This is the same issue across all public services. Funding is cut so they sells assets for quick cash, then lease assets back from a private company making future costs go up. Lease price increases making expenditure go up and up. Leisure centres, housing, prisons, transport, hospitals, key infrastructure all sold off. Services now contracted out to private companies who take profits rather than reinvest.
Yep its a dumb circle of degradation that anyone with any sense of foresight or even hindsight can identify. We need to renationalise our key public infrastructure and we need to keep it small and agile i.e. do more with less, not encumber it with too much bureaucracy and keep it competitive, incentivise train and pay competent people competitively. I would imagine our necessary "public" services are wasting money in an excessive, over paid and useless middle and upper management layer and through extortionate private contracts. Trimming that fat or entirely ridding ourselves of those and make sure to regularly audit public spending (and not just accepting some of the scandalous waste or obvious predatory profiteering that we have seen over the last 20-30 years) would be a good start. Modernising and standardising our national services, processes and infrastructure would also be a good place to start as its a fucking mess. Being honest and open about the efforts necessary and the time scale of these things is also going to be important. If its going to be difficult and is going to take over a decade I would rather know and I would rather they are explicit about the goals and ways the public can see and measure the progress along the way. Also even in the era of instant communication politicians havent figured out how to be transparent and honest with people and to tell people difficult truths that they need to hear.
There's more to it. A lot of nationally owned industries were not managed on a commercial basis, which mean that they were inefficient subsidy guzzlers - which has to be propped up by taxpayer money. National ownership never really provided any profits to reinvest in the first place. A lot of this has to do with the British approach to managing publicly owned companies and assets - which significantly limited their ability to act commercially. I am not suggesting that it was right to privatise btw or that we shouldn't nationalise failing industries. There are models of public ownership (look at European rail or Nordic Oil and Gas) which is extremely effective, efficient and profitable - and we should learn from it. But its equally wrong to look at the UK's history of nationalised industries and see it as anything other than the abject failure is has been.
@@JoshuaJSHill I would also argue we shouldn't assume nationalisation is a "silver bullet". Nationalisation as a option should be considered on a case by case basis without any ideological biases or tribalism - noting that its a problem with both parties, Labour thinks that nationalisation is a panacea for all ills whereas the Tories treat it like cancer. What we need is careful, professional analysis of services and industries to determine whether it is better delivered by the public sector or the private. In many cases, on a macro level, contracting out to the private sector on an "as and when" needed basis is cheaper than maintaining an expertise in-house. In others, the private sector has better incentives infrastructures which are not really replicable in public ownership. Where nationalisation is likely to be the best option from the outset is in sectors where profitability isn't the only consideration and where a solely profit driven provider is likely to neglect (or has already neglected) the public good part of the equation - e.g. water companies and public transport. Other areas (like the airports or the various assessments for points based benefits) are candidates to consideration for nationalisation but may not necessarily be better delivered through the public sector.
On tax, what Rory helpfully described there was only tax on income, but not on wealth and earnings from other sources. The fact is wealth inequilty is massive and only getting bigger, thats why we've got this problem. With people like the Sunaks making huge amounts of moeny through shares as well as the rise in "mega" corporations in the last 10 years like Amazon who are a massive part of our economy and yet pay little or no tax here, compared to if it was split across multiple smaller UK based companies who would distribute that wealth better. How have we ended up where a billionaire making millions a year will pay less of a percentage of tax on their earnings over a person on say £50k.
Tax is the price we pay for a decent society. What we need our politicians to do is to use it wisely, honestly and with the priorities we set for them every election.
Except our taxes are the highest they have ever been and our services are the worst they've ever been. We simply pay bureaucrats and consultants while the actual services rot away. You could give the NHS a billion pounds and management would find a way to waste it. The issue is a systemic failure in management and lack of incentives.
@@danielwebb8402 No. Those at the very bottom, on minimum wage have, but just about everyone above that hasn't, while those at the very top have launched into the stratosphere on a rocket.
Austerity was a Tory policy enacted in 2010-11 and carried on essentially until today. The key ingredient was wage restraint. Where I worked there were ""voluntary"" redundancies going on all the time from 2010-16. The roles were eventually replaced by cheaper workers. Fire and rehire writ large.
The country was broke in 1945 but Labour still managed to start the welfare state, NHS & build over a million council houses. It's not what you have but what you do with it.
Rory, you didn't mention North Sea Oil. In 1980 Thatcher didn't do what Norway did (set up a wealth fund). The North Sea was squandered. The few lined their pockets the many got nothing. The UK wants a civilised economy a Scandevian-style economy. Not a Regan, Thachther tricky down disaster capitalist model. Fail to not redress this and sadly civil unrest becomes likely.
As an American, you have no idea how good you have it with the NHS. I make almost $20 an hour. I get paid every 2 weeks. For me and my wife, it costs $396 every paycheck to pay for our insurance (no kids). Now with that you would think that you would be all set just paying the co-pays for services. But no, the insurance company always denies claims, in whole or in part, then you have to call the insurance company, and call the hospital billing department to see if anyone missed a billing code to get anything covered. And these items can go as high as 10s of 1000s of dollars. In which case your credit becomes destroyed and you have anxiety just even thinking about going to the GP or hospital for any type of treatment because you might be financially destroyed at any time. Oh and did I mention I make almost $20 an hour. And that is not even barely enough to survive or just make rent. So for as much as you may be upset with the current state of the NHS, don't ever give up on it to think privatizing it is going to make your life better or easier. You don't know suffering until you try fighting with the insurance company, the hospital billing department, while trying to recover from any type of illness or procedure, just to make sure your not going to be destitute from medical bills.
Oh, I do. I remember reading an article about mass shootings in the USA and a survivor saying the worst thing was not being shot but the medical bills of hundreds of thousands of dollars that she had no hope of paying. I see desperate American parents with a GoFundMe page for treatment for their sick child. Breaking Bad would never have got past the pitch in the UK.
I'm sorry, Rory's answer to 'defending Austerity' was a cop out. Covid was 10 years after Austerity and we were in such a bad state of preparedness BECAUSE of Austerity. I don't think Austerity at that time can ever be defended. Because the economy was on track to improve! It was an idealogical political decision and Cameron and Osbourne are opportunists to inflict unnecessary pain onto the country. AND they still borrowed immensly during their time!
The 2008 financial crisis was the excuse for austerity. In reality, it was all about reducing the public sector. Rory as usual is a tribal Tory loyalist. The truth is Gordon Brown's strategy stabilised the economy and when Labour left office the economy was growing.
You're forgetting the Eurozone debt crisis which was a massive drag on growth across the whole region for 2010-12 and an illustration of the risks of avoiding austerity, which lead to much more severe austerity a few years later for many European countries - I can understand why austerity was very unpopular and painful but to say it was purely ideological is to bury your head in the sand a little. The amount of cuts that ended up being implemented were actually less than what Labour said they would have to do when they were in government and Gordon Brown was clearly not someone who's mission was shrinking the public sector.
You're so right! And this is why it is so dissapointing to see Starmer's Labour continue austerity in their manifesto. As you rightly said, austerity is an idealogical decision. What a shame that Starmer has taken the same decision to inflict more unnecessary pain onto the country.
It seems self-evident to me that wage stagnation is a bad thing for everyone, but this puts me at odds with myself when it comes to issues like immigration (which I am a big supporter of) because ultimately that is also a driver of wage stagnation.
Exactly. The problem isn't people paying income tax, even if they earn over £100k. They're small fries compared to the people and companies that need to be paying their fair share.
Because the public and the media would eviscerate them. Most people won't give you credit for being humble, that's why politicians have to be the way they are.
ask Elton John - but more seriously, because the opposition & media slaughter anything resembling a 'u-turn', regardless of evidence or explanation. For example, the tory decision to not use inflation rate to increase pensions when it was 11%; both the opposition & the media accused the tories of 'Abandoning Pensioners' used the triple lock to criticise the given increase (8.5%), but ignored the fact inflation had dropped significantly (to 6.5%) by April when the increase was implemented
@adamcummings20 This is correct. The media have refocused all admission or apology as humiliation and defeat. It is not possible to deliver a well received apology now. That is why all politicians quadruple down now and it is toxic.
Years ago I stayed at a B&B in Italy which turned out to be run by Kosovans. When they realised we were British they wanted to talk about football but also how grateful they were to Tony Blair for his stance on Kosovo.
The PROBLEMS with the way the UK tax system is currently set up are: 1) That nowhere NEAR enough tax is being collected from *large and multinational companies,* which is a FAR better and more efficient means of raising revenue. It's the giant companies and their major shareholders who own most of the world's wealth, and who can easily afford to pay FAR more tax than they do currently. It's true but absurd that these giant companies only pay a tiny fraction of what they SHOULD be paying, even under current UK Law on Taxation. 2) People on low wages shouldn't have to pay ANY tax. Au contriare, there should be either Universal Services ~ OR ~ Universal Basic Income - all of which could EASILY be met by properly taxing the giant companies. Currently the tax threshold for the self-employed is £12,650 per annum. IMO that figure should be raised to £30,000 per annum. 3) Putting almost the entire tax burden on income and VAT is both unfair and inefficient. Wealth should ALSO be taxed. If a super-rich Russian oligarch billionaire owns a football club and numerous extremely valuable properties in Mayfair, etc, it would NOT be difficult for the government to levy taxes on the super-rich, because they CANNOT transport their mansions and football clubs abroad. 4) There are FAR too many tax loop-holes which enable the super-wealthy to avoid paying tax altogether. These loop-holes need to be closed down. This is THE most important issue any government faces, and UK governments have got this badly wrong for decades - the tax system currently favours the rich (those with a net worth in excess of £10 Million) and the super-rich (those with a net worth of hundreds of millions of pounds and even billions of pounds). Unless this issue is PROPERLY addressed, poverty and inequality will continue to rise steeply, and the nation as a whole will go into ever steeper economic decline. Here's a link: th-cam.com/users/results?search_query=This+is+how+I%27m+going+to+vote+Garys+Economics
There is a vast difference between taxing wealth and taxing income. Sure, people in the top 1% of incomes are paying more than they used to. However, earning an income is not the way of actually becoming wealthy unless you happen to become a CEO. Wealthy people don't pay anything in income tax. There is a reason that Rishi became more wealthy than the King last year and paid a lower effective tax rate than a nurse.
Tax PASSIVE wealth of the multi millionaires AND billionaires! Those of us advocating a tax on wealth is millions upon millionaires of passive income of the mega rich, which is currently not happening!! If this continues , inequality will get even worse, the economy will collapse and with it, society! Simples!
I very much appreciate the amount of TRIP you are making for us. During these politically intense times listening to TRIP is like pouring oil on one's stormy psyche
Thanks to the team behind this channel. Following your recommendation, I started researching into Abby Joseph Cohen Services. Thankfully it was a little over a year ago now, I started an lnvestment with Abby's Services and that allowed me to be on much MUCH more stable ground in the face of global financial upheaval. So thank you, your channel, and your employees. For what it's worth, it made a difference for me and my little family.
Same here, I got to know about Abby Joseph Cohen Services from this channel in 2020. Since then I've paid off 160,000 USD of debt. Now I'm working on building an emergency fund. I didn't even have a savings account three years ago.
Abby Joseph Cohen Services has really set the standard for others to follow, we love her here in Canada 🇨🇦 as she has been really helpful and changed lots of life's
I love people with their initial doubts about the prospects of financial advisors like Abby Joseph Cohen in business/markets today. Gives me more time to get ahead while they stew in their own pity and doubts as they childishly complain about those spreading the word
1- the rich largely do not pay themselves in PAYE so don’t come up in the 200k figure. 2- eben those ok high incomes who pay more tax on income generally have more wealth and their gains in asset appreciation are way over any increase in tax. The poor do not have assets. 3 - we need a global wealth tax for those avoiding paying tax. There is no other way to address the imbalance yet no one is talking about it even this podcast as refer to tax. Perhaps invite Pikkety on
Over 80's cost 10 times more because the last 4 years costs the majority for each person. People generally don't have end of life treatment from 18-25, but for those that do, they cost a lot too. For those that die in their 60's, they cost roughly the same. If you don't control for death, statistics about an aging population are nonsense. Cost of healthcare has increased because medicine has advanced a lot, it's more complicated and expensive. The only way healthcare will cost less in the future is with euthanasia. Do you want the last 4 years of your life, or do you want better quality healthcare for the other years?
If all the honest, decent people resigned from UK politics out of shame, we'd be left with a House Of Commons three-quarters full of crooks and one-quarter empty!
You were very disappointing on the Assange issue....it's much more complicated than you (Alistair mostly) would grant. This whole saga is arguably the most consequential of our time...you need to pay much more attention to it. Ask yourselves why no one was harmed by the wiki leaks name releases...it's because the US knew beforehand and took action to protect their assets. Ask yourselves how they got this info beforehand....wiki leaks warned them. There is much more that has gone on here...pay attention!
The pound is not worth what it was. You are spending more money because of the self harm the Tories have done to the economy. The pound is not worth much now but costs are all up.
I really don’t think Austerity was the right thing to do we went through hell with Tressa May it was awful our pension was taken away and we were treated like criminals after doing a degree under the Labour government and leave work also being disabled through a accident I had at University but pass with good Art degree thank to the Labour government of the day thank you both for being honest and nice regarding politics Jennifer Cardy
I can't decide which I'm less surprised by: that the Met have been abusing their position to place bets, or that conservatives have been. I have been trained by their actions over decades to assume that both organisations are complete moral vacuums.
Interesting video but can you also discuss about portfolio management companies? This is a recognized phenomena and there are companies that help invest and manage generational wealth. Some also organize get togethers, and social events for the family. These types of trusts and corps would make an interesting video.
Britain benefitted from an oil boom and Thatcher privatising anything that could be privatised. Britain almost went bankrupt multiple times in the decades before that. The problem was the public sector was so incredibly inefficient compared to it's counterparts in France and Germany. At least public sector workers in the countries are productive when they are not on strike, in the UK they didn't do any work regardless if they were on strike or not.
@@Weakeyedominant Not true. The problem with the public sector is boom and bust. Boom and bust caused by politicians turning the money taps on and off every few years. Every time budgets get slashed much of the money spent previously gets wasted. Another big issue is constant change. Nothing ever has time to bed in and become efficient. The final big issue is procurement. The rules are weighted to favour outside provision. The rules are also created to protect companies tendering for contracts rather than allowing the public sector to get the best value. There is a reason the public sector pay more for everything they buy, and it isn't incompetence or brown envelopes.
@@Weakeyedominant Thatcher created the purchaser provider split in the NHS which required annual contracts and cross charging between them. This meant many more accountants were needed in the NHS plus the use of expensive consultants and she also brought in expensive managers from outside industry to manage the NHS who knew nothing about health - the incorrect assumption being all things private sector = good. All things public sector = bad.
That’s because England was fuelled literally and figuratively by Scottish oil. There’s a very good reason Scot’s have been murdered and jailed over the last 40yrs to protect England.
@heliotropezzz333 Thatcher was a wicked woman,IMHO, who took advantage of a Britain ,at the time, that had been built up post war and was historically at its most equal.
I would absolutely accept paying more for better services, but my concern is about seeing what they do with my money now, in bad faith, and giving them more will just be misspent in the same way.
Given the more than halving of local government funding and increase in costs, can you look for leadership lessons from those that have excelled in that environment and delivered new models of public service that do a lot more with a lot less. How about an interview of Donna Hall CBE, Chris Naylor or Fiona Lees?
I'm sorry but people in a lot of spheres now can't seem to take criticism anymore because they supposedly can't be seen to lose face, so instead they cry foul instead rather than distilling the criticism down to the essence of the critical feedback. It seems that this has now been more or less normalized which is just alienating both people they interact with and external observers.
😮the majority pay plenty taxes. The wealthy and ultra weathy should be taxed.....alongside business profiting from sales in uk should also pay their fair share, then there would be plenty money for rebuilding and taking back our services from the private sector.
Also in classical Latin the v would be more of a w. So it would have sounded more like weh-ni, wee-di, wee-ki (stress on the first syllable for each word).
Yeah, I don't usually go into the 'v' as I'm in the minority (I think) that suspects it may have been a voiced bilabial fricative even relatively early in classical Latin, which I can forgive modern English speakers for not being able to pronounce.
Rory, I've bought your book but not listened to it yet. You are really selling it saying David Cameron doesn't like you anymore because of it though. :)
Damn you for plugging all 4! I'm going to run out of credits! :) Alastair needs to get better at plugging his book or get a better name for it. I can never remember the title of his.
I'd have no issue handing over more money through taxes if there wasn't such colossal waste. It's poor management. I'd love an independent enquiry from a foreign auditor into where the money is going, where there are black holes, and how the money we hand over can be better used.
I watch your podcast a lot and appreciate the insights particularly into the behind closed doors side of politics and geopolitics. It is a real pleasure to be in your company. BUT!!! you guys should stick to geopolitics and election winning strategies. For economics you need to invite people who know what they are talking about economically. If you don't know how much tax people pay and that taxes have been almost halved on the top end since the 70s (even if they may have gone back up a few percentage points recently, then you don't know enough to figure out what has put us in the current economic mess and what could get us out of it.
4:18 Regarding The Super Rich, my question is, in 1979 were the rich as rich as they are now? Were there as many assets for them to take off an ever increasing population, My guess is no.
We should NOT be expected to increase our contributions until such time as the wasted money on PPE, bungs to mates etc are recovered! I realise it wouldn’t be easy but I don’t care, having paid my taxes, to then have to pay even more simply because of the utter incompetence of a ruling party would be obscene! Yes it’s vengeance on my part, but I don’t care, democracy is off the rails and a clear and distinct , visible correction is required.
I dont think the cost of the Nation Health Service can be blamed on the over 80's....I think its got a lot to do with the cost of modern medicine which can do so much more than it did 40 years ago and pharmaceutical companies are making so much more with all these fancy medicines on the market. My question is how much was paid on medicines 40 years ago compared to today?
Because tories hate the nhs, it is torally averse to their fiscal beliefs hence run it into the ground whilst lining their and their friends' pockets, and then they can let private healthxare companies (usa style) to " save the day" and their work is done, their profits secured.@Nat6999
In the 1970s, the highest rate of income tax on earned income was 83 per cent. Margaret Thatcher’s government reduced it to 60 per cent in 1980 and 40 per cent in 1989
We need to free frontline workers from micro management. This is not a small problem it is a HUGE and costly issue and it stifles front line workers ability to deliver.
No one ever seems to address one particular elephant in the room. Public sector productivity. You can increase taxes but unless the performance of things like local authorities is addressed the taxpayer will continue to shoulder the burden without getting great value. A friend recently told me of his cousin who went to work for a local authority. Said cousin found the work unchallenging but was approached by his boss and told to slow down, because he was making his colleagues look lazy. He was also asked to slow down his work on updating systems for a similar reason!
100% agree. The company I work for occasionally sells instruments to the NHS. The layers of bureaucracy you have to go through are absolutely ludicrous. It's not due diligence, it's just jumping through hoops. It takes months.
I've a similar story, my sister in law literally works 3-4 productive hours a day remotely for the NHS on average, busy times probably 7.5, but the remaining time she's chilling out.
Don’t make laws that you can’t lie. Put it in the job contract for being an MP. You either sign and follow the rules or refuse to sign and your seat is given to the runner up. If you lie in office it’s breach of contract and you lose pay, get sued or get sacked.
austerity hit the worst off the most ; it goes without saying the rich don't have to pay more and they won't anyway because they have the means to avoid paying tax
This is just a question that no one seems to be asking or have I missed something? Nigel Farrage with not one member of parliament seems to be on several question and answer panels whilst George Galloway who at least has one mp, is not invited. You keep talking of the reasons why “conspiracy theorists” gain more traction than main stream media. Perhaps the fact that anyone that is to the left of the Labour Party (and that is an area that seems to be growing exponentially) is somehow never/rarely included in discussions. Surely questioning them and fact checking is better than just hoping they will go away..
The income tax statistics misses those who aren’t paying it so misses totally the proper rich unlike the surgeons or CEOs getting paid a wage or self employment income. income in these stats are things like salaries, wages, and self-employment income. However, the taxation of dividends and other forms of investment income are not included and passive income is where the actual rich make money. I’m surprised AC didn’t pick up on that.
The essence of being a proper small-c conservative is NOT to carp on endlessly about the need for ever-lower taxes. It is about respect for and defense of a country's institutions. In most Western countries today - and whether you like it or not (and those radicals who masquerade as so-called "Conservatives" clearly do NOT) - this includes social welfare, public (i.e. state-supported) education and, perhaps especially, access to health care on the basis of need, but also progressive taxation at levels adequate to achieve those goals. In my mind, a proper conservative can and must advocate for appropriate levels and progressivity of taxation while ALSO remaining deeply sceptical of "market idolaters" on the neoliberal Right, "State idolaters" on the radical Left and sundry other radical ideologues of the "Volk", the "Proletariat", the "chosen people of God" and other self-appointed philosopher kings...
On the Assange exposure, the data bulkset was shared with the public as an encrypted file, but the password to remove the encryption was shared in a Guardian book - it was effectively released by accident and this was known to various news operations. What Assange then did by publishing it unencrypted was therefore very unwise, but not quite as unwise as it looks at first glance. Someone else would have done this, and certainly word would have got to Russia and China.
People were killed. Interpreters etc. I think Assange is most interested in personal fame. The sexual offences he committed in Sweden show a disregard for his victim's health, risking STDs and pregnancy. It's all about him. Selfish and arrogant.
@@HJJSL-bl8kk I'm not defending Assange; but as a matter of factual accuracy, the data that led to those deaths was already widely available when he published it. The circumstances are detailed on the Julian Assange page at Wikipedia if anyone wants to check and find references.
I can eventually forgive incompetence, hold your hand up say. I tried I couldn’t do this job. I cannot forgive grifters, lie’s, corruption. A few of the Tory’s are incompetent unfortunately For the country the majority seem to fall in the latter group
I read an article in a very left wing newspaper (not mainstream media) which interestingly had an article comparing spending on health in Europe and around the world and spending on health seems to be being cut generally worldwide. Should you focus sometimes a bit more on global trends and their causes and implications and how Britain compares to place Britain in some context?
Tax also depends on whether it’s spent well and goes back to society. Spending £200m on useless PPE of which £60m went to Michelle Mone’s boat and £2.6m on a media room Sunak forgot about while stood there getting wet for example is probably not a good way to spend the people’s money. The 45% top rate explains Sunak’s wife taking non-domicile status and Sunak offshoring to the Caymans and BVI. Also, privatising rail, electricity, gas, water etc. has cost everyone more. That extra money doesn’t go to improvements in those. It used to. Surprised Alastair didn’t bring these things up when discussing taxation.
The problem is not taxation between 2010 and now it is between 1980 and now. Top rate was as high as 85% in even the US is the 50s and it was Reagan Thatcher who cut top rates drastically and the fact that the top rate went back up slightly does not affect much as we now have a new category of business that doesn't pay even as much as the ordinary people i.e. the tech companies.
I have no problem paying tax. I want a functioning first-world country for it... One problem is because some public sector people dont care about the money they spend, its not theirs. Also, because of stupid red tape.., a friend works in NHS IT, and someone needed a USB cable.. it cost £90! cause it had to come from a set-approved supplier who has a monopoly on the situation, and so charges what they want.
Looking at the figures from the OBR it’s noticeable that UK taxes in 2027 are projected to rise to the average for the G7 and still significantly lower than the EU14. Bearing in mind that taxes on median incomes has fallen we don’t seem that grateful. I think we notice the lack of public services more than an extra £200pm. Also government spending goes into the economy and generates wages which are taxed and spending which brings in VAT.
Regarding people in the US military, it's worth mentioning that a lot of people join up because they get free medical care for not just themselves but for their spouses and children. This isn't an issue in the UK.
Oh god - Rory is talking about economics again like he’s an authority! Completely inaccurate statements and conclusions. Please can you do an episode with Danny Blanchflower to explain to people how macro economics work at a nation level. Let’s bin this ridiculous cheque book analogy that David Cameron popularised.
I think you are missing the point - we have been paying the taxes to pay for proper services already. Where has the money gone, eg road tax certainly hasn’t gone into the roads.
There hasn't been a road tax since 1937! VED - is a vehicle tax, and these days (since 2001) is really a emissions tax (electric cars pay £0). Since 1937 it has always gone into the general taxation pot and has not been hypothecated.
@@occamraiser You know Fook all about my personal circumstance you presumptuous fool. By extreme asset wealth I mean tax those with assets over 10 Million pounds. Increase capital gains as it is much lower than in income tax. That is the structural tax problem that makes the UK such an unequal society then we can drop income tax for everybody.
We need to encourage smoking to lower life expectancy Sir Humphrey said “The smokers who die are in fact honourable and noble sacrifices, laying down their lives for the good of the country.”
my comment is not about this episode, but a question. By stopping the winter fuel allowance to those who don't qualify for Pension Credit, the so called 'well off' pensioners, they have not stuck to their pre-election pledge, to keep the triple lock, by removing it through the back door. This will mean a reduction of the triple lock for all future years as well. Was this not what Starmer and his smug chancellor intended to do all a long? They didn't even bother to undertake an impact assessment. Too busy updating their wardrobes???
This is the same issue across all public services. Funding is cut so they sells assets for quick cash, then lease assets back from a private company making future costs go up. Lease price increases making expenditure go up and up. Leisure centres, housing, prisons, transport, hospitals, key infrastructure all sold off. Services now contracted out to private companies who take profits rather than reinvest.
Thatcher started it.
Yep its a dumb circle of degradation that anyone with any sense of foresight or even hindsight can identify.
We need to renationalise our key public infrastructure and we need to keep it small and agile i.e. do more with less, not encumber it with too much bureaucracy and keep it competitive, incentivise train and pay competent people competitively.
I would imagine our necessary "public" services are wasting money in an excessive, over paid and useless middle and upper management layer and through extortionate private contracts.
Trimming that fat or entirely ridding ourselves of those and make sure to regularly audit public spending (and not just accepting some of the scandalous waste or obvious predatory profiteering that we have seen over the last 20-30 years) would be a good start. Modernising and standardising our national services, processes and infrastructure would also be a good place to start as its a fucking mess.
Being honest and open about the efforts necessary and the time scale of these things is also going to be important.
If its going to be difficult and is going to take over a decade I would rather know and I would rather they are explicit about the goals and ways the public can see and measure the progress along the way.
Also even in the era of instant communication politicians havent figured out how to be transparent and honest with people and to tell people difficult truths that they need to hear.
There's more to it. A lot of nationally owned industries were not managed on a commercial basis, which mean that they were inefficient subsidy guzzlers - which has to be propped up by taxpayer money. National ownership never really provided any profits to reinvest in the first place. A lot of this has to do with the British approach to managing publicly owned companies and assets - which significantly limited their ability to act commercially.
I am not suggesting that it was right to privatise btw or that we shouldn't nationalise failing industries. There are models of public ownership (look at European rail or Nordic Oil and Gas) which is extremely effective, efficient and profitable - and we should learn from it. But its equally wrong to look at the UK's history of nationalised industries and see it as anything other than the abject failure is has been.
@@JimIBobIJones Good answer. We really need mass nationalization but done in a whereby a balanced book is the first priority.
@@JoshuaJSHill I would also argue we shouldn't assume nationalisation is a "silver bullet". Nationalisation as a option should be considered on a case by case basis without any ideological biases or tribalism - noting that its a problem with both parties, Labour thinks that nationalisation is a panacea for all ills whereas the Tories treat it like cancer.
What we need is careful, professional analysis of services and industries to determine whether it is better delivered by the public sector or the private. In many cases, on a macro level, contracting out to the private sector on an "as and when" needed basis is cheaper than maintaining an expertise in-house. In others, the private sector has better incentives infrastructures which are not really replicable in public ownership.
Where nationalisation is likely to be the best option from the outset is in sectors where profitability isn't the only consideration and where a solely profit driven provider is likely to neglect (or has already neglected) the public good part of the equation - e.g. water companies and public transport.
Other areas (like the airports or the various assessments for points based benefits) are candidates to consideration for nationalisation but may not necessarily be better delivered through the public sector.
Please do describe tax burden in terms of percentage of taxable income and not in terms of pounds paid.
We should be taxing wealth which The Labour Party will not do
Isn’t Alistair Campbell the guy who got the UK into Iraq? And now he is trying to look respectable.
On tax, what Rory helpfully described there was only tax on income, but not on wealth and earnings from other sources. The fact is wealth inequilty is massive and only getting bigger, thats why we've got this problem. With people like the Sunaks making huge amounts of moeny through shares as well as the rise in "mega" corporations in the last 10 years like Amazon who are a massive part of our economy and yet pay little or no tax here, compared to if it was split across multiple smaller UK based companies who would distribute that wealth better. How have we ended up where a billionaire making millions a year will pay less of a percentage of tax on their earnings over a person on say £50k.
Tax is the price we pay for a decent society. What we need our politicians to do is to use it wisely, honestly and with the priorities we set for them every election.
Couldn’t said it better. Simple and straightforward.
Except our taxes are the highest they have ever been and our services are the worst they've ever been. We simply pay bureaucrats and consultants while the actual services rot away. You could give the NHS a billion pounds and management would find a way to waste it. The issue is a systemic failure in management and lack of incentives.
@@jonathan2847and yet the rich get richer so theyre not being taxed enough are they!
@jamiewalkerdine3705 You can't tax away inequality.
The European media is correct that the UK media hypes the English team excessively.
People are feeling poorer, not because tax has gone up, but because wages have not kept up with inflation by a large margin.
But they have though.
Even more so at the bottom.
Even left-wing resolution foundation admitted this last week.
@@danielwebb8402 No. Those at the very bottom, on minimum wage have, but just about everyone above that hasn't, while those at the very top have launched into the stratosphere on a rocket.
Austerity was a Tory policy enacted in 2010-11 and carried on essentially until today. The key ingredient was wage restraint. Where I worked there were ""voluntary"" redundancies going on all the time from 2010-16. The roles were eventually replaced by cheaper workers. Fire and rehire writ large.
The country was broke in 1945 but Labour still managed to start the welfare state, NHS & build over a million council houses. It's not what you have but what you do with it.
Rory, you didn't mention North Sea Oil. In 1980 Thatcher didn't do what Norway did (set up a wealth fund). The North Sea was squandered. The few lined their pockets the many got nothing.
The UK wants a civilised economy a Scandevian-style economy. Not a Regan, Thachther tricky down disaster capitalist model.
Fail to not redress this and sadly civil unrest becomes likely.
Maggie had North Sea oil & a PC tech boom in the 80 and managed to waste it all while selling all our public service.
As an American, you have no idea how good you have it with the NHS. I make almost $20 an hour. I get paid every 2 weeks. For me and my wife, it costs $396 every paycheck to pay for our insurance (no kids). Now with that you would think that you would be all set just paying the co-pays for services. But no, the insurance company always denies claims, in whole or in part, then you have to call the insurance company, and call the hospital billing department to see if anyone missed a billing code to get anything covered. And these items can go as high as 10s of 1000s of dollars. In which case your credit becomes destroyed and you have anxiety just even thinking about going to the GP or hospital for any type of treatment because you might be financially destroyed at any time. Oh and did I mention I make almost $20 an hour. And that is not even barely enough to survive or just make rent. So for as much as you may be upset with the current state of the NHS, don't ever give up on it to think privatizing it is going to make your life better or easier. You don't know suffering until you try fighting with the insurance company, the hospital billing department, while trying to recover from any type of illness or procedure, just to make sure your not going to be destitute from medical bills.
We will never give up our NHS it the jewel in the crown.
Oh, I do. I remember reading an article about mass shootings in the USA and a survivor saying the worst thing was not being shot but the medical bills of hundreds of thousands of dollars that she had no hope of paying. I see desperate American parents with a GoFundMe page for treatment for their sick child. Breaking Bad would never have got past the pitch in the UK.
I'm sorry, Rory's answer to 'defending Austerity' was a cop out. Covid was 10 years after Austerity and we were in such a bad state of preparedness BECAUSE of Austerity. I don't think Austerity at that time can ever be defended. Because the economy was on track to improve! It was an idealogical political decision and Cameron and Osbourne are opportunists to inflict unnecessary pain onto the country. AND they still borrowed immensly during their time!
The 2008 financial crisis was the excuse for austerity. In reality, it was all about reducing the public sector.
Rory as usual is a tribal Tory loyalist.
The truth is Gordon Brown's strategy stabilised the economy and when Labour left office the economy was growing.
@@CloudhoundCoUk also they would have cut but proportionately, not idealistically like the tories did...
You're forgetting the Eurozone debt crisis which was a massive drag on growth across the whole region for 2010-12 and an illustration of the risks of avoiding austerity, which lead to much more severe austerity a few years later for many European countries - I can understand why austerity was very unpopular and painful but to say it was purely ideological is to bury your head in the sand a little. The amount of cuts that ended up being implemented were actually less than what Labour said they would have to do when they were in government and Gordon Brown was clearly not someone who's mission was shrinking the public sector.
You're so right! And this is why it is so dissapointing to see Starmer's Labour continue austerity in their manifesto. As you rightly said, austerity is an idealogical decision. What a shame that Starmer has taken the same decision to inflict more unnecessary pain onto the country.
@@CloudhoundCoUkbeside 2008 labour even payed debt down but with the collapse of rbs that was quickly thrown out of the window.
Rory’s talking about wage stagnation like it’s a brilliant economic policy!
Austerity, like trickle-down policies before it, does not increase people's welfare. It's a form of class warfare as Noam Chomsky has said.
Typical tory
It seems self-evident to me that wage stagnation is a bad thing for everyone, but this puts me at odds with myself when it comes to issues like immigration (which I am a big supporter of) because ultimately that is also a driver of wage stagnation.
Good to see the intensive programming can overcome your cognitive dissonance on this.
Comparing the current govt to Hartlepool Utd players is incredibly harsh on Hartlepool
"Hartlepool youth squad"
What about wealth? The top earners have increased their share of the country’s wealth massively, compared to those at the bottom.
Yes, and so need to pay their fair share of tax into society
@@gillcoombs9855which they already do
Gary Stevenson on Gary's Economics explains it brilliantly
Exactly. The problem isn't people paying income tax, even if they earn over £100k. They're small fries compared to the people and companies that need to be paying their fair share.
@@gillcoombs9855 which they do
Tax avoidance is at an obscene level
It's one of the few areas that Labour has been open about finding extra money if they get in.
Why is it so difficult for politicians and ex-politicians to say :sorry, I got this wrong'?
Because the public and the media would eviscerate them. Most people won't give you credit for being humble, that's why politicians have to be the way they are.
ask Elton John - but more seriously, because the opposition & media slaughter anything resembling a 'u-turn', regardless of evidence or explanation. For example, the tory decision to not use inflation rate to increase pensions when it was 11%; both the opposition & the media accused the tories of 'Abandoning Pensioners' used the triple lock to criticise the given increase (8.5%), but ignored the fact inflation had dropped significantly (to 6.5%) by April when the increase was implemented
Maybe because they aren’t sorry, when it goes wrong they can blame someone else.
@adamcummings20
This is correct. The media have refocused all admission or apology as humiliation and defeat. It is not possible to deliver a well received apology now. That is why all politicians quadruple down now and it is toxic.
Years ago I stayed at a B&B in Italy which turned out to be run by Kosovans. When they realised we were British they wanted to talk about football but also how grateful they were to Tony Blair for his stance on Kosovo.
The PROBLEMS with the way the UK tax system is currently set up are:
1) That nowhere NEAR enough tax is being collected from *large and multinational companies,* which is a FAR better and more efficient means of raising revenue. It's the giant companies and their major shareholders who own most of the world's wealth, and who can easily afford to pay FAR more tax than they do currently. It's true but absurd that these giant companies only pay a tiny fraction of what they SHOULD be paying, even under current UK Law on Taxation.
2) People on low wages shouldn't have to pay ANY tax. Au contriare, there should be either Universal Services ~ OR ~ Universal Basic Income - all of which could EASILY be met by properly taxing the giant companies. Currently the tax threshold for the self-employed is £12,650 per annum. IMO that figure should be raised to £30,000 per annum.
3) Putting almost the entire tax burden on income and VAT is both unfair and inefficient. Wealth should ALSO be taxed. If a super-rich Russian oligarch billionaire owns a football club and numerous extremely valuable properties in Mayfair, etc, it would NOT be difficult for the government to levy taxes on the super-rich, because they CANNOT transport their mansions and football clubs abroad.
4) There are FAR too many tax loop-holes which enable the super-wealthy to avoid paying tax altogether. These loop-holes need to be closed down.
This is THE most important issue any government faces, and UK governments have got this badly wrong for decades - the tax system currently favours the rich (those with a net worth in excess of £10 Million) and the super-rich (those with a net worth of hundreds of millions of pounds and even billions of pounds).
Unless this issue is PROPERLY addressed, poverty and inequality will continue to rise steeply, and the nation as a whole will go into ever steeper economic decline. Here's a link:
th-cam.com/users/results?search_query=This+is+how+I%27m+going+to+vote+Garys+Economics
There is a vast difference between taxing wealth and taxing income. Sure, people in the top 1% of incomes are paying more than they used to. However, earning an income is not the way of actually becoming wealthy unless you happen to become a CEO. Wealthy people don't pay anything in income tax. There is a reason that Rishi became more wealthy than the King last year and paid a lower effective tax rate than a nurse.
I also think that a local and regional income tax might be fair to fund local authorities.
Property taxes are an attempt to do that by proxy.
Good point.
Oligarchal "tax bludgers" must pay back to middle, low, working, unemployed / homeless classes 😡
Tax PASSIVE wealth of the multi millionaires AND billionaires! Those of us advocating a tax on wealth is millions upon millionaires of passive income of the mega rich, which is currently not happening!! If this continues , inequality will get even worse, the economy will collapse and with it, society! Simples!
We already tax capital gains.
That's just what the video just said
I very much appreciate the amount of TRIP you are making for us. During these politically intense times listening to TRIP is like pouring oil on one's stormy psyche
Thanks to the team behind this channel. Following your recommendation, I started researching into Abby Joseph Cohen Services. Thankfully it was a little over a year ago now, I started an lnvestment with Abby's Services and that allowed me to be on much MUCH more stable ground in the face of global financial upheaval.
So thank you, your channel, and your employees. For what it's worth, it made a difference for me and my little family.
Same here, I got to know about Abby Joseph Cohen Services from this channel in 2020. Since then I've paid off 160,000 USD of debt. Now I'm working on building an emergency fund. I didn't even have a savings account three years ago.
Abby Joseph Cohen Services has really set the standard for others to follow, we love her here in Canada 🇨🇦 as she has been really helpful and changed lots of life's
The very first time we tried, we invested $7000 and after a week, we received $9500. That really helped us a lot to pay up our bills.
I love people with their initial doubts about the prospects of financial advisors like Abby Joseph Cohen in business/markets today. Gives me more time to get ahead while they stew in their own pity and doubts as they childishly complain about those spreading the word
Scam, spam, scam...
1- the rich largely do not pay themselves in PAYE so don’t come up in the 200k figure.
2- eben those ok high incomes who pay more tax on income generally have more wealth and their gains in asset appreciation are way over any increase in tax. The poor do not have assets.
3 - we need a global wealth tax for those avoiding paying tax. There is no other way to address the imbalance yet no one is talking about it even this podcast as refer to tax.
Perhaps invite Pikkety on
Over 80's cost 10 times more because the last 4 years costs the majority for each person. People generally don't have end of life treatment from 18-25, but for those that do, they cost a lot too. For those that die in their 60's, they cost roughly the same. If you don't control for death, statistics about an aging population are nonsense. Cost of healthcare has increased because medicine has advanced a lot, it's more complicated and expensive. The only way healthcare will cost less in the future is with euthanasia. Do you want the last 4 years of your life, or do you want better quality healthcare for the other years?
Austerity has been a massive failure (except for the 1% who were likely steering it). Cameron and Osborne have a lot to answer for.
If all the honest, decent people resigned from UK politics out of shame, we'd be left with a House Of Commons three-quarters full of crooks and one-quarter empty!
It's not the income of the wealthy that needs to be taxed more, it's their wealth.
True, but difficult in practice. Better to tax businesses progressively, that’s where the cash is
Sorry Rory but partly because of austerity the UK performed badly during Covid.
You were very disappointing on the Assange issue....it's much more complicated than you (Alistair mostly) would grant. This whole saga is arguably the most consequential of our time...you need to pay much more attention to it. Ask yourselves why no one was harmed by the wiki leaks name releases...it's because the US knew beforehand and took action to protect their assets. Ask yourselves how they got this info beforehand....wiki leaks warned them. There is much more that has gone on here...pay attention!
The pound is not worth what it was. You are spending more money because of the self harm the Tories have done to the economy. The pound is not worth much now but costs are all up.
Gutys i love it if you get Garyseconomics on your show. He needs more exposure and i would be so interested in the conversation
I really don’t think Austerity was the right thing to do we went through hell with Tressa May it was awful our pension was taken away and we were treated like criminals after doing a degree under the Labour government and leave work also being disabled through a accident I had at University but pass with good Art degree thank to the Labour government of the day thank you both for being honest and nice regarding politics Jennifer Cardy
I can't decide which I'm less surprised by: that the Met have been abusing their position to place bets, or that conservatives have been. I have been trained by their actions over decades to assume that both organisations are complete moral vacuums.
Rory if this is your view about the state of public services you need to vote leftwards
Interesting video but can you also discuss about portfolio management companies? This is a recognized phenomena and there are companies that help invest and manage generational wealth. Some also organize get togethers, and social events for the family. These types of trusts and corps would make an interesting video.
Anyone else kept waiting for them to address in far more detail paying more for services/tax as per the title ?
Tax was lower in the 80s as there was virtually no National Debt to pay down
Britain benefitted from an oil boom and Thatcher privatising anything that could be privatised. Britain almost went bankrupt multiple times in the decades before that.
The problem was the public sector was so incredibly inefficient compared to it's counterparts in France and Germany. At least public sector workers in the countries are productive when they are not on strike, in the UK they didn't do any work regardless if they were on strike or not.
@@Weakeyedominant Not true. The problem with the public sector is boom and bust. Boom and bust caused by politicians turning the money taps on and off every few years. Every time budgets get slashed much of the money spent previously gets wasted. Another big issue is constant change. Nothing ever has time to bed in and become efficient. The final big issue is procurement. The rules are weighted to favour outside provision. The rules are also created to protect companies tendering for contracts rather than allowing the public sector to get the best value. There is a reason the public sector pay more for everything they buy, and it isn't incompetence or brown envelopes.
@@Weakeyedominant Thatcher created the purchaser provider split in the NHS which required annual contracts and cross charging between them. This meant many more accountants were needed in the NHS plus the use of expensive consultants and she also brought in expensive managers from outside industry to manage the NHS who knew nothing about health - the incorrect assumption being all things private sector = good. All things public sector = bad.
That’s because England was fuelled literally and figuratively by Scottish oil.
There’s a very good reason Scot’s have been murdered and jailed over the last 40yrs to protect England.
@heliotropezzz333 Thatcher was a wicked woman,IMHO, who took advantage of a Britain ,at the time, that had been built up post war and was historically at its most equal.
Ffsake, now the rest is politics have a freaking vpn ad
I would absolutely accept paying more for better services, but my concern is about seeing what they do with my money now, in bad faith, and giving them more will just be misspent in the same way.
Given the more than halving of local government funding and increase in costs, can you look for leadership lessons from those that have excelled in that environment and delivered new models of public service that do a lot more with a lot less. How about an interview of Donna Hall CBE, Chris Naylor or Fiona Lees?
Curiously, Colonel Gaddafi used to support Burnley. I used to live in Tripoli and that was fairly common knowledge. As the Americans say; go figure.
This very program is very professional and interesting Thank you Alistair And Rory you two nice gentleman 😊
Are you familiar with Gary Stevenson and Gary’s economics? Personally I think he’s over the target.
Not sure what you mean by over the target but if you mean spot on I agree
Austerity didnt work, are you mad. The national debt has trebled, how could that be any worse
I'm sorry but people in a lot of spheres now can't seem to take criticism anymore because they supposedly can't be seen to lose face, so instead they cry foul instead rather than distilling the criticism down to the essence of the critical feedback. It seems that this has now been more or less normalized which is just alienating both people they interact with and external observers.
😮the majority pay plenty taxes. The wealthy and ultra weathy should be taxed.....alongside business profiting from sales in uk should also pay their fair share, then there would be plenty money for rebuilding and taking back our services from the private sector.
Don’t mean to be pedantic, Alistair. Actually I do. The ‘c’ in ‘vici’ is a hard ‘c’.
Also in classical Latin the v would be more of a w. So it would have sounded more like weh-ni, wee-di, wee-ki (stress on the first syllable for each word).
Yeah, I don't usually go into the 'v' as I'm in the minority (I think) that suspects it may have been a voiced bilabial fricative even relatively early in classical Latin, which I can forgive modern English speakers for not being able to pronounce.
We argued this in prep school Latin...the teacher was a well known Latin scholars...his take was that it was not actually certain...
Rory, I've bought your book but not listened to it yet. You are really selling it saying David Cameron doesn't like you anymore because of it though. :)
Damn you for plugging all 4! I'm going to run out of credits! :) Alastair needs to get better at plugging his book or get a better name for it. I can never remember the title of his.
Please, don't take a nap while Nadine Dorries is on. The three of you at the same time could be the most entertaining part of the evening.
The cartoon tangent was a delight. Both guys are very self-aware.
Loved the walking on water one Rory described against himself.
I'd have no issue handing over more money through taxes if there wasn't such colossal waste. It's poor management. I'd love an independent enquiry from a foreign auditor into where the money is going, where there are black holes, and how the money we hand over can be better used.
I watch your podcast a lot and appreciate the insights particularly into the behind closed doors side of politics and geopolitics. It is a real pleasure to be in your company. BUT!!! you guys should stick to geopolitics and election winning strategies. For economics you need to invite people who know what they are talking about economically. If you don't know how much tax people pay and that taxes have been almost halved on the top end since the 70s (even if they may have gone back up a few percentage points recently, then you don't know enough to figure out what has put us in the current economic mess and what could get us out of it.
4:18 Regarding The Super Rich, my question is, in 1979 were the rich as rich as they are now? Were there as many assets for them to take off an ever increasing population, My guess is no.
We should NOT be expected to increase our contributions until such time as the wasted money on PPE, bungs to mates etc are recovered! I realise it wouldn’t be easy but I don’t care, having paid my taxes, to then have to pay even more simply because of the utter incompetence of a ruling party would be obscene! Yes it’s vengeance on my part, but I don’t care, democracy is off the rails and a clear and distinct , visible correction is required.
Tv's not vengeance, it's wanting justice
"That's", not "Tv's". Autocorrect 🙄
I dont think the cost of the Nation Health Service can be blamed on the over 80's....I think its got a lot to do with the cost of modern medicine which can do so much more than it did 40 years ago and pharmaceutical companies are making so much more with all these fancy medicines on the market. My question is how much was paid on medicines 40 years ago compared to today?
Why can't the NHS start a drugs manufacturing wing, make their own drugs & reduce costs.
Because tories hate the nhs, it is torally averse to their fiscal beliefs hence run it into the ground whilst lining their and their friends' pockets, and then they can let private healthxare companies (usa style) to " save the day" and their work is done, their profits secured.@Nat6999
So where is all the money from the last 15 years in tory pockets. Because it is not in the public services.
I meant Austerity was the wrong thing to do to disabled people like myself and others I am 75 now so about the wrong text 😮
In the 1970s, the highest rate of income tax on earned income was 83 per cent. Margaret Thatcher’s government reduced it to 60 per cent in 1980 and 40 per cent in 1989
During the 80s/90s North Sea oil contributed massively to covering government spending. (Another questionable decision of that time)
We need to free frontline workers from micro management. This is not a small problem it is a HUGE and costly issue and it stifles front line workers ability to deliver.
'We need to pay to get Britain's services up to scratch'. Fourteen years of Tory austerity and you want us to pay for that?
your talking about income tax indirect taxes are high and effect the poorest the most
No one ever seems to address one particular elephant in the room. Public sector productivity. You can increase taxes but unless the performance of things like local authorities is addressed the taxpayer will continue to shoulder the burden without getting great value. A friend recently told me of his cousin who went to work for a local authority. Said cousin found the work unchallenging but was approached by his boss and told to slow down, because he was making his colleagues look lazy. He was also asked to slow down his work on updating systems for a similar reason!
100% agree. The company I work for occasionally sells instruments to the NHS. The layers of bureaucracy you have to go through are absolutely ludicrous. It's not due diligence, it's just jumping through hoops. It takes months.
I've a similar story, my sister in law literally works 3-4 productive hours a day remotely for the NHS on average, busy times probably 7.5, but the remaining time she's chilling out.
Don’t make laws that you can’t lie. Put it in the job contract for being an MP. You either sign and follow the rules or refuse to sign and your seat is given to the runner up. If you lie in office it’s breach of contract and you lose pay, get sued or get sacked.
austerity hit the worst off the most ; it goes without saying the rich don't have to pay more and they won't anyway because they have the means to avoid paying tax
This is just a question that no one seems to be asking or have I missed something? Nigel Farrage with not one member of parliament seems to be on several question and answer panels whilst George Galloway who at least has one mp, is not invited. You keep talking of the reasons why “conspiracy theorists” gain more traction than main stream media. Perhaps the fact that anyone that is to the left of the Labour Party (and that is an area that seems to be growing exponentially) is somehow never/rarely included in discussions. Surely questioning them and fact checking is better than just hoping they will go away..
The income tax statistics misses those who aren’t paying it so misses totally the proper rich unlike the surgeons or CEOs getting paid a wage or self employment income. income in these stats are things like salaries, wages, and self-employment income. However, the taxation of dividends and other forms of investment income are not included and passive income is where the actual rich make money. I’m surprised AC didn’t pick up on that.
The cartoonist stuff was hilarious. Can we have a TH-cam tour of your cartoon collections, maybe starting in Alastair's bathroom?
The essence of being a proper small-c conservative is NOT to carp on endlessly about the need for ever-lower taxes. It is about respect for and defense of a country's institutions.
In most Western countries today - and whether you like it or not (and those radicals who masquerade as so-called "Conservatives" clearly do NOT) - this includes social welfare, public (i.e. state-supported) education and, perhaps especially, access to health care on the basis of need, but also progressive taxation at levels adequate to achieve those goals.
In my mind, a proper conservative can and must advocate for appropriate levels and progressivity of taxation while ALSO remaining deeply sceptical of "market idolaters" on the neoliberal Right, "State idolaters" on the radical Left and sundry other radical ideologues of the "Volk", the "Proletariat", the "chosen people of God" and other self-appointed philosopher kings...
Are our public services actually bad? How do we measure the quality of our public services?
I was there in Oxford! It was a FABULOUS evening and a full house!
When were they there?
@@davidpitkin9352 20th June
On the Assange exposure, the data bulkset was shared with the public as an encrypted file, but the password to remove the encryption was shared in a Guardian book - it was effectively released by accident and this was known to various news operations. What Assange then did by publishing it unencrypted was therefore very unwise, but not quite as unwise as it looks at first glance. Someone else would have done this, and certainly word would have got to Russia and China.
People were killed. Interpreters etc. I think Assange is most interested in personal fame. The sexual offences he committed in Sweden show a disregard for his victim's health, risking STDs and pregnancy. It's all about him. Selfish and arrogant.
@@HJJSL-bl8kk I'm not defending Assange; but as a matter of factual accuracy, the data that led to those deaths was already widely available when he published it. The circumstances are detailed on the Julian Assange page at Wikipedia if anyone wants to check and find references.
I can eventually forgive incompetence, hold your hand up say. I tried I couldn’t do this job.
I cannot forgive grifters, lie’s, corruption. A few of the Tory’s are incompetent unfortunately
For the country the majority seem to fall in the latter group
steer clear of the sponsorship stuff guys ... it cheapens you both and your message about politics and integrity.
Also, what do they need the sponsorships for.
Use some of the proceeds of the books they continually flog
I read an article in a very left wing newspaper (not mainstream media) which interestingly had an article comparing spending on health in Europe and around the world and spending on health seems to be being cut generally worldwide. Should you focus sometimes a bit more on global trends and their causes and implications and how Britain compares to place Britain in some context?
I like that Rory has just been to the dentist, and Alastair is sitting in what looks like a dentist's chair and surgery.
The rich are earning more and often do not declare or use offshore. Wages have been supressed but their profits have not.
The tax take from lower earners is less is because lower earners pay has fallen every year since 2010
Tax also depends on whether it’s spent well and goes back to society. Spending £200m on useless PPE of which £60m went to Michelle Mone’s boat and £2.6m on a media room Sunak forgot about while stood there getting wet for example is probably not a good way to spend the people’s money. The 45% top rate explains Sunak’s wife taking non-domicile status and Sunak offshoring to the Caymans and BVI. Also, privatising rail, electricity, gas, water etc. has cost everyone more. That extra money doesn’t go to improvements in those. It used to. Surprised Alastair didn’t bring these things up when discussing taxation.
Didn't austerity kill a lot of old people/ poor people?
The problem is not taxation between 2010 and now it is between 1980 and now. Top rate was as high as 85% in even the US is the 50s and it was Reagan Thatcher who cut top rates drastically and the fact that the top rate went back up slightly does not affect much as we now have a new category of business that doesn't pay even as much as the ordinary people i.e. the tech companies.
I think the mega rich should pay their fair share share of Tax
This is a very good topic on tax Labour will have tax the right policies
I have no problem paying tax. I want a functioning first-world country for it... One problem is because some public sector people dont care about the money they spend, its not theirs. Also, because of stupid red tape.., a friend works in NHS IT, and someone needed a USB cable.. it cost £90! cause it had to come from a set-approved supplier who has a monopoly on the situation, and so charges what they want.
It's corrupt contracts that cause the problems.
The places in between is an awesome book.
Is there actually anyone in the UK who’s not heard of Roy Keane ?
Me. Who is he?
Looking at the figures from the OBR it’s noticeable that UK taxes in 2027 are projected to rise to the average for the G7 and still significantly lower than the EU14. Bearing in mind that taxes on median incomes has fallen we don’t seem that grateful. I think we notice the lack of public services more than an extra £200pm. Also government spending goes into the economy and generates wages which are taxed and spending which brings in VAT.
Regarding people in the US military, it's worth mentioning that a lot of people join up because they get free medical care for not just themselves but for their spouses and children. This isn't an issue in the UK.
NordVPN ffs
Very harsh comparing the Hartlepool United youth team with this shower of shite. You owe Hartlepool an apology!
In a time where trust in the media has dropped off a cliff I just wanted to thankyou and your team for this channel.
Oh god - Rory is talking about economics again like he’s an authority!
Completely inaccurate statements and conclusions.
Please can you do an episode with Danny Blanchflower to explain to people how macro economics work at a nation level.
Let’s bin this ridiculous cheque book analogy that David Cameron popularised.
I think you are missing the point - we have been paying the taxes to pay for proper services already. Where has the money gone, eg road tax certainly hasn’t gone into the roads.
There hasn't been a road tax since 1937! VED - is a vehicle tax, and these days (since 2001) is really a emissions tax (electric cars pay £0). Since 1937 it has always gone into the general taxation pot and has not been hypothecated.
tax extreme asset wealth NOT income
because you have income but no assets I guess. 'Tax everyone else more than me' went the cry.
@@occamraiser You know Fook all about my personal circumstance you presumptuous fool. By extreme asset wealth I mean tax those with assets over 10 Million pounds. Increase capital gains as it is much lower than in income tax. That is the structural tax problem that makes the UK such an unequal society then we can drop income tax for everybody.
You guys are my go to for balance, knowledge and clarity thank you
📗a
We need to encourage smoking to lower life expectancy Sir Humphrey said “The smokers who die are in fact honourable and noble sacrifices, laying down their lives for the good of the country.”
Yes Prime / Minister is as relevant today as then.
@@bb2021 My Wife thinks I’m sad but I still watch the episodes now
@@davidpearson243 not sad, just understanding what politics is! :)
my comment is not about this episode, but a question. By stopping the winter fuel allowance to those who don't qualify for Pension Credit, the so called 'well off' pensioners, they have not stuck to their pre-election pledge, to keep the triple lock, by removing it through the back door. This will mean a reduction of the triple lock for all future years as well. Was this not what Starmer and his smug chancellor intended to do all a long? They didn't even bother to undertake an impact assessment. Too busy updating their wardrobes???
Could you guys please sync up your podcast and TH-cam release days...