neilj
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Post by neilj on Nov 14, 2024 11:10:50 GMT
Good, they've already given a load with a £3m exemption and only 20% after that, instead of the standard 40% In addition to the tax take it will hopefully reduce the land grab by very rich people following the tories bung to their wealthy donors and friends, enabling ordinary farmers to buy land at reasonable prices |
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Post by johntel on Nov 14, 2024 11:11:49 GMT
So just 4 months after the election: "In an email to his staff seen by i, Peter Denton, chief executive of the Government’s Homes England agency, which is responsible for boosting housing supply; describes them as “amazing and incredible ambitions”. He adds that “realistically”, this is a “two parliamentary term approach”. That would stretch the end date to 2034 – twice the length of time ministers set for their flagship new housing target.". inews.co.uk/news/politics/labour-will-miss-its-new-homes-pledge-says-official-leading-the-plan-3379711I wonder how Angela Rayner will react, it's her job to deliver this policy. |
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Post by leftieliberal on Nov 14, 2024 12:01:09 GMT
Martin Kettle in The Guardian: Sue Gray’s final departure marks the moment that the Starmer project gets seriousGray’s failure, according to insider critics this week, was that she prepared Labour for government in exactly the wrong way. She did not accept the reality that, in modern politics and government, the centre will always want to shape what is done at departmental level. She instead encouraged ministers to trust the Whitehall machine, and to run their departments with their own goals and their own departmental narratives. It was this fundamental difference of approach that led to her being forced out.
By October, Starmer had had enough. There seem to have been two main reasons. First, Gray did not prioritise the government’s so-called missions – the yardsticks by which Starmer wishes Labour to be judged when the next election comes round. All of these – clean energy, highest G7 growth, NHS reform, educational opportunities and safer streets – are cross-departmental projects. So is the unofficial sixth mission: control of borders. Only the centre of government, Starmer told a meeting of the cabinet last week, can ensure that departments work together to deliver them.This has the ring of truth about it, rather than it all being about her and McSweeney not being able to work together. |
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Post by bendo on Nov 14, 2024 20:33:07 GMT
Well no, its been publicised for years that smartmeters dont work. The whole first generation meters had to be replaced because they didnt do something, incluing you couldnt use them if you changed supplier. And then thers just not working. Not like you to post nonsense Danny. My SMETS 1 meter, like the vast majority of them, was adopted onto the DCC network years ago and has saved me a good couple of hundred quid over the past year on Octopus smart tariffs. |
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Post by colin on Nov 15, 2024 8:42:53 GMT
"The UK's economy barely grew between July and September, with uncertainty about the Budget being blamed for the weak growth.
The economy grew by just 0.1% over the three-month period, and shrank during September itself."
BBC
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Danny
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Post by Danny on Nov 15, 2024 9:55:07 GMT
Not like you to post nonsense Danny. My SMETS 1 meter, like the vast majority of them, was adopted onto the DCC network years ago and has saved me a good couple of hundred quid over the past year on Octopus smart tariffs. The Uswitch smart meter web page suggest there are 32 million installed domestic smart meters, which covers 60% of all households. That in turn suggest the total of households must be about 50 million, which is peculiarly high, because the ONS says there are only 28 million households. www.uswitch.com/gas-electricity/studies/smart-meter-statistics/
This statistic would be explicable if what they mean is that 32 million meters have been installed, but many have had to be replaced. About 40% on these numbers if that is the reason for the discrepancy. Martin Lewis sems to think there are about 4 million installed meters which currently dont work, so presumably will need some sort of replacement. Its not clear whether thats 4 million the companies have just given up on, or whether this is the rolling total with meters failing as fast as they are being replaced.
One person featured on a program explained his meter had been replaced several times, which did no good at all because it wasnt faulty, it was in an area where there was no radio signal. Speaking to an installation guy, he explained he just does what he is told. Go replace a meter, he goes and replaces it. But in my case he also said the meter was a type which failed a lot (and frankly was iffy connecting to the display they give you from the outset). But he also said the meter itself is very cheap, so they just throw them away.
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Post by colin on Nov 15, 2024 10:00:37 GMT
" “England’s higher education regulator is raising the alarm that more universities than ever are at risk yet Labour has hit the sector with a national insurance hike which is projected to take over £370 million out of universities’ coffers, all while entrenching the fee-based model that has pushed the sector to the brink. The tuition fee increase announced last week will not stop the rot.”
Jo Grady, general secretary of University and College Union,
The tuition fee increase will bring in an extra £371 million.
The increase in national insurance contributions will cost the sector an extra £133 million this academic year and £430 million from next autumn.
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neilj
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Post by neilj on Nov 15, 2024 10:13:03 GMT
More good news Tory Government's increase NHS waiting lists and Labour Government's reduce them It's a pattern that's shown time and time again www.mirror.co.uk/news/health/nhs-waiting-list-finally-starts-34108212NHS waiting list finally starts to come down after backlog increased for over a decade NHS England data suggests the waiting list - which still stands at 7.57 million - could be seeing the first sustained fall since the Tories came to power in 2010 |
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Danny
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Post by Danny on Nov 15, 2024 10:13:48 GMT
" “England’s higher education regulator is raising the alarm that more universities than ever are at risk yet Labour has hit the sector with a national insurance hike which is projected to take over £370 million out of universities’ coffers, all while entrenching the fee-based model that has pushed the sector to the brink. The tuition fee increase announced last week will not stop the rot.” Jo Grady, general secretary of University and College Union, The tuition fee increase will bring in an extra £371 million. The increase in national insurance contributions will cost the sector an extra £133 million this academic year and £430 million from next autumn. What is your point? Are you arguing good guys shouldn't have to pay taxes? Then who decides who are the good guys? Should bill gates be given immunity to taxes life long because he has given away so much money? Or taxed as much as every one else because he is still more wealthy than almost everyone? (one website suggests 13th richest person in the world at a mere $100bn. Another suggest such rich people only pay around 3% tax, however they define that) The proper response is obviously that every organisation should pay the standard taxes. Their income needs to meet their outgoings. If it doesnt then either it must be increased, or they cease operating. Thats market forces, which apparently we believe govern life in the UK. So for universities, either students pay what they cost to operate or students stop using them and the universities shrink. Or we go back to government subsidy. But its foolish to claim they shouldnt pay the same national taxes as everyone else, because it becomes impossible to operate taxation systems which are riddled with exceptions and special cases. There are way too many of those already.
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Danny
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Post by Danny on Nov 15, 2024 10:15:24 GMT
More good news Tory Government's increase NHS waiting lists and Labour Government's reduce them It's a pattern that's shown time and time again www.mirror.co.uk/news/health/nhs-waiting-list-finally-starts-34108212NHS waiting list finally starts to come down after backlog increased for over a decade NHS England data suggests the waiting list - which still stands at 7.57 million - could be seeing the first sustained fall since the Tories came to power in 2010 NHS waiting lists are designed to increase in winter and reduce in summer. This ought to be about the lowest point in the waiting list cycle. Having a waiting list is a deliberate design feture. |
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Post by colin on Nov 15, 2024 10:20:16 GMT
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pjw1961
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Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state, an intolerable one.
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Post by pjw1961 on Nov 15, 2024 12:03:33 GMT
NHS waiting lists are designed to increase in winter and reduce in summer. This ought to be about the lowest point in the waiting list cycle. No they aren't. Some things in the NUS are cyclical with the seasons in that manner, but not waiting lists. In fact August, when loads of staff are on holiday, is always a difficult period. |
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Post by laszlo4new on Nov 15, 2024 12:18:07 GMT
"The UK's economy barely grew between July and September, with uncertainty about the Budget being blamed for the weak growth. The economy grew by just 0.1% over the three-month period, and shrank during September itself." BBC It seems that the main reason was foreign trade |
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neilj
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Post by neilj on Nov 15, 2024 12:36:43 GMT
This is why I am sceptical of the tory press predictions of doom following the budget You expect The Mail, Express, Sun and Telegraph to actively promote misleading articles about a Labour Government, but The Sunday Times has firmly joined the misinformation highway in recent years. I'm not saying they were ever neutral, let alone pro Labour, but their financial stories used to be more reliable The below story shows that people need to be very careful about what they say and are not to be taken at face value Worth reading the whole article and to be a little hysterical the next time you see a hysterical headline in the tory press www.bylinesupplement.com/p/bearly-newsworthy-tescos-billion"Tesco's Billion Pound Burden – How The Sunday Times' Headline Hides the Real Story... The “£1bn budget bill” the headline shouts so fearfully about? That is the total figure that Tesco will pay over the next four years of this current parliament. Which really means, and what the headline doesn’t say, that Tesco will pay around £250 million per year – about 11% of its profits for the 23/24 financial year, give or take. Still significant, sure. But ruinous? Hardly. So why doesn’t the headline say that? Well, because “Tesco facing modest costs in comparison to its record profits” doesn’t quite pack the same visceral punch What this article utterly neglects to say is that Tesco is not teetering on the brink of collapse. Its profits are not being obliterated by some Government scheme. It has made billions – in fact, it’s made billions more than the year before. It is choosing to use this situation as cover to hike prices, despite swimming in profits that could easily absorb these so-called additional costs. The absence of that context is intentional – because context makes the difference between feeling sorry for Tesco and realising that it’s squeezing you because it wants to, not because it has to' |
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Post by somerjohn on Nov 15, 2024 12:42:11 GMT
Laszlo: 'It seems that the main reason was foreign trade'Good to see I'm not the only one who still keeps an eye on the trade stats. Which aren't looking great, surprise, surprise. To illustrate for others what you're talking about, here is the ONS summary of September and Q3 trade: The value of goods imports decreased by £3.0 billion (6.3%) in September 2024, with both EU and non-EU imports falling. The value of goods exports fell by £3.4 billion (10.6%) in September 2024, following a rise in August. Imports and exports of machinery and transport equipment fell substantially in both EU and non-EU countries. The total goods and services trade deficit widened by £1.5 billion to £11.4 billion in Quarter 3 (July to Sept) 2024, because of a larger fall in exports than imports. The trade in goods deficit narrowed by £1.9 billion to £51.1 billion in Quarter 3 2024, while the trade in services surplus is estimated to have narrowed by £3.5 billion to £39.6 billion. www.ons.gov.uk/economy/nationalaccounts/balanceofpayments/bulletins/uktrade/september2024 |
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Post by leftieliberal on Nov 15, 2024 13:06:10 GMT
New thread alert. I have used today's TechneUK poll to begin a new UK polling thread.
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Post by bendo on Nov 15, 2024 13:22:37 GMT
Not like you to post nonsense Danny. My SMETS 1 meter, like the vast majority of them, was adopted onto the DCC network years ago and has saved me a good couple of hundred quid over the past year on Octopus smart tariffs. The Uswitch smart meter web page suggest there are 32 million installed domestic smart meters, which covers 60% of all households. That in turn suggest the total of households must be about 50 million, which is peculiarly high, because the ONS says there are only 28 million households. www.uswitch.com/gas-electricity/studies/smart-meter-statistics/
This statistic would be explicable if what they mean is that 32 million meters have been installed, but many have had to be replaced. About 40% on these numbers if that is the reason for the discrepancy. Martin Lewis sems to think there are about 4 million installed meters which currently dont work, so presumably will need some sort of replacement. Its not clear whether thats 4 million the companies have just given up on, or whether this is the rolling total with meters failing as fast as they are being replaced.
One person featured on a program explained his meter had been replaced several times, which did no good at all because it wasnt faulty, it was in an area where there was no radio signal. Speaking to an installation guy, he explained he just does what he is told. Go replace a meter, he goes and replaces it. But in my case he also said the meter was a type which failed a lot (and frankly was iffy connecting to the display they give you from the outset). But he also said the meter itself is very cheap, so they just throw them away.
Most households tend to have two meters not one which will explain the discrepancy. There are 32 million meters talking to the DCC network, per www.smartdcc.co.uk/our-smart-network/network-data-dashboard/ this will include SMETS1 meters that have been adopted and SMETS2 meters. What the figures for not working meters are is probably more complicated, most people seem to think their smart meter is the IHD... |
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Danny
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Post by Danny on Nov 15, 2024 16:16:53 GMT
NHS waiting lists are designed to increase in winter and reduce in summer. This ought to be about the lowest point in the waiting list cycle. No they aren't. Some things in the NUS are cyclical with the seasons in that manner, but not waiting lists. In fact August, when loads of staff are on holiday, is always a difficult period. I understood the justification for having barely enough beds in winter was to prevent any ever being spare, and cases made to wait in winter because all beds are full with winter diseases will be dealt with over the summer when there isnt the same emergency demand. If that theory is no longer true, then no wonder waiting lists are rising. |
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