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Dale: The Inevitable Result of Blog by Anecdote
Iain Dale has not been blogging that much. Being a player in what he likes to call the dead tree press, and the mainstream media and all that. But today there are several helpings of codswallop available. Shouldn't we be cutting down on these empty calories and rampant blog waste?
In what Mr Dale calls The Inevitable Result of Big Government, even though we have smaller government than in the dying days of Major-Thatcherism, he reports an unsourced figure for benefit cheating, and an unsourced and unexplained figure for overpayments too.
He claims all this puts 2.5p in the pound onto our tax.
Strangely Iain doesn't have any figures correctly sourced or otherwise for evasion, avoidance, off shorers, loop-holers, non-doms, non-res for tax, or the rest of the fat of the land chancers.
And he does not state what the effect of all those is on our tax?
Is the major investor in Iain's deadwood journal, that's "Lord" Ashcroft, paying any personal tax in the UK yet? Isn't it about time we de-Baroned this off shore vulture and persistent honours cheat??
The "wrongly paid out" figure of £1.8 bn that Iain gives is interesting also. Although there are no sources to check or follow through is there not a pragmatic state-shrinking measure of what amounts to "prior year adjustments" (as Companies and partnerships have) for certain personal tax credits?
Benefit/tax credit is paid out on the basis of household income on the day of application and reviewed annually. If income moves to a higher band during a period then there is an adjustment in the next period. Something like that?
How will Conservatives ensure that human beings don't either behave dishonestly or make mistakes? Or that systems are simple yet don't need prior year corrections? Perhaps they'll simply say "good luck to you" to anyone getting tax credits whose circumstances change? That would eliminate overpayment and blog whingery at a stroke.
3 comments:
Of course a big state means more waste . If its not my money and its not for me, then I do not care at all to paraphrase Friedman . Its not a matter of mucking around with figures its just obvious .
I work in a small company when a client calls we jump. Should anyone have to go through the ordeal of calling the Council...well its a trip into moron Town and that’s if you get an answer at all. This is not a surprise , they don't care. Idleness corruption and casual indifference are part of socialism. Its is its DNA we all know this , we actually accept it and are prepared to sacrifice efficiency ,growth choice and freedom for stability and fairness up to a point .
To pretend this trade off does not exist however is an insult to anyone’s intelligence . Oh and I do wish you would stop comparing now with the end of the Major Government you might just as well compare the Post war Churchill Government which ha d a very much larger state .It often seems to me to be quite impossible that you believe some of the rubbish you come out with . You cannot engage in any sort of useful way if you are just propagandising and , if you are not in the employ of the Labour Party , as you claim , I cannot imagine what you personally get out of the whole silly exercise.
For a model of virtual perfection and can think of no finer example than myself
(PS 3.oo AM first feed done …sigh)
Sigh indeed. And there's me thinking you're on an amphetamine spree.
The state is smaller than under Maggie. And Iain's figures are complete and utter bull. The 800 million and the 1.8 Billion are I believe OVER SIX YEARS.
Iain is completely wrong, again.
The state is smaller than under Maggie
Chris I am aware of how large the state was why it was large and how relevant that is to today. Save it for the ignorant. Government spending has increased by about 30% year on year , that’s about the size of income tax. That is the point . Who says so …why the Labour Party of course …..whats more they are proud of it
The Conservative Party realised a long time ago that every time you brag about a tax cut you are worrying some little parasite Labour have sucking our life force in the client public sector . What I notice is that Socialists are slow to realise that every time they brag about having increased public spending by whatever seemingly impossible amount they have ..on education , health and so on the tax payer is also thinking … eeek that’s my money . The realisation that most of this goes in Public sector pay pensions and fake jobs together with hard times is why a fairly minor slow down has made the left constituency implode .The left has also not grasped that the economy is not in any serious state , not yet anyway and cannot be blamed in a straightforward way. It was shall we say pushing an open door
My point is you cannot produce silly anachronisms as you do when the whole thrust of the last ten years has been to say how much more cash has been thrown at everything . Its one or the other , unless that is , you are a Liberal .
IMHO the only thing that can save the Labour Party in these conditions is someone following Mc Shanes lead and offering tax cuts ahead of the rush. If not that then at least showing some understanding of what it has been like providing all this growth and watching it squandered on people who do very little indeed of any use. My impression is that some realise this but the party will need a period of opposition to pull that old tax and spend instinct out like a mouldy tooth .
PS It was probably unfair to be nasty about your blog which is a tremendous effort . I say that in the sense I would if I saw a matchstick scale replica of the Himalayas . Impressed and yet bewlidered.
PPS On waste you have utterly missed the point
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