Coronavirus (OLD)

[Carth]

. . . and is this 'borrow and pay back long term' acounting for all the borrowing we will need to be doing when we're all locked down this winter, and the next, and the next?

Lots of 'experts' say the virus will be around a long time

[1andrew1]

Sunak needs to take the opportunity to restructure taxes. Introduce a discrete NHS tax, reduce business rates on shops etc.

[Mr K]

Originally Posted by Sephiroth

That's a very shallow response.

CV arguable posed an existential threat, at least to some degree - hence the borrowing so that society didn't fold like it is doing in the USA. Your stance is destructive and offers no solution.

My solution is that the richest generation ever starts paying, instead of burdening the next generation. Time to get your wallet out, mind the moths....

[Sephiroth]

Originally Posted by 1andrew1

Sunak needs to take the opportunity to restructure taxes. Introduce a discrete NHS tax, reduce business rates on shops etc.

Actually a good suggestion. Btw, on Income Tax, I recommend (as does John Redwood) a flat tax.

[Mr K]

Originally Posted by Sephiroth

Actually a good suggestion. Btw, on Income Tax, I recommend (as does John Redwood) a flat tax.

Yes i bet you and John Redwood would love a flat income tax !
Make the poor poorer and the rich richer. Is he the MP/Sheriff of Nottingham !

[Sephiroth]

Originally Posted by Mr K

Yes i bet you and John Redwood would love a flat income tax !
Make the poor poorer and the rich richer. Is he the MP/Sheriff of Nottingham !

The gross tax take rises with a flat income tax; VAT takes up the slack and production rises as a result - assuming we start growing our own.

... especial CV respirators and all medical equipment.

[tweetiepooh]

You put tax on large gambling winnings. If you are broke there won't be a lot of difference between winning £100M or £90M it's still life changing and there's an extra £10M in government coffers. Extend that to wins abroad, foreign lotteries and the like.

The difficulty would be defining "large win" so that lots of small wins accumulated would not be counted where maybe it should. Maybe everyone gets a winnings allowance and over that is taxed but policing and collecting that would be hard.

But whatever happens I bet (groan!) the really rich would find ways to avoid it, so I guess could really big winners, e.g. put the money abroad, have a credit card linked to that and away you go, the money never sees the UK, never taxed.

[Sephiroth]

Originally Posted by tweetiepooh

You put tax on large gambling winnings. If you are broke there won't be a lot of difference between winning £100M or £90M it's still life changing and there's an extra £10M in government coffers. Extend that to wins abroad, foreign lotteries and the like.

The difficulty would be defining "large win" so that lots of small wins accumulated would not be counted where maybe it should. Maybe everyone gets a winnings allowance and over that is taxed but policing and collecting that would be hard.

But whatever happens I bet (groan!) the really rich would find ways to avoid it, so I guess could really big winners, e.g. put the money abroad, have a credit card linked to that and away you go, the money never sees the UK, never taxed.

Big gambling winnings? Almost an oxymoron, Tweetiepooh, the way the odds run.

[OLD BOY]

Originally Posted by Mr K

So yes , borrowing. ie. we pay back a lot more than we borrow over 50 to 60 years.... i.e. let the next generation deal with it (again), along with climate change and all the other crap we've bequeathed....

So you'd prefer austerity?

He prefers anything that involves attacking the current government.

[1andrew1]

Originally Posted by Sephiroth

Actually a good suggestion. Btw, on Income Tax, I recommend (as does John Redwood) a flat tax.

Always good to get different ideas on things but a flat income tax rate has been shown not to work in the UK.
There's a lot of work that can be done to simplify taxation in the UK. But each successive government just makes it more complicated. Great for professional services firms and publishers of worthy tomes on the matter biut less so for the rest of us.
Amnyway, I digress, my final comment on the matter.

[1andrew1]

Matt Hancock called out by the Statitcs Authority "“The aim seems to be to show the largest possible number of tests, even at the expense of understanding,” Sir David David Norgrove, chair of the UK Statistics Authority wrote.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock has been rebuked by the UK’s statistics watchdog over coronavirus testing figures which are “still far from complete and comprehensible”.
UK Statistics Authority chairman Sir David Norgrove said “it is not surprising that given their inadequacy data on testing are so widely criticised and often mistrusted”.
He criticised the way the figures are presented at the daily Downing Street briefings, with the headline total including both tests carried out and those which have been posted to recipients but not yet conducted.

https://www.itv.com/news/2020-06-02/...navirus-tests/

Full letter here:
https://www.statisticsauthority.gov....-testing-data/

[nomadking]

If nobody seeks a test then the figures are always going to be low, unless you start dragging people off the streets to test them.


The question should be "how many tests a day could be performed, if required".

[Mr K]

Originally Posted by nomadking

If nobody seeks a test then the figures are always going to be low, unless you start dragging people off the streets to test them.


The question should be "how many tests a day could be performed, if required".

Never mind tests, the question really should be, why does the UK have the most Covid deaths in Europe? You have to look at those running the country really....

---------- Post added at 18:43 ---------- Previous post was at 18:42 ----------

Originally Posted by OLD BOY

So you'd prefer austerity?

I prefer you and me reaching in our pockets and paying more tax OB

[nomadking]

Originally Posted by Mr K

Never mind tests, the question really should be, why does the UK have the most Covid deaths in Europe? You have to look at those running the country really....

---------- Post added at 18:43 ---------- Previous post was at 18:42 ----------



I prefer you and me reaching in our pockets and paying more tax OB

If you have more people bringing it into the country, then you will have more cases. If you then have inside gatherings(religious of whatever sort and others) of various sizes, then it's going to spread easily. If certain religious groups such as those in South Korea, don't mix much with others, that will limit spreading.


Too many people don't pay tax and therefore there's a disconnect between levels of spending and it's impact upon them. They wouldn't be bothered with voting for a trebling of spending, because it would have no direct effect on their income. The indirect effect is another matter, and one they wouldn't be made aware of.