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 .
So Sunak had known about the Mark Menzies affair (using campaign funds to pay off the criminal associates of his illegal immigrant rent boy partner) since January. Yet the Tory client media have meanwhile been firing all their guns on Angela Rayner regarding a 'possible' unpaid tax bill of £1,500.

Nadim Zahawi anybody?

Menzies and Rayner both look like wrong 'uns. We await the police investigation into the woman who apparently will be deputy prime minister

Meanwhile, Bonnie Scotland showing it's ruled by gangsters
 
So Sunak had known about the Mark Menzies affair (using campaign funds to pay off the criminal associates of his illegal immigrant rent boy partner) since January. Yet the Tory client media have meanwhile been firing all their guns on Angela Rayner regarding a 'possible' unpaid tax bill of £1,500.

Nadim Zahawi anybody?

Thank goodness everything will be so much better when Labour are in charge.
 
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In other words it’s been made a lot more difficult and put them at a disadvantage for absolutely no reason other than idiots’ jingoism.

In the scheme proposed by the EU (which came about when the UK government was arranging bespoke deals with Germany and France, and the EU felt left out) EU workers under 30 could flood into the UK and undermine British workers. Of course, Keir Starmer could a cheap Bulgarian gardener and Angela Rayner cheap builders for her property portfolio, but average UK workers would miss out
 
In the scheme proposed by the EU (which came about when the UK government was arranging bespoke deals with Germany and France, and the EU felt left out) EU workers under 30 could flood into the UK and undermine British workers. Of course, Keir Starmer could a cheap Bulgarian gardener and Angela Rayner cheap builders for her property portfolio, but average UK workers would miss out

A “flood” of workers into sectors with labour shortages. The horror.
 
This week, unemployment in the UK jumped to 4.2%. Maybe care companies should pay their worker's better

Maybe they should but then I wouldn’t want to do it if I could make double what I’m making now doing so and it seems rather unlikely there’s a massive number of Brits sat on their arses watching Homes Under The Hammer who could be care workers tomorrow if only the salary was £100/£200/£1k more a week.

I’ve worked in the fruit industry. The work those people do is gruelling, boring and they live in the arse end of nowhere while they do it. 3.8% of the South-East is unemployed. The number of people who could do those jobs to the level required will be miniscule regardless of the salary.

We should be grateful anyone is mad/kind enough to do these jobs and the demand is only going to go up rather than putting barriers up to stop them.
 
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This week, unemployment in the UK jumped to 4.2%. Maybe care companies should pay their worker's better
14,000 care home beds were closed last year mainly due to staffing and financial issues. The sector is underfunded. Successive governments have failed to act on an issues that has been growing for decades, both structurally and demographically. The one thing Johnson promised that was worth doing was sorting a proper policy in this area, but he bottled it in the end, because it would involve spending money. So let’s all pay more tax so people who can’t afford to pay for their own residential and long term nursing care still get to go when they need it and the people who look after them get paid properly.

The Reform policy is to have a zero basic income tax rate for health and social care workers (including presumably senior consultants and managers) and to give 20% tax relief on private healthcare insurance premiums to encourage everyone to go private. I’m guessing that they won’t allow overseas workers at all, or at least new ones. I don’t think deportation is an official Reform policy for legal immigrants, no matter how much Reform voters, and apparently a lot of Reform candidates, would like it to be.
 
Nadim Zahawi anybody?
He is, allegedly, my local MP, and he’s not stepping down at the next election. Not been seen here in public since I’ve been here, 14months now. The local Conservative office, a beautiful Georgian townhouse on a little street tucked behind Trinity Church where Shakespeare is buried, never has anyone in it. We had a leaflet delivered last week, but I’m pretty sure it was produced by Conservative Central Office and just had Zahawi’s name inserted. It was basically a description of an MPs week, claims of talking to local business and sometimes sorting non political issues for individual constituents. Not a word about his recent ‘issues’ or anything specific on Stratford on Avon which has some major challenges in terms of flooding and uncoordinated road works which have caused gridlock in town for months, forecast to continue into the summer, peak tourist time.

But hey ho, we get what we deserve. Liberal democracy, doncha just luv it?
 
14,000 care home beds were closed last year mainly due to staffing and financial issues. The sector is underfunded. Successive governments have failed to act on an issues that has been growing for decades, both structurally and demographically. The one thing Johnson promised that was worth doing was sorting a proper policy in this area, but he bottled it in the end, because it would involve spending money. So let’s all pay more tax so people who can’t afford to pay for their own residential and long term nursing care still get to go when they need it and the people who look after them get paid properly.

The Reform policy is to have a zero basic income tax rate for health and social care workers (including presumably senior consultants and managers) and to give 20% tax relief on private healthcare insurance premiums to encourage everyone to go private. I’m guessing that they won’t allow overseas workers at all, or at least new ones. I don’t think deportation is an official Reform policy for legal immigrants, no matter how much Reform voters, and apparently a lot of Reform candidates, would like it to be.

Do they have any candidates left once they’ve binned all those who turned out to be massive racists and conspiracy theorists? I don’t really see them contesting every seat as promised. Those lost deposits would add up.
 
He is, allegedly, my local MP, and he’s not stepping down at the next election. Not been seen here in public since I’ve been here, 14months now. The local Conservative office, a beautiful Georgian townhouse on a little street tucked behind Trinity Church where Shakespeare is buried, never has anyone in it. We had a leaflet delivered last week, but I’m pretty sure it was produced by Conservative Central Office and just had Zahawi’s name inserted. It was basically a description of an MPs week, claims of talking to local business and sometimes sorting non political issues for individual constituents. Not a word about his recent ‘issues’ or anything specific on Stratford on Avon which has some major challenges in terms of flooding and uncoordinated road works which have caused gridlock in town for months, forecast to continue into the summer, peak tourist time.

But hey ho, we get what we deserve. Liberal democracy, doncha just luv it?

Zahawi reportedly had to pay £5m to HMRC, including a 30% penalty, yet continues to 'serve' as your MP.

Rayner, a 'wrong-un' according to Goldie, may have to resign over a potential unpaid tax bill of £3,500 after the Tories set the police on her. I don't believe the police were involved in the Zahawi case.

They're all the same though, aren't they?
 
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Zahawi reportedly had to pay £5m to HMRC, including a 30% penalty, yet continues to 'serve' as your MP.

Rayner, a 'wrong-un' according to Goldie, may have to resign over a potential unpaid tax bill of £3,500 after the Tories set the police on her. I don't believe the police were involved in the Zahawi case.

They're all the same though, aren't they?
The National Serious Crime Agency was involved in the Zahawi case as was the Serious Fraud Office.

I don’t think comparisons are necessary to tell right from wrong. If Rayner is guilty of defrauding the taxpayer she should take the consequences, regardless of what Zahawi or Menzies or anyone else has done. You can justify anything using moral relativism.
 
The National Serious Crime Agency was involved in the Zahawi case as was the Serious Fraud Office.

I don’t think comparisons are necessary to tell right from wrong. If Rayner is guilty of defrauding the taxpayer she should take the consequences, regardless of what Zahawi or Menzies or anyone else has done. You can justify anything using moral relativism.

I'm not seeking to justify anything Rayner might have done, but I'd say relativism is valid when comparing financial crimes and misdemeanors. If she has committed a crime, she should be prosecuted for it and she should resign. Zahawi 'did a deal' to avoid further action. HMRC, and presumably the police, seem happy to do deals with those who seek to avoid millions in tax.

My point, though, is the difference in how the two cases have been treated in the Tory client media and consequently the minds of the public. Look at that little kitten over there, not the ****ing great lion over here.
 
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Not sure you speak for all Reform voters and I know I am far from a ‘liberal’ spokesman. What do you think of the Reform health and social care policy?

As I understand it, the zero basic tax rate would apply to frontline NHS workers, so wouldn't benefit the pen-pushers. I don't know whether the sums add up on the larger scale, but NHS staff including junior doctors must be properly rewarded by a sustainable system - which we don't have at present. I'm very much in favour of use of insurance for private health (as other democratic countries do) and for a small charge to be made for all to visit a GP.

We have a much larger population now than whenthe NHS was created, and the "free at the point of use" creed, needs heavily tweaking. Streeting seems to recognise this, by his promise to use private health to cut waiting lists.
 
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I'm not seeking to justify anything Rayner might have done, but I'd say relativism is valid when comparing financial crimes and misdemeanors. If she has committed a crime, she should be prosecuted for it and she should resign. Zahawi 'did a deal' to avoid further action. HMRC, and presumably the police, seem happy to do deals with those who seek to avoid millions in tax.

My point, though, is the difference in how the two cases have been treated in the Tory client media and consequently the minds of the public. Look at that little kitten over there, not the ****ing great lion over here.

If the person likely to be our deputy prime minister has deliberately broken electoral laws for financial gain, that is not a "kitten"
 
If the person likely to be our deputy prime minister has deliberately broken electoral laws for financial gain, that is not a "kitten"

Do you really think that she's guilty of that? We'll see I suppose, but it seems a pretty poor financial gain to risk your career for. This is 'currygate' all over again - never mind the parties in number 10, Keir Starmer had a chicken bhuna!