The Starmer Years - Can The New Broom Sweep Clean?

[whelk]

37 minutes ago, rallyboy said:

spoonfeeding it to simpletons who will greedily gobble it down before spewing it all over the internet.

You calling Batman a gullible simpleton? Never

[whelk]

Surprised there is isn’t an obvious term for the thick UK equivalent of the MAGA lot. Angry gammons but also gullible pussies scared of everything. Society is producing very weak men

[Turkish]

12 minutes ago, whelk said:

It was worse although due to colossal net worth it is irrelevant 😃

one of my biggest annoyances at the credit score is if you have say three credit cards, one is interest free and the two other are normal, if you do a balance transfer, so two cards have zero one has 5.1k on it with a 10k limit even thought the debt is the same and you're in a better postion due to zero interest for the period your score goes down as you're using over 50% of the available credit on one account. It doesn't make sense. Anyway with your net worth and credit score it doesn't impact you.

[AlexLaw76]

8 minutes ago, whelk said:

Surprised there is isn’t an obvious term for the thick UK equivalent of the MAGA lot. Angry gammons but also gullible pussies scared of everything. Society is producing very weak men

Thankfully, you are hard enough to make up for the rest of us.

[Turkish]

1 minute ago, AlexLaw76 said:

Thankfully, you are hard enough to make up for the rest of us.

Who do you reckon is the hardest poster on here? 

[AlexLaw76]

3 minutes ago, Turkish said:

Who do you reckon is the hardest poster on here? 

If armed with his belt buckle, Sadoldgit.

[Turkish]

3 minutes ago, AlexLaw76 said:

If armed with his belt buckle, Sadoldgit.

back in the day i reckon he was right handful, get a couple of pints down him i bet he was the Ronnie Pickering of the area the King of Romney Marsh

Edited Wednesday at 08:47 by Turkish

[whelk]

39 minutes ago, Turkish said:

one of my biggest annoyances at the credit score is if you have say three credit cards, one is interest free and the two other are normal, if you do a balance transfer, so two cards have zero one has 5.1k on it with a 10k limit even thought the debt is the same and you're in a better postion due to zero interest for the period your score goes down as you're using over 50% of the available credit on one account. It doesn't make sense. Anyway with your net worth and credit score it doesn't impact you.

It is a con - ClearScore, Experian are just selling services. I genuinely never look or open any email bait from them anymore. You can use credit card abroad for something oblivious it is going through as a cash transaction and you will be scored down with the reasoning you are short of cash and taking out at mental interest rates.

 

[Holmes_and_Watson]

2 hours ago, Lord Duckhunter said:

That makes me question his judgement from the off. 7 pints from that picture 

Has Burnham's jogging improved him from that score?

[whelk]

42 minutes ago, Turkish said:

Who do you reckon is the hardest poster on here? 

I don’t know - you do your cross fit stuff but don’t know if you have a glass jaw or not so could be in the reckoning

[Turkish]

3 minutes ago, whelk said:

I don’t know - you do your cross fit stuff but don’t know if you have a glass jaw or not so could be in the reckoning

im too old and slow these days, i reckon i'd give 98% of the forum a run for their money in a power clean, burpee over bar and double under triplet workout but dont have the interest or desire to be angry with the world these days. I always thought @Raging Bull was a bit of reformed tough guy who found god, they are always the ones to watch, like Pulp Fiction characters. Of course MLG would bore everyone to death.

[Farmer Saint]

1 hour ago, whelk said:

You calling Batman a gullible simpleton? Never

Who's Batman?

[Turkish]

Just now, Farmer Saint said:

Who's Batman?

Some guy that used to post on here ages ago, long gone, no idea why he's been brought up, think his real name was Brett and he lived in Camden.

[iansums]

1 hour ago, whelk said:

Surprised there is isn’t an obvious term for the thick UK equivalent of the MAGA lot. Angry gammons but also gullible pussies scared of everything. Society is producing very weak men

You normally use the word ‘cunt’.

[whelk]

35 minutes ago, iansums said:

You normally use the word ‘cunt’.

That is only part of the Venn diagram 

[The Kraken]

It’s a real mystery alright.

[Weston Super Saint]

4 hours ago, Turkish said:

one of my biggest annoyances at the credit score is if you have say three credit cards, one is interest free and the two other are normal, if you do a balance transfer, so two cards have zero one has 5.1k on it with a 10k limit even thought the debt is the same and you're in a better postion due to zero interest for the period your score goes down as you're using over 50% of the available credit on one account. It doesn't make sense. Anyway with your net worth and credit score it doesn't impact you.

I had 960 odd score with my mortgage. When I paid it off it dropped to 500 odd when nothing else changed. I went from being good with money to being shit just by paying off my biggest debt! 

I don't pay any attention to it now.

[egg]

5 minutes ago, Weston Super Saint said:

I had 960 odd score with my mortgage. When I paid it off it dropped to 500 odd when nothing else changed. I went from being good with money to being shit just by paying off my biggest debt! 

I don't pay any attention to it now.

I keep a tiny residential mortgage to avoid that. Payments are about a tenner a month, but if keeps my credit rating up. I also carry a small credit card debt (zero percent) for the same reason. 

[Turkish]

8 minutes ago, Farmer Saint said:

Wow, so he's got a whole number of logins. Why's he got so many?

Who has? They’re all separate people. One was on the navy, one lived in Camden and I don’t know who else you’re referring to

Edited Wednesday at 14:23 by Turkish

[whelk]

33 minutes ago, Farmer Saint said:

Wow, so he's got a whole number of logins. Why's he got so many?

Think Batman got whacked by Steve Grant for moaning. And an alter ego Alex sprang to life soon after. We love him though really 

[Holmes_and_Watson]

Looks as though Badenoch enjoyed her free hit on PMQs today.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx2jn1k4le8o

[Tamesaint]

1 hour ago, Holmes_and_Watson said:

Looks as though Badenoch enjoyed her free hit on PMQs today.

 

Graciousness and Badenich do not go together.

[Holmes_and_Watson]

6 minutes ago, Tamesaint said:

Graciousness and Badenich do not go together.

I went back and watched it. Not quite the free hits as the article led me to think. Much as normal, with a few more personal barbs at the government.

Apparently, there were afters between Badenoch and Phillipson, as Bad3noch's "bitter class warrior" went down badly.

[Weston Super Saint]

3 hours ago, egg said:

I keep a tiny residential mortgage to avoid that. Payments are about a tenner a month, but if keeps my credit rating up. I also carry a small credit card debt (zero percent) for the same reason. 

I'm not that bothered, if I need a loan, and let's face it, that's all these companies are in business for, I'll get it from my bank who I've been with for over 45 years.  They always offer the best rate.

[badgerx16]

2 hours ago, Holmes_and_Watson said:

Looks as though Badenoch enjoyed her free hit on PMQs today.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx2jn1k4le8o

She needed to make the most of the opportunity, because when she wakes up tomorrow the reality that she is still the leader of the Tories will hit, hard.

[Holmes_and_Watson]

24 minutes ago, badgerx16 said:

She needed to make the most of the opportunity, because when she wakes up tomorrow the reality that she is still the leader of the Tories will hit, hard.

Starmer reminded her that Count Binface ran her candidate close. 🙂

[Lord Duckhunter]

And she reminded him they won Stephen Fylnns old seat with nearly 50% of the vote, compared to labour who got 5. Yet still he defended Milliband  and his lunatic agenda…

Edited Wednesday at 19:28 by Lord Duckhunter

[Holmes_and_Watson]

1 hour ago, Lord Duckhunter said:

And she reminded him they won Stephen Fylnns old seat with nearly 50% of the vote, compared to labour who got 5. Yet still he defended Milliband  and his lunatic agenda…

She did. But the Binface one was funnier.

[iansums]

With Starmer quitting and Burnham in all probability shortly to become PM, this country faces a massive and critical question:

Do we rename this thread 'The Burnham Years....' or start a new one?

[Winnersaint]

On 24/06/2026 at 15:49, whelk said:

Think Batman got whacked by Steve Grant for moaning. And an alter ego Alex sprang to life soon after. We love him though really 

What about the guy on the submarine?

[Sir Ralph]

Burnham knows Labour a screwed in the next GE. If he taxes to south to pay for the north he will try to “buy” the red wall back. His speech was full of feel good words a no substance really. All flowers and sunshine now, nasty part to come. Only 3 years left….

Edited 5 hours ago by Sir Ralph

[badgerx16]

5 minutes ago, Sir Ralph said:

Burnham knows Labour a screwed in the next GE. If he taxes to south to pay for the north he will try to “buy” the red wall back. His speech was full of feel good words a no substance really. All flowers and sunshine, nasty part to come

How exactly does he organise the tax system so that he can "tax the south to pay for the north" ? Regionally banded Income Tax rates ? 3% VAT surcharge south of Coventry ? Fuel Excise duty raised inside the M25 ?

[Sir Ralph]

7 minutes ago, badgerx16 said:

How exactly does he organise the tax system so that he can "tax the south to pay for the north" ? Regionally banded Income Tax rates ? 3% VAT surcharge south of Coventry ? Fuel Excise duty raised inside the M25 ?

Property taxes (flat rate percentage) and inheritance tax are the two that have been heavily publicised. This is because property prices in the south are much higher but our cost of living is higher. Living up north is relatively cheap compared to the south and certainly London but this won’t be reflected in the “King of the Norths” policies. It may come as a surprise but these policies are political for the next GE. For the economy he will be worse than Starmer in my opinion 

Edited 5 hours ago by Sir Ralph

[iansums]

To be fair, I think Burnham comes across quite well, far more 'statesmanlike' than Starmer, but wear a shirt and tie FFS.

[badgerx16]

21 minutes ago, Sir Ralph said:

Property taxes (flat rate percentage) and inheritance tax are the two that have been heavily publicised. This is because property prices in the south are much higher but our cost of living is higher. Living up north is relatively cheap compared to the south and certainly London but this won’t be reflected in the “King of the Norths” policies. It may come as a surprise but these policies are political for the next GE. For the economy he will be worse than Starmer in my opinion 

The fact that property.prices are grossly inflated the further south and east you go is not an excuse for constricting investment north of the Trent.

[Sir Ralph]

35 minutes ago, badgerx16 said:

The fact that property.prices are grossly inflated the further south and east you go is not an excuse for constricting investment north of the Trent.

So he will be taxing the south to pay for the north. Nobody said you shouldn’t invest in some deprived areas. Question is how do you pay for it? Giving tax breaks to citizens from the north at the cost of southerners is nothing more than a vote winner from a party who will struggle in the south in the next GE. To me that’s pretty clear

Edited 4 hours ago by Sir Ralph

[ecuk268]

1 hour ago, badgerx16 said:

How exactly does he organise the tax system so that he can "tax the south to pay for the north" ? Regionally banded Income Tax rates ? 3% VAT surcharge south of Coventry ? Fuel Excise duty raised inside the M25 ?

Count Binface had the right idea: "I'll cut your taxes and raise everyone else's"

 

[revolution saint]

Not sure creating a new department that will work for all the nation, and then calling it "No 10 North" is the smartest move he could make.

[badgerx16]

57 minutes ago, Sir Ralph said:

So he will be taxing the south to pay for the north. 

No.

Everybody faces the same tax burden: Income Tax, VAT, NI, etc are not regionally defined within England. Some people have geographically enhanced property values and incomes, but that is the luck of the draw, and if as a consequence higher rate taxes or taxes of opportunity such as Inheritance Tax kick in, so be it.

How Government decides to spend it's tax revenues should be decided by greatest need. Ultimately all people should have the same chances in life - historically the North has lagged behind because the country is London focussed.

[Sir Ralph]

40 minutes ago, badgerx16 said:

No.

Everybody faces the same tax burden: Income Tax, VAT, NI, etc are not regionally defined within England. Some people have geographically enhanced property values and incomes, but that is the luck of the draw, and if as a consequence higher rate taxes or taxes of opportunity such as Inheritance Tax kick in, so be it.

How Government decides to spend its tax revenues should be decided by greatest need. Ultimately all people should have the same chances in life - historically the North has lagged behind because the country is London focussed.

Well that’s a more socialist view of the world (I’m not saying that in a disparaging way). It forgets the view that the few who are net contributors to the tax system need to be incentivised to continue to take the burden rather than killing ourselves to pay for others. This change again would penalise those who have aspired for financial security for themselves and their families. Unfortunately though that seems to be the mentality of the incumbent ruling party.

The increase in property values and incomes isn’t “luck of the draw” and doesn’t reflect a significantly reduced cost of living in the north. Can you explain where that has been factored in?

 

Whether you want to or not you are essentially agreeing that he would be increasing current taxes on those in the south and reducing taxes for those in the north. 

Edited 2 hours ago by Sir Ralph

[badgerx16]

38 minutes ago, Sir Ralph said:

Whether you want to or not you are essentially agreeing that he would be increasing current taxes on those in the south and reducing taxes for those in the north. 

No I am not. What you "get out of the system" is not necessarily reflective of what you "put in". ( Going on a tangent, for many years Croydon was a net beneficiary of the national Business Rates pool, whilst Blackpool was a net contributor. )

What I am saying is that, perhaps, proportionally more of the total tax take should be redistributed northwards. This does not require any change in an individual's "contribution".

[badgerx16]

46 minutes ago, Sir Ralph said:

The increase in property values and incomes isn’t “luck of the draw” ...... 

Of course it is. If my house was magically transported to Outer London it would instantly gain over £700k in value.

[Sir Ralph]

44 minutes ago, badgerx16 said:

Of course it is. If my house was magically transported to Outer London it would instantly gain over £700k in value.

But it doesn’t work like that. If I buy your house I have to get a mortgage and work hard to pay down that extra £700k mortgage. The vast majority of people haven’t magically accrued that additional value, they have had to pay for it and will now be taxed more for it. 

[Whitey Grandad]

3 hours ago, badgerx16 said:

The fact that property.prices are grossly inflated the further south and east you go is not an excuse for constricting investment north of the Trent.

Do you mean 'invest' or do you mean 'subsidise'?

I see precious little scope for a return on investment. 

[Sir Ralph]

50 minutes ago, badgerx16 said:

No I am not. What you "get out of the system" is not necessarily reflective of what you "put in". ( Going on a tangent, for many years Croydon was a net beneficiary of the national Business Rates pool, whilst Blackpool was a net contributor. )

What I am saying is that, perhaps, proportionally more of the total tax take should be redistributed northwards. This does not require any change in an individual's "contribution".

I understand your point and I’ve no objection to the principle of increased investment in the north. However Burnham is proposing a change to individual’s contribution in the south to achieve this objective and reducing northerners tax bill to achieve this. 

[Whitey Grandad]

2 hours ago, badgerx16 said:

No.

Everybody faces the same tax burden: Income Tax, VAT, NI, etc are not regionally defined within England. Some people have geographically enhanced property values and incomes, but that is the luck of the draw, and if as a consequence higher rate taxes or taxes of opportunity such as Inheritance Tax kick in, so be it.

How Government decides to spend it's tax revenues should be decided by greatest need. Ultimately all people should have the same chances in life - historically the North has lagged behind because the country is London focussed.

It's not their money.

[Whitey Grandad]

50 minutes ago, badgerx16 said:

Of course it is. If my house was magically transported to Outer London it would instantly gain over £700k in value.

But then would you have been able to buy it?

We got out of London in 1971 and moved to Hampshire for a better life.

[Weston Super Saint]

5 minutes ago, Sir Ralph said:

I understand your point and I’ve no objection to the principle of increased investment in the north. However Burnham is proposing a change to individual’s contribution in the south to achieve this objective and reducing northerners tax bill to achieve this. 

Source?

[badgerx16]

15 minutes ago, Weston Super Saint said:

Source?

Speculation.

[badgerx16]

19 minutes ago, Whitey Grandad said:

But then would you have been able to buy it?

We would both have been earning more, but then the cost of living is probably higher across the board, so the honest answer is "I don't know". However, houses sell in Outer London, so they must he somehow "affordable".