LEAVE the Conservative Party and save your country!

Let's f*cking hope so, as since the Tories have been in charge there has been no wage growth *at all*

I'm not sure that's quite fair. I think we're all generally agreed that boom and bust is a bad thing. My comment was just to take the p*ss out of Brown, who actually thought highlighting that he'd been referring to Tory b&b was helpful to his cause in the aftermath of the GFC.

Just as well, otherwise you'll you'll disappointed.

I would guess your previous ridiculing overseas may have been from the Times when you lived in Scotland, but in any event, not sure what a lot of other countries have to laugh about, for example:

And pack to your standard approach of not properly entering the debate. Well done.

I skim read the article, and it seems that it is saying that Britain's move to Labour is a welcome contrast with the chaos and extremism that is gripping the EU.

"Extremist parties, containing some very nasty elements, are on the rise from Ireland to Greece. Britain’s likely move to the centre-Left under Keir Starmer would be swimming against the European tide. "

The rest is the usual "this isn't the Brexit I voted for" that should be kept quarantined in the Brexit thread for those who want to fight yesterday's battles.

Am unconvinced that small tax changes usually announced in budgets make any measurable difference to the overall economic performance. Impact of wars, weather/climate, epidemics and energy crises, or more positively cornering the market in a particular natural or human resource dwarf the effects of tax changes. Economy needs to grow, then there will be higher receipts and everyone's rates can reduce.

"debate" 🤣

There are plenty of discursive points for you to respond to if you want a debate. It'd make a nice change.

🤣

Indeed it is.

i can understand wanting to eliminate ni as a much needed simplification, ni has always been a tax, end the fantasy that's it's 'insurance'

but if they're going to talk about getting rid of it, they need also to be upfront in explaining how that might work

employer ni payments are pretty hefty (outside very low paying positions and special categories), how is that revenue replaced? corporation tax? some other employment tax? or push all costs onto employee income tax in the (unlikely) expectation employers would increase salaries accordingly?

ni is the entitlement gatekeeper for several benefits, in particular the state pension, how will that work if it's income tax based? years of paying tax? total amount of tax? haruspicy?

is it a tacit admission that the universal state pension will go away? replaced by some means tested benefit? imo it should've moved to means tested long ago

it'd be a huge change, with great scope for (presumably) unintended consequences, i'd like to see some evidence they'd thought about how to do it, rather than it being just a desperate pre-election gamble

Yeah, other than being mean to those on lowest incomes, I don't see the logic in reducing NI whilst holding thresholds at current levels at a time of high inflation, unless the aim is to try to claim that state pensions and the NHS are no longer funded.

Oh, sorry, I seem to have answered myself there.

There is also simplification as having 2 taxes on the same income makes things inherently more complex.

It would take all party consensus, and over 30+ years to introduce if you were to do away with the State Pension.

Like proper reform of the NHS, it will never happen because no politican would dare risk it.

However, merging NI with income tax makes a lot of sense, though you would need to determine how you then build entitlement to the State Pension or qualify for other NI related benefits.

Because hypothecated taxes are a hostage to fortune.