Amazulu

Great article about Arlene Foster in the Australian this afternoon. The micks blew up her school bus when she was a child and also tried to murder her father - the woman has grown up in fire and has some steel about her. The main thing is though is that she hates Jeremy Corbyn (I wonder why) and there is no way she is going to allow him to become PM. She's a patriot - something he never will be

Let me think - a government with her as a member or Diane Abbott? Tough choice!

OzTennis

Snap! Many people are wondering about a government with May, Johnson, Gove, Leadsam etc which has to strike deals with an extreme right, divisive party to stay in power. Already we are seeing what the deal with the DUP could mean for peace across the water:

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/u...-a7785026.html

"The boys’ mother was Catholic and the family lived in a mainly Protestant area. The brothers – Richard, Mark and Jason Quinn, aged 11, 9 and 7, were asleep when a petrol bomb was thrown through the window of their house."

Your bigoted comments in this thread are pathetic from a supposedly educated person quite frankly but I think you just play out some role to see what reaction you get.

Beoz

Tory voters are the providers. They pay the vast amount of tax which provide for the loonies.

If you can convince me students are the providers, then you may have a point, but you are going to struggle.

GarryP

Kind of interesting that discussions with the DUP are still ongoing - delaying the opening of parliament. Which kind of obviously means the DUP is asking for something that the tories don't want to give.

Assuming that the DUP don't give way, and May has to, it will be kind of interesting to see what hostage to fortune May has given for their support - and if the tory backbench will blow up.

Or maybe it will all end with no agreement...

Beoz

Please. Don't embarrass yourself by posting rubbish from the Guardian.

We don't live in a tax system where we pay a flat percentage of tax. We live in a tax system where we try to encourage people to earn beyond the average, and at the same time, looking after those who genuinely need help.

If you want a flat percentage of tax, you watch the successful people drift away, at the same time compromising your services that you so ungratefully rely on.

OzTennis

Another myth; the reality:

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/u...-a7704331.html

The poorest 10 per cent of households in the UK pay a greater proportion of their income in tax than the richest 10 per cent, new analysis has revealed.
Officials statistics show the lowest tenth of earners pay an average of 42 per cent of their income in the form of income tax, national insurance, VAT and council tax.
In contrast, the richest 10 per cent see around a third (34.4 per cent) of their earnings go to the taxman

the richest 10 per cent of households have an average pre-tax income of £110,632 per year compared to just £19,992 for the poorest. To quote the walking dead PM, surely enough is enough?

OzTennis

Some facts on the UK taxation system from 1979 to today:

The basic rate of income tax has been cut from 33% to 20%.

The top rate of income tax has been cut from 98% (unearned)/83% (earnings) to 45%.

The rate of VAT has been increased from 8% to 20% (flat tax therefore regressive, takes a higher % of lower income earners income).

The rate of employee contributions to NI has increased from 6.5% to 12%.

There have been large increases in indirect taxes - fuel, tobacco, alcohol, air passenger duties, landfull tax, climate change levy .............. Flat rate so regressive.

Corporation tax rates have been reduced from 52% to 20%.

It's clear that the burden has shifted from direct to indirect taxes and income tax and corporation tax rates have been drastically reduced.

Source: Office for Budget Responsibility 2016/17 Budget papers. Income tax provides 25.4% of total government receipts, NIC's 17.7%, VAT 16.8%, Other indirect taxes 9.7%, capital taxes 3.9%, Company taxes 10.3%, Council tax 4.2%, other taxes and royalties 4.9%, gross operating surplus of government business undertakings 6.4%, interest and dividends 0.8%.

When arguing about the burden of income tax keep in mind how rates have plummeted and it only provides 1/4 of government receipts. The tens of millions of ordinary people pay the bulk of the NIC's, VAT and other indirect taxes which make up 44.2% of government receipts. No doubt stats can be produced to show how the very well off pay a higher % of the total take than their few numbers would suggest but nobody would argue against the progressive system of income tax and the principle of ability to pay?

Amazulu

No bigotry in my posts champ - but plenty of snowflakiness from you. You always seem to forget that this is not an academic/intellectual website but rather entertainment and a place to talk shite

Get over yourself

The DUP are a democratically elected part of the UK's parliament. So, they may have some hard-right policies that some may find unacceptable - but no different from the some of the destructive, hateful and divisive policies being proposed by the current Labour party. If the DUP want to do a deal with May then so be it - Corbyn would have to make some kind of pact with destructive parties like the SNP and Greens in order to gain power. Different strokes etc

Democracy at work

Hope this helps

spouse of scouse

A great many of those students will be the providers of the future

Beoz

Indeed. And that's around the same time they start voting Tory.

You see the fickle, hypocritical nature of it all.

Beoz

Let me repost #65 for you.

We don't live in a tax system where we pay a flat percentage of tax. We live in a tax system where we try to encourage people to earn beyond the average, and at the same time, looking after those who genuinely need help.

If you want a flat percentage of tax, you watch the successful people drift away, at the same time compromising your services that you so ungratefully rely on.

spouse of scouse

I see a few things, but that's not top of the list

Beoz

But that's the way it works. When we are young and dumb we vote for the me me me fairytales. With a bit of experience we realise fairytales don't exist and what's best for all, is a bit of hard graft.

bcworld

Election 2017: Labour won 50% of vote to Conservatives' 30% from 35 to 44-year-olds, poll suggests

Beoz

See what happens with experience.

Generally, "for every 10 years older a voter is, their chance of voting Tory increases by around 8 per cent, and the chance of them voting Labour decreases by 6 per cent," the polling company stated.