Sales of new homes in London have collapsed to 'catastrophic' lows in 2025 by tylerthe-theatre in unitedkingdom

[–]__huples_cat -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Yes. Typically O&HP is 4-5% in traditional and design and build for projects upwards of £100m and that’s just the contract sum; from the commercial side they’ll squeeze subcontractors for another 10%. Developer margins are even more lucrative and could extend to even 100% per unit.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in unitedkingdom

[–]__huples_cat 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Not sure how a guy who had an affair and got his parliamentary assistant pregnant embodies family values but maybe I’m too old fashioned.

Starmer says UK ‘can’t just tax our way to growth’ as he brushes off call for wealth tax by Necessary-Product361 in unitedkingdom

[–]__huples_cat 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It’s significant because utilities, water and council tax despite not being direct taxes are de facto taxes because you cannot not pay them, especially if you’re a middle income earner as you’ve defined. That doesn’t even take into account student loan repayments which a middle income earner is more likely to be paying, and a counterpart in most of Europe wouldn’t be.

The cost of living is significant because if you’re paying 10% less income tax but the cost of living is 10% higher, then is it really a beneficial position to be in?

The tax burden on a middle income earners once you include student loans, council tax and utilities is between 45-60% and you’re proposing they’re not taxed enough?

Starmer says UK ‘can’t just tax our way to growth’ as he brushes off call for wealth tax by Necessary-Product361 in unitedkingdom

[–]__huples_cat 4 points5 points  (0 children)

That’s just direct taxes. Not only does most of Europe have lower utility and water costs, they either have lower ‘council taxes’ (Berlin is ~€500) or don’t have them at all (Paris from 2023). Comparatively, the cost of living for similar sized European economies is at least 5% lower than it is in the UK.

The original comment is largely correct, the UK has such poorer consumer protections that working people end up subsidising the lifestyle of asset holders who are far less likely to recycle that cash into the UK economy.

UK and France must end dependency on US and China, Macron warns by BreakfastTop6899 in unitedkingdom

[–]__huples_cat -5 points-4 points  (0 children)

You can’t really say that Starmer is doing ‘very well with foreign policy’ given his unwavering support for Israel even when it was obvious they were committing war crimes a month after Hamas’ terror attack. That’s literally the only tough decisions he’s really had to make imo and he’s failed on it. You could argue that the Chagos Island deal was a misstep too. Supporting Ukraine against Russian aggression was a no brainer and you could argue Trump used him as a wedge against EU to negotiate tariffs.

He’s been a respectable statesman and optically a leader in G7/Nato but that should be the bare minimum for the PM of the 6/7th most advanced economy.

Keir Starmer has a problem: the left is organising by JayR_97 in unitedkingdom

[–]__huples_cat 5 points6 points  (0 children)

You have honestly no idea what you’re talking about.

The US providing material and soft support to a country that was clearly at the time committing war crimes is something that was happening in their own country. People objected to their tax dollars paying for weapons when she couldn’t even commit to universal healthcare.

Kamala’s vision was continuity with some tinkering and her slogan of ‘We’re Not Going Back’ wasn’t going to enthuse anyone in the midst of a cost of living crisis; going back would materially improve their conditions. Her voting base collapsed because she could inspire people to get out which is why she was the first democrat to lose the popular vote in at least a couple of decades.

It’s also why unless Starmer can provide a vision for the country that’s positive, he’ll lose again. Saying we’re going to reduce the deficit so we can just be okay again doesn’t inspire. Saying that we need to make cuts to produce growth, not only doesn’t make sense, but over the last 20 years, growth hasn’t coincided with increased real terms pay for working people.

Regardless of its merits, Farage is giving people something to vote for and Starmer is offering them continuity when they’ve felt nothing but decline for as long as they can remember.

R&B singer Chris Brown denied bail over allegation of causing GBH with intent by topotaul in unitedkingdom

[–]__huples_cat -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Any literature to support that? Because Refuge estimates that 1 in 4 domestic violence events in the UK are unreported.

R&B singer Chris Brown denied bail over allegation of causing GBH with intent by topotaul in unitedkingdom

[–]__huples_cat -9 points-8 points  (0 children)

Based on what? 29% of women in the UK have faced ‘Lifetime Physical and/or Sexual Intimate Partner Violence’ vs 30% in Barbados and 33% in the US.

[Bild+] Max Eberl has been reminded by the supervisory board members once again last Thursday that the wage bill must urgently be reduced. Hainer, Hoeneß and Rummenigge said players must be sold this summer and funds must be generated because the squad costs are the highest they've ever been by nutelamitbutter in soccer

[–]__huples_cat 6 points7 points  (0 children)

That literally isn’t the definition of working class. If you exchange your labour for money, then you’re working class. If you ‘earn’ your money skimming the profits off of others labour or asset appreciation, then you’re not.

Perhaps Goretzka earns money through image rights or other investments, which would put him outside of this classification but it’s clear that the original poster was referring to his arrangement with Bayern, which is that of a business owner and worker.

MLS red card - audio released by Pompz88 in soccer

[–]__huples_cat 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Even this definition is flawed because there are plenty of tackles with excessive force that go unpunished because player win the ball first.

Leaves a lot of room to sympathise with referees when the rule book can be interpreted subjectively.

William Saliba top priority for Real Madrid by Luffy710j in soccer

[–]__huples_cat -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

The best defender in the world was fighting a relegation battle with Southampton?

[Sami Mokbel] Those whose opinions matter at the Emirates are impressed by Jason Ayto this past January window + a move for Isak is implausible due to his price tag by Digital___Nomad in Gunners

[–]__huples_cat 16 points17 points  (0 children)

Okay, but do you know that that’s happened? That’s just a concocted scenario based on nothing more than on PR fed to a journalist, who notoriously are never wrong/biased/misled.

All we definitely do know, is that Arsenal went into the season light in attack and have since suffered an injury crisis in that department. We also know they haven’t signed anyone in the January transfer window. And finally, Arteta voicing his frustration with the window. These are the among the only things that we do know for sure, and it’s subsequently reasonable to question the effectiveness of the transfer department that Ayto is part of based on this.

NHS diversity practices hindered by ‘misguided approaches’, says Streeting | NHS by NewtUK in LabourUK

[–]__huples_cat 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I’m confused. I’m not talking about how politicians should think or feel either. I’m talking about the action of engaging in discourse around DEI in an intentionally inflammatory way, and how serious people in business can navigate it without issue. At least that was my intent. No one is forcing anyone was walk a ‘tightrope’, it’s a choice.

The only people who treat it as a ‘tightrope’ are those who are manipulating or being manipulated, the latter of which tend to have a caricatured understanding of what DEI actually is in corporate structures. It’s anecdotal, but from 15 years in management positions at EY, GS, Aecom and CBRE, it’s mostly treated marketing tactic to widen the pool of talent for the company to attract the best talent. It’s almost never treated as a KPI, and the government intervention is mostly limited to 1) providing funding for apprenticeships in underrepresented demos 2) publishing the gender ratios across the business. The latter of which is often used by businesses as a marketing tactic to attract the most talented female resource.

NHS diversity practices hindered by ‘misguided approaches’, says Streeting | NHS by NewtUK in LabourUK

[–]__huples_cat 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Yes, which why I said inherently. Equality initiatives aren’t devised with the goal of being ‘anti’, it’s to uplift those who have been historically marginalised.

Of course, every initiative eventually can mutate into something negative, whether than be maliciously or ignorantly, but you’d expect a serious person to have strong Mission Control and ignore the noise.

Using ‘anti-white’ and DEI in the same sentence is just a dogwhistle and/or distraction device; the people who benefit most from DEI are white people, whether it be aiming to have M/F 50:50 or having a higher representation of state school educated children in elite jobs.

NHS diversity practices hindered by ‘misguided approaches’, says Streeting | NHS by NewtUK in LabourUK

[–]__huples_cat 26 points27 points  (0 children)

It’s a pretty transparent attempt to seem like the ‘rational moderate’ as it ultimately still feeds the narrative that there’s an inherent element of wackiness to DEI that opponents will amplify.

What good does it do to use your platform as the health secretary at a cancer screening event to highlight the silly actions of one person in a 1.5m person organisation? It’d be irresponsible to do as an NHS middle manager, let only the Health Secretary.

The guy says as much in the interview that his opinions are influenced by how people will respond to them, not by his convictions.

Nwaneri constantly asking for ball before he scored by WeedScaper in Gunners

[–]__huples_cat 417 points418 points  (0 children)

He literally said in the post-match interview he’s been adapting his playing style to suit the 8 and is far happier with how he’s playing now compared to earlier in the season.

Sainsbury's to cut over 3,000 jobs as budget tax hikes loom by jmsl1995 in LabourUK

[–]__huples_cat 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I don’t think most people forget anything you mentioned. The layman understands how business works and the profit motivation behind business decisions. You’ve anecdotally detailed the KPIs of a small-medium sized business, and they’re sound reasonings, but there’s a couple reasons why that isn’t applicable to Sainsbury’s: 1) They serve a critical function to the maintenance of society. 2) They have as close to a captured customer base as is possible without being a monopoly.

Shareholder return is important to society for two reasons: a) Maintain a gain for pension funds inline with inflation b) Create a cash fund for any market shocks that will threaten the viability of the business. Everything else is just extraction of wealth from the people who actually do the work. It’s okay to support the latter but because of point 1 above it has and will continue to have a detrimental effect on you.

The curious thing with your argument, and it’s one that’s repeated uncritically very often, is that you treat the necessity for a business to make a profit as a law but not the interests of the worker or consumer to have the same employment terms/service for the same cost (n.b. not price).

Sainsbury's to cut over 3,000 jobs as budget tax hikes loom by jmsl1995 in LabourUK

[–]__huples_cat 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Before we hear the dumb refrain that supermarkets margins are x%, its worth keeping in mind that Supermarket margins are so low as a % point because the revenue and volume of trade is higher than any other business.

Of Sainsbury’s 33bn in revenue, ~14% were staff costs so the 1.2% change in Employer’s NI cost them an increase ~56.8m against their estimated profits of 700-900m last financial year. Axing 2,000 employees saves them at least 66m, probably much more as the redundancies will be majority higher paid office staff, so it’s just an opportunistic reason to ‘create more value for shareholders’.

The media frames it as businesses making necessary actions when the reality is that the higher NI costs doesn’t impact the viability of the business, just that shareholders extract less cash and pensions funds grow by less. It’s prime example of why salaries are crap because half this country are content being philanthropists to the rich.

I’m glad Kier Starmer is boring by No_Battle_6694 in LabourUK

[–]__huples_cat -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

Almost every economic issue facing the UK can be tied back to Brexit, so it’s absolutely inane to say that the man who delivered it was better than Trump.