The Brexit thread

[Teddy Eagle]

Same old whataboutery excuses!

Everyone who drives a car is expected to have insurance. I would have no problem with that insurance having to cover the costs incurred by the NHS which resulted from accidents. It would increase premiums for all, some substantially.

Fast food won’t kill you. Bad diets are what kill you, and if all you eat is fast food that’s a choice you would be unwise to make. Again if obese people fail to heed advice and end up needing assistance due to their stupidity then by all means charge them. Even if monitoring it looks tricky.

Make smokers pay a surcharge on NI contributions and lower the tax take? Or simply stop duty free shopping!

It's not whataboutery, however convenient a cop out that is, it's a comparison.
If taxing anyone who needs medical treatment is the aim then why not everybody over 70?

 

[Wisbech Eagle]

It's not whataboutery, however convenient a cop out that is, it's a comparison.
If taxing anyone who needs medical treatment is the aim then why not everybody over 70?

It’s not though about taxing everybody. It’s about taxing those who harm themselves through their choice of lifestyle. Everyone gets old.

 

[becky]

It's not whataboutery, however convenient a cop out that is, it's a comparison.
If taxing anyone who needs medical treatment is the aim then why not everybody over 70?

Because we've been paying into the system (forget NI contributions; it all goes into one big pot these days anyway) for a damn sight longer than anyone else at whatever the prevailing rate has been in our lifetime.

We should be rewarded for still smoking, despite all the propaganda, and removing ourselves from the benefits bill a bit earlier than expected.

 

[becky]

It’s not though about taxing everybody. It’s about taxing those who harm themselves through their choice of lifestyle. Everyone gets old.

Only if they live long enough...........🤔

 

[Teddy Eagle]

It’s not though about taxing everybody. It’s about taxing those who harm themselves through their choice of lifestyle. Everyone gets old.

If someone breaks his leg playing football in the park...tax?
A jogger needs a knee replacement...tax?
A cyclist rides into a lamppost...tax?

 

[cryrst]

If someone breaks his leg playing football in the park...tax?
A jogger needs a knee replacement...tax?
A cyclist rides into a lamppost...tax?

Yup my point but he knows it was a stupid post !

 

[Spindle]

Bit of a leap of logic there which assumes I voted to leave.

Strange to celebrate brexshit wins if it's not what you voted for

 

[Spindle]

You can’t move abroad so that’s your beef.
Fine as others have different reasons for agreeing with it. Free votes have winners and losers. You spindle,lost 😂

We all lost 💩

 

[Teddy Eagle]

Strange to celebrate brexshit wins if it's not what you voted for

I'm celebrating duty free fags. Just because it's one benefit more than you've found doesn't make it wrong.

 

[cryrst]

We all lost 💩

How so ?

 

[Wisbech Eagle]

Because we've been paying into the system (forget NI contributions; it all goes into one big pot these days anyway) for a damn sight longer than anyone else at whatever the prevailing rate has been in our lifetime.

We should be rewarded for still smoking, despite all the propaganda, and removing ourselves from the benefits bill a bit earlier than expected.

That doesn’t stack up I’m afraid. Those that die early also pay less into the system. When I asked Google whether smoking cost, or saved, the NHS money this was the reply:-

“ NHS Costs:
Smoking-related illnesses place a significant burden on NHS resources. In 2017/18, an estimated 4% of hospital admissions and 16% of all deaths in England were attributed to smoking. Treating these illnesses is estimated to cost the NHS £2.6 billion per year.

• Wider Economic Costs:
  Beyond the NHS, smoking has significant economic impacts, including lost productivity due to illness and premature death, as well as costs associated with social care and fires caused by smoking. The total cost to society is estimated to be around £14.7 billion per year.
  
  
• Tobacco Tax Revenue:
  While smokers contribute to tobacco tax revenue, this revenue is significantly less than the costs associated with smoking-related illnesses and deaths. In 2025-26, tobacco duties are estimated to raise £8.1 billion. This is significantly less than the total cost of smoking to society. “
  
  

 

[Wisbech Eagle]

If someone breaks his leg playing football in the park...tax?
A jogger needs a knee replacement...tax?
A cyclist rides into a lamppost...tax?

Unless anyone does something which is regarded by majority opinion as irresponsible no tax.

Playing sport is healthy, so responsible behaviour.

A jogger running in the road, and not on the pavement, could be regarded as behaving irresponsibly. Pedestrians belong on pavements.

A cyclist riding into a lamppost who is on the road, no. On the pavement, yes. Cyclists belong on roads.

 

[Teddy Eagle]

That doesn’t stack up I’m afraid. Those that die early also pay less into the system. When I asked Google whether smoking cost, or saved, the NHS money this was the reply:-

“ NHS Costs:
Smoking-related illnesses place a significant burden on NHS resources. In 2017/18, an estimated 4% of hospital admissions and 16% of all deaths in England were attributed to smoking. Treating these illnesses is estimated to cost the NHS £2.6 billion per year.

• Wider Economic Costs:
  Beyond the NHS, smoking has significant economic impacts, including lost productivity due to illness and premature death, as well as costs associated with social care and fires caused by smoking. The total cost to society is estimated to be around £14.7 billion per year.
  
  
• Tobacco Tax Revenue:
  While smokers contribute to tobacco tax revenue, this revenue is significantly less than the costs associated with smoking-related illnesses and deaths. In 2025-26, tobacco duties are estimated to raise £8.1 billion. This is significantly less than the total cost of smoking to society. “
  

In 1960 more than 50% of adults were smokers. And yet the NHS didn't collapse and nor did the rest of the country.

 

[Teddy Eagle]

Unless anyone does something which is regarded by majority opinion as irresponsible no tax.

Playing sport is healthy, so responsible behaviour.

A jogger running in the road, and not on the pavement, could be regarded as behaving irresponsibly. Pedestrians belong on pavements.

A cyclist riding into a lamppost who is on the road, no. On the pavement, yes. Cyclists belong on roads.

So behaviours of which you approve are exempt from these taxes. Fair enough.

 

[Wisbech Eagle]

In 1960 more than 50% of adults were smokers. And yet the NHS didn't collapse and nor did the rest of the country.

From memory most smoking disease went untreated back then. Smoker’s cough was an accepted consequence. You smoked, coughed and died early.

The NHS has changed beyond recognition since and everyone’s expectations have changed alongside the huge increase in the treatment possibilities.

 

[Wisbech Eagle]

So behaviours of which you approve are exempt from these taxes. Fair enough.

Not what I approve of! What the majority regard as irresponsible. As voiced by their elected representatives.

It won’t happen of course. Even if it should. There are other priorities which are only going to get more and more difficult to deal with.

Reforming the benefit culture being just one that hit the headlines this week. So long as unattractive, but urgently needed, policy changes are rejected we face a depressing downward spiral.

One that was started by Brexit.

One that could be reversed by Rentry.

 

[Teddy Eagle]

From memory most smoking disease went untreated back then. Smoker’s cough was an accepted consequence. You smoked, coughed and died early.

The NHS has changed beyond recognition since and everyone’s expectations have changed alongside the huge increase in the treatment possibilities.

But what about the lost work days which are so important to the economy - why weren't they catastrophic then?

 

[Teddy Eagle]

Not what I approve of! What the majority regard as irresponsible. As voiced by their elected representatives.

It won’t happen of course. Even if it should. There are other priorities which are only going to get more and more difficult to deal with.

Reforming the benefit culture being just one that hit the headlines this week. So long as unattractive, but urgently needed, policy changes are rejected we face a depressing downward spiral.

One that was started by Brexit.

One that could be reversed by Rentry.

What do those elected representatives think of the estimated 1.5 m weed smokers in the country? The highest incidence of which are in the south west so maybe ask your neighbours.

 

[Wisbech Eagle]

But what about the lost work days which are so important to the economy - why weren't they catastrophic then?

Were more days lost then?

I think most people tended to work through illness because the benefits didn’t exist.

I once worked with a group of smokers, up to 6 at any one time. I was the only non smoker. We shared a fairly small office and they refused to open the windows even in high summer. By midday the room from ceiling to floor was a blue haze. My clothes needed regular dry cleaning and it’s a wonder I have managed to avoid smoking diseases.

 

[Stirlingsays]

We all lost 💩

Nope.

Fecking wonderful year 2016.

Trump kicked Clinton's arse and Brexit.

Chef's kiss.