Westminster Politics 2024-2029

11101 said:
Only took a couple of weeks:

https://www.thetimes.com/uk/scotlan...chool-closes-citing-labour-vat-plan-xxrjf5npz

A few dozen teachers redundant and feck the 300 kids booted out with less than a month to find a new school, those rich Tory bastards.
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Think you need a permanent mod to follow you around correcting your assertions at this point.

This article is from last year with the same issues and same claims at the same school:
https://perthgazette.co.uk/2023/06/kilgraston-school-to-permanently-close/

So they already announced they were closing last year then stayed open as they had a buyout which has now fallen through and they're closing again.

bUt lAbOuR vAT
 
Any private school that can't manage this is not viable anyway. Like all private enterprises, they should both be taxed, and succeed and fail on their own merits.
 
Smores said:
Think you need a permanent mod to follow you around correcting your assertions at this point.

This article is from last year with the same issues and same claims at the same school:
https://perthgazette.co.uk/2023/06/kilgraston-school-to-permanently-close/

So they already announced they were closing last year then stayed open as they had a buyout which has now fallen through and they're closing again.

bUt lAbOuR vAT
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:lol: they never seem to do any actual research to see if they’re going to look like a mug.

Lu Tze said:
Any private school that can't manage this is not viable anyway. Like all private enterprises, they should both be taxed, and succeed and fail on their own merits.
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Is correct.

Let the free market decide!
 
Frosty said:
Well I've read her timeline.

Climate change denial, islamophobia, anti free school meals and anti breakfast clubs, pro North Sea drilling, Labour ruined the country in one week after the election, and worst of all we have is self service checkouts, unlike Dubai.
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Jericholyte2 said:
That’s the problem now though, you see one tweet and you’ll be able to guess with 95% certainty their views on:
- benefits
- Brexit
- Trump
- public sector
- Prince Harry
- Education
- Climate Change

And a whole raft of other topics.
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I find it somewhat interesting, and more scary, how homogenous the views of these right wing types are. Like the second post says, if you see one opinion on one of those things, you can almost certainly predict their views on other topics.
 
11101 said:
Only took a couple of weeks:

https://www.thetimes.com/uk/scotlan...chool-closes-citing-labour-vat-plan-xxrjf5npz

A few dozen teachers redundant and feck the 300 kids booted out with less than a month to find a new school, those rich Tory bastards.
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You're still hanging onto this one? To take the Time's headlines in a different way and rewrite them to what the reality of the stories are:

Kilgraston - School to close as Chinese buyer pulls out of deal to purchase
Cedars - 120 child private school has been forced to cease trading several months before its fees became liable to VAT because it failed to attract enough pupils, increased fees by 10% and was only running at 63% capacity.

Smores said:
Think you need a permanent mod to follow you around correcting your assertions at this point.

This article is from last year with the same issues and same claims at the same school:
https://perthgazette.co.uk/2023/06/kilgraston-school-to-permanently-close/

So they already announced they were closing last year then stayed open as they had a buyout which has now fallen through and they're closing again.

bUt lAbOuR vAT
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:lol:
 
11101 said:
Only took a couple of weeks:

https://www.thetimes.com/uk/scotlan...chool-closes-citing-labour-vat-plan-xxrjf5npz

A few dozen teachers redundant and feck the 300 kids booted out with less than a month to find a new school, those rich Tory bastards.
Click to expand...

Jesus Christ man, have you got a Google alert set up? That school had had problems for ages.

Also… yeah. It sucks that 300 kids need to find new schools. But putting those 300 kids before thousands of other children just rings hollow.

We are short on teachers, so they’ll be fine.

I appreciate that you and I fundamentally disagree on private schools. I celebrate removing their tax breaks, and I’d go further and apply a tax penalty that’s paid to the state to send a kid to one.

But ultimately, if you’re tub thumping for the free market at every turn, these are the consequences. A school that can’t cut costs to rework how they operate to function in the market, has failed based on market conditions.

I could meet you somewhere near the middle and suggest that Labour could have brought in VAT on all enrolments from next September. Or perhaps gone 10% for 2 years, then 20%, but only on the condition that schools didn’t raise costs on parents for those two years.

But ultimately… whatever brings about the demise of private schools as swiftly as possible, is absolutely fine by me. Probably makes me an absolute whopper in your eyes and I get that.
 
Smores said:
Think you need a permanent mod to follow you around correcting your assertions at this point.

This article is from last year with the same issues and same claims at the same school:
https://perthgazette.co.uk/2023/06/kilgraston-school-to-permanently-close/

So they already announced they were closing last year then stayed open as they had a buyout which has now fallen through and they're closing again.

bUt lAbOuR vAT
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You're not quite up to speed on how this kind of thing works are you.

An organisation that's in a weak position to begin with is going to be more at risk to external shocks such as an additional tax charge. Does that really need explaining to you?

So yes, every school that goes under is probably going to be in a precarious position to begin with. And any investor that's giving them money is going to recalculate their figures to decide if the risk has become too great. Ps. you can replace the word school with any other word you like there.
 
UnrelatedPsuedo said:
Jesus Christ man, have you got a Google alert set up? That school had had problems for ages.

Also… yeah. It sucks that 300 kids need to find new schools. But putting those 300 kids before thousands of other children just rings hollow.

We are short on teachers, so they’ll be fine.

I appreciate that you and I fundamentally disagree on private schools. I celebrate removing their tax breaks, and I’d go further and apply a tax penalty that’s paid to the state to send a kid to one.

But ultimately, if you’re tub thumping for the free market at every turn, these are the consequences. A school that can’t cut costs to rework how they operate to function in the market, has failed based on market conditions.

I could meet you somewhere near the middle and suggest that Labour could have brought in VAT on all enrolments from next September. Or perhaps gone 10% for 2 years, then 20%, but only on the condition that schools didn’t raise costs on parents for those two years.

But ultimately… whatever brings about the demise of private schools as swiftly as possible, is absolutely fine by me. Probably makes me an absolute whopper in your eyes and I get that.
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I read the Times and it popped up. School closures are probably going to be news for at least a year or two.

Where you and I disagree is what the end result of this will be and I'm ok to concede neither of us knows who will be right, but at least you understand the dynamics of it.

I happen to agree with you that private schools shouldn't exist and they do promote inequality, but where we differ is i dont think fecking kids' education for the next 10 years is the way to go about addressing it, and i dont think it will make a jot of difference to the state system.
 
11101 said:
I read the Times and it popped up. School closures are probably going to be news for at least a year or two.

Where you and I disagree is what the end result of this will be and I'm ok to concede neither of us knows who will be right, but at least you understand the dynamics of it.

I happen to agree with you that private schools shouldn't exist and they do promote inequality, but where we differ is i dont think fecking kids' education for the next 10 years is the way to go about addressing it, and i dont think it will make a jot of difference to the state system.
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Yeah. I think you’re a bit more protectionist of the status quo. I’m happy to nuke a system to rebuild anew. You’re the safe pair of hands. I’m the modern day hippy tw4t.

My position seems very callous, as its children being impacted. But, I also think that because its children involved, a good government (I think Labour is undoubtedly one in the education space) will be forced to solve the problem faster.

What nobody seems to talk about is the fact that; right now, Private school kids enjoy immense privilege. That’s bad. We may agree on the need to not have them. But, it IS possible to write policy that equalises over a 5-20 year period, rather than have to do it all in a Government term which bakes in short, sharp, shocks for business, parents and kids. If you write policy that has a 4 term period with a sunset clause, that provides our government time to reshape education. With a weak Tory party, that’s probably on the table. Lib Dems and Greens would back it. Having adult discussions to agree to try a new path for enough time to pass, then reassess, is how it should work.

The likes of Eton and Winchester are going nowhere. They’re baked into society and our class system. But they’re the fringe. That environment shouldn’t be aspirational to the extent it’s become in the past two decades.
 
11101 said:
You're not quite up to speed on how this kind of thing works are you.

An organisation that's in a weak position to begin with is going to be more at risk to external shocks such as an additional tax charge. Does that really need explaining to you?

So yes, every school that goes under is probably going to be in a precarious position to begin with. And any investor that's giving them money is going to recalculate their figures to decide if the risk has become too great. Ps. you can replace the word school with any other word you like there.
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Does Google need explaining to you?

I appreciate your commitment to always doubling down. The reason they backed out was the ill health of the chairman of Achieve Education the company that was keeping them afloat. This is in their letter to parents and other non Tory leaning news sites but it's clear that school was never staying open. They like most boarding schools took a huge hit from the absence of international boarders during COVID and they're not able to recover.

When it's guiding your politics and you're trying to prove a point I suggest reading beyond editors subheadlines. You must know it presents a biased view aimed at intentionally misleading the reader. You might agree with their politics but it doesn't mean you take them on faith.
 
Maticmaker said:
It backs Farage's claim, issued immediately after the GE result, that REFORM is now coming for Labour.
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And this is the danger of populism. The Tories tried for over a decade to appease the extremists in their party and base, but always encountered people who'd go further and harder, and so were doomed to capitulation.
 
Maticmaker said:
It backs Farage's claim, issued immediately after the GE result, that REFORM is now coming for Labour.
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You think? I think it's just they're still riding a bit of success from the election and normality hasn't sunk in yet. Once the Tories get a new leader in and the usual media stand firmly behind them the Tories will gain back their foothold.

I do think Reform may end up rising to be a force in a few years but I think they need the election cycle to give them relevance, much like the Lib Dems.
 
Smores said:
Does Google need explaining to you?

I appreciate your commitment to always doubling down. The reason they backed out was the ill health of the chairman of Achieve Education the company that was keeping them afloat. This is in their letter to parents and other non Tory leaning news sites but it's clear that school was never staying open. They like most boarding schools took a huge hit from the absence of international boarders during COVID and they're not able to recover.

When it's guiding your politics and you're trying to prove a point I suggest reading beyond editors subheadlines. You must know it presents a biased view aimed at intentionally misleading the reader. You might agree with their politics but it doesn't mean you take them on faith.
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The chairman who was a figurehead and stepped down months ago and was nothing to do with the financing that was coming from China? Ok pal, you keep coming up with the excuses as the schools keep closing.
 
Smores said:
You think? I think it's just they're still riding a bit of success from the election and normality hasn't sunk in yet. Once the Tories get a new leader in and the usual media stand firmly behind them the Tories will gain back their foothold.

I do think Reform may end up rising to be a force in a few years but I think they need the election cycle to give them relevance, much like the Lib Dems.
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I think we are seeing the beginning of the re-shaping of British politics.

Starmer is now walking a tight rope, his whole plan was to destroy the Tory party's strangle hold on power, and after 14 years of misrule and with the assistance of Reform he did that, resulting in a massive majority that should set him right for two terms (10 years), maybe even longer!
However no sooner are Labour in power with their massive majority than one of those 'unplanned events' occurs, rather like what happened to Boris with Covid, it was around but suddenly it arises, flares up and starts to eat into his time frame to 'move the dial'.
Immigration, in particular illegal immigration (focused mainly on the small boats) has not gone away, it's been simmering away in the background and given daylight again after the terrible events in Southport.

Reform will take advantage, especially whilst the new Labour government struggles to even 'find the dial' let alone move it. Recent polls show that between 30-40% of the public are seriously concerned about illegal immigration, the longer it's left to fester the more reform will benefit and the more Starmer will have to keep looking over his shoulder to see if the red wall is still with him.
 
The government is facing questions about a second appointment to a senior civil service role of a person linked to previous donations to the Labour Party.

Emily Middleton was named a director general in the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), where the secretary of state is Peter Kyle.

She was previously a partner at consultancy firm Public Digital, which paid for her secondment to Mr Kyle's office in opposition - a donation in kind of more than £65,000.

The Tories have described it as a "growing scandal of appointing donors to top civil service jobs".
A government spokesperson said the appointment was made " in line with the civil service rules on recruitment”.

The Tories have asked the government's top civil servant what was known about the donations when Ms Middleton got the job and what role Mr Kyle played in that process.

Separately, Chancellor Rachel Reeves is under pressure to say whether she was involved in the appointment of former banker and Labour donor Ian Corfield as director of investment at the Treasury.

In opposition, Labour repeatedly accused the Conservatives of "cronyism" in appointing their political friends to public bodies.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cwyx7krvn44o
 

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Frosty said:
The government is facing questions about a second appointment to a senior civil service role of a person linked to previous donations to the Labour Party.

Emily Middleton was named a director general in the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), where the secretary of state is Peter Kyle.

She was previously a partner at consultancy firm Public Digital, which paid for her secondment to Mr Kyle's office in opposition - a donation in kind of more than £65,000.

The Tories have described it as a "growing scandal of appointing donors to top civil service jobs".
A government spokesperson said the appointment was made " in line with the civil service rules on recruitment”.

The Tories have asked the government's top civil servant what was known about the donations when Ms Middleton got the job and what role Mr Kyle played in that process.

Separately, Chancellor Rachel Reeves is under pressure to say whether she was involved in the appointment of former banker and Labour donor Ian Corfield as director of investment at the Treasury.

In opposition, Labour repeatedly accused the Conservatives of "cronyism" in appointing their political friends to public bodies.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cwyx7krvn44o
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The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Its not been a brilliant start to life in No. 10 for the new government. Is there any section of society they haven't pissed off yet?
 


"It is for us to put this right. But we will need big reforms and big changes. I know people worry about this, but I want to say, we are on your side.

"We are not going to write you off and blame you. We take our responsibilities seriously. We’re going to bust a gut to give you the support you need to build a better life.”


So nice to have the grown-ups back in charge, although the easiest solution would be the clamping down on tax avoidance, closing legal loopholes, the the tax evasion of the super rich.
 
Some companies have way more money than sense.


Suella Braverman is the latest senior Tory to be cashing in on the international speaking circuit, as it was revealed she was paid nearly £60,000 for making speeches around the world, the highest of any current MP.

The former home secretary received £25,000 to speak in South Korea in May, according to the first register of MPs’ financial interests of this parliament, and she received £20,000 for another speaking engagement in India in March. Braverman also declared that she received £14,000 for articles she wrote for the Telegraph, and she also had an all-expenses trip to Israel worth £27,800 paid for by the National Jewish Assembly.

Last month Braverman declared she received £11,800 for a five-hour talk to a financial intelligence and risk control firm in London, and she also made a speech in Washington during which she was paid £6,500 in expenses for the trip by the Edmund Burke Foundation.
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https://www.theguardian.com/politic...rning-speeches-international-speaking-circuit

Disappointed in Taiwan.
The former prime minister Liz Truss made £250,000 the year after she was ousted from No 10, including £80,000 for one speech in Taipei, Taiwan.
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Pogue Mahone said:
A five hour talk?! Jesus Christ. Can you imagine being stuck in that room? The horror.
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:lol:You'd probably come out of there radicalised and further right than Himmler.

Pexbo said:
That’s chicken feed compared to Johnson.
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Yep and even Farage and his GB News earnings too. Still, kind of surprised she earns that much, given she hasn't an ounce of the charisma middle England finds in Johnson and Farage.
 
UnrelatedPsuedo said:
Jesus Christ man, have you got a Google alert set up? That school had had problems for ages.

Also… yeah. It sucks that 300 kids need to find new schools. But putting those 300 kids before thousands of other children just rings hollow.

We are short on teachers, so they’ll be fine.
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We're shorter on pupils as well - school rolls are falling by around 75,000/year across the country, with 12% or so of school places unfilled across England in primary and secondary schools in 2022, the highest level since 2009. 90 primary schools in England were/are at risk of closure due to these pressures, but hey the private school brigade aren't writing about that.
 
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