gdp's Comments

http://www.conservativehome.com/ : Emily Carver: An online sales tax would be a clear-cut case of levelling down

Wed, 10 Feb 2021 11:28:49 +0000

The loss of bricks and mortar retail will raise the UK's productivity levels. The trouble is a lot of the Tories new voters in the north and midlands work in bricks and mortar retail or they want their high street to return to how it was 50 years ago. That means punishing online retail which has greater productivity levels and artificial helping sustain the retro retail shopping experience. The USDAW trade union and Labour Party will be very thankful.

http://www.conservativehome.com/ : John Macdonald: Are the Tories becoming the party of high taxes and picking industrial winners?

Wed, 10 Feb 2021 11:21:05 +0000

The so-called working class in the red wall want to go back to the good ol' days of the 60s and 70s where they could leave school at 16 and "get a job for life" in a (heavily loss making) nationalised industry and where the government would cave into their every demand for higher pay. The current conservative government will be looking at emulating Harold Wilson's government more than Thatcher's.

http://www.conservativehome.com/ : John Stevenson: Property tax reform is key to levelling up the country and the Conservatives’ elec

Wed, 3 Feb 2021 12:07:33 +0000

"When is enough enough?" It's never enough for northerners. Look at post war spending in the north and central government's regional policies to help the north between 1945 and 1979. They were massively expensive and an economic disaster which culminated in mass employment in the previously successful South and the UK ended up having to go to the IMF for a bailout. The Wider South East needs a devolved government and full fiscal autonomy. It's the only way to stop this situation from happening.

http://www.conservativehome.com/ : John Stevenson: Property tax reform is key to levelling up the country and the Conservatives’ elec

Wed, 3 Feb 2021 12:01:40 +0000

To simplify the northern proposal: Increase taxes in the South so the north can have tax cuts and increased spending. It's also telling the northern MPs campaign group is called "Fair Share" - indicating the mindset - a "fair share" of money and wealth that doesn't belong to northerners. In 2019 the north had the largest deficit in the UK at £42 billion, larger than Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland combined. Since the 1920s northerners have sought to use the power of central government to live beyond their means - it has cost taxpayers in the South several trillion, easily. It is beyond time that conservative voters in the South stopped wanting to conserve a political model that over taxes them and undermines their freedom. We are an economic colony. There is talk of Scotland being offered devo-max - full fiscal autonomy. Well, if it's good enough for Scotland it is good enough for the Wider South East.

http://www.conservativehome.com/ : Our survey. Conservative activists back the Labour Party...

Tue, 2 Feb 2021 10:31:25 +0000

What are the benefits of being in a union with Scotland which is clearly a staunchly left-wing country? Transfer more tax revenue collected in the Wider South East to the Scottish government or more UK government borrowing (paid for by taxpayers in the Wider South East) to buy off the Scots?

http://www.conservativehome.com/ : Invictus: Is it time to abolish the City of London Corporation?

Mon, 1 Feb 2021 18:20:56 +0000

The decisions that The City is making are based on the perceptions foreigners will have which will be different. The common sense view of the native British will be irrelevant.

http://www.conservativehome.com/ : Gary Porter: The voters demand more local control. We should listen to them.

Mon, 1 Feb 2021 10:21:46 +0000

The level up agenda can only be done through central government - massive borrowing and large fiscal transfers to fund high spending in the north and midlands to convince Labour voters to keep voting Tory and now also to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to ensure they receive the "benefits" of the union. There is little chance of fiscal devolution and the establishment of regional governments in England capable of taking over large functions currently held by central government.

http://www.conservativehome.com/ : Invictus: Is it time to abolish the City of London Corporation?

Mon, 1 Feb 2021 10:12:17 +0000

The City is reliant on global markets and foreign money most of which in the coming decades will be coming from Asia, Latin America and Africa. It makes sense they wouldn't want to be seen to be endorsing a racist legacy in any way. The City can't adopt the mindset of the red wall, if it did it would become a backwater in an instant.

http://www.conservativehome.com/ : Andy Street: A transport revolution is under way in the West Midlands - with the launch of a new bik

Tue, 26 Jan 2021 22:27:15 +0000

The London Mayor has a devolved budget and some limited tax raising powers. Three regions make a net tax contribution to the treasury: London, the South East and the East. Where do the fiscal transfers to London come from?

http://www.conservativehome.com/ : Andy Street: A transport revolution is under way in the West Midlands - with the launch of a new bik

Tue, 26 Jan 2021 13:20:18 +0000

"...I’m confident we can quickly catch up with the leading pack – and then power past them." This type of boast from the midlands (and the north) needs to be knocked on its head. The West Midlands gets devolution and continued fiscal transfers from the South East but the South East is the only region in England with no devolution whatsoever. This asymmetrical devolution of power and undemocratic means of centralised taxation should be unacceptable in an apparently first world country.

http://www.conservativehome.com/ : John Baron: Torching quangos, scrapping cash - Sunak's Budget should break with the past

Tue, 26 Jan 2021 13:02:20 +0000

"If the left-leaning preference for higher taxes, and therefore slower growth, is to be avoided then the right savings need to be made to fund deserving causes." Why do so many Conservative MPs from the South East keep playing this game? They know full well the highly centralised funding model of England means higher taxes are inevitable they are embedded into the system by default. The only way to truly get lower taxes is if we have a devolved government for the Wider South East or regional assemblies for the South East and East regions to complement London's assembly with full control over taxation. As it stands we will keep having to find money to fund the insatiable appetites of northerners for ever higher amounts of government spending in their region - which they don't want to pay for themselves. Until we can cut off the north (midlands and celtic nations) we will be overtaxed in the South East regions.

http://www.conservativehome.com/ : Johnson should be deeply wary of opening Pandora's Box with a constitutional commission

Sat, 23 Jan 2021 18:43:27 +0000

I think it is in the north where you will find much evidence over many decades of anti-English sentiments.

http://www.conservativehome.com/ : Johnson should be deeply wary of opening Pandora's Box with a constitutional commission

Sat, 23 Jan 2021 10:20:24 +0000

Devo max for the Wider South East. No more placating the demands of Scots, Welsh, Irish, northerners or midlanders with our taxes.

http://www.conservativehome.com/ : Ryan Bourne: A reassuringly conservative speech from Starmer's Shadow Chancellor. The Tories will ne

Wed, 20 Jan 2021 11:14:31 +0000

"Yes, Labour still wants a bigger state than the Conservatives." Are you sure? The northern red wall conservatives appear to very much want a bigger state and have set up a "northern trade union" voting block to strong arm the government into doing so. "There was no promise even of a Labour government “creating” high-wage jobs, or “transforming” the economy." I think I have heard Boris mention the intent to do this a few times - "we can create high paying green jobs and choose where we put them" - something along those lines. The Tories are going left on economics because the northern voters they are courting are the most economically left-wing electorate in the UK.

http://www.conservativehome.com/ : Laura Evans: Burnham's Mayoralty in Greater Manchester has meant four wasted years

Mon, 18 Jan 2021 19:26:48 +0000

It's not nonsense to expect northerners to pay for their own expenditure. The current authoritarian centralised tax regime is undemocratic and not fit for purpose.

http://www.conservativehome.com/ : A new property tax would bring rises. Business rates reform could mean cuts. Is Sunak mulling both

Mon, 18 Jan 2021 10:44:27 +0000

Quote: "Regardless as I pointed out to you last time. You are incorrect. Most taxes are centralised and get spent in London by people employed in London." London pays more tax to the government than it receives in spending from the government. In contrast the north receives more in spending from the government than it pays in taxes to the government. In 2019 the north had a £42 billion deficit: https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/governmentpublicse... Quote: "Speaking of transport London has had the majority of the national infrastructure budget for decades - for example the £20 Billion Cross Rail project. In fact London has had circa 50% of the national infrastructure budget for years." Transport is devolved in London - it's not national. All money borrowed to fund Transport for London projects have to be paid for by taxes/income raised in London. All aspects of Crossrail that fall under Transport for London's remit are paid for by London taxpayers and London businesses.

http://www.conservativehome.com/ : A new property tax would bring rises. Business rates reform could mean cuts. Is Sunak mulling both

Sun, 17 Jan 2021 12:12:57 +0000

"You could extend that logic further and say the relatively richer parts of the South East shouldn't be effectively subsidising the relatively poorer parts of the South East..." That wouldn't be logical. We could cut taxes in the South East and increase spending for the poorer areas of the South East if we had devo-max. The north and midlands but particularly people in the north have actively sought since the advent of universal suffrage to extract more from the government than they pay in taxes to the government. That cannot be said of people in the South East. It is not right that northern politicians can effectively use central government to export their tax increases to the Wider South East. We are being taxed to fund politicians we don't elect and funding services we don't use. What's stopping northerners from asking for even more spending? The only thing that would stop them is if northerners had to incur the tax increases for the spending increases they wanted exclusively in the north. It's not fiscally sustainable to keep taxing the South East to fund the north, midlands or the celtic nations.

http://www.conservativehome.com/ : A new property tax would bring rises. Business rates reform could mean cuts. Is Sunak mulling both

Sun, 17 Jan 2021 11:06:12 +0000

Quote: "...the WPI report argued that “shops in the North and Midlands face a higher burden than those in the South”. In our current centralised system of taxation this is the case. From the perspective of devolution it is the inverse. Businesses in the north and midlands actually have lower tax burdens then is required to fund expenditure in their regions. What should happen is tax raising powers should be devolved to the north and midlands. Taxpayers in the Wider South East shouldn't be tax even more so northerners can have increased spending and tax cuts at our expense.

http://www.conservativehome.com/ : Laura Evans: Burnham's Mayoralty in Greater Manchester has meant four wasted years

Fri, 15 Jan 2021 10:22:39 +0000

The biggest flaw with the mayoralty in Greater Manchester and other northern city regions is tax raising powers have not been devolved. Burnham and his northern cohorts have the perfect scenario they get handed a budget from centrally raised taxes and have a readily made get out clause in the form of "the government didn't give us enough money" or "the government isn't treating the north fairly" when things don't work out. Taxpayers in the Wider South East are funding these devolved northern regions yet they are not accountable to us. The tax burden for funding the north needs to be shifted to northern taxpayers. Northern mayors should not be able to extort money from taxpayers in the Wider South East via central government. Making the likes of Andy Burnham raise taxes on the people that elect him will soon shut him up and nullify his northern victimology trope.

http://www.conservativehome.com/ : Profile. Kwarteng Unchained. The rise, wobble and rise of the big, bold, bright new Business Secreta

Thu, 14 Jan 2021 10:26:30 +0000

“The British are among the worst idlers in the world. We work among the lowest hours, we retire early and our productivity is poor." That predominantly encapsulates the conservatives new red wall voters in the north for which they are now dependent. So there won't be much chance of unchaining us from the state and pushing for people to be self-reliant - it will be the exact opposite. For this reason Mr Kwarteng will unfortunately be constrained by what he can say and do.