UK Politics Thread part II

[Jimbuna]

WOW! what a great deterrent that would be

Benefit cheats could be stripped of driving licences

Convicted benefits cheats who fail to pay back the taxpayer could be stripped of their driving licences, under government plans to crack down on fraud.

Those who repeatedly cheat the system and have debts of £1,000 or more could be punished with a driving ban of up to two years.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cvg9px4q0y6o

[Moonlight]

These Labour politicians are just pissing in the wind and hoping it doesn't come straight back at them, none of these mad ideas of there's will take shape as the costs will be astronomical.

Focus on removing scrounging migrants you bleeding morons.

[Jimbuna]

I've been looking into Ed Milibands energy plans and the costs are astronomical and of dubious success according to a growing number of energy experts.

[Skybird]

I doubt any energy policy can be as insane and costly as the German one. So you better feel blessed!

[Jimbuna]

It would appear that 'Rachel from Accounts' has shot herself in the foot yet again.

UK's exodus of millionaires 'same as losing 500,000 average taxpayers'

The exodus of millionaires from Britain last year was equivalent to losing half-a-million average taxpayers, a new analysis has found.

Figures from New World Wealth, a global analytics firm, showed 10,800 liquid millionaires - who hold more than $1million in liquid assets - left the UK in 2024.

In their analysis of the research, the Adam Smith Institute found each of these millionaires would have been paying at least £393,957 in income tax.

This equates to the same income tax take as 49 average taxpayers - who each have an average income tax bill of £8,048, the think tank said.

It means - due to the exodus of millionaires - the Treasury is now facing a shortfall in income tax revenue equivalent to the income tax taken from 528,000 average taxpayers, the analysis added.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves' tax-hiking Budget was blamed for millionaires abandoning Britain, including Labour's plans to abolish the non-dom tax regime.

The Adam Smith Institute said the UK had an 'increasingly hostile attitude' towards wealth creation and warned average families could face even higher tax bills to fund public services.

The Tories claimed entrepreneurs and businesses were fleeing Britain 'in droves' under Labour, who they accused of overseeing a 'tepid bath of decline'.

It has previously been found how the top 1 per cent of income tax payers stump up 29.1 per cent of the UK's income tax, which is the Treasury's biggest source of tax revenue.

According to the research by New World Wealth, conducted together with investment migration advisers Henley & Partners, only China lost more millionaires than the UK in 2024.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/othe...c714df45&ei=42

[ET2SN]

Are these "fleeing millionaires" the Russian Oligarchs?

[Jimbuna]

Can't say for sure but I reckon some will be but not all.

[Skybird]

"The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money." - Maggie the Baddy

[Jimbuna]

Oh how very true

[Jimbuna]

Rachel Reeves will listen to millionaires but not farmers and pensioners

Chancellor Rachel Reeves can spring into action to help multi-millionaires but not - it seems - pensioners and farmers.

That's the harsh lesson people who have been hit with some of the Treasury's most bitterly opposed policies will draw from her moves to pacify so-called non-doms.

Millionaires are fleeing Britain. Farmers cannot pack up their fields and head abroad, and few pensioners would consider the leaving the country they have known all their lives.

More than 10,000 millionaires quit the UK in 2024 - a 157% increase on 2023. The Chancellor this week said at Davos, the global gathering in the Swiss alps for the world's uber-rich, that she has "been listening to the concerns that have been raised by the non-dom community".

What do pensioners who are struggling at the axing of the universal winter fuel allowance or farmers terrified they will lose family land because of inheritance changes have to do to get her attention?

Money talks. Despite warning in its manifesto of a "nature emergency" it appears Labour is now a fan of airport expansion. Energy Secretary Ed Miliband branded the idea he might resign over a third runway at Heathrow "ridiculous" - even though he reportedly threatened to walk out of Gordon Brown's cabinet on the issue in 2009.

The scale of economic danger facing the debt-laden UK seems to have encouraged ministers to think twice.

Labour went into the election promising to axe non-dom status, which allows people who live in Britain to avoid paying UK tax on money made overseas if they can prove their permanent home is abroad. Changes will be made so they can bring their assets to this country at a discounted rate.

Such creative flexibility would have been welcomed by Britain's elderly, farmers, and employers who are warning of the destructive impact of hiking up National Insurance contributions in the so-called "tax on jobs".

If the Chancellor is in listening mode she should listen to Tesco, Aldi, and Lidl who are backing the farmers. Supermarket bosses are not soggy romantics but hard-headed capitialists who understand about threats to supply chains.

Tesco has warned that nothing less than the "UK's future food security is at stake".

Likewise, the likes of Age UK have warned that the end of winter fuel payments for all has "been a disaster for many older people" with the decision to link eligibility to pension credit leaving "millions of the poorest and most vulnerable unprotected".

Again, Age UK is not an anti-Labour think tank but a charity dedicated to care of older citizens. People across the political divide raised concerns and came up with proposals for fairer ways of delivering the policy but could not change the Chancellor's mind.

The most recent Techne poll shows just one in four people would vote Labour if there was an election tomorrow - with 24% backing either the Conservatives or Reform UK.

This is a terrible position for a party of Government to be in just half a year after winning a landslide. If Sir Keir Starmer and the Chancellor want to avoid this parliamentary term ending in another extended exile in the wilderness they need to learn to people of wisdom and experience - not just millionaires - who can see disaster ahead.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/othe...c028ef45&ei=11

[Jimbuna]

[Jimbuna]

Reeves hits back at ‘Rachel from accounts’ nickname saying she has spent her life ‘proving people wrong’

Rachel Reeves has hit back at her critics, saying she has spent her life “proving people wrong” when asked if she is hurt by the nickname “Rachel from accounts”.

Her critics have used the nickname to mock the beleaguered chancellor, who has been struggling to persuade the public - and UK businesses - that her plan for the economy is working.

But asked if she was hurt by the nickname, she said: “I’ve probably been called worse things… in the end, people are going to judge me on the job that I’m doing now, that I’m doing as chancellor of the exchequer.”

And asked if she thought she would be subjected to a condescending label if she were a man, the chancellor told Sky News: “Some people don’t want this government to succeed.

“Some people don’t want me to succeed. I spend my life proving people wrong, proving that I can do stuff, that I’ve been underestimated.”

It comes after Labour MP Peter Prinsley hit back at people using the nickname.

“It’s a disgrace that members of the opposition have been referring to the chancellor of the exchequer as ‘Rachel from accounts’,” he said. “It’s misogynistic and deeply unprofessional.”

The nickname originated from accusations Ms Reeves had embellished her CV – allegations she has refuted.

Asked whether the chancellor had exaggerated her CV in November, No 10 defended her record in office saying she has “restored financial stability”.

The chancellor’s latest remarks come as recent rises in borrowing costs threaten her economic plans, while leaders in the business sector continue to voice concerns over upcoming tax rises in April from her autumn Budget.

Despite the prime minister’s insistence that he will keep Ms Reeves in post, there have been growing questions over her position as the economy teeters on the edge of a recession and business confidence in the government sits at its worst point since the Covid pandemic.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknew...987c45f6&ei=44

[Jimbuna]

Farage accuses Starmer of plot to cancel half of May elections to slow Reform momentum

Sir Keir Starmer is plotting to scrap around half of this year's local elections to curb Reform UK's momentum, Nigel Farage has claimed.

The former UKIP leader has fumed over the alleged plan, which he says is also being taken advantage of by Conservative-run authorities.

Voters are due to cast their ballots at local elections for their local councils on May 1.

But there has been speculation as to whether some will not be able to cast their vote as ministers reportedly want to reorganise local government.

In November, it was reported that Labour ministers think the two-tier approach in some areas of the UK - whereby district councils operate underneath a wider authority - is inefficient.

Larger unitary councils may replace smaller bodies, it has been speculated, with more regional mayors also perhaps being appointed.

Mr Farage told TalkTV: "This has not been talked about at all...Labour want to reorganise the structure of local government.

"That is being used by county councils in which the Conservatives are in control to say, 'Ah well, if there are changes incoming, let's suspend the elections."

He added: "And, guess what, the councils that have asked for suspensions of the elections are the ones in which Reform is the strongest."

Mr Farage went on to say that democracy to thousands will be "denied".

He added: "I thought only dictators cancelled elections."

In December, a Reform UK source told Express.co.uk that the party is looking forward to this year's local elections.

They said: "The 2025 local elections - assuming they are not cancelled! - are a huge opportunity for Reform UK to cement our position as a truly national contender for power.

"Of course we're looking to consolidate our position in the areas we made our breakthrough in the General Election, all of which are currently scheduled to have council elections next year."

The party's gungho statement added that they are "coming for the Tories in the south" and "coming for Labour in the north".

They added: "We've already established hundreds of local branches, and we're well on the way to covering every constituency.

"Now we're rolling out the tools and materials to the branches so they can deliver winning campaigns right across the country."
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknew...784b180&ei=119

[Jimbuna]

Labour Cabinet rift widens as Ed Miliband hints Heathrow expansion might not happen

Ed Miliband has suggested that Heathrow's airport expansion might not happen amid a Cabinet rift over the issue.

A third runway needs to be "justified within carbon budgets", the Energy Secretary told the Environment Audit Committee on Monday.

He added: "If it cannot be justified, it will not take place. I can absolutely assure you that is the position of the Government. That is absolutely the basis on which the Government stands."

A carbon budget places a restriction on the total amount of greenhouse gases the UK can emit over a five-year period.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has said she could support plans for a new runway at the London airport to spur on "growth".

But this is at odds with objections from Cabinet ministers, including Mr Miliband.

The Chancellor is expected to endorse proposals for a third runway at Heathrow in a speech on Wednesday, as well as expansion at Gatwick and Luton airports.

Meanwhile analysts have warned that Mr Miliband is on track to miss his flagship clean power target because of a projected shortfall in wind and solar farms.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/othe...784b180&ei=199

[Jimbuna]

Labour MPs turn on Starmer as they warn he risks damaging US ties over military spending delay

Labour's own MPs have warned Sir Keir Starmer that a failure to boost military spending could put the "special relationship" with the US at risk.

Starmer is expected to delay bringing defence spending up to 2.5 per cent of GDP until after 2030, The Times revealed - a cut below President Donald Trump's expectations.

Prior to his return to the White House last week, Trump was understood to be approaching Nato allies with a "demand five per cent, accept three per cent" line on military expenditure as part of the alliance.

Labour quartet Luke Akehurst, Dan Carden, Tan Dhesi and Luke Pollard have all made public statements calling for a spending boost.

Defence committee chairman Dhesi warned: "The cost of fighting a war... is significantly higher than providing a credible deterrence force."

While Liverpool Walton MP Carden said: "The simple reality is to build strong alliances, we must maintain and build our autonomy. To maintain a good relationship with the US, we will have to spend more on defence."

Armed forces minister Luke Pollard said Dhesi was "absolutely right" that "deterring a war is cheaper than fighting a war".
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/othe...22921e37&ei=35