The rich are always threatening to leave the country if they’re forced to pay tax. Fine, let them go, but then let’s confiscate their empty houses in Kensington and Knightsbridge, and turn them into council flats
A tax on unoccupied property, commercial and private, irrespective of domicile of the individual or company that owns them, should go directly to fund the building of social housing.
Yes, as I said, the effect will vary depending on exactly what you propose. I'm not suggesting people just look for the best possible tax regime and move halfway across the world because the tax rate is marginally lower somewhere else. The benefit has to outweigh the disruption. But wealth taxes tend to impact people's decisions more than a slight increase in the tax rate. What happened in France shows this isn't just blackmail. The point I'm making is primarily about tax revenue rather than the wider issue of job creators or business, although there is something to that. As I said, I mention the rock stars and actors because they're higher profile and 50 or 60 years on they're easier examples to see.
Lotto sweepstake. Given the huge variation from poll to poll on this, how many seats will reform win? Winner gets a kiss from me. Loser gets two kisses from me. I’m gonna go with 2.
I'm not 100% sure on the tax proposal (given the state of our High Streets it seems a bit harsh to punitively tax people who try to rent out empty shops and can't) but there might be something in that. You could possibly go further too. I've long said Thatcher had the core of a good idea with the right to buy council houses at a discounted rate. The problem is the money raised from those sales should have been used to build more social housing. I'm sure if you set the right to buy prices correctly you could create a virtuous circle with the government building houses, selling them on relatively cheaply and then building more houses. If done correctly the government could act to some extent as a stepping stool to help people onto the housing ladder.
I honestly don’t know ., I’m just a pessimist . A fear I have is that so many Labour voters won’t , because they will think JOB DONE , so they don’t have to !
I think the most I have seen suggested is 7 or 8. One is too many in my opinion. Starmer might want to rethink giving the vote to 16 year olds as a poll has shown that 35% of 16/17 year olds would vote for Reform.
If my village is anything to go by, there should be a decent turnout today. I voted at about 1pm, and the staff said it had been non-stop since they opened at 7am. My friend who is staffing one of the Midsomer Norton polling stations said it has been the same there.
I expect the chimney sweep boys and service maids will be voting there after 9pm if master gives permission....
Just the one I think. Farage’s showbiz factor will get him over the line, but for the most part voting for them is the equivalent of drawing a cock on your ballot paper.
Is the electorate large enough in Midsomer? I'm surprised that there are enough people left, after all those episodes
