In my Telegraph column today, HERE, I suggest that the Tories need to reflect the anger of the electorate and the fallout from the 10p tax debacle.
In my Telegraph column today, HERE, I suggest that the Tories need to reflect the anger of the electorate and the fallout from the 10p tax debacle.
in politics, what do you fear the most?
ReplyDelete"house prices dear boy, house prices"
The only party to benefit from the 10% debacle, crunching mortgages and too full bin taxes etc etc will be the BNP, not Tone ll.
Tories do not have a leg to stand on on the 10p tax rate or indeed the general redistribution of the last 11 years. Cameron has dithered badly on the 10p tax rate. Brown is sticking to his guns with a little welcome tinkering with unintended or at least politically unacceptable consequences.
ReplyDeleteObviously Harriet has seen the writing on the wall - she's "resigned" from the Labour Party and also backing Boris for Mayor(if you believe what "she" writes on her blog - see Guido for info)
ReplyDeleteHer blog site has been like this for over 4 hours - obviously nobody in the Labour Party gets up before 10am ?(Apart from Gordon who NEVER sleeps of course but he'd NEVER look at what Harriet's writes anyway !)
The comments are well worth a read, reflecting the fact that there is so little to choose between Nu & Blu - Lab
ReplyDeleteLooks like the game is just about over for Labour
ReplyDeleteJittery Labour advisers turning to headhunters
And this man seems to be causing Gordon many sleepless nights. (and broken cell phones)
Brown is 'obsessed' with Tories' Coulson
I see that you are taking a more reasonable approach by admitting that there are many people out there who still don't trust the Tories - but at the same time they don't trust Gordon Brown's government. A dilemma...
ReplyDeleteWill the Conservative Party increase the minimum wage? Will they lift more people and children out poverty? How will the Tories promote social justice and equality?
I'm waiting to be convinced that the Tories have really changed. Now is the time for the Tories to move into the 21st century. How will they do that?
What has the Guardian tosser John harris to say about this today I wonder?
ReplyDeleteGo Flo!!! Fame at last
ReplyDeleteCanvas - this awful phrase about 'lifting' people out of poverty really sums up basic Labour nonsense. Until people decide they're going to lift themselves, they will be stuck in poverty - no end of State handouts will ever end their poverty. The Conservatives want to create an enabling environment and attitude where people help themselves. Not a nation mired in dependency.
ReplyDeleteYour piece wonderfully captures the mood of the moment. As for the future of Brown I predicted last year he would leave number ten in a straight jacket. I wonder what Political Betting's odds are on Gordon leaving the job due to "health reasons"? All the signs of mental instability are apparent, even to outsiders. I dare say a few in the bunker would agree.
ReplyDeleteI will have a reasonable bet with anybody on that scenario.
Oscar, you seem to forget that many people live in relative poverty through no fault of their own - notably children. What the Tories need to do is show fairness and be willing to help the most vulnerable in our society - those who are unable to help themselves.
ReplyDeletewrinkled weasel said...
ReplyDelete"As for the future of Brown I predicted last year he would leave number ten in a straight jacket."
Or even a STRAIT jacket.
So are the Tories now committed to making no changes to the tax system that make the those on low incomes worse off? If so could they please explain what are their plans for the tax credit system??
ReplyDeleteFunny all this concern from Tories about hitting the lower paid - perhaps someone could remind me how long it took them to reverse VAT on fuel payments??
Canvas - I think it would help everyone on the lowest incomes to be taken out of taxation altogether. Not go through the ridiculous (and somewhat humiliating) process of being taxed and then having to claim it back. The tax credit system is a giant, costly, bureaucratic trap. It doesn't help solve poverty in any way. Of course vulnerable people - especially children - need proper support. The Conservatives do not deny this at all and are developing policies to address this issue. But tax credits are not the way to do it. For all the talk of the parties being the same - there is a fundamental difference of approach here.
ReplyDeleteOscar Miller
ReplyDeleteSo what you are saying is that anyone who is a net recipient under the tax credit system should in future lose out unless they are considered to be vulnerable. Perhaps you could define what is meant by vulnerable - because there are awful lot of people who would be worse off if they don't fall into this category.
Hopefully you can be more forthcoming on this that the leadership of the Conservative Party
canvas said...Will the Conservative Party increase the minimum wage?
ReplyDeleteJust had to let one staff member go. If Brown adds the 10p tax abolition to minimum wage one and possibly two more will go.
Minimum wage HAS to be paid by profits. Keep putting it up and the profit is squeezed out. A small business cannot continue to generate revenue when ALL costs are rising.
How do the poor benefit from being suddenly unemployed?
The minimum wage is not wrong, but to keep pushing it up [3 rises in 18 months + 1 x extra Paid weeks holiday for every employee] is going to cause unemployment.
Business has raw material, Rents and fuels and labour costs. It can usually do bugger all about the first 2 so is left with the 3rd option.
So what you are saying is that anyone who is a net recipient under the tax credit system should in future lose out
ReplyDeleteNo because they will be working and get taxed less or if they are incapable of work there will be help . This help would be best handled via voluntary organisations and at a local level. No-one denies the need for a state safety net but ways of reducing the dependency culture must be explored..
It is obvious is it not that poverty cannot be cured by means tested benefits . It can only be perpetuated .Why T- Boy do you wish to perpetuate poverty.? To perpetuate Labour and to perpetuate your excuse to sit around mumbling about what a sensitive moral person you are over the cheese board ? I think so .
Labours nutty nostalgia for the 20th century certainties get more and more absurd.