Another E.U. turn of the screw

[ditchman]

it has now been reported ...that all Italian wines exported to southern ireland must display a 

1. A cancer warning
2. A liver desease warning

this will no doubt be extended right across the board to all EU countries

i dispair.............

just to add .....if you put warnings like that on products....it will liecence the EU to add on extra tax....to combat the carcongenic effort of the product you are consuming..

Edited February 25, 2023 by ditchman

[bornfree]

They won't be happy if Guinness has to have it on.

[manthing]

I'm no lover of the bureaucratic behemoth that is the EU, but we all know alcohol is not great if taken in excess. The cost to the nhs is 3.5 to 4.4 billion a year. Smoking is 2.5 to 3.6 billion a year and we already have "graphic images" on fag packets.

It is only a matter of time.

 

[Yellow Bear]

44 minutes ago, ditchman said:

it has now been reported ...that all Italian wines exported to southern ireland must display a 

1. A cancer warning
2. A liver desease warning

this will no doubt be extended right across the board to all EU countries

i dispair.............

just to add .....if you put warnings like that on products....it will liecence the EU to add on extra tax....to combat the carcongenic effort of the product you are consuming..

Does it apply to all European wines ,or exclude France and Germany

[ditchman]

55 minutes ago, Yellow Bear said:

Does it apply to all European wines ,or exclude France and Germany

at the moment it seems to be just Italy...........the Italian wine growers are climbing the wall over this...and i cant blame them

[Lampwick]

1 hour ago, manthing said:

I'm no lover of the bureaucratic behemoth that is the EU, but we all know alcohol is not great if taken in excess. The cost to the nhs is 3.5 to 4.4 billion a year. Smoking is 2.5 to 3.6 billion a year and we already have "graphic images" on fag packets.

It is only a matter of time.

 

Some interesting stats. 

Tax raised by alcohol = £12.6 billion 

Tax raised by tobacco = £10.7 billion 

Both OBR 22-23 estimates. 

Far fewer smokers than drinkers.

Cost to NHS PA due to obesity £6.5 billion due to rise to £9.7 billion by 2050!

Maybe we should ban chips and cheese? 

 

 

 

[enfieldspares]

2 hours ago, ditchman said:

it has now been reported ...that all Italian wines exported to southern ireland must display a 

1. A cancer warning
2. A liver desease warning

this will no doubt be extended right across the board to all EU countries

i dispair.............

just to add .....if you put warnings like that on products....it will liecence the EU to add on extra tax....to combat the carcongenic effort of the product you are consuming..

Not surprising IMHO given the scandal some years back and ongoing with Italian olive oil being adulterated. Search on the internet "Italian olive oil scandal". 

Edited February 25, 2023 by enfieldspares

[Centrepin]

Maybe it contains lead shot.....🤐

 

 

 

 

[old man]

I would rather drink rats water anyway. They can keep all EU wine for me.

Buy from NZ and Australia.

[enfieldspares]

38 minutes ago, Centrepin said:

Maybe it contains lead shot.....🤐

I've in my mind the belief that, yes, at one long ago time to clean old bottles that you put water or some other fluid in AND some lead shot that you then swirled around inside the bottle? As back then glass was expensive and not for throwing away.

https://winehistoryproject.org/wine-bottles/

Quote

La Minima – The French Bottle Cleaner

Lead shot was commonly employed for cleaning these bottles, making sure that none was left in the bottles, which would have poisoned the next wine placed in the bottle.

 

Edited February 25, 2023 by enfieldspares

[manthing]

40 minutes ago, Lampwick said:

Some interesting stats. 

Tax raised by alcohol = £12.6 billion 

Tax raised by tobacco = £10.7 billion 

Both OBR 22-23 estimates. 

Far fewer smokers than drinkers.

Cost to NHS PA due to obesity £6.5 billion due to rise to £9.7 billion by 2050!

Maybe we should ban chips and cheese? 

The tax raised has always been more than the cost to treat. When I was smoking it was about a 10-1 ratio. People used to complain I'd be a drain on the nhs, told them if everyone stop drinking, smoking and driving the country would be bankrupt in a month, and I'd more than pre paid any nhs treatment.

Anything that you enjoy some woke do-gooder will proclaim as harmful and want to stick a warning label on it. Look out for pics of crying babies on packs of condoms, with the warning "these condoms are not 100% effective, please abstain from recreational sex" 

Chips and cheese, hungry now, thanks for that. 🤣🤣

[humperdingle]

1 hour ago, Lampwick said:

Maybe we should ban chips and cheese? 

 

 

 

… From my cold, fat hands 😂

[oowee]

31 minutes ago, manthing said:

The tax raised has always been more than the cost to treat. When I was smoking it was about a 10-1 ratio. People used to complain I'd be a drain on the nhs, told them if everyone stop drinking, smoking and driving the country would be bankrupt in a month, and I'd more than pre paid any nhs treatment.

Anything that you enjoy some woke do-gooder will proclaim as harmful and want to stick a warning label on it. Look out for pics of crying babies on packs of condoms, with the warning "these condoms are not 100% effective, please abstain from recreational sex" 

Chips and cheese, hungry now, thanks for that. 🤣🤣

More so I think. Not least the savings in pension payments as a result of shorter life span. When the population lives longer we need to have a corresponding reduction in pension payouts and NHS services. 

[manthing]

43 minutes ago, oowee said:

More so I think. Not least the savings in pension payments as a result of shorter life span. When the population lives longer we need to have a corresponding reduction in pension payouts and NHS services. 

I was pondering about pensions the other day, apparently you need 30 qualifying years to get your full state pension, by the time I get to claim the state pension I'll have 51 years in. Who's benefiting from the other 21 years? That will be those that for some reason don't get there years in I suppose.

Then there's all those folk that die just before they get their pension.  🤷🏻‍♂️

[old man]

18 hours ago, manthing said:

I was pondering about pensions the other day, apparently you need 30 qualifying years to get your full state pension, by the time I get to claim the state pension I'll have 51 years in. Who's benefiting from the other 21 years? That will be those that for some reason don't get there years in I suppose.

Then there's all those folk that die just before they get their pension.  🤷🏻‍♂️

Your excess will certainly be donated elasewhere?

[enfieldspares]

18 hours ago, manthing said:

I was pondering about pensions the other day, apparently you need 30 qualifying years to get your full state pension, by the time I get to claim the state pension I'll have 51 years in. Who's benefiting from the other 21 years? That will be those that for some reason don't get there years in I suppose.

Then there's all those folk that die just before they get their pension.  🤷🏻‍♂️

No. It's now tax by another name pretending that it isn't a tax but a "pension plan". For if it was actually a pension plan with a private pension provider you'd get your money paid in back if you died beforehand. Politically no political party wants to be the one that "put tax up to XXX" so they raise the rate of national insurance and pretend they've not put tax up. Same as the old vehicle tax disc once known as a "Road Fund Licence" now as Vehicle Excise Duty raises far far more money than is spent by the government on roads.

Edited February 26, 2023 by enfieldspares

[ditchman]

35 minutes ago, enfieldspares said:

No. It's now tax by another name pretending that it isn't a tax but a "pension plan". For if it was actually a pension plan with a private pension provider you'd get your money paid in back if you died beforehand. Politically no political party wants to be the one that "put tax up to XXX" so they raise the rate of national insurance and pretend they've not put tax up. Same as the old vehicle tax disc once known as a "Road Fund Licence" now as Vehicle Excise Duty raises far far more money than is spent by the government on roads.

did a calc' many years ago on revenue from vehicle taxes.....and it was many billions and less than 17% was spent on roads and such like........

[TIGHTCHOKE]

1 minute ago, ditchman said:

did a calc' many years ago on revenue from vehicle taxes.....and it was many billions and less than 17% was spent on roads and such like........

I would put good money on it being less than 10% these days.

[Centrepin]

Less than 2% in Sheffield. The local cave rescue clubs are on 24 hour stand by for the pot holes round here.

 

 

[JohnfromUK]

50 minutes ago, old man said:

Your excess will certainly be donated elasewhere?

It doesn't work like that. 

In the UK, your 51 years paying in (and my 40+ years) go straight out again as soon as the Gov't gets it's hands on it to pay all the things that Gov'ts do pay (mainly NHS, Pensions, Benefits) to pay the NHS and the people on pensions, benefits at that time.  Our pensions will be paid by those paying NI and taxes 'at the time'.

Note that some other countries (notably Norway) DO save up the contributions and have a truly huge 'sovereign wealth fund' called the Government Pension Fund that they invest. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_Pension_Fund_of_Norway

 

[TIGHTCHOKE]

Let's be honest for a moment;

Is anybody on PW actually basing their future on what the Old Aged Pension will give them?

[Yellow Bear]

3 minutes ago, TIGHTCHOKE said:

Let's be honest for a moment;

Is anybody on PW actually basing their future on what the Old Aged Pension will give them?

Not when you have unions demanding pay RISES for their members greater than the annual state pension whilst asking for that triple lock to be abandoned as too expensive.

[JohnfromUK]

Just now, TIGHTCHOKE said:

Let's be honest for a moment;

Is anybody on PW actually basing their future on what the Old Aged Pension will give them?

Speaking for myself, no, but it forms a part of the whole - which comprises both savings in pension schemes and savings in other schemes such as ISA.  I did not go the 'buy-to-let' property route that some have used.

For pensions (strict) I have two historical final salary pensions (neither of which is huge) which 'kicked in' when I was 65, a private pension which was a 'free standing AVC' which I have not 'switched on' at present so is currently 'a fund' (with luck, growing a bit) and subject to 'pension rules' as it was saved as a pension taking advantage of the tax relief, but will probably be taken as 'draw down' when the time comes (depending on the rules at the time) and a state pension which has some 'elevation' from the old SERPS rules.

Eggs in many baskets is wise (in my view)

[enfieldspares]

1 hour ago, TIGHTCHOKE said:

Let's be honest for a moment;

Is anybody on PW actually basing their future on what the Old Aged Pension will give them?

I based mine on what my private pension would pay me at age sixty in 2017.

Then Gordon Brown came along in 1997 and changed the rules and stole my old age.

So I now get only one third of what it was projected to be when I took it out in 1982.

[Yellow Bear]

31 minutes ago, enfieldspares said:

I based mine on what my private pension would pay me at age sixty in 2017.

Then Gordon Brown came along in 1997 and changed the rules and stole my old age.

So I now get only one third of what it was projected to be when I took it out in 1982.

similarly