The UK’s national income per head is higher than France, Italy and Spain, but a bit lower than Germany. All are massively lower than Ireland’s. The Republic of Ireland has a per capita income more than twice the UK’s and three times Spain’s. The main reason is Ireland has held its company tax rates down to 12.5%, far lower than the other larger European countries. As a result large US and other overseas companies have wanted to set up in Ireland and book more of their activities through Ireland to take advantage of the lower tax rate. Far from collecting less company tax through lower rates, Ireland collects far more company tax as a percentage of the economy than the countries setting higher rates.
President Biden’s success in getting leading countries to approve his idea of a minimum level of corporation tax worldwide will mean Ireland will lose a little of its advantage, being persuaded to put its rate up to 15%. This will still leave it below most of the other larger European countries.
The UK should use this opportunity to increase its company tax receipts by lowering the rates. The UK could now match Ireland with a 15% rate. This would doubtless be a good draw for large companies to locate more to the UK, and would remove the big competitive advantage Ireland gives herself by her current very low rate. Why don’t the Treasury want to increase the tax take from companies and boost National Income? How much more evidence do they want that lower rates are successful?
Figures in US $ from World Bank Per capita GDP
France  39,030
Germany  46,208
Ireland 85,267
Italy 31,676
Japan  39,538
Spain 27,063
UKÂ Â 40,284
USAÂ Â Â 63,543
November 11, 2021
It is too much to expect such a sensible decision from the government.
November 11, 2021
Well certainly to expect from this government. It is not just Corp. Tax either all the other taxes CGT without even indexation, income tax, stamp duty land tax, NI both employer and employee, pension at at 50%, IHT at 40% over just ÂŁ325k, back door expensive energy taxes, allowance freezing taxes and all the rest.
Allister Heath today is spot on as usual in the Telegraph.
This feckless Tory Government has charted a course to absolute failure.
Time is running out to end the drift, and prove to Conservatives there is a point to this administration.
November 11, 2021
Will Rishi come in and save the day as a new PM? Is Boris shown as a spent force, now mired in sleaze and Brownite policies?
On a different topic does the Belarussian threat today to halt gas transit supplies to EU appear quite similar to French threats to cut off electrickery supplies to UK and Jersey? Equally we have French authorities escorting illegal immigrants across the channel towards the UK, similarly Belarus does the same with their EU border into Poland?
How come we believe France is our good neighbour, when Belarus is blamed for being the opposite?
November 12, 2021
Let’s hope Sunak does replace Johnson…
November 11, 2021
+1 Oldtimer. I have lost all trust in this government to act sensibly and in the interests of our country and its people. They have the occasional win, such as the vaccine rollout, but that is overwhelmed by all the bad decisions.
November 11, 2021
@Oldtimer & @Shirley M +1 they become deranged every day, this control freakery has to stop
November 11, 2021
I wouldnât consider the vaccine rollout as a win, the private company manufacture yes, the private company distribution yes, the management of delivery noâŠ..I still canât understand why âjab centresâ couldnât have been co-located in or adjacent to NHS hospitals/doctors using NHS staff
November 11, 2021
quite simply – the GP senior partners would miss out on the handsome payday that their staff provide on their Saturday day off typically. And volunteers outside give their time freely to help.
November 11, 2021
Well the vaccine was created in the private sector. Buying it and sticking it in people’s arms is not really that hard really. I could have done it myself for all my family in a twenty minutes if I have just been given the vaccines. Glad the NHS could manage it too but surely that is the least we can expect of them.
November 11, 2021
3,100 children died during the covid period, of these –
61 children died with covid, of these
25 children died due to covid, of these
6 children died due to covid that we healthy without any pre-existing medical conditions
https://dailysceptic.org/2021/11/11/just-six-health-children-died-from-covid-in-last-12-months/
November 11, 2021
Indeed Shirley, they are allowing too many policies to be dictated by the globalists and current fashion. Time to ditch the policies of those globalists and take care of our own. They could start by employing some real scientists to tell them the truth about climate change and stop all the nonsense.
November 11, 2021
Sunak is not a conservative whatever anyone says.
His totally illogical move of increasing NI and corporation tax whilst recovering from a pandemic is nonesense.
It appears he’s another Brown/ Blairite masquerading as a tory.
November 11, 2021
Oldtimer,
The Johnson government will do whatever it thinks will keep Johnson in the good books of those that can help him when he leaves office.
Hence the green agenda. Hence âbuild back betterâ.
Lord Frost will keep talking, but nothing will happen on Brexit Johnson is frightened to rock the boat and upset future benefactors.
November 11, 2021
+1
November 11, 2021
No, I believe there is every likelihood of a trade war with the EU. I have no doubt that we will win it.
November 11, 2021
We seem to have very high public spending 50%, hugely misdirected public spending and very inefficient in terms of value for money public spending. On top of this we have the expensive energy agenda, the net zero lunacy, a woke diversity over ability agenda, very high & complex taxation and vast over regulation of almost everything and then the huge over reaction to Covid.
So what could possibly go wrong for the economy given all this?
November 11, 2021
Then Gov. Ministers have chutzpah to complain about low productivity! What do they think are the causes of this low productivity but themselves moronic policies that divert people from productive activity and discourage UK inward investments.
November 11, 2021
Lunacy indeed for that is what it seems. However it is subservience to those who would destroy our lives for their own selfish benefit.
November 11, 2021
The U.K. is no longer an attractive base for large multinationals due to Tory pensioner Brexit.
Without the advantages of being in the single market, the U.K. is now a poor place to make goods.
And it isnât worth bothering about with services because the thing service businesses need most is people. And the Brexiters have spent the last five years telling foreigners they are unwelcome.
Big companies who are here will probably stay – itâll too much hassle to move. But youâre unlikely to get many new arrivals of note.
Thanks Tory pensioner Brexit. The gift of stupidity that keeps giving.
November 11, 2021
I certainly agree that having left the EU the U.K. needs to go out of its way to make itself an attractive location for businesses, great and small. Not much sign of that so you might be in luck and in the late 20s we will sneak back at least into the single market although probably not the EU. But I think the Tories will come to their senses and come up with some sensible policies in time for the election.
November 11, 2021
Yes, Ireland has capitalised very wisely on the great pool of young, ready-educated and experienced talent across the European Union to which it has unhindered access – exactly what is needed in services.
November 11, 2021
I think you mean the pseudo- Corporation base in Ireland attracts staff from all over. Move the base and get-rich-quick exploiters will follow it. It takes more than horses, a certain dark beer, and a drunken craic to keep them there.
November 11, 2021
Only another 25 years to carry on fighting until you beat Hiroo Onoda’s record. Your claims are increasingly ludicrous without any factual basis.
November 11, 2021
Dear Mr. Redwood,
@Andy,
Have you ever heard this old saying?
“It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt.”
November 11, 2021
The lies go on.
Large factories moved from the UK to the wider EU in their hundreds whilst in the EU. Industries collapsed – whilst in the EU.
No-one has said that foreigners are unwelcome. That is a lie. Brexit was caused by a total loss of control of our borders and now we know that it wasn’t really the EU’s fault. It was largely the Tories that caused it.
All we asked for was a points system and an assurance that simply being invited in our country to work didn’t automatically confer citizenship. Something that your beloved New Zealand and their wonderful PM upholds rigorously.
From Major’s Maastricht right up to now. Thousands of unvetted blokes landing up on our shores … of the more dubious among them, I doubt they’ll be waiting patiently to get their driving licences before they hit our roads in untaxed and uninsured cars… that’s before other crimes are considered.
No nation would welcome that kind of immigration.
November 11, 2021
Andy sticking up for multinationals. Ha ha. What would little Greta say about that !
November 11, 2021
If pensioner stupidity is to blame for Brexit, what is to blame for the Scots thinking they can join the EU?
November 11, 2021
It’s getting very tedious … three years ago, on October 30 2018, another day when you were allowed to make a similar silly comment, I pointed out a German study from June 2017 which contradicted the nonsense coming from the UK Treasury under Philip Hammond:
https://johnredwoodsdiary.com/2018/10/30/easing-the-squeeze/#comment-969860
“I hope you can appreciate that the important point here is not that according to the German Economy Minister the UK would be hurt more than Germany but that all the UK numbers are much smaller than predicted by the UK Chancellor:
âIn the scenario where the U.K. and the EU fail to strike a trade deal and fall back on World Trade Organization rules, the study predicts the U.K. economy would lose 1.7 percent of economic output over the long-termâ
Not Philip Hammondâs âdisastrousâ 8% of GDP, but a very manageable 1.7% over the long term â similar to the recent forecasts from Open Europe:
http://johnredwoodsdiary.com/2018/10/28/yes-chancellor-we-coukd-afford-a-better-budget-if-we-leave-without-a-withdrawal-agreement/#comment-969556
according to which the deficiency might be only about 2% spread over 13 years, or with the correct government responses possibly only a quarter of that.”
November 11, 2021
Andy :
Whilst it is true that more older than younger people voted for Brexit does not mean no younger people voted for Brexit and perhaps the reason is because older people have lived longer and are consequently wiser in such matters.
Like the adage, if youâre not a socialist when youâre young then you have no heart but if you are not a conservative when yourâre older then you have no brain.
The UK is a poor place to make goods because our energy costs are expensive and if the Government pushes ahead with wind power energy will not only be expensive but also intermittent. So not a country to run a factory.
By services, I presume you mean cleaners, cooks, gardeners and nannies? Despite Brexit and the wishes of 70% of UK voters we still have net legal immigration at 300K/year and illegal immigration now at over 20K/year (with no deportations at all and growing).
How many more immigrants do we need each and every year?
Sir Johnâs diary today suggests how we can attract many more new companies by reducing our company tax rates.
I would suggest we reduce them to match those of Ireland. If the rates are acceptable to the EU then I expect you too would be happy?
November 11, 2021
Andy – by the end of September this year UK services GDP was just -0.3% below February 2020 when we entered lockdown no.1. Services account for 80% of the Uk economy, because of the carve us of our industry throughout Europe, I bet you didn’t shed any tears when people lost their manuf. skilled jobs. Manufacturing is gradually returning. 45% of British exports are services 45% 2/3 of UK service exports go to none EU Countries.
UK GDP grew for a second consecutive month in September. UK GDP grew every month this year, bar July, from February. ONS
November 11, 2021
There certainly is something of a whiff about your posting…
Your personal quest to initiate a new wave of Project Fear is as doomed to fail to come true as all the other variants that we have witnessed collapse in the face of events. Do stop pouting about Brexit, even as slow a learner as Keir Starmer has accepted that he can’t turn back time.
November 11, 2021
+1
November 11, 2021
Inward investment is going well young Andy.
Check out the figures.
Another of your Project Fear predictions shown to be a failure.
November 11, 2021
Indeed, it is, and you should have pointed out it is around the Ten Point Plan presented by the Rt Hon Elizabeth Truss. They are (with budget likely to be allocated by the state for each Point):
Advance offshore wind, (ÂŁ160m), Low carbon hydrogen (ÂŁ240m), Advanced nuclear fuel (ÂŁ425m), Zero emission vehicles (ÂŁ2.3bn), Green finances & Innovation sector(ÂŁ1bn), Green public transport (ÂŁ4.2bn city public transport + ÂŁ5bn buses & other transport), Jet zero (collaborative funding), Greener buildings (ÂŁ1bn), Carbon capture and storage (ÂŁ1bn), Natural environment (no defined budget).
If interested to invest contact enquiries@invest-trade.uk (Department for International Trade) or call 0207 000 9012.
November 12, 2021
I was thinking more of inward investment meaning individual businesses in the world investing inside the UK.
Like JLR and Nissan as two random examples, rather than your list of state spending hef.
November 11, 2021
Compare cost per residence per head too.
That would give a better idea as to financial comfort – or its opposite – in the respective countries.
November 11, 2021
It would seem the Treasury has a death wish in our country! Lord knows why!
November 11, 2021
Indeed what really matters is how much the government is spending and is this being spent remotely sensibly, efficiently & on the right things. The UK is spending over 50% of GDP and is doing so appallingly inefficiently and misdirected – test and trace, soft loans for largely worthless/useless degrees, net zero subsidies, the climate change act and the bonkers committee for climate change, the dire virtual state monopoly NHS, expensive intermittent energy, HS2, Hinkley C, government propaganda adverts, defence procurementsâŠ
Governments should spend circa 30% max of GDP – but this is then 30% of a much higher GDP of course.
November 11, 2021
The Treasury and the CS is run by people who think Communism is a really good idea.
November 11, 2021
@Sharon +1
November 11, 2021
100% correct – But our Treasury follow keynesian economic theory and pursue labour fiscal views
November 11, 2021
Errrr ….. but in the budget in March Sunak said he will increase the top rate from 19% to 25% – I assume you voted for the budget ? So why complain now ?
November 11, 2021
Well he wanted some tax payers to buy 50% of restaurant meals for other taxpayers, give soft âloansâ of ÂŁ50k so students can gain largely worthless degrees, pour money at the dire NHS, fund the pointless test and trace, fund the met zero insanity, intermittent âgreenâ energy and other such âvitalâ public services!
November 11, 2021
Sounds fine to me, why doesn’t it appeal to you? You didn’t mention the many years holiday in UK provided by us for tens of thousands of new tourists, following an exciting marine adventure and rescue.
November 11, 2021
Well RG, a valid point. 25% would be a killer blow, a major disincentive for any to locate in the UK.
November 11, 2021
Agreed â as Terry Thomas once put it ââtheyâre an utter showerââ
November 11, 2021
The EU wanted harmonisation ( thereâs a surprise) of company tax rates but Ireland used an absolute tangle of tax treaties to get this advantage. Or so I understand.
Apart from getting embroiled in a potty scheme like the EU I canât see why a countryâs taxation should be the business of any other countryâŠor for that matter why companies should be allowed to scout around the world to find cheap tax deals.
I doubt very much if the U.K. will dare to lower its rates . I wouldnât be FAIR! ( The EU wouldnât like it more likely!).
AnywayâŠif it takes a load of tax treaties would the U.K. be able to negotiate successfully?
November 11, 2021
It is not just the RoI but also Luxembourg.
Remember what the EU Project is about ? It is about creating a federal nation called Europe. To do that they need FULL monetary, economic and political control. Having member countries with differing tax rates undermines this.
November 11, 2021
+1
November 11, 2021
Where does it say that in any treaty?
November 11, 2021
Itâs in the original treaty, the Treaty of Rome. No-one mentioned that when we joined in 1973 or before the referendum in 1975.
November 12, 2021
Your new here so I will repeat it for the umpteenth time because you have not read it or thought to educate yourself. As Mike says, it is in the Treaty of Rome and the line in it that sticks out is – EVER CLOSER UNION. Now if you not understand the implications of those three little words I suggest you find a blog / diary that is more to your intellect.
November 12, 2021
No, it is not.
November 12, 2021
That is nothing like the specific claims made by OP.
November 12, 2021
NHL and young Andy
Try reading the House of Commons library research briefing on ” ever closer Union in the EU treaties”
November 11, 2021
It isnât – and it doesnât.
November 11, 2021
@Everhopeful +1 As Barnier’s Crew involved in the Withdrawal Agreement emphatically stated at the time the UK is now our(the EU’s) Colony.
November 11, 2021
+1
Oh dear!
Certainly does feel like it.
What a ghastly prospect.
November 11, 2021
I thought the Governments plan was to increase it, which suggests they do not believe in your theory and examples John.
Clearly they do not believe it takes a very brave person to set up and invest their own money and expertise in a business, and to leave the cosy world of PAYE employment.
The benefit and unemployment system does not help, as it is totally inflexible, the constant war on the self employed with IR35 type legislation and tax policies is also a big hinderance, then we have corporation tax and a whole range of other business taxation, business rates etc, coupled with thousands of pages of employment law.
Risk verses reward and lifestyle is a fine balance, if you have too much at risk for too little reward, then you stifle the very growth that the Government needs.
Why would anyone want to risk everything, which often includes the family home, when the government earns more from their efforts than they will do themselves.
November 11, 2021
My experience has been successive governments working VERY hard to stifle enterprise.
The covid nonsense being the peak of it all.
How to kill off small business in one easy lesson!
November 11, 2021
Rules, regulations & taxes stop invention and innovation
November 11, 2021
Correct ! I believe it is to battle inflation and get some of that QE Money back and out of the System. What I proposed is a Special Tax Rate for companies with a turnover of more than say ÂŁ100 million (plucked figure). That would attract a lot of those companies in both RoI and Luxembourg and bring revenue in that we currently do not enjoy. No real change needed for the Chancellor other than an additional tax band.
November 11, 2021
@alan jutson +1 This Crowd spends the money first, then panics to create the funds.
November 11, 2021
+10
November 11, 2021
Tax is inflationary.
November 11, 2021
Good comment AJ.
November 11, 2021
Yes, but the government isn’t behaving like conservatives.
November 11, 2021
+1
November 11, 2021
I see the hapless Priti Patel has sent a flight of criminals to Jamaica with just 4 people on it. What an absolute waste of my money.
If the plane is going to the Caribbean anyway they could at least take some Tory MPs along on a jolly.
But, seriously. Nobody objects to serious criminals being deported after they have served their sentence providing it is done so lawfully. Why does the Home Secretary struggle so much with following the law?
November 11, 2021
Because young Andy, fee hunting lefty lawyers gobble up legal aid to mount campaigns through the courts based on nonsense like the right to family life which stops rapists and other violent criminals from being properly deported.
That flight should have been full.
November 11, 2021
+100 …. and more! Criminals have greater rights than their victims, in the UK.
November 11, 2021
and the Home Office allow it
November 11, 2021
Indeed.
November 11, 2021
ECHR have ruled – for Russia, incidentally – that a right to family life does NOT prevent serious criminals from being deported.
Keep up.
November 11, 2021
Yet our Courts still rule that a right to family life can stop the Government from deporting criminals NHL
Stuffed as they are full of Blair and Brown’s placemen and women
Keep up yourself.
November 11, 2021
remember a few years ago a report that they couldn’t deport someone because he had a ‘cat’ and the judge decided that was indeed the ‘right to family life’
November 12, 2021
Your claims relate to a tiny number of very old cases.
If a judge were still to do that then that is a fault with them and not with the LAW.
November 12, 2021
It is about how these judges interpretate the law.
And they rule the deportation illegal on the right to family life and other reasons which seem odd to me.
November 11, 2021
Since even you cannot believe the Home Secretary handles each case personally, one can only assume that the standard of civil servants within the Home Office and that of the Prosecution Service is low in the extreme.
And since apparently so many anti-deportation claims seem to be made in the last 24 hours preceding a flight, Sir John, has no-one bothered to analyse what needs to be done to legally block this escape route?
Reply Yes,that is the idea behind the new draft HO legislation
November 11, 2021
Andy : âBut, seriously. Nobody objects to serious criminals being deported after they have served their sentence providing it is done so lawfully. Why does the Home Secretary struggle so much with following the law?â
The reason is because we have a large fifth column in our judiciary using laws and methods, such as lengthy appeals etc., they have created to stop the deportation of even serious criminals.
The real question you should be asking is :
âWhy doesnât the Government, with an 80 seat majority and a public which does not object to serious criminals being deported, as you say, change the law to enable these deportations to take place?â
November 11, 2021
Is the govt. so laid back regarding the sacking of thousands of what used to be KEY WORKERS because the intention is to computerise ( A.I. even) their jobs?
No jab no job.
If so.
There is a truly dystopian future awaiting us.
November 11, 2021
Oh no..just remembered.
Long term plan to move âcareâ into peopleâs homes and exact cost after death?
Except that by 2030 we will own nothing.
Oh yesâŠexactly!
November 11, 2021
replace future awaiting with reality arriving.
November 11, 2021
It is a good idea to reduce rather than increase corporation tax. The Biden global tax stitch-up is a foolish idea, but it could be in the narrow interest of the U.K., being located in high tax Europe, to use the 15% as a target.
We shouldnât get too exercised about Irish GDP numbers. Thereâs no doubt the low Corp tax policy has been a great success in Ireland – well done to them. But Irish GDP figures are a nonsense as the large nominal turnover of some companies booked there distorts the figures, especially for a small economy. But thereâs no doubt the Irish are more prosperous than they would be had they cloaked themselves in leftist righteousness and had high Corp taxes. Thatâs the lesson to learn.
November 11, 2021
Politicians generally can nit see beyond the headline – “Government gives bankers and company owners a tax cut while cutting pensions and Universal credit”
They do not know how to communicate the increased potential.
Incidentally, interesting findings from the Institute of Fiscal Studies that parents earning up to ÂŁ52K (ÂŁ59K for single parents) can claim Universal Credit. The Conservatives are more interested in a client state than a productive one. A family working minimum wage on Universal Credit can easily TAKE HOME ÂŁ36K per year. As you can see, Universal Credit is a generous benefit for families.
November 11, 2021
However much group EU think there is in the Treasury it is down to the Chancellor with Cabinet support to do it. In this diary they have had it spelt out to them for as long as I can remember. Incidentally I see no point in following Biden think, he only has another two and a half years, cut it to 10%.
November 11, 2021
Scrap corporation tax and set up a new tax whereby a company pays a percentage of their profits to the country where the sales have been made. This could be the same as the VAT currently paid by the customer. At the moment you have parasitic Ireland cashing in on the spending of UK citizens. This has to stop. As we have seen Ireland is no friend to the UK.
November 11, 2021
I’ve lost track of the policies, views and practices where Sir John you oppose your goverent. Why are you still so unwavering loyal to the Tories? Is it hypocrisy or self preservation? I remember that a year or two ago you said you remained in the party because leaving would mean you would be lonely and you didn’t want that.
Reply In order to change things for the better you not only need a good idea and a thought through plan but you also need votes in the Commons. The Conservative party is clearly the lower tax party, and I agreed with the common Manifesto we used in 2019 when we promised not to raise Income Tax, NI and Vat.I am seeking to improve government tax policy.
November 11, 2021
Sorry Sir John, not a very convincing reply. I don’t think you are much convinced either.
November 12, 2021
From the outside looking in, it would appear your swimming against the tide is casting you against the rocks. It must be very lonely in that great big swirling series of waves hurled against you – no rescue in sight.
November 11, 2021
‘The Republic of Ireland has a per capita income more than twice the UKâs …’ Would I be right in thinking that the ROI’s PCI figure had also been buoyed by Dublin’s being a net beneficiary of the EU’s budget until a couple of years ago? And that we, a net contributor for decades, had been, in effect, subsidising a richer neighbour? A neighbour that then came to us for a cheap loan when its public finances were shot through?
November 11, 2021
Jeremy Warner in the DT âfeckless government charting a course to absolute failureâ
Throwing away the opportunity a large majority gives you to reform the State. How can a 25 year time sever in the NHS be capable of bringing in the new thinking necessary to reform it. She canât and we are already seeing the direction of travel. Moan and the government will throw more money at you ad nauseum.
Only 1000 migrants yesterday. Millions of people given wrong advice re energy switching costing them 100s of pounds. The NHS didnât think it necessary to record our Covid booster jabs, which as the initial protection of the first two declines, is looking increasingly necessary if we are to travel to third countries so a massive costly information capture needed and we know how well that will go. So short sighted short termism. And the Government is doing a U turn on its sleaze amendment.
Just a day in the life of this appalling administration. Cameron, May, Johnson. All turned out to be weak and you lot let them.
November 11, 2021
Good morning, and thank you Sir John for picking up on this.
I have, if fellow readers care to look, have been saying this here for some time. The RoI has been enjoying benefits of lower Corporation Tax and EU Subsidies (UK and German money) which has transformed their economy and has taken business and monies from the UK by stealth.
With the issue over Ulster and the EU effectively using it as leverage to further snare the rest of the UK into it by stealth, by demanding that, to protect ‘their internal market’, the UK has to bend to them. By putting pressure in the way mentioned above, the UK can leverage a system by which either the RoI loses a major cash cow and ends up being net contributor, which it currently is, to a country that is a recipient of funds. This would put additional financial effort on both the EU and RoI, something I am sure they (Germany) wish to avoid. Alternatively, they may seek to LEAVE the EU and thereby render the NI Protocol redundant.
The Uk would benefit as it would receive extra revenue which is currently does not get and, with companies already here in the UK with more cash to spend, there would be more investment and so more growth and jobs.
Win-Win.
November 11, 2021
Why do we still pay VAT, an EU tax.
November 11, 2021
Because we haven’t actually left the EU
November 11, 2021
Sir John – You have first and foremost a ‘Spend’ Government, followed by tax is the one and only answer to the problems ‘WE’ the Government have created.
All good housekeeping is about first creating wealth, so as to have the resources to spend. So far because this Government is off with the ‘Fairies’ in sympathy with the eco terrorists all they have done is cancel UK wealth creation by forcing it overseas, so as to wear an improbable ‘eco’ badge. While all the time they are boosting employment and incomes in the far flung places that are said to be the cause of so-called Global Warming. So Government policies under Boris have punished the UK Citizen while deliberately creating more World pollution
Like tax the UK’s credentials on Global Warming are the opposite to what they(the Government) does in practice.
Get the Economy rolling with low taxes and their will be money to spare for all Boris’s peccadilloes.
November 11, 2021
@Nota# – A laughable idea put forward yesterday was that Heating Equipment manufacturers should be fined for not manufacturing ‘Heat Pumps’ – ‘Fined’ A Control freakery Government, backed by an inept Establishment completely out of Control and loosing all sense of proportion as to why they are there and how is footing the Bill. A policy if adapted would forcing more and more manufacturing and jobs abroad
November 11, 2021
You are absolutely right Sir John and for the next few months it is the perfect opportunity to announce a tax reduction.
It is set at 19% for this year and next and might remain (awful word! Sorry) continue for 2023 followed by the threat of 25% thereafter.
It takes a while for these multinationals to move their tax centres, so the Treasury needs take their courage in both hands and drop the rate to 15% in 2023.
However, whatever else they might do, they must remove the idea of 25% or we will lose big time for years to come. If there isn’t the nerve for 15% then for heaven sake remain at 19%.
November 11, 2021
Sir John, As many of us have often Stated you and a handful of others are Conservatives in a Party high-jacked by Socialist’s. Its not about investing to be able to ‘spend’ its about ‘spending’ then panicking to fill the hole.
The bit CCO miss with all their poll analysis, its not based on who is switching parties but who could be bothered to vote. Why vote to stop Labour when either way it would be just more of the same. True Conservatives would now rather not bother getting involved. If just 6% decline to vote, Labour gets in would there be any difference to the current situation? No just more of the same inept stupidity and now it doesn’t matter who gets to spin it – the parties have merged in to a Socialist death spiral.
November 11, 2021
The way to formulate a plan to deal with the USA is to imagine Jeremy Corbyn had come to power there.
November 11, 2021
Sir John knows the key drivers for sensible economic policy success but they are too simple and profound for many politicians to understand especially lower tax boosts incentives and productivity. Virtuous circles not vicious circles. Holy grail.
November 11, 2021
I donât actually care what the UK national income per head is until we resolve the political deceit between the voters expectations and government realityâŠtaxation not to be ignored Iâd rate the reducing of corporation tax as the fifth priority
Priority 1 â Repeal NIP (WA and T&CA)
Priority 2 â Send illegal immigrant back
Priority 3 â Reinstate our fisheries
Priority 4 â Repeal the Climate Change Act & cancel green revolution
Then sort out taxation
Get the ship sailing in the right direction before you tune its engines
November 11, 2021
+ several million!
November 11, 2021
Unfortunately for all of us, the Treasury mandarins are not interested in evidence, but just their own preconceived ideas brought forward from the pre-Thatcher era which they never left, and Mr Sunak is too wet to face them down – or perhaps he shares their views? It is very clear that Boris does.
November 11, 2021
Northern Ireland was given the option by the UK Treasury to introduce the same corporation tax rate as the Republic but declined to do so, and still does, as far as I know.
The Republic of Ireland is a large multinational holding company, attached to a small country. Normal metrics like GDP; GNP/GNI, donât work. It had to invent GNI* to make its national accounts make any sense.
âIn 2018, GDP at current market prices was around âŹ324 billion whereas GNI* was âŹ197.5 billion showing the effect of some of the activities associated with multinational companies â. (HT: Business Education.ie)
In Irelandâs case, GDP is actually much larger than GNP/GNI. This is because the net factor income from abroad is usually negative due to repatriation of profits by companies resident in Ireland. Plus, payments on the foreign elements of our national debt; and, remittances of immigrants in Ireland sent abroad. Therefore, GDP is a better indicator of the level of economic activity in the country, while GNP/GNI is a better indicator of the real standard of living of citizens in the country. (HT: Business Education.ie)
Ireland and the UK appear to have large foreign direct investment (FDI), which the IMF says is mostly profits being washed and rinsed through Shell companies. âThe double Irish with a Dutch sandwichâ, is a classic tax avoidance technique employed by certain large corporations. The scheme involves sending profits first through one Irish company, then to a Dutch company and finally to a second Irish company headquartered in a tax haven.
November 11, 2021
A conservative Government would reduce Corp Tax. A Thatcher-led Conservative Government would reduce Corp Tax.
But we don’t have a Conservative Government, let alone a conservative one. What we have is a left-wing/green pretendy-Conservative Government which is implementing an agenda and policies Gordon Brown approves of.
Johnson and Sunak are proving to be as destructive of our economy as Brown. I sincerely hope they get a massive kick up the ballot box in at least one of the imminent by-elections. Goodness knows they deserve it.
November 11, 2021
Wishful thinking I believe, this Government taxes and spends like a Labour Government , Sunak’s budget was a Labour budget, followed by him telling financial institutions they have to show how they will invest our pensions and investments into Johnson’s greenery. In the Government taking the power to demand banks , insurers etc explain how they will change their investment strategy to fit with his green religion breaches a fundamental principle, a power grab other Governments following this will happily build on.
Add to these two examples of a Labour government in not very good disguise we have this grotesque acceptance that we have a climate change obligation to chuck money to the ‘Global South’ . What was going through our Government’s brain, something like ….’Aid is such a well loved policy, let’s go and add another one’ … Just as I do not accept the logic behind Aid neither do I with this climate change bung that will cost us dear.
A great deal of what we are being told is just outright lies , for example the Pacific Islands are NOT being washed away , a study by Auckland University has found their landmass has grown by 8% , we can all see that the Maldives has failed to sink below the waves as predicted many times, in fact they have so much faith that they will still be around in years to come they have recently built 4 more airports, and when you look at other countries claiming to be under climate change stress what you find is that they are seeing an exponential rise in their population . Madagascar is one (the likes of the BBC don’t tell you they have stripped out 3/4’s of their forest cover ) and of late they are trying it on with Afghanistan, the fact their population has risen from 18 million in 1995 to 40 million now is to be ignored. What is really infuriating is that our Government meekly goes along with it. They have capitulated on Aid, they failed to defend our nation in the culture wars, and now join in the condemnation of us for having the industrial revolution.
November 11, 2021
Oh but at least Civil servants and mps can rely on their salary and pensions. So as far as this rubbish government is concerned, what is there to worry about? Last time I checked, recruitment to the civil service and itâs expansion in various forms, continued even during the pandemic in all manner of departments. When will we have levelling up of pensions, job security, performance requirements and benefits in the public sector, to replicate the joys of the private sector. I mean failure matters not a jot in the public sector, you can carry on with your tax payer funded job, job security and benefits and look forward to a well financed retirement.
As for the strange comment from Andy, I would like him please to ask the 6million EU citizens why they applied for residency in the UK (a figure that far EXCEEDED) the tax payer funded, incompetent ONS data on how many EU citizens were actually in the UK. Is 6million over 18s not enough for Andy? I am not even sure we can trust the latest (probably FAR too low) estimations from the ONS that the foreign born population of England alone (over 18s only) is almost 9 million. Just in England. Thatâs a population about the size of Austria, imported into England. How many schools, hospitals, etc, does Austria have? What figure is enough for Andy?
Andy can also look forward to several million supposedly Hong Kong citizens (well itâs supposed to be several thousand, but we know how hollow government estimations and promises are) who may actually include CCP citizens (because the government has proven it is fab at importing all kinds of people who wish us harm) and the ongoing doctors, consultant surgeons, engineers etc who turn up in dinghies on the coast line every day. They will all help to staff the myriad jobs, and none of them will require public services, or ever reach pension age, requiring care.
In fact, this green government is so keen on reducing C02 they have decided to keep importing as many people as they can, so donât worry Andy, if you think foreigners donât feel welcome in the UK, the truth suggests otherwise. Some of them even get a 4star hotel, and live there for a year whilst awaiting paperwork. They even get tax payer funded legal aid to ensure they cannot be shipped back to very unsafe countries, like France etc. Donât you worry Andy the government is on your side and that of foreigners wanting to experience the abundance of Life in England and Boris will make sure they get it. He will also make sure we pay for it, again and again and again, whilst we are ignored.
Problem is, it may well be true that multinationals are no longer attracted to the UK due to Sunakâs clear incompetence. He strikes me increasingly as an ambitious man hoping to buy votes with give always to the public, in the hope that he will be PM. As far as I am concerned, Richie xxxx. Sunak can get lost. But I doubt multinationals cannot find anyone to work for them from the indigenous Brits and 9million migrants. Donât worry, if they are not the right sort, Boris and Priti will ensure we import more, some of them in dinghies.
Seriously Sir John, why are MPs not forming some kind of coalition to put pressure on the government? I think we know why.
November 13, 2021
An exceptional post. And it got included. If only more had the accuracy and relevance for what ‘we the people’ witness the tragedy of a just, responsible, world-leading, economically sound country going to the dogs at greyhound after the hare speed.
Well done.
November 11, 2021
Government economic policy is so bad that you start to think: “are they wrecking the economy on purpose to show that Brexit didn’t work”. A crazy thought.
However, deliberately running economic policy that will harm the country is crazy itself.
November 11, 2021
I wonder how many of the cross channel illegal immigrants, in our hotels, will observe the minutes silence today at 11 oâclock for remembrance and pray thanks for their new freedom and wealth
November 11, 2021
We are being invaded, it is government policy. We have no borders, soon our streets will be as dangerous as those of France, Germany and elsewhere and shortly we will have no country. We have literally been sold by government traitors and appeasers and we are being made into an unfree people, a people to be lied to.
November 11, 2021
and its happening before our very eyes
November 11, 2021
Yes, Glen, it’s to rub our noses in our powerlessness. That is the point of apparently crazy policies. That is how the Soviet Union worked.
November 11, 2021
The Soviet Union worked due to their Government hating all the others. Ours ‘works’ by being hated by all the others.
November 11, 2021
Glen Cullen & Iago :
Having debased our currency through money printing (quantative easing) the Government appear now intent upon debasing our culture.
November 11, 2021
+1
November 11, 2021
The pro-rata average crime rate in the European Union is about half the UK’s.
You are generally safer on the streets there.
November 11, 2021
…compared to Cardiff or Nottingham late on a Friday night?
November 11, 2021
The whole concEpt of the Laffer Curve is well established and has been proved to work whenever tax rates have been lowered. So why does our Treasury not follow this doctrine to the benefit of all of us ?
We have seen this with CGT when first Gordon Brown removed taper relief, without dropping rates sufficiently to compensate, thus disadvantaging long term investors and benefiting the quick rich merchants. Osborne put the rates back up, making the situation even worse. CGT revenue has never recovered.
November 11, 2021
Given that the EU and Ireland in particular, have proven to be no friend of the UK, particularly under Varadkar, it would obviously be advantageous on two fronts for us to at least match Eire on Corporation Tax rates. That would see a significant shift of big businesses relocating to the UK, let alone the increase in tax take from the Laffer effect.
November 11, 2021
The Laffer curve under most circumstances leads to different conclusions from those claimed here.
Generally, raising taxes in fact moves the overall take closer to its optimum.
November 12, 2021
Like taxes on tobacco for example?
November 11, 2021
For such a high GDP figure Ireland has spent decades courting FDI so it all happened but with much more than tax rates – more like good network building, teamwork and personal trust built up which seems to be in abundance. So It’s not reasonable to just change corporate tax rates down one year and then to expect everything else to fall into place, also we have to admit to ourselves it’ll be much harder for us now since we are no longer part of the EU single market. Easy access to big markets for goods and services must count for an awful lot especially when it comes to foreign investment
November 11, 2021
Given that the EU and Ireland in particular, have proven to be no friend of the UK, particularly under Varadkar, it would obviously be advantageous on two fronts for us to at least match Eire on Corporation Tax rates. That would see a significant shift of big businesses relocating to the UK, let alone the increase in tax take from the Laffer effect.
November 11, 2021
Chris S.. Too late.. much too late now.. we are well behind the curve now and we need some better imaginative thinking. The Irish started off when they set up Shannon Free Port, it was a tax free industrial zone attached to the Airport in the 1950’s.. then they invented Irish coffee.. as if coffee was ever Irish? .. but for the Americans if was.. so you see smart thinking
November 11, 2021
an Irish coffee is the last pint before leaving…
November 11, 2021
As fast as the government wants to fill its coffers , the faster itis going out.
At time of writing there a 8 boats in the channel with 45 people on each one making the crossing to the government’s water taxi rank.
How much is this all costing in the short and long term?. Was that a minister talking about it? Silly me just silence.
November 11, 2021
Isn’t it all just tax arbitrage? Zero sum game?
November 11, 2021
Why are MPs on all expenses paid jollies to Gibraltar (falling over drunk) and other places further afield, funded by the taxpayer. When they should be in their home town with their constituency marking remembrance day
November 11, 2021
15 MPs went to Gibraltar on an âout n outâ jolly at the taxpayers expense â no regular army units are based at GibraltarâŠ.I cant find out why they went in the first place; apart from the free holiday
November 11, 2021
Now, that’s real men and women of the people for you.
November 11, 2021
How do they have the gall to lay wreaths at the memorial of those who died, believing they were fighting for our âFREEDOMâ?
November 11, 2021
Ireland is a rather special case because of the overwhelming contribution to its GDP of the US multinationals. If purchasing power of citizens is considered, Ireland is apparently slightly below the EU average, according to the former governor of Ireland’s Central Bank, Patrick Honohan. Living costs there are well above the EU average. So low corporation tax doesn’t seem to have filtered down much to ordinary people’s standard of living, whatever else it might have done.
November 11, 2021
GDP (PPP) per capita:
France 46,227
Germany 53,694
Ireland 93,612
Italy 41,840
Japan 42,197
Spain 38,335
UK 44,916
USA 63,544
How well distributed are these national incomes? In the UK, those involved in thieving banksterism and landlordism do very well; the man in the street not so much because unlike in some other countries, his country has closed his high earning industries to save the planet and caused him to face ever increasing costs of housing and taxation as the Tory Treason party continues to import the whole third world by offering his money to house, feed and pay them for being here.
November 11, 2021
Off topic, I might welcome these easily ridiculed, clearly over the top, reactions from our neighbours:
https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/politics/arid-40741731.html
“Bertie Ahern: Europe must go hard against Britain if it invokes Article 16”
https://www.politico.eu/article/eu-uk-brexit-talks-northern-ireland-protocol-retaliation-sefcovic-frost/
“EU countries urge hard line toward UK over Northern Ireland”
Except that the UK government now has a long track record of failing to counter hostile propaganda.
In his statement yesterday Lord Frost said:
“I can reassure noble Lords that, if Article 16 were to be used, we would set out our case with confidence and spell out why it was wholly consistent with our legal obligations. We would also be ready to explain that case to any interested party, not just the signatories to the treaty but those with a broader interest in relations with the EU and the UK.”
But as that has never been done in the past I have no confidence that it would be done in the future.
November 11, 2021
I donât see how this can happen. At the moment there are 700+ migrants arriving every day. Varying figures are given for how much this is costing us: ÂŁ2000 per head per month is one of the lower numbers and even that means that the burden on the tax payer goes up by ÂŁ36,000,000 per month.
November 11, 2021
I recall once suggesting, tongue in cheek, that Business rates could be significantly reduced and Corporation Tax could be scrapped altogether. Greater profits would result in larger dividends for shareholders and salaries for the trader meaning greater take on income tax. A larger increase in the minimum wage would also result in a greater harvest of VAT along with a reduction in ‘in work’ benefits.
A careful balancing exercise would be required but I think such a reform should be ‘Gamed’ at least.
November 11, 2021
Its still a good suggestion
November 11, 2021
Ireland practices leprechaun economics. To their serious detriment.
GDP is distorted by IP licence fees booked by (multinationals) up to 25% of the total in most years. The money goes straight out again. Etc ed
The distortion has two direct effects. It makes GDP per capita look more than it is, whereas actual median income is close to the U.K. Second it increase Irelandâs annual contribution to the EU by about 25% for absolutely zero benefit.
They are also being totally screwed by the EUâs Eur750billion recovery fund. They are currently expected to receive EUR915million but will be on the hook to pay 2% (based on the hokey GDP figure) of the 750 billion i.e. 15billion over the next thirty years. When they can borrow on exactly the same terms as the EU. Crazy. All because they want to be Brussels teacherâs pet
November 11, 2021
Is there ANY minister doing a good job? I honestly can’t think of one:
At the Treasury Sunak’s policies are, as Sir John keeps pointing out, the exact OPPOSITE of what is required.
Lord Frost is all talk and no action and has done NOTHING to resolve the issues of the NI Protocol, fishing, payments to the EU, etc.
Priti Useless has also completely FAILED to either stop illegal migrants from coming here or to deport those who have done so.
At Health, Javid has failed to tackle waithing lists or to eliminate nosocomial infections, while at the MoD Wallace’s defence procurement is a disaster.
Kwarteng, as we all know, seems intent to give us expensive and unreliable energy, make us dependent on France and allow key British businesses to either go bust or be bought by foreign asset strippers.
At Defra Eustice is making no attempt whatsoever to increase our food security, while Nadine Dorries, as Culture minister, is talking no action against the BBC for their left-wing bias.
At Education, Nadim Zahawi isn’t even thinking of ‘demarxifying’ our schools, universities and the national curriculum, while Grant Shapps, as Transport minister, has not yet resolved the problem of HGV drivers and is determined to waste over ÂŁ100 billion on the idiotic HS2.
Raab, as Lord Chancellor, has made no attempt to tackle left-wing activist judges or to take the UK out of the ECtHR, and even Truss, whom some Tories seems to love, has failed as Foreign Secretary, obsessing more about “gender equality” and “climate action” than promoting British interests around the world.
No wonder the government’s traditional, natural and erstwhile supporters are despairing. Yesterday, even the Telegraph published an excellent article (“This feckless Tory Government has charted a course to absolute failure”) stating that “Dispiriting doesnât even begin to describe the current Governmentâs performance.” But as we all know, ‘a fish rots from the head’, and the root cause of all these government failures is Boris Johnson’s refusal to either tackle them himself or instruct his ministers to do so. No, he is focused purely on his global warming fantasies, determined to destroy Britain’s financial competitiveness and the quality of life of all its citizens. The man has gone quite literally mad, and the only thing that now surprises me is those decent Conservatives who can’t see this and who stick with the government.
November 11, 2021
Sir John,
The equating of a GDP figure with personal general income levels is Leprechaun Economics of the RoI (Paul Krugman) based on Banking Deposits. This gives rise to the Blarney Statistic of ‘Per Capita Income’ being read
as ‘wealth per head’ that you quote. I think it would be helpful to point out that the Irish have a 20% lower Standard of Living than the UK and that includes Northern Ireland, even with these Corporation Tax receipts the Republic’s social benefits and welfare system is woeful compared to NI’s .
Reply I made n o such association. GDP per capita matters, and the benefit comes from the big increase in Corporation tax receipts
November 11, 2021
Tony Sharp – don’t know how or where you are getting your figures from but I as an old aged person aged 75 in ROI am getting 280 euro per week from state pension and that together with a couple of other small pensions leaves very comfortable indeed.
I might add I have no TV license to pay get credits towards Electricity bills and gas etc and get free public transport everywhere I want to go.
November 12, 2021
Perhaps we should redirect our refugee ferries to Ireland?
November 11, 2021
Events on the Polish/Belarus border are becoming very worrying, yet the EU seems to be paralysed by inaction.
Poland is a close ally and friend of the UK, Would it not be opportune for us to demonstrate our willingness and ability to act quickly by assisting Polish forces with the military forces we already have in their country ?
Even a token degree of assistance would demonstrate to the Poles who their real friend are and will show the EU up for the ineffective force, ( I hesitate to use that word in connection with the EU ), that it is.
November 12, 2021
‘ the EU seems to be paralysed by inaction’
Not seems, always is unless it is a new form of hate against UK.
November 11, 2021
Another 25 boats crossing channel today and an almost empty plane flying to Jamaica – GBnews (not bbc or sky)
November 11, 2021
Anyone with racing interests would be aware that the Irish are not averse to swinging the odds in their favour. Just look back at the successful betting coups they pull off!.
November 11, 2021
”Belarus’s leader has threatened to cut-off gas (Russian gas routed though Belarus) supplies to Europe” BBC website
Don’t worry folks, due to Boris green revolution, we have windmills to keep us warm this winter
November 11, 2021
Why did Belarus confiscate all the refugees smart-phones
November 11, 2021
Listening to Alok Sharma MP final speech at Cop26, youâd think that he works for the UNâŠ..someone needs to check his conservative party membership cardâŠin fact best check everyoneâs card
November 11, 2021
Glenn Cullen
Please Glen can you stop it, my ribs are hurting with laughing at the permutations of your comment.
November 11, 2021
I told you awhile back that this would happen. “Brexit: Biden sides with EU! Gloating VDL issues brutal Article 16 warning to Boris. Joe Biden has sided with the EU as Ursula von der Leyen gloated about US support over the Northern Ireland Protocol row, after a meeting with the US President at the White House”. (Express.)
Lord Frostie the no-man, our unelected Brexit minister; was quietly engaging his reverse gear in the Lords yesterday. The EU plus the massive, cross party Irish lobby in the US Congress is telling the UK that the Protocol and the Irish Sea border should be implemented exactly as the UK agreed to.
November 11, 2021
Biden is unpopular and will not serve a second term
Ignore him and look after our own interests.
Just as other countries do.
November 11, 2021
We are biden our time until he is replaced by Kamala Harris, then we will find out what activism is all about.
November 11, 2021
Of course Ireland is a special case, in reality they don’t have the business designing, making, selling, trading that the Corporations are able to claim. Simply move some bizarre aspect of the Corp, there and cheat the rest of the world out of various taxes payable if the location of the actual workers, intellectual copyright, buying materials, selling etc benefitted the hosts.
November 11, 2021
Austrians are days away from a first lockdown for anyone not fully vaccinated, after record infections were reported across the country. Upper Austria province will impose restrictions from Monday if it gets the go-ahead from the federal government. Salzburg also plans new measures. Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg said a national lockdown for the unvaccinated was “probably inevitable”.
Two-thirds of people should not suffer because others were hesitant, he said. Austria’s seven-day incidence rate is far higher than in neighbouring Germany, where Health Minister Jens Spahn recently warned of a pandemic of the unvaccinated.
On Thursday, Germany recorded more than 50,000 daily infections for the first time. Germany’s 67.3% vaccination rate is higher than in Austria, but not by much.
Unvaccinated people will in effect be barred from restaurants, hotels, cinemas and theatres in the state of Brandenburg from Monday, by a “2G” rule limiting access to people who have been vaccinated or have recovered from Covid.
November 12, 2021
The governm,ent’s economic policies are confused ,contradictory and incoherent .I have just written( again) to my MP ( Robert Courts – Con) to saty this
Ditto their energy policies