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New Labour government - legislative agenda

"What Treasury says about how it will save £5.5bn this year, and £8bn next year, to fill £22bn shortfall left by Tories"

I would have hoped their maths was better than this.

TBF, they'll will also be eating into the £9bn reserve budget.

And, I guarantee there'll be some tax increases come Oct.
 
Good stuff



At least where I work, the government accepting the independent pay body recommendations isn’t quite the same as the pay award being officially signed off as there would still need to be formal agreement between the body of employers and the union(s) but it’s a good step closer to being agreed.

(FAO of anyone who may be unsure this is an example of a post with content)
 
Unison is about to go to ballot for strike over the Tory pay offer in Local Authorities. Anyone heard anything about a new offer there?
 
My thoughts on Reeves Statement:

1. Efficiency savings, means testing the winter fuel allowance, selling off buildings, cancelling new hospitals etc are all political choices. They are choices that a Tory chancellor could also easily have made.

2. The pay awards for the public sector are good (even if cuts will be made to part fund them) but a) do not make up for what those workers have lost over the past two years from corporate price gouging and inflation and over the last 40 years from the assault on the working class.

3. The idea that the forthcoming Budget cuts and tax rises are a) as a result of a black hole that Labour has only just discovered and b) inevitable is both a lie and a sign that Labour is already under the control of Treasury orthodoxy. Spending cuts and more taxes on the working class are, again, political choices that a Tory Chancellor could also easily have made.

4. Reeves continues to peddle the same lie as Osborne and successive Tory Chancellors that managing the economy is the same as managing a household budget. This is just bollocks.

5. The media continue to overlook the reality that Reeves 'growth plan' is built on sand. No public investment, no serious national industrial strategy, no serious insourcing or nationalisation plan = no sustainable economic growth.

6. Reeves could avoid 1 and 3 and increase 2 and do much much more by simply taxing unearned income at the same rate as earned income is taxed, or she could have chosen to make a start by taxing obscene wealth. For example, this modest proposal could raise £10bn:

Wealth taxes could raise £10bn to help plug Tory budget hole, say economists

The unthinking posting of Labour spin on this site is starting to grate….if some posters think Labour’s economic plan makes sense say why and we can debate it.
 
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3. The idea that the forthcoming Budget cuts and tax rises are a) as a result of a black hole that Labour has only just discovered and b) inevitable is both a lie and a sign that Labour is already under the control of Treasury orthodoxy. Spending cuts and more taxes on the working class are, again, political choices that a Tory Chancellor could also easily have made.

Treasury control is unnecessary in order to explain that. I think it was baked into ideology thats been on display during the entire Starmer Labour era.
 
My thoughts on Reeves Statement:

1. Efficiency savings, means testing the winter fuel allowance, selling off buildings, cancelling new hospitals etc are all political choices. They are choices that a Tory chancellor could also easily have made.

2. The pay awards for the public sector are good (even if cuts will be made to part fund them) but a) do not make up for what those workers have lost over the past two years from corporate price gouging and inflation and over the last 40 years from the assault on the working class.

3. The idea that the forthcoming Budget cuts and tax rises are a) as a result of a black hole that Labour has only just discovered and b) inevitable is both a lie and a sign that Labour is already under the control of Treasury orthodoxy. Spending cuts and more taxes on the working class are, again, political choices that a Tory Chancellor could also easily have made.

4. Reeves continues to peddle the same lie as Osborne and successive Tory Chancellors that managing the economy is the same as managing a household budget. This is just bollocks.

5. The media continue to overlook the reality that Reeves 'growth plan' is built on sand. No public investment, no serious national industrial strategy, no serious insourcing or nationalisation plan = no sustainable economic growth.

6. Reeves could avoid 1 and 3 and increase 2 and do much much more by simply taxing unearned income at the same rate as earned income is taxed, or she could have chosen to make a start by taxing obscene wealth. For example, this modest proposal could raise £10bn:

Wealth taxes could raise £10bn to help plug Tory budget hole, say economists

The unthinking posting of Labour spin on this site is starting to grate….if some posters think Labour’s economic plan makes sense say why and we can debate it.

Why do you believe (3a) that Labour is lying about the Tories concealing the impact of costed commitments? Do you know more about it than the IFS or the Resolution Foundation?
 
the tories were overspending on asylum and rail? I thought spending on rail was a good thing, or do they mean paying too much for stuff? Similar with asylum, how are they going to reduce the amount that's paid?
 
5. The media continue to overlook the reality that Reeves 'growth plan' is built on sand. No public investment, no serious national industrial strategy, no serious insourcing or nationalisation plan = no sustainable economic growth.

6. Reeves could avoid 1 and 3 and increase 2 and do much much more by simply taxing unearned income at the same rate as earned income is taxed, or she could have chosen to make a start by taxing obscene wealth. For example, this modest proposal could raise £10bn:

Wealth taxes could raise £10bn to help plug Tory budget hole, say economists

The unthinking posting of Labour spin on this site is starting to grate….if some posters think Labour’s economic plan makes sense say why and we can debate it.

I dont know if the media is capable of sensible discussion about growth anymore. Perhaps in part because the entire concept of meaningful growth in the partially deindustrialised developed world, during a century of tricky energy transition, has gone a bit weird. Other basic economic concepts, that used to be central to the mainstream news and political narrative when I was growing up, such as balance of trade, have also been relegated to the margins in ways I have yet to get my head around properly.

At this stage of the new government I'm not really surprised that some people might be temporarily satisfied by the obvious differences between this government and the tory one, on certain rhetorical fronts (but not others) and when it comes to things like public sector pay agreements. All the same it is still sad to see a lack of wailing about the horrific language of cuts that was on clear display today. I suppose I shall largely wait till October to see exactly which tax rises the government go for before making predictions about the response, the perceptions, the extent to which people will hold their nose or be able to continue to look on the bright side. So far, as expected, there is no radical departure from the establishment economic rhetoric, but until I see the tax rise details, I cannot really predict whether this government are going to prove themselves somewhat skilful at giving the impression of pulling off a very difficult balancing act (within artificially imposed constraints that I will never support). So far they've done exactly as we were led to believe they would, which has little in common with how I would like things to be done, which is why I could not bring myself to vote for them. I'm not surprised that people arent losing their shit, because the expectations management set this scene long ago, limiting the shock and horror that was ever likely to be expressed at this stage.
 
The seriously daft thing is cancelling the infrastructure projects. These will have already incurred costs to this point, will incur further cancellation costs, and then in the future yet more costs when the projects no doubt get recommissioned.

I haven’t worked at the Bank of England, admittedly, but understood infrastructure investment was generally seen as a positive thing for the economy.

But Reeves seems to be of the school of thought that governments don’t provide things if they don’t have to and that probably includes reopening much needed railway lines
 
Why do you believe (3a) that Labour is lying about the Tories concealing the impact of costed commitments? Do you know more about it than the IFS or the Resolution Foundation?

I’m not interested- in the slightest - about the spin and media bollocks about how much of the ‘black hole’ was known before the election and how much has been discovered. The lie is that spending cuts and tax rises are inevitable. They are not. They are a political choice.
 
I missed the speech, so that talk about inceasing corporation tax we heard all last week.....anything on that or is she just going to fuck over the little people like the true tory cunt she is

We dont get most of the tax details till October. Mostly all we got on that front today was confirmation of VAT on private school fees, and the now familiar rhetoric about which forms of taxation would not rise later this year. Im sure there will be plenty of leaks and floating of tax ideas in the press in the months ahead, after that management class have had their summer holidays.
 
Tyres it depends. Weight is a factor but the way you drive is a bigger factor. If you're trying to maximise range you're likely to be at the lower end of emissions.

The RAC did a good Fact Check on this.
that's really interesting, ta

eta: article ends with

One final thought on emissions to end with: the UK is set to close its last remaining coal-fired power plants, but even if EVs were 100% powered by coal, it is much easier to fit particulate filters to a small number of very large, static power plants located away from city centres, than it is to fit effective filters to millions of small, mobile petrol and diesel engines running in urban areas.

The end result is that cities that have embraced EVs have already demonstrably benefitted from reduced pollution and improved air quality, and this trend shall only continue as more EVs switch to drum brakes, new tyres are developed that reduce nanoparticulate pollution even further, and the UK’s grid becomes ever increasingly powered by clean renewable energy.
 
I’m not interested- in the slightest - about the spin and media bollocks about how much of the ‘black hole’ was known before the election and how much has been discovered. The lie is that spending cuts and tax rises are inevitable. They are not. They are a political choice.

If you’re not interested in it, why post that it is a lie?
 
Why do you believe (3a) that Labour is lying about the Tories concealing the impact of costed commitments? Do you know more about it than the IFS or the Resolution Foundation?
By Resolution Foundation you mean LP Torsten Bell, and the head of the IFS stating
Johnson tweeted: “1 Last govt left public finances in bad state; 2 it does appear that funding for eg asylum was not provided but 3 c. half of spending ‘hole’ is public pay over which govt made a choice and where pressures were known; and 4 overall challenge for spending was known and remains.”
 

Also:

On 29 July, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced a commitment to take action in respect of the ‘carried interest’ loophole. Carried interest is a form of performance-related reward received by fund managers, primarily within the private equity industry.

This call for evidence confirms the government’s intention to take action against the carried interest loophole, and forms the basis for detailed engagement with expert stakeholders. It also sets out a series of areas where we would particularly value input from stakeholders.


and

The government has announced that the rate of the EPL will increase to 38% from 1 November 2024, bringing the headline rate of tax on upstream oil and gas activities to 78%. The period that the levy applies is also being extended to 31 March 2030. The government will also remove unjustifiably generous investment allowances from the EPL by abolishing the levy’s main 29% investment allowance for qualifying expenditure incurred on or after 1 November 2024 and by reducing the extent to which capital allowances can be taken into account in calculating levy profits. Further details of these changes will be announced by the Chancellor at Budget.

 
Right so give some content - what are your thoughts on Reeves statement?

For my part I think the claims that Labour didn't now this stuff do not really stand up. It was always clear that the LP was not dealing with the issue - as pointed out by those radical commies the IFS.
Sorry for the late reply, I was in the departure lounge of Belfast airport and now I'm stuck at Liverpool Lime Street where it appears all trains are cancelled.

So with time to think about responding to a few things.

1. I know that the forum rules are what they are re:Twitter posts. I find that there are often plenty of responses to just posting them without comment because often they're enough, on their own, to inform or update. I've altered my posts recently to ensure they include a screenshot or quote rather than just the embedded Tweet to aid with access. In future I'll include some comment or response for context.

2. Twitter is a cesspit but it's also, still and undeniably, the goto place for news, responses to news, commentary on news, and reactions from all sides on ongoing events. It's far too late to detach a thread based messageboard from Twitter. It's still how the beating heart of news is commentated on. Posting links here, with or without commentary, is just one way to inform, update, or provide context on fast moving events

3. You chided me for posting from the Guardian newsfeed. I did that to provide update and context on an ongoing event. Not everybody looks at the Guardian all day. It's just one way I engage in threads. Often I don't have an opinion, I just have an interest in looking for updates and commentary and cross posting it here where it might be of interest or use.

4. Other users with a Twitter reputation, if I can put it like that, can answer for themselves. I'm not posting memes all day. I'm not posting random things with little context to the matter at hand. I'm trying to provide something constructive and relevant.

5. There won't be much discussion on a discussion board if we all agree with one another. Or if we just type variations on the same theme. I'm not as 'of the left' as many on here so of course I'm less likely to want to post my full opinions in case it doesn't come across as I had intended. I've witnessed the responses from users who find posts even remotely "centrist". Of course I'm wary of being brought up for not holding views in keeping with the general thrust of the forum.

6. That said, it'd be chicken of me to avoid typing what I feel about today's announcements. I'm not surprised that these steps have had to be made outside the larger and more extensive Budget Day. The Tories were scorching the earth prior to the election defeat and it appears that they deliberately left traps for Labour to fall into. I'm no Tory (I'm far too gay, proud of the right to protest and supportive of the EU for that). They mishandled the economy for ideological reasons and should be called out for it. Labour won on the grounds of not being chaos. They have to balance the books. They have to exist within the financial rules of our general society, they're not the party of 'tax high, spend all " because we don't live in isolation from the consequences. I hope that investment in railways does happen, because infrastructure spending can't just be building homes. I hope hospital rebuilding happens because I'm NHS, so I know my workplace is mostly rat's piss and sticky tape. I hope public sector pay is resolved, affordable for both sides. Here's to the grown ups being in charge.
 
Sorry for the late reply, I was in the departure lounge of Belfast airport and now I'm stuck at Liverpool Lime Street where it appears all trains are cancelled.

So with time to think about responding to a few things.

1. I know that the forum rules are what they are re:Twitter posts. I find that there are often plenty of responses to just posting them without comment because often they're enough, on their own, to inform or update. I've altered my posts recently to ensure they include a screenshot or quote rather than just the embedded Tweet to aid with access. In future I'll include some comment or response for context.

2. Twitter is a cesspit but it's also, still and undeniably, the goto place for news, responses to news, commentary on news, and reactions from all sides on ongoing events. It's far too late to detach a thread based messageboard from Twitter. It's still how the beating heart of news is commentated on. Posting links here, with or without commentary, is just one way to inform, update, or provide context on fast moving events

3. You chided me for posting from the Guardian newsfeed. I did that to provide update and context on an ongoing event. Not everybody looks at the Guardian all day. It's just one way I engage in threads. Often I don't have an opinion, I just have an interest in looking for updates and commentary and cross posting it here where it might be of interest or use.

4. Other users with a Twitter reputation, if I can put it like that, can answer for themselves. I'm not posting memes all day. I'm not posting random things with little context to the matter at hand. I'm trying to provide something constructive and relevant.

5. There won't be much discussion on a discussion board if we all agree with one another. Or if we just type variations on the same theme. I'm not as 'of the left' as many on here so of course I'm less likely to want to post my full opinions in case it doesn't come across as I had intended. I've witnessed the responses from users who find posts even remotely "centrist". Of course I'm wary of being brought up for not holding views in keeping with the general thrust of the forum.

6. That said, it'd be chicken of me to avoid typing what I feel about today's announcements. I'm not surprised that these steps have had to be made outside the larger and more extensive Budget Day. The Tories were scorching the earth prior to the election defeat and it appears that they deliberately left traps for Labour to fall into. I'm no Tory (I'm far too gay, proud of the right to protest and supportive of the EU for that). They mishandled the economy for ideological reasons and should be called out for it. Labour won on the grounds of not being chaos. They have to balance the books. They have to exist within the financial rules of our general society, they're not the party of 'tax high, spend all " because we don't live in isolation from the consequences. I hope that investment in railways does happen, because infrastructure spending can't just be building homes. I hope hospital rebuilding happens because I'm NHS, so I know my workplace is mostly rat's piss and sticky tape. I hope public sector pay is resolved, affordable for both sides. Here's to the grown ups being in charge.
Nicely put.
 
Nicely put.

Is it?

Is placing 2 million pensioners into fuel poverty nicely put?

Is leaving the income of the richest pensioners - and the rich generally - untouched nicely put?

Is inverting Keynes "we can only do what we can afford" and pretending the UK economy is essentially the same as managing a household budget nicely put?

You must be very proud of your 'friends in the Government'....
 
Tyres it depends. Weight is a factor but the way you drive is a bigger factor. If you're trying to maximise range you're likely to be at the lower end of emissions.

The RAC did a good Fact Check on this.
That's a pretty good analysis. My only quibble would be that many (but not all) EVs have OEM tyres that are quite a bit harder in composition than your average. This is to maximise headline range, as harder tyres have lower rolling resistance. And emit fewer particulates. But there is a tradeoff in grip. This is why you're seeing tyre wear fairly equivalent, not because the weights are close enough, as the RAC suggests.

We drive little enough that the tyres tend to crack and perish before the tread wears thin! :D We do about 3500mi a year and a decent set will last 25-30k on the tread, but they will start to crack in 6 years.
 
Is it?

Is placing 2 million pensioners into fuel poverty nicely put?

Is leaving the income of the richest pensioners - and the rich generally - untouched nicely put?

Is inverting Keynes "we can only do what we can afford" and pretending the UK economy is essentially the same as managing a household budget nicely put?

You must be very proud of your 'friends in the Government'....

The cuts to winter fuel allowances are for those not on pension credit or means tested benefits. Like free TV licenses there are many pensioners who don't benefit because they're fairly well off.

The Tories left the country in debt and debts need repaying.
 
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