Posts
The Government has openly demonstrated that we are definitely "not all in this together" again today, as it delivered a "budget for multi-millionaires" ... 'cloaked' with a great deal of spin.
First of all the Government coalition, mostly made up of multi-millionaires (e.g. Osborne, Cameron and Clegg), are taking more money away from the elderly, hard-working and poor (by removing more of their tax related benefits/allowances) ... and giving it to the rich (i.e. by cutting the 50% top rate of tax for incomes over £150,000).
In trying to justify removing the 50% rate, the Government used the argument that rich people, prior to its initial introduction (2009-10), had 'moved' a total of £16-18bn of their income into a previous tax year to avoid paying the increased rate. However this is effectively little more than spin, as this was a one-off opportunity for them to be able to avoid the tax increase (and one they couldn't use again). Worse still, the rich will be able to effectively defer pay into the future in order to avoid the 50% tax rate again now too ... what spin and hypocrisy, and what a failure of opposition/media if they fail to properly point this out (nb Ed Balls has attempted to do this today, but he's unfortunately 'damaged goods' and his attempt was also poor)!
The second argument the Government used was they that are balancing this tax cut by imposing increased stamp duty on the purchase of expensive properties ... but for rich people not looking to buy lots of expensive properties (e.g. Osborne, Cameron and Clegg!) this is great ... as they will not be subjected to this tax at all and will therefore be the big winners - receiving a massive windfall/tax cut (worth £3bn annually).
Not surprisingly absolutely nothing is being done to introduce a tax on land (i.e. a Land Value Tax - a yearly rent on land - not a one off sale tax on property), which is by far the best way of taxing wealth/ unearned income (as by design the ultra-rich cannot avoid it) and a way of progressively moving away from taxing work/jobs. Failure to do this will mean people continue to see effective cuts to pay/allowances, the slashing of public services, and debt slavery for the vast majority (e.g. due to the high costs of housing and the introduction of tuition fees).
And what about the poor? ... well any benefits/support are being slashed ... and people are being driven to work for large private corporations for no extra pay (or lose their benefits) ... which effectively means they are being made to work for £1.50/hour - a small fraction (less than a quarter) of the national minimum wage (which should effectively be illegal)!
And for the poor it's wage slavery, and if they (and/or indeed the 'middle-class') choose to protest ... well, as raised in previous posts, this Government is looking to arm the police with tear gas, water cannons and tasers, in readiness for potential riots (i.e. turning the police into a para-military force in order to protect themselves, and their rich friends)!
What an unfair, undemocratic, and immoral place the UK is turning into ...
NB Given the lack of democracy, and the level of dictatorship, shown by the Government ... with their pushing through of damaging NHS reforms, with no electoral mandate and despite outright opposition from every professional group, ... doctors are now saying that they are going to stand for election against these immoral hypocritical politicians, due to an absence of any real alternative for people to vote for ...
