David Cameron is UK's new prime minister

[chunk]

Labor have done nothing for us ! The conservatives are no friends to us i dont think they care
about us one way or the other, but that can be no worse than our mismanagement under Mandelson.

[mazza111]

They may not have done anything for RM on the whole Chunk, but imo they have done plenty for the underpaid in the country, bringing in the NMW and tax credits, albeit with levels set a wee bit on the high side.

As I said, I think they have done more good than bad, don't agree with everything they done in their 12 yrs of power, but the tories will sell us out as soon as they can find a buyer to cover the pensions.

Then watch how fast the NHS deteriorates with their budget cuts.

Ach politics, blah, all politicians are tossers anyhoo

[bitchface]

They may not have done anything for RM on the whole Chunk, but imo they have done plenty for the underpaid in the country, bringing in the NMW and tax credits, albeit with levels set a wee bit on the high side.

As I said, I think they have done more good than bad, don't agree with everything they done in their 12 yrs of power, but the tories will sell us out as soon as they can find a buyer to cover the pensions.

Then watch how fast the NHS deteriorates with their budget cuts.

Ach politics, blah, all politicians are tossers anyhoo

i cant see how anybody can think the tax credit system we have to day is a plus ...i saw some numpty from labour on the telly yesterday say it was a good thing...FFS SOMEONE TELL ME HOW ITS A PLUS...they took a system that was simple (simple tax code on your pay as you earn PAYE)and scrapped it for an entire year.with no replacement.money grab from the poorest of coarse.now we have to fill in a form every year estimating how much we will earn in the coming year.and they base the amount on that..

million of people overpaid,millions underpaid.the underpaid will never see it again the overpaid will be reclaimed..i had one year getting money and the next none,because i was overpaid,year after year this happened..until three years ago they said i should get 70 pounds a week..i was on the phone to them all the time,saying it cant be right...yes it is they say...well ive had nothing for the last 2 years because ,yes once again ive been overpaid.....
tell me how in your narrow blinkered vision thats a plus point for labour...

as i have said before ..only one thing ,the NMW is any kind of plus(even thought it has undoubtadly cost jobs)

[mazza111]

Plus point for me, my tax credits have been correct every year. So are people being overpaid because they underestimate? Are they being underpaid because they overestimate? I will probably look at my assessment 6 months from now and give them a call, due to all the wonderful bonuses that we're getting But it's up to us as individuals to get our estimations right.. As I said, never had any problems with this as long as you keep an eye on things :)

As I said, they weren't perfect, but tax credits encouraged more people to work. Surely that has to be a good thing.

[axeman]

serves gordy right for taking his 'eye' off the ball

[bitchface]

yours has been right every year..well if you say so.
so you think guesstamating what you will earn next year is far easier than a simple tax code based on actually curcumstance that determins what you actually earn and thus the amount of tax you pay

do you also think it was a really good move to stop any relief for a whole year whilst they swapped one system for another.or do you like me think that was just another labour money grab from the people that need the help most.you know the working class people they pretended to champion..

they got in ,in 97 by harping on about fat cat bonuses and promising windfull taxes ...what happened there?fat cats got fatter companies made obscene profits and yet not one windfall tax....

[TrueBlueTerrier]

Not that I am disagreeing with your post - as I don't know about the subject of Tax Credits I shall leave that to those that do.

However "Windfall Tax" was introduced in 1997. It was aimed at the Privatised Utility Companies and raised a 1 off amount of £5 Billion which paid for the "New deal" -

Sources:
1: http://www.ifs.org.uk/fs/articles/fslucy.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
2: http://archive.treasury.gov.uk/pub/html ... 7/ir1.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

But the fat cats certainly did get fatter.

[mazza111]

Oh plz, don't put words into my mouth.

What did I say about tax credits? Mine have been right since I started getting them! Never overpaid, never underpaid, I didn't say the system wasn't flawed. But it certainly has encouraged more people to go back to work.

Pensioners are better off too when you count their heating allowances along with their pension credits. I could live quite happily on what my mother is receiving in a week, and feed my little one too.

[BELIAL]

But it certainly has encouraged more people to go back to work.

How do you square that statement with the official statistics that place unemployment levels at their highest point since 1993 ?

[Big Daz]

They may not have done anything for RM on the whole Chunk, but imo they have done plenty for the underpaid in the country, bringing in the NMW and tax credits, albeit with levels set a wee bit on the high side.

As I said, I think they have done more good than bad, don't agree with everything they done in their 12 yrs of power, but the tories will sell us out as soon as they can find a buyer to cover the pensions.

Then watch how fast the NHS deteriorates with their budget cuts.

Ach politics, blah, all politicians are tossers anyhoo

The Tories are on record I belive as saying savings in the NHS will redployed back to front line healthcare, sounds good on paper but the NHS needs admin staff/backroom suport staff. I worry the Tories will slash that too much.

[Tman]

But it certainly has encouraged more people to go back to work.

How do you square that statement with the official statistics that place unemployment levels at their highest point since 1993 ?

How about because there's no way of knowing how high unemployment could/would have gone without the tax credit scheme in operation?
It was a scheme to help the unemployed, but it was never toted as the way to achieve full employment....

[mazza111]

well, it did work until recession hit us all. Encouraged me back to work, meant I could then afford to work, whereas before...

[BELIAL]

But it certainly has encouraged more people to go back to work.

How do you square that statement with the official statistics that place unemployment levels at their highest point since 1993 ?

How about because there's no way of knowing how high unemployment could/would have gone without the tax credit scheme in operation?
It was a scheme to help the unemployed, but it was never toted as the way to achieve full employment....

Fair point. Bit like if the Earth had erupted in a massive instantaneous explosion ,there would be shortage of plumbers.

However back to the original point made ,unemployment levels now exceed those when tax credits were introduced.Go on baffle me, more unemployment = job creation

[Tman]

An even higher level of obfuscation than usual from Bell!
Strange though, as it's surely not a difficult concept to grasp? I suggest rereading the thread may help, although the "me no understand" appears to be a good standby defence when someone points out the rather obvious holes in your logic..eh Bell

[andy2007]

An even higher level of obfuscation than usual from Bell!
Strange though, as it's surely not a difficult concept to grasp? I suggest rereading the thread may help, although the "me no understand" appears to be a good standby defence when someone points out the rather obvious holes in your logic..eh Bell

How do you work that one out Tman?
It seems to be a perfectly clear, and reasonable argument to me. It simply comes down to a difference of opinion, about whether the Tax Credits system got more people into work or not.

Personally, I think that it removed the financial constraints, that were preventing many people from getting a job. But whether those same jobs would have been taken by people who didn't have a Family to support or not, is debatable. Now I believe that, that's precicely what WOULD have happened. But it would have meant that there would have been large numbers of people who through lack of qualifications, rather than lack of desire, would have been long term (and possibly permanently) unemployed. Leaving single people, with little in the way of financial commitments, to do all the poorly paid work.

At least Belial was open to the possibility of being wrong. I've always believed that it's important to keep an open mind, as much as possible. Rather than keeping a closed mind. Debate is only useful, when people are open to the possibility that they could be wrong from time to time. We're all Human after all.