2024 UK politics - now with Labour in charge
Comments
-
Imagine what Labour would have been able to do straight away if they had a plan.
0 -
Of course, it’s one of the depressing parts of my job too. It’s great when I work with clients that want to build something a bit more inspiring rather than someone that maximises profits. Ultimately if you were able to get to a position where supply met demand it would mean developers would need to make their products more desirable as buyers would have choice.
In my perfect world we’d have landscape led developments that are self-sufficient and designed around people not cars (not necessarily car free as without significantly improved public transport it isn’t viable in many areas but where those in motor vehicles feel like interlopers).
in the meantime I’ll settle for people being able to get affordable housing though.
0 -
That’s a system I’d like to see more. Have secure parking courts with no on-street parking. If you have a second car it has to be parked in another one further away and then maybe another on the edge of the development where those who have more than two vehicles can park at a cost. There are a few 3 bedroom houses in my street that have four vehicles. They don’t have drives and the garages are generally unusable.
0 -
Was going to mention this, too.
1985 Mercian King of Mercia - work in progress (Hah! Who am I kidding?)
Pinnacle Monzonite
Part of the anti-growth coalition0 -
Sounds like if they genuinely tried to put in a tax system that did achieve means testing for the state pension via the tax system that would be approved of.
Higher tax rates for pensioners vs non-pensioners? Clawing it back over a certain income threshold on the tax return like child benefit?
0 -
It wouldn't be approved off by enough people. Anyone who is already a pensioner or who is counting down would be against. So anyone over 50 pretty much. That's a lot of votes.
0 -
I meant by those in here who seem to think it's already happening.
0 -
-
Stevo can correct me, but I believe the state pension counts towards one's tax free allowance. I'm not sure the CB clawback mechanism is the model of fair taxation but an improved version of that could work if you particularly wanted to tax wealthy pensioners a bit more.
1985 Mercian King of Mercia - work in progress (Hah! Who am I kidding?)
Pinnacle Monzonite
Part of the anti-growth coalition0 -
You really think that would be the threshold, when for example £20k in savings is the cutoff for care costs?
No, any such threshold would be so low as to completely screw millions of retirements. Unless labour want to be a 1 term government. It won't happen.
1 -
Perhaps the NHS and state schools should be means tested.
0 -
They already are, if you are wealthy you send your kids to public school and have private healthcare 😉
0 -
NHS should be yes, you're getting the hang of this.
Schools less so - it's not the kid's fault their parents are poor.
0 -
Can you show some calculations on a) how many people this is; b) the total saving to DWP; and c) an idea of a mechanism for assessing and clawing back?
1985 Mercian King of Mercia - work in progress (Hah! Who am I kidding?)
Pinnacle Monzonite
Part of the anti-growth coalition0 -
I think RC is a populist.
1 -
You're right, it does count.
"I spent most of my money on birds, booze and fast cars: the rest of it I just squandered." [George Best]0 -
"Schools less so - it's not the kid's fault their parents are poor."
Means testing works the other way around I think.
Anyway, back to Ricktipia - If you are in the top 1% earners, can you explain why my taxes fund your child's education?
1 -
Because your education was funded and you are repaying your debt to society. Rick's kids will repay their debt in due course.
0 -
How do you know that FA wasn't privately educated?
"I spent most of my money on birds, booze and fast cars: the rest of it I just squandered." [George Best]0 -
For the same reason other childless taxpayers paid for yours ;)
Free education is proven to be great for countries. Productivity, democracy etc.
Not much evidence that making the rich pay for their healthcare is counter-productive - quite the reverse, in fact.
0 -
Is that last paragraph a joke?
0 -
Oh right. So if I'm indebted first I must pay it back, but if I over pay into something I can't claim it back?
What if my family paid more in than me and my siblings took out?
That's a round about way of saying that the selection of universal benefits is somewhat arbitrary.
0 -
-
I wasn't.
0 -
-
Have you seen them in the US?
0 -
No in the US everyone has to pay, more or less.
What is wrong with the French or German or Dutch model?
0 -
Do sufficiently progressive tax bands not go some way to achieving the same thing?
0 -
I think the argument is health spending is going to have to ballon so much that it’s politically impossible to raise enough through tax so forcing those who can afford to pay for their health through a proper private system is a more effective way to get them to spend the necessary money on it
0 -
The rich do pay more for their healthcare through taxes. Diverting that money through an insurance company just adds cost.
1985 Mercian King of Mercia - work in progress (Hah! Who am I kidding?)
Pinnacle Monzonite
Part of the anti-growth coalition0
