I'm seeing a lot of nonsense being talked about Gordo's new top rate of tax, particularly over on the Guido Fawkes Blog where his latest claim is that "for the government to take more than half your income is not social justice".
Well I'd certainly agree with him if that were the case but it isn't. The most charitable explanation is that he is mistaken rather than deliberately misrepresenting the facts which, while a bit odd for someone who "spent several years in Finance", is entirely understandable for a political commentator. Mind you, he did go bankrupt didn't he...
The most common 'misconception' I've seen is that the new rate applies to the whole amount. It doesn't. It applies to anything over £150,000, so if you earn £160,000 then there's a slim chance that you might have to pay the 50% rate on £10,000 of that if - and only if - Gordo doesn't come up with an excuse to either postpone it or revoke it entirely before it takes effect next year.
Add in personal allowances and the lower rates which apply to any income under £150,000 and the net total is significantly less than half. But your personal accountant already told you that didn't he?
On a related note I had my attention drawn to a comment from some finance type - probably one of the red-braced yobs who caused Black Monday judging from his rhetoric - bewailing his fate and listing the many things this country will lose if he leaves, two private school places, two cleaners, a gardener, a part-time groom, a part-time farrier, an au-pair, 5 vehicles...
And to round off this rather childish temper tantrum, he's cancelling the charity evening he's hosting on behalf of the County Ambulance Service.
Now if that's not a childish act of spite then I really don't know what is...
Friday, 24 April 2009
Wednesday, 22 April 2009
Did he really think we wouldn't notice?
There were no major surprises in today's budget which was the expected mixed bag of political fence mending and neo-tory toadying to big business.
A half-hearted swipe at greedy individuals with a new top income tax rate of 50% for earnings over £150,000 and the abolition of tax relief on their pensions was balanced with incentives for greedy corporations to be behave even worse by doubling capital allowances and allowing 'loss-making' firms to reclaim the last three years of tax up to 2010, along with outright bribery for the motor industry by offering gullible idiots £2000 to scrap perfectly good vehicles when they buy a new one.
The really 'clever' part was scheduling the tax increase to take effect from April next year and abolition of tax relief from April 2011 giving him the appearance of having listened to the screams and yells of public outrage over 'fat-cat' greed while giving Gordo plenty of time to revoke both of these measures before they take effect.
I expect that he will simply claim they're not longer needed regardless of whether the economy bounces back as rapidly as he is hoping it will or not. But just in case he's given them another year to line their pockets and another two to pad their pensions.
A half-hearted swipe at greedy individuals with a new top income tax rate of 50% for earnings over £150,000 and the abolition of tax relief on their pensions was balanced with incentives for greedy corporations to be behave even worse by doubling capital allowances and allowing 'loss-making' firms to reclaim the last three years of tax up to 2010, along with outright bribery for the motor industry by offering gullible idiots £2000 to scrap perfectly good vehicles when they buy a new one.
The really 'clever' part was scheduling the tax increase to take effect from April next year and abolition of tax relief from April 2011 giving him the appearance of having listened to the screams and yells of public outrage over 'fat-cat' greed while giving Gordo plenty of time to revoke both of these measures before they take effect.
I expect that he will simply claim they're not longer needed regardless of whether the economy bounces back as rapidly as he is hoping it will or not. But just in case he's given them another year to line their pockets and another two to pad their pensions.
Free swimming for your parents but not your kids
At the end of last month Olympic swimmer Mark Foster, 400m Freestyle World Record holder Joanne Jackson, Paralympic Gold Medallist Heather Frederiksen and a handful of the usual ministerial suspects launched a national scheme to provide free swimming to anyone 16 or under and the over 60s using money the Department of Culture, Media and Sport made available last year for the purpose.
Yes, I know. The idea of Gordo's government helping out local people instead of the large corporations they'll be looking to for jobs after the general election is such an alien concept that Dover District Council can be forgiven for being suspicious.
What they cannot be forgiven for is accepting the money for over 60s and not the 16 or unders.
Their official reason for this is it would cost too much to implement. Which would be entirely plausible were it not for the fact I have been unable to get a straight answer out of them about what these costs are or where they would be incurred.
The fact that a tory controlled local authority is giving away 'freebies' to one group which can vote and withholding the same 'freebies' from a group which cannot is purely coincidental of course.
Update:
I've just had the following Freedom of Information request brought to my attention:- FOI Request - Free Swimming Scheme
It will be interesting to see what convoluted excuses Dover District Council comes up with to avoid releasing information which they must have had in a readily accessible form in order to make their decision.
Yes, I know. The idea of Gordo's government helping out local people instead of the large corporations they'll be looking to for jobs after the general election is such an alien concept that Dover District Council can be forgiven for being suspicious.
What they cannot be forgiven for is accepting the money for over 60s and not the 16 or unders.
Their official reason for this is it would cost too much to implement. Which would be entirely plausible were it not for the fact I have been unable to get a straight answer out of them about what these costs are or where they would be incurred.
The fact that a tory controlled local authority is giving away 'freebies' to one group which can vote and withholding the same 'freebies' from a group which cannot is purely coincidental of course.
Update:
I've just had the following Freedom of Information request brought to my attention:- FOI Request - Free Swimming Scheme
It will be interesting to see what convoluted excuses Dover District Council comes up with to avoid releasing information which they must have had in a readily accessible form in order to make their decision.
Misapplied Misdirection?
Former UK Independence Party MEP Tom Wise was charged with false accounting and money laundering on Monday following his arrest in June of last year. Tom Wise is the second UKIP MEP to face criminal charges related to his finances in recent years. In September 2007 Ashley Mote, MEP for South East England, was sentenced to nine months imprisonment after being convicted of 21 offences relating to benefit fraud.
However it is the timing of this which is significant and suggests a desperate attempt by Gordo's 'blackshirts' to distract attention away from themselves.
Whether this will actually work is anyone's guess, but it's interesting to compare the UK Independence Party's reaction to financial misconduct with that of our own. Where the labour leadership immediately leapt to the defence of Waccy-Baccy and the Four Lords of the Graft, even - it is alleged - to the extent of Waccy-Baccy ordering the City of London police to drop their investigation into the latter. The UKIP immediately suspended then later expelled both Ashley Mote and Tom Wise.
If Gordo's 'blackshirts' want to be sure of distracting attention then they should throw one of their new labour glove puppets to the wolves. It couldn't possibly cause the party anymore harm than they have already done and it's much safer than throwing a Tory. They would undoubtedly retaliate in kind with fairly predictable consequences.
However it is the timing of this which is significant and suggests a desperate attempt by Gordo's 'blackshirts' to distract attention away from themselves.
Whether this will actually work is anyone's guess, but it's interesting to compare the UK Independence Party's reaction to financial misconduct with that of our own. Where the labour leadership immediately leapt to the defence of Waccy-Baccy and the Four Lords of the Graft, even - it is alleged - to the extent of Waccy-Baccy ordering the City of London police to drop their investigation into the latter. The UKIP immediately suspended then later expelled both Ashley Mote and Tom Wise.
If Gordo's 'blackshirts' want to be sure of distracting attention then they should throw one of their new labour glove puppets to the wolves. It couldn't possibly cause the party anymore harm than they have already done and it's much safer than throwing a Tory. They would undoubtedly retaliate in kind with fairly predictable consequences.
Monday, 20 April 2009
The Order of the Boot?
The Guido Fawkes Blog is reporting that members of the Finchley and Golders Green CLP are to vote on McBride's expulsion from the party on May 11th with the group's recommendations going to the General Committee on the 27th.
Quite frankly I think they're taking a hell of a risk. McBride is one of Gordo's 'blackshirts' and if recent 'revelations' are anything to go by, anyone supporting a motion to expel him could very well end up as their next target.
Furthermore, even if the CLP were to vote for a recommendation to expel him and the committee accepted that recommendation, it is unlikely to be permanent and could in fact be no more than a token gesture, a 'slap-on-the-wrist' for getting caught.
In any event, this would have little effect as expulsion from the party won't prevent him from giving 'advice' to senior party members or the leadership. However he would not only have to learn the meaning of the word 'discretion', but actually start practising it as well.
Quite frankly I think they're taking a hell of a risk. McBride is one of Gordo's 'blackshirts' and if recent 'revelations' are anything to go by, anyone supporting a motion to expel him could very well end up as their next target.
Furthermore, even if the CLP were to vote for a recommendation to expel him and the committee accepted that recommendation, it is unlikely to be permanent and could in fact be no more than a token gesture, a 'slap-on-the-wrist' for getting caught.
In any event, this would have little effect as expulsion from the party won't prevent him from giving 'advice' to senior party members or the leadership. However he would not only have to learn the meaning of the word 'discretion', but actually start practising it as well.
Strange...
I had a very strange experience in W.H.Smiths this morning while waiting to be served. The young lady operating the till 'ran out' of two pound coins and asked me to wait while she phoned upstairs for more despite the fact I could clearly see she had a drawer full of one pound coins. She then proceeded to argue with the person on the other end of the phone insisting that she was really desperate and needed more two pound coins NOW!!!
When I ventured to suggest that one pound coins were fine with me she said that this wouldn't take long and continued to argue with the other person becoming quite annoyed at what was obviously a refusal.
She eventually served me and included a two pound coin in my change which rather left me wondering if I'd missed something significant along the way.
When I ventured to suggest that one pound coins were fine with me she said that this wouldn't take long and continued to argue with the other person becoming quite annoyed at what was obviously a refusal.
She eventually served me and included a two pound coin in my change which rather left me wondering if I'd missed something significant along the way.
Sunday, 19 April 2009
Would the last Socialist to leave the party please turn out the lights
I was saddened but not particularly surprised to hear that Alice Mahon had resigned her membership of the Labour Party. For some time now she has been increasing unhappy with the current labour leadership, most of whom are now further to the right than many tories.
Alice Mahon was a long standing member and a genuine 'Leftie', both of which are about as welcome in Peter Mandelson's new labour as the Bubonic Plague would be. So for senior party members to 'privately' call her a traitor and suggest she was just another rat leaving a sinking ship was throughly despicable but pretty much what we've come to expect.
I must admit that while I disagreed with her quite strongly on many things it did make me smile to realise that she had managed to get the last word. This is not the Labour Party which I joined all those years ago either.
Alice Mahon was a long standing member and a genuine 'Leftie', both of which are about as welcome in Peter Mandelson's new labour as the Bubonic Plague would be. So for senior party members to 'privately' call her a traitor and suggest she was just another rat leaving a sinking ship was throughly despicable but pretty much what we've come to expect.
I must admit that while I disagreed with her quite strongly on many things it did make me smile to realise that she had managed to get the last word. This is not the Labour Party which I joined all those years ago either.
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