General Chat

Think Dads Army

Osborne to Cameron 'Don't panic Mr. Cameron, Don't panic'

We need to understand how the minds of our political elite work when they are under pressure to solve a problem, it goes something like this - when a problem rears its head, politicians look at the problem, they announce that they have come up with a solution to solve the problem, they announce their solution, a solution that does not solve the problem but gives the impression it does, however the problem remains - magicians call it sleight of hand ;-)

The UK seems to be the only country that pays bonuses routinely plus huge payoffs to failing bosses.

Smoke and mirrors, OFITG. I am still hoping this temporary tax to raise money to defeat our foes in Europe will be finally removed next budget. Income tax, and it is so little (20%) and starts at such a high income (£9,600 plus pa) that we might as well abolish it now.

And we are due to stop fighting the French finally this year. The three lions will lie down with the agneau ;-) So no more need for general income tax. But I bet George finds a good excuse to keep it. :-)

There are reports today in various papers that the Chancellor George Osborne will announce in his Autumn Statement on 04 December 2013, a cut of £75 to green taxes from household energy bills - oh goody, goody gumdrops we will have another £1.44 a week to spend or will we ;-)

The reports say that levies, targeted at low carbon energy and insulating homes, will be taken off energy bills and will instead be paid for through general taxation.

OK this will, in theory, save those who do not pay any tax, roughly £1.44 a week, but I fail to see how it will help anybody who pays tax.

The current personal tax allowances, the amount you can earn before you start to pay tax, depend on when you were born and range between £9,440 and £10,660. So only those who have an income of between £9,440 and £10,660 plus those like the blind or a married couple who get additional personal allowances, are likely to benefit from this proposal.

I am not intelligent enough to be able to understand the complexity of how the Chancellor George Osborne does his sums and I am having some difficulty working out how moving £75 from green tax levies to direct taxation is going to help reduce the cost of living for the majority of ordinary working class people :-S