2015 post UK election discussion

[marty mcfly]

700k would get you a 2 bed flat in a decent area. 4 bed detatched house & you're looking at about 1.4 million. The kind of gaff that @the esk opens to the public once a year.

And that might be why people in London don't want to be paying more in tax.

 

[marty mcfly]

Again though, how exactly are they going to improve their situation if they don't wish to further themselves career wise, ie take a management position, or are unable to get that position even if they want it? Even if they're highly productive and improving their situation (per se) within their own job, they're then reliant on their employer to provide them with an increased salary and/or bonus, which they a) may not be able to give or b) don't wish to give. A good example of that is the NHS nurses and the denial of the 1% pay rise they requested.

Given the years of pay freezes, or pay rising in line with a phony inflation rate, and the higher cost of living, it's not really helping the working class regardless of how productive they are. And to be fair, it's not necessarily through any fault of their own.

The amount we pay nurses is a disgrace.

However that's my issue. The people who don't want to improve their career prospects aren't as productive as those that do. I've no issue with that choice but its the reality.

 

[marty mcfly]

I think there as many low end workers stressed about job security as there are top earners stressed about work.

Everyone is stressed about job security. The difference is your manager or boss is stressed by everyone's job security who works for him.

 

[roydo]

The amount we pay nurses is a disgrace.

However that's my issue. The people who don't want to improve their career prospects aren't as productive as those that do. I've no issue with that choice but its the reality.

The Practice Manager at our local GP, which has 12 GPs and about 30 part time admin staff, plus nurses that are mainly paid and employed centrally, is paid about £56000.

 

[Groucho]

Everyone is stressed about job security. The difference is your manager or boss is stressed by everyone's job security who works for him.

Perhaps, but the top earners will get vastly bigger redundancy payouts.

I got next to nothing when I was made redundant as a younger, and at that time unqualified man.

 

[Toffeelover]

What really does me in and it never figured any where in all the political propaganda was the VAT. At 20% this is high, one fifth! This hurts people lower down the income scale pretty hard but no one said anything about reducing it.

I would have liked it to come back to 17.5, and charge say 25% on expensive stuff like cars over £50K. Also rather than a Mansion Tax, how about VAT on property sales over £1mill. Any thoughts?

 

[marty mcfly]

The Practice Manager at our local GP, which has 12 GPs and about 30 part time admin staff, plus nurses that are mainly paid and employed centrally, is paid about £56000.

That's a lot of stress.

 

[marty mcfly]

Perhaps, but the top earners will get vastly bigger redundancy payouts.

I got next to nothing when I was made redundant as a younger, and at that time unqualified man.

Not if the company is bankrupt. I've been made redundant 5 times. Only once did I get something due to this reason.

 

[daylightrobber]

I agree with that but council houses don't go to young professionals they go to people without the ability to pay and normally those with kids.

We need to do both.

You see, I do have some sympathy with you. But you're really not fighting your cause very well. Affordable housing is an issue across the board. Where people are forward thinking, it can be provided. However, the underlying cause of the issue is wealth inequality.

You need to be careful fighting the plight of those with perceived wealth. They may be struggling too. By comparison though they generally do have more options than someone with no wealth what so ever.

 

[1966efc]

And that might be why people in London don't want to be paying more in tax.

Yeah but by and large, we voted Labour. Most surprisingly in Hampstead which would have been hammered by the Mansion Tax. Altruism lives!

 

[marty mcfly]

What really does me in and it never figured any where in all the political propaganda was the VAT. At 20% this is high, one fifth! This hurts people lower down the income scale pretty hard but no one said anything about reducing it.

I would have liked it to come back to 17.5, and charge say 25% on expensive stuff like cars over £50K. Also rather than a Mansion Tax, how about VAT on property sales over £1mill. Any thoughts?

Yes and no. It's also one of the few taxes multi national corporations can't avoid paying. There's an argument for increasing it and lowering income tax.

 

[Woolly Blue]

Cant be bothered finding the chart, might do later, but there are all sorts of sliding scales of income levels that lose the nil rate band and stuff that pushes their marginal rate of tax, in other words the actual amount they pay as opposed to the "rate", over 60%.

Top rate is 45% for folks earning over 150k
Even adding National Insurance to that I'm struggling to see how it gets to over 60%, unless you're adding VAT into the equation ?

I find the idea that somebody could struggle on 80k as quite baffling.

I mean I suggest you have no idea what the word struggle means, 2k a month mortgage? They could always move.

Struggling means getting to the middle of the month and wondering how your gonna feed the family, not struggling to pay the mortgage on a 2m mansion.

Ok lets do the Math if someone earning 80k whose wife doesn't work.

After tax his take home is probably 50k.
Mortgage -24k
Car payments -6k
School payments / pension -10k?
Credit cards and tuition fees -2k

So before food heating etc for whole family that leaves 8k. Yea they're rolling in it.

Goat is spot on here mate, I currently pay income tax at the higher rate, but have been in a situation where I was earning buttons and, after paying for rent, utilities and food had pretty much zero disposable income. If you're living in this part of the country then anyone earning 80k is only going to struggle because they're incapable of budgeting.

 

[marty mcfly]

You see, I do have some sympathy with you. But you're really not fighting your cause very well. Affordable housing is an issue across the board. Where people are forward thinking, it can be provided. However, the underlying cause of the issue is wealth inequality.

You need to be careful fighting the plight of those with perceived wealth. They may be struggling too. By comparison though they generally do have more options than someone with no wealth what so ever.

There's a reason. I know they're right even I it appears its simply because they're greedy bastards.

What we should be doing is stopping them taking the benefits for themselves which is why I wanted the coalition last time and again.

I have no time for the chattering classes that want to appear self righteous while at the same time secretly glad the Tories got in.

 

[SweetJesus849]

The amount we pay nurses is a disgrace.

However that's my issue. The people who don't want to improve their career prospects aren't as productive as those that do. I've no issue with that choice but its the reality.

But not everyone can improve their career prospects at this stage of their lives, and even if they wanted to, it's not really their call. It's the call of someone else to give them that chance. On top of that, someone also has to do the necessary but boring jobs that actually drive production. For example, working on the assembly line, or picking in a warehouse.

Otherwise, without these people, nothing would get done at all. They shouldn't be punished.

 

[marty mcfly]

Top rate is 45% for folks earning over 150k
Even adding National Insurance to that I'm struggling to see how it gets to over 60%, unless you're adding VAT into the equation ?






Goat is spot on here mate, I currently pay income tax at the higher rate, but have been in a situation where I was earning buttons and, after paying for rent, utilities and food had pretty much zero disposable income. If you're living in this part of the country then anyone earning 80k is only going to struggle because they're incapable of budgeting.

Not everyone lives in the north.