Today the Government has announced that 5th May 2011 will be the date of a referendum on the Alternative Vote System (or one of the many AV systems). This is, I think a good thing - however as with most policies/introductions by this Government it doesn't go far enough.
In this country we have a horrifically unfair voting system. Below are the results of the general election in terms of the share of the vote. Then below that is how that share is transferred into seats won. As you will be able to see the two figures do not really seem to have much of a correlation.
Share of the vote:
CON 36.1%
LAB 29.0%
LD 23.0%
Others 11.9%
Seats Won:
CON 307
LAB 258
LD 57
Others 28
Obviously the current first past the post system is very unfair - those with just a slightly lower share of the vote, end up with a large shortfall in seats won. The AV system will start to turn this around, however it won't make a huge difference. I am a firm believer in full proportional representation, and while AV doesn't really do it for me, it's a step in the right direction. I'll be voting "yes" in the referendum on May 5th. It's about time electoral reform actually took off in the UK.
Friday, 2 July 2010
Wednesday, 30 June 2010
The First ConDemning Budget - Council Tax Freeze?
Amazing news!!! Council tax could be frozen for a year from April '11. Celebrations......or just a little ploy to try and sweeten members of the public when everything else is being increased and spending reduced. Note the word 'could' in that first statement. This is a great idea in theory, however council tax will only be frozen for a year for those councils who keep their costs down.
What does this even mean? And are councils really going to reduce their spending even more in order to stop an increase in council tax? I can't see it happening, this is just a Tory/Lib Dem plan to keep the public happy and the real cuts hidden. Unfortunately for the Government, the public aren't stupid! If it happens then great, but I do see that even if the tax is frozen for a year, the following year we'll all be hit at least twice as hard!
What does this even mean? And are councils really going to reduce their spending even more in order to stop an increase in council tax? I can't see it happening, this is just a Tory/Lib Dem plan to keep the public happy and the real cuts hidden. Unfortunately for the Government, the public aren't stupid! If it happens then great, but I do see that even if the tax is frozen for a year, the following year we'll all be hit at least twice as hard!
Sunday, 27 June 2010
The First ConDemning Budget - The Raising of the Personal Tax Allowance
So the chancellor George Osborne has increased the personal income tax allowance for those who pay the basic rate of tax. Apparently this will mean around 900,000 people not paying any income tax at all, and all other basic rate taxpayers will be about £170 better off a year. To pay for this higher rate taxpayers will have their allowance changed so they do not benefit from this increase.
Sounds fair, so is it??...................Well I think it is. My only problem is that it doesn't quite go far enough. The Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives, as part of their coalition agreement, signed up to a long-term goal of raising the income tax threshold to £10,000 to the basic rate taxpayer. I personally believe this should have been brought in, in full, in this budget. But still, it is a step in the right direction to making income tax a fairer tax to all who pay it.
One other thing - although this move is a good move as far as I can see, I can't help but wonder whether it will really have much impact on families across the country when the VAT rate has risen and public spending is being cut back on. Only time will tell...
Sounds fair, so is it??...................Well I think it is. My only problem is that it doesn't quite go far enough. The Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives, as part of their coalition agreement, signed up to a long-term goal of raising the income tax threshold to £10,000 to the basic rate taxpayer. I personally believe this should have been brought in, in full, in this budget. But still, it is a step in the right direction to making income tax a fairer tax to all who pay it.
One other thing - although this move is a good move as far as I can see, I can't help but wonder whether it will really have much impact on families across the country when the VAT rate has risen and public spending is being cut back on. Only time will tell...
Thursday, 24 June 2010
The First ConDemning Budget - The VAT Rise.
So George Osborne, David Cameron and the Tory party have finally got what they've wanted - 2 things in fact! First, the opportunity to impose spending cuts and tax rises on the British public (supposedly because of the recession, but we all know they would have done this anyway)! And not only have they had the opportunity to impose the budget changes, they are now in a position where they can set up the Lib Dems to take most of the blame, and look like the part of the coalition which isn't sticking true to it's word! And stupidly, the Lib Dems seem to be going along with all of it - Good luck in the next election libberers, you'll certainly need it!
So, perhaps the most controversial part of this emergency budget is the VAT rise. Although it could also be the freezing of child benefit, or the reduction in tax credits, or......I could go on! The whole budget, to be frank, is quite controversial in one way or another. Yet there are a couple of sweeteners too.....I'll come onto those.
BREAKING NEWS - VAT HAS RISEN FROM 17.5% TO 20%!
Many people said it was unavoidable; others said it would be tragic; whatever your thoughts on it, apparently it's going to increase the average weekly household shopping basket by £33, and raise an extra £13 billion a year by the end of the current term of Parliament. So is it good? Well, Labour obviously don't think so - Harriet said in her budget response that the move was unfair, and various Labour MPs have spoken out on the issue of VAT. And perhaps she's right - £33 a week is a lot of money to many families, and it is without a doubt going to hit them where it hurts - the bank balance. More wealthy people aren't as likely to notice the tax hike, so it seems that the Tories are back to their old tricks of taking things out on the poorest.
Or maybe this is a good move. I mean, we hardly noticed when VAT dropped under Labour to 15% did we? So surely we'll hardly notice if it goes up. To be quite blunt, this is a ridiculous argument - to compare a rise and a fall in VAT in terms of amount and how it will affect people is ludicrous - of course people aren't going to notice a drop in VAT, because they are struggling to meet bills as it is - a few quid a week extra isn't really going to help that much, especially not with spiralling food and fuel costs.
So, in my opinion the VAT rise is absurd - I don't think the amount of money it gains is worth the agonising affect it will have on thousands, if not millions of households on an already tight budget. This is the first of many perfect examples of how our lives will change for the worse under a Conservative - and Lib Dem government.
So, perhaps the most controversial part of this emergency budget is the VAT rise. Although it could also be the freezing of child benefit, or the reduction in tax credits, or......I could go on! The whole budget, to be frank, is quite controversial in one way or another. Yet there are a couple of sweeteners too.....I'll come onto those.
BREAKING NEWS - VAT HAS RISEN FROM 17.5% TO 20%!
Many people said it was unavoidable; others said it would be tragic; whatever your thoughts on it, apparently it's going to increase the average weekly household shopping basket by £33, and raise an extra £13 billion a year by the end of the current term of Parliament. So is it good? Well, Labour obviously don't think so - Harriet said in her budget response that the move was unfair, and various Labour MPs have spoken out on the issue of VAT. And perhaps she's right - £33 a week is a lot of money to many families, and it is without a doubt going to hit them where it hurts - the bank balance. More wealthy people aren't as likely to notice the tax hike, so it seems that the Tories are back to their old tricks of taking things out on the poorest.
Or maybe this is a good move. I mean, we hardly noticed when VAT dropped under Labour to 15% did we? So surely we'll hardly notice if it goes up. To be quite blunt, this is a ridiculous argument - to compare a rise and a fall in VAT in terms of amount and how it will affect people is ludicrous - of course people aren't going to notice a drop in VAT, because they are struggling to meet bills as it is - a few quid a week extra isn't really going to help that much, especially not with spiralling food and fuel costs.
So, in my opinion the VAT rise is absurd - I don't think the amount of money it gains is worth the agonising affect it will have on thousands, if not millions of households on an already tight budget. This is the first of many perfect examples of how our lives will change for the worse under a Conservative - and Lib Dem government.
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