I do wish Keir Starmer would stop talking about ‘working people’!

Could always use the term just about managing I suppose…

We have all been working people, many worked very hard to provide for our old age, he is trying to strip this from us, despicable man and party!

Maybe it’s to differentiate between those who do and don’t get freebies.

He and his party saved us from another conservative government

He told Beth Rigby it was someone who, when confronted by a big and unexpected bill, couldn't write a cheque to cover it.
Some impoverished middle-classes couldn't do that, so this argument is a bit unconvincing.
I was struck by his use of the word cheque. I haven't written a cheque in years - it's cards or money transfers. A dated expression. Starmer isn't a money-man I feel.

I can’t remember which gransnet poster first said this but I thank her and I’m nicking it

KEIR STARMER ATE MY HAMPSTER !

Your (Christmas) hamper? Sorry!

Witzend

Is he himself not a ‘working’ person?? Ditto Rachel Reeves, and every Labour MP?
Working people come in all shapes, sizes and income brackets.

If he means the less well off, the struggling, or the generally disadvantaged, why can’t he say so?

Exactly, Witzend. His explanations for his ‘working people’ expression are laughable. I can’t remember the last time I wrote a cheque. The man is totally out of touch.

Patsy70

Witzend

Is he himself not a ‘working’ person?? Ditto Rachel Reeves, and every Labour MP?
Working people come in all shapes, sizes and income brackets.

If he means the less well off, the struggling, or the generally disadvantaged, why can’t he say so?

Exactly, Witzend. His explanations for his ‘working people’ expression are laughable. I can’t remember the last time I wrote a cheque. The man is totally out of touch.

I write cheques all the time. So does my partner.

I wonder if billionaires just sat on their backsides and watched their coffers fill?
Or did they work hard to get where they are now?

Do working people have calloused hands?

We sometimes write a cheque.

Ah, but do you have to go out to earn your living as a working person, (KS definition)?
In that case, what about all these who stay in and work at home?

I think he means people on PAYE, and he feels that they shouldn't shoulder more of the burden of taxation than they already do, and that passive incomes, such as rents, share dividends and so on should be taxed too.

I can't say I disagree.

Rental income is taxed anyway, assuming it takes you over the threshold.
Whether all landlords actually declare their rental income is another matter - having heard about supposedly ‘respectable’ LLs who never have, I strongly suspect that they’re far from a minority.

Patsy70

Witzend

Is he himself not a ‘working’ person?? Ditto Rachel Reeves, and every Labour MP?
Working people come in all shapes, sizes and income brackets.

If he means the less well off, the struggling, or the generally disadvantaged, why can’t he say so?

Exactly, Witzend. His explanations for his ‘working people’ expression are laughable. I can’t remember the last time I wrote a cheque. The man is totally out of touch.

Until very recently I was writing cheques for the frozen-fish man who came to the door. But he was the only one I can recall for ages. Though now I come to think of it, I did write a cheque for our son in law’s Big Birthday last November. I know we could just have made a transfer, but it seemed like more of a proper present when slipped into his birthday card.

What anyone may think he means usually depends on their opinion of Starmer.
What he actually means is unknown to anyone, except mind-readers and they are frequently fraudsters.

From BBC News Website.
Keir Starmer has attempted to define who "working people" are, amid renewed scrutiny of his tax plans ahead of next week's Budget. Labour promised at the general election not to increase taxes on working people - but the party did not define who it had in mind.
The government is looking at increasing tax on asset sales, such as shares and property, freezing income tax thresholds, and changes to inheritance tax. The prime minister insists working people will not be hit by these changes - but he has struggled to define who exactly he is seeking to protect from tax rises.
The Conservatives have accused Labour of "reinventing" what counts as a working person, as the Budget approaches. In an interview the prime minister was asked whether those who work, but get additional income from assets such as shares or property, would count as working people.
He replied that they wouldn't come within my definition - ^but warned against making "assumptions" about what that meant for tax policy.
He said he thought of a working person as someone who “goes out and earns their living, usually paid in a sort of monthly cheque" and who can't "write a cheque to get out of difficulties". Speaking afterwards, his spokesman sought to clarify that those with a "small amount of savings" could still be defined as working people.This could include cash savings, or stocks and shares in a tax-free Individual Savings Accounts (ISA), he suggested.
My interpretation of this is that working people who have additional income from assets such as shares and property would not be classed as working people. Why not? They work and earn money, therefore they are working people who invest their money rather than spend it. Is this to be penalised?

I'm quite happy if he finds another term, what do people suggest? Or maybe it's a case of different terms? What would GN's suggest?

People with additional income don’t spend on what ?

Iam64

I can’t remember which gransnet poster first said this but I thank her and I’m nicking it

KEIR STARMER ATE MY HAMPSTER !

That was me!!

I was just being very silly, but enjoyed myself!

Doodledog

I think he means people on PAYE, and he feels that they shouldn't shoulder more of the burden of taxation than they already do, and that passive incomes, such as rents, share dividends and so on should be taxed too.

I can't say I disagree.

I don’t disagree either.

Nor me.

I disagree.
People who save money that has been earned, and taxed,should be allowed to invest it if they wish, and not be taxed again.

Surely it's pretty obvious who he is referring to?
Go out, stay in, whatever. Working!

I don't work ☹