howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
The Chancellor will get plenty of advice leading up to next Wednesday.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-42034392howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
I wouldn't fancy being spreadsheet Phil who is torn between some MPs wanting him to help regain lost votes and others just concerned with closing the deficit.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/nov/18/chancellor-hammond-budget-big-fivehoward mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-42043084
The Chancellor talks about a mass house building programme but doesn't explain how it will be done.
Guest 1881- Registered: 16 Oct 2016
- Posts: 1,071
For a long time, I believe that we have missed a trick with a quick, temporary solution to the council housing list. Why not utilise static caravans/mobile homes? If you were offered that over the 'bed and breakfast' provision (that is constantly being misused and used illegally) you'd jump at the chance; furthermore, it would give a much needed reprieve.
The days of bricks and mortar new builds are past too. Environmental future-proofing is of paramount importance.
Just a few thoughts.
Jan Higgins and howard mcsweeney1 like this
Just because you don't take an interest in politics doesn't mean that politics won't take an interest in you. PERICLES.
Weird Granny Slater
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 7 Jun 2017
- Posts: 3,065
howard mcsweeney1 wrote:The Chancellor talks about a mass house building programme but doesn't explain how it will be done.
With builder Jack
and his apprentice, of course
'Pass the cow dung, my dropsy's killing me' - Heraclitus
Guest 1881- Registered: 16 Oct 2016
- Posts: 1,071
BRICKSIT?
Which is a pun on the obvious but, when you think of last year's Budget debacle (the unravelling of the self-employed NICs etc.), it may indeed have a more puerile dimension too.
Just because you don't take an interest in politics doesn't mean that politics won't take an interest in you. PERICLES.
Guest 660- Registered: 14 Mar 2008
- Posts: 3,205
Funny that Bishop I was with a Government minister the other week who suggested to me that instead of putting old people in an old people's home costing thousands of £'s a month perhaps we should send them on a cruise, it would be cheaper!!!!!
If you knew what I know,we would both be in trouble!
Guest 1881- Registered: 16 Oct 2016
- Posts: 1,071
JHG wrote:Funny that Bishop I was with a Government minister the other week who suggested to me that instead of putting old people in an old people's home costing thousands of £'s a month perhaps we should send them on a cruise, it would be cheaper!!!!!
Care home fees. In the UK you can expect to pay on average around £31,200 a year in residential care costs, rising to over £43,700 a year if nursing care is necessary.
Source:
http://www.payingforcare.org/care-home-feesJust because you don't take an interest in politics doesn't mean that politics won't take an interest in you. PERICLES.
Guest 660- Registered: 14 Mar 2008
- Posts: 3,205
how much for a yearly cruise?
If you knew what I know,we would both be in trouble!
Jan Higgins
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 5 Jul 2010
- Posts: 13,875
The Bishop wrote:For a long time, I believe that we have missed a trick with a quick, temporary solution to the council housing list. Why not utilise static caravans/mobile homes? If you were offered that over the 'bed and breakfast' provision (that is constantly being misused and used illegally) you'd jump at the chance; furthermore, it would give a much needed reprieve.
The days of bricks and mortar new builds are past too. Environmental future-proofing is of paramount importance.
Just a few thoughts.
Many years ago when we, two adults and two young children, were homeless, bed and breakfast for only a couple of nights was hell.
We then got moved to a very small caravan by social services, without running water and a trek across rough grass to the toilet block (a bucket at night), this was bliss in comparison to the B&B.
A static mobile home is just like a small bungalow my in-laws retired to one in Sussex and loved it.
Guest 1881 likes this
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I try to be neutral and polite but it is hard and getting even more difficult at times.
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Captain Haddock
- Location: Marlinspike Hall
- Registered: 8 Oct 2012
- Posts: 8,070
While we await Spreadsheet Phil's attempt to balance the books on Wednesday, here's Momentum's proposals for Bristol City Council's alternative budget!
http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/increase-council-tax-200-richest-806346
Today's dictionary definition is
ENVY
noun - a feeling of discontented or resentful longing aroused by someone else's possessions, qualities, or luck.
verb - desire to have a quality, possession, or other desirable thing belonging to (someone else).
"We are living in very strange times, and they are likely to get a lot stranger before we bottom out"
Dr. Hunter S Thompson
Button
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 22 Jul 2016
- Posts: 3,053
Fairly sure there used to be a rule dealing with that. Oh well, keep taking the tablets!
(Not my real name.)
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
Not dissimilar to the proposed mansion tax and similarly ill thought out. A couple could have bought a house cheap when they first got married, lived there all their life and due to house price inflation could be worth over a million in the London area. At the same time the couple might be scraping by on a state pension.
Captain Haddock- Location: Marlinspike Hall
- Registered: 8 Oct 2012
- Posts: 8,070
howard mcsweeney1 likes this
"We are living in very strange times, and they are likely to get a lot stranger before we bottom out"
Dr. Hunter S Thompson
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
Another prediction about the budget courtesy of the Telegraph.
Friendly fire" is a phrase that sends a shiver through the bravest of the brave. The Nato terminology, "blue on blue", is perhaps even more haunting. Whatever words you use, it means being attacked by those you considered to be allies. I'm sad to report that the UK’s 4.8m self-employed are under friendly fire from No 11 Downing Street and the man with his finger on the trigger is none other than the Chancellor of the Exchequer.In the early afternoon tomorrow, Philip Hammond will take aim at the self-employed, the contractors, the freelancers – a whole regiment of gifted, talented people. How? He is reportedly considering lowering the point at which people have to register their business for VAT, and is expected to extend from the public to the private sector disastrous changes to IR35 tax law (which allows the Government to tax the self-employed like employees, but without any of the associated benefits).Why Gunner Hammond has the self-employed in his sights is baffling. His party has for years lauded this growing sector.
David Cameron, remember that fresh faced lad, said of the freelance community:“Our country owes a huge debt of gratitude to the thousands of men and women who have decided to make their living as freelancers. You have not only taken your own future into your own hands, but you are the engine of our economy and economic revival.”Indeed in 2001 in Westminster the member for Runnymede said of the iniquitous IR35 tax introduced by the Labour Government:“We need to focus on the flexibility that microbusinesses and small businesses deliver because they provide a unique adjustment factor in the economy. One reason why the Government's IR35 initiative has been so damaging and destructive is the fact that it has hit at the most flexible part of the economy.”
Oh, the member for Runnymede? Yes, you’ve guessed it, Philip Hammond.
Why is he now thought to be making "damaging and destructive" IR35 tax laws even worse?
In April, Hammond changed these rules in the public sector, making clients determine the tax status of the freelancers they engage. The outcome has been a disaster: thousands have upped sticks, stalling all kinds of government projects. But the Chancellor seems determined to make the same mistake in the private sector too. By attacking the self-employed, he’ll do significant damage to Britain's flexible labour market and, by extension, the whole economy He’s also thinking about lowering the VAT threshold. Currently, you only have to register your business for VAT once its revenue passes £85,000, and dropping that threshold will do untold damage to thousands more self-employed people, disincentivising swathes from expanding beyond that point.It really is friendly fire because, by attacking the self-employed, he’ll do significant damage to Britain's flexible labour market and, by extension, the whole economy. If the Chancellor is looking for target practice could I suggest he turn his sights onto those featured in the Paradise Papers instead.
Chris Bryce is Chief Executive of The Association of Independent Professionals and the Self Employed
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
Sounds like spreadsheet Phil will be drinking the hemlock very soon.
Theresa May’s relationship with Philip Hammond is close to breaking point after Downing Street took control of a last-minute Budget briefing amid fears Wednesday's financial statement will fall flat.
Number 10 ordered the Treasury to rush out an announcement on schools after alarm bells started ringing over the lacklustre build-up to the most important Budget of Mrs May’s premiership.
It came after a series of botched Budget announcements and a gaffe-strewn TV interview by Mr Hammond at the weekend.
One Cabinet source described it as “the worst Budget build-up in history”.Mr Hammond’s prospects of staying on as Chancellor now depend on him delivering a Budget that is far beyond what most of his Conservative colleagues dare to expect. One minister told The Daily Telegraph that Mr Hammond would have “no excuses” if the Budget flopped, while a former minister said his statement would have to be “spectacular” for him to have any chance of saving his job.
Philip Hammond's appearance on the Andrew Marr show made an impact because of his gaffes, rather than policies.Mrs May finally appeared to have lost patience with Mr Hammond on Tuesday after he fluffed his last chance to sell his Budget vision to the public.A preview of his Budget statement, released to the media in time for 10pm news bulletins and national newspapers, was described by Tory MPs as “uninspiring” and contained no mention of Brexit.The Treasury insisted no policy announcements would be made, but more than two hours later it performed an about-turn and announced extra money for teacher training and maths teaching following an intervention by Number 10.Mr Hammond will announce today that £177 million will be made available to promote maths skills, with schools and colleges receiving £600 for every extra student who takes Maths A-Levels.
Philip Hammond will deliver the Budget on Wednesday. A further £42m will be spent on a pilot scheme to give teachers in underperforming schools £1,000 for training. In addition, £84m will be spent trebling the number of computer science teachers. Although the announcement was welcomed, Conservative sources suggested the move smacked of panic in Downing Street, which had until then allowed the Treasury to retain control of Budget announcements. One source said: “The Treasury is just not very good at getting its message across and the past week has been no exception. They never seem to have any idea of what to announce, and when.”A serving minister said: “They've cleared the decks for him, he can have no excuses. It is his Budget, he will stand or fall by it. There will be a regeneration reshuffle, and nobody sees him featuring in it.”A former minister said: “He is not a bloke who has a huge number of allies. He will have to have a fairly spectacular Budget to save himself. If he flops again he is done.”
Mr Hammond’s last Budget, in March, backfired badly when he was forced to scrap a plan to increase National Insurance contributions following a huge public outcry. The title of the Budget will be Building a Britain Fit for the Future, and the Chancellor will express the Government’s “resolve to look forwards, to embrace change, to meet our challenges head on, and to seize the opportunities for Britain.” Mr Hammond, who has already announced £80 billion of extra investment in research and development over the next decade, will say that “for the first time in decades, Britain is genuinely at the forefront of a technological revolution, not just in our universities and research institutes, but this time in the commercial development labs of our great companies and on the factory floors and business parks across the land.
Brian Dixon
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 23 Sep 2008
- Posts: 23,940
Britain has become a zombie state, Hammond can not get us out of it.
Guest 1831- Registered: 1 Sep 2016
- Posts: 395
Phillip Hammond was Transport Minister when the ill-fated "Peoples' Port" tried to become a reality.
When the people of Dover were spinned. They could, actually, have a say in the activities of the Dover Harbour Board.
He was absolutely useless then. A very weak man.
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
£3 billion to cover Brexit planning will please Charlie.
Button- Location: Dover
- Registered: 22 Jul 2016
- Posts: 3,053
A nice sound-bite and not a bad idea, even if Charlie was never exactly clear on what he wanted it spent on.
(Not my real name.)
'Pass the cow dung, my dropsy's killing me' - Heraclitus
