Harringay online

Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!

Just saw Steve Coogan with Catherine West at Wood Green

They were having local campaigners rally and both did a little speech. Catherine seemed pretty weak on the soap box ( used the bedroom tax as a central plank but I can't help thinking, since when was letting people stay in under occupied social housing a good idea with such a housing crisis ?) and coogan's only argument was that the 'busted flush' Tories were dismantling the NHS Brick by brick whilst the busted flush lib dems showed their true colours over the last five years ( total failure to appreciate Labour are going to have compromise now themselves or lose a chance at the wheel at all ) . Also since when were the Tories a 'flush'? Think he got his lines wrong.

Oddly, it really seemed like he was in character. He kind of plays himself.

Lost my vote anyway.

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Permalink Reply by Philip on May 5, 2015 at 11:44

thats enough clickbait for today John....

Permalink Reply by John D on May 5, 2015 at 11:48

By poorly executed, I mean it was too inflexible and didn't take account of people's ability to pay. Sound familiar ?

Permalink Reply by Philip on May 5, 2015 at 11:57

The whole point of the Poll Tax was to make a billionaire and binman pay the same. So no, it wasn't a good idea unless you are a Tory?

Permalink Reply by John D on May 5, 2015 at 12:47

A billionaire and a binman pay the same council tax if they live in similar houses. The whole point of the Poll Tax was to relate payment for services to users, rather than to houses.

Permalink Reply by StephenBln on May 5, 2015 at 12:52

John D .. you are so 'out of touch' it's amusing..

Permalink Reply by Michael Anderson on May 5, 2015 at 12:58
John, surely the point of any system of tax is to tax each to their ability to pay to even out, to a very small extent, social inequality. Flat rate charging for things that people cannot decide to have or not have means the richest, as a proportion of their income, are subsidised by the poorest. I for instance do not have children but my tax goes toward providing education. If we charged flat rate for use I'd be rolling in it while my neighbours went through the bins.
Permalink Reply by John D on May 5, 2015 at 13:46

The Poll Tax was not a flat rate.

But if you tread my initial post, it was a good idea badly executed.

Permalink Reply by Michael Anderson on May 5, 2015 at 14:15
It was a tax on the person, not on the property, so each person in the household paid a set amount, whether they were earning 12,000 a year or 12,000 week. Council tax is equally as flawed as it is based on assumed property value rather than the ability to pay. The only fair system would be local income tax
Permalink Reply by Alan Stanton on May 5, 2015 at 14:47

As I recall, John, the basic idea was a flat-rate per-adult tax.

Our Scots friends and other people we've met there mentioned the "trial run" of the Poll Tax in Scotland as one factor in convincing more people of the case for independence. Seems there was widespread anger at being used as guinea pigs by London. (Even those in favour of the Union).

Do you remember when, in the House of Commons, even Thatcher finally used the term Poll Tax instead of that absurd euphemism:- "Community Charge"?

At the time I too heard occasional mention of execution. But I'm against the death penalty- even for politicians.

Permalink Reply by Clive Carter on May 5, 2015 at 17:29

John, IMO the Poll Tax was a bad idea, and it wouldn't have mattered how well it was executed. No matter how much or how carefully you smear lipstick on a pig, it's still a pig. Deeply unfair. The LibDems have in the past advocated a local income tax. Now that'd be fair.

Permalink Reply by Clive Carter on May 5, 2015 at 21:23

Agree with the points you make, FPR.

It was only seven years ago the cashpoints almost stopped working.

How easily people forget the dangerous situation that prevailed.

Last year I listened, riveted, to a radio interview with Alastair Darling, someone whose views I'm always prepared to hear. He recounted his phone calls with the MD of the Royal Bank of Scotland at the time. The gist of the first call was, "[the bank] are running out of money". In a call later in the day, Mr Darling how asked how much time before the money ran out. The answer was something like, a couple of hours – such was the rate of haemorrhage.

Then followed the ultra-massive bank bail-out, that now burdens the country with enormous debt for years to come. Yet I have met a few residents who do not want to believe it.

Permalink Reply by Alan Stanton on May 6, 2015 at 0:44

It's not about "taking a hit", FPR.  This discussion is not a zero-sum game. I'm-wrong-so-you're-right. Nor about point scoring. (Much as the political parties love their playground games - which most sensible people detest and avoid.)

This is about an inquiry and an exchange of views, ideas and experiences about some of the most important issues our society faces. In fact, the question of what kind of society we want to live in and build. And the values we want to see and foster.

So if you're in a listening and reflection mode, I've just spotted this article. Unread until now in our pile of newspapers destined for recycling bin.

The article I pulled out is: Tom Clark: "Three ways to stop the war on welfare". I first glanced at his advice "to pick the right words" .  And then his criticism of "the drift to a U.S.-style discussion on welfare handouts'."

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