Reforms response to Rachel Reeves’ heckler.

MartavTaurus

It won't help the van driver who hackled if he's self employed though, will it?
So it won't help everyone.
Also I can't see anyone being "better off" because the actual cost of driving the vehicle has gone up drastically.

Yes, it will because he can set against tax. Not only that, but fuel tax is being frozen.

Every little helps!

Primrose53

What a lot of fuss about nothing! Politicians are heckled all the time, just as Reform’s Lee Anderson was recently by a teacher at a petrol station.

He took it calmly and wished her a good day despite her being very nasty to him and calling him a racist.
youtu.be/FWNEb31ykYo?si=sa7ummDsGQ_lHimi

Ah! But do politicians from all parties encourage their supporters to heckle others? That's what this thread is about.

nanna8

Sadly it seems most politicians have to put up with things like that in the UK. From all different parties. Some of them even get things thrown at them.

No, nanna, they don't. Reform has taken it to new levels.

Unfortunately, even their supporters condone it and make excuses for them.

I haven’t yet found more evidence of politicians encouraging their supporters to heckle others, but interestingly, one Labour PM condoned the violent response to heckling by one of his MP’s. I believe the PM’s excuse for the violence was
‘Well, John is John.’

With Jo Cox not long gone & another it was in really bad taste. It is just what I expected from Reform who see this as 'tough' and their MP's appearing to stick up for the ordinary folk whilst actually planning to reduce workers rights and bring in an insurance based health service.

Mollygo

I haven’t yet found more evidence of politicians encouraging their supporters to heckle others, but interestingly, one Labour PM condoned the violent response to heckling by one of his MP’s. I believe the PM’s excuse for the violence was
^‘Well, John is John.’^

Yes, I think somebody gave that example before, but it's the only one I know. Three Reform politicians congratulated the van driver for heckling Reeves and wrote encouraging words. Given what happened to Jo Cox and David Amess, they should no better.

...they should know better ...

spabbygirl

With Jo Cox not long gone & another it was in really bad taste. It is just what I expected from Reform who see this as 'tough' and their MP's appearing to stick up for the ordinary folk whilst actually planning to reduce workers rights and bring in an insurance based health service.

Anybody who thinks Reform sticks up for the "ordinary folk" seriously needs to give their head a wobble. All they would do is replace one group of "elite" with another group of "elite".

twaddle

Graphite

She was working. She was in Leeds (her constituency is Leeds West) talking about the extension of the fuel duty freeze.

A better retort to van man would be have been:

^I’m announcing a policy extension which means your business expenses won’t be going up, necessary because Farage's hero Trump started an illegal war on Iran sending the price of fuel rocketing.^

She could also have mentioned that she is increasing the mileage rates for cars and vans to 55p per mile for the first 10,000 miles of the tax year.

That van driver could end up a few hundred pounds a year better off, but he still heckles Reeves. He's not only rude, but maybe not that bright - but still three prominent Reform politicians support him! What a * world!

Job done yet again by Reform. No headline news about van drivers being better off and, even though the news about them was negative it has meant that another good policy by the government is being overshadowed by it. All publicity when it comes to Reform being good publicity.

twaddle

MartavTaurus

It won't help the van driver who hackled if he's self employed though, will it?
So it won't help everyone.
Also I can't see anyone being "better off" because the actual cost of driving the vehicle has gone up drastically.

Yes, it will because he can set against tax. Not only that, but fuel tax is being frozen.

Every little helps!

But the 55p is completely irrelevant for the self employed man who has always been able to claim all the vehicle costs against his business.
The 55p is specifically in respect of employees claiming from their employer.
The fuel tax may have been frozen, but at £1.65 per litre, that's an increase of 25p a litre in only 6 months, if my Maths is right.
Big deal! We're still significantly worse off, but perhaps not as worse off as we might have been, thanks to Rachel's gesture politics!

Yes but she was on tv and it did show lack of manners heckling her, it wasn’t the time or the place.

MartavTaurus

twaddle

MartavTaurus

It won't help the van driver who hackled if he's self employed though, will it?
So it won't help everyone.
Also I can't see anyone being "better off" because the actual cost of driving the vehicle has gone up drastically.

Yes, it will because he can set against tax. Not only that, but fuel tax is being frozen.

Every little helps!

But the 55p is completely irrelevant for the self employed man who has always been able to claim all the vehicle costs against his business.
The 55p is specifically in respect of employees claiming from their employer.
The fuel tax may have been frozen, but at £1.65 per litre, that's an increase of 25p a litre in only 6 months, if my Maths is right.
Big deal! We're still significantly worse off, but perhaps not as worse off as we might have been, thanks to Rachel's gesture politics!

Our diesel costs have soared since Trumps Iran project.

Every delivery we carry out costs more, eating into our profit margins.

Every item delivered to our warehouse costs us more, once again eating into our profit margins.

Rachel Reeves freezing the tax on fuel is too little too late for some.

What else would you have wanted her to do?

twaddle

What else would you have wanted her to do?

For a start, she should have stopped the profiteering which began the minute after the first explosion.

Petrol and particularly diesel went up whilst garages were selling what they had in their tanks and bunker storage facilities. All purchased before the war

She has done zilch for business, oh no that isn’t strictly true, she has increased our costs since day one.

So, oil prices nothing to do with Trump's illegal war?

Maremia

So, oil prices nothing to do with Trump's illegal war?

Absolutely yes.

I have a proverbial bee in my bonnet regarding upping the prices to end users on fuel they had previously purchased at the old price, before the war.

Sorry that wasn’t clear

Petrol station purchases fuel for £1.25 per litre, sells at £1.35 - the minute the first bombs were dropped, they upped the price on exactly the same fuel to £1.45.

I hope that is clearer.

MartavTaurus

twaddle

MartavTaurus

It won't help the van driver who hackled if he's self employed though, will it?
So it won't help everyone.
Also I can't see anyone being "better off" because the actual cost of driving the vehicle has gone up drastically.

Yes, it will because he can set against tax. Not only that, but fuel tax is being frozen.

Every little helps!

But the 55p is completely irrelevant for the self employed man who has always been able to claim all the vehicle costs against his business.
The 55p is specifically in respect of employees claiming from their employer.
The fuel tax may have been frozen, but at £1.65 per litre, that's an increase of 25p a litre in only 6 months, if my Maths is right.
Big deal! We're still significantly worse off, but perhaps not as worse off as we might have been, thanks to Rachel's gesture politics!

No, it isn't. I assume you include self-employed women, of whom I was one for a couple of years. No, you couldn't claim all vehicle costs against the business. As a self-employed person, I could claim 45p per mile for business usage. If I were still self-employed, I could now claim 55p. No, the 55p isn't specifically in respect of employees claiming from their employer; it's also for self-employed.

www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2026/05/mileage-allowance-increase-chancellor-martin-lewis/

For people such as care-workers, who make up a significant percentage of low paid workers, this could make a big difference, especially as fuel tax will be frozen. If the low paid workers have children, the announcements about cheaper family days out and children's restaurant meals will also make a difference. Maybe you're not somebody for whom a £5 saving here and there makes a difference, but there are plenty of people for whom it does.

PS. It's weird that people made such a fuss when winter fuel allowance was scrapped for anybody not on Pension Credit, but when the Chancellor tries to give a small amount of money to a different group of people, all the moaners come out of the woodwork. Anybody would think people are out to get her!

GrannyGravy13

Maremia

So, oil prices nothing to do with Trump's illegal war?

Absolutely yes.

I have a proverbial bee in my bonnet regarding upping the prices to end users on fuel they had previously purchased at the old price, before the war.

You're quite justified in having a bee in your bonnet - hope you bought some shares in one of the oil companies!

I thought someone threw an egg at John P and he punched out at them?

I suggest you consult an accountant Twaddle.
Your driving round to do tuition in your personal car is NOT the same as a tradesman/woman like my sil, using his van for the sole purpose of his/her business.

MartavTaurus

I suggest you consult an accountant Twaddle.
Your driving round to do tuition in your personal car is NOT the same as a tradesman/woman like my sil, using his van for the sole purpose of his/her business.

You are correct.

Just what can be expected from that band of nasties.

I understand your grievance over that GG13, but to be fair, it was an issue that the previous government also failed to tackle.
Labour is trying to help.