Tucked away in today's Scotsman is a good clue to the state of the Westminster government. Yesterday Alistair Darling told MPs on the Treasury committee the £150,000 income threshold for the new top rate of tax was plucked out of the air.
"There is no science behind it. It is simply my judgment and I thought that figure was appropriate."
After the shambles Gordon Brown made of PMQs yesterday and the excellent result for the Gurkha campaign, I shouldn't think anyone is surprised to know how the finances of the UK are calculated. You couldn't make it up.
Update: No mention made of this in the BBC article, the BBC being our impartial broadcasting service.
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15 comments:
I am speechless. So it could have been 50p or £5,000,000 then? It shows the contempt for the economy and the people this collection of (expletive deleted) they really are.
We may be an ocean apart and a big pond behind you, but I always enjoy reading your posts cause, it shows me and in fact it confirms to me that people are the same all over, with the same set of problems and idiotic, but well paid politicians to deal with, when the average man/woman on the street is struggling to meet his/her mortgage obligations and put some food on the table so the kids can grow normal in what is turning out to be a very abnormal world.
Cheers subrosa and keep well.
Aye William it does indeed. I've just added an update as the BBC article doesn't mention it at all. Strange that ...
Good morning Baron. Auch what a lovely compliment and thank you.
What seems to be missing in our politicians today are honour and integrity. I never thought it would ever see the day when I said that of the majority of UK politicians. Expect you feel the same over there. Take care.
Thought for a moment you were using some kind of rhyming slang there:
"What's that Air Plucking Chancellor done now"
Not too bad a headline for an old bird to think of is it Furious? lol
subrosa,
When I first looked at your headline I thought you were going into Spooky mode. Surely he consulted the highly paid Sir Humphreys at the Treasury but, then again, as it affected them perhaps not. Of course, MPs expenses will not be affected by this.
The £150,000 limit is oddly and entirely coincidentally close to the limit of MPs salary and allowance for staff accumulation?
SR,
I suppose he'll be "dicing" next for who takes the turn of being PM - bunch of 6 throwin barstewards!
CD
True Brownlie, quite a few folk are saying it's just around the tax level of the 'real' MPs pay.
How are you this morning? Wet here :(
Aye Billy, that's just what brownlie was saying too. Of course none of the newspapers mentions that fact.
CD I don't think Darling will take a starring role in the labour party when they're defeated. He'll be quite happy to get his ermine and enormous pension.
I, too, thought the headline was a spelling mistake! The end is going to continue to be long and painful. A glorious moment yesterday, as Gorbals intoned "The Prime Minister", the ghastly man was literally waddling from the chamber. Priceless.
So what Leaky posted last night is true!? LOL
Anything in the deadwoods? Did a google but couldn't see anything.
Hah!
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