Channel 4 undercover re Farage

And you believed them ?

I thought it was income tax they promised not to raise ? And they have kept that.And you voted for them cos no tax raise ?

Very odd, I must say.

@EEexpat clearly didn't read the Labour manifesto properly. It said it would
not "increase taxes on working people, which is why we will not increase National Insurance, the basic, higher, or additional rates of Income Tax, or VAT".

Inability to understand the written word is a common affliction round these parts.

Not increasing the personal tax allowance is line with inflation is a tax increase.

Unemployment declined from 2015 to Q3 2024, but increased after that when Labour made it more expensive for employers to employ people.

An estimated 200,000 jobs were lost :

https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/markets/article-16133803/Job-losses-Labour-soar-past-200-000-employers-crushed-tax-wage-hikes.html

So, whilst National Insurance payable by employees may not have increased, what’s the difference if increased cost to employers results in redundancy?

I would guess that if those who lost their jobs were asked if they would have accepted higher national insurance and income taxes, or preferred to be made redundant, it would be the former.

Remember that if unemployment increases, the tax taken by government decreases. To balance that, the government has the following choices:

Increase taxes
Increase borrowing
Reduce spending.

None of which are helpful.

Well that means the Tories raised income tax each year from 2021 onwards.

Do you pay tax in the UK @EEexpat ?

@TemperanceWest

Well that means the Tories raised income tax each year from 2021 onwards.

Correct. They did. Labour have copied them since they won in 2024.

I am not in favour of the

2 wrongs = 1 correct

Had the personal allowance been increased with inflation, it would be about £3000 more than current figure of £12570. So, people are paying £50 per month more tax than they should be which has the greatest impact on those with low incomes.

@DuncinToffee

Do you pay tax in the UK ?

Yes. UK source income is subject to UK tax regardless of residency. I pay tax on the following:

Rental profits
Dividends
Capital gains

I paid my own National Insurance contributions since 1995 to maintain entitlement to UK state pension.

I can see why you voted Labour.

Anyway, enough derailment.

Update from West Midlands Police

https://www.dudleynews.co.uk/news/26571927.man-given-conditional-caution-reform-uk-assault/

A man has received a conditional caution following a violent incident at the Reform UK conference.

The caution follows an assault that took place at the Reform UK conference at Birmingham NEC last month which was disrupted by protestors.

West Midlands Police are continuing to investigate multiple assaults that occurred during the event, which was held at the NEC in Birmingham.

@DuncinToffee

Why have those who were attacked not come forward? Seems odd after 2 weeks.

Why does it matter?

You don't know if they haven't come forward. Police asking for more people to come forward does not indicate that either.

@DuncinToffee

The force has asked alleged victims and anyone with information to come forward.

Link is:

https://www.google.com/url?q=www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c6n8mkmvx7pmo&sa=U&ved=2ahUKEwi6n_qjooWXAxVUXEEAHXjSKWgQFnoECA8QAQ&usg=AOvVaw33ssIX4-pOxiQLzt63gYGQ

Maybe they have, But the police are too busy filling in all the "ethnicity and immigration status" data into databases that Reform demand they do.

You know, checking passports in case there is a "migrant" involved.

Or as it was a reform conference, checking the tax resident status of witnesses, to see if they can make a case. No point calling a witness if they live in Dubai and have run out of "tax days".

There are several victims, still doesn't mean no one has come forward.

It doesn't matter as there is video footage and someone has already been cautioned for assault

How about commenting on that?

ps, your link shows error 404

There are lots of reasons why victims of crime may not choose to come forward. Not everyone wants to go through the stress of a police investigation and a trial etc. And that is their prerogative - it isn't mandatory for them to come forward. It also isn't necessary for a prosecution if there is adequate alternative evidence. And given that at least some of the assaults were clearly caught on camera, it would appear that this may very likely be the case.

Why so eager to cling to the perception that they haven't come forward as if that somehow reflects negatively on the victims or as if it somehow proves that the assaults didn't happen? They were caught on camera, we all saw it with our own eyes.

Absolutely spot on. Seeing what Reform and Restore mobs of supporters are doing to RNLI members is rightly going to make people think twice about reporting them for any violent acts they undertake. Which is of course exactly what they are counting on. There's nothing unreasonable about being concerned about the consequences when reporting people who have shown themselves to be violent thugs.

@DuncinToffee

The force has asked alleged victims

Victims is plural, not singular.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/reform-uk-conference-activists-assault-man-caution-b3055066.html

The person cautioned was not arrested, but agreed voluntarily to be interviewed. However, they may end up with a criminal record.

@RedTagAlan

Investigations are conducted by West Midlands Police, not by the Reform Party.

@MrsBennetsPoorNervesAreBack

If the alleged victims came forward, would it not make identification easier? There is footage, but so far no arrests.

Even if people are arrested, charged and found guilty, what is it meant to prove?

@EEexpat

Plural, yes if you read my link there were plural assaults happening.

Quote " Even if people are arrested, charged and found guilty, what is it meant to prove?"

That the list is getting bigger ?

One thing we can be sure of. Nathan Gill was not involved. Cos he is still in the slammer. You know, for taking bribes from Russia,

We know who the man in the picture is. It’s Stephen Cooling, he obligingly wore a name badge and was filmed in the act.

Even if people are arrested, charged and found guilty, what is it meant to prove?

I don't understand the point that you're making. If crimes have been committed, then why do any arrests, charges and subsequent convictions have to "prove" anything? Other than that violence is wrong and there will be consequences?

But that’s the point @MrsBennetsPoorNervesAreBack - Reform leaders and supporters, and presumably this poster, seem to think that the protesters got what they deserved regardless of any established criminality.

Other parties somehow manage to remove hecklers without members physically assaulting them, condoned by their leaders, but Reform clearly have a different level of standards.

Up to year ending 26 March 2026, the police recorded 1.3 million assaults. Link is:

https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/bulletins/crimeinenglandandwales/latest

That’s almost 150 per hour. So, considering the frequency of assaults in the UK, why have those that allegedly took place at the Reform Party conference attracted so much attention?