Brit into politics, tech, economics, strategic gambits, travel, food | Like myriad viewpoints | 🇬🇧🇺🇸
London | Dorset
Joined March 2009
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Gary B retweeted
Incredible to see all these Labour MPs who voted for business destroying policies now care about workers.
Bit late for that.
Gary B retweeted
There is a curious idea that to *save* the care sector we need to give migrant care workers ILR ASAP. But what happens when you do? A Canadian study of workers on a similar care visa found that after they gained permanent residency, only 15% were still working as care workers...
Gary B retweeted
Here's an astonishing stat: Just over half of all visas granted to care workers in 2023 were sponsored by employers that have since lost their licences, mostly due to fraud or abuse. That’s ~200,000 people once you include dependants. None of them have had their visas revoked.
Gary B retweeted
Poundland has filed to enter administration, putting 11,000 jobs at risk just weeks before Christmas, including here in Brixton.
I stand with Poundland workers and @UsdawUnion.
The owners must engage with workers and ministers, exploring every option to save jobs and shops.
Gary B retweeted
I'm glad everyone's finally woken up to the Martin Lewis Occupied Government (MLOG) that we've been living under for so long
Gary B retweeted
No 10 tries to set the record straight.
They *won't* guarantee benefit spending will fall before the next election, and add it wouldn't be right to set an "arbitrary target or timeline on that”.
The PM’s spokesman says the welfare bill “needs to come down” but refuses to be drawn on how much by or based on what measure. Only that there won’t be “crude cuts”.
Uh oh… after John Healey clearly promised on @BBCr4today that the benefits bill will be cut before the next election, @ChrisMasonBBC tells listeners the Treasury have since been on the phone disputing he said this and that he wasn’t putting a timeline on welfare reductions.
Gary B retweeted
Good to see the PM "recognising journalism not as a nice-to-have, but as part of the national infrastructure of a healthy country and democracy".
Just a shame it comes on the eve of him jetting off to a major summit and, for the first time, refusing to take a press pack...
Gary B retweeted
This utterly bleak line from the Resolution Foundation on living standards in their overnight Budget analysis.
"Between now (2026-27) and the end of the Parliament (2028-29), typical incomes are forecast to fall in total by £1,050 (3 per cent)."
In other words: On average we'll be getting poorer in the run-up to the next election.
Gary B retweeted
King Charles is scheduled to return from his autumn Caribbean tour on Wednesday, November 4, this will be a perfect time for Burnham to go and see him and call an election!!
Gary B retweeted
Being self-employed, this and Making Tax Digital make me want to emigrate. Ever more bureaucratic inconvenience for such a paltry, negligible gain to the public purse!
The hidden tax measure in the Budget is huge for people paying tax under self-assessment - sole traders, partners, landlords, retired investors.
For 6th April 2028-29, you currently pay 50% of your income tax late in the tax year in question (in January 2029), 50% just after the year end (in July 2029) with any make-up payment in January 2030.
Under the new proposals you will pay your tax perhaps monthly or quarterly (TBC) from April 2029 onwards. A rough analysis suggests the impact is to draw about 50% of your tax bill forward, a huge cashflow boost to HMRC and a significant funding issue for the self-employed.
The Treasury recognises this, and expects to raise £1.3bn of additional tax in 29/30 as a result of this change.
The cashflow impact of the accelerated charge will send some businesses to the wall.
Gary B retweeted
Back with @MrMBrown and @marcusashworth tomorrow to record our post-Budget podcast. Guaranteed to be a laugh. Plenty to say about that dreadful Budget!
And the nameless red dragon is making his first appearance. Come on, surely someone can think of a name for the poor bugger?
Absolutely love doing the GBTT weekly macro roundup with these two rogues.
We have such a laugh, and you never know what's going to come up.
@mrmbrown @marcusashworth
Gary B retweeted
Mindblowing chart from OBR. In 2029 real household disposable income per person expected to be just 1% higher than in 2019. What an unbelievably awful decade. It used to grow by 2%+ every year, not 1% in 10 years.
Gary B retweeted
This is fucking mental
The hidden tax measure in the Budget is huge for people paying tax under self-assessment - sole traders, partners, landlords, retired investors.
For 6th April 2028-29, you currently pay 50% of your income tax late in the tax year in question (in January 2029), 50% just after the year end (in July 2029) with any make-up payment in January 2030.
Under the new proposals you will pay your tax perhaps monthly or quarterly (TBC) from April 2029 onwards. A rough analysis suggests the impact is to draw about 50% of your tax bill forward, a huge cashflow boost to HMRC and a significant funding issue for the self-employed.
The Treasury recognises this, and expects to raise £1.3bn of additional tax in 29/30 as a result of this change.
The cashflow impact of the accelerated charge will send some businesses to the wall.
Gary B retweeted
John Healey got his can and gave it an almighty kick down the road
thetimes.com/article/27e6b41…
