[Politics] The General Election Thread

[beorhthelm]

I'm sure I read that the EU were putting pressure on Eire to tax Apple ( I believe Apple filter their EU earnings/sales through Eire ) at an appropriate rate and they are gunning for Google/FB too.

they are indeed. windfall for Irish, not much for others in EU. maybe eventually there will be central fiscal policy, setting tax and spending across EU.

 

[Weststander]

I'm sure I read that the EU were putting pressure on Eire to tax Apple ( I believe Apple filter their EU earnings/sales through Eire ) at an appropriate rate and they are gunning for Google/FB too.

They did reluctantly tax Apple putting £10B’s in a Dublin escrow account, which the Irish refuse to touch!!

Funny isn’t is, us Remainers think of Varadkar as a bit of a beacon, but he’s very much a party to huge pan-EU corporation tax avoidance. Where the only winners have been Apple and Ireland with the much smaller tax bill they did spend.

 

[Jolly Red Giant]

They did reluctantly tax Apple putting £10B’s in a Dublin escrow account, which the Irish refuse to touch!!

Funny isn’t is, us Remainers think of Varadkar as a bit of a beacon, but he’s very much a party to huge pan-EU corporation tax avoidance. Where the only winners have been Apple and Ireland with the much smaller tax bill they did spend.

The Irish government has spent €13million fighting a court case in order NOT to touch the €13.8billion in that escrow account.

 

[clapham_gull]

Meanwhile Johnson sold his London House for £3.75m earlier this year. But don't worry, he won't be homeless - he bought a £1.3m new home for him & Carrie - whilst keeping his £1.5m mansion in Thame for the weekends......

Rees Mogg just bought a convenient little bolthole near Parliament for 5 million.

 

[NooBHA]

Very complex. What’s going to happen in the marginals, what about anti-EU northern, Welsh and midlands constituencies, will the LibDems under Swinson collapse despite on paper they should be gathering millions of devout Remainers, will there be a huge new gaff by a key Tory or Labour individual?

I'm in a Marginal Labour held Midlands Seat.

It's really sad when I watch the local news when I see people interviews on TV where Corbyn's Policies will help them massively. They get asked if his Manifesto would convince them to vote Labour and they answer "No" - It's almost like they either have some sort of masochistic agenda to punish themselves just so that they can continue to scream foul of or system.

They have an opportunity to help themselves with an X on a piece of paper and they are not willing to take it.

I really despair when I see people like that.

 

[vegster]

They did reluctantly tax Apple putting £10B’s in a Dublin escrow account, which the Irish refuse to touch!!

Funny isn’t is, us Remainers think of Varadkar as a bit of a beacon, but he’s very much a party to huge pan-EU corporation tax avoidance. Where the only winners have been Apple and Ireland with the much smaller tax bill they did spend.

Currently that is the mark of success, to draw money/business in to your country at the expense of others. Obviously it's not an attempt to get votes for Fine Gael next election.

 

[theonlymikey]

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/...ond-referendum-ireland-varadkar-a9212586.html

Good noises coming from EU about Labour's proposals. This will definitely help Jeremys cause.

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[vegster]

I'm in a Marginal Labour held Midlands Seat.

It's really sad when I watch the local news when I see people interviews on TV where Corbyn's Policies will help them massively. They get asked if his Manifesto would convince them to vote Labour and they answer "No" - It's almost like they either have some sort of masochistic agenda to punish themselves just so that they can continue to scream foul of or system.

They have an opportunity to help themselves with an X on a piece of paper and they are not willing to take it.

I really despair when I see people like that.

This seems to happen time after time, Labour are always seen as " unelectable" yet the Tories are the party of fiscal responsibility despite being the party that ALWAYS cuts public services and outsources everything it can to companies that can't actually do the work such as G4S and Carillion.

 

[Weststander]

I'm in a Marginal Labour held Midlands Seat.

It's really sad when I watch the local news when I see people interviews on TV where Corbyn's Policies will help them massively. They get asked if his Manifesto would convince them to vote Labour and they answer "No" - It's almost like they either have some sort of masochistic agenda to punish themselves just so that they can continue to scream foul of or system.

They have an opportunity to help themselves with an X on a piece of paper and they are not willing to take it.

I really despair when I see people like that.

I’ve travelled a bit around the UK, eg we make Albion away trips a full weekend. Never a day trip. Shocked every time at the young and old (not just the stereotype of granddad little Englanders) who are still hellbent on leaving the EU at all costs. Often these are young graduates ... quite easy to get a degree of sorts these-days? (an unpopular remark I’ll probable be rebuked for).

The BBC’s excellent travels to various UK towns in the last 4 months, where they camped out for days, revealed exactly the same. NSC and Brighton, Hove & Lewes, I’ve often said is a bit of a unique microcosm. The only Green MP says it all.

Lucas will win our seat by a landslide.

My own views are a hybrid, I’m kind of proud that I don’t blindly follow one party, and won’t listen to any wrongdoings within it. I believe in increased taxation for all to a modest extent, 100% UK unilateral clampdown on the likes of Amazon, also BVI, Caymans etc regarding their tax effect on the UK (one of your fields?), I’m wholly against all tax schemes done in essence to swerve tax above any true commercial reason, for a higher minimum wage, and to stop this planning system where nimbies in their comfortable homes are stopping millions getting a new roof over their head.

So not Corbyn for me because it’s tax and borrow way too far imho, but a government in with Pence and Trump is equally a horrible prospect.

A couple of side issues for most, but not me - I don’t believe in an attack on independent schools for very real and personal reasons, and I’d love a proper clampdown on the rural thugs (toffs and their scum) carrying out bloodsports for pleasure.

 

[LlcoolJ]

I’ve travelled a bit around the UK, eg we make Albion away trips a full weekend. Never a day trip. Shocked every time at the young and old (not just the stereotype of granddad little Englanders) who are still hellbent on leaving the EU at all costs. Often these are young graduates ... quite easy to get a degree of sorts these-days? (an unpopular remark I’ll probable be rebuked for).

The BBC’s excellent travels to various UK towns in the last 4 months, where they camped out for days, revealed exactly the same. NSC and Brighton, Hove & Lewes, I’ve often said is a bit of a unique microcosm. The only Green MP says it all.

Lucas will win our seat by a landslide.

My own views are a hybrid, I’m kind of proud that I don’t blindly follow one party, and won’t listen to any wrongdoings within it. I believe in increased taxation for all to a modest extent, 100% UK unilateral clampdown on the likes of Amazon, also BVI, Caymans etc regarding their tax effect on the UK (one of your fields?), I’m wholly against all tax schemes done in essence to swerve tax above any true commercial reason, for a higher minimum wage, and to stop this planning system where nimbies in their comfortable homes are stopping millions getting a new roof over their head.

So not Corbyn for me because it’s tax and borrow way too far imho, but a government in with Pence and Trump is equally a horrible prospect.

A couple of side issues for most, but not me - I don’t believe in an attack on independent schools for very real and personal reasons, and I’d love a proper clampdown on the rural thugs (toffs and their scum) carrying out bloodsports for pleasure.

Agree.

 

[beorhthelm]

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/...ond-referendum-ireland-varadkar-a9212586.html

Good noises coming from EU about Labour's proposals. This will definitely help Jeremys cause.

Sent from my SM-A520F using Tapatalk

might help with the remain voters accepting leave.

how well do you reckon that will go down in leave voting constituencies? Varadkar has practically written the Conservative attack ads for them.

 

[theonlymikey]

might help with the remain voters accepting leave.

how well do you reckon that will go down in leave voting constituencies?

Well you would think

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[Hugo Rune]

View attachment 117416

To quote Crocodile Dundee (well almost!):

That’s not a mansion!
This is a mansion!

 

[darkwolf666]

1. Your treating profits from taking risks and/or having an idea, as the same as someone earning money from their time in their vocation whether the latter be a city analyst or a nurse. Even Labour politicians over the decades have never merged the two different concepts.

2. Business owners receive no sick pay, no non-state redundancy pay, no holiday pay, have no employment rights, no guarantee of there being work next week, no pension contributions other than from what’s in effect their money already (not from their unconnected employers). This quid pro quo from all governments is that lower tax is paid, should be they be lucky enough to make a profit.

But the gap was closed, you’d be surprised to know by Osborne, who created dividend tax rates of 7.5%, 32.5% and 38.1%. McDonnell’s attack is largely on tiny limited company owners earning up to £50,000. Taxing them in increased corp and personal tax with an overnight bill of almost £5k per annum.

These aren’t the wealthy we’ve heard your mates at Momentum talk about for 4 years.

3. This also hits heavily 1.9 million old folk who happened to have bought some listed company shares in their lifetime, to supplement their pensions.

Thank you for the explanation, most enlightening up to the bit where you mention my “mates in Momentum” - as you have made a giant leap of faith that because I queried something, that by my own admission I didn’t understand, that I must be.a card carrying Labour member.

As per usual name calling is the way of modern politics.

 

[BLOCK F]

The Times covered this today.

Seemingly we’re unique where every small or large local council can grind a proposed development (greenfield or brownfield) to a halt, with opposing officers, councillors and residents able to do this with endless consultation, hoops to jump, consultants to engage, and finally 100’s of conditions should the registered social landlord or private developer be lucky enough to get permission. All at risk for them, as the application can be turned down on a political whim, after a spend of £100k’s to millions on the consultants.

Whereas Germany, France and so on use a zonal system, with large greenfield and brownfield areas specifically determined by larger local authorities to they will come what may contain new residential, office, transport, retail or industrial developments. Nimby’s have little power once that zoning’s in place.

True, in our little part of West Sussex, Nimbys are alive and kicking. The same people who whinge about housing shortages are the same vociferous crew that get hysterical if anything is planned near themselves.
Exceedingly hypocritical.

 

[Guinness Boy]

I’ve travelled a bit around the UK, eg we make Albion away trips a full weekend. Never a day trip. Shocked every time at the young and old (not just the stereotype of granddad little Englanders) who are still hellbent on leaving the EU at all costs. Often these are young graduates ... quite easy to get a degree of sorts these-days? (an unpopular remark I’ll probable be rebuked for).

The BBC’s excellent travels to various UK towns in the last 4 months, where they camped out for days, revealed exactly the same. NSC and Brighton, Hove & Lewes, I’ve often said is a bit of a unique microcosm. The only Green MP says it all.

Lucas will win our seat by a landslide.

My own views are a hybrid, I’m kind of proud that I don’t blindly follow one party, and won’t listen to any wrongdoings within it. I believe in increased taxation for all to a modest extent, 100% UK unilateral clampdown on the likes of Amazon, also BVI, Caymans etc regarding their tax effect on the UK (one of your fields?), I’m wholly against all tax schemes done in essence to swerve tax above any true commercial reason, for a higher minimum wage, and to stop this planning system where nimbies in their comfortable homes are stopping millions getting a new roof over their head.

So not Corbyn for me because it’s tax and borrow way too far imho, but a government in with Pence and Trump is equally a horrible prospect.

A couple of side issues for most, but not me - I don’t believe in an attack on independent schools for very real and personal reasons, and I’d love a proper clampdown on the rural thugs (toffs and their scum) carrying out bloodsports for pleasure.

A lot of that is real common sense. I think a lot of people would feel the same if they stepped back and thought about things, instead of just blindly following a political party like they do their football team. I honestly think it's like that for a lot of people, that they follow Tory blue or Labour red like they would Everton Blue or Liverpool Red if they came from that city - for no logical reason other than where they were born and what their family thinks.

As an old school football fan I firmly believe you cannot and should not ever change teams but, in terms of politics, I think it's a weakness to blithely follow ideology in the face of changing circumstance and facts. We have two candidates for PM now who will both drag us back to the 1970s (a shame no one in the audience said this last night when the question was asked on QT), one with a policy of block nationalisation, union appeasment and spending that will either bankrupt the country or the taxpayer (or both) and the other that wants to return our trading position to pre 1975 and hope that we can survive on chlorinated chicken imports and the will of billionairres.

You're also spot on about bloodsports IMO.

Two minor things though. Firstly I can see Kemp Town going back to the Tories. If that's the case it returns us to the 2015 position of reading Labour / Green / Tory from West to East in the city. I don't actually think that's a bad position at all and if there was PR it would be far from unique. And Brighton is the Sussex team and NSC represents Sussex well. You have to consider that the responses on here also come from the Tory heartlands in West and Mid Sussex and the marginals of Eastbourne and Hastings.

And on NSC these days you rebuke a POINT not a person

 

[Wardy's twin]

Anybody see that geezer on QT on over £80k? He didn't know he was in the top 5% of earners. He didn't even think he was in the top 50%!

https://twitter.com/bbcquestiontime/status/1197651546940608514?s=19

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It would be interesting to see what is life style is as 80k and living in the north is a lot. One point he did make is that he was on PAYE and have to say that group is an easy target , years ago there used be lot of talk about the amount of tax lost in the black economy and that doesn't seem to get mentioned now.

 

[Bold Seagull]

This notion that someone sitting on the political fence is some kind of enlightened position of political freewill or intellectual flexibility I find frankly ludicrous. You are political centrists simple as that, as wedded to an ideology as anyone else, the only difference is political parties skirt into your politics at different times, but you are no different to someone who believes in the politics of the left or the right. Centrists are as entrenched as anyone else. Their fall back position of "I voted Labour in 1997, but Libs in 2005, then Tory in 2010, I'm so above those that follow a party..." is a delusion.

Politics is about passion, believe, ambition. It can be exciting, but it can also deliver huge lows, feel desperate. The parallels with watching a football team are in some respect are relevant, and true. You don't always agree with your football team's decisions, their manager, their owner or chairman, their tactics – but it's better than following the another team.

Please tell me, these enlightened individuals who take this higher ground on not following a particular party, who does a person who believe in policies of the left vote for other than Labour or Green? There is no one else. Even Blair's Tory-lite Labour was still more left than the other main parties have ever been.

Get off your fences, start ignoring the personalities and looking at the policies. You have to pick a side. If you don't like what you see, you have to pick the lesser evil. It is that simple.

 

[Wardy's twin]

View attachment 117416

Have you seen the house prices in Brighton lately , plenty of houses in the nearly £1million price market and that's ignoring the expensive places like Dyke Road etc.

 

[Bob!]

The Tory Manifesto has been leaked.

https://www.thetorymanifesto.com/