Member Info for Gate13Boy

Yup he helped create the biggest tool in UK politics. Closely rivalled by Red Siliband, Rachel Thieves and Angela.

DCB,

There was no £20bn black hole, just a manufactured load of nonsense made up to justify tax rises. Prospering ? 🤣 Everyone is paying more tax under your socialist heroes. Perhaps if you lived in the UK, you’d work that out for yourself instead of trolling from Spain in one of your Irish bars.

I doubt you had any influence on Irelands figures given your posting history DeadCatBounce. Perhaps you will stop pretending you’re a Brit now 🙄🤡🧌

“Millions of pension savers are at risk of a stealth tax raid under Rachel Reeves after officials launched an inquiry into workplace retirement schemes.

His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is exploring a shake-up of the salary sacrifice systems used by employees at around half of British companies.

The money could be used to plug the black hole in the public finances, estimated at tens of billions of pounds, left by the Chancellor’s October Budget and tariffs by Donald Trump.

But the reforms could cost the average earner more than £500 a year in extra income tax and National Insurance, significantly reducing the size of their pension pot.

The National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) think tank warned on Tuesday that the Chancellor could have to raise taxes by up to £30bn in the autumn Budget to fund benefit giveaways and the rising cost of borrowing.

Labour MPs are calling on the Government to relax its fiscal rules, which say that debt must be projected to fall as a percentage of GDP in five years’ time.

They have also called for reversals of Sir Keir Starmer’s planned cut in benefits. The Prime Minister has already changed course on planned cuts to the winter fuel allowance, and may also scrap the two-child benefit limit, which would cost £2.5bn a year.

Sir Steve Webb, the former pensions minister, said HMRC’s consultation put a potential tax raid “firmly on the agenda”, while Jonathan Watts-Lay, a financial wellbeing specialist, said it would cause people pain either “now or in retirement”.

The warnings come after it emerged that higher earners were increasingly using salary sacrifice to stuff their pensions and avoid tax “cliff edges”.

That’s it, pick on those that save for the future so they’re not reliant on the State.

Who voted for these muppets ? Not me…….

Yup, just a smokescreen before his next trolling thread.

“British retailers’ confidence has made the steepest dive in five years after facing pressures from Rachel Reeves’ £26bn employer tax raid.

A survey from the Confederation of British Industry found far more retailers expect their situation to worsen in the next three months than improve, at a net score of 29 percentage points - up from 19 points in February.

Retailers reported poor sales in May. They also expected a decline in staff numbers to accelerate, the survey found.

Ben Jones, lead economist at the CBI, said: “Firms are also feeling the impact of higher National Insurance contributions and the National Living Wage increase. Our quarterly survey suggests that retailers are cutting back on hiring, scaling back investment and expect to increase selling prices at the fastest pace for over a year.”

Who voted for these morons ? Not me……

😂 My short game is my failing. 4 putting is in my itinerary on occasion sadly. 270 yards ? Respect ✊

I did a bottle and a bit more in the end last night Ant 🤣

Enjoy the golf fella. Broke a thumb playing football a couple of weeks ago so am out of action for a bit. The course has time to recover from my hacking exploits there…..

Thanks fella. My best man at my wedding is a Villa fan too Bloomers. Martinez didn’t help things though I heard.

Cheers Ant 👍 Might treat myself to a glass of 🍷

Cheers Ant 👍

Got a bad feeling. Can’t see Newcastle slipping up and Villa should beat the Mancs. We’re going to have to win 🤞

*First sentence came out a bit wrong 😂 Must correct predictive mistakes before posting !

How Ant, you’re absolutely ridiculous right. It is criminal.

Tav, final salary pensions were not sustainable for private companies and have been closed to future accrual. The gold plated public sector pensions likewise are not sustainable and by giving out above inflation pay rises out to public sector workers, the taxpayer will be on the hook. No doubt it’s the private sector that will pick up the tab in the October tax raid.

“Taxpayers will have to spend an extra £1bn on gold-plated public sector pensions after Labour handed out inflation-busting pay rises.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer approved pay hikes of 4pc for teachers and up to 6pc for junior doctors this week, far outstripping the current inflation level of 3.5pc.

According to official figures, taxpayers were already on course to fund pension contributions of almost £25bn across the two schemes during 2024-25.

However, former Bank of England economist, Neil Record, said that teachers and NHS workers would now receive almost £1bn more this year, alongside an extra £193m for civil servants.

Shadow chancellor, Mel Stride, said the increases were an “unsustainable hidden bill”, while the Intergenerational Fairness Foundation said decisions were being made by “people on the gravy train”.

Inflation hit 3.5pc on Wednesday, exceeding the Bank of England’s target of 2pc, the Office for National Statistics confirmed.

However, the Government confirmed that many public sector workers will see their salaries rise by more than that figure – boosting their pension pots at the same time.

The 4pc pay rise given to teachers will earn them £353m in extra pension contributions, taking the taxpayer’s bill to £9.2bn for 2025-26.

Most NHS staff will receive a 3.6pc wage hike, with junior doctors up to 6pc. This will hike pension costs by at least £578m, pushing the taxpayer’s total past £16.6bn for the year.

However, the latest increase will not guarantee the end of strike action after the British Medical Association confirmed it will press ahead with next week’s plan to ballot members on further walkouts.

Civil servants also received 3.25pc in extra pay, which could add almost £200m to the £6.1bn cost of their pension scheme.

Mr Record said: “Public sector salaries are rising again and every time they go up, there’s a double whammy because of the rising cost implications of pensions.

“Public sector pensions are uncapped inflation-linked, however high inflation is. Every increase in public sector pension liabilities damages the financial position of future generations for the benefit of the current generation.

“While this Government focuses on explicit debt, which is at record levels, it appears to be forgetting an equivalent size debt owed to its own employees.”

I wonder what the next thing will be that Starmer surrenders. Gibraltar, the Falklands ? 🤔

£10bn quid down the swanny.

Nice one Keir 🙄

Even the BBC is giving the credit to the Conservatives.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cr4zzvq2p33t#:~:text=It's%20clear%20from%20the%20figures,the%20UK%20to%20another%20country.

“Sir Keir Starmer has agreed inflation-busting pay rises across the public sector, raising the prospect of further tax rises.

Junior doctors, rebranded as “resident doctors”, will receive increases of up to 6 per cent, more than the 3.6 per cent awarded to other NHS staff.

Members of the armed forces will receive between 3.75 per cent and 4.5 per cent, while teachers will see their pay increase by 4 per cent after the Government accepted the recommendations of pay review bodies. Prison officers will receive a 4 per cent uplift.

The increases are above the inflation figure of 3.5 per cent, announced earlier this week.

Meanwhile, senior civil servants will receive a rise of 3.25 per cent. School staff including teaching assistants, caterers, administrative staff and caretakers will receive a 3.2 per cent uplift.”

That will be right when inflation is on the rise already.

Who voted for these muppets ? Not me…..

Further tax rises in the Autumn “feel inevitable” after Treasury borrowing surged in April, economists have warned.

City experts said the combination of rising public sector borrowing and Sir Keir Starmer’s u-turn on winter fuel payments would increase pressure on the Government to launch another tax raid this year.

Public sector net borrowing, excluding banks, hit £20.2bn in April, the fourth-highest figure for the month since records began in 1993. This was up from £16.4bn in March.

Ruth Gregory, deputy chief UK economist at Capital Economics, said: “April’s public finances figures showed that despite the boost from the rise in employers’ National Insurance (NI) contributions, the fiscal year got off to a poor start.

“With the PM announcing a partial U-turn on the cut to winter fuel payments, the dilemma faced by the Chancellor over how to deal with increased spending pressures in an environment of low economic growth and high interest rates hasn’t gone away.

“With the markets seemingly uneasy about more public borrowing, further tax rises are starting to feel inevitable.”

Who voted for these idiots ? Not me….

MTD,

STP is an Irishman living in Spain and wannabe Brit. You’ll work him out.