The Good News thread, local jobs, economy etc

[Webbo]

On the plus side I'll be able to buy the Greek island cottage I've had my eye on for a while.

Holidays in greece will be bargains.

[MooseBreath]

Can't see how they can deliver on their promises without leaving the euro. They'll either have to severely compromise their anti-austerity measures or condemn the country to long term poverty. Raw deal for the Greeks, but that's what you get for voting for populist soundbites.

[Buce]

Can't see how they can deliver on their promises without leaving the euro. They'll either have to severely compromise their anti-austerity measures or condemn the country to long term poverty. Raw deal for the Greeks, but that's what you get for voting for populist soundbites.

The ordinary Greek people are already living in extreme poverty - they have chosen to risk dying on their feet, rather than living on their knees.

But you wouldn't get that; words like 'honour' and 'integrity' are anathema to you.

[bovril]

Ordinary Greeks are not living in extreme poverty. Paper talk of a 'collision course' with the EU this morning is just that, paper talk.Tsipras is something of a fantasist, his anti-austerity position will soften even more over time.

[Buce]

Ordinary Greeks are not living in extreme poverty. Paper talk of a 'collision course' with the EU this morning is just that, paper talk.Tsipras is something of a fantasist, his anti-austerity position will soften even more over time.

Massive unemployment, no welfare, people homeless, people unable to afford food, high incedence of suicide.

If that's not poverty, what is?

[surrifox]

Only through a little bit but already not to mention banning one of my favourite sports (National Hunt Racing) higher taxation on alcohol and stopping people drinking on flights.

 

Also a bizarre approach of wanting to reduce the population and enforcing control but at the same time having an open border policy to the UK.

 

This is work of lunatics.

keeping themselves in the " headlines" - by the pronouncements of the potty woman who leads them (sorry I cant remember her name  )

 

 Joining ISIS shouldn't be a crime as  you can't punish people for what they believe - so if you believe that by  joining  them you are helping create  a kind of  Islamic Disneyworld (except with more child rape, slavery,decapitations  and suicide bombery)  that's OK then- right on sister

[surrifox]

Massive unemployment, no welfare, people homeless, people unable to afford food, high incedence of suicide...........-are just a few of the social conditions that don't afflict Greece .

 

A sense of entitlement, endemic corruption and graft, an envy culture are a few of the things that do  (and yes I am a regular traveller there and don't just inhale what the tabloids say)

Edited 26 January 2015 by surrifox

[Buce]

Massive unemployment, no welfare, people homeless, people unable to afford food, high incedence of suicide...........-are just a few of the social conditions that don't afflict Greece .

A sense of entitlement, endemic corruption and graft, an envy culture are a few of the things that do (and yes I am a regular traveller there and don't just inhale what the tabloids say)

I don't read the tabloids.

No offence, but I would prefer to take the word of the Greek voters being interviewed across all media this morning, than someone with an obvious right-wing agenda.

[leicsmac]

 

Massive unemployment, no welfare, people homeless, people unable to afford food, high incedence of suicide...........-are just a few of the social conditions that don't afflict Greece .

 

A sense of entitlement, endemic corruption and graft, an envy culture are a few of the things that do  (and yes I am a regular traveller there and don't just inhale what the tabloids say)

 

 

 

Why do many on the right wing think that people on the other side are envious?

 

Why would they envy terminal greed, nepotism and selfishness, so slavishly devoted to the idea of the evolutionary principle and 'survival of the fittest' applied to society without actually thinking about where that same principle led 98% of other species that have lived on the Earth?

[MooseBreath]

The ordinary Greek people are already living in extreme poverty - they have chosen to risk dying on their feet, rather than living on their knees.

But you wouldn't get that; words like 'honour' and 'integrity' are anathema to you.

Fair enough. Choosing to "die on their feet rather than live on their knees" sounds like emotive, clichéd hogwash to me and certainly no way to face up to a tough economic reality, but I guess if it makes them feel as though they've somehow 'won' something for a minute then great. The reality is that socialist economics in that situation is suicidal. It will fail, it's just a question of how much the Greeks suffer.

[davieG]

Tax crackdown by HMRC unit nets 60% more money, report says

Continue reading the main story Related Stories

• Carney: Tech firms' tax 'very small'
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A crackdown on tax avoidance and evasion by people who HM Revenue & Customs call "mass affluent" netted 60% more money in 2014, a report says.

HMRC's Affluent Unit covering UK residents on annual incomes over £150,000 - or wealth over £1m - raised £137.2m in tax, up from £85.7m in 2013.

The report was written by law firm Pinsent Masons, using data from HMRC.

Critics said the unit, which works with HMRC's High Net Worth team covering the super-rich, could collect much more.

The Affluent Unit, set up in 2011, doubled in size in 2013 with the recruitment of an additional 100 tax inspectors. About 500,000 UK residents fall into its remit.

"This surge in extra revenue from Affluent Unit tax investigations serves as a reminder that HMRC is widening its lines of inquiry," said Pinsent Mason's head of litigation and compliance James Bullock.

"People who would just consider themselves moderately successful professionals and business people are now also coming under the scrutiny of HMRC's specialist units," he said.

He added that the tax office had been given new powers to pursue tax avoidance in what looked like "a much more aggressive approach to prosecutions targeted at professionals and entrepreneurs".

'Poor success rate'

Continue reading the main story “Start Quote

The investigation success rate is way below anything that could be expected”

Richard MurphyTax Research

HMRC's ability to investigate people has been made easier by a computer system called Connect. Costing £45m, Connect was launched in the summer of 2010 and designed by the defence contractor BAE Systems.

The computer system collects data on people from multiple sources, including banks, local councils, and even social media.

Treasury minister David Gauke said that the jump in extra tax being collected shows that the Affluent Unit was "a success... We are determined to give HMRC the powers and support that they need".

He said there was a change in the public mood towards tax avoidance and evasion. "The public expect people to pay the right amount of tax under the law to help fund our services."

He added: "HMRC are winning a lot of their court cases, and we are seeing that a lot of people are preparing to pay up rather than litigate for years."

However, tax expert Richard Murphy, from Tax Research, said: "HMRC is supposed to collect £167bn of income tax this year, of which at least a quarter will be from the top 1% of income earners.

"In that case, to collect just £127m as a result of investigations into this group when the official tax gap is £35bn suggests that much less attention is given to them than any other group."

He added: "The investigation success rate is way below anything that could be expected given that we know tax avoidance is mainly undertaken by the wealthiest.

"If these statistics prove anything it is that HMRC need many more resources to collect tax from those most likely to owe it."

Last year, the Treasury unveiled controversial plans to give HMRC the ability to withdraw outstanding tax directly from people's bank accounts.

Following opposition, it was agreed that tax inspectors would hold a face-to-face meeting with taxpayers before any money is taken.

The Direct Recovery of Debt plans are due to come into force this year.

[Guest MattP]

I spend quite a lot of time in Greece and I haven't met a single sensible person who wants to 'smash' the EU, nor believes it's the cause of their current plight. A lot of the older generation remember living standards before they joined the EU. If they had wanted to vote for a bunch of anti EU and anti-immigration demagogues they would have voted in Golden Dawn. As it is, they'll vote in an ex-Trot who wants to stay in the single currency.

Sorry I wasn't really clear, my own opinion is smash the EU and that's made easier by parties like this getting to power.

Despite the rhetoric it's going to be impossible to do what they say and continue as a member state.

[Finnegan]

"That's what you get for voting for populist soundbites" says UKIP supporter.

[MooseBreath]

"That's what you get for voting for populist soundbites" says UKIP supporter.

If you think I'm a UKIP supporter you obviously haven't been paying attention. Thanks for stopping by though, great input.

[Finnegan]

I'll give you that, to be fair, because I was paying so little attention to you I thought MattP had posted that.

Oops.

[Guest MattP]

I'll give you that, to be fair, because I was paying so little attention to you I thought MattP had posted that.

Oops.

Make your mind up, you've called me a supporter of three different parties now on here, which one am I?

Anyone watch Andrew Neil interview Natalie Bennett yesterday? I'll post it up when it's on YouTube, finally taken to task on economic policy and it was car crash stuff.

[Harry - LCFC]

Make your mind up, you've called me a supporter of three different parties now on here, which one am I?

Anyone watch Andrew Neil interview Natalie Bennett yesterday? I'll post it up when it's on YouTube, finally taken to task on economic policy and it was car crash stuff.

 

I did. Whenever it got tough she just did the politician thing of delaying her answer, "we'll set that out in detail in at a later date." I don't think it was as bad as you suggest but anyone watching must surely have a few suspicions now. The discussion on the wealth tax gave a pretty conclusive outcome though.

 

I'd have liked to hear her justify their policy of permanent recession. Ask her to explain the Green Party's vision of the future and what that would mean for people.

Edited 26 January 2015 by Harry - LCFC

[surrifox]

Sorry I wasn't really clear, my own opinion is smash the EU and that's made easier by parties like this getting to power.

Despite the rhetoric it's going to be impossible to do what they say and continue as a member state.

 

I am not convinced that the total destruction of the EU is desirable or necessary but it certainly is way overdrawn on its bloated bureaucracy and relentless appetite to centralise power and is badly in need of reform (I can see why harder opinions on the matter exist though)   . What is always amusing is how the hard and soft left get themselves so conflicted by the whole concept - it should be seen as a model for internationalism which is what I understand  they crave although who really knows? - It has stopped the Germans marching across the border lately I suppose - and yet they cannot help themselves with their default reaction of   " take to the streets and smash the system we have  nothing to lose but our chains , can't pay won't pay etc etc "  even it subverts that ideal

[MooseBreath]

Meanwhile in evil austerity Britain, more tax cuts for low to middle earners.

http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-30980917

[leicsmac]

I am not convinced that the total destruction of the EU is desirable or necessary but it certainly is way overdrawn on its bloated bureaucracy and relentless appetite to centralise power and is badly in need of reform (I can see why harder opinions on the matter exist though)   . What is always amusing is how the hard and soft left get themselves so conflicted by the whole concept - it should be seen as a model for internationalism which is what I understand  they crave although who really knows? - It has stopped the Germans marching across the border lately I suppose - and yet they cannot help themselves with their default reaction of   " take to the streets and smash the system we have  nothing to lose but our chains , can't pay won't pay etc etc "  even it subverts that ideal

 

Indeed. It's rather similar to how the hard and soft right get so conflicted about the idea of the market. Yes, it should be a free market and individualism along with nationalism should reign supreme, but no, we can't allow these big banks to fail or bring these multinational corporations to heel when they don't pay their taxes and put smaller merchandisers out of business - that wouldn't be right!

 

Lack of consistency is not a one-ideology problem, oddly enough.

Edited 26 January 2015 by leicsmac

[DennisNedry]

The Green party were of real interest to me until I watched the Sunday politics. Natalie bennett seems to be genuinely clueless and deluded.

[bovril]

I am not convinced that the total destruction of the EU is desirable or necessary but it certainly is way overdrawn on its bloated bureaucracy and relentless appetite to centralise power and is badly in need of reform (I can see why harder opinions on the matter exist though)   . What is always amusing is how the hard and soft left get themselves so conflicted by the whole concept - it should be seen as a model for internationalism which is what I understand  they crave although who really knows? - It has stopped the Germans marching across the border lately I suppose - and yet they cannot help themselves with their default reaction of   " take to the streets and smash the system we have  nothing to lose but our chains , can't pay won't pay etc etc "  even it subverts that ideal

 

So do the right. Quite happy to watch their country sacrificed over the altars of globalisation and neo-liberalism until the shit hits the fan, the jobs have moved abroad and their town is full of Poles on minimum wage.

May We Live In Interesting Times....

[Bellend Sebastian]

As if the Greek people didn't have enough to get their heads round, Demis Roussos has gone and bloody died as well

Edited 26 January 2015 by Bellend Sebastian

[l444ry]

The Green party were of real interest to me until I watched the Sunday politics. Natalie bennett seems to be genuinely clueless and deluded.

 

Didn't do at all well, did she? She never coped with Andrew Neil at all. She could learn from the way Jim Murphy handled the resident Tory's hectoring, haranguing and bullying style of interview. Poor interview which the neutral will have gained little from to be honest.

[Buce]

As if the Greek people didn't have enough to get their heads round, Demis Roussos and gone and bloody died as well

Gotta be easier than getting their arms around Demis Roussos....