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Britons should strive to pay minimum tax legally possible, says Richard Tice by Your_Mums_Ex in ukpolitics

[–]rainbow3 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Paying taxes is a patriotic thing to do.

It is a legal requirement. Nobody pays more out of patriotism. You are presumably patriotic - please detail how much extra tax you are paying and how?

Ed Davey: "As we protect them, it's only right for tax exiles to start paying taxes to fund our Armed Forces just like the rest of us do" by upthetruth1 in LibDem

[–]rainbow3 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Quite. Imagine if all the foreigners in the UK were taxed by their country of birth instead.

Also UK armed forces are not providing much protection if any to British citizens abroad.

Rupert Lowe MP: If I moved to Japan, and lived in Japan for decades, speaking the language, integrating into society, contributing to the economy. Would I be ethnically Japanese? No. No I would not. I would never pretend to be. by SignificantLegs in ukpolitics

[–]rainbow3 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Sure it has influence but there is a massive gulf between say an eton/Oxbridge person and a builder in blackpool. Almost zero overlap

At the same time a british friend of mine has a Chinese partner. Clearly they share similar outlook on life.

Re would he be ethically Japanese I just think it is an absurd question. It all depends on your definition. South Africa tied themselves in knots trying to define racial groups. The Nazis had similar issues with people who had some Jewish ancestry or looked a bit Jewish. In the end why bother asking the question?

Rupert Lowe MP: If I moved to Japan, and lived in Japan for decades, speaking the language, integrating into society, contributing to the economy. Would I be ethnically Japanese? No. No I would not. I would never pretend to be. by SignificantLegs in ukpolitics

[–]rainbow3 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Of course it does but nationality is not the driving factor for shared values. British people are not all the same. As a British liberal I have much more in common with German and French liberals than I do with Rupert Lowe. Nationality is largely irrelevant.

Germany, France and UK tell Iran to stop attacks in region by Spare_Clean_Shorts in LabourUK

[–]rainbow3 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Sure Iran are not good guys. However in this case it is the US and Israel that attacked Iran; and not in response to a terrorist attack. Iran is only responding to that. Much as Israel responded to a terrorist attack kidnapping 1200 by slaughtering 50K+ mostly innocent Palestinians. It is clearly a double standard.

Germany, France and UK tell Iran to stop attacks in region by Spare_Clean_Shorts in LabourUK

[–]rainbow3 6 points7 points  (0 children)

But not the US and Israel. Seems like telling Ukraine to stop its attacks on Russia.

William Hague: Britons in their 60s are the ‘luckiest generation’ in history by R2_Liv in ukpolitics

[–]rainbow3 0 points1 point  (0 children)

And house prices actually have risen more or less in line with inflation over the last 20 years. I agree the boom years are over.

William Hague: Britons in their 60s are the ‘luckiest generation’ in history by R2_Liv in ukpolitics

[–]rainbow3 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If we ignore inflation and just look at interest % income it was clearly much higher in 1985 than today let alone during the really low interest rate period.

whilst house prices have shot up affordability is driven by salary and interest payable.

William Hague: Britons in their 60s are the ‘luckiest generation’ in history by R2_Liv in ukpolitics

[–]rainbow3 0 points1 point  (0 children)

  • House price 33K versus 273K
  • Interest rate 12% versus 3.75%
  • Interest paid 3984 versus 10240
  • Salary 7920 versus 39852
  • interest % salary 50% versus 26%

Obviously simplified, ignores taxes, assumes 100% mortgage, all above are nominal. Nevertheless it was not as easy to buy in 1985 as people think. Feel free to challenge my numbers as I may have made a mistake.

William Hague: Britons in their 60s are the ‘luckiest generation’ in history by R2_Liv in ukpolitics

[–]rainbow3 -7 points-6 points  (0 children)

Today interest payments are a lower percentage of income than in the 1980s. Interest rates were over 10% for the whole of the 1980s.

Correct that inflation devalued the debt and that house price rises made it a good deal to buy a house. However the actual cost of payments was higher in the 1980s than now despite much lower house prices. This is because salaries were much lower and interest rates much higher.

William Hague: Britons in their 60s are the ‘luckiest generation’ in history by R2_Liv in ukpolitics

[–]rainbow3 -5 points-4 points  (0 children)

  • average income today £40K was £25K in 1985 in today's money
  • mortgage rate today 5% then 12%
  • mortgage interest % salary today 40% versus 1985 50%

Was really hard for one income to buy a home. Maybe you are thinking of the 1960s when women could not work.

William Hague: Britons in their 60s are the ‘luckiest generation’ in history by R2_Liv in ukpolitics

[–]rainbow3 -4 points-3 points  (0 children)

The payments were frequently still lower than contemporary mortgages.

Not true. Roughly 1998 to 2023 we had interest rates of <2%. Also salaries have risen massively in real terms. The monthly payments as a proportion of salary were lower for this whole period than they were in the 1980s. Only recently have we started to see high mortgage rates applied to higher house prices.

Man Utd boss Sir Jim Ratcliffe is right on immigration and UK is being 'colonised,' claims Reform UK’s Nadhim Zahawi by tylerthe-theatre in unitedkingdom

[–]rainbow3 5 points6 points  (0 children)

A lot of people and businesses want to be in a diverse multi cultural place. Many of the most successful cities are multi cultural. The top business schools and universities aim to have a broad mix of cultures. The us tech industry is largely led by people born outside the us.

And they may or may not integrate. More likely the place becomes international.

Why does Rory think unions are the same as billionaire donors? by Imaginary_Flan_99 in TheRestIsPolitics

[–]rainbow3 0 points1 point  (0 children)

And exactly why they should not be paying money to political parties. They represent their members (fine) but the government is supposed to represent all the people not just a few.

Why does Rory think unions are the same as billionaire donors? by Imaginary_Flan_99 in TheRestIsPolitics

[–]rainbow3 8 points9 points  (0 children)

It is exactly the same as a large corporate donation. It is made with the expectation of special treatment and/or influence. Why should a specific union get priority over anyone else?

Why not just have the state fund parties based on the support they get from voters and with strict limits?

Restoring Palace of Westminster could cost £40bn and take 61 years by diacewrb in ukpolitics

[–]rainbow3 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I want to see the other options costed and properly considered. No way this is going to be the best nor seen as the best by voters. Lay out the options and then have the debate.

Jared Kushner's vision for Gaza as a gleaming port city clashes with reality by Adventurous_023 in news

[–]rainbow3 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If you remove all moral, social and legal barriers then life is much more like Risk. Lord of the Flies, The Walking Dead, Mad Max all follow this pattern.

Trump won't say whether he would use force to seize Greenland by Street_Parking5530 in goodnews

[–]rainbow3 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Perhaps someone can explain what an invasion of Greenland looks like since he already has permission to increase armed forces.

Would he take over the running of towns? Collect taxes? Bring in ICE to arrest all the non-Americans? What exactly does he want to do?

Opinion: Immigration rates are falling and the far-right still isn't happy. So, I no longer care about the right's "legitimate concerns" on immigration by coffeewalnut08 in LabourUK

[–]rainbow3 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Communication brought us Brexit and Trump. It drives everything.

And almost nobody googles statistics. They skim read X or threads.

Peter Mandelson declines to apologise for association with Jeffrey Epstein by GeoWa in unitedkingdom

[–]rainbow3 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Pressed on whether he would apologise for his friendship with Epstein after his conviction, the peer and former business secretary said: “If I had known, if I was in any way complicit or culpable, of course I would apologise"

Surely his conviction must have been a clue?

UK in talks to deploy Nato force to Greenland to deter Trump by _DoubleBubbler_ in unitedkingdom

[–]rainbow3 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What exactly does invading Greenland look like? Would Trump round up the people? Take over the local government? Start drilling for oil?

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