Britain announces "pasty tax" U-turn

[tbtc]

The key difference is that it is the taxpayer who foots the bill for MPs expenses. MPs get a very good salary and no doubt could take a 'cut' of £75m without a great deal of hardship - plus this would go some way to showing to the general public 'we are all in it together'. Well at present, some of us are more 'in it' than others. Seems as if the expenses scandal had died down, until the Baroness Warsi story came up this week.

According to the link below, a typical MP has a salary of about £65,000 a year. Now that's about the same as my father does, he's a consultant for BT. According to the other link below, the boss of BT has a salary of £921,000, a £1.344 million cash bonus, £220,000 of pension payments and £20,000 of “other” fees, total pay package £2.51 million.

And they say MPs are paid too much. :roll:

http://www.parliament.uk/briefing-papers/RP12-29

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/mediatechnologyandtelecoms/telecoms/9288620/BT-boss-Ian-Livingston-gives-up-salary-increase-to-send-signal-over-fat-cat-pay.html

MPs really aren't paid that much, when you consider how many people are paid more than the Prime Minister.

To be an MP you need two houses (because you are representing your constituents as well as working in Westminster for most of the week), you need the money to run the two houses, you need to employ staff to deal with your correspondence/ schedules etc, you need to travel around a lot (train tickets aren't cheap, I think there was a thread about it on here - and you need to travel between Westminster and your constituents fairly often)... it's not a "normal" job.

Personally I'd rather pay MPs double what they get if it meant we got good ones (esp as that'd stop them cosying up to businesses etc to line their pockets).

The problem is that its easy to focus on the cost of a floating duck house and the tax on a £1 pasty, but we deal with bank bailouts/ millitary overspends that are so huge that we cannot comprehend the sums involved.

 

[jon0844]

This is Llanelli. Prices are lower due to it being a deprived area. To be a millionaire around here you only need to have £5k in the bank.

Mre Greenback says that is a bit harsh. Make it £5.5k.

Wow, a billionaire!

 

[Mojo]

It's not really the item of food that makes it the luxury item (otherwise we are in danger of categorising everything other than gruel as a luxury!) more the fact you are paying for a service that you could otherwise have yourself provided. And yes, I consider eating anything out a treat and when I worked full time made my own lunch on the overwhelming majority of days, with the infrequent reward of a £1 sandwich or a £1.30 breakfast.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

It's not really the item of food that makes it the luxury item (otherwise we are in danger of categorizing everything other than gruel as a luxury!) more the fact you are paying for a service that you could otherwise have yourself provided. And yes, I consider eating anything out a treat and when I worked full time made my own lunch on the overwhelming majority of days, with the infrequent reward of a £1 sandwich or a £1.30 breakfast.

I think that the fact that the food in question has been heated in readiness for sale is a convenience many people willingly accept. I know that many places of employment have microwave ovens (we had four at our Consultancy), but imagine the queue to use these at break times, when a place of employment may well have hundreds of staff taking the same lunch hour.

 

[Greenback]

If you're my school's cook, heat it up again.
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Yes, but Greggs are more than just a grocer, they heat the food up for you as well. That's providing an additional service, and it's the service that's taxed. Since you're not billed separately, then they have to levy the tax on everything.

This is where the waters get muddied. I prefer my pasties cold. If I buy a warm one I don;t eat it until I ge thoem normally, by which time it is cold again.

Often, there's no choice about whether you want a cold pie/pasty or a warm one. And what about a garage where you can buy a cold pasty and heat it up in a microwave?

Just my opinion, but I don;t think any take away food should be subject to VAT!
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

I think that the fact that the food in question has been heated in readiness for sale is a convenience many people willingly accept. I know that many places of employment have microwave ovens (we had four at our Consultancy), but imagine the queue to use these at break times, when a place of employment may well have hundreds of staff taking the same lunch hour.

I don't care about hot food at lunch time myself. I take sandwiches usually, but sometimes I will take a pasty or quiche that has been bought in a shop and eat it cold. Whereas it takes only a minute or two to put a sandwich together, I haven't got the time, the inclination, or the skill to make a pasty from scratch! Maybe that is justification for the shop owner or baker to charge a higher price, but I'm not sure it's justification for the government to add on some tax as well.

 

[yorksrob]

This is where the waters get muddied. I prefer my pasties cold. If I buy a warm one I don;t eat it until I ge thoem normally, by which time it is cold again.

Often, there's no choice about whether you want a cold pie/pasty or a warm one. And what about a garage where you can buy a cold pasty and heat it up in a microwave?

Just my opinion, but I don;t think any take away food should be subject to VAT!

I agree on both counts. You don't get waiter service, you don't get to sit down and eat, you don't get cutlery or crockery. These are not the makings of "luxury" service on any level.

I can remember the old days when the family would purchase fish and chips as a luxury item, to be eaten at home as a treat - so there is a sort of logic to an extent. However, I'd have thought that these days you'd be as likely to eat your chips outside sitting on the wall, so even that doesn't really wash.

Also, I don't really get the distinction of hot food as luxury. Compare a £1 bag of chips to a £2.50 BLT sandwich. I'm sure the "hot" food element of Greggs has more to do with serving it fresh than offering it as a "hot meal". If anything, attempting to eat a hot pasty from Greggs can be quite hazardous - tantamount to subjecting your innards to a napalm attack.

 

[Tomonthetrain]

Excuse me while I nip to [Insert place here] for a Pasty.