In todays news...

[Yorick]

Ey up. How much?

.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx2nr9we821o

[Saga Lout]

Ey up. How much?

.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx2nr9we821o

An 'oss, an 'oss, me kingdom fer an 'oss.

[Saga Lout]

BUT - there is the thing to remember here, it's always about how can girls/women protect themselves: wear different clothes, always tell someone where you're going, don't drink too much etc etc etc

Anyone think there should be a flip side message? Guys, don't be dicks??!!

Another BUT: The guys who are not going to be dicks don't have to be told not to be dicks. The guys who are going to be dicks will be dicks whether they're told or not.

I did kinda say that too!?! -

about time the men that do this shit are taught not to, early enough for it not to be retrospective!!!

I do know it's not all. But as with all things, how do you target the shit ones without upsetting the ones that aren't shit??!!

I know you're not as old as I am but that's no excuse. You're old enough not to have such a rose tinted view of human nature. Even in the best societies and cultures some people will want to be, as you call them, dicks. You can't educate it out of them, you can't legislate or regulate it out of them and if you think you can you are going to be disappointed. Human nature is hugely variable. We have to deal with humans as they are, not as we wish them to be.

[Noggin]

Another BUT: The guys who are not going to be dicks don't have to be told not to be dicks. The guys who are going to be dicks will be dicks whether they're told or not.

I did kinda say that too!?! -

about time the men that do this shit are taught not to, early enough for it not to be retrospective!!!

I do know it's not all. But as with all things, how do you target the shit ones without upsetting the ones that aren't shit??!!

I know you're not as old as I am but that's no excuse. You're old enough not to have such a rose tinted view of human nature. Even in the best societies and cultures some people will want to be, as you call them, dicks. You can't educate it out of them, you can't legislate or regulate it out of them and if you think you can you are going to be disappointed. Human nature is hugely variable. We have to deal with humans as they are, not as we wish them to be.

I think if I didn't have hope that people could be educated (not even all people, just some, or maybe more than some) then I wouldn't want to be here.

For me, there is so much awful and horrible stuff around that the only thing to do is to hope that somehow some people that do the bad shit can be educated to not do it, which will hopefully mean less people are like that with each generation

Yes we have to deal with humans as they are, but there is no excuse for not trying to educate them to be kinder (maybe even better) humans. There are no two humans exactly the same (even twins have differences!) but there should always be hope and there should always be some that try to help others be better/less horrible!

I do realise that it is a faint hope, but without hope, humanity has nothing!! I cannot imagine having such a dark view of humanity with no hope of change and still being able to function

[MyLittleStudPony]

"Farmers say they feel 'betrayed' by inheritance tax changes"

"They are protesting against changes in the Budget that from April 2026, inherited agricultural assets worth more than £1m, which were previously exempt, will be liable to the tax at 20%, half the usual rate.

"Other allowances, for example on a property, could mean a married couple or those in a civil partnership could pass on a farm worth as much as £3m without paying inheritance tax.

"Environment Secretary Steve Reed said: "We've had to ask those with the broadest shoulders to pay a little bit more". He said that the vast majority of farmers would "pay nothing" even after the changes."

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/czj71zyy934o

Will the farms evaporate? Or might they be worth very slightly less and change hands slightly more often?



With a few handy little taxes to help those unfortunate immigrants and good transfolk.

Maybe they should pay the tax at the same rate as everyone else?

[Saga Lout]

I think if I didn't have hope that people could be educated (not even all people, just some, or maybe more than some) then I wouldn't want to be here.

You're arguing over nothing. My point is that you can't educate (regulate, legislate) the badness out of all people. Your point is that you can educate (regulate, legislate) the badness out of some people. It's the same bloody thing!

[Count Steer]

"Farmers say they feel 'betrayed' by inheritance tax changes"

.......

Maybe they should pay the tax at the same rate as everyone else?

If they pass the farm on 7+ years before they cark it the £1M+ duties can be ducked anyway. (Not that they can guarantee they'll last the 7 years but it gives young Seth time to make some contingency plans*).

* Like selling some land for housing development in order to buy more land for faaaarmin'....in which case they don't pay CGT on the sale. Kerrrrrrrrrrching!

[Noggin]

I think if I didn't have hope that people could be educated (not even all people, just some, or maybe more than some) then I wouldn't want to be here.

You're arguing over nothing. My point is that you can't educate (regulate, legislate) the badness out of all people. Your point is that you can educate (regulate, legislate) the badness out of some people. It's the same bloody thing!

I know. Didn't really understand why you told me I had no excuse for thinking that way when I was pretty clear what I was saying in the first place!!

But I replied in more detail because you told me I had no excuse for having rose tinted glasses. I don't have them but you carry on pointing out how young/stupid/whatever I am because I hope people will get better and I'll give up replying at some point

[gremlin]

"Farmers say they feel 'betrayed' by inheritance tax changes"

"They are protesting against changes in the Budget that from April 2026, inherited agricultural assets worth more than £1m, which were previously exempt, will be liable to the tax at 20%, half the usual rate.

"Other allowances, for example on a property, could mean a married couple or those in a civil partnership could pass on a farm worth as much as £3m without paying inheritance tax.

"Environment Secretary Steve Reed said: "We've had to ask those with the broadest shoulders to pay a little bit more". He said that the vast majority of farmers would "pay nothing" even after the changes."

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/czj71zyy934o

Will the farms evaporate? Or might they be worth very slightly less and change hands slightly more often?



With a few handy little taxes to help those unfortunate immigrants and good transfolk.

Maybe they should pay the tax at the same rate as everyone else?

Investors have been buying up land for many years now, both for CGT and IHT avoidance. I don't know if that what Reeves had in mind when she announced this in the budget. I'm not sure of the requirement for the land to be actively 'farmed', but it seems many a millionaire bought into them for the financial returns, not the bucolic lifestyle and chance to lose a limb in farm machinery.

James Dyson, he of vacuum cleaner wealth, owns c. 33,000 acres worth an estimated £500m. Is it any wonder he's been so vocal about this tax forcing hard-working farmers to give up their family small holdings? Call me cynical, but I reckon he's more interested in is pocket than the welfare of The Archers.

As Mark Twain (maybe) once said, 'Buy land. They ain't making it no more'.

[KungFooBob]

The site the company I work for belongs to a pension fund, the pension fund of the previous MD (his son runs the company now).

Apparently, if he died the company would have to sell the site to pay the IHT shortfall.

[gremlin]

The site the company I work for belongs to a pension fund, the pension fund of the previous MD (his son runs the company now).

Apparently, if he died the company would have to sell the site to pay the IHT shortfall.

Stick some cows on it. Voila! Instant farm!

Edit: or snails in the office. This. Was. Fucking. Genius! https://news.bloombergtax.com/tax-insig ... n-be-wacky

[Cousin Jack]

The site the company I work for belongs to a pension fund, the pension fund of the previous MD (his son runs the company now).

Apparently, if he died the company would have to sell the site to pay the IHT shortfall.

Perhaps not the smartest way to arrange your tax affairs unless that was his actual aim, to minimise HIS tax at the expense of his son's job.

There are ways and means of legitimately passing on a famly firm, farm or otherwise, to children. Most of them involve actually retiring, or at least giving up any control, some time before you die. Many farmers seem very reluctant to do that.

[Saga Lout]

... you carry on pointing out how young/stupid/whatever I am because I hope people will get better and I'll give up replying at some point

No, no, no. I didn't say you're young, you're definitely old, just not as old as I am.

[Cousin Jack]

Having just spent some hours wrestling with my own tax affairs which involved a modest capital gain, I can honestly say that the sooner the UK system gets a total root-and-branch overhaul the better for everyone.

You would not believe the ridiculous complexity of the rules and calculations, just to show show that I don't actually owe the man any money at all.

[Count Steer]

Having just spent some hours wrestling with my own tax affairs which involved a modest capital gain, I can honestly say that the sooner the UK system gets a total root-and-branch overhaul the better for everyone.

New tax form:

How much money have you got? £............

Send it.

[Saga Lout]

...

You would not believe the ridiculous complexity of the rules and calculations, just to show show that I don't actually owe the man any money at all.

Yes I would. The rules are written by lawyers and tax accountants. If they made them so that just anybody could understand them they and their colleagues would have to find proper jobs.

[Yambo]

I thought that was a leaked internal police memo.

I got sent a copy of them pictures and videos. No sign of a bus. Folk where saying the body was chucked from a car. Some poor sod picked the head up thinking it was a Halloween prank.

Have they found the bus yet or even the rest of the body?

It's all well and good the police telling people not to speculate but I can't think of anything people are going to do having been given a load of bollox by the police.

Any news yet on the head found in Edinburgh?

Is there a body, has the bus and it's driver been found?

Why is this being hushed up, because hushed up it has been?

[Mr. Dazzle]

Indeed, its so hushed up that the first hit on Google tells you what happened.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbc.co ... yjv40o.amp

[Count Steer]

Indeed, its so hushed up that the first hit on Google tells you what happened.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbc.co ... yjv40o.amp

If you Google 'Glasgow bus pedestrian collision' there appears to be an epidemic of pedestrian-bus-kinetic events. It's clear there's an invasion of zombie apocalypse bus drivers focused on an area 'where drink is freely taken' in order that reliable/sober witnesses can't be found and the authorities know that the zombies are all minor royals so they're covering it up.

[Taipan]

So growth down and now inflation up, but the budget was about growth right!