The Political Thread

[COMMANDO FORCES]

Now that's how you get rid of a democratically elected government!

[Frank]

Now that's how you get rid of a democratically elected government!

Tough one, innit? Morsi was steadily changing the constitution to give himself more power and altering the tone of civil society to make the Muslim Brotherhood more influential in daily life, but this isn't the way you do things in a democracy. Morsi was shite though, and folk were on the streets because he spent more time promoting Sharia law than he did reviving the stagnant economy. Morsi fought the 2012 election against the guy who was PM under the Mubarak regime, and - even if some kind of election is eventually held - it's difficult not to see this military coup as the generals engineering a way to get the result they wanted last time.

It's like the bits in Origins and The Cursed Earth where the people 'ask' the judges to step in and rule on their behalf, only for real.

[Ancient Otter]

Easy to see why Erdogan is cribbing over the regime change in Egypt, he wouldn't want the Turkish military getting any ideas with their history of overthrowing governments...

Edit: Egyptian stock exchange jumps on Morsi ousting. Someone else pulling the strings, perhaps...?

[COMMANDO FORCES]

Hands up who would like an 11% pay increase, just to curb the temptation to FIDDLE your expenses!

[Professor Bear]

That would be ideal.  What would be even better was if I could decide to give that raise to myself, and then poor people paid it to me using the money they were going to invest in the NHS.  I don't know about you, but I consider my day wasted if I haven't caused at least one child or elderly person to die just so I can have a free meal.

[TordelBack]

Children, the elderly and the sick are basically parasites on society, sucking up resources and contributing essentially nothing.  That particular ecological niche isn't big enough to support two such species, so you can hardly blame their competitors for wanting them dead.

[Professor Bear]

That all sounds like boffin talk to me - I just want money for me and my friends, I don't really care about the science of it all as I don't need to know how it works, only what parts can be sold.  I'm a bit like the chaps pulling out gold teeth at Auschwitz in that respect.
Godwin's Law aside, it's a metaphor that keeps on giving, that one.

[Frank]

Peasants. There are any number of legitimate reasons why our loyal and obedient servants incur expenses in the course of their duties; I just think those lads need to be a bit more creative in how they source their office supplies, secretarial services and other vital resources.

[Old Tankie]

After the expenses scandal, the great British public decided that it was evil that MPs and Ministers set their own pay, so the government of the day set up an entirely independent pay review board to set MPs and Ministers salaries.

The completely independent pay board decides to award our parliamentarians a pay increase and the great British public still thinks the politicians are evil and money grabbing prats. 

[Professor Bear]

I saw the front page of today's Mirror and they're giving off that the poor pay more income tax than the rich.  I mean, surely this is only sensible seeing as the poor have less income and need to pay more of it to keep up with what the rich contribute?

[TordelBack]

I saw the front page of today's Mirror and they're giving off that the poor pay more income tax than the rich.  I mean, surely this is only sensible seeing as the poor have less income and need to pay more of it to keep up with what the rich contribute?

You're missing the point again.  It's all about motivation.  The poor are poor because they are lazy and/or useless, and thus need the incentive of reducing their tax bill by earning more and thus improving their moral standing as a group. Without the carrot and the stick, how will they ever better themselves?

[Old Tankie]

Well, if it's on the front page of the Mirror then it must be true!!  How can the poor pay more in tax than the rich?  The top 10% of earners in the UK pay at least 25% of the tax.  Most working lower income families get tax or child tax credits.  Only half of the working age population of the UK pay more in taxes than they take out in benefits.  You can do anything you like with statistics.  One of the big problems with this country is that many of the lower paid are having their wages topped up by the State and not being paid properly by the companies that they work for.  It's one of the many reasons the country's skint.

[Dandontdare]

Well, if it's on the front page of the Mirror then it must be true!!  How can the poor pay more in tax than the rich?  The top 10% of earners in the UK pay at least 25% of the tax.  Most working lower income families get tax or child tax credits.  Only half of the working age population of the UK pay more in taxes than they take out in benefits.  You can do anything you like with statistics.  One of the big problems with this country is that many of the lower paid are having their wages topped up by the State and not being paid properly by the companies that they work for.  It's one of the many reasons the country's skint.

If only we could have some kind of system where they could unite into an organisation and demand better wages, or withdraw their labour. Wouldn't that be great?

[Old Tankie]

Yes, I think they've tried that already, weren't they called trade unions!!  Obviously they didn't work!  What do trade union bosses earn?  Don't some of them earn more than the prime minister?  Still, they're only looking after their members!!

[Richmond Clements]

Yes, I think they've tried that already, weren't they called trade unions!!  Obviously they didn't work!  What do trade union bosses earn?  Don't some of them earn more than the prime minister?  Still, they're only looking after their members!!

That's be the millionaire prime minister, whose father made his fortune telling people how to avoid paying tax in the UK?