You had to be there to grasp the scale of Margaret Thatcher's revolution

[Peoplesoft bloke]

Do you direct or indirect tax?..

I'm talking about overall tax take in real terms and as a percentage of GDP.

Of course I accept that some rates of income tax were cut and bands removed, but the rates and scope of VAT were increased. As for the poll tax, that was an admin nightmare that we all paid for in increased (again) VAT

[AtW]

As for the poll tax, that was an admin nightmare that we all paid for in increased (again) VAT

Just wait for VAT to increase in order to compensate for Nu Liebor mismanagement of economy, relatively speaking Thatcher is very nearly saint...

[Cyberman]

History is written by the victors, hence much of the Thatcher years is misrepresented - like the claim that she cut taxes when she actually increased them.

She cut the top rate of income tax from 60% to 40% and tax revenues actually increased. Taxes had to rise after the 70s debacle of Labour, but eventually taxes were falling under the Tories. Taxes as a proportion of GDP never fall under Labour as their aim is to redistribute wealth. The problem is that they have now killed that wealth generation.

[sasguru]

She cut the top rate of income tax from 60% to 40% and tax revenues actually increased. Taxes had to rise after the 70s debacle of Labour, but eventually taxes were falling under the Tories. Taxes as a proportion of GDP never fall under Labour as their aim is to redistribute wealth. The problem is that they have now killed that wealth generation.

Yes Cyberman I think we can all see why you're an old, single, billy-no-mates, no doubt pot-noodling every day in front of the large, garlanded picture of Maggie you have in your living room, just before you shamble off to collect your dole money.
Buffoon.

[expat]

Just wait for VAT to increase in order to compensate for Nu Liebor mismanagement of economy, relatively speaking Thatcher is very nearly saint...

Hello, sudden end there. Has AtW just been terminated by an assassin who burst in the door, sent from Smersh (Smyert Spamionam)?

[AtW]

Hello, sudden end there. Has AtW just been terminated by an assassin who burst in the door, sent from Smersh (Smyert Spamionam)?

I don't like Smersh and criminal entities of that kind.

[BlasterBates]

I find it interesting. By the 1970's the US and UK systems were f**ed, moribund industries, overly powerful unions, high inflation etc etc. Then came Reagen and Thatcher, changed direction solving the old problems, only to end up in the same f**ed up state this time caused free enterprise, and overly powerful bankers.

[BrilloPad]

I'm talking about overall tax take in real terms and as a percentage of GDP.

Of course I accept that some rates of income tax were cut and bands removed, but the rates and scope of VAT were increased. As for the poll tax, that was an admin nightmare that we all paid for in increased (again) VAT

She started the practice of stealth taxes. Labour have taken it to new heights.

[Incognito]

http://www.freedomworks.org/publicat...ope-for-europe

In the U.K., Margaret Thatcher faced even tougher economic problems. Much of British industry had been nationalized under socialist governments. Welfare state spending and the unions were out of control. Britain had become the poor man of Europe. Beginning in 1979, Mrs. Thatcher privatized industry, cut taxes, spending and regulations and broke the unions’ hold on the economy. Britain went from the poorest major economy in Europe (in terms of per capita income) to the richest, leaving Germany, France and Italy in the dust.

The United States and the U.K. have had twice the rate of economic growth of Germany, France and Italy since the early 1980s. Unemployment rates in the U.S. and U.K. are under 5 percent while Germany and France are in double digits (11.8 percent and 10.2 percent respectively). Worse yet, more than 50 percent of Germany’s, and 40 percent of France’s unemployed have been out of work a year or more. The comparable number for Britain is 21.4 percent and only 12.7 percent in the U.S. The divergence is increasing, not diminishing, with the U.S. growing almost 3 times faster than France, Germany and Italy over the past four years

Just lucky was she?

[Cyberman]

I find it interesting. By the 1970's the US and UK systems were f**ed, moribund industries, overly powerful unions, high inflation etc etc. Then came Reagen and Thatcher, changed direction solving the old problems, only to end up in the same f**ed up state this time caused free enterprise, and overly powerful bankers.

The bankers were overly powerful because Brown removed the regulation to allow that to happen and did not want to rein them in order to maintain his multi-billions tax take that he could continue to waste.