Reply to: your home is next

[PRC1964]

Not that I read the Sun, but they carried this story:

http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2005380134,00.html

The best bit is:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
LOTTO chiefs awarded £50,000 to promote ‘gipsy culture’ in Hampshire schools — after snubbing Falklands heroes who need a new refuge.

The county council say their scheme is an “opportunity to highlight the many positive aspects of the gipsy community”.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Given that the lottery normally only fund part of these kind of schemes, we can assume that the rest is funded from the council tax.

Glad I don't live in Hampshire.

[TwoWolves]

This mess is the result of an overly
zealous welfare state. By over-taxing
the middle-classes they are having
smaller families while those on benefit
are encouraged to continue to have
large families. The children of which
tend more to end up in the same
state dependent position.

Its basic social/economic logic really
and in the end the country will be full
of unemployable under-class.

[hyperD]

Looking at the breakdown of my council tax, the biggest offender is:

Housing Benefits Granted

swiftly followed by

Council Tax Benefits Granted.

A total of 40% of the council capital budget and the items that have experienced the biggest increase over the last few years. Looking at the increase in the tribes of pikeys and chavs that have been shoehorned in, I can guess why these figures will grow at an exponential rate.

And the council blame the rises on the government not increasing the spending allowance enough.

It's obvious to those, without a giro and a pregnant 'ho' called Chardonay [sic], that this is unsustainable.

[AtW]

Apparently students don't pay council tax... is that right?

Only if all adults in the house are students -- at least this was the case a few years ago, don't think they relaxed it even though I think I heard this was done in London.

[zeitghost]

Apparently students don't pay council tax... is that right?

[zeitghost]

I seem to remember it was about £250 per head per annum (or anum) around here.

Don't know what the rates were just prior to that though, since I wasn't paying them at the time.

Perhaps I shall investigate further...

[threaded]

AtW: The problem was that Maggie was coming to the end of her premiership and the lefties grabbed onto the "community charge" renaming it "poll tax" as a way to oust her.

[AtW]

Particularly since everyone over 18 had to pay it...

Does not sound unreasonable to me. What were the amounts and what was before poll tax?

[zeitghost]

Particularly since everyone over 18 had to pay it...

[zeitghost]

Aaaaaaaaah!

The poll tax.

That was a real riot.

[Churchill]

AtW: Especially if them 4 are chavs...

those? Surely.

[threaded]

AtW: Especially if them 4 are chavs...

[AtW]

basing the amount of local-tax people pay on, say, the number of adults in a house, as more people use up more local resources, and we could call it, say, poll-tax.

I have not experienced poll tax, but it sounded pretty darn logical and fair -- currently single person living in the house in Brum gets only 25% discount from main rate, while amount of garbage, police and firemen work surely is nowhere as near as family of 4 living in the same house.

[threaded]

Lucifer, I like that devils advocate game: why not infact just reduce everyones council tax by abandoning the civils servants pensions linkage.

Just about everyone else in the UK has had to bend over and take it with the Gay Gordons pensions grab, why should not the civil service feel what it is like?

After all, it is only fair.

[milanbenes]

why not have a standard rate for a house of x

and add another tax y onto the earnings of all workers

that way pensioners are ok

doley's don't pay council tax anyway so they're not bothered

and everybody is happy

Milan.