deanlove

Writer, editor, comedy promoter

[deanlove @deanlove]

@RokoMijic @tomough Some of your gap is from using median income but mean GDP. Mean income is about 5k higher (due to the high earners earning significantly more).

[deanlove @deanlove]

@mac_puck @DPJHodges What counts as insider info though? I suspect with the Sunak staffers it wasn't a case of them being told "there's going to be a July election" but rather them seeing certain meetings going in the diary and figuring it out... so there needs to be a clear line.

[deanlove @deanlove]

@afneil The problem is, so would the Conservatives. And so far Sunak has failed to rule out a wealth tax at all. If we're looking at what people are not saying...

[deanlove @deanlove]

@NJ_Timothy I note the Tory manifesto doesn't rule out a wealth tax either. Beware of what they don't say. It would pay for their previously stated ambition to eliminate national insurance.

[deanlove @deanlove]

@DPJHodges @ProbablyN0tReal Yes. Because they've been told that's why they can't get a GP appointment, classroom sizes are so large, roads are over-crowded and under-maintained... for the vast majority, "immigration" itself isn't the problem, it's a cause. And they've been told it is *the* cause.

[deanlove @deanlove]

@rbrharrison There's no commitment not to introduce a wealth tax in the Tory manifesto. For those wondering how they were going to pay for those tax cuts for working people...

[deanlove @deanlove]

@sharrond62 The Tory manifesto has no commitment not to introduce a wealth tax.

[deanlove @deanlove]

@KEdge23 So it was a coincidence they spiked right after Truss' budget. The trouble is there's some truth to what you're saying. Increases under Johnson were not his fault. Increases under Truss were. But it comes across as completely dishonest to ignore the second bit.

[deanlove @deanlove]

@StephenJBL Farage saying we need to do it more like they do in Brussels was a high point.

[deanlove @deanlove]

@theresecoffey No. But then both Truss and Sunak threw your 2019 manifesto you were elected on in the bin so can't trust you either.

[deanlove @deanlove]

@MrEFinch Yeah the parties I'd really like to vote for are the Labour party that Sunak says exists and the Tory party Starmer says exists...

[deanlove @deanlove]

@brendonboshell @ChrisPratley4 @christiancalgie They can intervene where they provide a free alternative. So VAT on food but you make all essential food free (like education is) is a progressive socialist policy and it's great to see you endorsing it.

[deanlove @deanlove]

@brendonboshell @christiancalgie That'd be an absolutely sensible position if the government also then offered to send out free food parcels to every citizen that wanted them every week. I mean, it's not a bad idea at all.

[deanlove @deanlove]

@GullisJonathan The tricky bit though is if you're 17 in an election year, you are 22 by the time you get to elect an MP and that seems too late surely?

[deanlove @deanlove]

@JackCroft04 @christiancalgie I dunno, I think maybe a house large enough to actually fit all our MPs in might be good?

[deanlove @deanlove]

@BellaWallerstei Maybe we could get some of those European bureaucrats to show us the way

[deanlove @deanlove]

@RealTimBooth quite the stage production set-up last night! Do pass on my applause to the (new?) production manager!

[deanlove @deanlove]

@JamesCleverly Yeah but he probably won't do it in an obvious way. He'll probably just fix the tax thresholds for the length of the parliament so fiscal drag pulls more people into higher rates of tax. Proper sneaky move like the sneaky little blighter he is eh?

[deanlove @deanlove]

@DanielPriestley Also the £17k is the total spend per person, not just from the income tax/NI pot right? So people on less than 60k will still hit that £17k figure on other taxes (most significantly, VAT).

[deanlove @deanlove]

@DanielPriestley But a massive portion of that wealth in the UK is in property. It can't leave.
Your main point is right though, income tax is not the lever we need. You could set the higher rate income tax band to 100% and would barely make a dent.