General Election - 4th July

Sure
But what do you think of this Reform Party proposal?

Raising the base level to 20,000 is a good idea. Both Labour and the Tories have promised not to raise Income Tax, but what they don't tell you is that they will freeze the thresholds, thereby dragging more people into paying tax, especially with inflation driving higher wages. As you know, this is called Fiscal Drag and the Tories have been doing this. Fiscal Drag also means far more people are now paying the 40% tax rate as their wages have increased. This policy will benefit those lower earners. Do you object to that?

Not paying interest to the BoE? A bit complicated for me, but it does appear as though a lot of money is being earned by those who lent at the low rates of interest but are now cashing in as the interest rates have risen.

Raising VAT threshold from 90,000 to 150,000 for small businesses. Once again, anything that helps business grow is a good thing as it creates jobs leading to an easing of pressure on the benefits system, increases the tax take and helps put more money into the economy. Do you object to that?

"Not paying interest to the BoE? A bit complicated for me, but it does appear as though a lot of money is being earned by those who lent at the low rates of interest but are now cashing in as the interest rates have risen."

So when the Government needed to inject cash into the economy when markets got really tight they bought back Government bonds purchased by finance houses on the open market. That increased liquidity. I had always they just printed money. But it appears that they funded the buy back by using bank deposits and paid interest on those deposits. Quite clever really. I presume these were on a contract with the BoE.

Now Reform are saying they will unilaterally revoke those contracts and stop paying interest. Which will destroy trust, nobody will ever get involved with that again.
God help us if we ever need to inject liquidity into the markets again.

Appears like another headline grabbing simplistic policy announcement to me.

Par for the course.

Did Reform make an announcement on other tax issues? I did see that Farage said that we could save billions by cutting out diversity training!

😂😂😂
Made me laugh.
I will watch for other tax related announcements from them

We cannot afford it

Maths not your strong point?

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Tax cuts to come in tomorrow's manifesto, Sunak says
Robinson puts to Sunak that the Tories have proposed several expensive election policies and asks whether they've found a "magic money tree".

Sunak says all his policies would be "fully funded and costed", prompting Robinson to ask if his party manifesto - which will be released tomorrow - will announce further tax cuts.

Sunak replies: "We will have a manifesto... that, yes, does continue to cut people's taxes - because I believe in a country where people's hard work is rewarded."

Robinson asks Sunak whether he's "got a bit of a nerve" going after Labour on taxes, considering the total tax bill under Sunak - first as chancellor, then as prime minister - has gone up by "£93bn a year".

The pandemic and energy crisis have been big factors, the PM says, insisting it was right for the government to intervene and help people who needed it at the time.

"But now, taxes are being cut - the average tax rate faced by a typical person in work is the lowest it's been in over half a century," he tells Robinson.

There's a heated back and forth now about tax, with Robinson cutting in to say people are set to pay more income tax under Tory plans and again asks how the prime minister can say he's cutting taxes.

Sunak repeats his claim that the "average worker is facing the lowest tax rate in over 50 years", to which Robinson says Sunak is talking about tax thresholds, describing the claims as "convenient".

The PM then interrupts to say that it's tax thresholds combined with the rate, and that rate is the "lowest it has been for 50 years".

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Sunak refuses to back down on £2,000 Labour tax claim
Robinson now turns to a row that developed last week after the first TV debate of the election campaign between Sunak and Starmer.

During the debate, Sunak said Labour would raise taxes by £2,000 and that the figure had been costed by "independent Treasury officials". The Treasury's top civil servant went on to distance his department from the figure.

Asked why he's continuing to quote the number, when the UK statistics watchdog has called it misleading, Sunak says "because it's right - and the choice at this election is clear: we're going to keep cutting people's taxes... the Labour Party are going to keep putting taxes up".

Sunak says the £2,000 figure is a result of 27 policies being "totted up" - 21 of which he says "are produced by independent Treasury officials". He says three come from "other government sources", two from "the Labour Party themselves" and one from "an independent investment bank".

Robinson says the way the figure was presented - as though it would happen over a year, rather than four - is not something "any economist" would do, to which Sunak insists Labour would hike taxes and he doesn't want to see that happen.

Starmer last week accused Sunak of lying over the claim.

For context: BBC Verify previously analysed the Conservatives' £2,000 tax claim and concluded that they risked misleading people.

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Robinson suggests that the prime minister is offering voters lots of new "treats", while insisting spending won't have to come down and taxes won't rise.

He asks if Sunak is possibly starting to sound "a bit like [former prime minister] Liz Truss", who resigned after less than 50 days in office when she and her chancellor introduced a £45bn package of unfunded tax cuts - including a cut to the top rate of income tax - which panicked the markets.

"Not at all, actually," Sunak says, adding that his plans would be funded by a crack down on tax evasion and avoidance, as well as reforms to the welfare system.

I'm proud of the last 14 years, Sunak says
Finally, Nick Robinson asks Rishi Sunak whether he thinks the Conservatives deserve another five years in power. He says many viewers have been contacting the BBC saying that "nothing works - they can't get GP and dentist appointments, the trains don't run on time, sewage gets pumped into the rivers".

Sunak says Robinson has failed to mention the Conservative education reform - "our children are the best readers in the Western world" - and repeats that this election is about the future and building on the progress already made.

He lists promises that he's been making during this interview and the election campaign (such as the enhanced pension triple lock, migration coming down and getting to net zero), again attacking Labour for asking for a "blank cheque" without making clear which taxes will be raised.

Robinson then lists the "broken promises" of previous Tory prime ministers, to which Sunak says no government gets everything right - but says "I am proud of what's been achieved over the last 14 years".

And with that, the BBC's first leader interview of this campaign draws to a close. Stay tuned for more analysis.

After the blow out job creation numbers in the States for May, today we are given the UK numbers.

"The unemployment rate has unexpectedly risen to its highest level for two and a half years, official figures show."

Oh dear.
Let's hope Starmer is more Joe Biden than the loons in the GOP.

🤔🧐

Energy drink ban for under-16s would stop children becoming 'wired' - Wes Streeting.

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First, Streeting is asked about Labour's plans to stop the sale of high-caffeine energy drinks to under-16s.

He says he "applauds" supermarkets who currently ban selling them to children but the current scheme is "voluntary".

"Parents and teachers have told us about the impact of these products", he says, and they are having "really serious" effects on children's concentration and sleep, saying some children are "wired".

Streeting says "we need consistency everywhere", and more broadly his party is trying to take more "preventative action".

Labour plans more emergency dentist appointments
Streeting says Labour is committed to rebuilding NHS dentistry - that's going to include an extra 700,000 emergency dentistry appointments being created, 100,000 of those earmarked for children.

It's part of a £1.6bn package to "take action on waiting times", he tells BBC Breakfast.

He says Labour will "help make sure those people in pain and agony" will be able to get the emergency dentistry they need.

Streeting emphasises that longer term, there needs to be contract reform. He says on the Monday after the election, if Labour wins, he'll hold talks with the British Dental Association about this - adding that many dentists are in the private sector.

On that note, he says there's a "horrible status quo" where those who can afford to go private do, while "poor people" get a "poor service".

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Sally Nugent asks Streeting if they would increase capital gains tax - after previously ruling out increases in income tax rates, National Insurance, VAT and corporation tax.

Capital gains tax is paid on profits from selling an asset, and is set at a lower rate than income tax.

Streeting says he "can certainly confirm not a single policy in that manifesto requires Labour to increase capital gains tax".

We can't match Tories' pledge to cut National Insurance - Streeting
Asked if Labour would match the Conservative promise to cut 2p from National Insurance, Streeting says they're not able to make that commitment because "the money simply isn't there".

He says Rishi Sunak is "taking people for fools" and there's the choice between the "irresponsible Conservative party with a record of economic vandalism or a responsible Labour that's being honest with the country".

He says every promise Labour makes is one the country "can afford" and that Sunak "can't say that".