Everything is going up except our income.

We have Morrisons in our town centre as well as a Tesco but Morrisons fresh fish is cheaper or so I thought so until I went in Tuesday for a piece of fish a large piece I might add, came to £6.15!!!! Couldn't believe it thought it would be a bit dearer but not that much. I have noted some things are a lot dearer then normally. Our council tax is now gone up 4 % last year it went up 1% .

Oh NfkDumpling I have to try and make the brandy and then the jam. Sounds amazing. My family will love it. I wonder if you can do the same with gin. I am always looking for new things to make. Thanks for recipe.

Exactly NfkDumpling .

OMG your Blackberry Brandy sounds soooooo delicious.

My mum used to work for M&S years and years ago and apparently there used to be a lot of squabbling between staff over who could get what. As usual some greedy people took way more than their fair share.

Teddy123 it's great when you get a real bargain isn't it? I love M&S's cheesy boule (loaf) but blimey it's expensive. I Sometimes get their "dine in for £10" when it's available too.

Marydoll I assume your brambles are the same as my blackberries in which case :- try blackberry brandy.

Fill a large jar with blackberries to around two thirds full. Top up with brandy - preferably a middle range one on offer. Leave for 3 or 4 weeks turning the jar upside down and back every few days when you're passing to break down the juices. Decant brandy back into its bottle and maybe add a very little sugar to taste (depending on the blackberrys). THEN make your bramble jam/jelly with the sozzled berries.

I really came on to say that we'd be happy to pay council tax if it was fair. Around here the bands are haywire. Somehow a friend in a large Edwardian house in a posh area is the same band as we were in the nearby surburb in an extended bungalow. The banding needs to be reassessed more fairly, with maybe more bands. It seems that many big houses get off very lightly as there aren't enough bands to cover them

That's good! I thought M&S just in date food was sold to the staff (one of the perks, so someone who worked there told me).

I agree with Jalima I live in Dorset and will be paying £2500 council tax this year. As Jalima says, property rich yet cash poor so for me a council tax based on income would be great. I too don't understand the point Rigby made about better off people benefitting from council tax to the detriment of those who are less well off. I live in a valuable property and if I need social care at some point, the cost will be offset against the eventual sale of my home. Doesn't sound like a great deal to me.

I haven't noticed higher supermarket prices but always take advantage of special offers. I was browsing in M&S food last week, late in the day when the guy was reducing a huge amount of 'reached it's sell by date' food. I now have a freezer full of tasty foods which I usually can't afford. Way to go!

Well you have just caught your self out Norah. Denmark, where Lurpak is made does have very high rates of taxation like most of Scandinavia. It is also regarded as being one of the best places to live in the world and has a very high happiness index rate. I think it is shameful that such a small percentage of people pay a high proportion of income tax, surely this is a very strong indicator of the unfairness of income disparity? Personally, I don't give a fig well, actually I do what people earn are paid, as long as they pay the appropriate amount of tax on it. People like the loathsome Green are not to be admired, even by Norah .

We live in Thanet I pay the same for my tiny one bedroom apartment as my neighbours in a two bedroom two bathroom apartment. I queried this and was told that on our development all apartments one or two bedrooms are taxed at the same rate. How is this fair

Yet Philip Green and others like him are allowed to destroy companies like BHS through greed even though he pays some tax. The people who should be paying the most tax are able to use tax avoidance schemes and pay advisors to minimise tax. During our 25 years of running a small limited company we have had people contact us to minimise tax but we would rather pay what we owe. Small companies are the backbone of this country.
I don't know why council tax doesn't have more bands. Surely if you live in a huge house you should pay more.

I believe we won't agree. I do find paying taxes fair, I do find income fairly taxed. I think the entire taxation scheme is well accomplished. Anyway, thank goodness we don't have higher taxation schemes like some other countries.

You know, the country where the excellent butter is made?

Sticking my fingers in my ears and singing "Ting-a-ling-a-loo"

Yes, Norah in your world it is very fair. I'm leaving it as that.

BUT property tax IS fair. The borough that has higher costs of servcies (more use) has higher taxes. That IS fair.

We wanted devolution. Local services paid for by local taxation, administered by a local council which we could vote in and out. So poorer areas, with more take-up of benefits and services, need to raise more money. Think about it!

We tried a per-person system. Difficult to argur that it wasn't 'fairer' but it was too big a change, we revolted against the Poll Tax and returned to a property rate.

Okay well from your posts I gather (happy to be corrected ) that you are fairly well off Norah. Maybe you live in an "I'm alright Jack" kind of way. I don't know but it's certainly how you come across to me.

Let me just say though. The poorest people in society are often the most generous. Generous with their time, efforts, charity and giving (despite having the least to give). Is it anyone's fault which end of society they were born into?

I would hate to have your way of thinking. I really would. Fairness in a civilized society should be the richer more fortunate people helping the poorer and less fortunate but maybe that's not the way you think at all.

Anyway about council tax etc. I have never called the fire brigade but I pay for it. I have never required the services of a policeman but I pay for them too. Which of us ever know who/what we might need at any time?

This ia a really fair look at well accomplished taxation (well done) and it's fair: "I realise you are talking about local tax, not income tax, but I would reiterate what others have said. Even here those who have larger properties pay swingeingly high rates of council tax and often do not avail themselves of the services. In this country the national and local taxation systems are set up to make those on higher incomes and with greater wealth pay a disproportionately higher amount of the tax take."

What a sensible response J.

"I appreciate that there is more demand on public services in poorer boroughs but how can this be really fair?" Fair for who? Fair for the people who use the services and thus pay more or fair for the people who use private services and still pay (maybe at a slightly lower rate)?

Lilyflower this really is key "On Monday the 'Telegraph' published a financial story outlining how the rich in the 1970's paid 11% of income tax. It is now 24%. I think people get a lot of bang for their buck in this country but are not very grateful for the contributions of others."

Being grateful instead of worked up over nothing does seem a lost art, imo.

Even here those who have larger properties pay swingeingly high rates of council tax and often do not avail themselves of the services

Not entirely true though Lilyflower . My previous example of my borough (poor NE ex-mining community) versus Kensington & Chelsea.

Band A in my borough £1025.44 Band D £1538.16

Band A in K & C £708.01 Band D £1062.02

Added to that the banding calculations are based on prices in 1991 which is so unrealistic in and around London. Whereas (and I am being deadly serious) the house prices in and around my borough have not increased very much at all.

I appreciate that there is more demand on public services in poorer boroughs but how can this be really fair?

From the 'Telegraph' on income tax:-

'The highest paid 3,000 people in the UK pay more income tax than the bottom nine million, according to official Government statistics.
The figures show that the very highest earners - amounting to just under 3,000 people with a declared income above £2.7 million - will contribute 4.2 per cent of the total Government revenue from income tax in the current financial year.
By contrast, Britain’s nine million poorest paid workers contribute less than four per cent of the total income tax receipt.
In all, 29.9 million people pay income tax in the UK. According to the new figures released by HM revenue & Customs (HMRC), almost one-third of income tax payers contribute less to the Exchequer than the top 3,000 earners - equivalent to 0.01 per cent of the total.'

I realise you are talking about local tax, not income tax, but I would reiterate what others have said. Even here those who have larger properties pay swingeingly high rates of council tax and often do not avail themselves of the services.

In this country the national and local taxation systems are set up to make those on higher incomes and with greater wealth pay a disproportionately higher amount of the tax take.

Think about it. If you were a robber would you target a poor person or a rich one? Or as the bank robber said when asked why he robbed banks, 'Because that's where all the money is.'

On Monday the 'Telegraph' published a financial story outlining how the rich in the 1970's paid 11% of income tax. It is now 24%.

I think people get a lot of bang for their buck in this country but are not very grateful for the contributions of others.

Lurpak just tastes a bit different - no, we don't have to import butter, we make tons of it here and we eat all kinds of butter but Lurpak is very nice indeed!
To put it simply, Lurpak® is a pale-coloured lactic butter. The process begins with roughly 20kg of whole milk to make every 1kg of butter. The most valuable and tasty part of the milk – the cream – is carefully “ripened” before being used for the butter making process. Lactic cultures are then added, giving a fresh and slightly aromatic note with the unmistakable creaminess that creates the characteristic Lurpak® flavour. That’s it. Nothing more is added, apart from a pinch of salt to our Slightly Salted varieties.

Constantly read of the triple lock for pensioners as being grossly unfair. Have to say I'm very grateful for it. Hope TM lets it continue. Was recently corrected when referring to my Lurpak tub as butter. Apparently wrong: it's a spread and only the slab is butter. Check it out for yourselves....... Also would thoroughly recommend trying President butter. Flavour first class.

I was thinking the exact same thing gillybob, my rates bill came in 2 days after being told of pension rise, the pension rise doesn't even cover this let alone the price rises in the supermarkets, soon we will have no choice but to pay our bills or eat, won't be able to do both, are they trying to kill us off in a subtle way? we worry about making ends meet, no luxuries which we have worked all our lives to be able to have in retirement, I never go on holiday or days out, never eat out & have my hair cut once a month (even that feels like a luxury now) stress causes a lot of illnesses, so we get ill & die because we can't get seen at the doctors, at ours the normal wait for an appointment is 4 weeks, could be longer, I often think they hope we have got better or died in the meantime, I try to treat myself hoping I will be better & they won't have to see me

Food prices have gone up I think (Tesco shopper mostly)alarming, and not to do with Brexit as we haven't left yet.

We are being conned all of the time, the government collects our taxes for the banks really.

I think the public's understanding of economics is very much out of date, even what people are taught in Uni is out of date.

We need new thinking about what makes everything tick.