Ian Boucher
@desolationrow5.bsky.social
Exactly this. They’ve baked in cuts and tax rises to pre election budgets that are as credible as when the Tories did similar. Yet let’s argue about whether the economy is in as bad shape as Reeves said or not having spent a year telling you it’s far worse than she says.
November 30, 2025 at 12:26 PM
Exactly this. They’ve baked in cuts and tax rises to pre election budgets that are as credible as when the Tories did similar. Yet let’s argue about whether the economy is in as bad shape as Reeves said or not having spent a year telling you it’s far worse than she says.
Same thing that happened in the US. We think we are different. We are not.
November 30, 2025 at 10:52 AM
Same thing that happened in the US. We think we are different. We are not.
Bottom line is the people screaming about this are the same people who have spent the last year insisting we are in recession and need an IMF bailout. Reeves and budget was a chaotic mess and that’s entirely on the govt. But these right wing hacks are completely disingenuous.
November 30, 2025 at 9:56 AM
Bottom line is the people screaming about this are the same people who have spent the last year insisting we are in recession and need an IMF bailout. Reeves and budget was a chaotic mess and that’s entirely on the govt. But these right wing hacks are completely disingenuous.
Facts just annoy people these days.
November 30, 2025 at 9:53 AM
Facts just annoy people these days.
We’ve just had the biggest two tax and spend budgets in 50 years. It is the furthest thing imaginable from austerity.
November 30, 2025 at 9:25 AM
We’ve just had the biggest two tax and spend budgets in 50 years. It is the furthest thing imaginable from austerity.
Labour not having a proper growth strategy that they can implement is not a good reason to go ‘on well let’s adopt a load of MMT nonsense’ in the same way Cameron’s failed unification of the Tories has not been a good reason for them to slide down the populist rabbit hole.
November 29, 2025 at 5:08 PM
Labour not having a proper growth strategy that they can implement is not a good reason to go ‘on well let’s adopt a load of MMT nonsense’ in the same way Cameron’s failed unification of the Tories has not been a good reason for them to slide down the populist rabbit hole.
The fact that politics is struggling in general to have a thought through seriousness about it does not mean you abandon that for an even greater lack of seriousness. It’s clear why extremes on right and left are doing well globally but lit doesn’t make it more credible in reality.
November 29, 2025 at 5:06 PM
The fact that politics is struggling in general to have a thought through seriousness about it does not mean you abandon that for an even greater lack of seriousness. It’s clear why extremes on right and left are doing well globally but lit doesn’t make it more credible in reality.
Yeah - that’s the broad issue with wealth taxes, beyond them not raising the money most suggest, they catch a lot of people not benefiting from the wealth. So ultimately you have to decide if the behaviour such taxes drive are good outcomes or not.
November 29, 2025 at 2:54 PM
Yeah - that’s the broad issue with wealth taxes, beyond them not raising the money most suggest, they catch a lot of people not benefiting from the wealth. So ultimately you have to decide if the behaviour such taxes drive are good outcomes or not.
Well at least it’s flagged now so the govt can intervene in this nonsense raise it in the public conscience as an example of waste to be tackled before finalizing a process that leaves not only this train running empty but three extra ones too.
November 29, 2025 at 1:46 PM
Well at least it’s flagged now so the govt can intervene in this nonsense raise it in the public conscience as an example of waste to be tackled before finalizing a process that leaves not only this train running empty but three extra ones too.
I mean if you ignore everything they say do and write - sure.
November 29, 2025 at 1:42 PM
I mean if you ignore everything they say do and write - sure.
The greens are as much a joke as not your party. It’s all horribly depressing on the left for anyone who wants some credible evidenced based policy competence and seriousness. But it’s been that way for as long as I’ve been alive at least.
November 29, 2025 at 1:35 PM
The greens are as much a joke as not your party. It’s all horribly depressing on the left for anyone who wants some credible evidenced based policy competence and seriousness. But it’s been that way for as long as I’ve been alive at least.
No but they’ve in many cases had even earlier and sharper rises of anti eu far right parties. Our politicians from 2015 onwards have clearly been prepared to inflict crazy self harm on us but the broader underlying causes are not unique to us at all.
November 29, 2025 at 10:49 AM
No but they’ve in many cases had even earlier and sharper rises of anti eu far right parties. Our politicians from 2015 onwards have clearly been prepared to inflict crazy self harm on us but the broader underlying causes are not unique to us at all.
If I assume she is genuine I really do struggle with the idea that someone spends what, £60,000 in today’s money on a property and now it’s worth £2M thinking all that gain should not attract any tax. She can defer the payment until sale or she passes away too.
November 29, 2025 at 10:47 AM
If I assume she is genuine I really do struggle with the idea that someone spends what, £60,000 in today’s money on a property and now it’s worth £2M thinking all that gain should not attract any tax. She can defer the payment until sale or she passes away too.
This wave of anti immigrant rhetoric is not unique to us. It’s happening all over. I mean we are copying the policies of previous bastion of social democracy Denmark. Far right are resurgent across much of Europe. Australia have history. We aren’t unique. At all.
November 29, 2025 at 8:00 AM
This wave of anti immigrant rhetoric is not unique to us. It’s happening all over. I mean we are copying the policies of previous bastion of social democracy Denmark. Far right are resurgent across much of Europe. Australia have history. We aren’t unique. At all.
Yeah but projections are they go up again. Of course that can change.
November 28, 2025 at 8:47 PM
Yeah but projections are they go up again. Of course that can change.
It doesn’t though. The budget was incredibly progressive in that higher earners pay more and the poorest got a boost. There is a chart showing income percentiles. If a progressive redistributive budget is your thing that’s what just happened.
November 28, 2025 at 3:58 PM
It doesn’t though. The budget was incredibly progressive in that higher earners pay more and the poorest got a boost. There is a chart showing income percentiles. If a progressive redistributive budget is your thing that’s what just happened.
Whilst I don’t think the govt are doing well at all they’ve just delivered two successive budgets with the largest increases in tax and spend most of us have ever seen. You cannot say ‘that’s the same as the Tories’. It makes no sense.
November 28, 2025 at 3:18 PM
Whilst I don’t think the govt are doing well at all they’ve just delivered two successive budgets with the largest increases in tax and spend most of us have ever seen. You cannot say ‘that’s the same as the Tories’. It makes no sense.
So Reeves either wanted to trail raising income tax to provide cover and relief for freezing thresholds OR wanted to do so but was persuaded not to?
November 28, 2025 at 2:35 PM
So Reeves either wanted to trail raising income tax to provide cover and relief for freezing thresholds OR wanted to do so but was persuaded not to?
Prices are going up so it probably will be a less than £150 reduction too. The problem is in the context of sky high bills it doesn’t make much of a dent for many. Energy policy is really in a mess.
November 28, 2025 at 12:38 PM
Prices are going up so it probably will be a less than £150 reduction too. The problem is in the context of sky high bills it doesn’t make much of a dent for many. Energy policy is really in a mess.
Reposted by Ian Boucher
famously, also, Mary and Joseph travelled to Bethlehem just for a romantic minibreak, not because they had to pay any taxes or anything
November 28, 2025 at 11:50 AM
famously, also, Mary and Joseph travelled to Bethlehem just for a romantic minibreak, not because they had to pay any taxes or anything
I think the problem is he’s saying ‘what do we need to do’ in any given situation rather than ‘here is what I want to do’. And of course the absence of any broader vision to guide that thinking.
November 28, 2025 at 11:51 AM
I think the problem is he’s saying ‘what do we need to do’ in any given situation rather than ‘here is what I want to do’. And of course the absence of any broader vision to guide that thinking.
It really isn’t. People don’t like having less money. They like having less money even more when some people who aren’t them will get more. The budget was always going to be unpopular.
November 28, 2025 at 11:50 AM
It really isn’t. People don’t like having less money. They like having less money even more when some people who aren’t them will get more. The budget was always going to be unpopular.
He could just have read Blair circa 1988 to learn that.
November 28, 2025 at 11:47 AM
He could just have read Blair circa 1988 to learn that.
Not sure it constitutes a plan. Their whole time in office seems to be prepare people for a worse eventuality than what actually happens but instead of relief people end up thinking they got the worst possible outcome anyway.
November 28, 2025 at 11:47 AM
Not sure it constitutes a plan. Their whole time in office seems to be prepare people for a worse eventuality than what actually happens but instead of relief people end up thinking they got the worst possible outcome anyway.