What a surprise... seems Gordon's tax and spend policies aren't going so well for some people.

[uwila]

record numbers go bust

Do you know how much of the cost of petrol is tax? Hold on I'm going to go find out, but it's huge.

No, I don't, thankfully I don't drive so am spared that sort of nonsense.

Oh, I love how he sees North Sea oil - as another of his personal cash cows. Yes, he's much loved up in Aberdeenshire - NOT.

DH has no choice but to drive to his work. It's not served by a bus and it was the only type of work he could get that would fit round his looking after the children during the day.

DH is a real fan of his - LOL!

'There's nothing so unedifying as a Scotsman on the make.'
-Robert Louis Stevenson

Appreciate that we are lucky not to have to drive, Expat. My sis and BIL wouldn't be able to work if they didn't drive, they live out in the sticks.

Yes, let's force everyone out of their cars.

Except us, of course.

A lot of people live in the sticks because they can't afford to live anywhere near their work.

I can't find a current rate, but it's something like 70% of the price at the pump goes to tax.

Every time my father comes over, he can never resist, 'WHY is everything so expensive here?'

It puzzles him to no end.

Two of my friends came.

'I could never survive here. It's too expensive.'

And let us not forget he did add another 2p to the petrol tax recently... December was it?

His new air travel tax, too!

Does he stay away at night dreaming up where to stick it to people?

no. He does it during the day.

A work colleague told me today that GB hired 25000 (twenty five thousqand!) tax inspectors so they could go through and make sure middle class people were really paying all the taxes that they should.

Lovely man!

Wonder if he doesn't measure his own pay in the thickness of brown envelopes.

rough fuel tax info

What really hacks me off is that big corporations can wriggle out of paying taxes so easily. The Exchequer loses billions that way.

The exchequer doesn't lose billions that way.

Big business comes to the UK because of the low tax regime (30% is a good rate compared to alot of other big markets). Even if these companies pay less than 30% for whatever reason they are still paying employers NIC, business rates etc aswell as creating jobs for thousands of people. So we have low unemployment. These people are then able to spend this money so it recycles back into the economy.

We should be pleased that big businesses choose to base themselves here - France and Germany would love to be in our position.

"A work colleague told me today that GB hired 25000 (twenty five thousqand!) tax inspectors so they could go through and make sure middle class people were really paying all the taxes that they should."

Think your colleague has got the wrong end of the stick here- the Govt is committed to getting rid of 25,000 HMRC staff before 2010. Of course those for the chop are the little people at the bottom doing the vital admin jobs and not those in Whitehall getting paid top whack.

We both work full time (or until I'm given the push- see above) and by the time we've paid the electric (doubled in last 2 years) gas (ditto) water (gone up from 4x £60 to 4x £110) and council tax (was £50pm when this lot came to power- now £122) we've got very little left. A huge proportion of what's left goes on fuel because DH can't get to work without a car. I'm sick of struggling to make ends meet when on paper we should be "comfortable".

Gordon Brown withdrew tax relief on pension scheme investments which means an immediate tax charge on everyone with a pension scheme. Notice all these company pension schemes closing because they are too expensive? Or possibly going to the wall. Gordon Maxwell brown.....An easy tax increase because people dont really notice as much and he will be long gone by the time most people retire and notice the hole in their pensions