As it happens I have mate, I learned a long time ago to hedge my bets, that is why I invested in property, and bought gold mate
My old man wasn't rich in the 20's so why did he, as a kid, have to scrabble for coal in the yards at Landore and go door to door trying to sell apples he'd scrimped? Why did so many is Swansea turn to meths drinking to get through the winters and why was a sister unable to recover from a simple cold? Why did my mother's family get kicked off the small-holding they rented in North Wales and why did two of her family die due being not strong enough to fight of minor illnesses? Why did her father walk from Conway to Merthyr to try to get work only to be told there was none? Some rich did fall and hard but how many had worked for that wealth and how many had inherited from others who had exploited the poor of various countries?
I think what Phil is trying to say is that the "better off" had to pay because the poor had nothing else to give.
What he is saying is that the rich were targetted to fix the poor. Anyhow on topic this debt league produced by the EU means nothing and although the UK features high on the Debt/GDP ratio is doesn't show that the UK is most indebted nation compared to it's GDP. We always get to see how the UK is owes so much money but those newspapers never show that the UK is owed a heck of a lot more by all the other countries in the world. They conveniently fail to report that the UK is at the centre of business world and it is the UK banks that lent the most to companies in other nations. People here went nuts when America stole the pensions funds which were underwritten by BP but we weren't told that in response the UK blocked all transactions through Citibank and Goldman Sachs operation passing through London... strange how those super massive institutions who are critical to America's economic survival are now trading again through London and those pension funds are still with BP, how come we never told that the US backed off quicker than a mouse fleeing from a cat? There is one reason why the UK is still a AAA nation, London is the economic capital of the planet. That will not change because it's core business hours overlap the Americas, Asia and Europe meaning that every working day it's 0800-18:00 shift coincides with the other regions 08:00-18:00 working hours at some point. One credit rating agency had the idiotic idea to downgrade the UK to AA and it lost lots of customers due to a lack of confidence it it's decision making and lack of foresight. For every dollar the UK owes the rest of the world, the rest of the world owes at least four dollars back to us. Do we want this money back right now? Ofcourse not! They are paying lots of interest on it, more than the interest we are paying on our external debts.
The difference back then than to now is that there is a huge middle class in the UK compared to previously. There is also a lot more people alive now, so taking money off us is what this government is about, but they are not stopping there, they are taking money off the ones who need it the most. The money from the wealthiest is going to be a pittance in comparison because there are far less of them, and they obviously have accountants that lesson their tax burden as much as possible. Something similar has happened with international companies basing themselves in countries to lesson their taxes. I'm not for those who do this but can understand why they do it, governments have left these loopholes there, they've known about them for decades but have done nothing about it. In their place I would try and pay as little tax as I can, using loopholes legally is what I used an accountant for.
That depends on your definition of middle class. Once again we are back to "Who runs the country?". The government is controlled by the elite. They are the ones who decide who gets screwed.
Everyone gets screwed at some point, the middle class more than anyone, but it effects the ones on the breadline more, for example the bedroom tax has already driven some to despair. A small change can have a devastating effect.
£48bn is the current debt interest every year for the UK, roughly £800 for every man woman and child in the UK, and its only going to get much worse in the coming years....... scary figures....
But how much is coming the other way to offset that ? The point is that every country has debts and they owe each other billions, the actual figures are very deceiving and are there just for reference. I owe money for my house, that debt is mine, but its added together with millions of others and its said we owe as country this amount of money, but its not the government that owes the money it's each of us with a mortgage.
Spain, Cyprus, Greece, America, France, Italy, Denmark, Holland, Japan etc... UK is not in the list because we have two parties of power and both are centre-right.
I think that Jager has a valid point, but clearly the situation is getting so acute that both the US and Uk have now got all the data of corporate offshore tax evation, these data basis of multi millionairs, and billionairs are currently being investigated, and Google, Apple, Starbucks are just the tip of the iceburg, as national goverments become more desperate to plug the tax losses!...........
This isn't about politics. Its about who controls the politicians......and we've been through all this before........
Its obvious, take a look at today's news about politicos taking bungs. Its always going to be the people with the money, so that are the corporates
Just to give you a barometer of how desperate national goverments are getting, Spain is in breach of EU rules on the E111 health care card, and reports are coming in that Spain has been holding foriegn travellers to ransom, with charges of £20, 000 for medical care in their health service, which should be free. The EU has given a warning shot accross Spains bows, but it's clearly desperate for cash. Also Spain is starting to buldoze properties owned by Brits and other foriegn nationals into the ground, under the contemptual reclaiming of agricultural land? They are litteraly removing uk citizens from their properties, dumping the contents at the side of the road, and buldozing the property into the ground!..............
