please log in to view this image Guy Verhofstadt @guyverhofstadt Scandalous decision by @EU_Commission to liberate €10 billion for Hungary… signalling that blackmail beats Ukraine solidarity, good governance and EU values. I withdraw my confidence in @vonderleyen and this Commission ! Quote please log in to view this image POLITICOEurope @POLITICOEurope · 2h BREAKING: The European Commission has unblocked €10.2 billion for Hungary as the EU tries to sway Viktor Orbán on Ukraine. https://politico.eu/article/commiss...-as-eu-tries-to-sway-viktor-orban-on-ukraine/
Not606 favourite Prince Harry gets £140k from The Mirror. I’d like to think Piers Morgan will suffer some sort of legal consequences.
Breaking News: A criminal gang, called the Conservative Party, is still occupying No.10 and No.11 Downing Street. Sources believe they have already stolen billions and are now attempting to blow up the NHS. The BBC are on the scene and are believed to be turning a blind eye. please log in to view this image 1
Meanwhile Trump is making a speech claiming that immigrants are “poisoning the blood of the country”. You are a ****ing immigrant you numbskull ****. I despair for this world.
Meloni is just another of the far right politicians being voted into government across Europe. Reason - mass immigration
Sorry to be picky, but Trump is not an immigrant. He's the grandson of immigrants. I agree the "poisoning" allegation is unsettling. But, frankly, the rheoric around the Western World is going to get more extreme until the mass immigration issue settles. So get used to it... I see a hostel for immigrants in Ireland was burned down yesterday. Again, unsettling
Ben Wallace (the chap we all wanted to be NATO chief) says Israel is embarked on an indiscriminate 'killing rage' which will fuel the conflict for another 50 years and radicalise young Muslims across the world. 'Going after Hamas is legitimate; obliterating vast swathes of Gaza is not. Using proportionate force is legal but collective punishment and forced movement of civilians is not.' Indeed. Ben Wallace warns Israel’s ‘killing rage’ risks fuelling conflict for another 50 years (msn.com)
Doesn't seem to be such a big issue in Spain... In Spain, we don’t share Britain’s migration panic – ‘stop the boats’ has few fans here (msn.com) Hopefully our own far right government will be kicked out next year.
Far right governments are still the minority in Europe, thankfully. Sunak seems to have given up on beating Labour and has decided he needs to take on Reform by lurching ever further right. Disgusting little man.
Right wing governments may just be in the minority in Europe - I haven't counted - but they have the momentum. The populace is moving fast to the right. The UK is an exception, assuming the polls reflect votes at the GE in (probably) a year's time. At present, Starmer's strongest attraction to the electorate is not being Tory. When he has to put forward his manifesto with policy on immigration including illegals, he may be found to have been bathing without his trunks on.
hes coming home hes coming home steelsies coming home Scottish Budget: Higher earners to pay more income tax Published 16 minutes ago comments Comments Share Related Topics Scottish Budget please log in to view this image IMAGE SOURCE,PA MEDIA Image caption, Shona Robison is having to plug a £1.5bn shortfall in the Scottish government's budget By Angus Cochrane BBC Scotland News Higher earners in Scotland are to pay more income tax, the Scottish government has announced. A new 45% band will be introduced for people earning between £75,000 and £125,140 - meaning they will pay more tax than they currently do. The top rate of tax, paid by those earning more than £125,000, will also rise from 47% to 48%. Finance Secretary Shona Robison confirmed the move as she unveiled the government's budget for next year. ADVERTISEMENT While spending on health and social affairs increase, it included cuts to enterprise funding, housing and rural affairs. The tax changes mean Scotland will have six income tax bands while the rest of the UK has three, with higher earners in Scotland paying more than other parts of the country. The Scottish government estimates that 114,000 people will pay the new advanced tax rate for those earning between £75,000 and £125,000, with a further 40,000 people paying the top rate for those earning more than £125,000. Live analysis and reaction to the Scottish budget Scottish budget 2024-25: At a glance New Scottish income tax band might only raise £60m The announcement is designed to help plug a £1.5bn funding shortfall in the Scottish budget, with Ms Robison saying the tax rises for higher earners would raise an additional £80m. The finance secretary also confirmed the current thresholds for the higher and top bands - £43,663 and £125,140 respectively - would be frozen, while the basic and intermediate bands will see the rates at which they kick in rise by the rate of inflation. The freezing of the thresholds means more people will find themselves being pulled into a higher tax band after being given pay rises. The Scottish Fiscal Commission (SFC), forecasts that the tax changes will bring in a total of £1.5bn in revenue funding next year alone, although its chair said "tough decisions" were still likely to be necessary in individual government departments. People who earn more than £28,850 in Scotland - slightly above median earnings - already pay more income tax than they would elsewhere in the UK, with those earning less than that amount paying slightly less. The changes mean that anyone earning £50,000 in Scotland will pay £1,542 a year more than they would if they lived in another part of the UK, while people earning £150,000 will pay £6,000 more, according to the Scottish Fiscal Commission (SFC). please log in to view this image Ms Robison told MSPs the Scottish government would provide local authorities with £140m in additional funding to help finance a council tax freeze. Council umbrella body Cosla had called for £300m to cover the freeze, which was announced by First Minister Humza Yousaf in October, with a report published last week warning that it was "only a matter of time" before a council effectively went bankrupt. Other major announcements included the government's intention to increase the Scottish Child Payment to £26.70 from April of next year. Ms Robison also said the government would provide £1.5m to local authorities to cancel school meal debt. According to research by the Aberlour children's charity published in October, more than 30,000 children had debts worth a total of £1.8m - up by 60% on the previous year. Funding for NHS boards will rise "above real terms" by £550m (4.3%) MSPs were told. please log in to view this image IMAGE SOURCE,GETTY IMAGES Image caption, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak warned the Scottish government against raising taxes ahead of the budget The deputy first minister announced business rates for premises valued at less than £51,000 will be frozen, while hospitality businesses in Scotland's islands will be given 100% relief, capped at £110,000 per firm. The small business bonus scheme will also continue while the government will assess how valuations for business rates are carried out, Ms Robison said. The finance secretary said Holyrood's block grant funding, derived from UK government spending decisions, had fallen by 1.2% in real terms since 2022-23. "Devolution has brought many benefits, but it has also exposed quite how beholden we are to the decisions of Westminster," she told MSPs. "We are fighting Westminster austerity with one hand tied behind our back." Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said ahead of the budget announcement that the UK government was providing a record amount of funding via the Barnett formula to Scotland. Speaking during a visit north of the border on Tuesday, he said Scotland was the highest taxed part of the UK and that it would be "very disappointing" to see tax rates rise further. please log in to view this image please log in to view this image The Finance secretary says she's making very different choices to the UK government. In broad terms by increasing the tax take and not replicating the business tax cuts introduced by the UK government, the Scottish government has created a pot of money to spend on public services. There's extra cash for the health service and for social security benefits, and real terms increases in the education and justice budgets. But the wellbeing economy, rural affairs and housing budgets have been cut. Opposition politicians argue that had the SNP not wasted millions on failed projects it would have even more money to spend please log in to view this image Scottish Tory finance spokeswoman Liz Smith criticised the "extraordinary late delivery" of the budget to oppositions MSPs, who were given only a few minutes to examine the document before the announcement. She called it "discourtesy to parliament". She accused the government of a "complete abrogation of responsibility for the running of the Scottish economy" since the SNP came to power in 2007. Ms Smith questioned whether the government was sending out "the right message that Scotland is open for business". She said: "For economic growth, for investment, innovation and job creation?" She asked. "Because it's abundantly clear that business and industry doesn't think so." Ms Robison apologised to MSPs for the late deliver of the budget. Scottish Labour finance spokesman Michael Marra claimed it was a "chaotic" budget from an "incompetent government that will leave ordinary Scots paying much more and getting much less in return".
