[Killer Whale]

David Lammy under pressure as two more prisoners mistakenly freed

https://www.theguardian.com/society/202 ... -in-london

Under pressure on radio phone-ins no doubt. But this isn't a new problem, so the Guardian should do better than lead with this. One of the men is indeed a foreign sex offender. The other is a fraudster.

The right have queered their own pitch on this. The Algerian guy was not an asylum seeker, but does appear to be an illegal immigrant, having overstayed his visa. Since the right (and I'm talking all the way from the Tories to Yaxley-Lennon's bunch of charmers) have consciously conflated the terms 'asylum seeker' and 'illegal immigrant' they have nowhere to go in attempting to ramp up the outrage.

'Foreign sex offender' appears to be the best they can do, as if being 'foreign' is some kind of transgression or aggravating factor, and even then the 'sex offence' appears to have been relatively minor.

Kudos to the BBC, by the way, for giving the good old British fraudster equal weight in their coverage.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Wandsworth Prison had the high profile escape a while back. It may not be in the best of operational shape. But apparently it’s totally unfair for the government to talk of the mess they inherited because they’ve had 16 months, and have a large majority.

Surprised the BBC were balanced. Charter renewal focussing some minds?

[Tubby Isaacs]

A (small) charge per mile for electric cars will be in budget, it seems.

I hadn’t seen that coming. Reeves’s late budget was laughed at, as if it was purely a Micawber thing, but seems like they’ve done some proper work. Tax will have to switch to per mile at some point, might as well start with a modest charge now.

In the way of these things, I confidently predict that this will get slagged off as a petrol head subsidy and she’ll be accused of ruining the market for electric cars. Because nothing can ever change ever, when it’s a Labour government.

[Killer Whale]

How is it going to measured? Spy-in-the-cab style, or added on when your mileage is recorded at MOT time?

[Youngian]

In the way of these things, I confidently predict that this will get slagged off as a petrol head subsidy and she’ll be accused of ruining the market for electric cars. Because nothing can ever change ever, when it’s a Labour government.

Petrol heads won't rejoice at road pricing (or any tax). Its inevitable that it would replace fuel duty as petrol engine sales plummeted.

[mattomac]

I do wonder if they will do a sleight of hand with the tax bands, a bit like Brown but in reverse, does seem if you wish the burden not to fall on them with the least amount which is a phrase both Reeves and Starmer have used in the past frequently that would be the best bet.

Anyhow I think with anything like this leave it to the sources who are about as reliable as Lord Haw Haw and see what it comes up with, I predict many won't be happy.

As for the prison release it's all Lammy's fault according to Mason, which is odd as I am sure hes only been in the role a month.

[Tubby Isaacs]

It's one of these things that sounds impossible to the general public, but it's more like "Health Secretary under pressure as bed pan falls on the floor" to paraphrase Aneurin Bevan, or rather something he may never have said.

Similarly the public think that prisoners are always carted around in secure vans. Of course, the big majority of them aren't gang bosses, and that would be incredibly wasteful. This actually bit the Major Government on the arse when Group 4 lost a few prisoners, but I'm sure that wasn't unknown with the Prison Service either.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Banks poised to escape tax rises in Rachel Reeves’s budget
UK bank shares rise after reports, with chancellor wanting sector to remain competitive to help economic growth

Probably fair. I don't trust the figures produced by bank lobby groups that suggest they're taxed more than other financial centers, but just in terms of other businesses, they don't seem to be undertaxed. Partners in big law/accountancy firms look much more candidates for that, as they don't pay NI. I hope that changes. I'm not ruling out a general business tax increase, of course, just a special ones for banks.

I'm not convinced by the Farage argument that you can just stop paying interest on deposits that banks have with the Bank of England. Those deposits come from investors who want interest paid to them, so it's not free money.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Thanks, Lucy.

Lucy Powell, Labour’s new deputy leader, has said the government should stand by its manifesto commitment not to raise income tax, national insurance or VAT, amid signs that it may be preparing to break that promise.

Powell, who left Keir Starmer’s cabinet in the reshuffle before being elected deputy leader last month, said the budget needed to be about putting more money, not less, into ordinary people’s pocket

Doubtless cuts to anything at all are wrong too, and a load more spending.