UK Politics

[Cugel]

Dominant Rabies needs to be put in to quarantine, where he can be either cured of his spitting and biting or retained and observed as a warning to those who think such pets should be kept and let loose to run about the place.

The Tory party has a range of unpleasant pets, eh? All sorts of dangerous creatures with various kinds of toxic bites and scratches.

Cugel

[Jdsk]

"Senior civil servants at the Ministry of Justice were offered “respite or a route out” of the department when Dominic Raab was reappointed last month, amid concerns that some were still traumatised by his behaviour during a previous stint there."
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/20 ... -route-out

And the next step in this escalation:

"Dominic Raab facing more bullying claims from time as Brexit secretary":
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/20 ... -secretary

The outcome of this one feels much less certain than was the case for Williamson.

Jonathan

[Jdsk]

I'm not expecting many surprises in the Budget after these two pieces;
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/6543 ... djQhLmDsdM
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/20 ... nt-budget/
(both seem to be open access)

But I have no idea how Conservative MPs, members and plotters will react.

Jonathan

[AlanD]

I heard it in the news that the Chancellor is promising tax rises. Also heard something about 'the richest will have to pay the most'.
Galling though I feel about it, this is what I think will happen...
The wealthiest in this country will all say "No we will not pay any more tax" and they can do something about it.
They will leave this country in droves for places where they can keep all their money, in places where they and their wealth will make them very welcome. Places such as Monaco and Dubai.
Meaning that there will be less money coming into the Treasury coffers, not more. Resulting in the rest of us, who do not have such an option, being even worse off.

However I try to see it, I think we are all up S*** Street!

[Jdsk]

I heard it in the news that the Chancellor is promising tax rises. Also heard something about 'the richest will have to pay the most'.
Galling though I feel about it, this is what I think will happen...
The wealthiest in this country will all say "No we will not pay any more tax" and they can do something about it.
They will leave this country in droves for places where they can keep all their money, in places where they and their wealth will make them very welcome. Places such as Monaco and Dubai.
Meaning that there will be less money coming into the Treasury coffers, not more. Resulting in the rest of us, who do not have such an option, being even worse off.
...

There isn't a lot of evidence that many of the very rich leave because of that, although we hear about celebrities. But many of the rich have other ways to avoid taxes that aren't open to most people.

I expect that the biggest increase in aggregate financial contribution to public funds will come from people who are richer than average but nowhere near the level of those who would move abroad. Because there are many more of them.

Jonathan

[PH]

I heard it in the news that the Chancellor is promising tax rises. Also heard something about 'the richest will have to pay the most'.

That's the message that's being spun, mainly because of the obvious backlash form gifting the rich just a few weeks ago, same party, same ideology.
I expect the reality to be very different, it's Austerity Mk2 and it wan't the well off who were hammered by Mk1. No doubt they'll be trotting out the usual rubbish about us all being in this together. Will people fall for it a second time? They have a long time to convince people there is no alternative, Osbourne managed that, it's plausible Hunt could do the same.

[Jdsk]

...
I expect the reality to be very different, it's Austerity Mk2 and it wan't the well off who were hammered by Mk1. No doubt they'll be trotting out the usual rubbish about us all being in this together. Will people fall for it a second time? They have a long time to convince people there is no alternative, Osbourne managed that, it's plausible Hunt could do the same.

I can't work that out. Johnson's administration saw an amazing collapse in popular opinion. Truss's added blatant incompetence (for those who hadn't made that judgement already). Will anything that the Chancellor does change those?

And I'm also expecting more "Austerity".

Jonathan

[PH]

Will anything that the Chancellor does change those?
Jonathan

Politics is all about perception, I'm asking if the Tories can sell the idea that that there's no alternative, also pointing out they have a fair amount of time to do so. There are no new players, yet they're going all out to distance themselves from themselves and promote this as something new. That is working, I've been told several times that they ought to be given a chance, as if the last 12 years never happened.
I didn't offer a prediction, if I did it would be that the gap between the parties will narrow between now and the next election, though it's too early to guess by how much.

[Jdsk]

(It gets clearer if you click it.)
https://fullfact.org/blog/2023/jan/andr ... s-at-risk/

"I write to you following Andrew Bridgen’s suspension as a Conservative MP to highlight the full extent of the Covid vaccine misinformation that Mr Bridgen has spread from both inside and outside of Parliament.
Mr Bridgen’s comments, today and in previous weeks, are dangerous and put lives at risk. We are deeply concerned that he has been able to spread harmful misinformation in Parliament until today without consequence.
I therefore ask you whether the Conservative Party intends to endorse an MP who behaves like this at the next election."

Jonathan

[reohn2]

I'm not holding my breath.....

[simonineaston]

That's so cool !! I was aware of fullfact.org but did not know that they wrote letters, highlighting miscreant's transgressions... Bravo !!

[Cugel]

I heard it in the news that the Chancellor is promising tax rises. Also heard something about 'the richest will have to pay the most'.
Galling though I feel about it, this is what I think will happen...
The wealthiest in this country will all say "No we will not pay any more tax" and they can do something about it.
They will leave this country in droves for places where they can keep all their money, in places where they and their wealth will make them very welcome. Places such as Monaco and Dubai.
Meaning that there will be less money coming into the Treasury coffers, not more. Resulting in the rest of us, who do not have such an option, being even worse off.

However I try to see it, I think we are all up S*** Street!

Those with lotsa money are, these days, often part of the finance capital and rentier classes. They produce nothing, themselves, of any value. In fact, they're parasites on the genuine wealth producers who make actual goods and services - those who are often not well paid but perhaps should be since its they who make the stuff we all use and rely on.

Personally I'd be more than happy to pay far more tax - assuming the increased rates were also paid by others and spent on genuine (not privatised) public services. Low level public services and millions made desperate by poor wages, benefits, education, travel facilities et al, as well as by the rentiers and rip-off amenity suppliers sucking a large percentage of their paltry incomes, will lead to a society so degraded that everyone will begin to suffer, as crime rises exponentially. The still well-off will suffer most, in such a scenario.

************
We've been tutored by decades of laissez-faire and neolib thinking to believe that we're all no more than individuals in a state of permanent zero-sum competition with everyone else. There's a flaw in that notion, as in practice we're all highly dependent on other humans so the best approach, politically and economically, is always going to be a largely co-operative and sharing approach rather than a war of all against all.

But peck sniffing groat counters just can't see that, eh?

Cugel

[Jdsk]

"Regulatory Policy Committee statement on the lack of an impact assessment for the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill":

"The RPC produces its opinions to help departments ensure the evidence and analysis in their impact assessments (IAs) is sufficiently robust. We provide an independent opinion to assist both final ministerial decision-making and Parliamentary scrutiny of regulatory legislation. We publish these when it is appropriate to do so, both to assist parliamentarians and so that the process is transparent to external stakeholders.
The RPC notes that the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill was introduced into Parliament on 10 January 2023. Second reading is scheduled for today (16 January). Government departments are expected to submit IAs to the RPC before the relevant bill is laid before Parliament and in time for the RPC to issue an opinion alongside the publication of the IA. An IA for this Bill has not yet been submitted for RPC scrutiny; nor has one been published despite the Bill being currently considered by Parliament."

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/stri ... mmediately

Jonathan

[Jdsk]

"Following the circulation of a video on social media showing an individual failing to wear a seat belt while a passenger in a moving car in Lancashire we have today (Friday, Jan 20) issued a 42-year-old man from London with a conditional offer of fixed penalty."
https://twitter.com/LancsPolice/status/ ... 2337839111

Jonathan

[reohn2]

Will Sunak's new labour laws really bring the UK in line with rest of Europe? :- https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/minimu ... ps-europe/