Reviewing the Coalition

kabayiri

Generali wrote: »

Two points to that:

1. Most won't pay off their tuition fees so they aren't really a debt
2. Is that really a Poll Tax/Winter of Discontent moment? Surely not.

Very few discontent moments I think.

We have been treading water mostly.

The Child Benefit scrappage for higher earners seemed to generate disagreement - more for the way it was done; the imbalances you can get.

We are still, as a nation, very generous to the unemployed and low paid I would say. I know I am going to be castigated for this, but I wonder if we are not helping them by being soft nowadays.

kabayiri

IveSeenTheLight wrote: »

...

!!!!!!, I wish politicians would take accountability for their actions and term and stop harking back to the past.

Take responsibility of what you do now and what you offer in your manifestos.

I'd love politicians to be resonsible, accountable, and honest - even if I don't like the resulting messages.

I suspect though that in reality they would be ousted by the conniving politicians who manipulate stats to reinforce their rose-tinted view of the world.

The current coallition have had their dubious moments. Buying the Post Office pension fund pre-privatisation can not be classed as a deficit reduction strategy! And yet, they used it to claim they met the target that year.

Castle

Thrugelmir wrote: »

In all likelihood. HSBC will move it's head office if Labour win the election. Only impacts around 250 staff. With it will go around $1.5 billion of banking tax levy revenue that Milliband has committed to spend elsewhere. Having an anti business government ( Labour and SNP) will do little for the UK economy. I agree that issues need resolving. Simply taxing and regulating profit isn't the answer.

You mean the banking tax levy introduced by George Osborne in 2011.

kabayiri

Thrugelmir wrote: »

...

In all likelihood. HSBC will move it's head office if Labour win the election. Only impacts around 250 staff. With it will go around $1.5 billion of banking tax levy revenue that Milliband has committed to spend elsewhere. Having an anti business government ( Labour and SNP) will do little for the UK economy. I agree that issues need resolving. Simply taxing and regulating profit isn't the answer.

If there were a concerted effort by the UK public and business to move from HSBC to another UK bank would this not help restore this $1.5bn?

I don't like the concept of big business feeling they can hold the public to ransom somehow.

CLAPTON

kabayiri wrote: »

If there were a concerted effort by the UK public and business to move from HSBC to another UK bank would this not help restore this $1.5bn?

I don't like the concept of big business feeling they can hold the public to ransom somehow.

currently the UK tax payer benefit from tax on HSBC world wide earnings
if they move their HQ abroad then the UK tax payers will only benefit from HSBC UK earnings

not sure whether that counts as holding the public to ransom.

cells

Thrugelmir wrote: »

What else would you expect. Brown's expenditure plans in the early 00's were built on inflation busting rises in tax on petrol for example. Not only have the rises been stopped. With the crash in oil price so has Government taxation revenue now. Likewise the contribution from the Financial Services sector.

In all likelihood. HSBC will move it's head office if Labour win the election. Only impacts around 250 staff. With it will go around $1.5 billion of banking tax levy revenue that Milliband has committed to spend elsewhere. Having an anti business government ( Labour and SNP) will do little for the UK economy. I agree that issues need resolving. Simply taxing and regulating profit isn't the answer.

why would the banking levy go with it?

is it not a tax on £££ debts held by banks in which case it wont be impacted by HSBC moving??

cells

CLAPTON wrote: »

currently the UK tax payer benefit from tax on HSBC world wide earnings
if they move their HQ abroad then the UK tax payers will only benefit from HSBC UK earnings

not sure whether that counts as holding the public to ransom.

is this at all true?

tesco have stores in many countries surely they pay taxes in those countries rather than in the UK for profits earnt there

if anything dont companies do the opposite, make a profit in the UK, get their Ireland (or insert low corp tax country) subsidiary to write them an invoice for "admin" or whatever to effectively lower their UK tax bill but increase their irish tax bill (20% corp tax traded for 12.5% corp tax)

cells

well for me some of the negatives from this government were...

the failure to restore house building to 200,000 units or more. That resulted in more debt, less jobs, less income, less tax. Its quite a big !!!!up imo but often you don't get criticised for what you fail to do, only for what you do do

also the want to go into another 10 year war which was averted by milipede.

purch

kabayiri wrote: »

- more for the way it was done;

I think a lot of the things done by the Coalition were quite sensible, and difficult to argue with....

Unfortunately the way many of the policies were sold, and/or put into practice left a lot to be desired.

Substance over style, which is what the country needs but which doesn't always win the votes.

Castle

Ref the Banking Tax Levy;
All the government has to do is to raise the "%" levy. According to this 2014 document it should raise at least £2.5 billion each year. https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/264604/2._Bank_levy_rates.pdf