badgerx16

Don't we get our money back when we sell the publicly owned bank shares back into the open market ?

If GO is correct in his estimation of £1Bn saving, by my rough and ready calculation that means about 1 million children, ( approx 1 in every 12 ) live in a household where there is at least one higher rate tax payer. Not too sure this is correct, ( just a gut feeling you understand ).

If this suggestion on Child Benefit is the standard that the brokeback coalition are working to, I would expect them to oppose it all the way. It's just a headline grabbing piece of BS; not properly thought through, no plan for how to implement it, and no idea as to what the real saving might be. The only real way to tackle 'universal' benefits is to means test them. Why stop at Child Benefit ? Why does somebody on £100K pa pay the same for their prescriptions as me ? Why does everybody currently reaching retirement age qualify for a free bus pass, regardless of whether they use public transport or not ? I just think GO is having to toss something, however small, out to the media and the Tory faithful at the conference, when we all know that the main event comes with the announcements from the CSR in 3 weeks time.

According to the boy George on R4 this morning, they are going to manage this by putting an extra box on the form used for annual tax returns, effectively asking the question "Does anybody in your household get paid the Child Benefit ?". If you are a higher rate payer and answer yes, the value of the benefit will be added to your tax liability. Q1) Who will answer 'yes' ? Q2) How will it work for PAYE ? Q3) Is this merely a quick and dirty sap for the blue-rinse brigade ? Definitely a 'back of a fag packet' job.

Gamgee

Moyles

What about Pinochet, Allende, Galtieri, Franco, Peron, the Greek generals, the Portuguese junta, etc,etc - right wing repression is just as bad, if not worse than any percieved 'left wing control freakery'. Socialism and capitalism are ideals, each with their pros and cons, but which are ruined by the fact that, in the main, human beings, regardless of where they sit on the political scale, are selfish and greedy, and always on the look-out for somebody to squash.

Rhubarb

Maybe it's something wrong with the Spanish - there have been 4 positive tests announced this week http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/cycling/9053979.stm

jerry

Billy

copper

Jukebox

Buctootim: Don't you realise the Met Office are leading the Climate Nazi's campaign of misinformation ? Now please follow these links http://www.globalclimatescam.com/ http://www.c3headlines.com/ and discover the climate change truth.

females ( urban slang, look it up )

ex-parrot

correction

( the slack jawed ) Yokel

In the past, such sub-clinical levels of 'bute' have been traced to contaminated meat, mainly pork, particularly in meat from the far east & the USA.

cheats

Dylan

James

worm

In the Conservative leadership election in 2005, David Cameron won 28.3% of MPs votes in the first round, and 45.5% in the second - Which compares badly with the 46.6% of Labour MPs & MEPs that EM won. He won in the 3rd ballot, when the majority of party members preferred him to David Davis. As for the other half of the brokeback coalition, his result against Chris Huhne was almost exactly the same as the percentage split between Ed and David Milliband. ( Although there is apparently some credence to the claim that Huhne would have won had a large number of his votes not been delayed by the Christmas post ).

cat