UK General Election 2024 (or 25)

[Derek27]

WTF is our tee-totalling PM doing at a beer festival on the day he's putting up alcohol prices?

I'm totally confused by what's happening. I was reading that wine and spirits will go up but beer will come down (https://www.theguardian.com/business/20 ... ing-duties). Seems logical that if they are taxing alcohol then the tax should be a function of the alcohol content.

They're basing duty on alcohol by volume. Beer is going up but not in pubs.

[Derek27]

A man's been found guilty of shoulder-barging Matt Handoncock!

If I was in his shoes I'd ask the judge to take mitigating circumstances into consideration; it was Matt Handoncock.

[greenmark]

A man's been found guilty of shoulder-barging Matt Handoncock!

If I was in his shoes I'd ask the judge to take mitigating circumstances into consideration; it was Matt Handoncock.

I guess you're being deliberately, amusingly provocative.
But without belief in the justice system we're properly foobared.
I have avoided the rhyme and verse of Hancock, but when you're up before the court justice should prevail. Someone's dodgy repute doesn't really come into it, does it?

[firlandsfarm]

WTF is our tee-totalling PM doing at a beer festival on the day he's putting up alcohol prices?

I'm totally confused by what's happening. I was reading that wine and spirits will go up but beer will come down (https://www.theguardian.com/business/20 ... ing-duties). Seems logical that if they are taxing alcohol then the tax should be a function of the alcohol content.

They're basing duty on alcohol by volume. Beer is going up but not in pubs.

Yes I said that seems logical and because of that beer duty is going down by (up to) 11p per pint. The article in the Guardian states "The duty paid on draught drinks in pubs will be up to 11p lower than what drinkers can expect to pay at the shops". Every other source I've read or heard today confirms beer duty is going down. Many media outlets have run leads that the duty may be going down but the price will probably not and as usual they are blaming the Government for misleading the public. It's not the Government's fault if brewers and/or retailers are keeping the 11p and not passing it on but hey, since when did the truth stop the Government from being criticised. The media have done such a good job that Sunak was jeered at a beer festival ... the duty on beer is going down, numskulls!

[Derek27]

I'm totally confused by what's happening. I was reading that wine and spirits will go up but beer will come down (https://www.theguardian.com/business/20 ... ing-duties). Seems logical that if they are taxing alcohol then the tax should be a function of the alcohol content.

They're basing duty on alcohol by volume. Beer is going up but not in pubs.

Yes I said that seems logical and because of that beer duty is going down by (up to) 11p per pint. The article in the Guardian states "The duty paid on draught drinks in pubs will be up to 11p lower than what drinkers can expect to pay at the shops". Every other source I've read or heard today confirms beer duty is going down. Many media outlets have run leads that the duty may be going down but the price will probably not and as usual they are blaming the Government for misleading the public. It's not the Government's fault if brewers and/or retailers are keeping the 11p and not passing it on but hey, since when did the truth stop the Government from being criticised. The media have done such a good job that Sunak was jeered at a beer festival ... the duty on beer is going down, numskulls!

I guess nobody cares much about duty, just the overall price. I've never seen a news article or report that actually spells it out.

Duty on a 4.5% beer will increase by 4p in shops but stay the same for draught pints in pubs, as the government attempts to shield the hospitality sector from price rises.

Is that per can/pint/litre? What's even more vomit-inducing is their well worn out excuse that they're putting it up to curb problem drinking. Can't imagine a down-and-out whose only pleasure is alcohol being put off a can of beer because it's gone up four pence!

[firlandsfarm]

Duty on a 4.5% beer will increase by 4p in shops but stay the same for draught pints in pubs, as the government attempts to shield the hospitality sector from price rises.

What a surprise, no source quoted. Of everything I have read and heard today not one source said the duty on a pint of beer would stay the same.

[Derek27]

Duty on a 4.5% beer will increase by 4p in shops but stay the same for draught pints in pubs, as the government attempts to shield the hospitality sector from price rises.

What a surprise, no source quoted. Of everything I have read and heard today not one source said the duty on a pint of beer would stay the same.

I got that from the link you posted.

[firlandsfarm]

I got that from the link you posted.

but still no source quoted!

[Emmson]

On the day budget retailer Wilko calls in administrators putting at risk 12,000 jobs we also see interest rates rise again alongside forecasts that the economy will flatline until 2026.

I'm ashamed and maddened at the state this country is in.

[greenmark]

On the day budget retailer Wilko calls in administrators putting at risk 12,000 jobs we also see interest rates rise again alongside forecasts that the economy will flatline until 2026.

I'm ashamed and maddened at the state this country is in.

2016 could well be a year that goes down in history as the year we saw the UK economy go into stasis. As opposed to exploiting our new EU-free freedom we're still waiting for those promised benefits. Still waiting to see immigration reduced (not that i did, but a lot that voted for the "B-word" certainly did).
How long do we have to wait to see this "freedom" crystalise into deals and improving GDP. I certainly don't know the answer to that, but if anyone can point to positive economic development in the UK I'm all ears.
The latest balls-up is HS2 being deemed to be 'unachievable' by the infrastructure watchdog.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-66352286
No doubt if Truss was still PM (shudder at the thought) she would label the watchdog as leftwing.
Ok, I'll shut up now.

[Michael5482]

Sunak is getting hammered in the local papers and news. His constituency in Richmond in North Yorkshire 20 mins from me has seen 4 prominent family run businesses close recently.

Never mind win an election he'll struggle to keep his seat. The natives are not happy at all.

[Archery1969]

On the day budget retailer Wilko calls in administrators putting at risk 12,000 jobs we also see interest rates rise again alongside forecasts that the economy will flatline until 2026.

I'm ashamed and maddened at the state this country is in.

2016 could well be a year that goes down in history as the year we saw the UK economy go into stasis. As opposed to exploiting our new EU-free freedom we're still waiting for those promised benefits. Still waiting to see immigration reduced (not that i did, but a lot that voted for the "B-word" certainly did).
How long do we have to wait to see this "freedom" crystalise into deals and improving GDP. I certainly don't know the answer to that, but if anyone can point to positive economic development in the UK I'm all ears.
The latest balls-up is HS2 being deemed to be 'unachievable' by the infrastructure watchdog.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-66352286
No doubt if Truss was still PM (shudder at the thought) she would label the watchdog as leftwing.
Ok, I'll shut up now.

The economy will not recover to anything meaningful until 2030. Before then money is going to be very tight at a national level.

Labour will probably only be given 1 parliament to fix everything. That won’t be achievable to any degree and will probably find themselves out soon after.

Governments don’t tend to think long term, if they did, then the country wouldn’t be in this cycle mess which has been going on since the 1970s.

Yes, there was a bubble in the 1990s but it’s since burst, wages have not kept up.

Allot of people are working from home. That has a crippling effect on the high street. Before the pandemic, your in the office, going for a lunch time walk, buy lunch and/or clothes, new phone, watch or whatever. That’s gone now. No wonder shops are closing.

You can see the effect big time in Brighton. Shop and office space to rent everywhere.

Between now and 2030 I expect it to get worse.

What’s the answer, no idea but when you find out then also let me know the lottery numbers.

[Archery1969]

It's mainly the Bank of England's job to get inflation down, says Paul Johnson, director of the politically independent economics think tank Institute for Fiscal Studies.

But he says politicians can make it worse and they must think about how to boost the economy in the future.

He tells BBC Radio 4's World at One that neither Labour or the Tories have produced detailed plans about what they would do after the next election, but both will face spending restraints.

Both are struggling to lay out "clearly and honestly" how they will tackle big problems facing the country, he says, such as how to overhaul planning in order to boost house-building and develop green infrastructure.

What he said.

[Derek27]

[ So anyone who is 100% certain that the buffoon's a liar is a bigot? That's probably half the nation. Bigotry is feeling that others are not entitled to an opinion, not merely disagreeing with it. And just like the post I quoted I actually gave you a factual account of how we know he's a lying bum, which is more than you can ever do.

You need to drop the idea that anyone who dislikes Johnson, Trump, etc. must be bias. The clue lies in actually giving reasons for why you dislike them, if it's not obvious.

You have got some cheek calling me biased when it's actually you that's biased. The simple test is, I give reasons why the buffoon's a lying git and the evidence is overwhelming whereas all you can to is shout biased LL but have no defence to what I've said.

There you go again, trying to win an argument by claiming I have said things I haven't but never mind I'm used to that where you are concerned. I didn't say "everybody" or "anybody" I said you, you and you. It's not just the one comment it's the avalanche in your case that collectively bring you into the definition of bigot I gave. For example, the Oxford Dictionary gives a definition of evidence as "the available body of facts or information indicating whether a belief or proposition is true or valid". Now it is the word 'facts' that is most relevant I just see unsubstantiated claims of what may have been the case or may have been said. "May's" are not factual. (BTW appearing in the media is not valid substantiation by itself.)

And please don't go on about the Committee again, a committee where the person leading it declared in advance that she thought he was guilty! Tell me if you would be happy if you were to appear in court for trial and before the trial starts the judge says "we all know Dereck is guilty but procedure demands we give him a trial".

I could swear I gave you a Merriam-Webster definition of bigot (just checked, yes I did) but I forgot, you are always right so I'm sure your definition is much more accurate than their's. Why don't you write to them and tell them they are wrong.

Oh and finally just about everything you say on these political threads is completely biased in my opinion which is a shame really because most of your other posts are informative or amusing.

If you call me biased but don't all others biased for expressing exactly the same views with exactly the same reasoning, that just proves you're biased.

It's all well and good reading a definition of bigot, now you need to understand the definition.

Anyone with a brain will tell you, you cannot spend weeks telling people to keep their distance, then attend a crowded party and not know you're breaking the rules. You can't tell people not to have unnecessary gatherings, hold a leaving do and claim that's necessary. That's called making up the rules as you go along and breaking the old ones. To say you haven't broken the rules because you changed them is lying, plain and simple. Anyone can see that even if you can't.

What about all of us that tell people with absolute certainty not to chase losses. Are we all bigots?

[Derek27]

Greenpeace did a protest at Sunak's private home and Sky presenter of the Press Preview credited JSO for it.

When I saw how well planned and organised that stunt was, I knew JSO nutters weren't capable of it.