It was 20 years ago today......

[4D]

Really? I think my high council tax begs to differ

[Arriba]

you could go back to the poll tax then.

[Nemo]

Sgt. Pepper told the band to play?

All a bit before my time this. Nothing really exciting seems to have happened since.

[4D]

you could go back to the poll tax then.

It's no different though arriba, is it? I hate politics TBH, but it makes me cringe that some people blame one party for bringing one "tax" in but don't berate another party for carrying something similar on.

Please remind me of the vast difference between the two? I'm all ears

[Arriba]

poll tax made everyone pay the same amount,regardless of wealth and income.
great for the rich,not the rest of us.

[jonny72]

erm yes. we stopped the poll tax and ousted thatcher.

And managed to push VAT up to 17.5% in the process which is still with us today.

My memories of the poll tax riots are slightly different. Everyone I knew either thought it was a fairer system, or just as an excellent opportunity to riot and avoid paying rather than actually being opposed to it.

[4D]

poll tax made everyone pay the same amount,regardless of wealth and income.
great for the rich,not the rest of us.

So what's the difference with council tax? You could live in a "Band D" house and earn £60k a year or £15k and still pay the same. For me tax should be based on income. That's my thoughts on the subject. As I said before, I do not like politics.

[Colin Todd]

I'm still not sure why its considered so unfair to be honest. Richer people use less council services. fact. Richer people already pay a lot more tax. fact.

Before anyone starts I'm not rich in the slightest.

And lets be honest here, the massive council tax rises under labour have just meant everyone pays more anyway. but thats based on house values in 1994 or whatever it is so thats fair.

[Barry Scott]

I read recently how Thatcher opposed Catalytic converters in cars, saying it will increase the levels of c02, to levels unknown, and that instead of having Catalytic converters we should invest heavily in alternative fuels to prevent a possible future crisis.

She was chastised for these views and almost nobody believed a word the mad old bag said. History has proven her right. For the record i'm too young (31) to know anything of Thatcher, so have no idea what she was actually like, but do suspect i wouldn't ever be a Thatcherite. I just read that about catalytic converters and found it enlightening.

Going back to the riots though, I do wish our country wasn't turned into a namby-pamby apathetic waste of oxygen and actually had the balls to riot or even stand-up for ourselves these days.

I have no idea what poll-tax was, the impact it had or how much it hurt the populace, so perhaps i shouldn't even attempt to compare anything our current government have done with Thatcher, but i will.

I sincerely believe that some of the ludicrous taxation, law-creation and freedom-destruction mentality under Labour is worthy of riots, or at least some sort of mass protest. I imagine years ago, the streets would have been aflame with anger.

It seems to me that the trouble today is that no one seems to give a fuck anymore. Our bulldog spirit has been killed. We've been turned into weak people living in a padded protectionist society, seemingly only fueled by propaganda and rarely our own free thought. Apathy, jealousy and hatred seem to reign supreme.

Obviously i'm unlikely right; i don't read or watch the news and have no idea what any of the parties have to say. I believe they're all much of a muchness and i feel my vote is worthless. It's like the hoover salesman who at the end of his sale says, "So, what colour do you want? Red, yellow or blue?" Fuck the colour, who said i wanted a hoover?

[4D]

Council tax seems to go up x % a year too, pity my wages don't. If your wages go up you pay more tax, fair enough.

[4D]

I'm still not sure why its considered so unfair to be honest. Richer people use less council services. fact. Richer people already pay a lot more tax. fact.

Before anyone starts I'm not rich in the slightest.

And lets be honest here, the massive council tax rises under labour have just meant everyone pays more anyway. but thats based on house values in 1994 or whatever it is so thats fair.

Can you enlighten us?

[pauld]

Can you enlighten us?

The rich are less likely to use services paid for by taxes as

1) They frequently choose to use equivalent or better private services e.g. health (although private healthcare does leach on the NHS to an extent rarely fully acknowledged), private rather than state pensions etc
2) The better off (not just the rich) are proportionately less likely to use "safety net" services such as social services, unemployment/incapacity benefits etc.

Although in both categories there are compelling arguments that the rich/better off benefit from the less well off having access to at least the basic level of services provided by the state via taxation even if they do not use them themselves, through the largely intangible "societal good". Quite how well that balance works out I'll leave to TT and Lumps to fight out

[Arriba]

that has little to do with council tax though.more your income-national insurance

[4D]

The rich are less likely to use services paid for by taxes as

1) They frequently choose to use equivalent or better private services e.g. health (although private healthcare does leach on the NHS to an extent rarely fully acknowledged), private rather than state pensions etc
2) The better off (not just the rich) are proportionately less likely to use "safety net" services such as social services, unemployment/incapacity benefits etc.

Although in both categories there are compelling arguments that the rich/better off benefit from the less well off having access to at least the basic level of services provided by the state via taxation even if they do not use them themselves, through the largely intangible "societal good". Quite how well that balance works out I'll leave to TT and Lumps to fight out

Paul, you have just quoted the obvious though "Healthcare" blah,blah. Taxes also pay for the roads, public services etc. Tax as a percentage of income, I think, is the fairest contribution. I am not even talking about the higher tax bands.

[pauld]

Paul, you have just quoted the obvious though "Healthcare" blah,blah. Taxes also pay for the roads, public services etc. Tax as a percentage of income, I think, is the fairest contribution. I am not even talking about the higher tax bands.

Yeah, sorry, it was just an example. It's not a case I especially believe in, tbh, I was just trying to explain where that argument comes from - you could also throw defence into the mix as something we all benefit from (insofar as we do) in equal measure