Westminstenders: Silly Season

[RedToothBrush]

It's that time of year again when politicians seem to completely lose their marbles in order to impress the faithful. And it is beginning to feel like conference season is increasingly an exercise in religious ferver to the party rather than considering what's in the best interests of the whole country.

Labour have got off to a good start before their conference opens, by almost starting complete melt down.

The Tories have promised to break from convention and try and over shadow the others, so that's something to look forward to.

And early this week we have the supreme Court ruling which could, regardless of which direction it swings, have massive ramifications for our democracy.

Big week ahead.

.Wrt courts and government funding - I thought there was a right to a timely trial?

Posted to soon - I realise you don’t but why would anyone think the government should have bailed TC out.

London saying Ireland will be under huge pressure to compromise on backstop
via The Irish Times
www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/london-saying-ireland-will-be-under-huge-pressure-to-compromise-on-backstop-1.4026659

Latest UK government tactic on Brexit.

Scare Ireland into a compromise.

I do think it is wrong to completely dismiss the idea that some of the wealth locked up in the baby boomers assets should be freed up to pay for the cost of social care because it means that the already financially disadvantaged younger working population have to take on the burden of the cost of their care. And not all will benefit from inheritance.

Whether that is done on the current basis which is effectively a dementia / ill health tax because the financial burden falls on those with the greatest needs and there is an incentive to mask those needs whilst others who are healthy for longer get to pass on more of their inheritance, or whether there is some means to even out that burden, an inheritance tax earmarked for social care?

These are the big issues no party playing the populist game is going to confront. Instead they promise more money from the magic money tree (Tories) or tinkering at the edges of the problem because of course nobody wants to think of their old age as one where they develop complex needs beyond finding it but hard to dress and cook.

And coming back to the issue of house prices, if the only way for the 20~30yo to have a house is inheritance and you take that away, what you get is a system where only the richer people will be able to afford a house, increasing inequalities even

This is just rubbish. Only the asset rich can seriously help their kids get on the property ladder. These people are a minority, and therefore home ownership is falling, which in turn means that property wealth is becoming more concentrated not less.

Inheritance tax in the U.K. is already incredibly generous. I wouldn't remove the tax-free element completely, but I would be in favour of reducing it.

IMO all unearned income should be taxed at the same rates as incomes from work.

Which ones are generation Y Red ? The ones younger than millenials? So teens today?

DHs brother is 6 years younger than him and even those 6 years seem to have made things harder in the moving out/becoming independent stakes.

Last year 42% of the welfare budget went on state pensions.

Add to this the disproportionate cost of older gen for nhs resources.

^ I have no issue with this btw. Just interesting to me that these are the same folk demonising younger, less well off people or, god forbid! single parent families!

I do think it is wrong to completely dismiss the idea that some of the wealth locked up in the baby boomers assets should be freed up to pay for the cost of social care because it means that the already financially disadvantaged younger working population have to take on the burden of the cost of their care. And not all will benefit from inheritance.

It needs to be done through a hypothecated element of national insurance IMO, though you would need a transitional scheme so that asset-rich pensioners who have never paid this are required to use some of their assets to fund care - but in a fairer way than at present.

Sorry, so many question marks looks a bit rude!

Re: Houses/Inheritance PILs are very kindly/sensibly downsizing before they need to (early 60s, both still work f/t) so they can give money to their DSs towards deposits. They aren't rich, just planning to go from a 3 bed terrace to a 2 bed flat.

Why would the government bail TC out? It would be throwing good money after bad. Anyone who’s heard about their financial troubles wouldn’t be booking with them so it would just delay the inevitable, at great cost

Unfortunately, I agree with this. TC has massive debts (billions) which is why they are up shit creek (a quarter of the cost of a TC holiday went to paying interest). Bailing them out would be pointless. September should be a cash-rich time of year for a holiday business; if it's not, then the business model is broken and most likely not mendable.

Pmk

TC certainly shouldn't have been bailed out. Good money after bad as they'd still go pop later.

But BoZo and god 'personally responsible' message? What. A. Dick. I'll hold HIM personally responsible if no deal happens, and that's a catastrophe that makes TC going bust look like dropping a tenner in the street and losing it.

Inheritance tax in the U.K. is already incredibly generous. I wouldn't remove the tax-free element completely, but I would be in favour of reducing it.
I don’t agree with this. It might be generous for non Londoners but for people like me it’s not :-( I’m paying mortgage on two apartments for 25 years, by the end of the period -assuming I don’t drop dead beforehand- I’ll have paid to the banks twice the already extortionate value of the apartments. The idea that my kids will either have to pay 40% tax again, or sell them, seems insane. I can try to put one in the name of the oldest and pray I survive 7 years, but it seems a bit unfair too

I suppose it’s not really easy for me to be socialist when it comes to my own money and I see it in front of my eyes :-)

I'll hold HIM personally responsible if no deal happens

If he defies the Burt Benn bill and let’s the UK fall out on 31/10 with no deal he might just find himself in that position.

Very interesting about the 70's born thing Red-any links ?

Prorogue-decision Monday Koming?
thanks, Red

I'm a Brit in Spain and I've just woken up to this:

elpais.com/elpais/2019/09/23/inenglish/1569214269_989612.html?fbclid=IwAR3oRhhGLkGlD4DTz3S6AVu3ulnzzxom46cG3auIlD7UnY1X0EOyCbJZUtg

I totally understand Spain's pov but I'm getting really stressed by all this.

PMK thank you Red

Wrt Thomas Cook (I remember studying him setting up his company in o level history) I wonder if TC were still paying the salary of their bosses and shareholders right up the last minute? Or were they putting money aside to help bring customers home? Will ordinary workers get good redundancy packages?

Re: TC Their business model is essentially to carry people in tin cans to high rises around a pool where people spend a week or two on a sunbed. It is a model that served a market that emerged in the sixties and probably peaked in the nineties and though the high rises may be in more exotic locations and more luxurious they haven’t really caught up with the fact that the market has shifted and younger people whatever their socio economic background want to travel and experience the places they visit, if only to post it on Instagram or tick off countries on an App. So no, they shouldn’t be bailed out, their market is shrinking.

Thing is I would be very surprised if there isn’t some correlation between TCs market and leave voters. They will have empathy with people being trapped overseas and having struggling to get home. The Mail has gone big on hotel owners holding “Brits” to ransom in a Tunis hotel until they pay their hotel bill. Not hard to discern the dog whistle there. Bozo coming out with someone for them to blame is entirely predictable. Fuck business (apart from hedge fund managers), he stands for the people...... And it distracts them from the real truth, that maybe this is just a taste of what Brexit will bring......

I have a friend who has been working in a Thomas Cook travel shop for over 20 years. She loved her job and the people she worked with.

She is devastated in so many different ways .

I can’t imagine those overseeing the liquidation would be allowed to pay TC staff more than statutory redundancy pay? I’d imagine they might even be lucky to get their salaries this month?

I disagreed only with the claim that it was "populism"

• that's what's ridiculous

It's a popular policy - which is not the same as populism
It's fine to disagree with the policy, but it isn't populism, just something you disagree with

I support free care in the home, because I know from my late mum and her friends that they just refuse to pay,
hence do without care and have accidents, lose independence earlier - all of which costs more too and adds more load onto the NHS

My mum had v low income, so her care was free and I paid for the extra visits I thought she needed and SS didn't

• but she wouldn't have accepted this if she'd known

When it comes to care homes, I agree that should come out of assets, as is the current system, leaving 23k or whatever

• However, that is very unpopular with voters, especially on MN, due to property owners & those with high savings regarding these as sacred objects that must be preserved

I can certainly relate to Emily's PIL's being afraid to get social services in to assess them in case their house was taken from them. My MIL was like that, and to a lesser extent my own parents.

Theresa May wasn't wrong to propose a 'dementia' tax. Where she was wrong was introducing the idea in an election campaign, when the issues of Social Care and the NHS both need a good hard look with a proper cross party commission to examine it and ask what standard of health and social care do we think acceptable, and how much are we prepared to pay. Plus recognising that being a carer is not easy, it needs to be a recognised job, not just something a middle aged Mum can do, because it's an extension of a woman's caring roles.

As yous say, there are no easy solutions, just the least worst or best of a poor set of options.