UK Politics Thread (Part 3)

If you look at where most of them are coming from, it will likely be either that the UK has bombed the fuck out of the homeland, or mined the fuck out of it leaving nothing for the locals to make a living from.

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Or speak the language, have friends/families here, etc.

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ā€œI have great policy ideas but I donā€™t believe that whatā€™s in my head is going to get us out of the mess we are in.ā€

Apparently (I didnā€™t watch it) Kemi Badenoch came out with this inspiring line on GB News last night. And this genius wants to be the next Prime Ministerā€¦

Bwahahahahahahahaha

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Well I got on a boat and went in the opposite direction!

There will be a variety of reasons, but it is likely that a fair few have connections to the country, e.g. other family members or they are people that should have been properly evacuated. (About 20% are Afghans that are likely fleeing because they had assisted the British military there).

One of the biggest reasons is that they are looking for an English speaking country. One of the highest per capita countries for refugees is Malta, which is also an island and English speaking.

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I once had a chance to be British. My grandmother was a servant in a rich British family when Singapore was under British rule. After the war, she was asked by the family whether she wants to follow them back where they can get her a British citizenship or passport. She rejected. If she had accepted, I would have been born in the UK, grow up playing football. I could have been Steven Gerrard

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ā€¦or Banksy :wink:

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Those with the broadest shoulders would like the government to fuck off.

One change they could make is to turn it into an actual inheritance tax. What they have now is a death tax as it is charged against the estate, not the beneficiary.

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Given that the IT threshold is only Ā£325,000 I was surprised to read that only 5% of estates are likely to be subject to it.

I know it is complicated by property and estates passing to spouses. I live in north merseyside but I would say the vast majority of properties within a 3 mile radius of here are worth at the very least Ā£400,000 without factoring in any savings.

I would imagine every equivalent property in the SE is worth at least 50% moreā€¦ I know someone who has just paid Ā£800,000 for a small semi in Kent.

5% just seems incredibly low.

I think if you have a house itā€™s Ā£500k not Ā£325k.

So for a married couple that usually translates to Ā£1m.

Also Iā€™d imagine you have to factor in the mortgageā€¦

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Yes I know but I still think with rising property prices that even Ā£1 million is not that much if say your property is even just a modest house in the London commuter beltā€¦

I live in prime commuter belt country and surprisingly few properties are over a million.

Itā€™s just that television property porn and glossy weekend magazines make it look as though everyone in the suburbs lives in a mansion. Far more people live in flats or bedsits.

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Those that are likely to be hit by IT usually make provision in advance, e.g. by ā€œgiftingā€ property to children within 7 years of death, trusts and so on.

The effective IT threshold for most estates is Ā£650,000 due to married couples accumulating the allowance.

Iā€™m not sure about the 5% but many people donā€™t inherit anything in their lives. I received Ā£2000 from a distant relative but many people will only ever receive keepsakes.

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I got no inherited wealth either. I worked extremely hard and as a result I am comfortably off and I am not complaining about inheritance tax. Just querying the 5% figure.

I donā€™t doubt that but I bet there are loads at least Ā£500,000 plus any savings on top of thatā€¦

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Might be in a pension?

If you die before your 75th birthday and have money in a private pension, that money can be paid to your heirs without attracting any inheritance tax.

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Thanksā€¦

Sadly I am rapidly approaching 75 :roll_eyes:.

Here is the relevant bit.

Outside the estate

Pensions are considered to be outside of your estate, so beneficiaries can access the retirement savings without paying IHT.

If you are 75 or over when you die, a beneficiary of your pension pot will have to pay income tax on any withdrawals at their marginal rate (i.e. the highest rate of income tax that they pay).

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What frequently happens is most people end up in a nursing home where they can recieve care. Those homes need to be far better regulated because they cost an arm and a leg, and are exploitative for people who are vulnerable.

My father in-law was in a home for 6 weeks (palliative care, hallucinating etc) unexpectedly he recovered. Family took him in and cared for him. What no one realised is while he was clearly not in a fit mind (ie the next week power of attorney was signed over to his brother) they got him to sign a document which ā€œheldā€ his room. This basically reserved a spot in case he needed to return. However he ended up living another 2 yearsā€¦ā€¦

3 months after his death, we got a bill for Ā£120K basically (most of his estate). For a room he had barely used (no possessions in it), a room that was used by other patients likely the entire time (was during covid). They even charged for the 3 months after his death!!

Fought it for 18 months, notices of debt collectors etc the executor of the will (his brother) gave up to settle the estate. It was giving him to much stress/ grief. Taking up too much time. They were sharks plain and simple.

Care for the elderly/dying is a huge money spinner. Unless the estate has less than something like Ā£20K itā€™s down to the individual to pay.(recovered from the estate)

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So business is looking decent then for @SBYM :rofl:

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Asylum applications are being processed now, at a decent rate. This wasnā€™t happening AT ALL under the Tories. As you know Iā€™m no fan of the current Labour gov, but can give credit where itā€™s due

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A quick search suggests that only 10% (48,000) of Maltese use English as their first language as the majority speak Maltese, which is predominantly Arabic in its origin. Further more, if you look at the demographic of the refugees in Malta, apart from Bangladesh where English is still taught, the other countries have a low English speaking population, usually people of wealth.
So, whilst I am not dismissing your logic, could it not be that Malta is one of the first stepping stones to mainland Europe from the North of Africa? Next stop Sicily, then Italy?

I am going to use the highest asylum applications by Nationality to question the English speaking, friends and families stance.
Figures (stats) show that Albanians make up the highest number of asylum seekers, I believe 28%, approx 12,000 (figures from 2022). The Official Albanian population living in the UK is, as of 2021, 100k-140k - and I am taking the highest estimates. Yet, as of 2023 there were 390k Albanians living in Italy - taking the lowest estimateā€™s, the high estimates are 800k. Taking into consideration that the UK has a larger population than Italy, maths would suggest that there are more Albanians per capita.
Asylum applications made by Albanian nationals 2022, To the UK 15,925, to Italy 1,215. Infact the UK had 9,000 more applicants than France (2nd). So Albanian nationals, rather than seeking asylum in a country they have history with, which has a higher number of Albanian people, and is relatively easy to travel to by land or across the tranquil Baltic Sea. Would prefer to travel half way across Europe, live in a tent in a camp in France, pay monies to smugglers and risk a treacherous journey across the English Channel, in an over crowded dinghy?

I may be missing something here but why???

On a side note, I went on Holiday to Durres, Albania this year and it is a very pretty country with very welcoming people. I would definitely recommend!!

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