Comment by moop_moop

1 month ago

The services have certainly not got better in the last 5 years. This Government is fiscally illiterate and has hit the top of the Laffer curve and is now trying to go down the other side.

27 comments

moop_moop

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VBprogrammer  25 days ago

This government have been in power for less than 2 years. Despite launching a lot of trial balloons on raising taxes they haven't actually raised the headline tax rates (other than allowing fiscal drag to do so).

Overall the tax burden in the UK is middling for western democracies. It's actually on the low side for low earners - which is probably a problem because the distribution is such that the majority pay very little.

The other problem being cliff edges and complexities which distinctive chasing pay rises and working more for a lot of people.

  • dgroshev  25 days ago

    The biggest problem is that the tax on a median taxpayer is not just "middling", it's a bit over a third of what a median German taxpayer is paying. The rest of the fiscal problems (convoluted tax rules, cliff edges to try to claw something back, abrupt tax increases like the one on pubs) are downstream from that.

    • pjc50  25 days ago

      > the tax on a median taxpayer is not just "middling", it's a bit over a third of what a median German taxpayer is paying

      Could you put the actual numbers in for that please, because to me that implies German tax rates of 120%? Is that across all forms of taxation, including local (the relevant one here!)

      1 reply →

fakedang  1 month ago

Unfortunately, if an election were to be held today, the morons at Reform would have the greatest chance of winning, thanks to Starmer's ostrich syndrome, Corbyn dividing the Labour vote and the Tories being absolutely irrelevant after 15 years of continuous rule.

  • vixen99  25 days ago

    I'd be interested to know your view on how you think Britain should be governed and the extent to which you think others would agree. Serious question: can you offer a link to some such description?

    • fakedang  25 days ago

      Curtail immigration to pre-Brexit levels (with a strong focus on repatriating criminals and net tax non-contributing immigrant households), focus on the working class and devise a route for the UK to get back into the EU. Also refocus policing to focus on actual societal issues - child grooming and the rise of fundamentalist elements (as evidenced by the UAE banning their citizens from studying in the UK) - as opposed to elderly citizens tweets. Devalue the GBP to refund the NHS and roll back austerity while investing further into energy independence and removing bureaucratic red tape for consumer scale mitigation technologies.

      Any party that does all of these will be guaranteed electoral wins for decades - I've seen the data back when I was a Tory. Problem is, these points are kryptonite to the very identity of either major party.

      4 replies →

  • GrowingSideways  25 days ago

    I thought Corbyn started his own party? Surely they have time to figure out a way to look more competent than Starmer of all people

    • fakedang  25 days ago

      The more Corbyn performs, the more the Labour vote will get divided. The same balkanization happened with the Tories and Reform/UKIP.

  • alexfoo  25 days ago

    Don’t. Just don’t.

    There’s time for some party to sort themselves out before the next election is due (Aug 2029).