Off Topic The Politics Thread

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Should the UK remain a part of the EU or leave?

  • Stay in

    Votes: 56 47.9%

  • Get out

    Votes: 61 52.1%
  • Total voters
    117
  • Poll closed .
Goldhawk-Road said:
This is a wrong and jaundiced view. The NHS was able to perform well because the UK government ordered the vaccines early and was prepared to spend money.

The EU, of which you are a strong supporter, did neither and seriously let down the citizens of its member states.
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He is talking utter boll2x.
 
Stroller said:
The money they chucked in was on procurement, not roll-out. Has there been a £37bn injection into the NHS in line with money spaffed up the wall on track and trace? Testing is not much use without tracking and tracing.
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I think there was £6bn odd in the Spending Review and more in the last budget. Big one of cash injections to support roll out. Agree testing better with trace, but I've found it v helpful knowing when myself / the family have colds rather than COVID and are safe to leave the house.
 
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Quite Possibly Raving said:
I think there was £6bn odd in the Spending Review and more in the last budget. Big one of cash injections to support roll out. Agree testing better with trace, but I've found it v helpful knowing when myself / the family have colds rather than COVID and are safe to leave the house.
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Looked up the figures as it was annoying me that I couldn't remember.

11bn spent up front on vaccines.
5bn Coronavirus emergency fund in March 2020.
6.6bn additional fund in April 2020.
1.65bn additional in 2021 budget.

The NHS and staff have been amazing, but the Govt deserves a huge amount of credit too. And that comes from someone that really hates Boris and his acolytes.

Edit - this is also worth a scan on Test and Trace spending. https://fullfact.org/online/37bn-test-trace-spending/
Testing is what is allowing schools and businesses to reopen. It has immense value without the trace element.
 
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Quite Possibly Raving said:
Looked up the figures as it was annoying me that I couldn't remember.

11bn spent up front on vaccines.
5bn Coronavirus emergency fund in March 2020.
6.6bn additional fund in April 2020.
1.65bn additional in 2021 budget.

The NHS and staff have been amazing, but the Govt deserves a huge amount of credit too. And that comes from someone that really hates Boris and his acolytes.
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Were these funds given to the NHS to facilitate vaccination roll-out?

£37bn on failed track and trace,
 
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Stroller said:
Fine, so some of it was. Would you not accept that the these amounts are tiny in comparison to the amounts wasted on track and trace? This of course being before we consider the money spunked on useless PPE provided by Tory cronies?
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I don't accept either premise - that 10bn is a small amount, or that the money spent on track and trace has been wasted.

That there has been corruption with some contracts seems beyond reasonable doubt. As I said, I'm not here to defend this lot. I just think here is so much to credibly attack them about that we ought not to also be afraid to give credit where it's due.
 
Quite Possibly Raving said:
I don't accept either premise - that 10bn is a small amount, or that the money spent on track and trace has been wasted.

That there has been corruption with some contracts seems beyond reasonable doubt. As I said, I'm not here to defend this lot. I just think here is so much to credibly attack them about that we ought not to also be afraid to give credit where it's due.
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What was achieved by the £37bn on track and trace?

I've given them credit for the blank-cheque procurement programme, but I'm not prepared to give this government credit for the vaccine roll-out.

I really need to find Stan's post on vaccinations.
 
Stroller said:
What was achieved by the £37bn on track and trace?

I've given them credit for the blank-cheque procurement programme, but I'm not prepared to give this government credit for the vaccine roll-out.

I really need to find Stan's post on vaccinations.
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Over 90m tests to date and capacity to undertake hundreds of thousands of tests in 24 hours. From a scratch starting point. That is essential to unlocking and couldn't happen without £bns.

The trace, I readily accept, has been a mess and should have been left with local authorities. But the vast amount of spending has been on test, not trace.

Also, read the full fact I linked to as I think the £37bn figure isn't accurate.
 
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Quite Possibly Raving said:
Over 90m tests to date and capacity to undertake hundreds of thousands of tests in 24 hours. From a scratch starting point. That is essential to unlocking and couldn't happen without £bns.

The trace, I readily accept, has been a mess and should have been left with local authorities. But the vast amount of spending has been on test, no trace.

Also, read the full fact I linked to as I think the £37bn figure isn't accurate.
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What good was all the testing if the contacts of those found positive were never traced? Or if they couldn't afford to isolate?
 
Matthew Lynn
Ireland’s low-tax miracle is over
2 May 2021, 10:04pm
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For a generation, Ireland has had the lowest corporate tax rate in the developed world. (Photo by PAUL FAITH/AFP via Getty Images)
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Okay, in fairness it might be the weather. Or the craic in the bars. Or the rugged coastline, golf courses, or the lakes. And yet for all its charms, there was always a far simpler reason why more than a thousand multinational companies have their main European headquarters in Ireland. Tax. For a generation, Ireland has had the lowest corporate tax rate - just 12.5 per cent - in the developed world. Even better, myriad breaks and allowances - in accounting circles the ‘Double Irish’ is not as you might imagine an especially stiff glass of Jameson’s but a fiendishly clever way of re-routing revenues - often take that down even further. The result? Companies from Apple to Google to Pfizer have huge operations in Ireland, creating tens of thousands of jobs, and an economy that is among the most prosperous in the world.

But hold on. It now looks as if Ireland's low-tax miracle is over. First, President Biden, despite getting sentimental of his family's roots in County Mayo whenever he faces an electorate he thinks might celebrate St Patrick’s Day, is proposing a global minimum corporate tax rate of 21 per cent. That won’t make a lot of difference to France (28 per cent), or Germany (30 per cent) or indeed the UK (19 per cent, rising to 25 per cent). But it will make a heck of a big difference to Ireland. In effect, it will have to double its rate. Now the European Union has joined in. According to a report in the Irish Times, the Commission is pushing for the Irish to end its tax breaks as a condition of receiving its share of the money set to be distributed through the €750 billion Coronavirus Rescue Fund.

Raise taxes or you don’t get the cash is the message from Brussels.
 


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Jay Beecher

@Jay_Beecher


India has pumped billions into its space programme.
India has the 6th largest economy.
The Indian government is also one of the most corrupt in the world.
But, if you're Femi, that's the fault of Tories living almost 5k miles away.
He'll blame them for the monsoons next.
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Femi

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@Femi_Sorry
· May 2
This government chose to cut foreign aid during a pandemic.

And India is a bloodbath.
(as well as other countries)

Please see the connection.[HASHTAG]#NeverVoteConservative[/HASHTAG]
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