UK VIII: Testing Times

[Neon Ignition]

I just did a quick bit of math based on some of the salaries at our place given many fall within the same bracket line thanks to the amazing funding that goes into social care (…). Those on just over £20,000 are taking home £16,700 per year after deductions, those on around £25,000 are taking home £20,500

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/sep/09/priti-patels-plans-to-send-migrant-boats-back-to-france-dead-in-water

Priti Patel revealed plans to ship arriving migrants back across the channel in small boats. As is common now for the incompetence level in the Tories, she has wasted two years on the plans which have been shot down by the French, Unions and Maritime Law exposing yet another Department Head who clearly has no idea about the thing she's in charge of.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2021/sep/09/uk-politics-government-plan-for-compulsory-covid-jabs-for-nhs-staff-criticised-latest-updates?page=with:block-6139cab28f08d78b4987171b#block-6139cab28f08d78b4987171b

And the Governments decision to cut Universal Credit next month isn't even supported by its own internal report that says the effects will be catastrophic.

[endo]

https://www.ft.com/content/bbaf099a-...5-fee26844c1df

Is this bull**** then from the FT?

No, but the headline is "UK graduates face 50% tax rate on additional pay from next April", so not the whole story. Regardless, graduates on 25k, say (which is pretty decent for a new graduate in most industries), won't be paying anywhere near 44.5% on their income as a whole.

[wakka]

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/sep/09/priti-patels-plans-to-send-migrant-boats-back-to-france-dead-in-water

Priti Patel revealed plans to ship arriving migrants back across the channel in small boats. As is common now for the incompetence level in the Tories, she has wasted two years on the plans which have been shot down by the French, Unions and Maritime Law exposing yet another Department Head who clearly has no idea about the thing she's in charge of.

Tim Loughton MP offers some choice comments regarding Patel's failed plans to literally u-turn the migrant dinghies in this article:

"“It sounds good. But I’m afraid in practice it’s just not going to happen. These are flimsy boats coming over. Even those that are tougher are completely weighed down.

“Any boat coming up alongside at speed would capsize most of these boats anyway and then we’re looking at people getting into trouble in the water and drowning … and then we’ll get blamed for that."

Classic. I mean, yes, look, if we could tip the innocent, desperate men, women and children into the sea and drown them and get away with it, all well and good. But we'll be blamed for it, so it's a non-starter.

[Cassius_Smoke]

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2021/sep/09/uk-politics-government-plan-for-compulsory-covid-jabs-for-nhs-staff-criticised-latest-updates?page=with:block-6139cab28f08d78b4987171b#block-6139cab28f08d78b4987171b

And the Governments decision to cut Universal Credit next month isn't even supported by its own internal report that says the effects will be catastrophic.

This internal department will be shut down soon then.

[Soundwave]

That was an interesting article thanks.
Incredibly balanced.

No worries, thought it was a good read myself

As Neon said I had always held him as a bit of a general good egg but had never really looked into anything so that was quite eye opening to me

Neil

[Golgo]

Johnson's office knowing precisely how to distract the Tory electorate at a dicey time for them: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-58505194

[Asura]

<snip> nope nope nope

Not doing the Tories' work for them.

We're STILL talking about the tax hike.

[Anpanman]

I don't agree with this new tax as its a way to keep the status quo for a generation that's grown up with cheap house prices, final salary pensions, free university and college courses ect, the younger generation are kind of still paying for that generation to live how they are accustomed too.

This will always happen, a baby born today will be contributing for us all at some point. Those with FSP's remember payed for those older than themselves if you want to look at it that way.
Uni was never 'free', a bit like free postage on ebay. it actually isn't.
All that is happening now instead of everyone forking out for Uni costs only those who are going into further education pay for it.

Their not going to abolish national insurance, so if we suddenly start having to go down the personal medical insurance route to pay for hospitals its just going to be another cost added to the UK public, as for 50% tax where kind of already there we dont have to wait 70 years for it.

20% Basic tax Rate
14% national insurance
9% student loans repayments.
1.5% new social care tax
=44.5% of your income gone before you even start

Sorry my example above was meant to include current NI costs, so as with Uni only those who require the NHS pay a tiny bit extra.
Yes I wouldn't stop a NI contribution as such unless you wanted to opt out.
Your example above should not include any student loans as that is optional in the sense no-one forces you to go into further education.

Then you have things like Council tax, Vat on goods, Fuel tax, vehicle tax, tax on alcohol and cigarettes ect we are taxed up to the eyeballs.

This is a good point, and the reason for the high overall tax burden is we have a welfare state whereas many other countries don't.

[QualityChimp]

[wakka]

Leading the world once again.

[Asura]

Hate to be that guy but are those countries all equal in terms of their testing regimen, especially given that many people are either asymptomatic or have very mild symptoms after vaccination?

I just get tired of the raw case numbers graph, when comparing different countries. Admittedly this one is at least per capita; in the early months of the pandemic the papers etc. were using the raw numbers when comparing countries of different sizes, which was bizarre to see.

[Neon Ignition]

Testing has been down for ages whilst cases have been circling upward. Now schools are opening testing is on the rise but the Tories have over egged the protection levels the vaccine offers and wasted another summer hence the poor position we enter another Winter into. A couple more weeks and those travel corridors are going to get slammed shut on us by other countries

[Dogg Thang]

Ummmm... Asura, you love being that guy! You're always being that guy! But are you pulling the Trump logic here that, if you don't test, you won't have the cases? You could take every other country off the graph and it would still paint a really bad picture. There is really no way of reading that graph as a positive.

[Brad]

Unless you change the Y axis label to British Happiness Level. Then it look like great job Boris!

[Cassius_Smoke]

Someone is about to have a class action law suit put against them...

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/sep/09/morrisons-profit-drops-as-firm-warns-over-supply-chain-crisis