people who have and it's both cold and long distances to do anything 3) Churchill forced the Queen to live there rather than Clarence House. 4) Over time it's going to be opened more and more which means another Tourist attraction for London not just over the Summer.
I know PB has probably had too much* discussion of the head of a Unionist party in government in NI and that supported a Westminster government being a multiple abuser and rapist, but it seems a shitload of people knew.
*hardly any
Jeffrey Donaldson: child rapist
Edwin Poots: ‘caught Donaldson on lies’, said nothing
Jim Wells: ‘knew Donaldson to be immoral’, said nothing
Paisley Jr: knew of a “victim” of Donaldson, said nothing
Anon DUP sources: knew Donaldson told lies, said nothing
A possible Labour "it's different" line on a GE could be that Truss trashed any semblance of the manifesto and thus, by Sunak it stood trashed.
Where as the deliverables on the 2024 manifesto will remain the framework for the Burnham government.
It might lead to some questions on tax and spend but those should be reasonably answerable.
Look where that got Liz Truss.
Truss' problem was she cut tax but not spending too, Burnham can increase spending but it would require him to increase taxes too
I hope he’s heard of the Laffer curve.
I suspect, as there seems to be an active campaign in the left wing media to get him the job, Jedward Miliband will be Chancellor which is a frightening thought.
Where's the peak of the Laffer curve then Taz?
A: No one has a scooby-do.
I’m sure raising taxes further will bring lots more revenue. 👍
Taxes have been increased or decreased by governments with some frequency. One could do an analysis of which tax raises increased revenue (or not) and which tax decreases decreased revenue (or not). As far as I recall, the vast majority of tax raises have increased revenue, suggesting we're to the left of any Laffer inflection.
How marvellously anecdotal. There comes a point when the pips can’t be squeezed any more.
You’re happy to tax the productive economy to fund the unproductive and underutilised economy. Typical Lib Dem.
Your lot want to Dig deep for the WASPI women too.
I know PB has probably had too much* discussion of the head of a Unionist party in government in NI and that supported a Westminster government being a multiple abuser and rapist, but it seems a shitload of people knew.
*hardly any
Jeffrey Donaldson: child rapist
Edwin Poots: ‘caught Donaldson on lies’, said nothing
Jim Wells: ‘knew Donaldson to be immoral’, said nothing
Paisley Jr: knew of a “victim” of Donaldson, said nothing
Anon DUP sources: knew Donaldson told lies, said nothing
I know PB has probably had too much* discussion of the head of a Unionist party in government in NI and that supported a Westminster government being a multiple abuser and rapist, but it seems a shitload of people knew.
*hardly any
Jeffrey Donaldson: child rapist
Edwin Poots: ‘caught Donaldson on lies’, said nothing
Jim Wells: ‘knew Donaldson to be immoral’, said nothing
Paisley Jr: knew of a “victim” of Donaldson, said nothing
Anon DUP sources: knew Donaldson told lies, said nothing
A possible Labour "it's different" line on a GE could be that Truss trashed any semblance of the manifesto and thus, by Sunak it stood trashed.
Where as the deliverables on the 2024 manifesto will remain the framework for the Burnham government.
It might lead to some questions on tax and spend but those should be reasonably answerable.
Look where that got Liz Truss.
Truss' problem was she cut tax but not spending too, Burnham can increase spending but it would require him to increase taxes too
I hope he’s heard of the Laffer curve.
I suspect, as there seems to be an active campaign in the left wing media to get him the job, Jedward Miliband will be Chancellor which is a frightening thought.
Where's the peak of the Laffer curve then Taz?
A: No one has a scooby-do.
I’m sure raising taxes further will bring lots more revenue. 👍
Taxes have been increased or decreased by governments with some frequency. One could do an analysis of which tax raises increased revenue (or not) and which tax decreases decreased revenue (or not). As far as I recall, the vast majority of tax raises have increased revenue, suggesting we're to the left of any Laffer inflection.
How marvellously anecdotal. There comes a point when the pips can’t be squeezed any more.
You’re happy to tax the productive economy to fund the unproductive and underutilised economy. Typical Lib Dem.
Your lot want to Dig deep for the WASPI women too.
Given you were praising Floella Benjamin earlier, I thought you'd come over to our side!
The unproductive often need our support, so of course you have to tax the productive economy to fund education for children (the second biggest group of unproductive people in the country) and pensions for the elderly (the biggest group of unproductive people in the country). I don't see a model where we let pensioners starve and have no state education.
I'm not disputing the theory of the Laffer curve, but just shouting "Laffer" at every proposed tax raise is unconvincing. You sarcastically suggested that the proposed tax rise will not bring in "lots more revenue". Well, this is actually a testable proposition. If we're in such danger from the Laffer curve, point me to 5 tax rises in the last decade that produced a drop in revenue and were, therefore, to the right of a Laffer curve.
Sanjeev is way funnier, and has earned his plaudits from the final few comeback series of Still Game. There were rumours about HSK from years back, but it seems these alleged offences take place mainly around covid time.
Supermarket sitrep: ice cream supplies are low. According to the news, Lidl has sold out of air conditioners after one day.
What we've not mentioned that is all over the front pages – the King has decided not to move into Buckingham Palace after £300 million was spent doing it up.
And?-
1) that's peanuts compared to Parliament,. 2) Buckingham Palace is awful to live in - I know people who have and it's both cold and long distances to do anything 3) Churchill forced the Queen to live there rather than Clarence House. 4) Over time it's going to be opened more and more which means another Tourist attraction for London not just over the Summer.
Maybe it's the heat but AEP is in an incredibly optimistic mood about UK prospects in Telegraph today.
"Today, the UK is one of the least indebted countries in the developed world. The Bank for International Settlements says the combined private and public debt-to-GDP ratios are: Japan (354), France (324), Canada (315), Netherlands (302), China (300), US (251), Italy (232), UK (221) and Germany (196)."
"If the Tories and Reform think energy costs will be a millstone around Burnham’s neck three years hence, they are in for a rude awakening."
"it is Burnham who may snatch the dividend of a powerful economic renaissance that is gradually gathering force and which could deliver the highest growth rates for a generation."
A possible Labour "it's different" line on a GE could be that Truss trashed any semblance of the manifesto and thus, by Sunak it stood trashed.
Where as the deliverables on the 2024 manifesto will remain the framework for the Burnham government.
It might lead to some questions on tax and spend but those should be reasonably answerable.
Look where that got Liz Truss.
Truss' problem was she cut tax but not spending too, Burnham can increase spending but it would require him to increase taxes too
I hope he’s heard of the Laffer curve.
I suspect, as there seems to be an active campaign in the left wing media to get him the job, Jedward Miliband will be Chancellor which is a frightening thought.
Where's the peak of the Laffer curve then Taz?
A: No one has a scooby-do.
I’m sure raising taxes further will bring lots more revenue. 👍
Taxes have been increased or decreased by governments with some frequency. One could do an analysis of which tax raises increased revenue (or not) and which tax decreases decreased revenue (or not). As far as I recall, the vast majority of tax raises have increased revenue, suggesting we're to the left of any Laffer inflection.
How marvellously anecdotal. There comes a point when the pips can’t be squeezed any more.
You’re happy to tax the productive economy to fund the unproductive and underutilised economy. Typical Lib Dem.
Your lot want to Dig deep for the WASPI women too.
Given you were praising Floella Benjamin earlier, I thought you'd come over to our side!
The unproductive often need our support, so of course you have to tax the productive economy to fund education for children (the second biggest group of unproductive people in the country) and pensions for the elderly (the biggest group of unproductive people in the country). I don't see a model where we let pensioners starve and have no state education.
I'm not disputing the theory of the Laffer curve, but just shouting "Laffer" at every proposed tax raise is unconvincing. You sarcastically suggested that the proposed tax rise will not bring in "lots more revenue". Well, this is actually a testable proposition. If we're in such danger from the Laffer curve, point me to 5 tax rises in the last decade that produced a drop in revenue and were, therefore, to the right of a Laffer curve.
HMRC don’t publish a handy “Laffer scoreboard”, because it’s almost impossible to separate the effect of a tax change from wage growth, inflation, fiscal drag and the wider economy.
You’ve also slightly shifted the argument. The Laffer curve isn’t “every tax rise reduces receipts”. It’s that beyond some point, higher rates produce diminishing returns through changes in behaviour. That’s a much harder proposition to test.
As for children and pensioners being “unproductive”, that’s more rhetoric than economics. Children are future workers and pensioners are largely former workers. Neither is “unproductive” in the sense implied, and many pensioners still contribute through unpaid care, volunteering and childcare.
A possible Labour "it's different" line on a GE could be that Truss trashed any semblance of the manifesto and thus, by Sunak it stood trashed.
Where as the deliverables on the 2024 manifesto will remain the framework for the Burnham government.
It might lead to some questions on tax and spend but those should be reasonably answerable.
Look where that got Liz Truss.
Truss' problem was she cut tax but not spending too, Burnham can increase spending but it would require him to increase taxes too
I hope he’s heard of the Laffer curve.
I suspect, as there seems to be an active campaign in the left wing media to get him the job, Jedward Miliband will be Chancellor which is a frightening thought.
Where's the peak of the Laffer curve then Taz?
A: No one has a scooby-do.
I’m sure raising taxes further will bring lots more revenue. 👍
Taxes have been increased or decreased by governments with some frequency. One could do an analysis of which tax raises increased revenue (or not) and which tax decreases decreased revenue (or not). As far as I recall, the vast majority of tax raises have increased revenue, suggesting we're to the left of any Laffer inflection.
How marvellously anecdotal. There comes a point when the pips can’t be squeezed any more.
You’re happy to tax the productive economy to fund the unproductive and underutilised economy. Typical Lib Dem.
Your lot want to Dig deep for the WASPI women too.
Given you were praising Floella Benjamin earlier, I thought you'd come over to our side!
The unproductive often need our support, so of course you have to tax the productive economy to fund education for children (the second biggest group of unproductive people in the country) and pensions for the elderly (the biggest group of unproductive people in the country). I don't see a model where we let pensioners starve and have no state education.
I'm not disputing the theory of the Laffer curve, but just shouting "Laffer" at every proposed tax raise is unconvincing. You sarcastically suggested that the proposed tax rise will not bring in "lots more revenue". Well, this is actually a testable proposition. If we're in such danger from the Laffer curve, point me to 5 tax rises in the last decade that produced a drop in revenue and were, therefore, to the right of a Laffer curve.
Yes. The so called "Laffer curve" isn't actually Laffer's. His assertion, and contribution such as it is, was that the inflection point for maximum revenue was much lower than most economists thought. Most economists still disagree. Laffer is pretty much a party hack. Big booster for Trumponomics
This is a bit of a weird one. It looks like Putin's dacha in Valdai has been demolished. Recently lots of air defence assets have been concentrated in the area, presumably to defend the residence, and work to protect trucks nearby has also been observed. But now it looks like the building has been levelled. Possibly to pre-empt a Ukrainian drone attack? Feels like a really weird sort of paranoid move for the regime to have taken.
Maybe it's the heat but AEP is in an incredibly optimistic mood about UK prospects in Telegraph today.
"Today, the UK is one of the least indebted countries in the developed world. The Bank for International Settlements says the combined private and public debt-to-GDP ratios are: Japan (354), France (324), Canada (315), Netherlands (302), China (300), US (251), Italy (232), UK (221) and Germany (196)."
"If the Tories and Reform think energy costs will be a millstone around Burnham’s neck three years hence, they are in for a rude awakening."
"it is Burnham who may snatch the dividend of a powerful economic renaissance that is gradually gathering force and which could deliver the highest growth rates for a generation."
A possible Labour "it's different" line on a GE could be that Truss trashed any semblance of the manifesto and thus, by Sunak it stood trashed.
Where as the deliverables on the 2024 manifesto will remain the framework for the Burnham government.
It might lead to some questions on tax and spend but those should be reasonably answerable.
Look where that got Liz Truss.
Truss' problem was she cut tax but not spending too, Burnham can increase spending but it would require him to increase taxes too
I hope he’s heard of the Laffer curve.
I suspect, as there seems to be an active campaign in the left wing media to get him the job, Jedward Miliband will be Chancellor which is a frightening thought.
Where's the peak of the Laffer curve then Taz?
A: No one has a scooby-do.
I’m sure raising taxes further will bring lots more revenue. 👍
Taxes have been increased or decreased by governments with some frequency. One could do an analysis of which tax raises increased revenue (or not) and which tax decreases decreased revenue (or not). As far as I recall, the vast majority of tax raises have increased revenue, suggesting we're to the left of any Laffer inflection.
How marvellously anecdotal. There comes a point when the pips can’t be squeezed any more.
You’re happy to tax the productive economy to fund the unproductive and underutilised economy. Typical Lib Dem.
Your lot want to Dig deep for the WASPI women too.
Given you were praising Floella Benjamin earlier, I thought you'd come over to our side!
The unproductive often need our support, so of course you have to tax the productive economy to fund education for children (the second biggest group of unproductive people in the country) and pensions for the elderly (the biggest group of unproductive people in the country). I don't see a model where we let pensioners starve and have no state education.
I'm not disputing the theory of the Laffer curve, but just shouting "Laffer" at every proposed tax raise is unconvincing. You sarcastically suggested that the proposed tax rise will not bring in "lots more revenue". Well, this is actually a testable proposition. If we're in such danger from the Laffer curve, point me to 5 tax rises in the last decade that produced a drop in revenue and were, therefore, to the right of a Laffer curve.
HMRC don’t publish a handy “Laffer scoreboard”, because it’s almost impossible to separate the effect of a tax change from wage growth, inflation, fiscal drag and the wider economy.
You’ve also slightly shifted the argument. The Laffer curve isn’t “every tax rise reduces receipts”. It’s that beyond some point, higher rates produce diminishing returns through changes in behaviour. That’s a much harder proposition to test.
As for children and pensioners being “unproductive”, that’s more rhetoric than economics. Children are future workers and pensioners are largely former workers. Neither is “unproductive” in the sense implied, and many pensioners still contribute through unpaid care, volunteering and childcare.
Tax's "You’re happy to tax the productive economy..." was 100% rhetoric, so I responded to rhetoric with rhetoric.
I don't believe I have shifted the argument, but my apologies if I've not explained my point well. I'm not saying that every tax rise reduces receipts. I'm saying that people who shout "Laffer" at every proposed tax rise can only be correct if we're to the right of the peak of the Laffer curve(s). We can test whether that's true by looking at the various recent tax rises and what effect they have had. People shouted "Laffer" at them, but they mostly have increased revenue.
I don't think the Laffer curve is a particularly good analysis because I don't think the job of government should be to put us at the peak of a Laffer curve. We should only tax what we need. We shouldn't just raise taxes because it will raise revenue. Most of the time, most taxes are far to the left of a Laffer maximum and the arguments for whether they should be raised or lowered or kept the same have nothing to do with a Laffer curve.
A possible Labour "it's different" line on a GE could be that Truss trashed any semblance of the manifesto and thus, by Sunak it stood trashed.
Where as the deliverables on the 2024 manifesto will remain the framework for the Burnham government.
It might lead to some questions on tax and spend but those should be reasonably answerable.
Look where that got Liz Truss.
Truss' problem was she cut tax but not spending too, Burnham can increase spending but it would require him to increase taxes too
I hope he’s heard of the Laffer curve.
I suspect, as there seems to be an active campaign in the left wing media to get him the job, Jedward Miliband will be Chancellor which is a frightening thought.
Where's the peak of the Laffer curve then Taz?
A: No one has a scooby-do.
I’m sure raising taxes further will bring lots more revenue. 👍
Taxes have been increased or decreased by governments with some frequency. One could do an analysis of which tax raises increased revenue (or not) and which tax decreases decreased revenue (or not). As far as I recall, the vast majority of tax raises have increased revenue, suggesting we're to the left of any Laffer inflection.
How marvellously anecdotal. There comes a point when the pips can’t be squeezed any more.
You’re happy to tax the productive economy to fund the unproductive and underutilised economy. Typical Lib Dem.
Your lot want to Dig deep for the WASPI women too.
Given you were praising Floella Benjamin earlier, I thought you'd come over to our side!
The unproductive often need our support, so of course you have to tax the productive economy to fund education for children (the second biggest group of unproductive people in the country) and pensions for the elderly (the biggest group of unproductive people in the country). I don't see a model where we let pensioners starve and have no state education.
I'm not disputing the theory of the Laffer curve, but just shouting "Laffer" at every proposed tax raise is unconvincing. You sarcastically suggested that the proposed tax rise will not bring in "lots more revenue". Well, this is actually a testable proposition. If we're in such danger from the Laffer curve, point me to 5 tax rises in the last decade that produced a drop in revenue and were, therefore, to the right of a Laffer curve.
Of course children are going to be productive one day, we hope, and pensioners already have been, and they are not the only element of the unproductive and underutilised sector of society. They are the only ones you chose to mention. I know you’re a Lib Dem and economics isn’t their strong suit but are you seriously claiming our taxes only go to fund education and the state pension ?
However money is handed out to all and sundry and as I’ve said before it becomes a disincentive to work if you keep less and less of what you earn. The two NI cuts from Hunt were welcome however personal allowance is still frozen.
All I said was I hope he’d heard of the Laffer curve. There was not even a specific tax discussed.
I’m retired, I no longer work. I’m no longer productive however I have been a net contributor, and I don’t take anything from the state. Im funding my own retirement. I guess you see that as a bad thing yet a dole bludger who’s clinically fed up with a sunflower lanyard getting cash off the state to be Idle is something good and the middle classes can radiate their worthiness on them like Rex Harrison to Audrey Hepburn.
Maybe it's the heat but AEP is in an incredibly optimistic mood about UK prospects in Telegraph today.
"Today, the UK is one of the least indebted countries in the developed world. The Bank for International Settlements says the combined private and public debt-to-GDP ratios are: Japan (354), France (324), Canada (315), Netherlands (302), China (300), US (251), Italy (232), UK (221) and Germany (196)."
"If the Tories and Reform think energy costs will be a millstone around Burnham’s neck three years hence, they are in for a rude awakening."
"it is Burnham who may snatch the dividend of a powerful economic renaissance that is gradually gathering force and which could deliver the highest growth rates for a generation."
I know PB has probably had too much* discussion of the head of a Unionist party in government in NI and that supported a Westminster government being a multiple abuser and rapist, but it seems a shitload of people knew.
*hardly any
Jeffrey Donaldson: child rapist
Edwin Poots: ‘caught Donaldson on lies’, said nothing
Jim Wells: ‘knew Donaldson to be immoral’, said nothing
Paisley Jr: knew of a “victim” of Donaldson, said nothing
Anon DUP sources: knew Donaldson told lies, said nothing
A possible Labour "it's different" line on a GE could be that Truss trashed any semblance of the manifesto and thus, by Sunak it stood trashed.
Where as the deliverables on the 2024 manifesto will remain the framework for the Burnham government.
It might lead to some questions on tax and spend but those should be reasonably answerable.
Look where that got Liz Truss.
Truss' problem was she cut tax but not spending too, Burnham can increase spending but it would require him to increase taxes too
I hope he’s heard of the Laffer curve.
I suspect, as there seems to be an active campaign in the left wing media to get him the job, Jedward Miliband will be Chancellor which is a frightening thought.
Where's the peak of the Laffer curve then Taz?
A: No one has a scooby-do.
I’m sure raising taxes further will bring lots more revenue. 👍
Taxes have been increased or decreased by governments with some frequency. One could do an analysis of which tax raises increased revenue (or not) and which tax decreases decreased revenue (or not). As far as I recall, the vast majority of tax raises have increased revenue, suggesting we're to the left of any Laffer inflection.
How marvellously anecdotal. There comes a point when the pips can’t be squeezed any more.
You’re happy to tax the productive economy to fund the unproductive and underutilised economy. Typical Lib Dem.
Your lot want to Dig deep for the WASPI women too.
Given you were praising Floella Benjamin earlier, I thought you'd come over to our side!
The unproductive often need our support, so of course you have to tax the productive economy to fund education for children (the second biggest group of unproductive people in the country) and pensions for the elderly (the biggest group of unproductive people in the country). I don't see a model where we let pensioners starve and have no state education.
I'm not disputing the theory of the Laffer curve, but just shouting "Laffer" at every proposed tax raise is unconvincing. You sarcastically suggested that the proposed tax rise will not bring in "lots more revenue". Well, this is actually a testable proposition. If we're in such danger from the Laffer curve, point me to 5 tax rises in the last decade that produced a drop in revenue and were, therefore, to the right of a Laffer curve.
HMRC don’t publish a handy “Laffer scoreboard”, because it’s almost impossible to separate the effect of a tax change from wage growth, inflation, fiscal drag and the wider economy.
You’ve also slightly shifted the argument. The Laffer curve isn’t “every tax rise reduces receipts”. It’s that beyond some point, higher rates produce diminishing returns through changes in behaviour. That’s a much harder proposition to test.
As for children and pensioners being “unproductive”, that’s more rhetoric than economics. Children are future workers and pensioners are largely former workers. Neither is “unproductive” in the sense implied, and many pensioners still contribute through unpaid care, volunteering and childcare.
Tax's "You’re happy to tax the productive economy..." was 100% rhetoric, so I responded to rhetoric with rhetoric.
I don't believe I have shifted the argument, but my apologies if I've not explained my point well. I'm not saying that every tax rise reduces receipts. I'm saying that people who shout "Laffer" at every proposed tax rise can only be correct if we're to the right of the peak of the Laffer curve(s). We can test whether that's true by looking at the various recent tax rises and what effect they have had. People shouted "Laffer" at them, but they mostly have increased revenue.
I don't think the Laffer curve is a particularly good analysis because I don't think the job of government should be to put us at the peak of a Laffer curve. We should only tax what we need. We shouldn't just raise taxes because it will raise revenue. Most of the time, most taxes are far to the left of a Laffer maximum and the arguments for whether they should be raised or lowered or kept the same have nothing to do with a Laffer curve.
Fair enough, and I agree that simply shouting “Laffer!” at every tax rise isn’t much of an argument.
My only quibble is that “receipts went up” isn’t enough to show we were left of the revenue-maximising point. HMRC and the OBR explicitly model behavioural effects because people change how much they work, invest, realise gains or incorporate. The relevant question is whether receipts rose by more or less than they otherwise would have done, and that’s the counterfactual we can’t directly observe.
On your final point, I think we’re actually in agreement. The aim of tax policy shouldn’t be to sit at the peak of a Laffer curve. It should be to raise the revenue needed with the least economic distortion while meeting wider policy objectives.
Sanjeev is way funnier, and has earned his plaudits from the final few comeback series of Still Game. There were rumours about HSK from years back, but it seems these alleged offences take place mainly around covid time.
Yeah, Sanjeev is fab. I remember a small part he had in a comedy, Look Around You, as Synthesiser Patel, he aced it.
He was great in Still game but has done so much more.
You’re right about the rumours and some of the ‘blind’ sites have alluded to them for years.
And, strangely, those posters who liked adding up Ref+Con and comparing it to Lab+LD+Green+SNP stopped doing so, by coincidence around the same time that the former total no longer exceeded the latter. And all the evidence - so far - is that the latter voters (now in a clear majority) are rather better at redeploying their votes in each seat than are either Ref or Con.
If Ref+Con are more than Lab+LD+Green-SNP+PC though it raises the possibility of the Tories and Reform winning a majority of seats in England but not the UK, you have to go back to 1974 to find the last time the governing party/parties failed to win a majority in England
Sanjeev is way funnier, and has earned his plaudits from the final few comeback series of Still Game. There were rumours about HSK from years back, but it seems these alleged offences take place mainly around covid time.
Yeah, Sanjeev is fab. I remember a small part he had in a comedy, Look Around You, as Synthesiser Patel, he aced it.
He was great in Still game but has done so much more.
You’re right about the rumours and some of the ‘blind’ sites have alluded to them for years.
Which ones? I know of AGC Blind Items, CDAN and Tattle.life. What are the others?
Dear me ... turnout in the Aberdeen council by election was only 13.3% yesterday. I know voters up there will be scunnered with voting constantly but at some point politicians will have to look at why so many people are disaffected with politics right now.
That's abysmal, and it's a recurring problem in city centre by elections. Can't blame the weather, it was only around 19 degrees celsius in Aberdeen yesterday
I know PB has probably had too much* discussion of the head of a Unionist party in government in NI and that supported a Westminster government being a multiple abuser and rapist, but it seems a shitload of people knew.
*hardly any
Jeffrey Donaldson: child rapist
Edwin Poots: ‘caught Donaldson on lies’, said nothing
Jim Wells: ‘knew Donaldson to be immoral’, said nothing
Paisley Jr: knew of a “victim” of Donaldson, said nothing
Anon DUP sources: knew Donaldson told lies, said nothing
Just like nobody in the SNP said anything about Murrell nicking hundreds of thousands of pounds I suppose!
The SNP have the excuse that they were all tired out from not saying anything about Salmond being a sex pest.
The other cheek of Hyfud's arse joins in
I have been called many things, but...
Anyway, I think y'all are being harsh on @HYUFD . He was not equating Donaldson's and Murrell's crimes. He was pointing out that political parties generally have a tendency to cover up or look the other way when it comes to prominent politicians' crimes. I would've thought that's an observation with which you agree, malcolmg.
I do indeed but Tories , Liberals, Labour and Greens are all in same boat, the fixation on here with only commenting on SNP is extreme.
I know PB has probably had too much* discussion of the head of a Unionist party in government in NI and that supported a Westminster government being a multiple abuser and rapist, but it seems a shitload of people knew.
*hardly any
Jeffrey Donaldson: child rapist
Edwin Poots: ‘caught Donaldson on lies’, said nothing
Jim Wells: ‘knew Donaldson to be immoral’, said nothing
Paisley Jr: knew of a “victim” of Donaldson, said nothing
Anon DUP sources: knew Donaldson told lies, said nothing
Dear me ... turnout in the Aberdeen council by election was only 13.3% yesterday. I know voters up there will be scunnered with voting constantly but at some point politicians will have to look at why so many people are disaffected with politics right now.
That's abysmal, and it's a recurring problem in city centre by elections. Can't blame the weather, it was only around 19 degrees celsius in Aberdeen yesterday
And, strangely, those posters who liked adding up Ref+Con and comparing it to Lab+LD+Green+SNP stopped doing so, by coincidence around the same time that the former total no longer exceeded the latter. And all the evidence - so far - is that the latter voters (now in a clear majority) are rather better at redeploying their votes in each seat than are either Ref or Con.
It's really a Reform vs Labour battle in parallel with a Tory vs Lib Dem battle to define the future shape of two party politics:
A possible Labour "it's different" line on a GE could be that Truss trashed any semblance of the manifesto and thus, by Sunak it stood trashed.
Where as the deliverables on the 2024 manifesto will remain the framework for the Burnham government.
It might lead to some questions on tax and spend but those should be reasonably answerable.
Look where that got Liz Truss.
Truss' problem was she cut tax but not spending too, Burnham can increase spending but it would require him to increase taxes too
I hope he’s heard of the Laffer curve.
I suspect, as there seems to be an active campaign in the left wing media to get him the job, Jedward Miliband will be Chancellor which is a frightening thought.
Where's the peak of the Laffer curve then Taz?
A: No one has a scooby-do.
I’m sure raising taxes further will bring lots more revenue. 👍
Taxes have been increased or decreased by governments with some frequency. One could do an analysis of which tax raises increased revenue (or not) and which tax decreases decreased revenue (or not). As far as I recall, the vast majority of tax raises have increased revenue, suggesting we're to the left of any Laffer inflection.
How marvellously anecdotal. There comes a point when the pips can’t be squeezed any more.
You’re happy to tax the productive economy to fund the unproductive and underutilised economy. Typical Lib Dem.
Your lot want to Dig deep for the WASPI women too.
Given you were praising Floella Benjamin earlier, I thought you'd come over to our side!
The unproductive often need our support, so of course you have to tax the productive economy to fund education for children (the second biggest group of unproductive people in the country) and pensions for the elderly (the biggest group of unproductive people in the country). I don't see a model where we let pensioners starve and have no state education.
I'm not disputing the theory of the Laffer curve, but just shouting "Laffer" at every proposed tax raise is unconvincing. You sarcastically suggested that the proposed tax rise will not bring in "lots more revenue". Well, this is actually a testable proposition. If we're in such danger from the Laffer curve, point me to 5 tax rises in the last decade that produced a drop in revenue and were, therefore, to the right of a Laffer curve.
Of course children are going to be productive one day, we hope, and pensioners already have been, and they are not the only element of the unproductive and underutilised sector of society. They are the only ones you chose to mention. I know you’re a Lib Dem and economics isn’t their strong suit but are you seriously claiming our taxes only go to fund education and the state pension ?
However money is handed out to all and sundry and as I’ve said before it becomes a disincentive to work if you keep less and less of what you earn. The two NI cuts from Hunt were welcome however personal allowance is still frozen.
All I said was I hope he’d heard of the Laffer curve. There was not even a specific tax discussed.
I’m retired, I no longer work. I’m no longer productive however I have been a net contributor, and I don’t take anything from the state. Im funding my own retirement. I guess you see that as a bad thing yet a dole bludger who’s clinically fed up with a sunflower lanyard getting cash off the state to be Idle is something good and the middle classes can radiate their worthiness on them like Rex Harrison to Audrey Hepburn.
Bet you are still paying plenty tax as well unlike the spongers who pay ZERO on all their large state funded incomes
A possible Labour "it's different" line on a GE could be that Truss trashed any semblance of the manifesto and thus, by Sunak it stood trashed.
Where as the deliverables on the 2024 manifesto will remain the framework for the Burnham government.
It might lead to some questions on tax and spend but those should be reasonably answerable.
Look where that got Liz Truss.
Truss' problem was she cut tax but not spending too, Burnham can increase spending but it would require him to increase taxes too
I hope he’s heard of the Laffer curve.
I suspect, as there seems to be an active campaign in the left wing media to get him the job, Jedward Miliband will be Chancellor which is a frightening thought.
Where's the peak of the Laffer curve then Taz?
A: No one has a scooby-do.
I’m sure raising taxes further will bring lots more revenue. 👍
Taxes have been increased or decreased by governments with some frequency. One could do an analysis of which tax raises increased revenue (or not) and which tax decreases decreased revenue (or not). As far as I recall, the vast majority of tax raises have increased revenue, suggesting we're to the left of any Laffer inflection.
How marvellously anecdotal. There comes a point when the pips can’t be squeezed any more.
You’re happy to tax the productive economy to fund the unproductive and underutilised economy. Typical Lib Dem.
Your lot want to Dig deep for the WASPI women too.
Given you were praising Floella Benjamin earlier, I thought you'd come over to our side!
The unproductive often need our support, so of course you have to tax the productive economy to fund education for children (the second biggest group of unproductive people in the country) and pensions for the elderly (the biggest group of unproductive people in the country). I don't see a model where we let pensioners starve and have no state education.
I'm not disputing the theory of the Laffer curve, but just shouting "Laffer" at every proposed tax raise is unconvincing. You sarcastically suggested that the proposed tax rise will not bring in "lots more revenue". Well, this is actually a testable proposition. If we're in such danger from the Laffer curve, point me to 5 tax rises in the last decade that produced a drop in revenue and were, therefore, to the right of a Laffer curve.
Of course children are going to be productive one day, we hope, and pensioners already have been, and they are not the only element of the unproductive and underutilised sector of society. They are the only ones you chose to mention. I know you’re a Lib Dem and economics isn’t their strong suit but are you seriously claiming our taxes only go to fund education and the state pension ?
However money is handed out to all and sundry and as I’ve said before it becomes a disincentive to work if you keep less and less of what you earn. The two NI cuts from Hunt were welcome however personal allowance is still frozen.
All I said was I hope he’d heard of the Laffer curve. There was not even a specific tax discussed.
I’m retired, I no longer work. I’m no longer productive however I have been a net contributor, and I don’t take anything from the state. Im funding my own retirement. I guess you see that as a bad thing yet a dole bludger who’s clinically fed up with a sunflower lanyard getting cash off the state to be Idle is something good and the middle classes can radiate their worthiness on them like Rex Harrison to Audrey Hepburn.
I'm not claiming our taxes only go to fund education and pension-related benefits, but they're up there as some of the main expenditures. Health spending, which tends to be on the elderly and children the most, is the only area where the government spends more than on pensions. Education comes in fourth.
Money is not handed out to all and sundry. People just like to believe it is so they can imagine getting a tax cut!
You say you don't take anything from the state. So, you're not claiming your state pension? And you never go see a doctor? You never go along a public road? You never benefit from actions to keep crime low, to arrest, try and imprison criminals? You never eat out at a restaurant that's had food safety inspectors check it? You never travel abroad on a passport? You never interact with people who have been through a state education?
We've just started food recycling down here. Stick leftover food, peelings and tea bags into a small container in the kitchen. Transfer to a larger one which is collected once a week. Just noticed the larger one which is outside is crawling with maggots. Have checked the smaller one which is inside and a lovely crawling mess.
Sanjeev is way funnier, and has earned his plaudits from the final few comeback series of Still Game. There were rumours about HSK from years back, but it seems these alleged offences take place mainly around covid time.
Yeah, Sanjeev is fab. I remember a small part he had in a comedy, Look Around You, as Synthesiser Patel, he aced it.
He was great in Still game but has done so much more.
You’re right about the rumours and some of the ‘blind’ sites have alluded to them for years.
Which ones? I know of AGC Blind Items, CDAN and Tattle.life. What are the others?
Can anyone recommend restaurants with usually excessive air conditioning?
My normal favourite such establishment around here would be Wagamama, where the gilet stays firmly ON most of the year - but they tend to overdo the quantities of rice in my experience.
We've just started food recycling down here. Stick leftover food, peelings and tea bags into a small container in the kitchen. Transfer to a larger one which is collected once a week. Just noticed the larger one which is outside is crawling with maggots. Have checked the smaller one which is inside and a lovely crawling mess.
Global warming meets food recycling. Ugh...
We start in July. It won’t be too bad for me as I have a wormery so most waste goes into that.
I know PB has probably had too much* discussion of the head of a Unionist party in government in NI and that supported a Westminster government being a multiple abuser and rapist, but it seems a shitload of people knew.
*hardly any
Jeffrey Donaldson: child rapist
Edwin Poots: ‘caught Donaldson on lies’, said nothing
Jim Wells: ‘knew Donaldson to be immoral’, said nothing
Paisley Jr: knew of a “victim” of Donaldson, said nothing
Anon DUP sources: knew Donaldson told lies, said nothing
Hello G, yes very well thanks, hope same with you and better half. We are at 21 with thunder at present , very muggy. HE is reprehensible often with his biased crass comments, he loses all perspective with his Tory/Little Englander specs on.
Good to hear from you and yes my wife and I are really struggling but simply doing nothing and drinking lots of tea and water
A niece has just posted a picture of a fisherman carrying her husband to his fishing boat to keep his feet dry
Those were the days before harbours and life was tough but they just got on with it and of course with no benefits
My wife's grandma had 12 children but never complained
I know PB has probably had too much* discussion of the head of a Unionist party in government in NI and that supported a Westminster government being a multiple abuser and rapist, but it seems a shitload of people knew.
*hardly any
Jeffrey Donaldson: child rapist
Edwin Poots: ‘caught Donaldson on lies’, said nothing
Jim Wells: ‘knew Donaldson to be immoral’, said nothing
Paisley Jr: knew of a “victim” of Donaldson, said nothing
Anon DUP sources: knew Donaldson told lies, said nothing
Maybe it's the heat but AEP is in an incredibly optimistic mood about UK prospects in Telegraph today.
"Today, the UK is one of the least indebted countries in the developed world. The Bank for International Settlements says the combined private and public debt-to-GDP ratios are: Japan (354), France (324), Canada (315), Netherlands (302), China (300), US (251), Italy (232), UK (221) and Germany (196)."
"If the Tories and Reform think energy costs will be a millstone around Burnham’s neck three years hence, they are in for a rude awakening."
"it is Burnham who may snatch the dividend of a powerful economic renaissance that is gradually gathering force and which could deliver the highest growth rates for a generation."
Does he explain why our debt is so much more costly to finance ?
Do,they still blame Truss for all our ills ?
I've no idea; I was questioning AEP's Ross tinted view. If it costs us more to finance our debt, having a lower absolute level of debt isn't particularly helpful,
We've just started food recycling down here. Stick leftover food, peelings and tea bags into a small container in the kitchen. Transfer to a larger one which is collected once a week. Just noticed the larger one which is outside is crawling with maggots. Have checked the smaller one which is inside and a lovely crawling mess.
Global warming meets food recycling. Ugh...
It is a huge problem, yes! Empty the in-kitchen one as often as possible to try and keep the problem outside. Use something like a power washer and give the outside one a regular clean.
Or give up entirely! Food recycling has one of the lower impacts on CO2 output. It's metal, glass and some plastic recycling that has the big impacts.
Dear me ... turnout in the Aberdeen council by election was only 13.3% yesterday. I know voters up there will be scunnered with voting constantly but at some point politicians will have to look at why so many people are disaffected with politics right now.
That's abysmal, and it's a recurring problem in city centre by elections. Can't blame the weather, it was only around 19 degrees celsius in Aberdeen yesterday
who won
George St - Harbour (Aberdeen) Council By-Election Result [1st Prefs]:
We've just started food recycling down here. Stick leftover food, peelings and tea bags into a small container in the kitchen. Transfer to a larger one which is collected once a week. Just noticed the larger one which is outside is crawling with maggots. Have checked the smaller one which is inside and a lovely crawling mess.
Global warming meets food recycling. Ugh...
We start in July. It won’t be too bad for me as I have a wormery so most waste goes into that.
I have another year here, and I'll be aiming to approximate my quantity of food recycling to zero.
I know PB has probably had too much* discussion of the head of a Unionist party in government in NI and that supported a Westminster government being a multiple abuser and rapist, but it seems a shitload of people knew.
*hardly any
Jeffrey Donaldson: child rapist
Edwin Poots: ‘caught Donaldson on lies’, said nothing
Jim Wells: ‘knew Donaldson to be immoral’, said nothing
Paisley Jr: knew of a “victim” of Donaldson, said nothing
Anon DUP sources: knew Donaldson told lies, said nothing
Just like nobody in the SNP said anything about Murrell nicking hundreds of thousands of pounds I suppose!
The SNP have the excuse that they were all tired out from not saying anything about Salmond being a sex pest.
The other cheek of Hyfud's arse joins in
I have been called many things, but...
Anyway, I think y'all are being harsh on @HYUFD . He was not equating Donaldson's and Murrell's crimes. He was pointing out that political parties generally have a tendency to cover up or look the other way when it comes to prominent politicians' crimes. I would've thought that's an observation with which you agree, malcolmg.
Nevertheless my main point was the vast amount of largely uninformed speculation on here about certain cases and pretty much tumbleweed about others.
I see Donaldson’s wife was convicted of aiding and abetting his crimes, so at least there won’t be endless posts saying she must have known, because she evidently did.
A possible Labour "it's different" line on a GE could be that Truss trashed any semblance of the manifesto and thus, by Sunak it stood trashed.
Where as the deliverables on the 2024 manifesto will remain the framework for the Burnham government.
It might lead to some questions on tax and spend but those should be reasonably answerable.
Look where that got Liz Truss.
Truss' problem was she cut tax but not spending too, Burnham can increase spending but it would require him to increase taxes too
I hope he’s heard of the Laffer curve.
I suspect, as there seems to be an active campaign in the left wing media to get him the job, Jedward Miliband will be Chancellor which is a frightening thought.
Where's the peak of the Laffer curve then Taz?
A: No one has a scooby-do.
I’m sure raising taxes further will bring lots more revenue. 👍
Taxes have been increased or decreased by governments with some frequency. One could do an analysis of which tax raises increased revenue (or not) and which tax decreases decreased revenue (or not). As far as I recall, the vast majority of tax raises have increased revenue, suggesting we're to the left of any Laffer inflection.
How marvellously anecdotal. There comes a point when the pips can’t be squeezed any more.
You’re happy to tax the productive economy to fund the unproductive and underutilised economy. Typical Lib Dem.
Your lot want to Dig deep for the WASPI women too.
Given you were praising Floella Benjamin earlier, I thought you'd come over to our side!
The unproductive often need our support, so of course you have to tax the productive economy to fund education for children (the second biggest group of unproductive people in the country) and pensions for the elderly (the biggest group of unproductive people in the country). I don't see a model where we let pensioners starve and have no state education.
I'm not disputing the theory of the Laffer curve, but just shouting "Laffer" at every proposed tax raise is unconvincing. You sarcastically suggested that the proposed tax rise will not bring in "lots more revenue". Well, this is actually a testable proposition. If we're in such danger from the Laffer curve, point me to 5 tax rises in the last decade that produced a drop in revenue and were, therefore, to the right of a Laffer curve.
Of course children are going to be productive one day, we hope, and pensioners already have been, and they are not the only element of the unproductive and underutilised sector of society. They are the only ones you chose to mention. I know you’re a Lib Dem and economics isn’t their strong suit but are you seriously claiming our taxes only go to fund education and the state pension ?
However money is handed out to all and sundry and as I’ve said before it becomes a disincentive to work if you keep less and less of what you earn. The two NI cuts from Hunt were welcome however personal allowance is still frozen.
All I said was I hope he’d heard of the Laffer curve. There was not even a specific tax discussed.
I’m retired, I no longer work. I’m no longer productive however I have been a net contributor, and I don’t take anything from the state. Im funding my own retirement. I guess you see that as a bad thing yet a dole bludger who’s clinically fed up with a sunflower lanyard getting cash off the state to be Idle is something good and the middle classes can radiate their worthiness on them like Rex Harrison to Audrey Hepburn.
I'm not claiming our taxes only go to fund education and pension-related benefits, but they're up there as some of the main expenditures. Health spending, which tends to be on the elderly and children the most, is the only area where the government spends more than on pensions. Education comes in fourth.
Money is not handed out to all and sundry. People just like to believe it is so they can imagine getting a tax cut!
You say you don't take anything from the state. So, you're not claiming your state pension? And you never go see a doctor? You never go along a public road? You never benefit from actions to keep crime low, to arrest, try and imprison criminals? You never eat out at a restaurant that's had food safety inspectors check it? You never travel abroad on a passport? You never interact with people who have been through a state education?
The benefits bill is growing and will continue to grow as is the number claiming it. It is as unsustainable as the triple lock. The govt may spend more on pensions than UC and PIP but it is fast catching up.
As for the rest you do realise even if I claim nothing from the state in financial terms I am still paying tax. Council tax, including police and fire precept. I have a car so pay VED and tax/VAT on the fuel. I believe I paid for my passport, it was not free, and when I travel abroad I am paying for it. I do not get it free. I pay VAT on purchases too.
People I interact with who had a state education my taxes would have been helping to fund.
I’m not even sure what the point you think you’re making is. You just seem happy for people in work to pay more and more tax.
And, strangely, those posters who liked adding up Ref+Con and comparing it to Lab+LD+Green+SNP stopped doing so, by coincidence around the same time that the former total no longer exceeded the latter. And all the evidence - so far - is that the latter voters (now in a clear majority) are rather better at redeploying their votes in each seat than are either Ref or Con.
It's really a Reform vs Labour battle in parallel with a Tory vs Lib Dem battle to define the future shape of two party politics:
Starmer Labour was more elitist, Burnham Labour will likely be more populist and the Greens are also surely populist too under Polanski as well as leftist? Add in populist Restore too
We've just started food recycling down here. Stick leftover food, peelings and tea bags into a small container in the kitchen. Transfer to a larger one which is collected once a week. Just noticed the larger one which is outside is crawling with maggots. Have checked the smaller one which is inside and a lovely crawling mess.
Global warming meets food recycling. Ugh...
We start in July. It won’t be too bad for me as I have a wormery so most waste goes into that.
I have another year here, and I'll be aiming to approximate my quantity of food recycling to zero.
For me it’s stuff like onion skins, egg shells and orange peel. As well as bones and skin from meat and fish. Most goes in the wormery.
Maybe it's the heat but AEP is in an incredibly optimistic mood about UK prospects in Telegraph today.
"Today, the UK is one of the least indebted countries in the developed world. The Bank for International Settlements says the combined private and public debt-to-GDP ratios are: Japan (354), France (324), Canada (315), Netherlands (302), China (300), US (251), Italy (232), UK (221) and Germany (196)."
"If the Tories and Reform think energy costs will be a millstone around Burnham’s neck three years hence, they are in for a rude awakening."
"it is Burnham who may snatch the dividend of a powerful economic renaissance that is gradually gathering force and which could deliver the highest growth rates for a generation."
Does he explain why our debt is so much more costly to finance ?
Do,they still blame Truss for all our ills ?
I've no idea; I was questioning AEP's Ross tinted view. If it costs us more to finance our debt, having a lower absolute level of debt isn't particularly helpful,
Sanjeev is way funnier, and has earned his plaudits from the final few comeback series of Still Game. There were rumours about HSK from years back, but it seems these alleged offences take place mainly around covid time.
Yeah, Sanjeev is fab. I remember a small part he had in a comedy, Look Around You, as Synthesiser Patel, he aced it.
He was great in Still game but has done so much more.
You’re right about the rumours and some of the ‘blind’ sites have alluded to them for years.
Which ones? I know of AGC Blind Items, CDAN and Tattle.life. What are the others?
A possible Labour "it's different" line on a GE could be that Truss trashed any semblance of the manifesto and thus, by Sunak it stood trashed.
Where as the deliverables on the 2024 manifesto will remain the framework for the Burnham government.
It might lead to some questions on tax and spend but those should be reasonably answerable.
Look where that got Liz Truss.
Truss' problem was she cut tax but not spending too, Burnham can increase spending but it would require him to increase taxes too
I hope he’s heard of the Laffer curve.
I suspect, as there seems to be an active campaign in the left wing media to get him the job, Jedward Miliband will be Chancellor which is a frightening thought.
Where's the peak of the Laffer curve then Taz?
A: No one has a scooby-do.
I’m sure raising taxes further will bring lots more revenue. 👍
Taxes have been increased or decreased by governments with some frequency. One could do an analysis of which tax raises increased revenue (or not) and which tax decreases decreased revenue (or not). As far as I recall, the vast majority of tax raises have increased revenue, suggesting we're to the left of any Laffer inflection.
How marvellously anecdotal. There comes a point when the pips can’t be squeezed any more.
You’re happy to tax the productive economy to fund the unproductive and underutilised economy. Typical Lib Dem.
Your lot want to Dig deep for the WASPI women too.
Given you were praising Floella Benjamin earlier, I thought you'd come over to our side!
The unproductive often need our support, so of course you have to tax the productive economy to fund education for children (the second biggest group of unproductive people in the country) and pensions for the elderly (the biggest group of unproductive people in the country). I don't see a model where we let pensioners starve and have no state education.
I'm not disputing the theory of the Laffer curve, but just shouting "Laffer" at every proposed tax raise is unconvincing. You sarcastically suggested that the proposed tax rise will not bring in "lots more revenue". Well, this is actually a testable proposition. If we're in such danger from the Laffer curve, point me to 5 tax rises in the last decade that produced a drop in revenue and were, therefore, to the right of a Laffer curve.
Of course children are going to be productive one day, we hope, and pensioners already have been, and they are not the only element of the unproductive and underutilised sector of society. They are the only ones you chose to mention. I know you’re a Lib Dem and economics isn’t their strong suit but are you seriously claiming our taxes only go to fund education and the state pension ?
However money is handed out to all and sundry and as I’ve said before it becomes a disincentive to work if you keep less and less of what you earn. The two NI cuts from Hunt were welcome however personal allowance is still frozen.
All I said was I hope he’d heard of the Laffer curve. There was not even a specific tax discussed.
I’m retired, I no longer work. I’m no longer productive however I have been a net contributor, and I don’t take anything from the state. Im funding my own retirement. I guess you see that as a bad thing yet a dole bludger who’s clinically fed up with a sunflower lanyard getting cash off the state to be Idle is something good and the middle classes can radiate their worthiness on them like Rex Harrison to Audrey Hepburn.
Bet you are still paying plenty tax as well unlike the spongers who pay ZERO on all their large state funded incomes
I am paying loads of tax Malc. VAT, council tax, VED, fuel tax and duty, and plenty of others. Yet some, like Bondezegou, seem to quibble with me using a Doctor or the roads while radiating their goodness on spongers and wanting to hose them down with our cash ? 🤷♂️
A possible Labour "it's different" line on a GE could be that Truss trashed any semblance of the manifesto and thus, by Sunak it stood trashed.
Where as the deliverables on the 2024 manifesto will remain the framework for the Burnham government.
It might lead to some questions on tax and spend but those should be reasonably answerable.
Look where that got Liz Truss.
Truss' problem was she cut tax but not spending too, Burnham can increase spending but it would require him to increase taxes too
I hope he’s heard of the Laffer curve.
I suspect, as there seems to be an active campaign in the left wing media to get him the job, Jedward Miliband will be Chancellor which is a frightening thought.
Where's the peak of the Laffer curve then Taz?
A: No one has a scooby-do.
I’m sure raising taxes further will bring lots more revenue. 👍
Taxes have been increased or decreased by governments with some frequency. One could do an analysis of which tax raises increased revenue (or not) and which tax decreases decreased revenue (or not). As far as I recall, the vast majority of tax raises have increased revenue, suggesting we're to the left of any Laffer inflection.
Obvious example of the Laffer curve in the wild - adjusting Corp tax rates down in the short term reduced Corp tax take, but then resulted in an increased take over the longer term. This is particularly remarkable as the growth in real tax take (the graph is inflation adjusted) occurred during a decade of particularly weak economic growth.
That's quite Parish Pump Scotland from the National.
There's a list too long to repost, starting with Nigel Farage, Kemi Badenoch and Boris Johnson.
It is Alliance for Responsible Citizenship (ARC); I'd probably term them culture war and USA religious right, rather than fundamentally "hard-right". "Anti-woke" with a focus on "personal morality" probably gets the style, though with peeps from the Trump regime and AFD etc will be present.
Ben Houchen, Esther McVey and Sarah Pochin are also there.
A possible Labour "it's different" line on a GE could be that Truss trashed any semblance of the manifesto and thus, by Sunak it stood trashed.
Where as the deliverables on the 2024 manifesto will remain the framework for the Burnham government.
It might lead to some questions on tax and spend but those should be reasonably answerable.
Look where that got Liz Truss.
Truss' problem was she cut tax but not spending too, Burnham can increase spending but it would require him to increase taxes too
I hope he’s heard of the Laffer curve.
I suspect, as there seems to be an active campaign in the left wing media to get him the job, Jedward Miliband will be Chancellor which is a frightening thought.
Where's the peak of the Laffer curve then Taz?
A: No one has a scooby-do.
I’m sure raising taxes further will bring lots more revenue. 👍
Taxes have been increased or decreased by governments with some frequency. One could do an analysis of which tax raises increased revenue (or not) and which tax decreases decreased revenue (or not). As far as I recall, the vast majority of tax raises have increased revenue, suggesting we're to the left of any Laffer inflection.
How marvellously anecdotal. There comes a point when the pips can’t be squeezed any more.
You’re happy to tax the productive economy to fund the unproductive and underutilised economy. Typical Lib Dem.
Your lot want to Dig deep for the WASPI women too.
Given you were praising Floella Benjamin earlier, I thought you'd come over to our side!
The unproductive often need our support, so of course you have to tax the productive economy to fund education for children (the second biggest group of unproductive people in the country) and pensions for the elderly (the biggest group of unproductive people in the country). I don't see a model where we let pensioners starve and have no state education.
I'm not disputing the theory of the Laffer curve, but just shouting "Laffer" at every proposed tax raise is unconvincing. You sarcastically suggested that the proposed tax rise will not bring in "lots more revenue". Well, this is actually a testable proposition. If we're in such danger from the Laffer curve, point me to 5 tax rises in the last decade that produced a drop in revenue and were, therefore, to the right of a Laffer curve.
Of course children are going to be productive one day, we hope, and pensioners already have been, and they are not the only element of the unproductive and underutilised sector of society. They are the only ones you chose to mention. I know you’re a Lib Dem and economics isn’t their strong suit but are you seriously claiming our taxes only go to fund education and the state pension ?
However money is handed out to all and sundry and as I’ve said before it becomes a disincentive to work if you keep less and less of what you earn. The two NI cuts from Hunt were welcome however personal allowance is still frozen.
All I said was I hope he’d heard of the Laffer curve. There was not even a specific tax discussed.
I’m retired, I no longer work. I’m no longer productive however I have been a net contributor, and I don’t take anything from the state. Im funding my own retirement. I guess you see that as a bad thing yet a dole bludger who’s clinically fed up with a sunflower lanyard getting cash off the state to be Idle is something good and the middle classes can radiate their worthiness on them like Rex Harrison to Audrey Hepburn.
I'm not claiming our taxes only go to fund education and pension-related benefits, but they're up there as some of the main expenditures. Health spending, which tends to be on the elderly and children the most, is the only area where the government spends more than on pensions. Education comes in fourth.
Money is not handed out to all and sundry. People just like to believe it is so they can imagine getting a tax cut!
You say you don't take anything from the state. So, you're not claiming your state pension? And you never go see a doctor? You never go along a public road? You never benefit from actions to keep crime low, to arrest, try and imprison criminals? You never eat out at a restaurant that's had food safety inspectors check it? You never travel abroad on a passport? You never interact with people who have been through a state education?
The benefits bill is growing and will continue to grow as is the number claiming it. It is as unsustainable as the triple lock. The govt may spend more on pensions than UC and PIP but it is fast catching up.
As for the rest you do realise even if I claim nothing from the state in financial terms I am still paying tax. Council tax, including police and fire precept. I have a car so pay VED and tax/VAT on the fuel. I believe I paid for my passport, it was not free, and when I travel abroad I am paying for it. I do not get it free.
People I interact with who had a state education my taxes would have been helping to fund.
I’m not even sure what the point you think you’re making is. You just seem happy for people in work to pay more and more tax.
I don't want to pay more and more tax, and I don't want people in work to pay more and more tax. I agree we need to do something about the increasing benefits bill. But I do think the burden of taxation is largely going to fall on those in work (because how can it not), and claims that someone doesn't take anything from the state are silly.
What I really want is some rather more serious engagement with tax issues than moaning about scroungers and repeatedly shouting "Laffer".
We've just started food recycling down here. Stick leftover food, peelings and tea bags into a small container in the kitchen. Transfer to a larger one which is collected once a week. Just noticed the larger one which is outside is crawling with maggots. Have checked the smaller one which is inside and a lovely crawling mess.
Global warming meets food recycling. Ugh...
We start in July. It won’t be too bad for me as I have a wormery so most waste goes into that.
I have another year here, and I'll be aiming to approximate my quantity of food recycling to zero.
For me it’s stuff like onion skins, egg shells and orange peel. As well as bones and skin from meat and fish. Most goes in the wormery.
Don't egg shells go in the garden to prevent slugs?
Perhaps Burnham is not entirely lacking in the odd positive attribute ?
This piece from Professor John Mullan, who taught Burnham English literature at Cambridge, is terrific
He taught Burnham at Fitzwilliam College, read all his end-of-term reports, and perhaps most importantly gave him his shot after he was turned down by St Catherine's College
It's a great read - how Burnham nearly missed out, his love of Shakespeare, his lack of any particular political ambition at the time and how he 'scooped the pools' when Marie-France van Heel - now his wife - became his girlfriend. According to Mullan she was the 'coolest girl in school'
Mullan writes with genuine affection and no little delight that Burnham is poised to become the first prime minister with a degree in English literature
Here's his recollection of interview in Burnham with his colleague Ruth Morse:
'Do I remember his entrance interview? I think that I do. Smart clothes, a northwest (was it Liverpool?) accent, considerable verbal confidence.
'We discussed a Shakespeare sonnet that he had been given a few minutes before the interview. Perhaps it was Ruth’s favourite: “What is your substance, whereof are you made…?” What does “tend” mean in line 2? Or “foison” in line 9? No googling possible, of course. He must have been good at working the poetry out. Ruth thought he was terrific, I do remember that.
'Maybe Shakespeare is his thing. He has claimed to have read every single one of Shakespeare’s plays, which is some kind of testimony to the virtues of the Cambridge BA course that he followed'.. https://x.com/Steven_Swinford/status/2070453656814604643
A possible Labour "it's different" line on a GE could be that Truss trashed any semblance of the manifesto and thus, by Sunak it stood trashed.
Where as the deliverables on the 2024 manifesto will remain the framework for the Burnham government.
It might lead to some questions on tax and spend but those should be reasonably answerable.
Look where that got Liz Truss.
Truss' problem was she cut tax but not spending too, Burnham can increase spending but it would require him to increase taxes too
I hope he’s heard of the Laffer curve.
I suspect, as there seems to be an active campaign in the left wing media to get him the job, Jedward Miliband will be Chancellor which is a frightening thought.
Where's the peak of the Laffer curve then Taz?
A: No one has a scooby-do.
I’m sure raising taxes further will bring lots more revenue. 👍
Taxes have been increased or decreased by governments with some frequency. One could do an analysis of which tax raises increased revenue (or not) and which tax decreases decreased revenue (or not). As far as I recall, the vast majority of tax raises have increased revenue, suggesting we're to the left of any Laffer inflection.
How marvellously anecdotal. There comes a point when the pips can’t be squeezed any more.
You’re happy to tax the productive economy to fund the unproductive and underutilised economy. Typical Lib Dem.
Your lot want to Dig deep for the WASPI women too.
Given you were praising Floella Benjamin earlier, I thought you'd come over to our side!
The unproductive often need our support, so of course you have to tax the productive economy to fund education for children (the second biggest group of unproductive people in the country) and pensions for the elderly (the biggest group of unproductive people in the country). I don't see a model where we let pensioners starve and have no state education.
I'm not disputing the theory of the Laffer curve, but just shouting "Laffer" at every proposed tax raise is unconvincing. You sarcastically suggested that the proposed tax rise will not bring in "lots more revenue". Well, this is actually a testable proposition. If we're in such danger from the Laffer curve, point me to 5 tax rises in the last decade that produced a drop in revenue and were, therefore, to the right of a Laffer curve.
Of course children are going to be productive one day, we hope, and pensioners already have been, and they are not the only element of the unproductive and underutilised sector of society. They are the only ones you chose to mention. I know you’re a Lib Dem and economics isn’t their strong suit but are you seriously claiming our taxes only go to fund education and the state pension ?
However money is handed out to all and sundry and as I’ve said before it becomes a disincentive to work if you keep less and less of what you earn. The two NI cuts from Hunt were welcome however personal allowance is still frozen.
All I said was I hope he’d heard of the Laffer curve. There was not even a specific tax discussed.
I’m retired, I no longer work. I’m no longer productive however I have been a net contributor, and I don’t take anything from the state. Im funding my own retirement. I guess you see that as a bad thing yet a dole bludger who’s clinically fed up with a sunflower lanyard getting cash off the state to be Idle is something good and the middle classes can radiate their worthiness on them like Rex Harrison to Audrey Hepburn.
Bet you are still paying plenty tax as well unlike the spongers who pay ZERO on all their large state funded incomes
I am paying loads of tax Malc. VAT, council tax, VED, fuel tax and duty, and plenty of others. Yet some, like Bondezegou, seem to quibble with me using a Doctor or the roads while radiating their goodness on spongers and wanting to hose them down with our cash ? 🤷♂️
I don't mind you using tax-funded services at all. I object to you writing "I don’t take anything from the state" when you do take from the state.
Perhaps Burnham is not entirely lacking in the odd positive attribute ?
This piece from Professor John Mullan, who taught Burnham English literature at Cambridge, is terrific
He taught Burnham at Fitzwilliam College, read all his end-of-term reports, and perhaps most importantly gave him his shot after he was turned down by St Catherine's College
It's a great read - how Burnham nearly missed out, his love of Shakespeare, his lack of any particular political ambition at the time and how he 'scooped the pools' when Marie-France van Heel - now his wife - became his girlfriend. According to Mullan she was the 'coolest girl in school'
Mullan writes with genuine affection and no little delight that Burnham is poised to become the first prime minister with a degree in English literature
Here's his recollection of interview in Burnham with his colleague Ruth Morse:
'Do I remember his entrance interview? I think that I do. Smart clothes, a northwest (was it Liverpool?) accent, considerable verbal confidence.
'We discussed a Shakespeare sonnet that he had been given a few minutes before the interview. Perhaps it was Ruth’s favourite: “What is your substance, whereof are you made…?” What does “tend” mean in line 2? Or “foison” in line 9? No googling possible, of course. He must have been good at working the poetry out. Ruth thought he was terrific, I do remember that.
'Maybe Shakespeare is his thing. He has claimed to have read every single one of Shakespeare’s plays, which is some kind of testimony to the virtues of the Cambridge BA course that he followed'.. https://x.com/Steven_Swinford/status/2070453656814604643
Burnham should get on well with the King then, also a Shakespeare lover. I don't agree with him on much but would be good to have a PM who values the arts and literature and plays and not just another PPE or Law clone in No 10
We've just started food recycling down here. Stick leftover food, peelings and tea bags into a small container in the kitchen. Transfer to a larger one which is collected once a week. Just noticed the larger one which is outside is crawling with maggots. Have checked the smaller one which is inside and a lovely crawling mess.
Global warming meets food recycling. Ugh...
It is a huge problem, yes! Empty the in-kitchen one as often as possible to try and keep the problem outside. Use something like a power washer and give the outside one a regular clean.
Or give up entirely! Food recycling has one of the lower impacts on CO2 output. It's metal, glass and some plastic recycling that has the big impacts.
TBH, I'm struggling to see the point of it. Food waste recycling seems like substantial effort for the council and, frankly, an unpleasant activity for most people for very little environmental return.
Can’t these Green twats just say ‘women’ instead of ‘people who menstruate’ with this crazy policy idea which won’t have any unintended consequences.
‘ EXCL: The Green Party is considering giving ‘all workers who menstruate’ an additional 36 days’ paid leave a year, The Spectator can reveal.
Under the proposals, businesses would be forced to allow staff to take three days off every month during menstruation.
Employees would not have to present a doctor’s note, and the time off would not be recorded as sickness absence or deducted from annual leave.
The plan is laid out in a motion for Green Party Conference. The motion - which specifically refers to ‘workers who menstruate’ rather than ‘women’ - has been submitted by a male party member.
It could become official party policy in October this year’
A possible Labour "it's different" line on a GE could be that Truss trashed any semblance of the manifesto and thus, by Sunak it stood trashed.
Where as the deliverables on the 2024 manifesto will remain the framework for the Burnham government.
It might lead to some questions on tax and spend but those should be reasonably answerable.
Look where that got Liz Truss.
Truss' problem was she cut tax but not spending too, Burnham can increase spending but it would require him to increase taxes too
I hope he’s heard of the Laffer curve.
I suspect, as there seems to be an active campaign in the left wing media to get him the job, Jedward Miliband will be Chancellor which is a frightening thought.
Where's the peak of the Laffer curve then Taz?
A: No one has a scooby-do.
I’m sure raising taxes further will bring lots more revenue. 👍
Taxes have been increased or decreased by governments with some frequency. One could do an analysis of which tax raises increased revenue (or not) and which tax decreases decreased revenue (or not). As far as I recall, the vast majority of tax raises have increased revenue, suggesting we're to the left of any Laffer inflection.
Obvious example of the Laffer curve in the wild - adjusting Corp tax rates down in the short term reduced Corp tax take, but then resulted in an increased take over the longer term. This is particularly remarkable as the growth in real tax take (the graph is inflation adjusted) occurred during a decade of particularly weak economic growth.
Great. Good example (well, with various caveats about whether the relationship is causal). I think I asked upthread for 5 examples, so 4 more, people!
Comments
I also saw that demand in Russia for converting cars to run on LPG has been soaring, and then the next day Ukraine hit the Orenburg gas processing plant.
Ukraine are now communicating mixed messages on their war aims. On the one hand, Zelensky has authorised a 40-day plan for pressuring Russia into peace (a ceasefire on the current front lines) and on the other they're telling the UN that option won't be available for much longer if the UN don't act to force Russia to accept a ceasefire, and the Defence minister is talking about the training for amphibious landings that Ukrainian marines are doing to take advantage of the campaign to isolate Crimea.
RFM: 24% (-3)
LAB: 21% (+6)
CON: 18% (=)
GRN: 15% (-2)
LDM: 12% (-1)
SNP: 3% (=)
Via @findoutnow.bsky.social, 24-25 Jun.
Changes w/ 17 Jun.
https://bsky.app/profile/electionmaps.uk/post/3mp4gjpcanc27
Hard not to see Lab in the lead fairly shortly.
https://reddwarf.fandom.com/wiki/Duane_Dibbley
Not in favour of that, I think as an absolute top there is a psychological barrier at 50%.
Now given people on the Right tend to raise the Laffer curve to justify tax cuts, it’s worth noting that it only works at a certain level.
Worth a discussion on where that exactly is for various taxes in the UK as something better than “Cuts Good/Rises Bad!”
Peter.
Kate Forbes has shared a stage with hard-right politicians and influencers at an 'anti-woke' conference in London.
The former SNP deputy first minister spoke at the event co-founded by Jordan Peterson and attended by far-right European parties
https://bsky.app/profile/scotnational.bsky.social/post/3mp6uyimib62k
The UN or maybe the Gulf nations should be looking to buy off the head of the Russians' Crimea garrisson to surrender the peninsular. (Payback to Ukraine for providing air defence drones to the GUlf against It=ranina threats.) Crimea is going to be damn near uninhabitable in two months. It would be the humanitarian thing to do - not to mention a wise act of self-preservation.
The dominoes would then start falling out of windows in Moscow.
Utterly horrible here in the Flatlands, dewpoint is above 25C (which will be an absolute UK record if confirmed somewhere official). It is like breathing warm soup.
A niece has just posted a picture of a fisherman carrying her husband to his fishing boat to keep his feet dry
Those were the days before harbours and life was tough but they just got on with it and of course with no benefits
My wife's grandma had 12 children but never complained
Anyway, I think y'all are being harsh on @HYUFD . He was not equating Donaldson's and Murrell's crimes. He was pointing out that political parties generally have a tendency to cover up or look the other way when it comes to prominent politicians' crimes. I would've thought that's an observation with which you agree, malcolmg.
I'm going to keep doing this.
Former Russian Defense Minister, Security Council Secretary, and Chief of Staff of the Presidential Administration Sergei Ivanov has died.
What we've not mentioned that is all over the front pages – the King has decided not to move into Buckingham Palace after £300 million was spent doing it up.
1) that's peanuts compared to Parliament,.
2) Buckingham Palace is awful to live in - I know people who have and it's both cold and long distances to do anything
3) Churchill forced the Queen to live there rather than Clarence House.
4) Over time it's going to be opened more and more which means another Tourist attraction for London not just over the Summer.
https://t.me/noel_reports/48405
https://bsky.app/profile/kyivindependent.com/post/3mp6vjvu6d22i
"Singular forms are used when the emphasis is on the group as a whole."
The SNP has...
You’re happy to tax the productive economy to fund the unproductive and underutilised economy. Typical Lib Dem.
Your lot want to Dig deep for the WASPI women too.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cvgm7mdnme1o
And the occupation season over before September.
The unproductive often need our support, so of course you have to tax the productive economy to fund education for children (the second biggest group of unproductive people in the country) and pensions for the elderly (the biggest group of unproductive people in the country). I don't see a model where we let pensioners starve and have no state education.
I'm not disputing the theory of the Laffer curve, but just shouting "Laffer" at every proposed tax raise is unconvincing. You sarcastically suggested that the proposed tax rise will not bring in "lots more revenue". Well, this is actually a testable proposition. If we're in such danger from the Laffer curve, point me to 5 tax rises in the last decade that produced a drop in revenue and were, therefore, to the right of a Laffer curve.
Jonathan Powell to stay on as National Security Adviser under Andy Burnham
"Today, the UK is one of the least indebted countries in the developed world.
The Bank for International Settlements says the combined private and public debt-to-GDP ratios are: Japan (354), France (324), Canada (315), Netherlands (302), China (300), US (251), Italy (232), UK (221) and Germany (196)."
"If the Tories and Reform think energy costs will be a millstone around Burnham’s neck three years hence, they are in for a rude awakening."
"it is Burnham who may snatch the dividend of a powerful economic renaissance that is gradually gathering force and which could deliver the highest growth rates for a generation."
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2026/06/26/andy-burnham-closet-neo-liberal-perfect-economic-timing/
You’ve also slightly shifted the argument. The Laffer curve isn’t “every tax rise reduces receipts”. It’s that beyond some point, higher rates produce diminishing returns through changes in behaviour. That’s a much harder proposition to test.
As for children and pensioners being “unproductive”, that’s more rhetoric than economics. Children are future workers and pensioners are largely former workers. Neither is “unproductive” in the sense implied, and many pensioners still contribute through unpaid care, volunteering and childcare.
East Sutherland & Edderton (Highland) Council By-Election Result (1st Prefs)
Ind: 1044 (40.2% (New))
LDM: 854 (32.9% (-2.9))
SNP: 452 (17.4% (-9.1))
RFM: 188 (7.2% (New))
CON: 59 (2.3% (-14.7))
Independent elected at stage 5
Technically an Independent gain from an Independent. No surprises as independent Councillors are very strong in Highlands and Islands
I don't believe I have shifted the argument, but my apologies if I've not explained my point well. I'm not saying that every tax rise reduces receipts. I'm saying that people who shout "Laffer" at every proposed tax rise can only be correct if we're to the right of the peak of the Laffer curve(s). We can test whether that's true by looking at the various recent tax rises and what effect they have had. People shouted "Laffer" at them, but they mostly have increased revenue.
I don't think the Laffer curve is a particularly good analysis because I don't think the job of government should be to put us at the peak of a Laffer curve. We should only tax what we need. We shouldn't just raise taxes because it will raise revenue. Most of the time, most taxes are far to the left of a Laffer maximum and the arguments for whether they should be raised or lowered or kept the same have nothing to do with a Laffer curve.
However money is handed out to all and sundry and as I’ve said before it becomes a disincentive to work if you keep less and less of what you earn. The two NI cuts from Hunt were welcome however personal allowance is still frozen.
All I said was I hope he’d heard of the Laffer curve. There was not even a specific tax discussed.
I’m retired, I no longer work. I’m no longer productive however I have been a net contributor, and I don’t take anything from the state. Im funding my own retirement. I guess you see that as a bad thing yet a dole bludger who’s clinically fed up with a sunflower lanyard getting cash off the state to be Idle is something good and the middle classes can radiate their worthiness on them like Rex Harrison to Audrey Hepburn.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/may/06/jordan-linden-former-snp-council-leader-jailed-sexual-offences-young-men-boys'
My only quibble is that “receipts went up” isn’t enough to show we were left of the revenue-maximising point. HMRC and the OBR explicitly model behavioural effects because people change how much they work, invest, realise gains or incorporate. The relevant question is whether receipts rose by more or less than they otherwise would have done, and that’s the counterfactual we can’t directly observe.
On your final point, I think we’re actually in agreement. The aim of tax policy shouldn’t be to sit at the peak of a Laffer curve. It should be to raise the revenue needed with the least economic distortion while meeting wider policy objectives.
He was great in Still game but has done so much more.
You’re right about the rumours and some of the ‘blind’ sites have alluded to them for years.
That's abysmal, and it's a recurring problem in city centre by elections. Can't blame the weather, it was only around 19 degrees celsius in Aberdeen yesterday
Households on heating oil across England and Wales will be eligible for £9,000 off a heat pump, helping them cut bills.
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/thousands-of-homes-will-be-eligible-for-9000-off-a-heat-pump
Government press release (that also shows it is not just Rishi Sunak who does check the weather before making announcements).
Populists - Ref + Lab: 45%
Elitists - Con + LD: 30%
Leftists - Green: 15%
Money is not handed out to all and sundry. People just like to believe it is so they can imagine getting a tax cut!
You say you don't take anything from the state. So, you're not claiming your state pension? And you never go see a doctor? You never go along a public road? You never benefit from actions to keep crime low, to arrest, try and imprison criminals? You never eat out at a restaurant that's had food safety inspectors check it? You never travel abroad on a passport? You never interact with people who have been through a state education?
We've just started food recycling down here. Stick leftover food, peelings and tea bags into a small container in the kitchen. Transfer to a larger one which is collected once a week. Just noticed the larger one which is outside is crawling with maggots. Have checked the smaller one which is inside and a lovely crawling mess.
Global warming meets food recycling. Ugh...
My normal favourite such establishment around here would be Wagamama, where the gilet stays firmly ON most of the year - but they tend to overdo the quantities of rice in my experience.
(Here we are at 33C outside.)
If it costs us more to finance our debt, having a lower absolute level of debt isn't particularly helpful,
Or give up entirely! Food recycling has one of the lower impacts on CO2 output. It's metal, glass and some plastic recycling that has the big impacts.
George St - Harbour (Aberdeen) Council By-Election Result [1st Prefs]:
SNP: 33.1% (-9.1)
LAB: 14.5% (-5.3)
GRN: 13.2% (-0.7)
RFM: 10.1% (New)
LDM: 9.2% (-2.2)
Ind: 9.2% (New)
CON: 8.3% (-2.7)
TUSC: 1.8% (New)
ALS: 0.7% (New)
SNP candidate was elected, technically an SNP gain following a Lib Dem vacancy, Lib Dems took the 4th councillor spot at the last elections
I see Donaldson’s wife was convicted of aiding and abetting his crimes, so at least there won’t be endless posts saying she must have known, because she evidently did.
As for the rest you do realise even if I claim nothing from the state in financial terms I am still paying tax. Council tax, including police and fire precept. I have a car so pay VED and tax/VAT on the fuel. I believe I paid for my passport, it was not free, and when I travel abroad I am paying for it. I do not get it free. I pay VAT on purchases too.
People I interact with who had a state education my taxes would have been helping to fund.
I’m not even sure what the point you think you’re making is. You just seem happy for people in work to pay more and more tax.
https://x.com/bbcquestiontime/status/2070490136849088800
It's a broad church the SNP, but I'd be surprised if it survived intact if the Wee Frees take control.
🤷♂️
Obvious example of the Laffer curve in the wild - adjusting Corp tax rates down in the short term reduced Corp tax take, but then resulted in an increased take over the longer term. This is particularly remarkable as the growth in real tax take (the graph is inflation adjusted) occurred during a decade of particularly weak economic growth.
There's a list too long to repost, starting with Nigel Farage, Kemi Badenoch and Boris Johnson.
It is Alliance for Responsible Citizenship (ARC); I'd probably term them culture war and USA religious right, rather than fundamentally "hard-right". "Anti-woke" with a focus on "personal morality" probably gets the style, though with peeps from the Trump regime and AFD etc will be present.
Ben Houchen, Esther McVey and Sarah Pochin are also there.
More detail: https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/alliance-for-responsible-citizenship-arc-conference-farage-london-olympia-b1286811.html
The key organiser is aiui Baroness Stroud, who is a mover and shaker everywhere on the Right - not dissimilar to Danny Kruger in views imo.
What I really want is some rather more serious engagement with tax issues than moaning about scroungers and repeatedly shouting "Laffer".
This piece from Professor John Mullan, who taught Burnham English literature at Cambridge, is terrific
He taught Burnham at Fitzwilliam College, read all his end-of-term reports, and perhaps most importantly gave him his shot after he was turned down by St Catherine's College
It's a great read - how Burnham nearly missed out, his love of Shakespeare, his lack of any particular political ambition at the time and how he 'scooped the pools' when Marie-France van Heel - now his wife - became his girlfriend. According to Mullan she was the 'coolest girl in school'
Mullan writes with genuine affection and no little delight that Burnham is poised to become the first prime minister with a degree in English literature
Here's his recollection of interview in Burnham with his colleague Ruth Morse:
'Do I remember his entrance interview? I think that I do. Smart clothes, a northwest (was it Liverpool?) accent, considerable verbal confidence.
'We discussed a Shakespeare sonnet that he had been given a few minutes before the interview. Perhaps it was Ruth’s favourite: “What is your substance, whereof are you made…?” What does “tend” mean in line 2? Or “foison” in line 9? No googling possible, of course. He must have been good at working the poetry out. Ruth thought he was terrific, I do remember that.
'Maybe Shakespeare is his thing. He has claimed to have read every single one of Shakespeare’s plays, which is some kind of testimony to the virtues of the Cambridge BA course that he followed'..
https://x.com/Steven_Swinford/status/2070453656814604643
https://x.com/alexbondodua/status/2070455762904600662?s=46
‘ EXCL: The Green Party is considering giving ‘all workers who menstruate’ an additional 36 days’ paid leave a year, The Spectator can reveal.
Under the proposals, businesses would be forced to allow staff to take three days off every month during menstruation.
Employees would not have to present a doctor’s note, and the time off would not be recorded as sickness absence or deducted from annual leave.
The plan is laid out in a motion for Green Party Conference. The motion - which specifically refers to ‘workers who menstruate’ rather than ‘women’ - has been submitted by a male party member.
It could become official party policy in October this year’
https://x.com/hoffman_noa/status/2070493395596767512?s=61
https://x.com/PolitlcsUK/status/2070497291505455590?s=20