Brexit, for once some facts.

[oldgroaner]

From the Independent, a classic example of how utterly incomepetent Conservative policies are
"
Britain is £490bn poorer than was thought, revised Office for National Statistics figures have revealed, weakening the country’s position in Brexit talks.

The revision of UK national accounts, the ONS "Blue Book", shows that the country no longer has a net reserve of foreign assets, and therefore no safety margin while talks with the European Union reach a critical point.

The half a trillion pounds that has gone missing is equivalent to 25 per cent of GDP.
Britain’s stock of wealth has dropped from a surplus of £469bn to a net deficit of £22bn.

Halleluya! time for the whole bloody lot to resign, and they claim that Corbyn's policies will bankrupt the Nation.

Now we needn't worry about that as it has been done already and as usual they tried to cover it up.

 

[flecc]

it seems Ireland hasn't quite had a monopoly on this violent storm -

Indeed, our private street lights came on for a while at 3.30pm, when the sky darkened. In the South East of England that counts as suffering.
.

 

[flecc]

Britain is £490bn poorer than was thought, revised Office for National Statistics figures have revealed, weakening the country’s position in Brexit talks.

Being of an intensely suspicious nature, I wonder if this is not an attempt at the opposite, showing ourselves as not having any reserves to meet a large departure bill. I wouldn't put it past them.
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[Kudoscycles]

One effect of crash out Brexit will be a massive improvement in the UK's government income and cash flow. Under WTO rules every car coming into the UK will be subject to a duty of 10% and most food subject to 35%,this will be paid by the importer immediately upon import.
At the same moment all vatable goods will be subject to 20% vat,this will be paid by the importer immediately upon import.
A massive tax take for the government,the duty is lost to the government,the vat is reclaimable,but can take months to get back.
These costs will inevitably be passed onto the consumer,resulting in considerable price increases in the supermarkets.
I can see some importers not having the cash to sustain this.
KudosDave

 

[PeterL]

We had the input to the EU yesterday and here we have the equivalent for the UK

https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/our-work/brexit

 

[flecc]

At the same moment all vatable goods will be subject to 20% vat,this will be paid by the importer immediately upon import.

That's assuming we retain VAT as the only consumer tax. We only adopted it because it was a condition of EU membership, losing our previous very variable purchase taxes.

Our governments might well find a return to purchase tax attractive, remember its common rate was 33.3%, with 66.6% on what were deemed luxuries (like e-bikes?).

Rather more than the 20% VAT rate.
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[Danidl]

Hope you are all safe over there!

Alls right with the world, storm passing, power restored .. except for the three confirmed storm related deaths, one who worked with the daughter in law, all deaths related to tree incidents ..

 

[oldtom]

'The Guardian' reports again on another May intervention in Brussels which sees our temporary PM once again trying to get something for nothing from the EU. Why is it that the taxpaying UK citizens only glean the scant updates from these discussions from statements by other EU leaders?

Shouldn't we know what she is offering? If not before the event, at least after the deed has been done, a statement from the PM, explaining exactly what our position is and what concessions we are prepared to make would enlighten us a little as to what kind of grasp on reality this government has.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/oct/16/brussels-trip-by-pm-fails-to-unblock-stalemate-as-both-sides-harden-stance?CMP=share_btn_fb

Tom

 

[oldtom]

That's assuming we retain VAT as the only consumer tax. We only adopted it because it was a condition of EU membership, losing our previous very variable purchase taxes.

Our governments might well find a return to purchase tax attractive, remember its common rate was 33.3%, with 66.6% on what were deemed luxuries (like e-bikes?).

Rather more than the 20% VAT rate.
.

For the sake of clarity, I don't dislike your post 'flecc', I just don't fancy resorting to purchase tax rates again. Those rates are seriously dislikeable!

Tom

 

[flecc]

For the sake of clarity, I don't dislike your post 'flecc', I just don't fancy resorting to purchase tax rates again. Those rates are seriously dislikeable!

Tom

I understood that at first sight Tom. I would detest a return to purchase tax, but can believe a government like the present one might seize the opportunity.

It's just another of the many dangers that Brexiters seem so ignorant of.
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[oldtom]

The oxygen thief, Lord Lloyd-Webber, has decided to call it a day on his onerous HofL duties.

This tells me all I need to know:

Lord Lloyd Webber was a member of the Works of Art Committee for three years and spoke out against government cuts to the arts last year.

However, in the 2,097 votes during his tenure, he voted only 42 times.

Tom

 

[Danidl]

One effect of crash out Brexit will be a massive improvement in the UK's government income and cash flow. Under WTO rules every car coming into the UK will be subject to a duty of 10% and most food subject to 35%,this will be paid by the importer immediately upon import.
At the same moment all vatable goods will be subject to 20% vat,this will be paid by the importer immediately upon import.
A massive tax take for the government,the duty is lost to the government,the vat is reclaimable,but can take months to get back.
These costs will inevitably be passed onto the consumer,resulting in considerable price increases in the supermarkets.
I can see some importers not having the cash to sustain this.
KudosDave

.. our perhaps consumers being able to pay the price increases particularly when asked to the new exchange rates!

 

[Danidl]

Indeed, our private street lights came on for a while at 3.30pm, when the sky darkened. In the South East of England that counts as suffering.
.

The winner of the Ophelia prize was the Fastnet lighthouse off the Cork coast which got wind speeds of 191 km./hr. Those of you who are sailors may remember it in another context.

 

[anotherkiwi]

The winner of the Ophelia prize was the Fastnet lighthouse off the Cork coast which got wind speeds of 191 km./hr. Those of you who are sailors may remember it in another context.

Sahara sand and Portuguese ash in Brittany:

No filter, this was the colour of the air this afternoon.

 

[oldtom]

Although effective investigative journalism is rare these days, there are still some plying that trade and this item is worthy of broader dissemination than it has been allowed so far:

who-bankrolled-brexit

Tom

 

[Woosh]

who-bankrolled-brexit?

Tom

People who earn more than £1 mil a year, and there are lots of them.
lawyers (£900 an hour), surgeons (£500 an hour), accountants (£250 an hour), IT and business consultants (£150 an hour).

Certainly not the majority who are on PAYE and you can forget the billionaires, they give every year, regardless of political leaning because one party or the other is going to win, they just as well donate to both.

 

[KTM Bike Industries UK]

 

[PeterL]

Although effective investigative journalism is rare these days, there are still some plying that trade and this item is worthy of broader dissemination than it has been allowed so far:

who-bankrolled-brexit

Tom

That was a useful link

Never let it be said that Remain are overly constrained by principle.



https://www.opendemocracy.net/uk/oliver-huitson/eu-piece

 

[PeterL]

For the sake of clarity, I don't dislike your post 'flecc', I just don't fancy resorting to purchase tax rates again. Those rates are seriously dislikeable!

Tom

There have been thoughts that purchase tax does at least mean that the more you spend the more tax you pay or put another way the more money you have the more tax you pay - what's wrong with that?

 

[Danidl]

There have been thoughts that purchase tax does at least mean that the more you spend the more tax you pay or put another way the more money you have the more tax you pay - what's wrong with that?

Absolutely nothing... Except for the exceptions. Rich people can arrange that more of their wealth is spent on purchases by corporation or trusts , who don't pay these taxes. These items e.g houses, cars, aircraft, boats, grouse shooting lands, are nominally owned by the corporations, but are available only for use by the wealthy person.. and can be bartered for favours from the like minded .
Poor people spend more of their income on consumption.. food , rent, utilities, and have no methods for offsetting these taxes
.
Rich people can arrange for their trusts to buy at advantageous times, the poor need the food on the table today.

So remove all trusts , tax all corporations as individuals, no exemptions. Simplified tax codes, less need for private accountants, and you get a level or more level playing field.