UK Politics Thread XIII: The Brexit Ship Departs

[The Huskar Social Union]

I'm in the mood to see something extremely stupid. Fortunately, the Northern Ireland page on the BBC website is a never ending supply of such things.

Police break up crowd of 250 people watching organised fight in County Tyrone.

live footage from the PSNI if anyone wants to see

[Ostroeuropa]

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/ ... ovalRating

https://twitter.com/politicsforali/stat ... 07233?s=21

[The Huskar Social Union]

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ZeroPercentApprovalRating

https://twitter.com/politicsforali/stat ... 07233?s=21

Forensic.

Or something.

[Kowani]

UK slashes aid to Yemen by nearly 60%

[Fartsniffage]

UK slashes aid to Yemen by nearly 60%

Not a huge shock. A slightly reduced % of government revenue being donated combined with a big fall in tax revenue.

[The Huskar Social Union]

UK slashes aid to Yemen by nearly 60%

Cut aid to Yemen but will keep giving weapons to the Saudi's who are responsible for soo much of the shit in that country.

[The Blaatschapen]

UK slashes aid to Yemen by nearly 60%

Cut aid to Yemen but will keep giving weapons to the Saudi's who are responsible for soo much of the shit in that country.

To offset all the drama created by the British in the middle east, the solution is obvious.

To balance things out: Three out of four home nations will not participate in the world cup in Qatar.

[Dumb Ideologies]

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ZeroPercentApprovalRating

https://twitter.com/politicsforali/stat ... 07233?s=21

On the positive side, it's hard to tell if Starmer is shitting himself or just his usual expression.

[The New California Republic]

UK slashes aid to Yemen by nearly 60%

We still sell arms to the Saudis though.

[Ostroeuropa]

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ZeroPercentApprovalRating

https://twitter.com/politicsforali/stat ... 07233?s=21

On the positive side, it's hard to tell if Starmer is shitting himself or just his usual expression.

I actually feel kind of bad for him. All we need is a please clap moment and i'll rush over his place with a teddy bear, a blanket, and some hot cocoa to reassure him that he tried his best and it's okay he doesn't have to run the country and being a laywer is a terrific accomplishment and so on.

As a general rule when I start worrying about a politicians self-esteem and whether they're going to be really sad about how nobody likes them, they're not leader for long.

[SD_Film Artists]

Were the 'Nazi' groups enemy combatants who were actively fighting in a war against Britain and allies?

The War on Terror is a brand, it's a slogan, Britain is not actually at war with IS or any other terrorist organisation.

I'd agree to the extent of the 'war on terror' being largely a Bushism from the 2000s, but that doesn't change the fact that the Syrian Civil War is real and the fighting in Iraq is real. Something else which doesn't change is Begum's legal status regardless of your opinions on branding.

It's very likely that she did a crime by her association with the terrorist group. And normally when people do crimes, they get arrested and put on trial and then sent to prison. It's pretty weird to contrive to prevent a trial from ever happening by barring the suspected criminal from returning home.

Perhaps we'd be able to keep better tabs on her if she's in a western jail so there is that point. Gitmo perhaps?

---

Going back to the 'Nazi' group, was the lad in Britain? That could be an important part of it......as it's almost as if Begum wants to use the trial as a way to make it more difficult to deport her. It's much easier to deport someone when they're not even in the country.

You can't deport someone that isn't in the country, those words just don't make sense.

Exactly- you don't need to deport someone if they're already de-facto deported.

Besides, you're dodging the fact that yes, her joining IS was a significant part of her appeal being quashed. Are you suggesting that the 'threat to security' was based on something else?

Actual convicted terrorists in Britain don't get their citizenship revoked. What threat does Begum pose to justify revoking her citizenship that those terrorists do not?

Being an enemy combatant (which is different than being a common criminal).

I'd guess it's more of a matter of principle and setting an example rather than what danger she'll directly cause. That said, having a jihadi in the UK doesn't sound like a safe thing.

If the government can punish this woman without convicting her of a crime and abandon her in a foreign country, what confidence do you have that they will fulfil any of their responsibilities to you or to any other British citizen? You might object that you aren't going to do something like go off and join IS, but again, there are far worse criminals in Britain who enjoy the full protection of their rights under the law. Begum isn't losing her citizenship because she's a uniquely heinous criminal, she's losing her citizenship because the government is afraid of being pilloried in the press for repatriating her. That the courts are letting the government do this just goes to show that if the government ever took it into their heads to do the same to you, the courts would not protect you.

Exactly how many years did the British judge sentence Begum to stay in the Syrian camp? You said that the British government are behind this so I'd guess the Syrian guards are serving Blighty now.

I think she abandoned Britian rather than the other way around.

"criminals in Britain"- rather than enemy combatants in Syria, Begum being the latter.

As for the press, are you suggesting that the government doesn't want to be seen to do a bad thing? Then it's a good job that they are doing a good thing by keeping her out, yes?

[Dumb Ideologies]

On the positive side, it's hard to tell if Starmer is shitting himself or just his usual expression.

I actually feel kind of bad for him.

He wanted to unite the country. Mission accomplished.

[Ostroeuropa]

I actually feel kind of bad for him.

He wanted to unite the country. Mission accomplished.

He needs more meme magic but i'm not sure he knows how it works.

If he posted on his twitter a picture of his face on Thanos' body along with "perfectly balanced, as all things should be" in response to a net 0% approval rating it would be a start.

[The Huskar Social Union]

Starmer should just challenge Boris to one on one cage fighting at Piccadilly Square and get it over and done with.

[Ostroeuropa]

Starmer should just challenge Boris to one on one cage fighting at Piccadilly Square and get it over and done with.

Starmer hulking out in parliament and tearing off his shirt while bellowing about how he listened to the Blairite advisors for too long and is gonna do things his way now, then challenging Johnson to a cage match, might be the only way to restart the clock.

If he goes full wrestlemania it would be a landslide. Like starts turning up to Johnsons press things and events and entering the building in the middle of Johsnon speaking while showboating to steal the spotlight and then talking shit about Johnson. He also needs a theme song.

He needs to become a living meme. That's how Johnson won.

[Ostroeuropa]

I just want one living meme to run Labour, at least once in my life. Corbyn came close, but he lacked the total stupidity necessary to get people to just willfully ignore his flaws and go along for the ride because of a dumb slogan and because it's fun.

[Hirota]

So Sunak thinks that commercial rents top out at £20K a year? Wow.

So Vassenor thinks the word "average" means the maximum? Wow.

He's off, but not by as much as the hot take by this rando on Twatter who thinks only of London as opposed to the whole country. For example, 27500k a year in the very mediocre town of Rugby,compared to a similarly sized one in London in a reasonably busy spot is double that. So rent appears for a fairly average location costs around 27000 to 50000. Obviously variables come into play such as the quality etc. It's why it's difficult to estimate.

On the other hand, he should know better than a rando on Twatter (or a rando on NS such as myself!), and apparently underestimating by somewhere between a third and a half of the average rental cost (as opposed to Twitter poster who is overestimating by roughly four or five times the actual amount) is silly.

It's pretty weird to contrive to prevent a trial from ever happening by barring the suspected criminal from returning home.

By that logic, it should be wrong to prevent a trial by the free and independent peoples of Syria and Iraq (the main people wronged by IS), yet it would be likely that is exactly what would happen if this argument that she has to be in the UK to appeal her citizenship was successful. Personally, I would prefer all of the foreign combatants for IS to stand trial before they are considered for repatriation or some creative editing of their citizenship.

[The Nihilistic view]

So Sunak thinks that commercial rents top out at £20K a year? Wow.

So Vassenor thinks the word "average" means the maximum? Wow.

He's off, but not by as much as the hot take by this rando on Twatter who thinks only of London as opposed to the whole country. For example, 27500k a year in the very mediocre town of Rugby,compared to a similarly sized one in London in a reasonably busy spot is double that. So rent appears for a fairly average location costs around 27000 to 50000. Obviously variables come into play such as the quality etc. It's why it's difficult to estimate.

On the other hand, he should know better than a rando on Twatter (or a rando on NS such as myself!), and apparently underestimating by somewhere between a third and a half of the average rental cost (as opposed to Twitter poster who is overestimating by roughly four or five times the actual amount) is silly.

90% of commercial rents for those sorts of buisnesses are under £60k even in London to say nothing of the rest of the country. But I didn't think it's worth pointing out that the person having a go was more wrong than Sunak because when has that ever stopped Vass?

[Hirota]

90% of commercial rents for those sorts of buisnesses are under £60k even in London to say nothing of the rest of the country. But I didn't think it's worth pointing out that the person having a go was more wrong than Sunak because when has that ever stopped Vass?

I'm often one for allowing people to hoist ones self by their own pewtard, but stupid posts are stupid, and I was posting about Begum anyway.

In other news, there seems to be evidence that Oxford-AstraZeneca is roughly as effective in the over 80s as the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in preventing serious illness. It makes some of the policies regarding vaccine distribution in Europe look suspect, such as Germany's advisory that the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine’s use was for the under-65s, and Emmanuel Macron's previous claim it was 'quasi-ineffective' in older people.

[The Huskar Social Union]

Sammy Wilson stands by 'guerilla warfare' comments saying DUP will use every 'tactic' to 'destroy' protocol

DUP Brexit spokesman Wilson originally made his guerilla warfare comments in The Irish Times.

Challenged about the language used, Mr Wilson said it was “metaphorical” and "appropriate"

"It [the protocol] is going to destroy many businesses in Northern Ireland and in the long run destroy democracy.

“It is a political battle we are fighting and we will use every tactic that we can in fighting that political battle.

“In a political context, to use the term guerilla warfare means that when opportunities arise we will make sure we take those opportunities to undermine the protocol and seek to change the government’s mind on implementation."

He added: "The government seems to be focused on getting the trade deal through the European parliament.

You met with paramilitaries a few days ago then pulled a stunt to try and prevent border posts at docks from being built, i wonder how long your desire for guerrilla warfare remains in the "Political context" you bunch of vile incompetent ballbags.

Friendly reminder that in 1994 Sammy Willson called UDA plans for repartitioning Northern Ireland into a wholly Protestant State and forcefully removing the remaining catholic population a "Valuable return to reality"

[The Nihilistic view]

90% of commercial rents for those sorts of buisnesses are under £60k even in London to say nothing of the rest of the country. But I didn't think it's worth pointing out that the person having a go was more wrong than Sunak because when has that ever stopped Vass?

I'm often one for allowing people to hoist ones self by their own pewtard, but stupid posts are stupid, and I was posting about Begum anyway.

In other news, there seems to be evidence that Oxford-AstraZeneca is roughly as effective in the over 80s as the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in preventing serious illness. It makes some of the policies regarding vaccine distribution in Europe look suspect, such as Germany's advisory that the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine’s use was for the under-65s, and Emmanuel Macron's previous claim it was 'quasi-ineffective' in older people.

We always knew their policy was founded on the politics of not making the EU look bad as opposed to the science of protecting people.

What we did wasn't a wild stab in the dark, it was a very well educated assumption so the fact it's worked out well isn't really a surprise.

[The Huskar Social Union]

Sammy's majority for East Antrim is only 6,616 votes as of the 2019 GE, down from 15,932 in 2017

God let him lose it. Let him lose his seat in the next election it would be soo fucking juicy.

And i will worship you God if you do this.

For a week.

[Dresderstan]

Sammy Wilson stands by 'guerilla warfare' comments saying DUP will use every 'tactic' to 'destroy' protocol

DUP Brexit spokesman Wilson originally made his guerilla warfare comments in The Irish Times.

Challenged about the language used, Mr Wilson said it was “metaphorical” and "appropriate"

"It [the protocol] is going to destroy many businesses in Northern Ireland and in the long run destroy democracy.

“It is a political battle we are fighting and we will use every tactic that we can in fighting that political battle.

“In a political context, to use the term guerilla warfare means that when opportunities arise we will make sure we take those opportunities to undermine the protocol and seek to change the government’s mind on implementation."

He added: "The government seems to be focused on getting the trade deal through the European parliament.

You met with paramilitaries a few days ago then pulled a stunt to try and prevent border posts at docks from being built, i wonder how long your desire for guerrilla warfare remains in the "Political context" you bunch of vile incompetent ballbags.

Friendly reminder that in 1994 Sammy Willson called UDA plans for repartitioning Northern Ireland into a wholly Protestant State and forcefully removing the remaining catholic population a "Valuable return to reality"

Have the DUP leaders removed and the party pronounced as a terrorist organization.

[Philjia]

Starmer should just challenge Boris to one on one cage fighting at Piccadilly Square and get it over and done with.

Maybe that's what those people in Tyrone were watching.

[The Nihilistic view]

This is a very intresting document that was published today.

https://iea.org.uk/publications/20-taxe ... ax-system/


I'd say I broadly agree maybe with 75% of it.

The two main things I disagree with are first the stamp duty land tax. At the moment it acts to repress the value of residential property. You would probably find the increase in value of a property would outstrip the tax removed therfore making the overall cost larger especially for those trying to get on the ladder. We've had 8% house price growth in a pandemic purely because of no stamp duty up to £500,000. So I think what I have always believed would happen is already happening.

You might think hey Nihil that's great for you both ideologically for a free market and personally and yes you would be sort of right and it probably would add a lot to my bottom line on paper. However stamp duty on property is a tax that is impossible to avoid, therefore as a transactional tax that you can target the wealthy with it and that makes an awful lot of sense. Espechally when you consider a chunk of the increase in our house prices over the last 30 years is foreign investment. This naturally makes prices more expensive for locals and so we really should tax this. So as I argued last week stamp duty at the higher end should actually further increase to capture this wealth.

This probably puts the breaks on a land value tax because you couldn't have both but I'm all right with that given we have turned stamp duty into a transactional tax mostly on the wealthy. I'd replace council tax with a local income/capital gains tax, this is a solution a lot of countries use for local funding it's not especially ground breaking and the Institute for fiscal studies has a good report about this from a couple of years ago. https://www.ifs.org.uk/publications/14006

You could do something similar through a local corporation and or revenue tax system to replace buisness rates. So I don't think it's a huge problem not to replace Stamp duty with an LVT as the other taxes that would be rolled into any LVT have in my view better alternatives.

The second tax to remove I really disagree with is the license fee I don't think there is a perfect way of raising money for a public broadcaster but the license fee is the best way to do it out of a number of worse alternatives that still allows it to do its intended job.

One I am slightly unsure if I would want to totally remove is capital gains tax because as long as the rate is significantly lower than income tax it's not going to hugely distort buisness behaviour negatively. If however the rumours are true and Sunak does equalise income and CGT rates then we can kiss goodbye to any quick economic recovery. You need buisness leaders working on generating jobs and revenue not focusing on their personal and company tax structures for the next year. But at the current levels I can't say it has really affected my attitude to investments, about the best I can say is I fiddle around the edges to make use of various allowances and reliefs as best I can every year. But that's really to do with when and how I dispose of an asset not whether I choose to invest in the first place. Obviously I'd like to pay less tax but I don't think in principle the current CGT regime is particularly pernicious over and above any other tax. The main problem is making it payable on all assets disposed of in the UK irrespective of the owners domiciled status.