Re: Starmer’s chronicles
 

less bullshyte

Re: Starmer’s chronicles
 

I'd go for:

Facebook
Twitter (lets rename it 'X' because . . . )
Net Zero
AI
Data Centers
TV (40 channels of shite is more than enough)
Idiots
Spam Phone Calls
Advertisements
Promoting the 2% of stuff that the other 98% don't give a toss about
American Culture
Shops/Businesses selling nothing but cheap rubbish imports



'sigh' . . . and breathe :D

Re: Starmer’s chronicles
 

Like Reform do in Kent. :D

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Except most of those dont seem to have anything to do with income tax we pay.

Re: Starmer’s chronicles
 

true enough . . but I'd still like less of them

oh, and I forgot to add the Celebrity Fixation to the list, far too much of that around for my liking :Yes:

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Re: Starmer’s chronicles
 

Less spent on illegal immigration
Less benefits for working age people that are a bit anxious
Less benefits for legal immigrants that have never worked (usually relatives brought over)
Less money spent on public sector pensions
Less money wasted in the NHS
Less money spent on the Chagos islands (hopefully no money)

To start, if I really think about it I could easily come up with more.

Re: Starmer’s chronicles
 

This, this & this again

I pulled this from my HMRC app , it’s for last tax year

This shows a breakdown of how your taxes have be spent by government.
Description
Welfare (21.6%)
Health (20.2%)
State Pensions (11.4%)
National Debt Interest (11.1%)
Education (10.2%)
Defence (5.2%)
Public Order and Safety (4.4%)
Transport (4.2%)
Business and Industry (4.2%)
Government Administration (2.1%)
Housing and Utilities, like street lighting (1.8%)
Environment (1.4%)
Culture, like sports, libraries, museums (1.2%)
Overseas Aid (0.7%)
Outstanding payment- to 4b- Ell/n 5%)

My local council spending
Adult Social Care and Children's Care account for 80% of all net Council expenditure.

Meanwhile, in a neighbouring council
https://www.stockton.gov.uk/article/...ds-this-winter


These numbers to me are petrifying

Re: Starmer’s chronicles
 

Indeed if you look at the figures, then over 50% of all Government spending is on welfare, health and pensions. So if the consensus is that saving need to be made, then these are are areas which need to be targeted.

Except, although logically obvious, they are political dynamite. No party wants to campaign on ‘vote for us and we will cut pensions and money for the NHS - because that is absolutely necessary’. Won’t end well.

So we get the short-term views, vote for us, it’ll all be fine! Maybe, maybe, if (and it’s a big if), you can grow the economy then, fine, maybe health etc. can be better funded. But maybe in the short term, to do this requires cuts in the above services to invest in others?

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There is a good idea in this article that you set it as a percentage of average earnings, but also link it with inflation.

So it normally goes up with workers' wage growth, but in times where inflation is higher than that, then the pension will still match inflation. The main difference here (other than giving 2.5% bump anyway) is that the pension then won't continue to go up. It says the same until wages catch up.

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I'm not convinced that raising the pension age will do any good.

I worked until almost 67 yrs old (instead of 65½ ) and was forced to retire through poor health (knee joint and lower back arthritis).

If 70 was the retiring age I'd have spent time on long term sick . . and with all the benefits that come with it, (none of which apply now I'm a pensioner). Heck if I could be bothered to push I may even have got disability payments and free parking :D

Just false economy, like a lot of stuff banded about as a 'fix' for a Government with empty coffers.

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Don't think I know many from my working life that would still be do those jobs coming up to 70 . . in fact I'd guess 60 would be a push before leaving and finding something less demanding on the body.

Then you have the problem of actually finding another job at that age, where even the dumbest jobs are taken by the 'younger' ones because a 17yr old on minimum wage is paid less than an older person.

Re: Starmer’s chronicles
 

Re: Starmer’s chronicles
 

We could always look at it from a different direction . . and drop retirement age to 60.

If everybody stopped working at 60, there would be quite a few jobs up for grabs. The (new) pensioner gets roughly £12,500 per annum and a younger bloke with a family gets a decent paid job (£25k minimum?) . . therefore the UK saves on the benefits he was being paid for not being in work.

No idea how much those benefits (for a family) would be, but he's now got a job and money to spend and the pensioner gets time to . . do whatever he wants, and if he also has a private pension he's gonna be fine.

Would it also encourage more people to put into private pensions, knowing they'll probably still have some good years of decent health if retiring at 60 ?

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Probably so, yes . . and the sound of Banjos to go with it

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The AI argument perspective is interesting , mass layoffs in the US due to Ai however, the vast majority aren’t of them aren’t to replace staff it’s because the money is needed to purchase the GPU’s from NVIDIA.

In company’s where they did perform layoffs where AI was used to replace employees, one example of which would be Salesforce , there was a reversal where a significant number were rehired (on a lower wage though……)

AI in its current form is a bubble waiting to burst just like Dot com many years ago. Sure there’s some useful tooling available but the vast majority is just overhyped mehness

https://www.wheresyoured.at/the-case...generative-ai/

Re: Starmer’s chronicles
 

https://www.thurrott.com/a-i/openai-...evious-quarter

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Be extremely expensive, though. People are living longer, and you would be further tipping the balance between the retired and the workers paying for their retirement.

I think you need to keep the pension age where it is change the triple lock to a different system which doesn't let pensions erode vs inflation but doesn't trap the government into unsustainable increases.

Also further encourage private pension saving.

Re: Starmer’s chronicles
 

Retired workers aren't the big problem, it's the amount of unemployed workers that is the double whammy here.

If you're unemployed you receive benefits (paid for by taxation) yet pay no tax.
Get the unemployed into work and you immediately save on paying benefits whilst also getting tax income.

If you're long term sick (take a look at some of the figures lately) you get benefits without paying tax.
Deciding who is sick and who is just taking the piss is a massive undertaking, as seen with the disabled payment processes which have caused many problems to the genuine claimants.

. . . screwing businesses over isn't helping here at all

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Those on benefits spend all their money on being alive meaning it all goes and stays in circulation and a lot of that is taxed so they do pay tax just not income tax

Re: Starmer’s chronicles
 

Same as pensioners then, although pensioners are apparently the 'overpaid' now, having mainly worked all their life. :banghead:

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from my observations of my neighbours [the ones not in work, they outnumber the ones in work] they spend it on drugs and takeaways

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I’m sure I once watched a documentary which proposed an obvious solution to this problem.

I think it was called ‘Logan’s Run'

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Soylent Green…

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. Both work.

Kill them, when they reach 30

Or eat them afterwards

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21 in the original book…

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Can we maybe have one of those Zombie Apocalypse type of events? . . . I was going to say without the actual Zombies, but not too sure if they're already here in one form or another.

What was that other thing? . . . oh yeah, The Purge was it? :D

Re: Starmer’s chronicles
 

And so it begins

Starmer vows to fight any plots to oust him - as Labour MPs fear major budget backlash
Whispers in Westminster hint at a plot brewing behind-closed-doors to oust the prime minister. A tale of loyalty, deception, and banishments? Sounds somewhat familiar…


https://news.sky.com/story/starmer-v...klash-13468869

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He's quite obviously upset somebody.

. . . or everybody.

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Looks like the BBC have given Chris Mason the task of trying to distract us from their own problems by manufacturing a “crisis” for Starmer.

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No, this is deffo No 10. Maybe Starmer decided to scupper himself for the benefit of the BBC :erm:

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Maybe, but it is being amplified by Mason, and others, beyond what could better be described as tittle-tattle.

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In the last 5 years we've probably had more PM's than Watford have had managers . . :shocked:

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SkyNews report energy costs to rise despite wholesale costs going down. Perfect timing for Reeves from Halifax to intervene :erm:

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of course energy costs are set to rise, we've just had a smidgin of snow . . in Winter of all things . . . those big corporations don't turn a gift horse down mate

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The fallacy of our energy policy.

Milliband promised to reduce bills by £300 when elected, by current prices that will need to be around £450 now

It’s a target and promise he can’t meet, another broken promise by Labour.

By the end of this term god knows what it will be, it won’t go down that’s for sure.

Due to the U.K. energy pricing structure cheap electricity is not passed onto the consumer……..so what’s the point?

Re: Starmer’s chronicles
 

The extra money stolen from . . err . . paid by us, is apparently to pay for that new Nuclear Power station being built . . isn't it?


. . which will be good news for those still alive when it's finished, in 35 yrs time and 7x over budget :rolleyes: :D

Re: Starmer’s chronicles
 

OMG i used to go to the circus to watch the clowns, now i can sit at home and watch the budget. Labour the only ship sinking from the top.

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£150 off your energy bill, thanks be to Rachel :)

Taxes abolished on Bingo too. Den will be pleased :D

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Re: Starmer’s chronicles
 

After today, if I was asked to vote in a GE tomorrow I’d be voting Tory.

‘I’m asking ordinary people to pay more’ just isn’t acceptable. Ordinary people shouldn’t be paying more to account for woeful financial mismanagement and to support the percentage of people that won’t contribute

Re: Starmer’s chronicles
 

I read somewhere that it was a saving of £88, but it probably depends on how many TV's, tumble driers, electric blankets, set top boxes, laptops you have . . . and how often you charge the (soon to be) compulsory electric vehicle :D

Re: Starmer’s chronicles
 

It was the Tories that were responsible for the debt and the situation we're in ! The Govt for 14 years, not the ones just for the last 14 months. If they had won the last GE they'd have to do the same. Cutting NI as a pre election bribe , was a disgrace that we couldnt afford and didnt work. Just one example their financial mismanagement.

Remember Liz and Boris.....

---------- Post added at 18:29 ---------- Previous post was at 18:26 ----------

And you still have the triple lock, increased cash isa allowance. Pensioners never had it so good :)
However taking kids out of poverty gets everyone booing!

Re: Starmer’s chronicles
 

haha, that 'triple lock' will soon see even the poorest pensioners paying tax.
I know it won't be much, but 'indian giver' seems the apt phrase here.

They'll be taxing unemployed and disability benefits next :D

Re: Starmer’s chronicles
 

Labour promised a reduction of £300, and bills have risen since they took over.

So I won’t exactly be cracking out the bubbly.

Re: Starmer’s chronicles
 

Well freeze the state pension, and you won't have to worry about tax . Deal? ;) Can't have it all ways .

Re: Starmer’s chronicles
 

Not until 2027.
Next year the (new) pension goes up to £12,548, while the tax allowance is £12,570, so it will still be just under.
Even in 2027, its only going to go slightly over the limit, so the tax to be paid will be small (less than £100 per year).

Re: Starmer’s chronicles
 

It wasn’t great, wasn’t terrible either. My pay rise next year will be mostly wiped out by tax.

It was a budget for the welfare class, but then again what else would you expect from a socialist Labour government.

Wealth distribution, but not take from the rich and give to the poor.

Take from the slightly better off from the poor and give to the welfare class, which includes career scroungers and immigrants that have contributed zip to the economy.

Re: Starmer’s chronicles
 

Sorry, but Labour are complicit in this as well it’s not ALL the tories fault. Labour have made a crap situation even crapper

---------- Post added at 19:13 ---------- Previous post was at 19:11 ----------

Pretty much agree on this apart from the immigrants piece , that spending is relatively small imho in the grand scheme of things

I have a major issue with the career scroungers however.

Re: Starmer’s chronicles
 

Current domestic prices are not set by current wholesale prices. The energy is "bought" before now.

---------- Post added at 21:10 ---------- Previous post was at 21:08 ----------

Part of the reduction in energy bills was to be by insulation. Not everybody needs further insulation, so their bills won't be lowered because of it.

---------- Post added at 21:14 ---------- Previous post was at 21:10 ----------

The deficit was going down, before covid, energy prices, and cost-of-living came along. Without the previous "austerity" or if Labour won in 2010, UK finances would be a lot worse now.

Re: Starmer’s chronicles
 

Chipping at or taking away all the incentives to save, or build up your pension, what complete muppets.

* ISA Limit reducing to 12,000
* Tax on interest rising higher than other income.
* Pension contributions above £2,000 a year made via salary sacrifice will be subject to National Insurance.

Re: Starmer’s chronicles
 

No it wasn’t.

But if you can show me that caveat in the Labour manifesto…….I’ll look at it.

Re: Starmer’s chronicles
 

Pension changes are stupid.
Everything else is meh.

Freezing tax bands is annoying but fully expected, don't think any government will change that until we get some growth from somewhere.

---------- Post added at 23:24 ---------- Previous post was at 23:22 ----------

ISA will be higher if the remaining investment is Stocks and Shares, I think. Part of the reason is that the government want people to invest both to boost business but also so they get higher returns. It's hard to beat inflation with bank rates so people's money is slowly devaluing. A lot of dead money is sitting around. That's why these changes don't apply to people over 65 who might want to start drawing down their cash rather than letting it grow (and have smaller time horizons in case things go south).

Re: Starmer’s chronicles
 

People are not interested in "investing" in stocks or shares, most dont really understand them, but they do understand the warning "you may get back less than the amount you invested". So of course, they prefer the safer option of interest (Me included, IMO stocks/shares are a gamble).

Re: Starmer’s chronicles
 

A bit of both? Stocks and shares are give bigger returns in the the long term. Over time they do much better than cash savings. With cash savings if inflation is higher than the saving rate, then they are a guaranteed loss.

https://moneyweek.com/personal-finan...cks-and-shares

Re: Starmer’s chronicles
 

Sure, and it's risky for short-term savings, but for long-term savings, it does become an issue as people are getting smaller returns. I.E, A lot of pension saving has to be in shares, otherwise the growth will be really poor.

Re: Starmer’s chronicles
 

Re: Starmer’s chronicles
 

Can you show me any mention of £300? Not there
When did that happen?
Link
It was never all just about energy prices, but a £300 reduction on average on bills.

HansardSo now it's an "up to", which could be just 50p.

Re: Starmer’s chronicles
 

It could only ever have been an ‘up to’. If you already live in a modern well insulated house there’s nothing any government can do to reduce your bills by that much, short of substantially, artificially lowering the cost of gas and electricity.

Re: Starmer’s chronicles
 

No shit!

---------- Post added at 13:38 ---------- Previous post was at 13:30 ----------

https://labour.org.uk/updates/storie...ps-for-change/

It one of the first things they promised before they were in government. regardless of how they thought they were going to do it, they haven't.

and they haven't delivered it, and even if they did it wouldn't matter now anyway as the perceived reduction would be just swallowed up by tax.

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They should get into farming,there great at delivering bull shyte

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Bit like a certain party that cut NI before the last election, and we clearly couldn't afford. Either it would buy votes, or screw it up for the incoming Govt.....

They are all power mad schoolkids in the HOC. Noiser than any playgroup throwing their toys around yesterday, and chucking abuse about. Not sure its the best way to have reasonable debates or run a country.

Re: Starmer’s chronicles
 

Re: Starmer’s chronicles
 

The unaffordable NI cut wasnt Truss, it was Rishi and Jezza (H)unt. Consistent incompetence in Govt from all their various PMs. As for economic growth, did austerity acheive that?

Prescriptions frozen, rail fares frozen, energy bills cut , child poverty tackled . The freezing of tax bands is just continuing what the Tories had done. Yes the mansion owners are going to have to pay a bit more, but they arent really going to realky miss it are they? EV drivers and Landlords have had it coming for a while now ;)

Re: Starmer’s chronicles
 

Re: Starmer’s chronicles
 

if the conspiracy theory's doing the rounds are true, Rachael from accounts is building a War chest up for the budget just before the next election where they will offer everyone a bribe. I will take the bribe and still not vote for them

Re: Starmer’s chronicles
 

Who will you be changing your allegiance to then? Please don’t say the Greens!

Re: Starmer’s chronicles
 

Re: Starmer’s chronicles
 

Labour seem to be battling Reform for the benefit class. Reform win with the sound bites on immigrants stealing their jobs, can hard cash win them over instead?

Re: Starmer’s chronicles
 

Re: Starmer’s chronicles
 

It's hard for any party to grow the economy when it's being held back by Brexit. There was an excellent article in The Times the other day by Brexiteer Ryan Bourne who said it was time that Brexiteers acknowledged the costs of leaving Europe against the background of a new report.
https://archive.ph/wdhs5
https://www.nber.org/papers/w34459

Re: Starmer’s chronicles
 

Re: Starmer’s chronicles
 

I don't think it's a conspiracy theory, it's more the normal plan for most UK governments: get the bad news out of the way early on then have the good financial news in the last couple of years.

---------- Post added at 17:14 ---------- Previous post was at 17:13 ----------

We've been up it for a number of years.

Re: Starmer’s chronicles
 

Allegiance? You"re sounding like the Fuhrer himself OB ;)

.

Re: Starmer’s chronicles
 

Re: Starmer’s chronicles
 

We're too small a country and too wedded to Western European values to do anything significantly different from what we're doing. Nigel, Zack, Ed...whoever's in power will still follow the same broad approach. Our best hope is for someone to do it more competently and move towards reducing our trade friction with Europe that's made us all 6% poorer.

Re: Starmer’s chronicles
 

FFS, Brexit has F’All to do with the choices his government has made.

Re: Starmer’s chronicles
 

6 PMs since the Brexit vote, in 9 years. The country has been in a downward chaotic spiral since.

Maybe it isn't the politicians ( of any parties ) fault. All of them has failed to polish a t***d, as its impossible.

Re: Starmer’s chronicles
 

Re: Starmer’s chronicles
 

Failure of successive Prime Ministers and governments to maximise the benefits of Brexit…..I can agree with.

Re: Starmer’s chronicles
 

I'm going to start carrying a lot more cash, I feel there may well be a need for it in the future . . *nudge wink etc* no receipts required, cheers ;)

Re: Starmer’s chronicles
 

The country is 6% poorer but still needs to fund its services. So unless you cut those services, the choice is higher taxes or higher borrowing. To pretend it has no bearing on decisions chancellors make is flawed.

Re: Starmer’s chronicles
 

always ask the question- and how much for cash;)

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No it doesn’t, and that’s the whole point. There are many “services” we should not be paying for.

which is exactly what we should be doing.

Exactly, it is a choice, which is what I said at the start. Thank you as you have just made my argument brilliantly.

Re: Starmer’s chronicles
 

Which services are you referring to ?

Re: Starmer’s chronicles
 

Certain parts of Welfare,

Parts of the NHS

For a start.

Reforming just those two areas could save billions.

Re: Starmer’s chronicles
 

https://archive.ph/2025.11.26-150646...rope-p3mhqd66f

Re: Starmer’s chronicles
 

Brexit . . again . . after all these years :D


No mention of Covid causing huge disruption - coincidentally at the same time as Brexit.

Re: Starmer’s chronicles
 

It’s an avid Brexiteer who’s written the article…

Re COVID - from the article…

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Thats just as vague as before, which parts ?

Re: Starmer’s chronicles
 

Re: Starmer’s chronicles
 

I'm starting to prefer N. Korea to be honest.

Unluckily for everyone involved, due to being a poor pensioner I can't afford to move . . .

Re: Starmer’s chronicles
 

Politics latest: Rachel Reeves accused of misleading voters over reason for tax rises
Number 10 has denied accusations that the chancellor misrepresented the existence of a black hole in the public finances.


Badenoch says Reeves 'lied to the public for months to justify tax hikes'
The leader of the Conservative Party has now commented, following suggestions that Rachel Reeves "deliberately misled" the public about the state of the UK economy.

The chancellor was informed by the OBR that the deficit - what is often termed the fiscal black hole - was going to be largely offset by "increases in real wages and inflation" as early as September.

By the end of October, the Treasury watchdog had told Reeves the government would actually be running a surplus - not a deficit.

But the chancellor continued to warn of dire economic circumstances that meant she'd be left with no choice but to hike taxes.

She then delivered a budget hiking taxes by £26bn on Wednesday.



this shower isn't fit to run a bath

https://news.sky.com/story/politics-...arage-12593360

Re: Starmer’s chronicles
 

As I don't follow the science surrounding the events leading to the formation and consequent characteristics of black holes, I now have the question . . do they naturally shrink/expand in line with cosmic influences?

Re: Starmer’s chronicles
 

the size of a black hole of this type is proportionate to the amount of bull shyte they shovel into it

Re: Starmer’s chronicles
 

aah right.

Only I was wondering, with the large amount of data involved (provided by financial experts no less), to be unsure whether the aforementioned black hole is contracting, expanding, or even in existence, seems pretty damn cosmic to me. :D