News from the opposition

How much comes from vehicle licensing?
I am told (regularly by DH every time we hit a pothole!) that only a small proportion of this gets spent on the roads.

I agree on the regressive taxes mostly. Also (personal I know) the "top-up tax" on care has been slipped in by councils. I am not even sure if it's legal.

If all taxes were progressive and covered earned and unearned income at the same level we would only need one system to collect them and send the right proportion to government or councils. They would then have money to spend on tax avoidance or evasion to ensure that everyone actually paid progressively.

The level of income that NI starts at is iniquitous as is the age at which it stops and the banding. Changes to that could make things fairer and bring in more tax.

I have heard something like that Jalima. A less complicated and more transparent system would do us the world of good when it comes to taking governments (of all flavours) seriously.

But the Tory mantra is “we will not increase income tax”.
It doesn’t matter that the poor are subsidising the better off.

Vehicle licensing revenue has been falling for years.
Lower taxes levied on diesel cars and smaller engined petrol cars ( to reduce emissions) mean revenue has fallen. Also, since the end of the paper tax disc more people are paying by direct debit apparently so there has been a further slight drop in revenue.

But vehicle licensing is just a tax and it all goes into the pot, it’s no longer designed to be spent on roads.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-36843393

I think that anyone who is paid less than the Living Wage Foundation's living wage should be considered to be poor.
Including these cleaners from the Daily Mail.

www.change.org/p/paul-dacre-living-wage-for-cleaners-at-the-daily-mail

It was a very cynical move by the Tories to start using the term “national living wage” instead of minimum wage effectively undermining the “Living wage” campaign.

But more than three thousand employers have agreed to pay the higher “Living wage”.

Anyone would think the Tories approved of people being in poverty.

I see that UKIP has been ordered to pay £176000 costs over its libel of Labour MPs.

Labour asking those who can to turn up on Saturday to campaign for the May elections.

Interesting reading the promises the government made to the voter and now broken. In fact nothing they promised has yet come about.

Does ukip have £176,000?
They have lost their main banker. They'll be bankrupt.

Yes that is what I think. Are you watching channel 4?

Yes. Worrying that facebook are in there already and the data authorities have to wait until tomorrow.

Are you surprised about this? I am not in the least. Of course people have been doing whatever they could - you only have to look at the Trump campaign.

Facebook have gone into Cambridge Analytica which doesn't seem right.

Ben Bradshaw has tweeted that he has secured a debate on Thursday on how Brexit will impact the NHS

Jeremy Corbyn is inviting members to contribute towards the manifesto and indicate what policies they would like Labour to pursue.

If you are a Labour Party member you will know to go to policyforum to take part in the democratic process.

GG: Facebook have gone into Cambridge Analytica which doesn't seem right.

I think they went because the Govt wasn't able to without a warrant, before CA removed the evidence. Once the Govt said they were applying, FB left.
AFAICS FB gave permission to an 'academic' to access some data, who then got hold of a lot more and sold it to CA. I think FB want to know the exact amount of damage they have been caused.

whitewave: Jeremy Corbyn is inviting members to contribute towards the manifesto and indicate what policies they would like Labour to pursue.

You mean he is really pursuing democracy all the way down to the members? That is not the way to run politics, you must determine how much money you can make from any policy and then tell the people that is what is best for them

Thanks for that update yggdrasil. I heard the bit about the 'permissions' they had given this morning but not about the interaction with FB. That makes much more sense.

Isn't it a bit weird that the govt couldn't get a warrant last night because 'they couldn't find a judge'? Thus allowing CA a nice window in which to do a bit of shredding and wiping (smashing?) of hard drives.

Do judges have some sort of 'Must not be contacted between 5pm and 7am' clause in their contracts? Are their whereabouts completely unknown out of hours? Don't they have a 'night duty' judge to deal with little events like this?

When taken with the persistent rumour that the govt were about to consult (or actually were consulting) CA in tbeir proffessional capacity of influencers of elections and referenda, is the the whiff of rat or fish in the air?

Momentum are tweeting about zero-hours contracts and how it is affecting the young. “Whatever their age educational qualifications and experience, they all deserve a secure job which helps towards a secure home”

maize they are being economical with the truth as usual, there is always a “duty” judge for various authorities to call on.

Perhaps they are hoping* to help their friends by delaying the warrant.

Oh look. Slightly more than a 'rumour' about tories and CA

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4044728/amp/Theresa-wants-use-army-computerised-Trump-mind-readers-help-win-Election.html?__twitter_impression=true

Must be true, it's in the Mail

Watch them back peddle like mad. I wonder if the Tory members on the board will resign?