Comments on: Ed Miliband: regrets, he’s had a few…

By: donpaskini

donpaskini — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 10:24:46 +0000

I'm all for cutting taxes for lower earners and taxing the better off more heavily, and hope that everyone who is angry about this now keeps up the pressure so the government has to act in next year's budget. Just on the 75p pension rise, from memory that was when the government introduced the minimum income guarantee. What that meant was that rather than giving more money to all pensioners, regardless of their income, the extra spending went on big increases for the poorest pensioners. Minimum income guarantee and later Pension Credit (for all the problems of takeup) have led to a situation now where poverty amongst pensioners has fallen substantially, and for the first time ever, you are less likely to be living in poverty if you are over 65 than if you are under 65. Obviously, it wasn't very clever politics, because better off pensioners are more vocal than poor ones and were angry that the government was giving all this money to people who hadn't saved up while they were working rather than to them. But it really wasn't an example of 'making the poor poorer'. Also, "People on lower incomes would be no worse served by choosing who they vote for with a pin and taking their chances" - really not the case. donpaskini's last blog post..DIY Henry Porter

By: Justin

Justin — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 10:15:31 +0000

Luddite.

By: Nosemonkey

Nosemonkey — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 10:04:48 +0000

Meh - confusing comment system, Mr McK - that was meant to be a reply to Nick. Nosemonkey's last blog post..Anyone else having problems with Wordpress 2.5?

By: Nosemonkey

Nosemonkey — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 10:02:29 +0000

It's also about 6 months' worth of electric bills for me and the missus. Hmmm... Fuel poverty, eh? Nosemonkey's last blog post..Anyone else having problems with Wordpress 2.5?

By: Mike

Mike — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 07:41:49 +0000

He brays slowly, and at a very low pitch.

By: Curly

Curly — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 22:29:33 +0000

He may have had a few, but I bet he didn't stand them on these! Curly's last blog post..Brown stays out of China

By: ejh

ejh — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 21:00:37 +0000

I can see not just a contradiction but an unlikelihood that the figure mentioned has been calculated with the rigour that one might expect from, say, HMRC. ejh's last blog post..Spain

By: Mouse

Mouse — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 20:24:07 +0000

>An incentive to get out there and earn, and with a simplified system, we could probably make at least 50% of HMRC redundant.

Is it just me sees a contradiction in that sentence?

By: ejh

ejh — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 20:03:04 +0000

An incentive to get out there and earn And currently we have so few! ejh's last blog post..Spain

By: ejh

ejh — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 20:00:17 +0000

Er, I thought Charles raised the Royal Standard at Nottingham on 25th August. Hull was where Sir John Hotham told Charles to piss off, before kicking his arse when he tried to force entry to the city. I was thinking more along the lines of chasing Parliament out of London in fear for their safety. On the first of these, you're quite right, and - having studied the Civil War for my undergraduate degree* - I should be ashamed of myself. On the second of these, I stopped being amused by "eccentric" barking-mad opinions at roughly the same time as the aforementioned studies. [* under Keith Thomas, no less] ejh's last blog post..Spain