Cost of Living

[baggieal]

On a previous post I mentioned the minimum wage should increase as it’s a pittance and there would be more incentive for those on benefits to work. Who would work if benefits were the same/not much difference? Not many!!

Also Boris begrudgingly offered those NHS workers a 1% pay rise. Could Boris explain how these people or many like them can still afford to live with NI Contributions massively going up - council tax increasing in most areas by 3% - food and supplies going through the roof and now energy prices going
to rocket? Any answers?

Is there any wonder why many hard working EU Nationals have gone home - it’s not affordable for many to be here now!!!

It’s OK for the very rich though so how about increasing their taxes. Everything should be in proportion to what tax you pay. Seems bizarre how you could have a 10 million plus p
property in Chelsea but still paying the same/not much more council tax than a person with a 1 million pound property!!!

Increase the minimum wage as most companies can afford to pay it and it’s the
W ankers like Sports Direct and Amazon who treat their staff like s hite but the companies are absolutely raking it in!!

[Omegstrat6]

Agree with much of what you have said. I firmly believe in the concept of a minimum living wage and, to my mind, any company that says they cannot afford to pay this does not have a sound business model. I understand that smaller companies may struggle as wage costs are often a large chunk of any cost centre, but then the government should help these companies in other ways (eg taxes) to help them with this as surely the aim is to encourage more people into work rather than living off benefits. I am not anti-business and those with the drive and ability should be allowed the rewards of all their hard graft, but not at the expense or exploitation of others (eg poor wages/conditions). It is far too easy for the press (especially the more right-wing ones) to drag people into debates about how people might defraud the benefits system or how NHS "tourists" fleece the system or how much of the taxpayers money has to be spent on the migrants who come across the channel on dingys but, whilst all of these topics may warrant discussion, this is really all deflection. The deflection is there because no-one seems to want to properly discuss the real issue in this country which is the growing divide between the haves and have nots and how such a small proportion of the population of the country increasingly own such a large percentage of its wealth. The issues of affordable housing, of education and the NHS continue to be unresolved. Anyone notice how the majority of the "key workers"-careworkers/nurses/ posties/retail workers-were amongst the poorest paid? Of course all of those who work so hard for what they have are angered by the workshy or those on benefits who have the latest mobile phone and Sky package but claim they dont get enough to feed their family or the single mum with 4 kids by 4 different fathers who has got herself a larger council house because of it but all this perceived "lost" taxpayers money is a drop in the ocean of the country's economy in comparison to the vast profits made by the few. Companies such as Google and Amazon should pay their fair share of taxes but to do so means a change in the law that currently allows the legal loopholes they take advantage of and to do this, of course, would also impact on the vested interests of some of those in government. Doubtless the causes and solutions behind many of these issues are not as straightforward as they might first seem, but surely no-one would disagree that the vastly uneven distribution of wealth in this country is not right?

[kettering_baggie]

That all sounds very reasonable, I agree, but the big problem with increasing taxes on the rich is that it doesn’t raise that much money in the great scheme of things. Morally, probably fair but there just aren’t enough people in that ‘rich’ category to make much of a difference. It is the mass of people ‘in the middle’ that, by sheer numbers, brings in the cash in substantial amounts. Also, if you increase taxes on the very rich by what they might deem to be too much, they have the means to move themselves and even their businesses to other countries. So, even though the notion of increasing taxes for those we consider rich is appealing, it could be counter productive. I am not trying to make the case for ‘going easy’ on the rich, just trying to be pragmatic. Having said that, the likes of Amazon and Google should certainly be paying their fair share. The fact of the matter is that all of us taxpayers are going to have to pay more. Living standards may fall, possibly for many of us but there are quite a few non essentials that I could forego without any hardship, Sky TV being a prime example. I suspect that doing without that particular item would not harm anybody. It is a serious problem, though, and one that most of us must face but I really feel for those that are on, near or below the breadline.

[mickd1961]

I’ve said this recently but I’ll say it again now, Amazon and the line are b as t a r d s.

I make most of my sales on Amazon but I hate the way they tax dodge.

I pay a lot in tax both personal and Corporation Tax and I pay a huge amount in Amazon fees as well.

As soon as any kind of levy is made on Amazon they just hike their fees to recoup the money so we as sellers and you as buyers end up paying their levy.

Kets is right, taxing the rich in itself doesn’t work as more tax avoidance then happens.

I’m a true capitalist but I use an old fashioned Black Country accountant and I don’t enter into any schemes, I pay exactly what should be due and rightly so.

More than anything it’s the truly “filthy rich” like Abramovic and the foreigners who are desperate to reside here who we should be nailing.

As for cost of living, I did earn you all on here a year ago that you were going to start feeling the pain of inflation.

Truth is that very little of it is Brexit related, it’s Covid that’s causing this.......or is it!?

Initially I denounced the Chinese conspiracy theories but the proof is in the pudding.

It’s the Chinese who have hiked the prices on all of the goods we buy in and on raw materials and it’s them that have hiked container prices from around £1200 for a 20 foot container up to as much as £20k.

These devious little runts have got the world by the b o l l o x and they’re squeezing tight.

I now believe that the disease was purposely released via Wuhan in a deliberate attempt to cause this, they’ve suffered a calculated short term loss to create a now vastly inflated market.

Costs are not going to come down either, governments around the world are lying to their public’s, they are all f u c k I n g clueless, this is the new “normal”.

The genie is now out of the bottle and China have proved to themselves that the west and the east will pay whatever it takes to get their consumer goods.

It really isn’t Brexit related though so please don’t be fooled into thinking that, yes there are some local issues for us such as worker shortages causing supply chain issues but 97% or more of this is Covid related.

I import as well as retail, I’m at the sharp end and people like me will tell you the same story.

[baggieal]

I’ve said this recently but I’ll say it again now, Amazon and the line are b as t a r d s.

I make most of my sales on Amazon but I hate the way they tax dodge.

I pay a lot in tax both personal and Corporation Tax and I pay a huge amount in Amazon fees as well.

As soon as any kind of levy is made on Amazon they just hike their fees to recoup the money so we as sellers and you as buyers end up paying their levy.

Kets is right, taxing the rich in itself doesn’t work as more tax avoidance then happens.

I’m a true capitalist but I use an old fashioned Black Country accountant and I don’t enter into any schemes, I pay exactly what should be due and rightly so.

More than anything it’s the truly “filthy rich” like Abramovic and the foreigners who are desperate to reside here who we should be nailing.

As for cost of living, I did earn you all on here a year ago that you were going to start feeling the pain of inflation.

Truth is that very little of it is Brexit related, it’s Covid that’s causing this.......or is it!?

Initially I denounced the Chinese conspiracy theories but the proof is in the pudding.

It’s the Chinese who have hiked the prices on all of the goods we buy in and on raw materials and it’s them that have hiked container prices from around £1200 for a 20 foot container up to as much as £20k.

These devious little runts have got the world by the b o l l o x and they’re squeezing tight.

I now believe that the disease was purposely released via Wuhan in a deliberate attempt to cause this, they’ve suffered a calculated short term loss to create a now vastly inflated market.

Costs are not going to come down either, governments around the world are lying to their public’s, they are all f u c k I n g clueless, this is the new “normal”.

The genie is now out of the bottle and China have proved to themselves that the west and the east will pay whatever it takes to get their consumer goods.

It really isn’t Brexit related though so please don’t be fooled into thinking that, yes there are some local issues for us such as worker shortages causing supply chain issues but 97% or more of this is Covid related.

I import as well as retail, I’m at the sharp end and people like me will tell you the same story.

Good post Mick and would agree 100%. The public can only take so much though and debts will go out of control. Perhaps with rocketing costs many are even more resentful Boris does nothing to stop the illegals coming in from France and be stronger. What must this cost?

[WBA123]

'Not Brexit related'

Holy Christ,
The lack of workers picking our fruit and driving HGV trucks is definitely Brexit related. Exports decreasing to the EU is definitely Brexit related. Companies leaving the UK to set up in Europe is definitely Brexit related. There is no doubt we are worse off now because of Brexit.

Given the pandemic would have always happened whether we had voted remain or leave, would we be better off today had we voted remain?

Its a simple question Mick, and I think you know the answer.

[regis80]

'Not Brexit related'

Holy Christ,
The lack of workers picking our fruit and driving HGV trucks is definitely Brexit related. Exports decreasing to the EU is definitely Brexit related. Companies leaving the UK to set up in Europe is definitely Brexit related. There is no doubt we are worse off now because of Brexit.

Given the pandemic would have always happened whether we had voted remain or leave, would we be better off today had we voted remain?

Its a simple question Mick, and I think you know the answer.

We might as well blame the Chinese when we can't blame ourselves eh? It is everyone else's fault other than ours. Other countries are in no way suffering like we are, let's take the US, Germany and Japan as an example (who have a higher GDP) and are doing relatively well? But no, let's blame China. I wonder what the Tory spokesman of this forum have to say about this. These nations didn't have a 'Brexit' and they trade with their closest neighbours. Us little Britain want to trade with Australia? For what? Hardy's stamp wine and beef? What happens to our local farmers? Lets not even mention the fishing industry. We need to stop masking brexit problems with Covid and blaming China, especially when we keep buying stuff from them.

[WBA123]

We might as well blame the Chinese when we can't blame ourselves eh? It is everyone else's fault other than ours. Other countries are in no way suffering like we are, let's take the US, Germany and Japan as an example (who have a higher GDP) and are doing relatively well? But no, let's blame China. I wonder what the Tory spokesman of this forum have to say about this. These nations didn't have a 'Brexit' and they trade with their closest neighbours. Us little Britain want to trade with Australia? For what? Hardy's stamp wine and beef? What happens to our local farmers? Lets not even mention the fishing industry. We need to stop masking brexit problems with Covid and blaming China, especially when we keep buying stuff from them.

Absolutely correct. The problem with Tories and Leavers is there is always something or someone else to blame. Tories mask over their own deficiencies by blaming Labour or the EU, they are experts at it.

We have a Tory Government who said we had an 'oven ready deal' and negotiated a withdrawal agreement, and now say they want to renegotiate the same withdrawal agreement that THEY GOT ELECTED ON THE BACK OF.

Will we ever wake up to this?

[Leicesterbaggie]

These are very difficult times and whoever is in charge will face problems that we haven't had to face since the Second World War. Yes, Boris Johnson has made mistakes but if you think that the Labour Party would have done any better you are living in 'cloud cuckoo land'. Let's face it, they can't even sort out the problems within their own party let alone that of the country.

[WBA123]

These are very difficult times and whoever is in charge will face problems that we haven't had to face since the Second World War. Yes, Boris Johnson has made mistakes but if you think that the Labour Party would have done any better you are living in 'cloud cuckoo land'. Let's face it, they can't even sort out the problems within their own party let alone that of the country.

I must be living in cloud cuckoo land. I genuinely think anyone could have done better than Boris 'pile the bodies high' Johnson. I am certainly no Corbyn fan but I do think he would have been a better option.

Its a sad indictment of our political choices that we both feel the way we do.