In todays news...

[Count Steer]

The sad truth is, any party that was honest enough to say what needs to be done (economically), and promised to do it, would never get elected. Any party that actually did it in government would never get elected again!

So we get manifestos that are basically crowd pleasers (and say crap like 'we will not raise....errm..anything' then pulling every possible lever to balance the books (hopefully) without being seen to break the bloody sacred pledges of a 'for heaven's sake don't put anyone off voting for us' manifestos.

If anyone said we'll be scrapping a load of taxes inc NI and reducing VAT and putting up income tax to compensate - all that you'd hear is 'they're going to increase income tax'.

(Same sort of thing if they said 'we'll increase MPs salary and scrap the allowances and perks').

[Cousin Jack]

You get the Government you deserve. Sadly most of the electorate are as thick as pigshit with the attention span of a gnat.

[westers151]

It s a shame that nobody in power, at any time, has thought, "You know what, I want to be remembered for something good I did. I'm going to push forward a plan to setup a Sovereign Wealth Fund that will aim to take over the burden of pensions in x years time. X years time might mean another party is in power, but I get the feel good factor, and my name down in history as the guy who did it all. Best of all, we don't have to stop pensions for those who've paid in, we just shoulder that cost until the scheme is healthy enough to contribute to it."

[Count Steer]

You get the Government you deserve. Sadly most of the electorate are as thick as pigshit with the attention span of a gnat.

Years ago a young woman said to me 'I'm going to vote for Ted Heath because he's sort of cuddly'. I said 'Women did stuff like die under the hooves of the king's horse to get you that vote, don't you think that warrants putting a little more thought into how you use it?'.

(Ever since I've thought there should be some sort of qualification needed in order to vote, rather like the citizenship test. If you don't know what you're voting for and why other than eg 'he's cuddly' you don't get to scrawl your X on the ballot (similarly you can't be ON the ballot if you can't pass muster). Bring on the geniocracy! ).

[Cousin Jack]

It s a shame that nobody in power, at any time, has thought, "You know what, I want to be remembered for something good I did. I'm going to push forward a plan to setup a Sovereign Wealth Fund that will aim to take over the burden of pensions in x years time. X years time might mean another party is in power, but I get the feel good factor, and my name down in history as the guy who did it all. Best of all, we don't have to stop pensions for those who've paid in, we just shoulder that cost until the scheme is healthy enough to contribute to it."

That require a degree of altruism that no UK politician has ever exhibited.

Norway did something like it with North Sea oil and gas revenue. We didn't .

The Gulf States have a different problem, they cannot actually spend all their oil revenues, despite a raft of Princes all doing their best.

[Mr. Dazzle]

Norway did something like it with North Sea oil and gas revenue. We didn't .

"This stuff we dig out of the ground in Norway is the property of all Norwegians, so we should treat the revenues from it as such".

Crazy idea.

[Count Steer]

Norway did something like it with North Sea oil and gas revenue. We didn't .

"This stuff we dig out of the ground in Norway is the property of all Norwegians, so we should treat the revenues from it as such".

Crazy idea.

Yeah. But it only really works because the population of Norway is less than that of, say, London.

Having said that, we did rather spaff the bounty of North Sea oil and used the ££s as revenue rather than capital...other than political, short term, capital.

[Cousin Jack]

Assorted Chancellors and PMs have done some stupid stuff.

Waaay back in the 70s the PO was forced to stop paying into the pension scheme because it was 'over-funded'.
Gordon Brown did his famous tax raid on pensions.
The same Gordon Brown announced he was selling lots of our gold, the price dropped, and he sold it at fire-sale prices.
The Blessed Margaret shut down all our coal mines. Coal may be dirty to burn, but is useful as a starting point for many other sorts of stuff. Shut down a coal mine and leave it shut for 10 years and you may need to wait another 10,000 years before you can think of reopening it.

I sometimes think we need anti-politicians. Ask them what to do, then do the opposite.

[Saga Lout]

...

If anyone said we'll be scrapping a load of taxes inc NI and reducing VAT and putting up income tax to compensate - all that you'd hear is 'they're going to increase income tax'.
...

What if they said we're going to scrap one tax a year, starting with the least popular* (or most hated) and we're going to reduce the size of the civil service by a certain percentage (e.g. 5% or 10%) every year? You'd vote for that, wouldn't you?

* My guess is that inheritance tax would be up for the chop pretty soon.

[Horse]

* My guess is that inheritance tax would be up for the chop pretty soon.

Since there's the '7 years' rule, why don't people give their stuff to those they want to have it. With appropriate documents / agreement in place to guarantee right to reside, etc?

[Count Steer]

...

If anyone said we'll be scrapping a load of taxes inc NI and reducing VAT and putting up income tax to compensate - all that you'd hear is 'they're going to increase income tax'.
...

What if they said we're going to scrap one tax a year, starting with the least popular* (or most hated) and we're going to reduce the size of the civil service by a certain percentage (e.g. 5% or 10%) every year? You'd vote for that, wouldn't you?

* My guess is that inheritance tax would be up for the chop pretty soon.

Going for what's 'popular' is what got us/keeps us in this mess. Inheritance tax? Not going to influence my vote at all, nor is taking an axe to the Civil Service...running the country is ongoing, not a 5 year 'let's go this way, now let's go that'. If they said 'We'll make the Civil Service more efficient so they can do more for less, professional, business-like, less top-heavy and less at the 5 year whims of politics' then, I'm all ears.

If they said that there are certain things like critical infrastructure, energy, water, roads/transport etc etc that need longer term thinking so we're going to try to forge a political concensus on longer term planning, I'll listen. If they said 'financially the balance of need is shifting from short term, acute services to stuff like looking after the ageing population' I'd listen. If they said political jobs-for-the boys/girls like Police Commissioners are a bunch of toss, we'll put the money into paying coppers instead. I'm on board.

Inheritance tax cut? Meh. Anyone with a decent accountant ain't bothered by death tax. Paying Civil Servants to retire early? Nope make them do their jobs and retire at the same age as everyone else.

[Cousin Jack]

'Popular' saw all sorts of stuff 'privatised'.

Look how well that has worked for the water industry, the railways, etc, etc.

Perhaps it's time to do 'unpopular'.

[Count Steer]

'Popular' saw all sorts of stuff 'privatised'.

Look how well that has worked for the water industry, the railways, etc, etc.

Perhaps it's time to do 'unpopular'.

Let's the populists, we're going to do some really sensible stuff that'll make us unpopular.



I'm in.

[Cousin Jack]

'Popular' saw all sorts of stuff 'privatised'.

Look how well that has worked for the water industry, the railways, etc, etc.

Perhaps it's time to do 'unpopular'.

Let's the populists, we're going to do some really sensible stuff that'll make us unpopular.



I'm in.

To bastardise the words of a song.

" but will you still be in tomorrow?"

[Horse]

On an almost related theme (taxation, spending), this popped up

For context:
2024/25: The NHS budget is set to increase to £192 billion, an increase of £1.1 billion on 2023/24 when adjusted for inflation.

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/story/a ... popular4-1

A few years ago I was invited to a lavish dinner with dozens of the most powerful CEOs in America. I had been asked to moderate a panel on social media earlier in the evening, and then was offered a seat at a table, where I was joined by the leaders of tech giants, major retailers, and manufacturing behemoths. Right next to me was the CEO of one of America’s largest health care companies—a plump man who, to say it politely, looked like he’d walked out of central casting for the role of “Health care CEO.” He spent most of the evening talking about his recent golf and fishing trips, and ate a steak that looked like it was still alive. Eventually, after hearing about his single-digit handicap, I couldn’t help myself, so I leaned in and politely asked, “Do you ever feel bad that your company denies people coverage, and sometimes they die because of it?” Without missing a beat, he took another bite of his steak and responded, “Oh, you can’t think of them as people. You just have to think of them as numbers on a spreadsheet.”

I’ve probably replayed that encounter in my head a few hundred times since last week, when the nation was gripped by the killing of Brian Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealthcare. Not because I expected something like this to happen, but because of the startling public support for the alleged shooter that ensued immediately afterward. It was as if everyone in America knew that most of these health care companies don’t look at Americans as people, but rather as exactly what I was told: numbers on a spreadsheet. “His company put multiple of my family members in debt they will be paying for the rest of their lives & denied care for my uncle which led to his death,” as one woman recalled on Twitter. “Brian Thompson killed people. Full stop.” There were also thousands of joke posts (“I’m sorry, prior authorization is required for thoughts and prayers”), while others simply captured the sheer nihilism of the American spirit (“I cant even pretend to care, I hope he’s looking up at us”).

It will probably surprise no one to learn that, when you look at their spreadsheets, these health insurance companies have been doing quite well. UnitedHealth Group, in particular, reported a whopping $22 billion in profits in 2023 alone, including $5.5 billion in the fourth quarter. While on the surface this might imply one of a few scenarios—perhaps that more Americans have suddenly become wildly healthier, or that the health care insurer has increased premiums and denied more claims—there’s actually something else going on here.


It goes on to explain of these companies speed up their claims processes.

[Cousin Jack]

I have no inside knowledge of insurance, health or otherwise , but...............

Many insurance companies are as bent as bananas. Claims handlers that tell lies, tame assessors that Steer work to mates for a kickback, etc etc. I have met and suffered from this behaviour in motor and building insurance.

OTOH I suspect a goodly % of their customers match them, with false claims and inflated claims. I have seen that too.

The whole industry is rotten to the core. Legally in the UK insurance contracts are "in utmost good faith" , that has to be the biggest joke of all.

[Yorick]

Pogba's brother sentenced for extorting Paul Pogba.

Hmm, lets see..

Paul Pogba, 31, said he had been "tricked by childhood friends" who held him at gunpoint in 2022 and demanded €13m (£10.8m). He said he paid them €100,000 (£82,600).

The older brother of Paul Pogba, former Manchester United midfielder, has been sentenced to a three year jail term, two years suspended, after being convicted of attempting to extort the French footballer.

But the lawyer thought is was too severe

Mathias Pogba's lawyer Mbeko Tabula told RMC Sport the sentencing was "extremely harsh" and said "I think we will appeal".

At gunpoint, seems quite naughty

[Taipan]

Bristol Crown Court handing out some serious sentences, still not long enough but better than a lot we've seen!

Three of the five people that murdered Max Dixon and Mason Rist in South Bristol have now been named and pictured. Each member of the gang have been given life sentences for their part in the horrific double murder in January.

Antony Snook, 45, drove Riley Tolliver, 18, Kodi Wescott, 17, and two other teenagers, who cannot be named because of their age, to the murder scene in Knowle West before taking them back to Hartcliffe. Snook was jailed at an earlier hearing for life with a minimum term of 38 years.

Wescott, who was 16 at the time of the murders, was jailed for life with a minimum term of 23 years and 44 days at Bristol Crown Court today, Thursday, December 19. The court heard how his home was attacked an hour before the gang wrongly identified Max and Mason as the offenders.

Meanwhile, Riley Tolliver was sentenced to life with a minimum term of 23 years and 47 days. He attacked Max and Mason with a baseball bat during the bloodthirsty ambush.

The 15-year-old who had pleaded guilty to stabbing Mason at the start of the month-long trial was jailed for life with a minimum term of 15 years and 229 days. And a 16-year-old was jailed for life with a minimum term of 18 years and 44 days.

[Mr. Dazzle]

Popped up on my linked in (not the specific article, the general story). The UK wind power record (nothing to do with beans) has been broken a couple of times in the last few weeks. On Wednesday wind power reached a total of >68% of UK supply.

https://www.independent.co.uk/business/ ... 67220.html

That's not why it was on my LinkedIn though, the reason it was on their was because while those records were being broken wind farms were being paid to switch off. Even when they're producing record highs of power they get paid to switch off while we simultaneously pay fossil fuel plants to switch on.

https://wastedwind.energy/2024-12-18

[Cousin Jack]

Contracts innit.

Leaving the wind on and paying the power station to go on hot standby would cost more. And may not even be possible tecnically. You need spinning reserve in case the wind dies down, but turbines spinning means power that has to go somewhere.