Do you want to discuss boring politics? (17 Viewers)
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MalcSB
Well-Known Member
shmmeee
Well-Known Member
Have you got another link? My WiFi is blocking that as unsafe for some reason.
Or just write here ofc
Terry Gibson's perm
Well-Known Member
Bond villain
He’s totally lost it ! Reminds me of the match day threads
Ps great article on whole grooming gang issue and the battles on (mainly) socials
Excusing the child rape gangs only gives Musk’s ideologues more fuel
On one side, the proto-fascists. On the other, the hyperliberals. It’s hard to know which pose a bigger threat
www.thetimes.com
shmmeee
Well-Known Member
He’s totally lost it ! Reminds me of the match day threads
Ps great article on whole grooming gang issue and the battles on (mainly) socials
Excusing the child rape gangs only gives Musk’s ideologues more fuel
On one side, the proto-fascists. On the other, the hyperliberals. It’s hard to know which pose a bigger threat
Who do you think is excusing grooming gangs Steve?
Sky Blue Pete
Well-Known Member
I’ve not seen anyone
I’ve just seen a lot of people trying to use it for their political aims
If you say it’s not all Muslims you’re excusing them
If you say a national review it’s what are you trying to hide
It’s never ending and it’s social media entitled opinion bating
Experts are no more and no one in authority can be trusted
David O'Day
Well-Known Member
Unlucky Nigel
Still a Tice run Reform wouldn't get half the votes
Still a Tice run Reform wouldn't get half the votes
MalcSB
Well-Known Member
What tax rises would Britons support?
Dylan DiffordJunior Data Journalist
August 21, 2024, 9:51 AM GMT+1
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Only one in six Britons think the government should increase taxes, but public make an exception for the top rate of income tax, corporation tax and capital gains tax
In order to fill what she has termed a ‘black hole’ in public finances, chancellor Rachel Reeves is expected to make cuts to government spending and undertake as yet unspecified tax rises in this autumn’s budget in order to fill it. But to stay within Labour campaign promises, any tax increases cannot include those on ‘working people’ – VAT, income tax and national insurance. So which taxes, if any, would Britons support Reeves increasing?Although the public agree – by 58% to 20% – with the government’s argument that cuts in spending are necessary, they are more hesitant when it comes to tax increases. Only one in seven Britons (15%) think increasing taxes is the right thing to do at the present time, with four in ten (41%) believing they should be kept at their current level and three in ten (29%) saying they should be reduced.
Even among those who voted for the government in last month’s election, support for general tax rises stands at just 24%.
Of course, ‘tax’ is not a single thing and the public hold distinct views about different kinds of tax, including whether they are fair or should be raised or slashed. Indeed, while only 15% of Britons favour broad-strokes tax rises, four in ten (41%) think increasing taxes other than the three excluded by Reeves during the campaign (VAT, income tax and national insurance) would be the right thing to do, including two-thirds of Labour voters (65%).
Considering specific taxes individually shows that the majority of Britons would be happy for two taxes to rise – 58% support an increase in the top rate of income tax and 56% favour an increase in corporation tax. Four in ten Britons (41%) also support increasing capital gains tax, slightly more than the 35% who would oppose such a rise.
For other major taxes, only a minority of Britons would support their increase. Against the 36% who would be happy with an increased higher rate of income tax, half of Britons (49%) would oppose such a hike. Only 27% would be supportive of a higher inheritance tax, while between just one in six and one in five Britons (17-21%) would support increases to national insurance, stamp duty or fuel duty.
The least popular increases would be to council tax or VAT, supported by just one in eleven (9%), and the basic rate of income tax, with only 13% of the public favouring an increase.
Although there is a clear partisan component in attitudes to tax levels – Labour voters being consistently more supportive of increasing a tax than Conservatives – even on the right of centre many voters support increasing two taxes in particular.
Half of Conservative and Reform voters (48%) support increasing the top rate of income tax, against around four in ten opposing (40-44%). The two groups of voters break more evenly when it comes to corporation tax – Conservatives splitting 42% to 43% for and against an increase, while Reform voters divide 43% either way.
Why are some tax rises more popular than others?
Central to attitudes towards tax rises are perceptions about the taxes themselves – particularly who pays them and whether they come across as fair.The three taxes that more Britons support increasing than oppose – the top rate of income tax, corporation tax and capital gains tax – are all ones in which very few report paying them in the last year (2-4%) and which are overwhelmingly viewed as taxes that don’t apply to most people. Only one in six (16%) say capital gains tax applies to most people, one in eight (12%) view corporation tax as applying to the majority and just 7% believe the top rate of income tax widely applies.
By contrast, the three tax increases most uniformly opposed are those which apply to most people. Nine in ten Britons (89-92%) correctly state that the basic rate of income tax, council tax, and VAT apply to most people, with more of the public reporting paying them than any other tax – two-thirds (66%) saying they have paid basic rate income tax in the last year*, three-quarters (74%) saying they have paid VAT and eight in ten (80%) council tax.
In short, people generally support increasing taxes they won’t have to pay, particularly those that apply mainly to the rich. This fits with a wider perception that the rich aren’t paying their fair share, a YouGov tracker from June showing two-thirds of Britons (66%) feel the rich are not paying enough tax, compared to one in five (21%) saying that the rich are paying about the right amount and just 4% feeling the rich are paying too much in tax and should have their taxes cut.
However, this relationship is not perfect. Even though extremely few people (2%) say they have paid inheritance tax in the last year, less than half of Britons (46%) perceive it as a tax that only richer people pay, with four in ten (40%) believing it applies to most people. In reality, less than 4% of estates are currently affected by inheritance tax. Yet this perception of it applying more widely than it does, as well as fewer than a quarter of Britons (23%) viewing it as fair, is likely why fewer people want to see it increased than other ‘rich people’ taxes.
* This closely lines up with data from the Institute for Fiscal Studies, which shows 64% pay the basic rate, 12% the higher rate and 2% the top ‘additional’ rate of income tax.
See the full results here
How do you feel about taxation, the economy in general, and everything else? Have your say, join the YouGov panel, and get paid to share your thoughts. Sign up here.
Photo: Getty
Sorry, the charts haven’t copied across.
I don’t think anyone is currently and I don’t think that’s the gist of the article either (worth reading if you haven’t). The titles misleading in that sense. It does highlight the pressure put on people who tried to call out the problem in the past and difficulties that they faced
You still hear on phones in’s and see on socials people try to bring it back to ‘there’s more white pedos than brown pedos in the country’ though, which is no doubt true. But they are missing the point of these specific cases and the debate that is being raised ie why were concerns, accusations etc ignored for so long
Skybluekyle
Well-Known Member
David O'Day
Well-Known Member
It's Elon being weird, there's talk he's seriously pissing trump off
shmmeee
Well-Known Member
I think that’s fair in terms of general discussion. I was disgusted with Owen Jones recent comments for example that can surfaced again. Though equally the fact that the EDL crew have been turning it into “all Muslims are pedos and need to be deported” hasn’t helped. A bit like how wokeness peaked in the US under Trump.
What bothers me is the idea this is still relevant today. That people are excusing things in 2025. The attitudes to race and underage sex today are wildly different from even ten years ago.
Mucca Mad Boys
Well-Known Member
Many Americans, including Musk, just don’t understand our political system or political culture.
Musk is pretty disposable for Trump now, he won’t be seeking reelection and the only risk to Trump would be losing the midterms and he becomes more or less a lame duck for the 2nd half of his presidency.
shmmeee
Well-Known Member
Farage, unlike Musk, actually understands UK politics and realises that any outright racist group has a hard 15-20% polling cap. Thats what brought down UKIP. He’s been very keen to distance Reform and it’s allowed him to pick up the non-racist vote as well. He’d be mad to give that up and it just shows how ineffectual Musk will be. He’s already splitting the right into two, this would split it into three.
What’s weird is that while Musk is 100% a racist white supremacist, he’s smart enough in the US to say the Reps need to kick the racists out. Why can’t he see that here?
shmmeee
Well-Known Member
Cheers. IHT is always unpopular. Everyone’s an embarrassed millionaire.
I’d agree top rate if IT can go up, I mean I’m already over taxed but I can afford it and the country needs it. Said it before and I’ll say it again ruling out IT/NI raises was a mistake.
Mucca Mad Boys
Well-Known Member
It’s pretty clear that Elon Musk doesn’t understand who Tommy Robinson really is. He and other non-British people on the right (particularly Americans) just see him as a figure fighting ‘rape gangs’ rather than seeing Tommy Robinson for what he really is.Farage, unlike Musk, actually understands UK politics and realises that any outright racist group has a hard 15-20% polling cap. Thats what brought down UKIP. He’s been very keen to distance Reform and it’s allowed him to pick up the non-racist vote as well. He’d be mad to give that up and it just shows how ineffectual Musk will be. He’s already splitting the right into two, this would split it into three.
What’s weird is that while Musk is 100% a racist white supremacist, he’s smart enough in the US to say the Reps need to kick the racists out. Why can’t he see that here?
shmmeee
Well-Known Member
Was always going to happen wasn't it.
Trump loves the limelight, loves being the main man, there's no way he'd settle for someone getting more publicity or popularity than him.
He'll probably boot Musk out before long.
Sky Blue Pete
Well-Known Member
The main reason isn’t race it’s that no one gave a shit about the kids
shmmeee
Well-Known Member
From what I’ve read police corruption was a huge issue, attitudes to particularly working class girls was an issue, and generally attitudes to young girls with older boyfriends was an issue. Not wanting to be seen as racist was also an issue but less so than any of those. There were policemen caught undressed with these girls, the gangs were told by police when girls tried to report them. A social worker attended the “wedding” of one of these girls. None of that was because of woke.
Sky Blue Pete
Well-Known Member
Yeah sorry it wasn’t one thing I was wrong to suggest it was
Yeah that's fair.
I just think if it ever gets to a point where Musk becomes more popular than Trump amongst the MAGA crowd then Donny will dump him very quickly, his ego won't stand for that.
David O'Day
Well-Known Member
shmmeee
Well-Known Member
MAGA hates Musk since his H1-B comments and general “we should kick the racists out” stuff. Trump seems to have gone more mainstream with the tech right and less racist Reps and it’s them that listen to Musk. I think both are needed. But both are about as reliable as a BPD girlfriend so who knows.
fernandopartridge
Well-Known Member
There is nowhere in Britain that has areas where you are killed for not being a Muslim
Hmmm, I’m not sure Pete. These are a couple of paragraphs from the article incase people are struggling due to firewall
‘Please let us not indulge in the craven euphemisms that have characterised the scandal for far too long. This was not a “community” problem or a problem of particular “towns”; it was ethnic violence of a shocking and sustained kind: predominantly Pakistani men targeting predominantly white girls. Children were drugged, trafficked, gang-raped and tortured, a scandal that shakes one to the core.
And all this took place in plain sight, in no small part because of the capture of our institutions by the virus of ultraprogressivism, the fear that to investigate these crimes might “undermine community cohesion” or — worst of all — appear racist. Ann Cryer, the Labour MP who sounded warnings as early as 2003, was turned on so viciously that police installed an alarm in her home, a pattern of intimidation that applied to Andrew Norfolk of The Times and Charlie Peters of GB News, now leading the investigative crusade’
I do take yours and shmmeees point that as it was young girls from poor working class families there appears to less of a shit given by police etc. I also take shmmeees point earlier than maybe times have changed a bit in the last 10 years or so….I’d hope so anyway
SBAndy
Well-Known Member
Fairly entertaining read….
“Golding had previously been a member of the neo-Nazi National Front and once attended a Cenotaph on Remembrance Sunday wearing women's underwear on his head.”
shmmeee
Well-Known Member
Id rather read the inquiry report than sensationalist and politically biased reporting tbqh.