Reply to: Conservatives 'consider scrapping inheritance tax to win over voters'

[malvolio]

The simple method is to spoil the ballot paper: I believe that gets recorded differently to people who didn't vote at all.

Thinking back to my uni days, each student election would have an option for "RON": Re-Open Nominations. If RON won, the election would be repeated. However, I'm not sure how that would work at national level. Does the constituency go without an MP indefinitely? Does the current person get to stay in the job until a new person is found?

If there is an election there isn't a sitting MP...

Anyway, most elections have minority candidate you can vote for if none of yhe main parties appeal to you.

[AtW]

Fook this Tory Scumverment

[hobnob]

There really should be a 'none of the above' box on the ballot paper so that this is properly recorded.

The simple method is to spoil the ballot paper: I believe that gets recorded differently to people who didn't vote at all.

Thinking back to my uni days, each student election would have an option for "RON": Re-Open Nominations. If RON won, the election would be repeated. However, I'm not sure how that would work at national level. Does the constituency go without an MP indefinitely? Does the current person get to stay in the job until a new person is found?

[jamesbrown]

conspiracy nutjobbery

The cryptocretin thread is over there.

[escapeUK]

Anecdotally, "we don't have anyone to vote for" is a common theme among people I speak to, especially those over 55.

There really should be a 'none of the above' box on the ballot paper so that this is properly recorded.

I would go one step further. If none of the above wins then none of the other candidates are allowed to stand again for 10 years.

Sure, that's right. Better to live in a world dominated by Putin, Xi and Khamenei.

Well if we didn't want to do that, then perhaps we shouldn't have been getting energy from Putin or moving huge amounts of manufacturing to China.

But anyway, the foolish sanctions have now made everyone else in the world realise that the US dollar and the western banking system in general is not a safe place to store their wealth. So now they will be moving as quickly as they can to a BRICS+ currency, that i heard is going to be gold backed. Whoops! America's last move is WW3, the world moving away from the dollar is game over for them with 30 trillion in debt, so they will be desperate, insane with fear. Assuming of course their entire banking system doesn't collapse before that move.

[NotAllThere]

Or jump on every foolish bandwagon without considering the consequences, like .... self harm sanctions on Russia, ...

Sure, that's right. Better to live in a world dominated by Putin, Xi and Khamenei.

Off topic - will Xi be replaced eventually by Xii?

[malvolio]

At best hey will “scrap” it by promising to do so if they get re-elected which won’t happen even if malvolio gets cloned 20 mln times

HTH

You need to work on your comprehension. I've made it fairly clear (but obviously not clear enough) that I am no fan of the current administration, such as it is. However, having lived through more than a few Labour and Tory administrations (plus one useless coalition) and lived with the results, there is good reason to fear a Labour one at the best of times - which these aren't.

Perhaps if Starmer could decide on an overall policy - any general policy, he has several apparently - then we might have a better idea of who to prefer. Until he does, I'll stick with history.

[Protagoras]

People want to vote for a conservative government, trouble is we don't have anyone to vote for who has even slightly conservative ideas, much less principles.

Anecdotally, "we don't have anyone to vote for" is a common theme among people I speak to, especially those over 55.

There really should be a 'none of the above' box on the ballot paper so that this is properly recorded.

[PerfectStorm]

We really are seeing this government in its Gordon Brown era. In fact, they're making that period look quite good.

[Smartie]

Unlikely they'll do it, though they may change it to weaken it.

The transfer of wealth between generations directly contributes to inequality and while some inequality is necessary to provide incentives, too much inequality is bad for society.

Inheritance tax laws need to be strengthened to catch the very wealthy such as the Duke of Westminster who inherited over £8Bn paying no tax by using trusts.

In addition, wealth taxes need to be increased to the level of income tax to ensure that the very rich pay at least as much as a proportion of their income as people on low wages. Taking income from investments should not incur less tax than someone getting income from their labour.

People will argue against these points, however they have 'skin in the game' and would be significantly affected by these changes.
It's entirely natural and understandable for people to want to advantage their children, however that's not to the benefit of wider society.

Let's see an example for housing:
https://www.ft.com/content/985a608e-...1-d78a10627a12

[vetran]

Ah, that Portillo moment, coming to a hustings near you some time soon (well not around here of course, this being donkeyland par excellence, like).

13 years of Tory misrule. Who'd have thunk? Could Magick Grandpa really have done any worse?

sadly oh yes. If you voted for Boris who was the opposition?

[escapeUK]

People want to vote for a conservative government, trouble is we don't have anyone to vote for who has even slightly conservative ideas, much less principles.

I want a small, non-interfering state, who spends our taxes carefully and wisely, and therefore does not need to keep raising them every year. Who does not involve us in every war going. Or jump on every foolish bandwagon without considering the consequences, like banning ICE cars, gas boilers, lockdowns, self harm sanctions on Russia, the list goes on.

We are fast approaching an election, and suddenly the so called Conservatives have woken up. Today Sunak has realised that many uni degrees are expensive and pointless. And perhaps the tax payer shouldn't be loaning to someone to do a degree in female authors of the 20th century, because they will never pay it back! Well, who knew??

But of course, if we were foolish enough to vote for them once again, both this and IHT would be forgotten about for another 5 years.

[AtW]

At best hey will “scrap” it by promising to do so if they get re-elected which won’t happen even if malvolio gets cloned 20 mln times

HTH

[SueEllen]

All three?

Very polite.

There are few MPs of any party genuinely worthy of their seat. Cabinet members especially are rarely promoted on the basis of their abilities but on their political usefulness. Point to any that clearly command their civil servants.

Some do useful work for their constituents regardless of party.

[Protagoras]

Poor people, like those oop north, don't care about inheritance tax.

'Up North' in my local constituency, from the 2019/20 data, fewer than 30 estates paid IHT.

From the local press, folks seem to be more concerned about finding a NHS dentist.