Britain outside the EU

The tax credits system was wide open to abuse because it was run by HMRC which never had the DWP’s expertise in managing benefits assessment. It is progressively being replaced by universal credit which is run by the DWP so it’s much less of an issue now. It was possible under the old system to get a pretty hefty tax credit payout by registering as self employed, doing very little and then claiming to work 30 hours, but reinvesting all the profit in getting the business established. It seems that as long as the tax credit claim was matched by a credible tax return HMRC never bothered to check.

[RichardCoulter]

Originally Posted by Chris

The tax credits system was wide open to abuse because it was run by HMRC which never had the DWP’s expertise in managing benefits assessment. It is progressively being replaced by universal credit which is run by the DWP so it’s much less of an issue now. It was possible under the old system to get a pretty hefty tax credit payout by registering as self employed, doing very little and then claiming to work 30 hours, but reinvesting all the profit in getting the business established. It seems that as long as the tax credit claim was matched by a credible tax return HMRC never bothered to check.

Exactly. With UC, a notional income is applied whether received or not after a year (currently suspended due to covid) to deal with this.

I had a taxi driver saying he worked 16 hours for £1 an hour (yeah right). After the minimum wage came in, I said that I expected him to pursue the minimum wage that he was entitled to because I was going to use this notional figure on his claim whether he did or not. The following week, he said that he only worked for two hours a week for about £16. He was referred straight to fraud for trying to insult my intelligence alone.

They observed him, found that he was working over 16 hours a week and got the clam closed because he was excluded from the benefit that he was claiming. By being greedy he lost everything.

He wasn't an EU immigrant though (he was Asian), what EU migrants did was to register as self employed for 16 hours a week to get Tax Credits as things like scrap metal collectors, but miraculously they hardly ever found any scrap, so received the maximum Tax Credits available.

Thieving scroungers they may be, but they're not stupid.

[Sephiroth]

I’m going to be controversial here. My remarks could have gone into any of the currently controversial threads but this on will do.

There are people with some degree of superior intellect who will read papers like Times, Grauniad and Torygraph. Such people are more likely to be in tune with the publication rather than influenced by it.

Then there are people of less superior intellect who, if the read a newspaper, will find one more in tune with their leanings but will also be influenced by them. Of course there are more of these people than of the other sort.

Being outside the EU, the Torygraph does manage a more intellectual sneer at The EU than does the Express. But I certainly am not influenced by that.

What I want to see from the tabloids is something to spur the majority on into making everything work for the better. Here is where the intellectual gap closes in the sense that the Times readers cannot prosper if the Sun readers don’t also prosper. The golden age awaits, unshackled from the EU, competing with them and winning in the new sciences.

Cheers

[1andrew1]

I'm sure BoJo know better than to follow this advice. Does Mark Francois really want us to be known as Perfidious Albion once more?

Boris Johnson told to consider halting Brexit payments to EU over Northern Ireland deal

Boris Johnson has been urged to consider halting payments to the European Union

Eurosceptic MPs have recommended Boris Johnson consider pausing Brexit payments to the European Union until issues with the Northern Ireland protocol have been resolved, according to reports.

Mark Francois, chairman of the European Research Group of Conservative MPs, said the Prime Minister should reconsider plans to pay the EU £20bn worth of Brexit bill payments over the next two years in relation to fears the EU in unfairly forcing regulations for UK exports.

Mr Francois described the payments as ‘Danegeld’, a Anglo-Saxon land tax levied during the reign of England’s King Elthelred to protect the country from Danish invaders.

https://inews.co.uk/news/politics/bo...nd-deal-913169

[papa smurf]

Originally Posted by Sephiroth

I’m going to be controversial here. My remarks could have gone into any of the currently controversial threads but this on will do.

There are people with some degree of superior intellect who will read papers like Times, Grauniad and Torygraph. Such people are more likely to be in tune with the publication rather than influenced by it.

Then there are people of less superior intellect who, if the read a newspaper, will find one more in tune with their leanings but will also be influenced by them. Of course there are more of these people than of the other sort.

Being outside the EU, the Torygraph does manage a more intellectual sneer at The EU than does the Express. But I certainly am not influenced by that.

What I want to see from the tabloids is something to spur the majority on into making everything work for the better. Here is where the intellectual gap closes in the sense that the Times readers cannot prosper if the Sun readers don’t also prosper. The golden age awaits, unshackled from the EU, competing with them and winning in the new sciences.

Cheers

Not sure someone's intelligence can be measured by the quality of tomorrows chip paper, an idiot is just as capable of buying the same paper as a genius

[OLD BOY]

Originally Posted by 1andrew1

I'm sure BoJo know better than to follow this advice. Does Mark Francois really want us to be known as Perfidious Albion once more?

https://inews.co.uk/news/politics/bo...nd-deal-913169

It seems to be the only language the EU understands.

[Sephiroth]

Originally Posted by OLD BOY

It seems to be the only language the EU understands.

Absolutely. The EU's intransigence over the NI Protocol needs a really strong response.

The EU is the enemy and should be treated as such. I realise that the ECJ has jurisdiction over the NI protocol but it won't be beyond the wit of the Guvmmin to insist on a different heading!

[1andrew1]

Fishing deadline: Panic as Norway talks collapse - trawler says chaos to hit in two weeks

BORIS JOHNSON is facing demands to urgently step up talks to secure agreements for fishing in distant waters such as Norway - with one company warning they "can't plan for anything beyond March".

The owner of the UK's largest freezer trawler, Kirkella, said stalled negotiations with Norway and other non-EU nations was a "sad tale of the Government’s failure". UK Fisheries Ltd has warned the future of its business is in jeopardy unless urgent action is taken.

They've demanded ministers double their efforts to secure a deal that could give them confidence in continued access to distant waters for fishing.

"The EU deal is done, but for distant-waters fishing it changes nothing.

"Without bilateral deals with Norway and others, there is no long-term viable distant-waters fishing industry in the UK," the group said.

"We are tired of asking: we demand that the Government acts now to save our industry."

https://www.express.co.uk/news/polit...eu-deal-latest

[papa smurf]

Originally Posted by 1andrew1

https://www.express.co.uk/news/polit...eu-deal-latest

UK Fisheries Ltd is co-owned by the Icelandic company Samherji hf and the Dutch Parlevliet en van der Plas, and two companies, North Atlantic Fishing Co. and Valiant Trawlers (counted together in the text), are both owned by Netherlands based company Cornelis Vrolijk/Jaczon.

Registered under a flag of convenience in the uk.

Originally Posted by Sephiroth

Absolutely. The EU's intransigence over the NI Protocol needs a really strong response.

The EU is the enemy and should be treated as such. I realise that the ECJ has jurisdiction over the NI protocol but it won't be beyond the wit of the Guvmmin to insist on a different heading!

I looked up "intransigence", and couldn't find a defintion that included "expecting signatories to a treaty to fulfill the conditions of that treaty" or "not allowing a signatory to a treaty to breach the treaty unilaterally"...

[Sephiroth]

Originally Posted by Hugh

I looked up "intransigence", and couldn't find a defintion that included "expecting signatories to a treaty to fulfill the conditions of that treaty" or "not allowing a signatory to a treaty to breach the treaty unilaterally"...

Your sarcasm precedes you.

That definition you (didn't) looked up, adequately covers the inability/unwillingness of the EU to act reasonably in the light of our difficulties.
After all, aren't they supposed to be "our friends in Europe"? Well they're not and something has to be done about it as there is no good faith in the relationship from their side.

I remind you, we are only asking for an extended grace period to get our processes etc working in accordance with the treaty.

You mean like the extended grace period they offered us before, to give everyone time to sort stuff out?

We signed a treaty - breaching this does not augur well for treaties with other countries, reputation-wise....

Perhaps if we took up their new offer to reach agreement?

Mr Šefčovič has separately sent a "political letter" to David Frost, the UK minister in charge of Brexit.

It calls for the UK to enter into good faith consultations in the Joint Committee, the body which oversees the protocol, with the aim of reaching a mutually agreed solution by the end of this month.

[Sephiroth]

No harm in convening the Joint Committee.

[1andrew1]

Originally Posted by Hugh

You mean like the extended grace period they offered us before, to give everyone time to sort stuff out?

We signed a treaty - breaching this does not augur well for treaties with other countries, reputation-wise....

Perhaps if we took up their new offer to reach agreement?

Exactly. Why should the likes of Iran and North Korea adhere to international treaties if countries in the West like the UK do not do the same?

[Sephiroth]

Oh Andrew. Is the EU not an unfriendly, nasty, revengeful organisation using the letter of the treaty to royally screw us over?