What does the UK election mean to you?

microphone head

microphone head

New member
Oct 21, 2012
1,653
16
0
What do you think the outcome of the UK election means to you personally?

I genuinely can't see anything monumental changing as a Uk citizen.

I was just pondering on if this election is even in any way even significant in the US.

My guess is that you chaps probably didn't even realise we're voting for our government today.
 


Realistically means FA to me personally. Cameron suits me better biz wise but I try not to think of things in that way. I voted against the Tories for what it's worth.

I do think that the swing towards marginal parties like SNP, Greens and UKIP - as diverse as they might be policy wise - is a positive thing in the medium to long term overall. Shows people actually give a fuck about politics (lead by the revolution in Scotland) and backlash against the 2 party tribal system and mass media that pushes it going forward. Genuinely tho, a month ago I thought Scottish nationalism was a pretty shitty thing but now realise it's actually mainly positive on the whole.

I feel sorry for the lib dems tbh, who are in my opinion, the most progressive party. But generally, so many people I know are 'not Tory' but have no tangible alternative suggestion, I think a passionate conversation will do us some good (inb4 civil war II.) If things go the way their looking, imo, all good:

- Biz friendly govt.
- EU referendum (I wanna stay, but want a say. This should put UKIP to bed.)
- Actual political discourse.

Bit drunk, so I'll leave it there, two vids to share. First one looking a lot less relevant than it was two days ago, but the second one is jokes:

[ame]www.youtube.com/watch?v=KyISprZphtM[/ame]

[ame]www.youtube.com/watch?v=vczSt2RLuCY[/ame]

(PS. Sorry I got a bit dislike happy. lol. Just pls understand cos not sure if trolling - the Queen has as little to do with our countries day-to-day biz as she does in her other realms - Canada, Australia etc.)
 
Libdems are getting smacked to smithereens here, but there's no great surprise after the last election.
Vince Cable gone though - didn't expect that actually.

Of course Labour were always going to lose everything in Scotchland so no surprise there.
 
Cameron appeared to be a rock-solid leader during the ongoing crisis in Ukraine, was persuasive and respectful enough during Scotland referendum and nearly all his actions are good for the business. I am not surprised he won, I am rather surprised Milliband got so much seats... well... we will see how it comes out.
 
The BBC was having some fun with it's headlines re: Ed Balls

"Balls under pressure"

then

"Balls out"
 
Last edited:
It doesn't mean much to me considering I'm an American. Still, I like to see Liberals get smacked around, regardless of their nationality, so I have a minor interest in the results.
 
Best case scenario for Britain if it is to continue with the current system has always been a Lib Dem's majority but it will never happen after Clegg essentially sold their voters down a river. They seem to follow the Conservative fiscal & economic stuff whilst being more socially progressive when it comes to stuff which to my millennial/reddit fag mind seem like "no-brainer" topics like decriminalisation of drugs, restriction of mass-surveillance, regulated euthanasia and not invading other countries.

It won't massively change my life and I didn't actually vote for anyone in the general election, but still feels slightly disconcerting that Conservatives won't be checked by another party ala the coalition of last time.

Oh well.

Also, the media has been very interesting throughout and I would love to see someone like Chomsky re-examine the idea of "liberal media bias" in the wake of Social Media (I agree with him and still think it's a myth). The Guardian was trying to give the impression that Milliband was the second coming (He was but not in that way), and this was undoubtedly amplified across social media were many believed he stood a chance. Social Media then becomes reported in the press (Both left and right wing papers) whether it's the idea of trending or taking tweets by individuals to represent the general public.

The idea of shy-Tory's has always been a thing but it seems to be even more prominent now online. Particularly when the left generally speaking dominates the discourse, and are much more vocal about denouncing the opposing government. It's resulted in a world where many such as myself and seemingly other media outlets get an inaccurate picture of the country's feelings. Looking back in hindsight clearly twitter users will represent a certain demographic more so than previously believed. Young generally = more lefties.

Even The Sun, opponent of Milliband's suggested a poll which had the two neck and neck the day before the election. Obviously this was a Poll which is separate to Social Media but part of the reason they seemed to run a smear-campaign against him was because they were scared on a qualitative level. Did they cause this backlash through Bacon Sandwich Photos et al or did they overestimate his popularity to begin with? Do I live in an online left wing bubble? Did I choose this bubble to begin with?

Anyway, a few thoughts from someone who is politically thick. Reminds me why I hate politics.
 
The Conservatives are definitely the lesser of the two evils if you're looking to not be over taxed. The Labour party wanted to abolish a really nice tax loophole that allowed you to establish residency in a low tax jurisdiction such as Hong Kong, move back to the UK, and then continue to live in the UK for the rest of your life while being taxed as a HK resident (No capital gains tax, No dividend tax, No estate tax, a low 16% salaries tax, etc).

Glad those tax grabbing pricks weren't able to remove such a sweet deal for high flying UK citizens.

The UK has some amazing tax perks with the proper setup, especially when compared to places like the US. You even get free health care. I'm sure many people would wish they were British citizens rather than American citizens these days!
 
Looks like the illusion of choice is still strong.
It's not like one party or the other will change anything.
The royals rule the country, but you can't vote them down without going bloody, can you.
 
bluechinagroup said:
The Conservatives are definitely the lesser of the two evils if you're looking to not be over taxed. The Labour party wanted to abolish a really nice tax loophole that allowed you to establish residency in a low tax jurisdiction such as Hong Kong, move back to the UK, and then continue to live in the UK for the rest of your life while being taxed as a HK resident (No capital gains tax, No dividend tax, No estate tax, a low 16% salaries tax, etc).

Glad those tax grabbing pricks weren't able to remove such a sweet deal for high flying UK citizens.

The UK has some amazing tax perks with the proper setup, especially when compared to places like the US. You even get free health care. I'm sure many people would wish they were British citizens rather than American citizens these days!
Click to expand...
Got a link or anything to that?
 
-joe- said:
Got a link or anything to that?
Click to expand...
You need a tax consultant, not a link. And for most people operating through a UK LTD company is definitely the way to go. As company director you can pay yourself £30k of dividends tax free in addition to the £10k personal allowance (£13.5k if ukip had come into power). The only tax you pay is the 20% corporation tax. That's what I used to do anyway. I've since left the UK for sunnier shores and keep much much more of my monies :drinkup:
 
bluechinagroup said:
The Conservatives are definitely the lesser of the two evils if you're looking to not be over taxed. The Labour party wanted to abolish a really nice tax loophole that allowed you to establish residency in a low tax jurisdiction such as Hong Kong, move back to the UK, and then continue to live in the UK for the rest of your life while being taxed as a HK resident (No capital gains tax, No dividend tax, No estate tax, a low 16% salaries tax, etc).

Glad those tax grabbing pricks weren't able to remove such a sweet deal for high flying UK citizens.

The UK has some amazing tax perks with the proper setup, especially when compared to places like the US. You even get free health care. I'm sure many people would wish they were British citizens rather than American citizens these days!
Click to expand...

I'm very much interested in this too. From my present knowledge, any income that is transferred back to the UK bank account will be taxable.
 
SeoReborn said:
I'm very much interested in this too. From my present knowledge, any income that is transferred back to the UK bank account will be taxable.
Click to expand...
As long as you are UK resident, you will be taxed on your worldwide earnings, regardless of where you keep it. The exception to this is if you are not domiciled in the UK. Becoming non dom requires that you satisfy hmrc. Read this: Non-dom status: do you qualify? - Telegraph

"The general message is that if you were born in the UK to a UK father it is very unlikely you are going to be able to benefit from the special treatment available to non-doms," says Mike Warburton, tax partner at Grant Thornton. "But if you or your parents have come to this country from overseas, you may be missing out if you are not already claiming non-domiciled status on your tax return."

Claiming non-dom status will be a waste of time if you have no savings or property overseas. But if you satisfy HM Revenue & Customs that your country of domicile is not the UK, there are ways you can cut your tax bill. The key benefit of being a non-dom is that it allows you to avoid paying income or capital gains tax on investments kept overseas as long as you do not bring the income or the gains into the UK. You can also avoid inheritance tax on property held overseas.
Click to expand...
If you are still conducting business from within the UK I believe that is still taxable even if you were to be non dom.
 
King. said:
You need a tax consultant, not a link. And for most people operating through a UK LTD company is definitely the way to go. As company director you can pay yourself £30k of dividends tax free in addition to the £10k personal allowance (£13.5k if ukip had come into power). The only tax you pay is the 20% corporation tax. That's what I used to do anyway. I've since left the UK for sunnier shores and keep much much more of my monies :drinkup:
Click to expand...
I have one. But that seems surprising, and I want to research it myself before I go and ask him.

EDIT: Saw your post, if it's just getting non-dom status (and not HK specific), then it's not usable for me (would be good if BCG could confirm if it is that). Thanks anyway though.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom