Pasties, Petrol and the Politics of Panic......

tailwindhome

So the PM is so out of touch with the 'common man' he can't remember when he had his last pasty. Modern politics being what it is he couldn't just say he never has or can't remember but had to devise an elaborate story recounting his last pasty experience. Miliband and the Morons decide that they're feeling a bit peckish and pop out to the nearest bakery with a gaggle of their closest journalist buddies.

Is it just the weather?

mudcow007

i love the "pasty/ pie tax" from what i understand about it, if the pasty/ pie is warm, you need to pay tax but if its cold you dont?!

DrLex

TailWindHome wrote:

[...] Is it just the weather?

Doesn't that determine whether my pasty is V.A.T. able or not?

Silly Season obviously coincides with more than two consecutive days of sunshine. Will have to ask the Outlaws if this reminds them of the MacMillan years.

dhope

It's ludicrous. Strikes me that it's more betraying of being 'out of touch with the common man' (whatever that actually means) that they think we give a sh*t when he last ate a pasty, rather than the fact he might not have had one recently.
May as well ask him what bog roll he uses and castigate him for not using shiny white.

notsoblue

I honestly can't remember the last time I bought a pasty.

What I want to know is when was the last time David Cameron had a Roti?

EKE_38BPM

notsoblue wrote:

I honestly can't remember the last time I bought a pasty.

What I want to know is when was the last time David Cameron had a Roti?

Gordon Brown loved a Pattie.

MaxwellBygraves

"A pasty? It's a little like Boeuf en Croute, minister..."

DrLex

"No Prime Minister, that wasn't Leeds. Yes, I know it was "somewhere North of here beginning with L" but Lancaster Gate isn't in Yorkshire"

Paul E

I can't remember either, does that make me out of touch?

notsoblue

EKE_38BPM wrote:

notsoblue wrote:

I honestly can't remember the last time I bought a pasty.

What I want to know is when was the last time David Cameron had a Roti?

Gordon Brown loved a Pattie.

Pandering to Big Islands.

Kieran_Burns

Pie in the sky thinking to believe this idea would ever work

daviesee

Meanwhile the press are forgetting about the serious issues.

A success for the politicians I would think, even if it doesn't initially look that way.

rjsterry

Are we about to see bakeries fitted with blast chillers? They're all the rage since Masterchef.

"...Errr, an' a pasty please, love."
"Would you like me to cool that down for you?"

It is bonkers when you consider that, if you, say, buy a loaf of bread from the supermarket, and it's still warm - a fairly common occurrence - you should really be paying 20% more for it than if you do your other shopping first and come back to the bread aisle when they've cooled down a bit. How on earth are they going to enforce this?

The fact that Newsnight sent a reporter to Leeds station to point out that the West Cornwall Pasty Co. hadn't had a stall there for the last 5 years, was something of a nadir or journalism. Paxman had his FFS what am I doing?-face on.

SteppenHerring

There's a theory doing the rounds: last quarter the economy shrank my 0.3%. If it shrinks again this quarter then it's officially a recession - which would look bad. If they can get people to panic buy petrol, pasties etc. then it might just pull the economy over the line.

walkingbootweather

I have bought a jerry can and have been trying to fill it with pasties before the price goes up. I am finding it devilishly difficult to get them in and am contemplating getting sausage rolls instead. Can anyone advise?

Also, if I fill a jerry can with petrol on government advice, then surely I shouldn't have to pay VAT on it as it is clearly a half-baked idea?

mapleflot

Surprised they aren't charging higher VAT on colder jerry cans. Surely safety is paramount, not how much money is left in your wallet.

UndercoverElephant

SteppenHerring wrote:

There's a theory doing the rounds: last quarter the economy shrank my 0.3%. If it shrinks again this quarter then it's officially a recession - which would look bad. If they can get people to panic buy petrol, pasties etc. then it might just pull the economy over the line.

Hmmm... If we could just get everyone in the country to spend an extra £20 before the end of the month, we'd be OK.

TheStone

Have we ended up with the politicians we deserve?

They're rubbish, the journalists never question anything, just keep blurting out this rubbish.
The younger generation have been so poorly educated and dumbed down that they no longer fight for anything.
And the older generation just keep quiet, in the hope they can get through without the younger generation realising what they've done to them.

I don't hold out much hope.

SteppenHerring

TheStone wrote:

Have we ended up with the politicians we deserve?

They're rubbish, the journalists never question anything, just keep blurting out this rubbish.
The younger generation have been so poorly educated and dumbed down that they no longer fight for anything.
And the older generation just keep quiet, in the hope they can get through without the younger generation realising what they've done to them.

I don't hold out much hope.

Trainers? Flat screen TVs?

(Sometimes my commute takes me past Reeves Corner)

TheStone

SteppenHerring wrote:

Trainers? Flat screen TVs?

They really should be out fighting for real things, for their futures.

But they're so unaware of what's happened, all they know is shiny tvs and sparkling trainers. Meanwhile, the powers that be, promise away the kids futures, to keep things as rosy as possible for themselves.

rjsterry

I think you are being unnecessarily gloomy. Pastygate may be a load of old cobblers, but I don't think young people are quite as disaffected and ignorant as you suggest. In fact I think it's pretty insulting to suggest that they are.

anonymousblackfg

I can't remember when but i'm pretty sure it was a cheese and onion on the 23:23 fast from waterloo. small not large, they've normally run out of the big ones by then

TheStone

rjsterry wrote:

I think you are being unnecessarily gloomy. Pastygate may be a load of old cobblers, but I don't think young people are quite as disaffected and ignorant as you suggest. In fact I think it's pretty insulting to suggest that they are.

I am of course making wild generalisations. But something's gone wrong.

The policies of the last 15-20 years have been very one sided, but it's rare you hear a young person mention any of it. The generation above (and again wild generalisations) has promised themselves pensions and hugely increased debt that they won't have to pay for. At the same time anyone who made a financial mistake has been bailed out and the bank of englands stated policy is to keep asset prices high.

If you're not from a rich family, you have no chance of owning your own house and probably less likely to get a decent job. If you do get a job, tax will have to increase so much to pay for the pension/debt/health burden of the next 20-30 years, that you'll have very little left.

Yet ... where's the protest? Will they all eventually just leave?

rjsterry

TheStone wrote:

rjsterry wrote:

I think you are being unnecessarily gloomy. Pastygate may be a load of old cobblers, but I don't think young people are quite as disaffected and ignorant as you suggest. In fact I think it's pretty insulting to suggest that they are.

I am of course making wild generalisations. But something's gone wrong.

The policies of the last 15-20 years have been very one sided, but it's rare you hear a young person mention any of it. The generation above (and again wild generalisations) has promised themselves pensions and hugely increased debt that they won't have to pay for. At the same time anyone who made a financial mistake has been bailed out and the bank of englands stated policy is to keep asset prices high.

If you're not from a rich family, you have no chance of owning your own house and probably less likely to get a decent job. If you do get a job, tax will have to increase so much to pay for the pension/debt/health burden of the next 20-30 years, that you'll have very little left.

Yet ... where's the protest? Will they all eventually just leave?

Same as it ever was, surely? Those from 'rich families'* will also be paying more tax too. Did you not notice the various protests around the country? Where would they go?

Of course it's a long way from perfect, but the 'good years' are the aberration, not the current situation. I'd still argue that we are much better off in many many ways than even my parents generation.

*Don't know what your definition is, but, while my parents are pretty comfortable, I wouldn't call them 'rich', and I own my own house and have a decent job.

Fireblade96

Its all a devious plan - after stimulating panic buying of petrol and stamps, next month the government will be citing retail figures and claiming the economy is recovering.

rick_chasey

The idea of the tax was to bring outlets like gregs in line with the taxation that other fast-food joints, especially pop-up vans etc, have to pay.

Never quite works out that way does it .

Initialised

SteppenHerring wrote:

There's a theory doing the rounds: last quarter the economy shrank my 0.3%. If it shrinks again this quarter then it's officially a recession - which would look bad. If they can get people to panic buy petrol, pasties etc. then it might just pull the economy over the line.

And the mouth breathing, petrol head, pasty munching tabloid readers fell for it!

rjsterry

Rick Chasey wrote:

The idea of the tax was to bring outlets like gregs in line with the taxation that other fast-food joints, especially pop-up vans etc, have to pay.

Never quite works out that way does it .

No indeed. The basic premise is sound, but using the temperature of the food relative to the ambient temperature is the mistake, as it leads to the ridiculous situation of bakery products being subject to VAT or not depending on how quickly they cool down after coming out of the oven. They may as well have put VAT on all bakery products sold when the sun is shining.

rick_chasey

rjsterry wrote:

Rick Chasey wrote:

The idea of the tax was to bring outlets like gregs in line with the taxation that other fast-food joints, especially pop-up vans etc, have to pay.

Never quite works out that way does it .

No indeed. The basic premise is sound, but using the temperature of the food relative to the ambient temperature is the mistake, as it leads to the ridiculous situation of bakery products being subject to VAT or not depending on how quickly they cool down after coming out of the oven. They may as well have put VAT on all bakery products sold when the sun is shining.

The question is - where did the idea come from?

The FT was saying this budget was more in line with what the treasury wants than the previous two budgets.

Stone Glider

Legions!!? WTF? Back in my young day we had the Gauls and the Belgii proper foe they were. Now who have we? Picts! Celtii! Who cares? Bunch of limp wristed lily whites. Don't talk to me about Hibernians, not worth strapping my sandals tight. They've all gone soft. Four Legions to keep this lot in line? I could do it with my old cohort and a handful of Auxilia. Youngsters today wouldn't recognize a proper insurrection if it bit them on the bum.

rjsterry

Stone Glider wrote:

Legions!!? WTF? Back in my young day we had the Gauls and the Belgii proper foe they were. Now who have we? Picts! Celtii! Who cares? Bunch of limp wristed lily whites. Don't talk to me about Hibernians, not worth strapping my sandals tight. They've all gone soft. Four Legions to keep this lot in line? I could do it with my old cohort and a handful of Auxilia. Youngsters today wouldn't recognize a proper insurrection if it bit them on the bum.

Errr, wot?