Re: Starmer’s chronicles
 

You accidentally missed out a bit…

Strange when Rayner underpays Stamp Duty it’s a scandal, but when Tice underpays £91k of Corporation Tax, it’s a minor administrative error…

Re: Starmer’s chronicles
 

It wasn't just the fact she sold them off, its the fact she put laws and restrictions in place to stop new ones being built with the proceeds, her utilities sell off has led us to where we are now, sky high bills, companies loaded with debt and little investment, Norway has a huge sovereign wealth fund benefitting its people with the proceeds of North Sea oil, who benefitted from our north sea oil and we will be paying the price for her policies forever not just 35 years after because the damage done can't simply be undone, it took decades to get the right to buy money freed up and used in communities for instance

Re: Starmer’s chronicles
 

absolutely. We are living in Thatchers Britain. I thought everyone of a certain age knew all this.

I did say I had a list I was just waiting to see what replies I got.

How many of use pay council Tax? oh the big Poll Tax climb down

Re: Starmer’s chronicles
 

How many on here bought shares in British Gas went it was privatised . . and what did you then do with those shares?

Re: Starmer’s chronicles
 

Always been a poor working class council estate lad never owned a share

Re: Starmer’s chronicles
 

Started off on a poor working class council estate, clawed my way upwards, never bought shares in anything though.

Re: Starmer’s chronicles
 

Fair play mate. I come from a mining town with 2 large collieries quite close by. One of which still run until relatively recently but at a tiny rate to what it was . We also had what was known as one of the best iron fabrication plants in the world had to close down due to lack of investment in the processes so those abroad could offer cheaper castings. Pretty much the same story with most of British industry

My best friends father was head union rep at one of them and the stuff they had to go through fighting for their just to get trampled on. Saw it all first hand some of these areas as well as the steal and ship building areas never really recovered that is why I can say without a shadow of any doubt we are still paying the price

Re: Starmer’s chronicles
 

same here clawed myself out of the gutter,now i'm flopped out on the pavement

socially i refer to myself as upper gutter class,with a few bob in the bank:)

Re: Starmer’s chronicles
 

TBH those who rose the way from the gutter know what it is like to be there . Those who never experience true hardship will never understand . I consider myself on the curb but I am on here I just get splashed a bit

Re: Starmer’s chronicles
 

It wasn't just the Mines closing that decimated towns, it was also the knock on effect of the businesses that serviced the mines now having no work too.

I'm only around 25 miles from some badly hit areas.

Re: Starmer’s chronicles
 

Thought I had woke up in the Twilight Zone when Paul and Jem replied and in this world the 80s did not happen . Relieved others here see it to . Thought I had gone mad for minute

Re: Starmer’s chronicles
 

But Tice paid income tax on the £91K (a higher rate than corporation tax). Whereas Rayner stood to have “pocketed” the £40K without an income tax burden.


---------- Post added at 10:41 ---------- Previous post was at 10:37 ----------

That’s nothing, Papa. My father was a toolmaker (!) and, before anyone else says the obvious, here I am.

EDIT: He made diamond tipped tools in between his stints as a WWII soldier.


---------- Post added at 10:47 ---------- Previous post was at 10:41 ----------

Too many question marks, mate !!!!!!!

The 80s did happen, you are quite right. Thatcher got some of the privatisations wrong, particularly water. The biggest failure was the regulation regime which, for energy, has killed the benefits of competition.

But the real con on privatisation was that we were supposed to buy shares in mwhat we already owned and paid for through the state.

Re: Starmer’s chronicles
 

I think everyone's recollection of that period will vary depending on how close they were to the harsh reality of the policies. I'm in Wakefield and the visual reminders are still there to see, both socially and in the built environment. There are the remains of mining communities that are still split and the hurt and resentment (on both sides) still runs deep.

I remember in the early 80's Wakefield was buzzing, people had money in their pockets and a Saturday night in town was a crazy experience. I used to love going to the miners gala in the park - it was something we used to look forward to.

All those days are now gone and while it's not as grim as it once was it's still grim if you know where to look. In 1984 there were 15 pits in the district employing about 20,000 people directly, and probably many more in supporting industries (engineering, haulage etc) and even more in businesses that flourished because of the miners wages (local shops, pubs etc). A community can't loose that many jobs and just carry on as if nothing happened. Apparently, in Wakefield the last figures I've seen show 16% of the population is in the most 10% of deprived areas in the country, and it wasn't like this before the Conservatives decided to destroy what they saw as the disruptive working class. Because of the choices made in Downing Street 40 years ago, one ongoing impact is the thousands of children who don't have a bed for themselves in Wakefield.

So in this part of the world the impact of the Conservative policies are still there for all to see, but I suppose if you didn't live in an area where >90% of the men in the area found themselves out of work then you probably won't understand the lasting impact it had. As a country we should be ashamed of some of our recent history.

Feel free to flame me, but like some of the others I've lived it and many many people round here are still living it.

Re: Starmer’s chronicles
 

Re: Starmer’s chronicles
 

They didn't need replacing because there was NO NET IMPACT on homeless etc.