The Politics Thread 4

[Moggy]

It’s easy to say that the government will lose tax revenue from this, but will they really? I doubt the people that are spending hundreds of pounds on this type of gambling are the sort who save any money. They will still be gambling and they will still spend all of their money.

All this means is they wont have spent a months wages in one afternoon, it might take them a couple of weeks instead.

[Jenuall]

Yeah I can't see this hitting the tax revenue too hard. People will either find other ways of gambling it away that still incurs the same amount of tax, or they will just spend the money on other things.

The house always wins - in this case the house is HMRC.

[KK]

Well they've bunged the sugar tax on drinks (which isn't going to bring in as much as first suggested as the manufacturers have all changed their recipes apart from Pepsi and Coca Cola), so they'll just find something else to tax a bit higher (like milkshakes and ice cream and sweets).

[Winckle]

Well they've bunged the sugar tax on drinks (which isn't going to bring in as much as first suggested as the manufacturers have all changed their recipes apart from Pepsi and Coca Cola), so they'll just find something else to tax a bit higher (like milkshakes and ice cream and sweets).

Surely that means the tax was a success? The idea wasn't to grab some revenue, it was to incentivise less consumption of sugar to reduce obesity. Yes the tax will generate less revenue if suppliers change formulae, but the NHS will spend less on treatment for obesity.

[Errkal]

Well they've bunged the sugar tax on drinks (which isn't going to bring in as much as first suggested as the manufacturers have all changed their recipes apart from Pepsi and Coca Cola), so they'll just find something else to tax a bit higher (like milkshakes and ice cream and sweets).

Surely that means the tax was a success? The idea wasn't to grab some revenue, it was to incentivise less consumption of sugar to reduce obesity. Yes the tax will generate less revenue if suppliers change formulae, but the NHS will spend less on treatment for obesity.

Yeah this, it is amazing how fast they have all struck out sugar and brought other products up to speed.

I think pepsi will do best as they have had Max for yonks with no sugar in it whereas Coca Cola need to convert people over to Zero which they seem to be doing by making the bottles look like normal coke but with the black bar.

[Cheeky Devlin]

RIP Irn-Bru. It's just not the same.

[Tineash]

£2 FOBT limit? Another success for Prime Minister Corbyn.

[Lex-Man]

Tories have always been pretty anti gambling. They were opposed to the national lottery for example.

On food taxes has anyone seen that Jamie Oliver is trying to ban 2 4 1 pizzas.

[Tineash]

A £2 limit was specifically in the 2017 Labour manifesto (and LD I believe). It pointedly was not in the Con manifesto.

[Winckle]

And they nationalised a rail franchise. Labour are setting the agenda.

[Tineash]

Comrade Grayling has nationalised more than the whole of the Blair government. What a socialist hero!

[Moggy]

Tories have always been pretty anti gambling. They were opposed to the national lottery for example.

The National Lottery came in in 1994 which was 15 years into Tory rule.

[Lex-Man]

Tories have always been pretty anti gambling. They were opposed to the national lottery for example.

The National Lottery came in in 1994 which was 15 years into Tory rule.

I thought it came in under the 97 Labour government. Doh.

[Moggy]

Tories have always been pretty anti gambling. They were opposed to the national lottery for example.

The National Lottery came in in 1994 which was 15 years into Tory rule.

I thought it came in under the 97 Labour government. Doh.

No it was under John “Back to Basics” Major. Apparently him and Edwina had the idea while fooling around one night…

[KK]

Continuing the ’cade expansion into Italy...

Populists’ rise to power in Italy sets perilous precedent for EU

Some analysts fear coalition of M5S and the League could tip Italy into a Greek-style crisis

Italy’s new government, likely to be formally confirmed within the next few days, sets a perilous precedent for Brussels: it marks the first time a founding member of the EU has been led by populist, anti-EU forces.

From the EU’s perspective, the coalition of the anti-establishment Five Star Movement (M5S) and the far-right League looks headstrong and unpredictable, possibly even combustible. Leaked drafts of their government “contract” include provision for a “conciliation committee” to settle expected disagreements.

Mainly it looks alarming. Both parties toned down their fiercest anti-EU rhetoric during the election campaign, dropping previous calls for a referendum on eurozone membership (popular votes on international treaties are, in any case, barred by the Italian constitution). But as they approach power, the historic Euroscepticism of the M5S and the League is resurfacing.

An incendiary early version of their accord called for the renegotiation of EU treaties, the creation of a euro opt-out mechanism, a reduction in Italy’s contribution to the EU budget and the cancellation of €250bn of Italian government debt.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/ ... ent-for-eu

[Lex-Man]

Tories have always been pretty anti gambling. They were opposed to the national lottery for example.

The National Lottery came in in 1994 which was 15 years into Tory rule.

I thought it came in under the 97 Labour government. Doh.

No it was under John “Back to Basics” Major. Apparently him and Edwina had the idea while fooling around one night…

Now I've got the image of them knocking a bingo machine on the ground while fooling around in Conservative club store room.

[Moggy]

Tories have always been pretty anti gambling. They were opposed to the national lottery for example.

The National Lottery came in in 1994 which was 15 years into Tory rule.

I thought it came in under the 97 Labour government. Doh.

No it was under John “Back to Basics” Major. Apparently him and Edwina had the idea while fooling around one night…

Now I've got the image of them knocking a bingo machine on the ground while fooling around in Conservative club store room.

That is what happened. Halfway through their romp, Major started telling her about his Brixton childhood (“Edwina, d’ya get me fam?”) and Edwina was screaming about watching out for her dangerous eggs.

[Denster]

I’m so aroused right now.

[Lex-Man]

I’m so aroused right now.

When aren't you aroused?

[Saint of Killers]

This series of tweets explains the odd *cringe* sound I heard yesterday.

twitter.com/nick_gutteridge/status/996777020032987139

twitter.com/nick_gutteridge/status/996777809199665152

twitter.com/nick_gutteridge/status/996778623700033536