Aashenfox Posted May 23, 2017 Share Posted May 23, 2017 (edited) Someone changed their vote from LD to labour. WHY!??! From the misguided to the mad. Edited May 23, 2017 by Aashenfox Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aashenfox Posted May 23, 2017 Share Posted May 23, 2017 Jetset, a big majority is exactly what we need at the moment, and will be beneficial to democracy, when people see the people they elected having real power for once. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stutopia Posted May 23, 2017 Share Posted May 23, 2017 How can that be argued against? I'll have a go. There are certain things that the people should get for free as part of living in and paying for a developed country, education & healthcare are the top two. These are the hallmarks of being developed. Whether you earn peanuts or millions, access to these services should be a right. Beyond that, from a purely economic perspective, if you've paid in (which you will have if you're bequeathing in excess of 100k) you've already paid for these things up front in PAYE, NI, VAT, etc all your life. In fact, you'll have paid in the most if you are well off (PAYE) and the likelihood of spending more (VAT), not to mention all the myriad other taxes. It's often mention that there's no money for these things, yet the UK comfortably services debts, credit rating in tact. We comfortably rustle up billions whenever we want for projects that benefit a few (mainly party donor's shareholders). The country doesn't need to make money, it's simply is not a business. To give this some historical context, look at what happened when the country had the windfall of 80s oil money, we were making the golden ticket of a profit (by accident, not by austerity, I might add). Did we save it for a rainy day? No. Thatcher gave the profits away in tax breaks. Other countries, like Norway, took it and invested it to pay for, yep you've guessed it, old age! What a **** idea that was They can't have it both ways, bleating there's no money for care but there is money for tax breaks. It's just a lie. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted May 23, 2017 Author Share Posted May 23, 2017 Good reply, thanks Stu. My counterpoint would be that we're living in a different world now, where we have an increasingly ageing population and that care now costs a ton more than it ever did. Now, again I don't disagree with you that it should be free in an ideal world, but we don't have the funds to support that right now. Tax breaks aren't there to make life cheaper for us, they're there to boost the economy which in turn generates more money than higher taxes (see: the removal of the 50% band). Once we have the spare cash then sure, help the old people, but right now I can't see anything wrong in expecting people to be able to make sure they pay their way when needed. Or to put it another way, you should pay for stuff whilst you're alive (this dementia tax) but you shouldn't when you're dead (inheritance tax, which I'm massively against). Not sure how the Norway example works, it's not like their old people contribute massively to society. In fact, anyone over 65 should just be put down, save us all the hassle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian@TORQEN Posted May 23, 2017 Share Posted May 23, 2017 For clarity this is how we spend the budget: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coldel Posted May 23, 2017 Share Posted May 23, 2017 You should be all reading up on the Japanese Long Term National Health Care Insurance approach - they have the oldest population in the world, but they saw it coming and put policies in place decades ago. The Tories idea looks to me just another plaster on a problem that is just going to grow and pop that plaster off sometime in the future. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted May 23, 2017 Author Share Posted May 23, 2017 £45Bn a year on interest alone. Insane. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay84 Posted May 23, 2017 Share Posted May 23, 2017 Its not real money when dealing with those kinds of figures, its crazy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flex Posted May 23, 2017 Share Posted May 23, 2017 I haven't checked for rounding but as that's in billions to 1 decimal place I wonder how much is hiding in that second decimal place and beyond. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aashenfox Posted May 23, 2017 Share Posted May 23, 2017 2 trillion total public net debt. I love it!! Put that into euros and watch it grow as the pound goes down dooby doo down down. Makes you wonder why there's such a fuss about Greece's trifling debt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted May 23, 2017 Author Share Posted May 23, 2017 Because we don't rely on kebabs and olives as our main ways of raising cash 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aashenfox Posted May 23, 2017 Share Posted May 23, 2017 (edited) It's true, feta cheese and olive oil does not an economy make. Lucky we have lots of nice islands and weather. I don't know why they don't start offering some of the islands for sale for a few billion each, surely there are some Chinese, Americans and Russians that would buy a few. Edited May 23, 2017 by Aashenfox 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Willsy1980 Posted May 23, 2017 Share Posted May 23, 2017 It's true, feta cheese and olive oil does not an economy make. Lucky we have lots of nice islands and weather. I don't know why they don't start offering some of the islands for sale for a few billion each, surely there are some Chinese, Americans and Russians that would buy a few. I'll give you £10, a Mars bar and a bottle of Ouzo for Crete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay84 Posted May 23, 2017 Share Posted May 23, 2017 It's true, feta cheese and olive oil does not an economy make. Lucky we have lots of nice islands and weather. I don't know why they don't start offering some of the islands for sale for a few billion each, surely there are some Chinese, Americans and Russians that would buy a few. I'll give you £10, a Mars bar and a bottle of Ouzo for Crete Selling him his own ouzo 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coldel Posted May 23, 2017 Share Posted May 23, 2017 ...twice the price he sold it to us for? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Willsy1980 Posted May 23, 2017 Share Posted May 23, 2017 ...twice the price he sold it to us for? Is there any other way ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angrybiker Posted May 23, 2017 Share Posted May 23, 2017 The more time that passes the harder a time I have believing that Theresa May is the "strong and stable leader" who can take us through Brexit negotiations. We've not even properly started and she's already thrown her toys out the pram and threatened to walk away without a deal. Hell, she's ill equipped to sit on a couch and discuss her own policies. Sent from my SM-G928F using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Willsy1980 Posted May 23, 2017 Share Posted May 23, 2017 The more time that passes the harder a time I have believing that Theresa May is the "strong and stable leader" who can take us through Brexit negotiations. We've not even properly started and she's already thrown her toys out the pram and threatened to walk away without a deal. Hell, she's ill equipped to sit on a couch and discuss her own policies. Sent from my SM-G928F using Tapatalk In all honesty, if it's a trade deal and a £100Bn leaving bill or walk away with nothing. I'd take nothing and watch the whole pile of crap fall apart around their ears, they need us far more than we ever needed them, we are just a cash cow to them while they kick back and line their pockets. All these europhile politicians who are filling heads with doom, are only doing so to avoid loosing their hefty salary for doing naff all, granted we have some idiots over here trying to run the show. At least they are our idiots. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jetpilot Posted May 26, 2017 Share Posted May 26, 2017 (edited) Well she has already threatened a tax haven should they not play ball. I am still trying to get my head around the attitude from Europe, which is another question, who is it with the attitude, is it the individual countries (forgetting Spain with their Gibraltar agenda) or is it Junker et al (mep's). Why would the individual countries not want to trade with us, imports and exports or are they arsey as presumably they will have to make up the shortfall from out contributions? Any views on the exchange rate, anyone think the £ will get stronger after the election or not until Brexit is done? Edited May 26, 2017 by Jetpilot Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreenLandy Posted May 26, 2017 Share Posted May 26, 2017 I can see it plummeting again if Labour get in with their anti-business, anti-entrepreneruial policies. Probably not do a lot if the Tories do, as it's just continuing the current position. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted May 26, 2017 Author Share Posted May 26, 2017 Agreed. A Labour win would be chaos for the markets, and we can expect to see the pound weaken considerably I suspect. A Tory win (and a proper one, not just a couple of extra seats) would mean that the pound will creep back up again, but not by a huge amount. A hung parliament would be bloody awful though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ATTAK Z Posted May 26, 2017 Share Posted May 26, 2017 Anyone got thoughts on where the gold price will go ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted May 26, 2017 Author Share Posted May 26, 2017 (edited) Depends if I buy any or not Edited May 26, 2017 by Ekona Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobbyZ Posted May 26, 2017 Share Posted May 26, 2017 All the talk re Brexit at the mo is only that, i.e. talk. Both sides have to take a hard stance and avoid playing their hand too early. If May came out and said that we needed a deal, the EU would just bend her over (metaphorically of course... I hope). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay84 Posted May 26, 2017 Share Posted May 26, 2017 (edited) That's an image I didn't need. The SO tried telling who to vote for the other day, her logic being she wasn't working until midnight when it was labour. My response of you weren't head of English back then didn't go down well. Edited May 26, 2017 by Jay84 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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