Healey Resignation

[Papyrophile]

John Healey resigns! Another nail in SKS's coffin, or the only way to force a showdown?

I take your point @BIossomtoes . The tax code as it is currently lashed together is full of loop holes and irrational incentives with work arounds that have been cobbled together without much thought. Most Chancellors just ladle on another layer of confusion, every budget.

Heaven knows how it could be done, but there's a case to be made by someone for rewriting it from scratch. It's the old saw: if you want to get somewhere, there's nothing more irritating than "well, I wouldn't start from here!"

It will raise quite a lot, actually.

Tuppence times millions will
work out quite nicely.

Tuppence multiplied by a million is 20k. I rest my case.

Better than nothing.

Or are you unhappy to contribute to your country’s security?

I can't believe how bad Labour have been in government and I now think Burnham will be even worse than SKS

I’d be entirely happy with an extra penny or two on income tax. 1p would raise around £7 billion.

So I think a really effective leader could maybe.

Identify 3 very rapid priorities and outline them clearly and drive them very hard right now.

Say, defence spending, public order policing, energy price cap OR cost of a few basics.

That's just off top of head, of course.

Publish some "lightning" actions and put the machinery of govt behind driving them with some visible impacts.

Plus, do some effortful highly impactful comms, think Sturgeon during Covid (yes I know but people liked it at the time).

In that way, gain back trust and lean into the fact that most people do not want a 147th PM in 5 years.

Use the time this buys you to generate and present a simpler, clean plan for subsequent yrs of Parliament, with clear visible deliverables and timescales in few key areas.

Not easy but could be done. Tony Blair could have done it at his peak.

The big issue is that Labour don’t know how to grow the economy. The leak from the W&P Secretary the other week was spot on. Labour only talks about spending and taxing. It never understands how to grow an economy to make spending easier because you get more tax.

The big issue is that Labour says they will put 3% into defence by 2029. That’s way too late and they have no idea how to raise the multiple billions. John Healy says there’s a huge shortfall and there is, as usual, no plan! They are quite simply incompetent. There’s a huge need to invest and spend but Burnham won’t. He’s wedded to benefits, taxing and borrowing.

Oh sorry @Papyrophile I misread your comment as turn around the whole ship not specifically defence spending, which I think is what you meant?

Of course.

Always happy for someone else to pay the bill.

It would be my bill too. I pay quite a lot of tax. ☺️

Agree if higher income tax is needed to pay for defence and good public services, then that's the best option.

Think a lot of people would disagree though! People seem to want everything - and all on low taxation.

No harm done @JohnnyMcGrathSaysFuckOff .

Blossom - its the people playing the system and indeed the people who cannot realistically earn more than NMW and make poor decision after poor decision around the men they have kids with. The You Tube Videos showing how to claim various benefits. The bills is bankruputing the UK and yet some are refusing to take a sensible approach.

@Twiglets1 We don’t have low taxation! We have higher and higher taxation thresholds and business is over taxed. It’s very clear we need growth but we are taxed out of it and Brexit is making it worse. We are just a poorly run country.

The problem is that there isn’t low taxation. Those getting out of bed everyday and going to work and those running businesses are being taxed to the hilt.

A better question is where will it stop? Personally I think we’ve met the limit for personal taxation. When you get to a situation where some on benefits are receiving more (tax free) then this working something has gone horribly wrong.

Something has to give, Labour just won’t make difficult decisions and their back benchers won’t accept cuts to welfare. Reversing the 2 child cap was a shocking decision fir example as there was simply no need to do it.

Taxation is low. It was 33% basic rate when I started work with 9% NI on top.

Defence.
welfare is currently unsustainable

You can’t only tax people who work. Something has to be done to address welfare spending. Starmer tried but his own crazy left wing MPs stopped him.
we should cut down on welfare spend for working age people

Defence every time.

33% tax was a different time with different challenges and with a lot less other taxes that have crept in. I know there are people saying she just raise the basic level but frankly she needs to look at welfare first. Welfare spend is now bigger than tax take.