Shan

[Shan @ShankaMonad]

@peterkyle @biztradegovuk @BBCSimonJack A trillion-dollar firm means its founders are likely to be billionaires. Yet labour policies and tactics have been based on stoking envy.

[Shan @ShankaMonad]

@KEdge23 Interesting that they need contracts. This does not show much confidence that many potential Tory MPs believe in the project. I am also unsure whether such a contract will be enforceable.

[Shan @ShankaMonad]

@LauraTrottMP Conservatives should not encourage parents to abdicate their responsibilities to the state! Every little abdication has the best of intentions, but it ends up creating a society that is state-dependent rather than self-reliant.

[Shan @ShankaMonad]

@julianHjessop @jemmm85517813 When a GP insists on more pay it has come from somewhere and someone!

[Shan @ShankaMonad]

@itvpeston @SayeedaWarsi The best way to bring the community together is not to give airtime to promoters of the race and grievance racket!

[Shan @ShankaMonad]

@Elizabe13014545 The more we means-test benefits, the more cliff edges and unfairness we create. It is better to make most benefits universal but make them taxable.

[Shan @ShankaMonad]

Good for you. Sadly not many are so blessed. State pension is a contributory benefit. It is the only assured income for many on private pension most of which are defined contribution. Any reform must put both state workers and private sector works on the same footing. My suggestions are:
1 - Merge NI and Income tax rates.
2 - All new state workers go on to defined contribution schemes.
3 - Redirect employer NI into employee pension schemes
4 - Replace pension credit and state pension with a universal pension which is taxable.
5 - Introduce a nominal tax rate ( 2 to 5%) so thar everyone pays some tax including those on benefits, up-rate the benefits, allowance threshold to compensate.
6 - Tax capital gains as income but allow for inflation and investment and maintenance.
You play with the tax rate to ensure this does increase the deficit. A simpler system, where everyone has a stake in wealth creation and state consumption.

[Shan @ShankaMonad]

@zatzi I cannot believe the intellectual ineptitude of our deputy prime minister. How low has the country sunk!

[Shan @ShankaMonad]

Sadly, the quality of journalism has been on a downward trend for a while. They are struggling to gather an audience while their income and viewership/readership keep going down (I suspect the BBC no longer hires on merit). We are transitioning to citizen journalism for news and long-form podcasts for in-depth analysis and interviews. A new landscape is emerging.

[Shan @ShankaMonad]

@LNallalingham @TheAliceSmith Good to know a Harvard degree is no longer what it used to be!

[Shan @ShankaMonad]

@lbrewer190 @RestoreBritain @Conservatives @RupertLowe10 I would not despair. Reform can learn lessons on how to pull in more Labour voters. There will always be people who vote for a particular party no matter what. It may be Restore here, it might be Tories elsewhere.

[Shan @ShankaMonad]

@HaloConcept24 @lbrewer190 @RestoreBritain @Conservatives @RupertLowe10 Agree

[Shan @ShankaMonad]

@melanie_ward @LucyMPowell Please explain why? Can you provide some evidence? Thx

[Shan @ShankaMonad]

Reform should focus on acquiring at least another 10% of voters. It needs more Tory and Labour voters to switch. Many Tory voters may still feel affection and loyalty to the party they supported. Tories will not get a hearing this side of an election. I am not convinced the British voter likes kicking someone when they are down. It pays for the winner to be generous and magnanimous. Democracy requires all actors to compromise, as none of us will get everything our way, and it pays to treat those with different opinions with courtesy.

[Shan @ShankaMonad]

@AndyBurnhamGM Affordability is an outcome of the success or otherwise of our economy ( wealth creation) Politicians and voters who think that the state can create wealth will be sorely disappointed. It took Argentina nearly a century to realise it. Wonder how long it will take for the UK to realise it?

[Shan @ShankaMonad]

@julianHjessop @LBC As a rule, markets should decide who succeeds and who fails. State involvement invariably leads to enterprises focusing on government aid rather than their markets and competitors.

[Shan @ShankaMonad]

@julianHjessop @LBC Do we know why?

[Shan @ShankaMonad]

@MelJStride He is all in with problems but light on answers.

[Shan @ShankaMonad]

@JohnJohnStewart The two-way cycle lanes on one side of the road have been designed without any common sense. They assume drivers have 360° vision at all times.

[Shan @ShankaMonad]

@kezia_noble @francesweetman That is why we are where we are: voters make the country.