Blair to "resign"

[reds4ever]

Originally posted by Dauphin
As far as I am concerned the average man is middle class.

Not where I live he isn't....


OK then the working class, is that phrase still in currency? And change 'middle classes' to 'upper middle classes'.

I've got the general gist though, eh?

[Dauphin]

Originally posted by reds4ever
So 'we' need to up the limits on stamp duty, inheritance tax etc so it impacts the average man less and find another way of squeezing the middle classes?

Without giving it too much thought, I would think linking thresholds to the relevant inflation rate would suffice.

Income tax thresholds in line with earnings inflation, stamp duty thresholds in line with house price inflation, inheritance tax in line with the average size of death estate. etc.

[Provost Harrison]

Originally posted by Cort Haus


Well, it means that anyone trying to buy a one-bed flat in North London gets stung for nearly ten grand in stamp duty - based on a percentage and threshold designed for the rich, not ordinary people trying to buy their first home after ten years of hard sacrifice, modest living standards and frugal saving.

Brown said in 1997 that he would not let house prices get out of control. He did, and ordinary people are having their living standards machine-gunned while he gives tax-breaks to the richest people in the world who move to London as a playground, driving up prices for ordinary people.

This, as a young person (and I am sure I speak for many other people in my rough age group) is a major concern. I feel like the ladder has been pulled up with very little hope of being able to get on the property ladder unless some of my plans come to fruition (and even then they are hard). This property price surge has been going on for a long time now and the government has done too little too late. Decisive action should have been taken to increase the supply of property, expedite new construction project approval and generally increase the amount of housing stock in the country.

Instead we are left with this mess and it seems to be a bit of a time bomb that no one knows when it is going to go off.

Let us be honest, the vast majority of people who don't own property now are certainly not going to be able to under current conditions

And then there is the NHS - although I would say it has definitely improved since the era of the Tories it could have done better. Too much bureaucracy and too many parasites off it

And Iraq...we've been there, done that and definitely got the whole f**king wardrobe. Now we've gone it, we're damned if we do and damned if we don't

The economy has done very well on the other hand, but the reality is that more of the credit lands with Brown for this than Blair (and this is Brown's ace card). However I feel that next to nothing has been done to make the income tax system more progressive and they seem to be working in the opposite direction - especially with this recent budget decision to get rid of the 10% tax band - his policy penalises the poor but benefits those in the middle. We have one of the least progressive tax systems in the western world.

And despite the wealth of this nation, the levels of inner city poverty are higher than ever. So little does get done to give decent educational opportunities to the least fortunate in society

I think the government have been half-arsed in their success - in some ways (economically) they have done well, even with public services for the most part. But then there is Iraq where he acted like a dictator. And that doesn't bode well for the Tories who also lapped it up hook, line and sinker when the majority of the nation did not.

[Solly]

"especially with this recent budget decision to get rid of the 10% tax band - his policy penalises the poor but benefits those in the middle. "

The recent tax changes helped the middle earners the most.

[Kuciwalker]

Originally posted by Provost Harrison
This, as a young person (and I am sure I speak for many other people in my rough age group) is a major concern.

You're nearly 30 years old. That's not "young"

[Solly]

Originally posted by Kuciwalker


You're nearly 30 years old. That's not "young"

Mentally young, or something like that...

[Provost Harrison]

Originally posted by Doddler
"especially with this recent budget decision to get rid of the 10% tax band - his policy penalises the poor but benefits those in the middle. "

The recent tax changes helped the middle earners the most.

Yes, but let us be honest, they aren't the ones in the most need of assistance...it is those on the least.

[Provost Harrison]

Originally posted by Kuciwalker


You're nearly 30 years old. That's not "young"

I am, I am just not a spotty little brat

[Solly]

Originally posted by Provost Harrison


Yes, but let us be honest, they aren't the ones in the most need of assistance...it is those on the least.

The tax system ought to be structured in such a way as to incentivise them to help themselves, not just to dole out money to those who can't be bothered.

[Provost Harrison]

Originally posted by Doddler


The tax system ought to be structured in such a way as to incentivise them to help themselves, not just to dole out money to those who can't be bothered.

The welfare state is a different matter entirely - I am discussing progressive taxation.

[Dinner]

If housing prices are so bad then why doesn't the government find a way to streamline construction of new high rise apartment buildings in the most desirable areas near mass transite? Failing that old fashioned subsidies could be used to encourage over production of apartments so that even poly scum can afford them.

[Provost Harrison]

Originally posted by Oerdin
If housing prices are so bad then why doesn't the government find a way to streamline construction of new high rise apartment buildings in the most desirable areas near mass transite? Failing that old fashioned subsidies could be used to encourage over production of apartments so that even poly scum can afford them.

In theory they should, but it never turns out that way - local authorities can bog anything down.

[Dinner]

Just move to the wilds of Wales or Scotland. Lots of cheap land there.

[Provost Harrison]

But it is protected, alas. As I said this has been the legacy of our beloved deputy PM John Prescott. He could f**k anything up spectacularly...

[Dinner]

Like Bush?