The banker loving, baby-eating Tory party thread (regenerated)

[bickster]

Tax credit cuts promote hard work, says Jeremy Hunt

The government is right to press ahead with cuts to tax credits - despite claims millions will be worse off - because the UK must become as hard working as China, Jeremy Hunt has said.

The health secretary said the cuts - combined with a higher minimum wage - would send out the right "cultural signal" to low paid workers.

And he said he did not "buy" claims people would be left out of pocket.

...

speaking to Times columnist Danny Finkelstein at a fringe meeting at the Conservative conference, Mr Hunt said: "We have to proceed with these tax credit changes because they are a very important cultural signal.

"My wife is Chinese and if we want this to be one of the most successful countries in the world in 20, 30, 40 years time there is a pretty difficult question that we have to answer which is, essentially, are we going to be a country which is prepared to work hard in a way that Asian economies are prepared to work hard, in a way that Americans are prepared to work hard?

"And that is about creating a culture where work is at the heart of our success."

'Dignity'

He rejected claims that low paid workers will simply be worse off in "hard cash" terms as a result of the changes, because many will not be affected by the National Minimum Wage.

"The hard cash argument, I don't entirely buy because I don't think it takes into account the dynamic effects, I don't think it takes into account the extra hours that some people work.

"I don't want to pretend that it won't be very challenging but I do believe that moving to a culture where work pays and we are trying to help people be independent and stand on their own two feet is the most important thing we can do for people on low incomes."

He said that under Conservative philosophy how you earned money was as important as how much you earned - and not having to rely on state handouts promoted "dignity" and "independence".

... bit more on link

So Mr Hunt doesn't 'buy' the fact that people will be worse off because they may be able to work more in order to make up for the shortfall? An idiot or an utter arse.

Neither, Cockney Rhyming Slang.

[MakemineVanilla]

As always it is the Tory cant and sermonising which is sickening. 

Why can't they just tell the truth, that they think fear of losing tax credits traps people in lower-paid and lower-skilled work than they are capable of, and that by raising the tax threshold and implementing the living wage will provide an incentive for the low-paid to move into better paid jobs and free the tax-payer from having to subsidise poor businesses who can't afford to compete for labour.

Stripped of all the bull crap the merits of such beliefs could be debated and either debunked or confirmed but they obviously think their potential voters are complete morons who are not worthy of being told the truth, so they just pander to their ignorance, stupidity and prejudice.

The 'working as hard as China' is an example of their contempt for their voters because countries don't get richer by working harder, they get richer because they are more capital-intensive.

The result of China's work-ethic is that their GDP per capita is $7505 as opposed to the UK's $45,653: the UK will only get richer, if they get more like Germany and Belgium, not get more like China.

How the f*** can Danny Finkelstein who claims to deal in facts and logic sit there and listen to this sort of crap and not feel ashamed?

They are just despicable lying c****, every one of them. 

 

Edited October 6, 2015 by MakemineVanilla

[Dr_Pangloss]

China and America are very special cases for their own reasons.

If you were to create a scatter plot of hours worked vs productivity (e.g. GDP per hour), you will find a negative correlation. Yes, the countries who work the 'hardest' (in terms of hours) are the least productive. For example, Germany have a far more productive economy than ours, but they work less hours on average than countries like the UK, and, believe it or not, Greece.

It's about working 'smart', not 'hard'. The Tories just want to accelerate the race to the bottom that has been going on for decades now. Since most of them are rent seekers anyway, all they want to do is design policy and ultimately a society that will benefit that class of people and that class alone. 

[Wainy316]

Put in a proper living wage and then the tax payer won't have to top up the poverty pay that most companies are offering.

[meregreen]

A country can compete economically by going down the route of high tech,high investment, high skill. Or down the road of low tech,minimum investment, low skill, cheap labour. The Tories appear to have chosen the second way.

[PongRiddims]

China and America are very special cases for their own reasons.

If you were to create a scatter plot of hours worked vs productivity (e.g. GDP per hour), you will find a negative correlation. Yes, the countries who work the 'hardest' (in terms of hours) are the least productive. For example, Germany have a far more productive economy than ours, but they work less hours on average than countries like the UK, and, believe it or not, Greece.

It's about working 'smart', not 'hard'. The Tories just want to accelerate the race to the bottom that has been going on for decades now. Since most of them are rent seekers anyway, all they want to do is design policy and ultimately a society that will benefit that class of people and that class alone. 

Interesting point. Do you have any supporting evidence? I'm not be facetious either, just interested in the argument you make has I hadn't heard of the above mentioned correlation before

[tonyh29]

It was a relief today to hear that there would be no cuts to my benefits.

Thank Christ I'm a Tory MP.

[snowychap]

Tory MPs grumpy about ‘arm candy’ photo rota

One of the fun jobs that new Tory MPs have to perform at conference is joining the special rota to follow David Cameron around. This isn’t a new rota, but it seems to have especially annoyed a number of the rather impressive 2015 intake, particularly some of the female MPs who think they are being used as arm candy. The rota involves walking with the Prime Minister between buildings so that when he is photographed, he has an entourage of supportive MPs with him, and so that they get their chance to have a picture of them walking with the PM in the national media. The photo above, of new Eastbourne MP Caroline Ansell, is one such example.

The new MPs were called in last week to be briefed about the importance of this job of walking alongside the boss (what a strange job MPs do), and told that they were on a three-line whip to attend the Prime Minister’s speech, too (though they are currently a very grateful and loyal intake who would be unlikely to miss it).

But this exciting opportunity to be pictured with the Prime Minister doesn’t seem to have quite enthused some of those who have had to walk around with him so far. ‘I didn’t get into Parliament to be a bit of f***ing arm candy,’ mutters one. Older hands think they are being rather ungrateful, given it’s something all new MPs are expected to do and it is exciting publicity to be pictured walking and talking with the Prime Minister – but other new hands also think they’re being ungrateful, as they’re blokes who are still waiting for their call to walk between buildings with the boss.

[tonyh29]

Haven't seen / heard Cameron's speech yet but

We cannot let that man inflict his security-threatening, terrorist-sympathising, Britain-hating ideology on the country we love.

is piss poor stuff Dave

[MakemineVanilla]

Haven't seen / heard Cameron's speech yet but

 

We cannot let that man inflict his security-threatening, terrorist-sympathising, Britain-hating ideology on the country we love.

is piss poor stuff Dave

Funny enough, as soon as I heard him ejaculate that hyphenated harangue I assumed he'd been reading VT.

[StefanAVFC]

What an absolute idiot.

All Cameron has done since Corbyn got in, is slag him off.

[Jon]

Not done himself any favours there. 

[darrenm]

Considering he's got no hope of making any difference because he's so loony, Tories aren't half scared of Corbyn.

[El Zen]

Haven't seen / heard Cameron's speech yet but

 

We cannot let that man inflict his security-threatening, terrorist-sympathising, Britain-hating ideology on the country we love.

is piss poor stuff Dave

Wow. Just wow. Did he have Donald Trump write his speech for him? 

[tonyh29]

I don't think its Corbyn that they are scared off as such ....they know that labour are a party in disarray and they they know there are factions within The Labour Party and supporters who don't want Corbyn ... So  if they can also apply pressure via negative news that jo public hears as a sound bite and then answers a poll that says he wouldn't vote for Corbyn then it helps keep labour infighting and makes their job that much easier 

Conspiracy theory ? Maybe but Look at the Tory party and the years of infighting  over Europe whilst Bair got a free run as an example

 

[tonyh29]

Not done himself any favours there. 

I presume it was calculated and not just him losing the plot .... So presumably it's designed to up the pressure on any potential labour split on the Trident Renewal debate ?

[CarewsEyebrowDesigner]

Tories are too busy fighting with each other to worry about Corbyn at the minute. May's chilling speech in particular was one big 'up yours' to the so called moderates like Cameron.

Come the EU vote it's going to get rather ugly methinks.

[Jon]

Not done himself any favours there. 

I presume it was calculated and not just him losing the plot .... So presumably it's designed to up the pressure on any potential labour split on the Trident Renewal debate ?

it was the 'Britain hating' bit that really pricked my ears. Almost impossible to justify that.

[tonyh29]

Not done himself any favours there. 

I presume it was calculated and not just him losing the plot .... So presumably it's designed to up the pressure on any potential labour split on the Trident Renewal debate ?

it was the 'Britain hating' bit that really pricked my ears. Almost impossible to justify that.

he recycled  that from the article he wrote for the Daily Mail about Milibands dad 

[Rodders]

that speech was outrageous, even a Daily Mail columnist on BBC 24 said it was a thoroughly demeaning slur, it was outright gross misrepresentation of quotes to libel Corbyn like that. We are in full on American politics mode now, surprised he didn't call him a pinko communist as well.

britain hating if you don't support the queen, you hardly have to be radical to suggest that saying having a pro-republican opinion equates to hating britain is right out of the book "right, we're in full on sod anyone who doesn't vote for us, it's 100% play to the crowd with zealotry bells on"