2 private donations of £36m each to one political party - is this the future of democracy in a world at the mercy of tech bros?

Yes they have. I meant to say I agree in the my pp to you, but editing window timed out.

ES, I know you know how tough it is out there atm - I feel for your DC, and wish them all the best.

Labour have made the exogenous issues so much worse by their sheer stupidity and vindictiveness.

You do not work/operate around wealth.

After Reeves’s first budget in Oct 24, that’s when capital began to leave, properly. Billionaires and HNW/UHNW and simply high earners. And when they go, that means IB gets hit, and the legal sector and hospitality and investment, and deal flow gets hit. It’s a multiplier, and its real, and it continues.

No idea.

You are going to have to elaborate. I'm in my late 50s if that helps give the time frame for what I may or may not have lived.

Not entirely sure there will be many posters on here who weren't alive in 2024! ;-)

With respect, you have no idea.

You speak of things you have read, not lived, I suspect.

@Greyrock79 the departures started when Jeremy Hunt laid out plans to overhaul the non-dom system in 2024. They include Shravin Bharti Mittal, an heir of one of India’s richest families; Nassef Sawiris, an Egyptian investor; and Richard Gnodde, a veteran Goldman Sachs banker.

Vacancies have fallen to five year low, cost of hiring cited as reason. We do actually need dc to get jobs.

This Labour lot only understand spending other’s money - they have no notion of what it takes to make it themselves.

Capital has fled and continues to flee.

Thank you. Interesting read. Some I agree with and some I completely disagree with. I think until we unlock the stranglehold that our obsession with land / property value has put us in, pretty much everything else is tinkering around the edges, because we won't see investment in all the other areas of the economy.

Well I look back on the Tories with misty eyes these days, Labour have been so bad!

OMG theres so much!

End the triple lock

Stop the Chagos deal

Cancel HS2 (if that hasnt already happenrd)

Dont even think about devolving power to the regions..it will cost a fortune and achieve nothing other than more expensive bureaucracy

End the ENI hike so people can get back into work

Lower the minimum wage. Young people are to expensive to employ

Stop benefits for ADHD etc

Benefits should not be a lifestyle choice over work. Make sure the figures add up.

Stop spaffing cash on net zero..its ruining business

Stop importing oil and gas at vast expense..reopen the north Sea

Stop illegal immigration. It can be done if theres political will

Extend the period for ILR and the qualification period for benefits

I could go on. Essentially reverse most of Labour's policies in the last 2 years and the moron premium will be lowered with any luck.

What was the ideology that the Tories had that also led them to be such an economic disaster too?

Precisely. What’s in it for them?

Yes and Reform make them sweat and do irrational things to save their jobs.

Well if I was a really rich person who paid a huge amount of tax here that was being spaffed up the wall and was being vilified by the proponents of the politics of envy I think Id probably go somewhere where the government was a bit more welcoming. Why stay where you arent wanted or liked.

Ideology, Eastern. We are unfortunately being run by idealogues who put ideology before sense, practicality and the national interest. Which is why they have been such a disaster.

Agreed

None of that interesting economic diversion makes the donations to Reform any more palatable. I continue to believe that there are very specific reasons for crypto billionaires to be funding Reform and they are not for the good of the general population of the UK.

Yep I agreed with some of what he said but not all. I think there’s a glaring debt issue that needs a move on tax and spending cuts if not those specifically.

Found it and listened @EasternStandard . It was the economist, Sir Howard Davies (Dep Gov BoE 1995-97). He proposed a review to raise more via VAT and removing the triple lock on pensions. He said that his overall view, is that we will continue to muddle through. Is that what you have in mind?

I didn’t catch who it was. I don’t think it was Bailey, probably a former top BoE person. He made a lot of sense.

It was to address the figures that came out today on employment etc at about 8.00 - 8.30ish

Do you mean Andrew Bailey, Governor of the Bank of England @EasternStandard ? When did he do the interview with Times Radio. It isn't appearing very easily.

I’ve already said what the BoE guy said below. He talks about it in more detail on what to do. You can listen on to times radio on play back. But in short tax policy and spending cuts are what he said.

@EasternStandard just tax policy? That is going to provide the solution to our economic problems?

Which is supported by PP who stated that they are somehow ‘perverting democracy’ but was unable to clarify further.

Anyway…