UK Politics #4

[mindlessness]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-63555313 A decent summary for those like me who aren't watching the speech. I think they're updating it as they go.

 

[Miss Begotten]

Just in case there was any doubt this return to austerity, demonisation of the poor and attack on benefit claimants is ideological rather than necessary.
Krishnan Guru-Murthy: “So you could have a budget tomorrow which didn’t have any spending cuts?”
Carl Emmerson of the Institute of Fiscal Studies: “You certainly could”

 

[Blueblue123]

Describing the last 8 (read 12) years as a period of "growth" is an untruth for about 99% of the UK population but anyhow, that's all set to reverse.

 

[Happy Lady]

I'm happy that the triple lock is happening.

Glad higher earners will be taxed more. There are now a lot earning over £125k.

Good that Stamp Duty will continue.

Pleased to hear more money being put into education, the care system and NHS. And I like his approach dedicating specific people to work on these areas.

Glad to hear benefits will increase for those who need them; and benefit fraud will be tackled better.

 

[Ndrangheta]

Good that Stamp Duty will continue.

Really?

 

[Happy Lady]

Really?

Yes, on houses under £250k, no stamp duty is what I should have put

 

[Miss Begotten]

C

I'm happy that the triple lock is happening.

Glad higher earners will be taxed more. There are now a lot earning over £125k.

Good that Stamp Duty will continue.

Pleased to hear more money being put into education, the care system and NHS. And I like his approach dedicating specific people to work on these areas.

Glad to hear benefits will increase for those who need them; and benefit fraud will be tackled better.

Just fyi.
“This report provides estimates of fraud and error levels in the benefit system in Great Britain for the financial year 2021 to 2022.

The main points from the report are:
4.0% of total benefit expenditure was overpaid due to fraud and error

• the estimated value of overpayments was £8.6 billion
• 1.2% of total benefit expenditure (or £2.6 billion) was underpaid due to fraud and error
• the net government loss, after recoveries, was £7.6 billion, or 3.5% of benefit expenditure

Tax lost in UK amounts to £35bn – almost half, say campaigners, due to fraud

Annual snapshot from HMRC comes as public finances are under biggest strain since the second world war

www.theguardian.com

“ The amount of tax lost in Britain through non-payment, avoidance and fraud has increased to £35bn, according to official figures.”

Any ideas why the Tories have chosen to target benefit fraud ( £8.6billion ) rather than tax fraud ( £35 billion) ?
Could it possibly be because they’d rather demonise one section of society rather than another? I wonder why that might be?
( I’m not condoning fraud, by the way, whatever form it takes).

 

[Happy Lady]

C


Just fyi.
“This report provides estimates of fraud and error levels in the benefit system in Great Britain for the financial year 2021 to 2022.

The main points from the report are:
[COLOR=%s]4.0% of total benefit expenditure was overpaid due to fraud and error[/COLOR]

• the estimated value of overpayments was £8.6 billion
• 1.2% of total benefit expenditure (or £2.6 billion) was underpaid due to fraud and error
• the net government loss, after recoveries, was £7.6 billion, or 3.5% of benefit expenditure

Tax lost in UK amounts to £35bn – almost half, say campaigners, due to fraud

Annual snapshot from HMRC comes as public finances are under biggest strain since the second world war

www.theguardian.com

“ The amount of tax lost in Britain through non-payment, avoidance and fraud has increased to £35bn, according to official figures.”

Any ideas why the Tories have chosen to target benefit fraud ( £8.6billion ) rather than tax fraud ( £35 billion) ?
Could it possibly be because they’d rather demonise one section of society rather than another? I wonder why that might be?
( I’m not condoning fraud, by the way, whatever form it takes).

I thought they were looking at both!

 

[Moth]

C


Just fyi.
“This report provides estimates of fraud and error levels in the benefit system in Great Britain for the financial year 2021 to 2022.

The main points from the report are:
[COLOR=%s]4.0% of total benefit expenditure was overpaid due to fraud and error[/COLOR]

• the estimated value of overpayments was £8.6 billion
• 1.2% of total benefit expenditure (or £2.6 billion) was underpaid due to fraud and error
• the net government loss, after recoveries, was £7.6 billion, or 3.5% of benefit expenditure

Tax lost in UK amounts to £35bn – almost half, say campaigners, due to fraud

Annual snapshot from HMRC comes as public finances are under biggest strain since the second world war

www.theguardian.com

“ The amount of tax lost in Britain through non-payment, avoidance and fraud has increased to £35bn, according to official figures.”

Any ideas why the Tories have chosen to target benefit fraud ( £8.6billion ) rather than tax fraud ( £35 billion) ?
Could it possibly be because they’d rather demonise one section of society rather than another? I wonder why that might be?
( I’m not condoning fraud, by the way, whatever form it takes).

Important not to lose the fact that the measure of erroneous payments of benefits is due to 'fraud and error'. I'm not sure we have a further breakdown of overpayments resulting from fraud and overpayments resulting from error but I notice that £2.6 billion was underpaid and I doubt very many people commit fraud so that they can be paid less than they are entitled to receive.

 

[over thinker]

“And here comes the lovely Therese Coffey, rocking an outfit which can only be described as looking like someone rolled in glue and then threw themselves threw the door of a charity shop. Her girlish tresses have been styled in the fashion of someone who’s beeen dragged through a hedge backwards.”
The lovely Jeremy Hunt is wearing a suit made from the blood of virgins, orphan’s tears and £40 billion of PPE . His hair was made in a factory in Kuala Lumpur.
And Rishi’s trousers are still too short.

Rishi’s trousers are too short because he’s in that difficult size dilemma he can still fit child sizes and next size up is twice the price . And it’s not because every time he lies his legs grow but in 6 months he will be accomplished and will be knocking his head on door frames.

 

[Ndrangheta]

Rishi’s trousers are too short because he’s in that difficult size dilemma he can still fit child sizes and next size up is twice the price .

That makes good fiscal sense. Can he get his mum to lower the hem? Mine used to do that when I was at school.

 

[over thinker]

That makes good fiscal sense. Can he get his mum to lower the hem? Mine used to do that when I was at school.

There’s an idea for the country. Maybe we all need to lower our expectations not our hems .when on the downward spiral it’s not until we hit the bottom we can start to mend. And as for his mum (Princess Leila) she left for a planet far far away after he took over the tyrannical Empire.

 

[Ndrangheta]

“And here comes the lovely Therese Coffey, rocking an outfit which can only be described as looking like someone rolled in glue and then threw themselves threw the door of a charity shop.

Remember the cartoonist Gyles? Here is the granny ... remind you of anyone?

(credit where credit is due, someone pointed this out it in Private Eye)

 

[Blueblue123]

Hunny, what is this?

 

[Ndrangheta]

Hunny, what is this?

Even with world-class photography / photoshop etc. Sir Keir still looks worried to death. Not sure if that is good or bad.

 

[CrackingOwlSanctuary]

He looks like a deep fake Will Ferrell there.

 

[Ndrangheta]

He looks like a deep fake Will Ferrell there.

I'd vote for Will. duck at this point I'd vote for Elf.

 

[over thinker]

I'd vote for Will. duck at this point I'd vote for Elf.

Drama on 4 - Hot Drafts - BBC Sounds

A newly hired speechwriter in Downing Street finds that sometimes there are no words.

www.bbc.co.uk

Thought you mite like a listen.

 

[Yel]

Mail headline. I don't understand why people are so furious? Wasn't this what many people who voted brexit wanted the whole time?

--

Fury at plan for Swiss-style Brexit: Ministers 'are considering closer ties with EU to enable frictionless flow of goods across borders - but NOT freedom of movement'

Reports suggest the government is considering a Swiss approach to help trade
But Tory Brexiteers are fuming and say it would be a 'betrayal' of Brexit freedoms
The Chancellor said the single market and freedom of movement is off the table
Jacob Rees-Mogg said such a Swiss-style deal would be 'Brexit in name only'

 

[L3moning]

Mail headline. I don't understand why people are so furious? Wasn't this what many people who voted brexit wanted the whole time?

--

Fury at plan for Swiss-style Brexit: Ministers 'are considering closer ties with EU to enable frictionless flow of goods across borders - but NOT freedom of movement'

Reports suggest the government is considering a Swiss approach to help trade
But Tory Brexiteers are fuming and say it would be a 'betrayal' of Brexit freedoms
The Chancellor said the single market and freedom of movement is off the table
Jacob Rees-Mogg said such a Swiss-style deal would be 'Brexit in name only'

Because some of the more extreme brexiteers have decided that anything short of complete isolationism a-la 19th century Japan is "Not Really Brexit" and that following any EU law is "vassalage".