RichardJMurphy

RichardJMurphy, 1 month ago to random

Privatisation has failed. The only problem that we have is a shortage of politicians that will admit this. https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2024/04/15/privatisation-has-failed-the-only-problem-that-we-have-is-a-shortage-of-politicians-that-will-admit-this/. Avanti West Coast is just another failed privatisation, but the problem is systemic, and not with individual companies.

RichardJMurphy, 1 month ago to random

Just wait: politicians will be shaking the magic money tree very soon https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2024/04/15/just-wait-politicians-will-be-shaking-the-magic-money-tree-very-soon/. The scale of government spending, and what it is spent on, is always a matter of political choice. The problem is that military action is always deemed to be high priority and meeting need is not.

RichardJMurphy, 1 month ago to random

There is no indication that the Labour Party has any predisposition to be radical https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2024/04/15/there-is-no-indication-that-the-labour-party-has-any-predisposition-to-be-radical/. I would love Labour to be radical, but there is not the slightest sign that it is.

RichardJMurphy, 1 month ago to random

Poor, petrified, non-doms are terrified that they might have to pay some tax https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2024/04/13/poor-petrified-non-doms-are-terrified-that-they-might-have-to-pay-some-tax/. There are many things that might reasonably induce fear in life. Paying tax on your wealth is not one of them.

RichardJMurphy, 1 month ago to random

Ben Bernanke’s review of the Bank of England was doomed from the outset because he didn’t ask the right questions https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2024/04/13/ben-bernankes-review-of-the-bank-of-england-was-doomed-from-the-outset-because-he-didnt-ask-the-right-questions/. Bernanke was always the wrong person for this job. He was a central banker marking another central banker’s homework, without ever questioning the assumptions on which the central bank worked. This investigation was doomed from the outset as a consequence.

RichardJMurphy, 1 month ago to random

Starmer’s commitment to nuclear power is all about electioneering https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2024/04/12/starmers-commitment-to-nuclear-power-is-all-about-electioneering/. Starmer would rather buy totally redundant, and almost certainly non-functioning, nuclear subs than tackle poverty because that's what plays to the Tory voter. I despair.

RichardJMurphy, 1 month ago to random

We face a Labour meltdown after the election https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2024/04/12/we-face-a-labour-meltdown-after-the-election/. Without any apparent plan for government, or the slightest hint of any guiding principles, Labour looks as if it will be totally rudderless on the day it, almost inevitably, reaches office. This might be disastrous for the UK.

RichardJMurphy, 1 month ago to random

Labour’s going to have very big problems with the Bank of England https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2024/04/11/labours-going-to-have-very-big-problems-with-the-bank-of-england/. If the Bank of England insists on keeping interests rates high with the intention of keeping growth low, Labour has not a hope of delivering its chosen economic policy. So, who will give way first?

RichardJMurphy, 1 month ago to random

The Guardian agrees: Labour’s tax problems can’t be solved by a cosy coterie of old insiders https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2024/04/11/the-guardian-agrees-labours-tax-problems-cant-be-solved-by-a-cosy-coterie-of-old-insiders/. The Guardian’s editorial today reflects a great deal of what was said on my blog yesterday, not that I am complaining about that.

RichardJMurphy, 1 month ago to random

Why has Rachel Reeves appointed as her tax adviser a person who has said that tax is extortion and told parliament that he was not too worried about small businesses not paying their taxes? https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2024/04/10/why-has-rachel-reeves-appointed-as-her-tax-adviser-a-person-who-has-said-that-ax-is-extortion-and-told-parliament-that-he-was-not-too-worried-about-small-businesses-not-paying-their-taxes/. Has she made a wise choice?

RichardJMurphy, 1 month ago to random

We need the tax system to work, which means Rachel Reeves will have to do a lot more than she’s planning https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2024/04/10/we-need-the-tax-system-to-work-which-means-rachel-reeves-will-have-to-do-a-lot-more-than-shes-planning/. Rachel Reeves has appointed a tax advisory panel that has no experience in small business taxation, which is where most of the unpaid tax in the UK is to be found. She needs to add depth to her team and give that team real teeth by forming an Office for Tax Responsibility.

RichardJMurphy, 1 month ago to random

Rachael Reeves will not close the tax gap by looking overseas. Pretending that the problem is elsewhere is no longer realistic. It’s in her own backyard. https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2024/04/09/rachael-reeves-will-not-close-the-tax-gap-by-looking-overseas-pretending-that-the-problem-is-elsewhere-is-no-longer-realistic-its-in-her-own-backyard/. Rachel Reeves really does need to read the Taxing Wealth Report 2024 , because if she wants more money, she's looking in all the wrong places.

RichardJMurphy, 1 month ago to random

Farewell to the ICAEW https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2024/04/09/farewell-to-the-icaew/. I didn’t expect to leave the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales this year, but their behaviour has left me with what I think to be no other option but to do so if I wish to continue to criticise them for what I think to be their serious ethical, accounting and governance failures. As a result I am no longer a chartered accountant, but my holding of the ICAEW to account will not cease.

RichardJMurphy, 1 month ago to random

Wes Streeting is a disgrace https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2024/04/08/wes-streeting-is-a-disgrace/. Streeting has said in the Sun that he is willing to fight healthcare unions and Labour supporters to undertake NHS reforms that will increase private sector involvement. Why does anyone support Labour anymore? Most who do are kidding themselves that it is still, somehow, related to the party that they once supported. It is not with the likes of Streeting in charge.

RichardJMurphy, 1 month ago to random

We would all have been better off if the Bank of England had done nothing with interest rates at any time since 2021 https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2024/04/08/we-would-all-have-been-better-off-if-the-bank-of-england-had-done-nothing-with-interest-rates-at-any-time-since-2021/.
Inflation is returning to normal, and that has nothing whatsoever to do with increased interest rates.

RichardJMurphy, 1 month ago to random

Apathy might have the biggest turnout whenever the general election comes https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2024/04/08/apathy-might-have-the-biggest-turnout-whenever-the-general-election-comes/. When Labour is hard to distinguish from the failed Tories or even Reform on occasion, people will increasingly ask why they should bother voting for them.

RichardJMurphy, 1 month ago to random

Both the Tories and Labour are pro-market extremists now https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2024/04/07/both-the-tories-and-labour-are-pro-market-extremists-now/.

RichardJMurphy, 1 month ago to random

Are we ready for a debate on tax? https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2024/04/06/are-we-ready-for-a-debate-on-tax/. When will we be ready for a debate on tax? I think it's sooner than most people expect, and if it does not happen before the election it will soon after it.

RichardJMurphy, 1 month ago to random

Capital gains should be subject to the same rate of tax as income https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2024/04/06/74908/. There is nothing fair about the capital gains, almost entirely made by the wealthy, being taxed at half the rate of income tax, largely charged on earnings from work. It is time that they were taxed at the same rate.

RichardJMurphy, 1 month ago to random

For those who prefer video explanations of ideas, this one explains what the Taxing Wealth Report 2024 is all about. https://youtu.be/POneYxdL_8w?feature=shared

RichardJMurphy, 1 month ago to random

The launch of the Taxing Wealth Report 2024 https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2024/04/05/the-launch-of-the-taxing-wealth-report-2024/. The Taxing Wealth Report is published in full this morning. What it makes clear is that the claim that politicians make that there is no money left is wrong. There is enough money available to tackle all the problems that we face If only politicians were willing to tax those with wealth a bit more. it also shows that to do so would be entirely appropriate because they are massively under taxed at present.

RichardJMurphy, 1 month ago to random

Freeports are a threat to free markets and to the wellbeing of the populations of all countries in which they exist https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2024/04/05/freeports-are-a-threat-to-free-markets-and-to-the-wellbeing-of-the-populations-of-all-countries-in-which-they-exist/. Freeports only exist so that those using them might extract additional profits from the abuse of the societies that host them. Why are governments so stupid that they cannot see this?

RichardJMurphy, 1 month ago to random

Is it beyond the wit of our politicians to make up their own minds? https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2024/04/04/is-it-beyond-the-wit-of-our-politicians-to-make-up-their-own-minds/. The wast majority of people in this country are appalled by what is happening in Gaza, and yet our leading politicians seem quite unable to make up their minds on what action is required. Why are they so unable to decide on something so straightforward?

RichardJMurphy, 1 month ago to random

People do not know what fiscal rules are, so why is Labour fixating on them? https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2024/04/03/people-do-not-know-what-fiscal-rules-are-so-why-is-labour-fixating-on-them/. Labour claims it will govern the country within ‘ironclad fiscal rules‘ but the evidence that people have no idea what these are is strong. Why is it, in that case, that Labour is talking about things that it must know people do not understand?

RichardJMurphy, 1 month ago to random

It takes considerable inability to get so much, so wrong, so often, but the Bank of England has achieved it. https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2024/04/02/it-takes-considerable-inability-to-get-so-much-so-wrong-so-often-but-the-bank-of-england-has-achieved-it/. All the indications are that there is an urgent need for a cut in interest rates by a significant amount very soon. The problem is that nothing of that sort is currently even being hinted at as a policy option from the Bank of England.