Our PM lives in a different world

[Marmablade]

Article on BBC News today reporting Rishi Sunak reassuring people to hold their nerve and get through high interest rates.

This is the man who paid £325,826 in capital gains tax and £120,604 in UK income tax on a total of £1.9m in the last tax year.

Of that £1.9m, £156,163 came from his parliamentary salary, £173,398 come from investment and savings income and about £1.641m from capital gains - profit made on the sale of assets.

How can a man with an income of £1.9m a year possibly understand what the average person is feeling right now?? Holding our nerve won't pay the mortgage this month.

BBC News - Rishi Sunak urges people to hold their nerve on interest rates
www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-66012301

Rishi has not earned his money. He married it. His wife is incredibly rich, top 0.1% from her fathers business in India (which still trades in Russia). His wealth on a different planet to the rest of us.

I'm pretty sure you don't get jobs at goldman and become pm based on connections. These jobs require and incredible amount of intellect and dedication, and provide rewards for it, as you might expect in a democracy. He would be well off without his wife.

There is an awful lot of nonsense being spouted. If your wife has literally millions your combined household available income is enormous. Better off without her 🙄

Because everyone knows a single person living on their own is cheaper than sharing the bills with a partner 🙄

He is not feeling the heat in the economy right now because he is protected from it by his and his wife's wealth. What's an extra 0.5%? Just hang in there everyone. Except those who have negative household budgets. Like us.

The Prime Minister does have significant decision making authority on one cause of inflation in the UK - Brexit, he could reverse it at a stroke and the UK would be in a much better position. Heck the government has even admitted this in its latest excuse for not introducing checks on our borders of agricultural products.

Breaking the law in high office is not a serious question?
Is ignoring your bosses lies about the law breaking also not a serious issue?

Could you explain to us what illegal migration is?

To help you, it is definetely not illegal to seek asylum in any country of your choice no matter the route you have arrived in that country.

It is not an allegation, it is a factually accurate statement based on the tax information that Sunak reluctantly released earlier in the year. The details are in the OP he pays about 24% tax on his income, which is much lower than teachers and nurses do.

It absolutely is illegal to enter this country otherwise than through the mandated channels. Your statement assumes that everyone doing so has a well founded asylum claim. This is untrue.

People who deal with a debate on one question by moving the argument to an unrelated question where they feel on stringer ground are not worth discussing anything with. That’s not discussion, it’s performance, and a very boring one at that.

This new party-in-the-making launched on 25th July.

https://transformpolitics.uk/

It is not illegal to enter this or any other country by any route one chooses if one is an asylum seeker. the 1951 Refugee convention makes that clear as in the case of the UK does the 1999 Immigration and Asylum Act.

https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/law/blog/the-myth-of-the-illegal-asylum-seeker/

Whether or not an asylum claim is well founded does not change some ones status as an asylum seeker. It is then for the UK to determine whether or not the person in question has a claim to asylum. Most of those who claim asylum in the UK are granted either asylum or some other leave to remain.

He pays the exact same tax as people in the same situation insofar as sources of income. The fact the U.K. has different tax rates for capital gains instead of earned income long predates Rishi Sunak - in fact it was established long before he was born and long before his parents were born overseas.

No he can’t reverse Brexit “at a stroke” you must have forgotten that Brexit was voted into law by Parliament. He’d have to get a brand new law through Parliament to reverse Brexit. So it’s not up to him.

It is not difficult to criticise Sunak is it. He has few policies, two of the ones he most wants to publicise - stop the boats and damage the environment are mutually contradictory, he broke the law while in high office, pays a lower proportion of his income in tax than teachers and nurses and sat next to a known liar whilst he knew they lied to parliament and did not say anything.

All of which makes him very different from the average person.

He is the Prime Minister he commands a large majority in the House of Commons, it would be simple enough for him to put a bill forward to start the process, or are you saying he is too weak to have the support of his parliamentary party?

Again, what law do you think Rishi Sunak has broken??

Heh. Beware of student blogs. This is an incorrect account of the state of the law which has been taken apart by qualified lawyers with experience in the field. Lots of discussion of this on legal twitter a few months ago. Levinslaw a good account to follow.

Should we be comfortable in a cost of living crisis that those who are struggling to make ends meet are paying a higher proportion of their income in tax than those who have more money than they can reasonably know what to do with?

He doesn’t “command” all the Conservatives. You are conveniently ignoring that a large chunk of his party are rabid pro-Brexit even today. They’d do a no confidence motion to have him replaced if he attempted to put reversing Brexit to the Commons.

Are you saying that the 1951 convention doesn't say?

"1. The Contracting States shall not impose penalties, on account of their illegal entry or presence, on refugees who, coming directly from a territory where their life or freedom was threatened in the sense of article 1, enter or are present in their territory without authorization, provided they present themselves without delay to the authorities and show good cause for their illegal entry or presence."

Ah, Sunak is weak, that's not good in a Prime Minister surely?

Just wittering.

Comfort doesn’t even come into it, it just that you appear to be blaming Rishi Sunak (and only him) for centuries old British class privilege that sees capital gains taxed at lower than the basic rate for earned income that he or his ancestors had fuck all to do with putting into place.

Would you prefer an autocrat like Putin? Being subject to democracy isn’t weakness.