Labour isn't Working - Thread 37

[NoWordForFluffy]

In Nuthatch's absence, I've been asked to start the new thread!

A chat thread for those of us who don't like this Labour government.

"Socialism is the philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy; its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery."

Previous thread: www.mumsnet.com/talk/_chat/5548208-labour-isnt-working-thread-36?page=1

I think I've missed this?

That cartoon is funny, but I do feel sorry for the person who got bumped. I hope they don't have whiplash or anything.

Ths mail : iran runs some boat snuggling and is using boat routes to get operatives into the country.

This.

The whole talk the lefties make speaking piously of a 'wealth tax'. There already IS a wealth tax. It's called 'Tax'.

We are net contributers yet we are struggling and struggling now. I think our 'broadest shoulders' will buckle completely before too long. Makes me very very angry.

Yes, agreed. Most things he comes out with have me rolling my eyes.

I don't think I explained properly what I meant about their spat with the school, and why that was particularly self-sabotaging for Lineker.

I didn't mean that his kids wouldn't want to do anything but live off him.

Charterhouse is a bit like Eton. The reason for sending your kids there isn't really to get good enough grades to become an accountant - or rather if they do become an accountant, the aspiration would be for them to make partner in one of the big four.

If academics aren't their thing, you're looking for them to be successful in something different: maybe creative or life-style oriented, maybe entrepreneurial.

Of course, not all kids going to one of those schools has the ability or desire to do something really special. Some will do a very ordinary job, and be happy with that, and that's fine.

But giving them that opportunity - the personal characteristics and social skills, the understanding of what's possible and how to achieve it - is part of the aspiration of those very top schools.

And having the wealth and connections to launch them can only help ...unless you have a public spat with their highly-respected school... which is picked up by papers because of your fame...

I understood what you meant @strawberrybubblegum

I don't think Burnham will go for a wealth tax - unless he's even more stupid than I think he is. He's just throwing "populist claptrap" to Labour supporters (to quote Dan Neidle).

This is a good read on Gary Stevenson.

His proposal: an annual 2 per cent tax on wealth above £10 million. The expert he was up against, Dan Neidle, told him this was “populist claptrap”. It would be costly to collect (no records are kept of what people own), easy to dodge (sudden donations to family members) and economically corrosive (a massive disincentive to investing, or saving, in the UK). The two sparred over the 2020 report of the independent Wealth Tax Commission, which judged an annual wealth tax to be a “non-starter” and focused instead on the design of a one-off levy.

https://www.thetimes.com/article/75591b39-7165-47cb-a295-4fdaf8eda601?shareToken=c27bcf25cd6c60cafdbb1fafd67ac143

I don't think Burnham will go for a wealth tax - unless he's even more stupid than I think he is.

Hopefully not a 'hold my beer' moment from Burnham!

However, we already have policies in place for ideological reasons, not the revenue (private school VAT), so I wouldn't bet against this either for now!

Very worrying. I don't believe the home office when they say that stringent check are carried out on new arrivals. How could they when we don't know who many of them are?

Gift link to the article you referenced in the DT.

Iran smuggling agents into UK as Channel migrants

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/gift/4e81c74786d1d967

True.
Its going to be a long summer with him throwing unfunded sweeties around without parliamentary scrutiny.

Just read this article about public sector pensions funding

www.telegraph.co.uk/gift/8691b466a5d76d65

Not really new information - apart from the actual numbers - but for some reason, it hadn't really occurred to me before that hiding the unfunded pension liability is a big benefit side effect of the fast-expanding public sector.

No wonder politicians don't want to decrease public sector headcount: it's not only because job losses are hard to get through, but because then the unfunded pensions ponzi scheme doesn't work so well.

If you have ten million pounds, you have damned good accountants.

I’m not well up on the detail of wealth taxes. Is it likely to be aimed at property (‘mansion tax’) or would it include savings, pension provision, shares and other investments, expensive cars, artworks and gold etc?

I can imagine massive movements of money and value if the government starts poking around in people’s assets. And it must be fantastically expensive to administer any tax of this sort, surely.

Our police force a while back caught a gang in remote Wales being trained at a caravan site theyd hired in the winter for combat training. That shocked me.

Have you got a link to the news story for that? I'm amazed it wasn't wider news.

You won't find a link, sometimes national security is more important. I do hope the site owner got reprimanded for being irresponsible.

Weirdly, it's happened more than once!

https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2006/aug/14/terrorism.immigrationpolicy

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-32154304

Bloody hell. I don't remember seeing these stories at the time (though they're quite old, so it may have exited my brain!).

Looks like it's an endemic issue if it remains ongoing at this point.

Routes are owned by the IRG.

It's bloody terrifying !
One can only hope they don't do anything nasty when they get in but the breech of our security here is an absolute travesty !!

@NoWordForFluffy these things have been ongoing issues for a really long time though. This is one of the reasons why it's such a stretch to ask people to put their faith in the Conservatives again. The rot goes back a long long way.

I do sometimes wonder if the "asylum seekers" in general are a bit more orchestrated than a random bunch of chancers.
Constant attacks designed to demoralise and destabilise the populace and cause unrest? I know Putin does it in the east.

Space wirhout a doubt I feel there is a large element to it !

Those stories are from when Labour were in government. I don't think any party has covered themselves in glory over this issue.

@NoWordForFluffy sure

but I remember the Lake District one as well.

I do recall hoping the coalition would get a handle on it

really the point I'm making is that we are going to see a lot of votes for new parties. No wonder people refer to the uniparty.

I'm not sure that we will, tbh. I think the newer parties are proving themselves to be unreliable and are losing ground.