So, who votes for a government that improves the lives of Bankers, and ensures the excessive profits of energy companies, but needs all the "levelling up" money to pay for the holes in Brexit?

Germanshepherdsmum

You know which way I vote and will continue to vote. I trust that answers your question.

It doesn't answer my question, GSM, so I hope this post wasn't addressed to me.

My question can be found towards the bottom of page 4.

Sorry GSM, clumsily fingers, did not mean to refer to you as GAM !

Goodness if only we could all be as perfect as GSM, who yet again makes huge assumptions that we all have choices, like herself, to be a highly paid solicitor. I’m so glad I have such a wide range of friendships, some academic, some not, some very talented in other ways, some wealthy, some not. It’s the differences in us all that makes us interesting and no, not everyone has such wide ranging choices as you GAM have assumed. For someone so well educated and well off you do seem to have some very narrow views ?

You know which way I vote and will continue to vote. I trust that answers your question.

Prentice

Ditto ! I’m a very moderate Labourite yet some of my Tory friends (yes I do have some haha) call me a lefty, including my dear departed late mother, who was VERY right wing, my much more left labour friends think I’m a wet haha. Again I have friends from all income brackets, some much wealthier than I, some struggling, most middling much like myself ?

Are you going to answer my simple question, GSM?

JaneJudge

I'm a skilled craftsperson/artist. I wish some money was brought my way. I'm exploited by people

You can only be exploited by people if you allow them to exploit you. Unfortunately the skills you mention don’t tend to be highly rewarded, so it’s a matter of choice isn’t it? Many of us (me included) don’t work at what we enjoy, rather at what best pays the bills.

Or the upper middle class Labour vote.Also a conundrum for all sociologists perhaps. Who say that they love the common man, as long as they don’t have to mix with him.
Seriously though, there are many reasons why people vote in different ways, it is not often the simple caricature portrayed in the media.
I am a Labour voter, but a moderate one, and have been castigated by friends who are either quite far left, or Conservative voting.They are all income wise much the same as me, which is not all that well off, but ok.

It’s known as the working class Tory vote. A conundrum for all sociologists.

I'm a skilled craftsperson/artist. I wish some money was brought my way. I'm exploited by people

@DaisyAnne
Brain washed sheep, who think they are higher up the pay scale than they actually are.
I honestly cannot get my head around that people living in awful poverty, vote to make themselves worse off.

Germanshepherdsmum

Whitewavemark2

Germanshepherdsmum

Whitewavemark2

Interesting to read that you have worked closely with money laundering GSM

Solicitors do. Very closely. And have done so for a long time.

Oh I see. I didn’t realise that you were an anti-money laundering solicitor, I thought your expertise lay elsewhere?

I sometime worked on cases relating to vast quantities of money laundering, for the revenue. I found it fascinating and very challenging getting the evidence together.

My specialism was commercial real estate. Big deals. I'm surprised, given your background, that you don't realise that all solicitors who may receive money from clients have to verify its source - even at the risk of losing the client. Every law firm has to have a money laundering officer amongst its partners, who risks imprisonment if money laundering is found to have taken place on their watch. I have even been obliged to ask an Oxbridge college to verify the source of its money destined for investment in a major redevelopment scheme - that should show you how seriously the profession takes that risk. Naturally, being intelligent people, they understood why questions were asked. I also had a potential client who did not; maybe they featured in your work WWM.

??? another assumption about what a poster does or does not know! I knew you were a solicitor, but simply not what your specialism was. For goodness sake get a grip??.

Yes of course you have to verify source, and are legally obliged to advise the revenue if you suspect laundering, but that is where your involvement ended. Revenue then take up the baton, and that is where the work begins.

But by no means are all these cases reported either by solicitors or banks, either because of conflict of interest, ignorance or laziness.

The amount of property bought this way together with other assets, like art work etc is evidence of this.

I never did get an answer to the question I asked a day or two ago. Which was, where do the commercial companies which receive loans/services from investment banks get the money from with which to pay the interest and fees n these loans and services?

Would our banking expert like to tell me?

GSM

To be completely honest my dear, I’m not insulted because I care very little for your negative opinions of me. Please don waste your very valuable time responding to such a “junior” person as I, I’m clearly not worthy of the effort. Enjoy the rest of your long weekend, I know I will

Whitewavemark2

*I have yet to hear from you or anyone else how the lifting of the cap on bonuses will penalise anybody.*

Then you clearly do not understand the risks.

What risks exactly, given the immense tightening up of regulations including the separation of investment and retail banking?

Whitewavemark2

Germanshepherdsmum

Whitewavemark2

Interesting to read that you have worked closely with money laundering GSM

Solicitors do. Very closely. And have done so for a long time.

Oh I see. I didn’t realise that you were an anti-money laundering solicitor, I thought your expertise lay elsewhere?

I sometime worked on cases relating to vast quantities of money laundering, for the revenue. I found it fascinating and very challenging getting the evidence together.

My specialism was commercial real estate. Big deals. I'm surprised, given your background, that you don't realise that all solicitors who may receive money from clients have to verify its source - even at the risk of losing the client. Every law firm has to have a money laundering officer amongst its partners, who risks imprisonment if money laundering is found to have taken place on their watch. I have even been obliged to ask an Oxbridge college to verify the source of its money destined for investment in a major redevelopment scheme - that should show you how seriously the profession takes that risk. Naturally, being intelligent people, they understood why questions were asked. I also had a potential client who did not; maybe they featured in your work WWM.

I have yet to hear from you or anyone else how the lifting of the cap on bonuses will penalise anybody.

Then you clearly do not understand the risks.

Cossy

Germanshepherdsmum

Clearly not only are you patronising you make huge inaccurate assumptions, clearly not at your level but I worked in the City in both banking and insurance, as does my step-daughter, so actually I do speak from personal experience. I received performance bonuses when the bank made profits of 10% of my annual salary and was very pleased to receive them. However I also lost two of my jobs in the early nineties, along with many others, due to irresponsible boards of directors. I have no issue with wealth, nor hard workers being well rewarded, however it’s all about what’s reasonable and clearly you and I have very different moral compasses and ethos. For me, a cap of twice one’s annual salary for bonuses is more than reasonable and I’m well aware of tax and NI as I was a higher rate tax payer, however it’s how our taxes that are distributed that is part of the issue. I state again this uplift of the bonus cap will benefit no one other the top 5% income earners. Kindly stop with your patronising tone and incorrect assumptions

At the risk of being patronising again, a 10% bonus indicates that you were not working at a senior level. As do your posts. People in quite junior positions in the financial sector pay higher rate tax.

Your assumption as regards my moral compass is insulting, as doubtless you will find my reply.

I have yet to hear from you or anyone else how the lifting of the cap on bonuses will penalise anybody.

Germanshepherdsmum

Whitewavemark2

Interesting to read that you have worked closely with money laundering GSM

Solicitors do. Very closely. And have done so for a long time.

Oh I see. I didn’t realise that you were an anti-money laundering solicitor, I thought your expertise lay elsewhere?

I sometime worked on cases relating to vast quantities of money laundering, for the revenue. I found it fascinating and very challenging getting the evidence together.

Whitewavemark2

The claim that those who criticise the wealth gap in the U.K. are jealous and always blame the rich are echoing the Tories who have always used it as an excuse to avoid introducing greater equity via the tax system.

It is a poor argument and one that simply doesn’t stand up to scrutiny.

Societies who have greater equality, as the U.K. did post-war WW11 are proven to be less divisive, more cohesive and successful.

Exactly! What patronising assumptions! It is because I know so many people in the top echelons of FS, that I know about the loopholes re tax.

I do not mind people earning large sums of money, as long as they pay their dues.

DaisyAnne

It would be good to hear why the only way that seems to be under consideration to "grow the economy" is through paying people more in financial services. I wonder why this would be. It seems a very limited and short-term action and certainly will not help with levelling-up. That money has basically been spent already filling Brexit holes.

We have yet to hear what else will be put forward. Little or nothing has been said or done since the Queen died, for obvious reasons. The Chancellor is due to make a statement after the funeral. Then we will have something else to argue about.

Whitewavemark2

Germanshepherdsmum

All the usual suspects, GG. Those who don’t have it always blame those who do.

My goodness that is a massive assumption. I am sure that some undoubtedly have quite a lot of it, but choose not to broadcast the fact.

it really is an assumption. I don't know when it became such a weird thing to care about other people worse off than you or care about those that a vulnerable

Whitewavemark2

Interesting to read that you have worked closely with money laundering GSM

Solicitors do. Very closely. And have done so for a long time.

Germanshepherdsmum

Clearly not only are you patronising you make huge inaccurate assumptions, clearly not at your level but I worked in the City in both banking and insurance, as does my step-daughter, so actually I do speak from personal experience. I received performance bonuses when the bank made profits of 10% of my annual salary and was very pleased to receive them. However I also lost two of my jobs in the early nineties, along with many others, due to irresponsible boards of directors. I have no issue with wealth, nor hard workers being well rewarded, however it’s all about what’s reasonable and clearly you and I have very different moral compasses and ethos. For me, a cap of twice one’s annual salary for bonuses is more than reasonable and I’m well aware of tax and NI as I was a higher rate tax payer, however it’s how our taxes that are distributed that is part of the issue. I state again this uplift of the bonus cap will benefit no one other the top 5% income earners. Kindly stop with your patronising tone and incorrect assumptions

Whitewavemark2

The claim that those who criticise the wealth gap in the U.K. are jealous and always blame the rich are echoing the Tories who have always used it as an excuse to avoid introducing greater equity via the tax system.

It is a poor argument and one that simply doesn’t stand up to scrutiny.

Societies who have greater equality, as the U.K. did post-war WW11 are proven to be less divisive, more cohesive and successful.

... and grow Whitewave the growth and the changes in society after the war were amazing.