The cynicism of the Greens , Michael, lies in duping the electorate by making spending commitments which cannot possibly be met. Take the policy of taxing people with assets over £10 million at 1% pa. There are roughly 10 000 such individuals. This tax would raise £1 billion pa, assuming the money could be collected since in many cases people would have to sell their homes to meet their tax liabilities. What about the policy of taxing billionaires 2% of their wealth? There are roughly 50 such individuals. This tax would raise a further £1 billion pa, assuming the billionaires did not move abroad (as many already have). So these two headline taxes would raise £2 billion pa. The  burden would inevitably fall on the 7 million individuals who earn more than  £50 000 pa. A surcharge of, say, 5% on all income above £50 k would raise from £ 7 billion to £10 billion pa. So all these swingeing taxes combined would raise an extra £12 billion , less than half of the amount needed to replace the £27 billion collected each year in tuition fees, which the Greens say they would abolish, not to mention the vast sums needed to meet their commitments on the NHS, the justice system, renationalisation etc. etc. And of course the danger of imposing tax rises is that the tax take actually decreases because the economy is slowed and incomes fall. It’s economic pie in the sky. The only question is whether the Greens are cynical or simply delusional. I would say a mixture of both.

Entire Thread

Topic	Date Posted	Posted By
Polanski speaks	07/05/26 15:49:00	Lucille Grant
Re:Polanski speaks	07/05/26 16:06:00	Ivonne Holliday
Re:Re:Polanski speaks	07/05/26 16:43:00	Michael Brigo
Reply	07/05/26 16:54:00	Michael Ixer
Re:Re:Re:Polanski speaks	07/05/26 17:05:00	Sue Hammond
Re:Re:Re:Polanski speaks	08/05/26 13:18:00	John Hawkes
Re:Re:Polanski speaks	07/05/26 16:56:00	Lucille Grant
Re:Re:Re:Polanski speaks	08/05/26 08:54:00	Steven Rose
Re:Re:Re:Re:Polanski speaks	08/05/26 11:37:00	Michael Brigo
Reply	08/05/26 11:45:00	Michael Ixer
Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Polanski speaks	08/05/26 11:59:00	Sue Hammond
Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Polanski speaks nonsense	08/05/26 12:02:00	Andy Pike
Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Polanski speaks nonsense	08/05/26 12:26:00	Michael Brigo
Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Polanski speaks nonsense	08/05/26 12:29:00	Lucille Grant
Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Polanski speaks nonsense	08/05/26 12:50:00	Michael Brigo
Reply	08/05/26 12:34:00	Sue Hammond
Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Polanski speaks nonsense	08/05/26 13:21:00	John Hawkes
Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Polanski speaks	08/05/26 13:29:00	John Hawkes
Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Polanski speaks	08/05/26 15:13:00	Ivonne Holliday
Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Polanski speaks	08/05/26 17:18:00	Elizabeth Balsom
Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Polanski speaks	08/05/26 19:11:00	Ivonne Holliday
Reply	08/05/26 12:32:00	Michael Ixer
Re:Reply	08/05/26 12:54:00	Sue Hammond
Re:Re:Reply	08/05/26 13:11:00	Andy Pike
Re:Re:Re:Reply	08/05/26 13:14:00	Jonathan Callaway
Re:Re:Re:Re:Reply	08/05/26 14:08:00	Philippa Bond
Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Reply	08/05/26 14:10:00	John Hawkes
Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Reply	08/05/26 14:12:00	John Hawkes
Reply	08/05/26 14:37:00	Sue Hammond
Re:Reply	08/05/26 19:08:00	Steven Rose
Re:Re:Reply	08/05/26 21:17:00	Sue Hammond
Reply	09/05/26 00:08:00	Michael Ixer
Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Reply	08/05/26 22:45:00	Philippa Bond
Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Reply	09/05/26 00:45:00	Steven Rose
Reply	09/05/26 01:28:00	Michael Ixer
Reply	09/05/26 01:37:00	Michael Ixer
Re:Reply	09/05/26 09:54:00	Steven Rose
Reply	09/05/26 10:28:00	Sue Hammond
Reply	09/05/26 10:44:00	Michael Ixer
Re:Reply	09/05/26 12:01:00	Steven Rose
Reply	09/05/26 12:14:00	Michael Ixer
Re:Reply	10/05/26 15:00:00	John Hawkes
Reply	10/05/26 15:06:00	Michael Ixer

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