One million immigrants claiming benefits

[AnxiousApocalypse]

Just been reading the comments sections of the Daily Telegraph and Daily Mail articles about the one million foreigners claiming benefits in the UK. It feels like the final nail in the coffin and a lot of people will feel even more justified in expressing their anger and hate towards immigrants. What happens when Reform win the next general election and come into power? Will people be rounded up en masse and put in detention centres like the USA?

Maybe you could address the point being made instead of coming up with cheap inane political point scoring.

What are your suggestions? How about throwing an uncosted manifesto written by a spiv on a unicorn at it?

Yes, I got maternity pay and I am receiving child benefit. I also got sick pay when I have been sick. I am hoping to get my pension one day. Sorry!

Careful now. That’s real data. It won’t go down well on MN. Where facts are usually dodgy click/paste nonsense or just vague statements like ‘well, net contribution is more than just money earned or tax paid, dotchano’.

I think you are pissing in the wind there Philippa - people don't want to read it.

You appear to have no knowledge or facts of any kind. You have assumptions that based on your own prejudices.

The UK has the most complex tax code in the world, it's currently 23,000 pages in length. Perhaps people employ advisors to help them with that??

Perhaps the government given it's 23,000 pages tax code also employs some experts too? Maybe contrary to your view that HMRC have no tax experts, perhaps they do?

Also do you really think 29% of income tax a token amount?

If these millionaires have an army of tax advisors helping them dodge taxes are as you say then why are they leaving the UK?

That more millionaires are leaving the UK than another country in the world is another reason that disproves your factless argument.

Not right now, no. I am at work. But I'll write you an essay on it later if you like.

That is up to you. However, many foreign people know that a lot of criminals have moved here and they do distinguish between them and people like themselves. In fact some resent to come here to find the terrorists and criminals have moved here as well.

Like a trillion pounds printed during Covid and inflation reaching 20%? Those facts?

A bizarre take I agree given the proportion of tax paid by that group, as you show in figures.

The British public consistently fall for the shite government feeds them in order to push through all kinds of legislation. We’ve just been ‘played’ into the narrative of all disabled people being cheats and scroungers in order to push through a change to disability benefits which, had rebel MP’s not listened to their constituents and opposed them, would have impacted the most severely disabled, while doing nothing to stop the cheats.

And it wouldn’t have saved a penny because the savings made from cutting low level care support through PIP would have been passed on to social care, which costs considerably more. Not a word about that anywhere as far as l could see.

But if MN accurately reflects public opinion, then judging by some of the shamelessly benefit bashing threads the proposed changes, and the subsequent U turn generated here, people fell hook line and sinker for a government narrative - which included deliberately inaccurate muddying of the waters between disability support and out of work sickness benefits - intended to push through the changes regardless of the cost to vulnerable claimants.

The general acceptance of ‘facts’ as they’re presented, and the lack of critical thinking often lead to us being played. What else would you call it ?

Glad you’re paying attention. You might eventually learn something.

Their track record on MN is starting three threads about immigration in a matter of hours.

We don't need more low skill workers, British people can do those jobs and should be forced to work. 25% of the working age population of Birmingham is economically inactive - that's higher than during the Great Depression.

"Economically inactive" can mean a multitude of things: stay at home parents, people who have taken early retirement, the sick and disabled, carers. Which of those groups would you force into work?

https://news.sky.com/story/hmrc-doesnt-know-how-many-billionaires-pay-tax-in-the-uk-13397238
HM Revenue and Customs does not know how many billionaires pay tax in the UK

But let's direct anger at people who need some extra help

It’s not the very wealthy who are paying that tax it’s the highest earners. They’re not the same people.

Much appreciated.

If you have issue with the statistics I have quoted on income tax please verify them yourself on Google, the evidence is out there. I have said nothing about COVID.

I might but it won’t be from you.

India is thriving in spite of centuries of colonialism. There is no benefits or pensions given to most people. By 2027 according to some economists it’s going to take over Japan and Germany as an economic power. I know there is desperate poverty there as well, as there is in other countries which were colonised.

Sorry 🙊

bloody illegals, coming over here and stealing our jobs and our benefits simultaneously etc

as for those asylum seekers arriving with mobile phones, anyone would think they weren’t fleeing the 16th Century…how very dare they??

I’ll go back to reading the Daily Mail and reeducate myself…

I wasn’t addressing you, unless you’re also @Jennps?

My thoughts exactly.

This is nonsense. That used to happen. That used to be the way. Things have tightened up a lot over the past decade. This really isn’t happening to such a large extent any more. Foreign nationals have a lot more say in where they pay their tax, because they can just move from the UK, but wealthy UK citizens wanting to evade tax the options are (rightly) few and far between.

It used to be that you could open an account in a tax haven and they’d keep it quiet for you, but not any more. It used to be that you could claim to be a contractor and not an employee and reduce your income tax bill that way. Not any more. If you are using a tax scheme to reduce your income tax bill you are now legally obligated to declare it to HMRC.

It used to be easy to avoid income tax, and chartered tax advisors and employers would help rich employees do it. No one touched these things anymore. The reputational damage would be immense. I work for a large financial services company and can guarantee each and every employee will be paying every penny via PAYE.