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George Osborne is toying with the idea of removing a further £30bn in middle-class..

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    George Osborne is toying with the idea of removing a further £30bn in middle-class..

    Just how much of a Tory is George Osborne?

    As everyone knows, George Osborne is a Conservative who likes to cite Margaret Thatcher as his political hero. Yet ironically, he is fast shaping up into something quite different – one of the most redistributional and interventionist chancellors of the modern age. That position may be confirmed in the next Budget by a £30 billion further raid on pension tax reliefs.

    But first, the backstory. Once upon a time, Britain used to have a relatively good and robust occupational pensions system. I’m not sure it was ever the “envy of the world”, as was frequently suggested, but certainly it seemed broadly to work in providing the bulk of UK employees from the shop floor upwards with a reasonable pension in retirement

    Then three things happened. First, the idea of jobs for life went out the door, with employment becoming ever less secure. This, in turn, made employers less willing than they had been to provide pension benefits as an incentive for long service.

    Second, life expectancy began to far exceed what the actuaries had assumed, making the provision of final salary pension schemes increasingly expensive, in many cases, prohibitively so. But most important of all, governments couldn’t help but meddle, chopping and changing policy from one year to the next, some times with good intentions, but often simply for the purpose of boosting short term tax revenues. With virtually all these interventions, the consequences were disastrous, until eventually they broke the system entirely.

    From the Treasury’s point of view, this makes perfect sense. Upfront pension tax relief is estimated to “cost” the Revenue around £50 billion a year, virtually enough to eradicate Britain’s Budget deficit in one fell swoop. Never mind that this would be a windfall only of timing, bringing forward tax revenue that would in any case be paid by pensioners at some stage in the future; it still makes a tempting target for a chancellor desperate to achieve his totemic goal of a budget surplus. (AtW's comment - that money will be taken out from City's coffers, money that help maintain stock bubble)

    Just how much of a Tory is George Osborne? - Telegraph

    How much of a Tory??

    Correct answer - 100% Pure Tory Scum!



    Gotto love it really - buy middle class vote with promise to increase high tax threshold to pathetic £50k and then totally rob them of other stuff they had more than making up for the "gift", which is yet to materialise!
    Last edited by AtW; 1 January 2016, 18:29.

    #2
    I am absolutely appalled by this Chancellor. He had re-engineered so many Tory tax collection methods in the last year to effectively look more of a cash grabber than any Labour Government.

    Everything I have bought into has been tulip on.

    Work hard - keep your money
    Save for your pension - it's the future, we will help you
    Buy to Let's
    Self Employed we want you - divvies and T&E

    The Tories were all about work hard and help yourself. Now it's work hard and we'll help ourselves but our backers and big business will be rewarded.


    I am a lifelong Tory voter and certainly will not vote Tory next time.
    What happens in General, stays in General.
    You know what they say about assumptions!

    Comment


      #3
      Originally posted by MarillionFan View Post
      I am absolutely appalled by this Chancellor.


      Will never vote Tories as a matter of principle.

      I just 6 months he's done worse taxation than New Labour in 15 years.

      Making so many wholesale changes is just plain risky.

      No way Balls would have made so many negative changes so quick.
      Last edited by AtW; 1 January 2016, 18:53.

      Comment


        #4
        Originally posted by AtW View Post


        Will never vote Tories as a matter of principle.

        I just 6 months he's done worse taxation than New Labour in 15 years.

        Making so many wholesale changes is just plain risky.

        No way Balls would have made so many negative changes so quick.
        I think the pension changes will ultimately sink this generation and the future governments of this country. It's so short term thinking it has a huge impact 10/15 years from now
        What happens in General, stays in General.
        You know what they say about assumptions!

        Comment


          #5
          Originally posted by MarillionFan View Post
          I think the pension changes will ultimately sink this generation and the future governments of this country. It's so short term thinking it has a huge impact 10/15 years from now
          The impact should be pretty immediate - pension funds will have a lot less money to support FTSE bubble and when shares fall many of the same FTSE companies have big pension deficites.

          The fool might just succeed in crashing house market and stock market at the same time.

          Comment


            #6
            Quite to above. Nowt to add.
            bloggoth

            If everything isn't black and white, I say, 'Why the hell not?'
            John Wayne (My guru, not to be confused with my beloved prophet Jeremy Clarkson)

            Comment


              #7
              Originally posted by MarillionFan View Post

              I am a lifelong Tory voter and certainly will not vote Tory next time.
              Vote SNP next time.
              "Never argue with stupid people, they will drag you down to their level and beat you with experience". Mark Twain

              Comment


                #8
                Originally posted by scooterscot View Post
                Vote SNP next time.
                UKIP

                I may run.
                What happens in General, stays in General.
                You know what they say about assumptions!

                Comment


                  #9
                  Originally posted by MarillionFan View Post
                  UKIP

                  I may run.
                  A wasted vote. You'll be lucky to get one or two seats compared to the SNP's 55.
                  "Never argue with stupid people, they will drag you down to their level and beat you with experience". Mark Twain

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Originally posted by MarillionFan View Post
                    I may run.
                    I'd give that a miss MF. THere is no getting away from the fact that you are a "big old unit", and your running days are far behind you. Have you thought of "waddling" for public office?

                    “The period of the disintegration of the European Union has begun. And the first vessel to have departed is Britain”

                    Comment

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