Martin Lunn

@TheBenPercival @MartinSLewis Until you look at national Insurance which is a tax on the poor. After a certain income you pay no more nation insurance no matter how much you earn

I was interested to see some on here asking "why should a rich person pay more for the same services than a poorer person?" on the back of council tax/poll tax discussions. Now of course no one likes tax, but we need to understand it, so I wanted to bash out my quick, unpolished thoughts on tax in general. Of course tax should be minimised, spent wisely, efficiently and productively. I'm opposed to punitive taxation ie just for the sake of punishing those with more - even though it doesn't help or raise more revenue. Yet for me, tax is the cost of living in a legitimate civil society. It should pay for society's law and order, defence, hospitals, education, rubbish collection, legal aid, social care for our elderly, state pensions, special ed needs, disability protection, medical care and help for those who can't help themselves and more. So it's the cost of being part of both broad national and narrow local communities - hopefully for the collective betterment of all. If you were simply to say "you only pay for what you use" that isn't tax, that's service provision. Never mind the tricky questions of how you assign the cost of things like defence or policing (some may say that view'd mean if your house burnt down the fire brigade should bill you after). As for why a rich person pays a more. Well because if you take £500/mth poll tax off someone who earns £1,000/mth it's crippling, off someone who earns £100,000/mth it's hardly noticed, and they still have far more disposable income. And so if you tax everyone an equal amount, when it has a disproportionate and more damaging effect on those with less, then you start to move people into desperate situations, which risks higher crime, less safe streets, social unrest and eventually societal breakdown. So I am generally in favour of progressive taxation, which means those say with more income , pay a reasonable higher proportion of tax, because they can afford to. After all those who are more affluent, have broader shoulders, and have likely made money from society as a whole - and a well functioning society is needed for wealth creation. PS I've been deliberately unspecific here, this isn't about supporting one structure of tax, just being about tax as a concept. And equally I think tax planning is fine (ie working within the rules to minimise tax - often because you're doing something the state is trying to encourage you to do - like save in an ISA or invest or put money aside for your future)

@engineers_feed It can be done with 4 lines

Can you solve it?

@fatsculler @llandaffrc @HenleyRegatta Would have thought this deserved a mention in commentary. #historymaker

@llandaffrc make history as they become the first club crew to race in the main draw of the Princess Elizabeth at @HenleyRegatta

@fatsculler @llandaffrc

And they follow that up by becoming the first club crew to win a race in the Princess Elizabeth At Henley 👏

@llandaffrc @UnionRowing @BritishRowing @HenleyRegatta #HRR23 #Historymakers

@llandaffrc Only UK club to race though 2 entered (3? US clubs) although British rowing would fail geography after noting no UK entries. Think Llandaff and Nottingham are part of UK. britishrowing.org/2023/06/420-bo…

One more sleep! At 10.10am tomorrow our Llandaff J18 8+ will make history by becoming the first (& we think only) club to row in the Princess Elizabeth Cup at Henley Royal Regatta!!! Pob lwc bois! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿💪🚣‍♀️ #HRR23

@HenleyRegatta @llandaffrc @UnionRowing @BritishRowing by the way, Llandaff is in Wales, part of the UK and Nottingham still is too. britishrowing.org/2023/06/420-bo…

@HenleyRegatta @llandaffrc #HistoryMaker congrats on being first UK club to race at HRR in PE. @UnionRowing hard lines as fastest non qualifier

The Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup Draw for Henley Royal Regatta 2023. #HRR23 #PrincessElizabeth

@Sussexblues @amateuradam Million not killing lol

@Sussexblues @amateuradam Maybe, Possibly, raise some tax rates. Thise earnings over 100k could probably afford it. Or we could use the 350 killing or whatever it was on the side of the brexit bus?

Question 1. If the NHS has 133,400 staff vacancies, with 40% of junior doctors planning to leave, and nursing salaries down 20% in real terms over the last decade, should you pay them a fair wage?

#evri #sportsdirect Ordered shoes for next day delivery. Delayed with evri. No help from sports direct. Still waiting for refund

@EVRi_Delivery where is my parcel?

@maitlis @LKTranslator @Number10cat @NicolaSturgeon When did I must Scotland leaving the UK? Has sneaky sturgeon declared independence unilaterally?

@brianmoore666 twitter.com/ALOTO/status/1…

This is a truly masterful communicator, political in this instance but in every sense. Anyone who thinks Johnson ever reached anywhere near this is either stupid or biased.,

@brianmoore666 Hi Brian, Check out bbc panorama from Monday 5th September. it seems that nuclear, cial, and renewable producers are now getting paid the same as those who produce electricity from gas. So they are now making vast profits as their raw materials have not increased

I do not know if this is accurate, but would welcome the commemts of somebody who is in a position to know.

“Nothing to do with Brexit.” @NatalieElphicke, MP for Dover.

@GTBicycles bought stomper ace 24 for child. Brake reach is same if not slightly larger than mine. Adjustment screw has no effect. What is solution?

@tfwrail @transport_wales Please tell the drivers its a 20 mph limit in Radyr and not to tailgate. #6077 @9.45

🛠️Engineering Work. Saturday 25 and Sunday 26 September 🚍Buses replace trains between: Radyr - Pontypridd *Extends to Cardiff Queen Street Saturday nights ℹ️ Check your journey: tfw.wales