General News Thread

[Lionator]

5 minutes ago, Jon the Hat said:

Even I am not daft enough to argue Starmer is worse than the recent shower of shit the Tories have had leading them.  That said, Starmer has been disappointing so far.  We knew he was dull, we didn't know he was also a bit weak.

 

Still he has the gift of time to get it right.

I just wish he’d show some principles in what he actually believes in rather than wishy washy whichever the way wind blows. He’s always chasing policy rather than making it. 

[Tommy G]

4 minutes ago, Bilo said:

The reality is that swathes of the extremely wealthy are either inheriting the benefits of their ancestors being either lucky or exploitative, and 'self-made' wealthy folk have benefited from a combination of acumen and work, but also a spot of good luck and the hard work of others who've been less generously rewarded.

Let me get my head round this - so anyone who inherits money, the money comes from their parents or grandparents either being ''lucky'' or ''exploitative'' - so, in your world you can only accumulate wealth through that method, but if you are self made it's also luck, with some acumen and hard work of other people?? 

 

What if your ancestors had acumen and hard work, does that not count? 

 

I'd agree with you wealth is passed down, and a proportion will as you described, but this just sounds like politics of envy 

[Muzzy_no7]

11 minutes ago, Bilo said:

It's not about giving it away so much as it is about building a better and more equitable society via progressive taxation. We already know that trickle-down economics doesn't work, so something else more distributive needs to be find.

 

I could easily counter your question by asking 'why does someone have to live in poverty just because their family does?' Because the idea of trickle-down economics and meritocracy are promoted largely by those whose position is already secure as a kind of 'if you work hard, you'll have the same privileges and wealth that I had handed to me on a plate. Maybe. If you're lucky.' Nonsensical way of running an economic system.

I’d have more faith in a few hundred grand being handed down from one gen to the next being put to good use than under most governments.

 

Say I inherited loads of money, I’d pay off the mortgage and therefore be paying more of my own money into the local economy through purchases (paying VAT on it)

 

Id also do the gaff up, more money for local businesses as well as more VAT. 
 

I’ve never inherited a thing, for the record. Me and the Mrs earn over 100K combined and are definitely less well off than we were 18 months ago. 

[Lionator]

3 minutes ago, Greg2607 said:

Well.......... if this isn't posturing about Power I'm not sure what is........

 

The West should be very very concerned about this collective of people working together. 

 

(that or i've been heavily brainwashed by propaganda) 

 

Iran is not a threat to anyone now.

Azerbaijan have had a massive fallout with Russia and are a Turkey proxy which means no threat.

Russia are balls deep in a war in Ukraine.

North and South Korea tensions are cooling down. 
China is an economic powerhouse who are building a nuclear deterrent to back it up. Not a threat, highly doubt they’d risk it all by invading Taiwan or properly supporting Russia.

 

Russia is a threat to us but is still constrained unless one side does something stupid which isn’t impossible. It’s all just posturing. The future is terrifying but there’s no ‘axis of evil’. Everyone has different priorities. 

 

[Guest Bilo]

3 minutes ago, Tommy G said:

Let me get my head round this - so anyone who inherits money, the money comes from their parents or grandparents either being ''lucky'' or ''exploitative'' - so, in your world you can only accumulate wealth through that method, but if you are self made it's also luck, with some acumen and hard work of other people?? 

 

What if your ancestors had acumen and hard work, does that not count? 

 

I'd agree with you wealth is passed down, and a proportion will as you described, but this just sounds like politics of envy 

I'm not talking communism. 😂

 

It's an acknowledgement that the economic system overrewards some traits and underrewards others. 

 

Of course people should be rewarded for their own hard work, acumen and entrepreneurship. But so too should the people whose work makes them rich.

[Tommy G]

Just now, Bilo said:

I'm not talking communism. 😂

 

It's an acknowledgement that the economic system overrewards some traits and underrewards others. 

 

Of course people should be rewarded for their own hard work, acumen and entrepreneurship. But so too should the people whose work makes them rich.

We have a difference of opinion and for the sake of derailing ''general news'' I'll leave it be. 

[leicsmac]

21 minutes ago, Tommy G said:

So the latest stick to beat people with is, if you didn't vote for labour you're thick? 

 

I'd like to see a breakdown of the degree's or higher education, anyone can get a degree in Cruise Management or Ethical Hacking from a poly - doesn't mean it's a measure of intelligence. 

See above regarding definitions of intelligence. 

 

Personally, I've no idea how someone with even a modicum of smarts cannot or will not consider things outside their line of sight in their reasoning (even in the cause of mutual self interest), but that's me. 

 

19 minutes ago, Bilo said:

The reality is that swathes of the extremely wealthy are either inheriting the benefits of their ancestors being either lucky or exploitative, and 'self-made' wealthy folk have benefited from a combination of acumen and work, but also a spot of good luck and the hard work of others who've been less generously rewarded.

Again, individualism and Just World Fallacy taken to its logical outcome. 

 

Every single human in anywhere approaching a modern society relies upon, and should appreciate, the labour of people they have never known and never will for keeping that society running and giving them the comforts they enjoy. 

Edited 3 September 2025 by leicsmac

[Muzzy_no7]

2 minutes ago, Tommy G said:

We have a difference of opinion and for the sake of derailing ''general news'' I'll leave it be. 

I agree.

 

New Topic: India. 
 

What’s happening? Will they regret being so cosy with Russia, China etc? Or is it a good decision to distance themselves from the west?

[Guest Bilo]

5 minutes ago, Muzzy_no7 said:

I’d have more faith in a few hundred grand being handed down from one gen to the next being put to good use than under most governments.

 

Say I inherited loads of money, I’d pay off the mortgage and therefore be paying more of my own money into the local economy through purchases (paying VAT on it)

 

Id also do the gaff up, more money for local businesses as well as more VAT. 
 

I’ve never inherited a thing, for the record. Me and the Mrs earn over 100K combined and are definitely less well off than we were 18 months ago. 

I'm not talking about couples earning five or six figures between them, or someone who inherits their parents' mortgage-free three bedroom semi after they pass away.

 

The working and middle-class have what's called a marginal propensity to spend, which stimulates the economy as you have described. The billionaire class have a marginal propensity to save because, frankly, giving them another hundred million will make little to no difference to their lives beyond cushioning them slightly more from economic slowdowns. 

 

I'd rather see that money going to the working and middle classes who can make use of it and stimulate the economy than Elon Musk's space program or some faceless baron's bank account in the Cayman Islands.

[Sampson]

I’ve got bored of it all tbh. The immigration and trans debates are so inane. I get they are problems for some people but they are such small fry compared to climate change, population ageing (in fact immigration is largely just a symptom of this) and the war in Ukraine and the fact the UK seems to be completely losing its mind over these issues just feels so out of proportion.

 

Ive never been a fan of Starmer, but Farage is the most manipulative and anti-British politician I’ve ever known. All he ever does is go on about what a shithole the country is and exaggerates Britain’s negatives to get power. He waves a flag but never has an actual good word to say about the country. 
 

That said, I’ve accepted he’s getting into power in 2029 now. I’ve accepted he’s going to get us to leave the ECJ and ECHR and therefore give him full licence to plant his own judges in the Supreme Court, gut the civil service and therefore gutting the legal checks and balances that hold up democracy, centralise government departments and also destroy the ideas of the separation of powers that hold up democracy all in the idea of “getting things done” and “cutting bureaucracy” without having the pesky ECJ having the power to hold these balances as they did in Poland.
 

And what’s worse is people will cheer it on because it will allow him to deport a few thousand extra people - people will cheer on the erosion of democracy and the rise of authoritarianism so they can deport more people. Probably worth just accepting it at this point.

Edited 3 September 2025 by Sampson

[Muzzy_no7]

3 minutes ago, Bilo said:

I'm not talking about couples earning five or six figures between them, or someone who inherits their parents' mortgage-free three bedroom semi after they pass away.

 

The working and middle-class have what's called a marginal propensity to spend, which stimulates the economy as you have described. The billionaire class have a marginal propensity to save because, frankly, giving them another hundred million will make little to no difference to their lives beyond cushioning them slightly more from economic slowdowns. 

 

I'd rather see that money going to the working and middle classes who can make use of it and stimulate the economy than Elon Musk's space program or some faceless baron's bank account in the Cayman Islands.

Yeah, but 40% on anything above 325K, really? 
 

Threshold should be a lot higher, much like the tax bands need moving higher. 

[Jon the Hat]

2 minutes ago, Bilo said:

I'm not talking communism. 😂

 

It's an acknowledgement that the economic system overrewards some traits and underrewards others. 

 

Of course people should be rewarded for their own hard work, acumen and entrepreneurship. But so too should the people whose work makes them rich.

I think we can say over the past 30ish years the rewards available to those with capital to invest, pretty much regardless of where they invested it, has been far in excess of that available to those using their hard work or intelligence.  We are the first generation when in large swathes of the country (also true in Australia) you will have to be very very successful to buy a home as nice as your parents, or at all, without inheriting.  Meanwhile, a combination of technology, capital and globalisation has concentrated wealth in such a way that individual countries have been unable to tax them appropriately to support their domestic economies and the improving quality of life people expect.  I hope there is a way to rebalance this.

 

[Greg2607]

2 minutes ago, Muzzy_no7 said:

Yeah, but 40% on anything above 325K, really? 
 

Threshold should be a lot higher, much like the tax bands need moving higher. 

the 40% UK inheritance tax (IHT) rate is the headline figure, but the rules are more nuanced. Here’s the breakdown:

The Basics

• Nil-rate band (NRB): The first £325,000 of an estate is tax-free.

• Standard rate: Anything above that (after allowances) is generally taxed at 40%.

Key Allowances

1. Residence nil-rate band (RNRB):

   • If you leave your main home to direct descendants (children, grandchildren, step/adopted/foster children), you get an extra allowance of up to £175,000.

   • This means many people can pass on £500,000 before IHT applies.

   • For couples, this doubles — potentially £1 million tax-free.

2. Spouse/civil partner exemption:

   • Anything left to a surviving spouse or civil partner is tax-free, regardless of amount.

   • Plus, if the first spouse doesn’t use their allowances, they can be transferred to the surviving spouse — giving the couple the full £1m shield if a home is left to children.

3. Gifts during lifetime:

   • Gifts made more than 7 years before death are usually free of IHT.

   • Gifts within 7 years may be taxed, with a tapering relief after 3 years.

Example

• Estate value: £800,000 (single person, leaving home to children).

  • £325,000 (NRB) + £175,000 (RNRB) = £500,000 tax-free.

  • Remaining £300,000 taxed at 40% = £120,000 IHT bill.

So while the headline is “40% over £325k,” in practice:

• Many estates benefit from extra allowances.

• Married couples often only face IHT once the second spouse dies and then only on amounts over £1m (if they have a home and leave it to children).

[kenny]

10 minutes ago, Tommy G said:

We have a difference of opinion and for the sake of derailing ''general news'' I'll leave it be. 

Good chat in fairness. Even if its not news.

[Zear0]

42 minutes ago, Tommy G said:

The school breakfast clubs are also taking an age to roll out - you can announce something but it takes time to implement. The extra childcare hours was also a Tory policy @Voll Blau which Labour have agreed to maintain. 

 

My interaction with the NHS has been terrible, and again these things take time and I think We Streeting despite a shaky start is one of only a handful of ministers who has his head screwed on. 

 

I agree workers rights bill will only lead to less people being employed, and with a combination of the Ers NI increase you can already see payroll numbers falling month on month. So if you were on a zero hours contract then you have struck gold, but if you are looking for work or staring down the barrel of redundancy it's not as helpful.

Everyone I employ is on zero hours. I want it and the staff want it. If they abolish them,they're all getting dumped as the business won't function killing a cash cow for us all. Devil's in the detail so will see what genius idea Rayner can come up with on this one...

[leicsmac]

11 minutes ago, Muzzy_no7 said:

I agree.

 

New Topic: India. 
 

What’s happening? Will they regret being so cosy with Russia, China etc? Or is it a good decision to distance themselves from the west?

I think they're playing both sides right now, and there's a lot of animus between the Asian nations that we in the West don't go into the depths of. 

[Muzzy_no7]

4 minutes ago, Greg2607 said:

the 40% UK inheritance tax (IHT) rate is the headline figure, but the rules are more nuanced. Here’s the breakdown:

The Basics

• Nil-rate band (NRB): The first £325,000 of an estate is tax-free.

• Standard rate: Anything above that (after allowances) is generally taxed at 40%.

Key Allowances

1. Residence nil-rate band (RNRB):

   • If you leave your main home to direct descendants (children, grandchildren, step/adopted/foster children), you get an extra allowance of up to £175,000.

   • This means many people can pass on £500,000 before IHT applies.

   • For couples, this doubles — potentially £1 million tax-free.

2. Spouse/civil partner exemption:

   • Anything left to a surviving spouse or civil partner is tax-free, regardless of amount.

   • Plus, if the first spouse doesn’t use their allowances, they can be transferred to the surviving spouse — giving the couple the full £1m shield if a home is left to children.

3. Gifts during lifetime:

   • Gifts made more than 7 years before death are usually free of IHT.

   • Gifts within 7 years may be taxed, with a tapering relief after 3 years.

Example

• Estate value: £800,000 (single person, leaving home to children).

  • £325,000 (NRB) + £175,000 (RNRB) = £500,000 tax-free.

  • Remaining £300,000 taxed at 40% = £120,000 IHT bill.

So while the headline is “40% over £325k,” in practice:

• Many estates benefit from extra allowances.

• Married couples often only face IHT once the second spouse dies and then only on amounts over £1m (if they have a home and leave it to children).

Still too much 😂

[urban.spaceman]

3 minutes ago, Bilo said:

I'm not talking about couples earning five or six figures between them, or someone who inherits their parents' mortgage-free three bedroom semi after they pass away.

 

The working and middle-class have what's called a marginal propensity to spend, which stimulates the economy as you have described. The billionaire class have a marginal propensity to save because, frankly, giving them another hundred million will make little to no difference to their lives beyond cushioning them slightly more from economic slowdowns. 

 

I'd rather see that money going to the working and middle classes who can make use of it and stimulate the economy than Elon Musk's space program or some faceless baron's bank account in the Cayman Islands.

Give me, a minimum wage earner, £10,000 and I’ll spend it in my local community, in my local economy on things I need to survive. Give Musk £10,000 and he’ll not even notice it. It won’t get spent in the economy, it will just disappear into his bank accounts rather than spent on consumer goods, and wouldn’t provide any immediate stimulus to the economy. 

[Wymsey]

What are people's thoughts on Peter Soulsby?

 

Has he improved Leicester as a city in general; or just the cycling paths?

[urban.spaceman]

To be clear, please give me £10,000. 

[Greg2607]

Just now, Muzzy_no7 said:

Still too much 😂

the vast majority of us (as it currently stands) won't have £1m to inherit from our parents..........

 

I do appreciate it will impact some people.  but there are various ways to plan for the impact of IHT. 

 

 

[Muzzy_no7]

1 minute ago, Wymsey said:

What are people's thoughts on Peter Soulsby?

 

Has he improved Leicester as a city in general; or just the cycling paths?

Have the cycling paths improved the city, overall? 

[Jon the Hat]

3 minutes ago, Sampson said:

I’ve got bored of it all tbh. The immigration and trans debates are so inane. I get they are problems for some people but they are such small fry compared to climate change, population ageing (in fact immigration is largely just a symptom of this) and the war in Ukraine and the fact the UK seems to be completely losing its mind over these issues just feels so out of proportion.

 

Ive never been a fan of Starmer, but Farage is the most manipulative and anti-British politician I’ve ever known. All he ever does is go on about what a shithole is and exaggerates Britain’s negatives to get power. He waves a flag but never has an actual good word to say about the country. 
 

That said, I’ve accepted he’s getting into power in 2029 now. I’ve accepted he’s going to get us to leave the ECJ and ECHR and therefore give him full licence to plant his own judges in the Supreme Court, gut the civil service and therefore gutting the legal checks and balances that hold up democracy, centralise government departments and also destroy the ideas of the separation of powers that hold up democracy all in the idea of “getting things done” and “cutting bureaucracy” without having the pesky ECJ having the power to hold these balances as they did in Poland.
 

And what’s worse is people will cheer it on because it will allow him to deport a few thousand extra people - people will cheer on the erosion of democracy and the rise of authoritarianism so they can deport more people. Probably worth just accepting it at this point.

Telling people that their personal experience is wrong, or their feelings are racist or they are a TERF is such a bad way to get their support.  The main parties have done this over and over again and have a lot to answer for.  Brexit and reform are a reaction to this kind of politics, and if they win it will be because our main parties fail to listen, or do so too late.

[Zear0]

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/sep/03/angela-rayner-admits-underpaying-stamp-duty-on-800000-seaside-flat

 

Darren Jones' magical appointment to Deputy PM, but not definitely not Deputy PM, suddenly becomes clear.

[kenny]

3 minutes ago, Greg2607 said:

the vast majority of us (as it currently stands) won't have £1m to inherit from our parents..........

 

I do appreciate it will impact some people.  but there are various ways to plan for the impact of IHT. 

 

 

What does the m stand for? I'm hopeful for the £1 part.