Where I agree something had to be done, I disagree that the "Windfall Tax" should be just a one off occurrence, let me explain...
If we consider that windfall tax has been applied a few times in the past, we have history to look upon but to simplify, I'll look at the windfall tax applied to say, lottery winners. It's a one off tax but what if a lottery winner kept winning the lottery week after week?
That's precisely the situation we have with the massive energy firms, it's like winning the lottery (although many times more than a lottery winner) every single week. After they pay the windfall tax, profits will continue to roll in at an inordinate pace and within a very short time, those who get a little help by payments from the government will be back in the same position they are now.
The windfall tax was one way to get more money into the UK treasury but don't forget that the treasury itself was winning the lottery each week too in the increased taxes from all of us. For example, each time a road user fills up at the petrol station, a large proportion of the money we pay goes to the treasury and with the cost of fuel being so high, that's quite a bonanza for Rishi Sunak the UK chancellor.
Then if we consider the rise in both household and industry electricity and gas costs, even though the tax take is less, that's still a massive extra tax take on its own. Our tax system is now completely out of kilter and should equate to the amount of money required to run the whole of the UK, it isn't doing that and it can be seen that Sunak is using the massive additional taxes to pay down the public debt so that whilst all of this is going on he can claim a political success supported by your suffering.
To do that at a time like this when people are literally starving just shows how out of touch with the reality of the situation he really is. He and his colleagues are never going to attend a food bank or have to consider how they're going to fill the car with fuel to get to work next week and I'll bet that their heating systems are just set up automatically to keep their homes warm on cold mornings.
The windfall tax should have been applied weeks ago but instead, it was held back in a rather underhanded way to get people to "move on" from Partygate after the Sue Gray report was released, but as I've said, it's not enough to help folk properly, not by a country mile.
The real solution in Scotland (because I can't see any remedy for the people of England) is to remove ourselves from the political and economic nonsense of Westminster, and to do that we need Scottish independence. It is the only way to begin fixing a situation that the tories or the labour "opposition" would never consider.
Their way is to rub a little bit of ointment onto a gash running with blood in the hope that the patient (us) will think that'll do the trick. The situation at the moment (and getting worse in the near future) is such that radical action is needed to help people at a time when government should be pulling every lever in an effort to bring these costs under control.
Yet again, we can cite brexit brought in by the tories and fully supported by the labour "opposition as being a root cause of soaring food and energy costs. The uk government keep mentioning Covid and that did play a part but it is brexit and the fact that the supply chain is broken and we're no longer a part of the EU and importantly EUPHEMIA, the EU's method of keeping energy costs under control, that's the underlying cause of all of this.
I truly hope that the payments to be made to us will help out a little but they won't make the problem disappear, no, just the same as the big energy firms and UK treasury are winning the lottery every single day that goes by, in comparison, the people will see their lives destroyed bit by bit every day and in every way.
For a massive proportion of the population, this isn't going to end well. In a while we'll see the mass unemployment, evictions, starvation and everything else that goes with a situation like this. Even if we're personally lucky enough to avoid the worst of it, all our lives will be blighted in a way never seen before. We are all going to suffer unless we have a nice pot of money sitting in a tax haven somewhere.
That's all I want to say on the subject, look after each other as much as you can and keep an eye out for the signs that someone near to you is sinking. I know that people these days live largely insular lives but you all need to start talking to your neighbours and properly reconnect with your local community because there'll come a time when you'll really need to depend on each other. That's because the UK government will have washed its hands and wont do any more.
The Two Davies
>>> LET'S TALK ABOUT THE WINDFALL TAX <<<
Where I agree something had to be done, I disagree that the "Windfall Tax" should be just a one off occurrence, let me explain...
If we consider that windfall tax has been applied a few times in the past, we have history to look upon but to simplify, I'll look at the windfall tax applied to say, lottery winners. It's a one off tax but what if a lottery winner kept winning the lottery week after week?
That's precisely the situation we have with the massive energy firms, it's like winning the lottery (although many times more than a lottery winner) every single week. After they pay the windfall tax, profits will continue to roll in at an inordinate pace and within a very short time, those who get a little help by payments from the government will be back in the same position they are now.
The windfall tax was one way to get more money into the UK treasury but don't forget that the treasury itself was winning the lottery each week too in the increased taxes from all of us. For example, each time a road user fills up at the petrol station, a large proportion of the money we pay goes to the treasury and with the cost of fuel being so high, that's quite a bonanza for Rishi Sunak the UK chancellor.
Then if we consider the rise in both household and industry electricity and gas costs, even though the tax take is less, that's still a massive extra tax take on its own. Our tax system is now completely out of kilter and should equate to the amount of money required to run the whole of the UK, it isn't doing that and it can be seen that Sunak is using the massive additional taxes to pay down the public debt so that whilst all of this is going on he can claim a political success supported by your suffering.
To do that at a time like this when people are literally starving just shows how out of touch with the reality of the situation he really is. He and his colleagues are never going to attend a food bank or have to consider how they're going to fill the car with fuel to get to work next week and I'll bet that their heating systems are just set up automatically to keep their homes warm on cold mornings.
The windfall tax should have been applied weeks ago but instead, it was held back in a rather underhanded way to get people to "move on" from Partygate after the Sue Gray report was released, but as I've said, it's not enough to help folk properly, not by a country mile.
The real solution in Scotland (because I can't see any remedy for the people of England) is to remove ourselves from the political and economic nonsense of Westminster, and to do that we need Scottish independence. It is the only way to begin fixing a situation that the tories or the labour "opposition" would never consider.
Their way is to rub a little bit of ointment onto a gash running with blood in the hope that the patient (us) will think that'll do the trick. The situation at the moment (and getting worse in the near future) is such that radical action is needed to help people at a time when government should be pulling every lever in an effort to bring these costs under control.
Yet again, we can cite brexit brought in by the tories and fully supported by the labour "opposition as being a root cause of soaring food and energy costs. The uk government keep mentioning Covid and that did play a part but it is brexit and the fact that the supply chain is broken and we're no longer a part of the EU and importantly EUPHEMIA, the EU's method of keeping energy costs under control, that's the underlying cause of all of this.
I truly hope that the payments to be made to us will help out a little but they won't make the problem disappear, no, just the same as the big energy firms and UK treasury are winning the lottery every single day that goes by, in comparison, the people will see their lives destroyed bit by bit every day and in every way.
For a massive proportion of the population, this isn't going to end well. In a while we'll see the mass unemployment, evictions, starvation and everything else that goes with a situation like this. Even if we're personally lucky enough to avoid the worst of it, all our lives will be blighted in a way never seen before. We are all going to suffer unless we have a nice pot of money sitting in a tax haven somewhere.
That's all I want to say on the subject, look after each other as much as you can and keep an eye out for the signs that someone near to you is sinking. I know that people these days live largely insular lives but you all need to start talking to your neighbours and properly reconnect with your local community because there'll come a time when you'll really need to depend on each other. That's because the UK government will have washed its hands and wont do any more.
Always yours for Scotland,
David Milligan
3 years ago | [YT] | 11