Thursday, January 01, 2009

Higher taxes - but only for the English

Labour's plans to punish England for giving it less votes than the Conservatives at the 2005 general election are now well advanced. the following measures have been "leaked" or trailed over Christmas:

  • Student fees may rise by up to £20k/year - but only for the English of course. Also Labour supporters will no doubt get grants to help fight social mobility. So an English middle class family will pay for - the Scots/Welsh and Irish to educate their kids. EU citizens for their education ( when we know the govt can't manage to claim the loans back ).
  • The punish people in Tory areas council tax revaluation plan. Those people who don't get their windows broken regularly or walk through broken glass on their pavement regularly will have to pay more council tax.
  • You get extra tax for old age only in England. Now this is being spun as compulsory "saving" and "insurance". But the Scots get this for free, paid in part by the English. You can bet that the government won't be able to avoid getting its sticky paws on the "insurance" money - anyone remember National Insurance ? And of course only the middle class will be taxed - creating the reverse of Frank Filed objection about targeted benefits (which discourage saving )- with unavoidable targeted taxation.

3 comments:

Wyrdtimes said...

What are the Tories going to do about England?

A. Nothing. Sour little Englanders being squeezed to death is a price worth paying for the Union.

Only one way for England as far as I'm concerned. Home rule.

Man in a Shed said...

Its a fair question, and one that worries me quite a bit.

Wyrdtimes said...

There's just nothing doing!

Nothing on the Barnett formula. Nothing on the English regions. A cursory glance at an English Parliament. As far as I know there's no guarantee on a vote on the EU.

What's to like?

Frank Field is about the only MP who sounds like he's actually interested about England.