Laura Aldridge

38. Wife. Mum of 3. Mathematics Graduate. Software Engineer. Classical Liberal. Transatlantic. Rather fond of my political hero @harryaldridge.

[Paul Johnson @PJTheEconomist]

Neither big party wants to acknowledge this.
Between 2010 and 2024 share of tax paid by high earners rose sharply.
Big cuts in higher and additional rate thresholds, and in pension tax relief, hit them hard.
Trade offs as ever. But please let’s not pretend this didn’t happen.

[Laura Aldridge @le_aldridge]

@Britinfloridaus @stuey_beef @Peternoyes4 Having lived in the US though, in a ~$650k house paying roughly the same in property tax as I do in council tax in the UK in my ~£925k house, I felt I got far better value. No potholes, roadside verges mowed and landscaped, twice weekly bin collections etc

[Casino Capital @CasinoCapital]

You'd have to be out of your mind to become a landlord here.

Stamp duty ~= first 6yrs of rent. Almost 50% income tax on rental income. No deduction of mortgage interest, taxed on revenue. Cap gains when sell. Can't get rid of tenants. Rent control. Can't ever get your property back. Evict in the wrong way and you'll be fined 30 grand. Any eviction or rent increases can be challenged at tribunal. Now tenants can nick your property on the cheap. Quadruple council tax if you AirBnB it. If it's large, mansion tax is coming. New energy efficiency rules coming meaning expensive insulation upgrades (good luck with that on old listed Edinburgh flats).

Oh, and despite paying all those taxes and giving someone a home, everyone will still hate you 🤣

Might as well just buy gilts...click of a button, no stamp duty, no CGT.

"bUt whY arE rEntS sO hiGH??"

[Laura Aldridge @le_aldridge]

@SteveBakerFRSA Some good news for the UK for once!

[Laura Aldridge @le_aldridge]

@s8mb I should add my kids never saw any Julia Donaldson until we moved back in 2024 (having lived in the States for their early years) and whilst I like the books I don’t think their enjoyment of stories/reading has suffered for it all.

[Laura Aldridge @le_aldridge]

@s8mb There are some astounding American children’s books. Albeit probably somewhat older than Julia Donaldson.
I heartily recommend -
* The Little Engine That Could
* Corduroy
* Harold and the purple crayon
* Anything Eric Carle
* Anything Dr Seuss

[LBC @LBC]

'If you want to work out why 21-year-olds are struggling to find work, that’s why.'

Recruitment expert James Reed tells @TomSwarbrick1 that politicians are 'pricing young people out of the workplace'.

[Laura Aldridge @le_aldridge]

Presumably on the salary sacrifice thing, only applies if you work for someone else, as if you work for your own company you just reclassify it as an ordinary employer contribution?

[Kirstie Allsopp @KirstieMAllsopp]

If I were playing a drinking game based on “that we inherited from the Conservatives” I’d be blind drunk by now:

[Laura Aldridge @le_aldridge]

So not only are we losing £8k of our cash ISA allowance, if we save outside of a ISA our tax rate will go up? FFS. Time to spend it all at once. Prudence out the window.

[Dan Neidle @DanNeidle]

Then a slight surprise: an increase in income tax on investment income – property, savings and dividends. The political attraction is obvious – the problem is that UK dividend tax is already one of highest in the world. Look at the top of the arrow tails on this chart:

[Laura Aldridge @le_aldridge]

Laffer curve anyone?

[Sam Coates Sky @SamCoatesSky]

Budget 2025 - the highest tax rates ever

[Laura Aldridge @le_aldridge]

If we have a £20k S&S ISA from a previous tax year, can this still be transferred to a cash ISA for short term savings...? Was hoping to use the full allowance for next year as cash, not just £12k since we are in the middle of a large renovation... #Budget2025

[Laura Aldridge @le_aldridge]

@AskNationwide is there an expected timeframe for when online banking is expected to be back up?

[Laura Aldridge @le_aldridge]

@GuildfordBC my understanding is the response time for queries via email should be a maximum of 10 days. I have now been waiting 4 weeks for my council tax account to be closed and during this time another £360 was erroneously taken. When will I be refunded?

[Laura Aldridge @le_aldridge]

@harryaldridge we should watch this tonight

[Fraser Nelson @FraserNelson]

If you think Nigel Farage could never become Prime Minister, you haven't been paying attention.

My Times Radio discussion on my Ch4 film on the Reform surge (airs 8pm tomorrow).

[Miriam Cates @miriam_cates]

State pension costs £152bn a year, rising to £190bn by 2050. This is unaffordable, especially since number of working age taxpayers will fall. Yet even minor reform—saving £1.5bn on winter fuel allowance—has been scrapped in response to political pressure. This does not bode well

[Laura Aldridge @le_aldridge]

Couple of days away with work tomorrow. Will be my first full night away from my kids in almost 8 years. I love them, but I cannot wait 😂 sorry @harryaldridge 😘

[Christopher Snowdon @cjsnowdon]

By coincidence I’ve just been reading this in this week’s Economist. https://t.co/KxoJ7ackPU

[Laura Aldridge @le_aldridge]

@s8mb In the US our local monopolistic energy provider @DukeEnergy had a much higher price per unit once you went over a certain consumption (circa 1000kWh/month IIRC). I’m in favour of something like that to raise funds; encourages energy efficiency.