Do you want to discuss boring politics? (23 Viewers)

[MalcSB]

Fuel duty going up 7p a litre?

That will help inflation no end.

 

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[wingy]

That will help inflation no end.

Will the BOE get in there before it's announced? Oh the unit of 10 seems to be applicable now it seems as a measure!
So that's 3 changes of scale up to now in my lifetime!

 

[shmmeee]

What’s bizarre about not wanting people to become obese in the first place?

Just name the other medical issue you’d take this line with.

“I mean it’s great they’ve solved skin cancer but I don’t think we should be giving it until people have tried a burka for life or being a shut in”

“This new bone setting tech is amazing but I’d rather focus on stopping people breaking their legs in the first place”

It’s purely because you have linked food and drugs with morality and a Right Way that in your moral opinion certain diseases or illnesses should be treated with.

It’s the sort of thinking that leads to people refusing to take the vaccine because “it’s not natural” or Steve Jobs dying because he thought he should eat fruit and not take his chemo.

 

[shmmeee]

That will help inflation no end.

Well it’s below target got to do something

 

[Sick Boy]

Fuel duty going up 7p a litre?

Hasn't there been a temporary 5p cut in place that's due to expire early next year?

 

[shmmeee]

Hasn't there been a temporary 5p cut in place that's due to expire early next year?

yep. And a decade of freezes.

 

[MalcSB]

Well it’s below target got to do something

I’m quite looking forward to road pricing for EVs.

 

[MalcSB]

yep. And a decade of freezes.

View attachment 38908

Tory bastards, good job working people don’t drive.
In seriousness, I hadn’t realised just how much the last Labour government had increased tax on fuel.

 

[shmmeee]

I’m quite looking forward to road pricing for EVs.

I think 2030 is a good time to switch to size and weight based pricing, I wouldn’t be averse to road pricing, I quite like the M6 Toll, but it all seems very… French

 

[fatso]

I think 2030 is a good time to switch to size and weight based pricing, I wouldn’t be averse to road pricing, I quite like the M6 Toll, but it all seems very… French

But they won't "switch" will they, they'll just introduce a new fee, while keeping the original tax.

 

[shmmeee]

Tory bastards, good job working people don’t drive.
In seriousness, I hadn’t realised just how much the last Labour government had increased tax on fuel.

It did, but wasn’t fuel duty standardised across the EU in the 2000s?

 

[shmmeee]

But they won't "switch" will they, they'll just introduce a new fee, while keeping the original tax.

Car drivers are still massively subsidised and ICE vehicles will still be old inefficient tech we want to reduce so maybe. I just want enough revenue to fix the potholes however much that is.

 

[fatso]

Car drivers are still massively subsidised and ICE vehicles will still be old inefficient tech we want to reduce so maybe. I just want enough revenue to fix the potholes however much that is.

Car drivers subsidised???? By who???
Are car drivers not tax payers then?

 

[MalcSB]

I think 2030 is a good time to switch to size and weight based pricing, I wouldn’t be averse to road pricing, I quite like the M6 Toll, but it all seems very… French

Having lived in France, at least the roads there are in bloody good condition. I was impressed with the surface on a local dual carriageway when we first moved there - within 6 months it had been resurfaced.

Plus fuel was much cheaper.

 

[MalcSB]

Car drivers are still massively subsidised and ICE vehicles will still be old inefficient tech we want to reduce so maybe. I just want enough revenue to fix the potholes however much that is.

There is enough revenue to fix the potholes.

 

[MalcSB]

But they won't "switch" will they, they'll just introduce a new fee, while keeping the original tax.

The discussion seems to have been in relation to EVs. If it is extended to include ICE with existing tariffs maintained, that would be a time to protest.

 

[fernandopartridge]

They aren’t back to work conversations though. That’s the mistake you and FP are making. You’ve heard DWP and assumed it’s A4E 2: This time it’s mental.

The DWP's remit is to get people off benefits - that's what they spend lots of money on private providers for. Their remit is not improvement in health.

And look:

Labour will bring its 'own reforms' to benefits system to make £3bn cuts, says work and pension minister​

Labour will bring its “own reforms” to the benefits system in order to make £3bn worth of cuts rather than stick to Tory plans, a minister has suggested, reports the PA news agency.

Work and pensions minister Alison McGovern was asked by Times Radio why Labour was pressing ahead with plans made by the previous Conservative government to reform work capability rules.

She replied:

Like all departments, the Department for Work and Pensions has to make savings because we are in a terrible financial situation.
To be clear, on that point we will bring forward our own reforms because the last 14 years have been a complete failure when it comes to employment.”

Pressed if this meant there would be no cuts, she added:

We will not go ahead with the Tory plan because that was theirs. We will need to make savings like all departments, but we will bring forward our own reforms.”

Rachel Reeves will seek to make around £3bn of cuts to welfare over the next four years by restricting access to sickness benefits, it is understood. The chancellor is looking to raise up to £40bn from tax hikes and spending cuts in the budget as the government seeks to avoid a return to austerity, reports the PA news agency.

 

[SBAndy]

The DWP's remit is to get people off benefits - that's what they spend lots of money on private providers for. Their remit is not improvement in health.

And look:

Reading the final snippet of what you posted - and for clarity I have only worked at large corporations - but I’ve never really ‘got’ statutory sick pay. Why doesn’t the employer pick up the tab? The obvious reason to my mind is to artificially manage down costs but would leaving sick pay in the hands of the employer be that problematic?

 

[fernandopartridge]

Reading the final snippet of what you posted - and for clarity I have only worked at large corporations - but I’ve never really ‘got’ statutory sick pay. Why doesn’t the employer pick up the tab? The obvious reason to my mind is to artificially manage down costs but would leaving sick pay in the hands of the employer be that problematic?

SSP is paid by the employer. They are legally obliged to pay a minimum level of sick pay, the government does not pay for it. The government can change the qualifying requirements for SSP though.

 

[Grendel]

Reading the final snippet of what you posted - and for clarity I have only worked at large corporations - but I’ve never really ‘got’ statutory sick pay. Why doesn’t the employer pick up the tab? The obvious reason to my mind is to artificially manage down costs but would leaving sick pay in the hands of the employer be that problematic?

In an SME it’s unlikely to manage down costs as if there is a long term absentee you hire contractors to cover the absence

 

[MalcSB]

The DWP's remit is to get people off benefits - that's what they spend lots of money on private providers for. Their remit is not improvement in health.

And look:

The two are not necessarily related and certainly not mutually exclusive.

 

[Nick]

At this point I may as well just give them my wallet and ask what else they want to take.

The workers party

 

[SBAndy]

SSP is paid by the employer. They are legally obliged to pay a minimum level of sick pay, the government does not pay for it. The government can change the qualifying requirements for SSP though.

Right, that’s what I was missing. Thought they were reimbursed by Government.

 

[Nuskyblue]

I think 2030 is a good time to switch to size and weight based pricing, I wouldn’t be averse to road pricing, I quite like the M6 Toll, but it all seems very… French

Size & weight is the one. Strong arm people onto cars rather than the tanks you see on the road nowadays. The state of some of these SUVs is a joke!

 

[MalcSB]

Size & weight is the one. Strong arm people onto cars rather than the tanks you see on the road nowadays. The state of some of these SUVs is a joke!

Compulsion? In a free country? Tut, tut.

 

[MalcSB]

Size & weight is the one. Strong arm people onto cars rather than the tanks you see on the road nowadays. The state of some of these SUVs is a joke!

Have you seen the size and weight of EVs with decent range?

 

[wingy]

Compulsion? In a free country? Tut, tut.

Bigger is not always best,if you're confronted with a BMW X5 , it's quite a challenge to get out of a parking space or passing on a street with parked cars down both sides, risking damage to said vehicles, making room!

 

[shmmeee]

Compulsion? In a free country? Tut, tut.

Taxation according to the resources you use is compulsion now?

Just sick of shit roads and cars cluttering everywhere up. And a large reason for them is the massive increase In oversized cuntwagons and the like. If that’s what people want they can pay for the public land to park it and the damage it does to the roads.

 

[shmmeee]

Taxation according to the resources you use is compulsion now?

Just sick of shit roads and cars cluttering everywhere up. And a large reason for them is the massive increase In oversized cuntwagons and the like. If that’s what people want they can pay for the public land to park it and the damage it does to the roads.

TBC I used to drive said oversized cuntwagon and the tax on it was nothing close to what it should have been. And that was a hybrid so extra cunty in terms of weight but cheaper on tax.

 

[MalcSB]

TTaxation according to the resources you use is compulsion now?

Just sick of shit roads and cars cluttering everywhere up. And a large reason for them is the massive increase In oversized cuntwagons and the like. If that’s what people want they can pay for the public land to park it and the damage it does to the roads.

The comment was based on a post advocating strongarming people into doing something.

As I have said before , EVs with decent range tend to be big and heavy. Shit roads is down to them not being maintained, nothing like the tax paid by road users is spent on roads. People with suvs get taxed on the resources they use already - in fuel terms and additional VED for cars with list price over £40k for 5 years.

Personally I think car use has increased because people commute to work far further than they used to, schools are no longer as local as they were as sizes have increased so parents take kids to school in cars, out of town shopping centres, fucking deliveries of shit takeaway food contributing to obesity etc etc.

Car size has increased as more and more safety measures are incorporated, the most recent Mondeo is 32 cm (12 inches or so) longer, 37cm (14 inches) wider and weighs 336 kg (27% more) than one from 1997. A BMW i4 (EV) is 430kg heavier (over 25%) than the equivalent petrol 4 Gran Coupe on which it is based. It’s heavier than an X3, X4 and on,y 10kg lighter than an X5. Sounds to me as if many EVs would meet your definition of cuntwagon.

I get sick of pavements being cluttered by bicycles, e bikes and e scooters. When did it become acceptable to ride these things on pavements (with privately owned e scooters being illegal to use in public spaces anyway)?

 

[MalcSB]

Bigger is not always best,if you're confronted with a BMW X5 , it's quite a challenge to get out of a parking space or passing on a street with parked cars down both sides, risking damage to said vehicles, making room!

Not as bad as being confronted by a bus, van or lorry on the same street.

Having said that, when I had an X5 it was tricky parking it in a typical parking bay.

 

[wingy]

Not as bad as being confronted by a bus, van or lorry on the same street.

Having said that, when I had an X5 it was tricky parking it in a typical parking bay.

Yes the bin lorries put our street out of action for a good 20 mins.

 

[shmmeee]

The comment was based on a post advocating strongarming people into doing something.

As I have said before , EVs with decent range tend to be big and heavy. Shit roads is down to them not being maintained, nothing like the tax paid by road users is spent on roads. People with suvs get taxed on the resources they use already - in fuel terms and additional VED for cars with list price over £40k for 5 years.

Personally I think car use has increased because people commute to work far further than they used to, schools are no longer as local as they were as sizes have increased so parents take kids to school in cars, out of town shopping centres, fucking deliveries of shit takeaway food contributing to obesity etc etc.

Car size has increased as more and more safety measures are incorporated, the most recent Mondeo is 32 cm (12 inches or so) longer, 37cm (14 inches) wider and weighs 336 kg (27% more) than one from 1997. A BMW i4 (EV) is 430kg heavier (over 25%) than the equivalent petrol 4 Gran Coupe on which it is based. It’s heavier than an X3, X4 and on,y 10kg lighter than an X5. Sounds to me as if many EVs would meet your definition of cuntwagon.

I get sick of pavements being cluttered by bicycles, e bikes and e scooters. When did it become acceptable to ride these things on pavements (with privately owned e scooters being illegal to use in public spaces anyway)?

Where are you where pavements are cluttered with bikes? Posting from Amsterdam ?

 

[shmmeee]

Not as bad as being confronted by a bus, van or lorry on the same street.

Having said that, when I had an X5 it was tricky parking it in a typical parking bay.

A bus van or lorry is providing far more utility than taking one man to the shops. Road space is limited. We aren’t built for everyone to drive a tank around.

 

[MalcSB]

Where are you where pavements are cluttered with bikes? Posting from Amsterdam ?

Cluttered might be a bit of an overstatement, but the point of those machines using pavements remains. At my age, it’s hard to get out of the way when youths are doing wheelies in my direction, as happened recently walking from my parked mild hybrid to the CBS Arena.

Mind you:-

Lime bikes to be banned in London borough for causing ‘havoc’ on roads

‘We are out of road for its activities in Brent’, council says

www.independent.co.uk

https://londonist.com/london/transport/lime-bikes-block-pavements