Thatcher in hospital for checks

[Peoplesoft bloke]

presumably you are a contractor, so you are therefore a fat cat (ask any socialist)

That's odd - I didn't have you down as a socialist, what with your Thatcher-loving and all :-)
I am indeed a contractor, though.

[Cyberman]

What exactly was wrong with the Poll Tax? I still think it's a pretty darn good idea.

I agree wholeheartedly. It was a fairer system, but those that had to pay it for the first time, generally newcomers to the jobs market living with their parents, saw it as unfair and rebelled and rioted against it. As usual, those that kick up the biggest 'stink' won.

Why should the little old lady with only a small pension to live on, living in a house which her dead husband had grafted to buy for his family have to pay 75% of council tax, when a young earner living with his parents pays nothing at all towards council services? That is an injustice to me, and it was as far as Thatcher was concerned!!

[Diver]

I agree wholeheartedly. It was a fairer system, but those that had to pay it for the first time, generally newcomers to the jobs market living with their parents, saw it as unfair and rebelled and rioted against it. As usual, those that kick up the biggest 'stink' won.

Why should the little old lady with only a small pension to live on, living in a house which her dead husband had grafted to buy for his family have to pay 75% of council tax, when a young earner living with his parents pays nothing at all towards council services? That is an injustice to me, and it was as far as Thatcher was concerned!!

Hear Hear

[EqualOpportunities]

I agree wholeheartedly. It was a fairer system, but those that had to pay it for the first time, generally newcomers to the jobs market living with their parents, saw it as unfair and rebelled and rioted against it. As usual, those that kick up the biggest 'stink' won.

Why should the little old lady with only a small pension to live on, living in a house which her dead husband had grafted to buy for his family have to pay 75% of council tax, when a young earner living with his parents pays nothing at all towards council services? That is an injustice to me, and it was as far as Thatcher was concerned!!

You, sir, have my vote.

[Bagpuss]

I agree wholeheartedly. It was a fairer system, but those that had to pay it for the first time, generally newcomers to the jobs market living with their parents, saw it as unfair and rebelled and rioted against it. As usual, those that kick up the biggest 'stink' won.

Why should the little old lady with only a small pension to live on, living in a house which her dead husband had grafted to buy for his family have to pay 75% of council tax, when a young earner living with his parents pays nothing at all towards council services? That is an injustice to me, and it was as far as Thatcher was concerned!!

Absolute rubbish. many single people were worse off.Most
Married couples were worse off. Many families worse off.
The only significant gainers were those in very large properties, such as Michael Hessletine and his stately home.
Many average people were looking at large increases to their household bill.

Young people got such a bad deal, steal the grants and make them pay community charge for living in their parents home, which was already heavily taxed

[Peoplesoft bloke]

I agree wholeheartedly. It was a fairer system, but those that had to pay it for the first time, generally newcomers to the jobs market living with their parents, saw it as unfair and rebelled and rioted against it. As usual, those that kick up the biggest 'stink' won.

Why should the little old lady with only a small pension to live on, living in a house which her dead husband had grafted to buy for his family have to pay 75% of council tax, when a young earner living with his parents pays nothing at all towards council services? That is an injustice to me, and it was as far as Thatcher was concerned!!

What a joke - if Thatcher cared so much about old folks why did she do so much to shaft the poorest ones?

Broke pensions earnings link
Increased rates and scope of VAT
VAT on domestic fuel - meant pensioners could eat or stay warm but not both

The Poll tax was purely an idea she had where she thought the effect of it would be to make Tory local councils more popular - she never cared about fairness.

BTW - I agree it is theoretically fairer, but what sank it was how expensive it was, due in no small part to the costs of admin from extending the tax base so widely. It was expensive for those of us who paid because so many were able to avoid paying and it wasn't cost-effective to catch them.

[Cyberman]

'Broke pensions earnings link
Increased rates and scope of VAT
VAT on domestic fuel - meant pensioners could eat or stay warm but not both'



So New Labour, after ten years in 'power' has rectified all of these 'unfair' measures?
Of course they haven't. They know that certain things in life have to be paid for. What's worse is that the current incumbents have taxed virtually everything else also since being in 'power' and will continue to do this on Wednesday, when petrol rises by another 8p a gallon.
I could understand your argument if these measures had been reversed by New Lie, but as they haven't it 'holds no water'. The only thing that Thatcher did here was to beat them to it!!

[Cyberman]

Absolute rubbish. many single people were worse off.Most
Married couples were worse off. Many families worse off.
The only significant gainers were those in very large properties, such as Michael Hessletine and his stately home.
Many average people were looking at large increases to their household bill.

Young people got such a bad deal, steal the grants and make them pay community charge for living in their parents home, which was already heavily taxed

Not many, but MOST single people that were earners but not homeowners were worse off. This was because for the FIRST time they were having to make a contribution for local services, which surely was fair. Why should they get services free if they can afford to contribute?

Some married couples may have been worse off but not that many. My poll tax in 1992 was 260 pounds which was less than half of my 'rates' at the time, so if I had been married I would have been better off than under the old rating system.

What are these heavy taxes on homes, excluding 'rates' that you infer? That point makes no sense to me.

[Peoplesoft bloke]

'Broke pensions earnings link
Increased rates and scope of VAT
VAT on domestic fuel - meant pensioners could eat or stay warm but not both'



So New Labour, after ten years in 'power' has rectified all of these 'unfair' measures?
Of course they haven't. They know that certain things in life have to be paid for. What's worse is that the current incumbents have taxed virtually everything else also since being in 'power' and will continue to do this on Wednesday, when petrol rises by another 8p a gallon.
I could understand your argument if these measures had been reversed by New Lie, but as they haven't it 'holds no water'. The only thing that Thatcher did here was to beat them to it!!

But I wasn't arguing from a point of party dogma. I didn't vote for NuLie - as it happens they have cut VAT on fuel for heating, introduced a winter fuel payment and have enacted a bill to restore the earnigns link (although it won't happen until after the next election) I think the current government is just as bad as Thatcher in many ways.

If you want to go down the dogmatic "Tories wonderful", "Labour bad" route you can start with this quick quiz

Which party was in power during the 3-day week
Which party introduced the fuel price escalator for petrol and diesel
Which party scrapped it
Which party abolished mortgage interest relief
Which party introduced Airport departure tax
Which party introduced insurance premium tax

[DimPrawn]

Which party was in power during the 3-day week - Conservatives.
Which party introduced the fuel price escalator for petrol and diesel- Conservatives
Which party scrapped it - Labour
Which party abolished mortgage interest relief - Conservatives
Which party introduced Airport departure tax - Conservatives
Which party introduced insurance premium tax - Conservatives

How did I do?