No, don't switch off, this post is NOT about the 10p tax rate that was, but about the media coverage about whom its abolition hits.
According to all the media coverage, the abolition of the 10p tax rate will hit "the low paid" and those on "low incomes". This turns out to mean those earning less than £18,000 a year.
Well, 18 grand might not be much to a politician or journalist but a quick look at the statistics shows that half the population (and more than 60% of women) in Wales earn this amount or less a year.
Time we wised up to reality.
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8 comments:
The key words are "less than". That includes genuinely low income families.
Not sure what your point is Ordovicius but just to be clear:
- the lowest paid 10% earn less than £5,979
- the lowest paid 20% earn less than £10,074 a year
and the lowest paid 3)5 earn less than £13,016 a year.
Thats a lot of people on a pretty low income.
Surely the point on this is that in our communities tens of thousands of people earning 18,000 or less will be hammered by these tax changes. Why on earth did Gordon Brown introduce such a regressive tax measure, when up to now tax measures have generally been more progressive than regressive.
Politicians live in ivory towers these days. How often do they see what being on low pay actually means. Westminster is a goldfish bowl, its an unreal community. Just look at how people change once they get into it. Cardiff bay is now a smaller version, its an elite club to a lot of people.
Labour was about fairness and social justice when it was set up, go read the history of the ILP.
Under Tony Blair's leadership, the Labour Party committed itself to a society run in the interests of the many, not the few.
I thought that would be the less advantaged in our society, not the most advantaged. Brown needs to wake up to what is happening here and measure what he is sanctioning in line with why he went into politics and what he held high as his credo
The worst of it is that people on above average wages are often those claiming most in expenses and other little top-ups, so they're even more innoculated from being stung for £200.
As a journalist I take exception to your lumping us with politicians. Apart from the hacks of Fleet Street and TV, most journos on weekly papers, local radio and freelancing with independent television are earning crap money.
seren said:
"Apart from the hacks of Fleet Street and TV, most journos on weekly papers, local radio and freelancing with independent television are earning crap money."
Crap is a rather relative concept.
What would you describe as crap?
You show me yours and I'll show you mine.
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