Lords of the Blag

The state pension rip off

2012-01-24T23:59:00.004Z

There is the obvious question, is the state pension a good value for money?

First we need to know what the historical facts are.

For the past 60 years, we need to now RPI or inflation, historical wages, and the level of the FTSE.

Other information is available here. CPI and RPI, Average Wages

A reasonable yield, or average dividend for the FTSE is 3%.

We also have the median wage for the UK of 26K. From the tax calculator here, we can get the NI paid by or on behalf of the employee. It is 2,253 plus 2,612 or 18.71%.

Tax Calculator

So now we can work out what median wages are for a person retiring on median wage last year, back to when they were 18. We then take their NI, invest it in the FTSE, add on the 3% of yield. Next year, we do the same, and the FTSE can go up and down.

At the end, we have a fund. We then take that fund and invest in the most expensive (lowest income) annuity going. Joint life and RPI. Anutity rates here.

End result is that a median wage earner would have got 18,587 a year, rising with inflation, until both died. Instead they got a touch over 5,000 a year.

That's some rip off.

Calculations for the details.

Yet another rip off by the government, of what can't be described, as anyone rich.

More rip offs.

2011-10-18T20:36:00.004+01:00

Merve the Swerve is up on the TV again pleading like a little kid for yet another go at controlling inflation

"Please please, let me have another go, I'll get it right next time"

So how much of a rip off has he presided over?

Well this graph starts off with the inflation target at 2.5% RPI, in May 1997. In December 2003, the target was changed to 2.0% using CPI. It looks at just how well the Bank of England tracks prices over time, rather than its year on year inflation figure. If the Bank of England does its job, then the line will be around zero.

It's not. Its over 7% above where it should be if it had done its job.

Rochdale, revisited | The Spectator

2010-10-10T15:56:00.000+01:00

Rochdale, revisited | The Spectator: "The answer is what I call the British Economic Dysfunction: that our growing economy sucks in people from overseas, rather than reducing dole queues. Unreformed welfare pays people not to work: and I blame the system, not those who follow its perverse incentives. Nor do I blame hardworking immigrants for filling these vacancies."

Pretty much spot on. Pulling in immigrants that pay less tax than the government spends, 11,000 pounds a year, is economic madness. If you pull in low paid immigrants, it just means that those on welfare stay on welfare.

That welfare adds up. 13K a year tax free in lots of cases, for what, 20, 30, 40 years rising with inflation? Half a million isn't unreasonable an estimate. That's a good sized lottery win.

Non Sequitur Comic Strip, September 02, 2010 on GoComics.com

2010-09-05T14:47:00.000+01:00

Non Sequitur Comic Strip, September 02, 2010 on GoComics.com

Spot on. Sign up with Lord Blagger, and jump the queue at the Lobbyist entrance.

Expenses – Lords of the Blog

2010-08-16T21:18:00.000+01:00

Expenses – Lords of the Blog: "There is of course no formal pay, no holiday or sick pay and no pension so don’t give up your day job if you are coming into the House of Lords!"

Clive Soley advises Lords to sign in, collect expenses and work at another job.

You pay for it.

NHS spunks �7.5k on porn room • The Register

2010-07-26T19:40:00.000+01:00

NHS spunks �7.5k on porn room • The Register: "Liverpool Women's NHS Foundation Trust has incurred the wrath of the Sun by spunking �7,500 on a 'special room' kitted out to help chaps deliver vital supplies of man oysters.

The trust's fertility centre shared the cost of 'computer equipment worth �4,625, flat screen TVs costing �2,225 - plus �500 of blue movies' with private outfit North West Fertility."

That's where you cash is going. It's slipping through fingers, and not yours.

Google Reader (287)

2010-07-22T22:55:00.000+01:00

Google Reader (287): "The first sleaze row of the new government deepened today when a millionaire Tory donor, who successfully lobbied for the cancellation of a government loan to a promising engineering company, admitted he had wanted to invest in it himself.

Labour accused Andrew Cook – the Tories' largest donor in Yorkshire, who subsidised David Cameron's flights in opposition to the tune of �54,000 – of a conflict of interest after he wrote to the Conservative business minister Mark Prisk in May to warn that an �80m state loan to Sheffield Forgemasters might be illegal under EU law."

Time to get politicians and civil servants out of the decision making process.

You can't bribe all the electorate all of the time.

The Lib Dem MP, the Radio 3 DJ and his dog - Telegraph

2010-07-19T23:29:00.000+01:00

The Lib Dem MP, the Radio 3 DJ and his dog - Telegraph: "Tessa Munt, the MP for Wells claimed a single resident’s discount on her council tax, telling her local council she lived alone in her constituency home.

However, the electoral register shows that Mrs Munt is one of three people registered to vote at the Somerset address."

Yet another one on the take....

BBC News - Tory peer Lord Taylor facing expenses prosecution

2010-07-16T20:17:00.000+01:00

BBC News - Tory peer Lord Taylor facing expenses prosecution: "Lord Taylor of Warwick has been charged with six counts of false accounting in relation to alleged dishonest claims he made for �11,000 in subsistence costs."

I'm not surprised. Any barister who thinks that its the police who decide to prosecute or not, instead of the CPS is likely to have a very odd view of expenses as well.

The mystery of Lord Mandelson's finances - Telegraph

2010-07-11T18:26:00.000+01:00

The mystery of Lord Mandelson's finances - Telegraph: "The mystery of Lord Mandelson's finances"

There is no puzzle about the owner of the house: Lord Mandelson. There is no secret about its value: Land Registry records show that in 2006 he bought the place for £2.5 million, including stamp duty.

The mystery has always been how he could possibly have afforded it.

The price was around 16 times his then-income as a European Commissioner, a mortgage which, even in pre-credit crunch days, no lender would have contemplated.

Sources close to the then Mr Mandelson suggested at the time that he used a bequest from his late mother, Mary, and sold his shares in an advertising agency.

But probate files show he received only £452,000 from his mother's estate; a search at Companies House disclosed he sold the shares a year after buying the house; and Land Registry records of his previous property dealings in London and his former constituency of Hartlepool show that he could have amassed no more than around £1.15 million in equity to put towards the purchase.

Added together, all that would still have left Mr Mandelson at least £1 million short. He did take out a mortgage – reportedly for £750,000 – to cover most of the gap.

But in a 2009 interview he let slip that he had paid it off completely after just one year.

The normal place to look for politicians' earnings is the declarations of interests they are obliged, under the rules, to make.

Mr Mandelson's declarations list only modestly-paid work for newspapers and magazines, and a number of speaking engagements.

Quite. There is something grossly wrong where those resposible for the law ignore it, and people become multimillionaires at the public's expense.

BBC News - Mark Reckless MP sorry for being 'too drunk to vote'

2010-07-11T18:20:00.000+01:00

BBC News - Mark Reckless MP sorry for being 'too drunk to vote': "A Kent MP has apologised for being drunk in the House of Commons and missing a vote on the Budget.

Mark Reckless said he did not feel it was appropriate to take part in the vote in the early hours of Wednesday because of the amount he had drunk.

The Conservative MP for Rochester and Strood told BBC Radio Kent: 'I made a mistake. I'm really sorry about it.'"

See what happens when you subsidise drinking. We should have penal rates on drinking in the house. It's the same logic that applies to drinkers of Diamond White.

MPs gain �130 expenses by talking until 1am - Telegraph

2010-07-10T22:17:00.000+01:00

MPs gain �130 expenses by talking until 1am - Telegraph: "More than 500 members debated the Finance Bill into the small hours last week, triggering for the first time a new rule that entitles MPs – even those with taxpayer-funded second homes – to claim up to �130 for a hotel room if a session has continued beyond 1am.

The nine-and-a-half-hour debate also prompted extraordinary scenes at the House of Commons, where MPs were seen by observers “getting very drunk indeed” in subsidised bars before returning to vote in the chamber, where they were accused of being “well-refreshed”.

John Randall, the deputy chief whip and Tory MP for Uxbridge and South Ruislip, was rebuked by the Speaker for making repeated interruptions and was accused by Angela Eagle, the shadow Treasury minister, of having “enjoyed rather a liquid evening”."

Not only that, but to rub it in, you've paid for the boozing.

Afghan citizens paid $1bn in bribes for public services last year, study finds | World news | guardian.co.uk

2010-07-08T23:48:00.000+01:00

Afghan citizens paid $1bn in bribes for public services last year, study finds | World news | guardian.co.uk: "Afghans paid nearly $1bn (�658m) in bribes last year, according to a new survey that reveals that corruption in the country has doubled since 2007.

The study by the monitoring group Integrity Watch Afghanistan showed that the average value of bribes paid in 2009 was $156. The average per capita income is $502 per year."

156 / 502 = 31%

Cheaper than the UK tax take of over 50%

Who says corruption is bad?

Lord Blagger

Climate Gate Corruption

2010-07-07T23:09:00.002+01:00

It's a whitewash. What a surprise. In order to keep the money rolling, you can't have the science critised.

29th May 2008: ―Can you delete any emails you may have had with Keith re AR4? Keith will do likewise. He's not in at the moment - minor family crisis.
Can you also email Gene and get him to do the same? I don't have his new
email address. We will be getting Caspar to do likewise”.

So the report says?

Muir Russell says that they "have seen no evidence of any attempt to delete information in respect of a request already made", noting two emails relating to deletion including the famous one cited above:

Rock on. Black is white. White is black, and I've got a lollypop stuck up my arse.

Next, trick. Inquiry didn't consider the science.

Conclusion. The science is sound and unaffected by fiddling with the data.

Yep, that's two lolly pops and a stick of rock being inserted into my anus as we speak.

BBC News - China executes top Chongqing official for corruption

2010-07-07T20:22:00.001+01:00

BBC News - China executes top Chongqing official for corruption: "China has executed the top justice official in the city of Chongqing as part of a crackdown on corruption."

Would work wonders in the UK,

Nicolas Sarkozy at centre of criminal investigation over 'illegal donations' - Telegraph

2010-07-07T20:22:00.000+01:00

Nicolas Sarkozy at centre of criminal investigation over 'illegal donations' - Telegraph: "Nicolas Sarkozy was at the centre of a criminal investigation today following claims that he regularly received illegal payments from France's richest woman."

Should have learned the lesson from Blair

BBC News - Two French junior ministers quit over perks

2010-07-05T22:41:00.000+01:00

BBC News - Two French junior ministers quit over perks: "Two French junior ministers embroiled in separate spending scandals have resigned from the government.

President Nicolas Sarkozy and Prime Minister Francois Fillon had decided that the two ministers must go on Sunday, a government spokesman said.

Overseas Development Minister Alain Joyandet was criticised for spending 116,500 euros (�96,153) on a private jet to fly to the Caribbean for work.

Greater Paris Minister Christian Blanc spent 12,000 euros on cigars."

Meanwhile, the House of Lords drinks itself to oblivion at your expense.

MPs' expenses: Former Labour MP Frank Cook claimed for DIY items bought in USA - Telegraph

2010-07-04T15:44:00.000+01:00

MPs' expenses: Former Labour MP Frank Cook claimed for DIY items bought in USA - Telegraph: "Frank Cook, a former Labour MP, claimed twice on his expenses for DIY equipment bought in America where his second wife, an exiled princess from Laos, lives.

Mr Cook, who represented Stockton North until this year’s election, billed the taxpayer for carpet underlay, a universal saw, wall hangings and a swivel cleaner that he said were for his constituency office.

Instead of receipts, he submitted a credit card bill that showed that the items were bought in the United States. At least one item was purchased by Princess Somsangouane Baldinger, who lives in Arizona, on their shared account. Five weeks later, the MP submitted a second claim on his parliamentary expenses for the same items – this time on his additional costs allowance (ACA), which was intended to pay for the upkeep of the London flat he designated as his second home."

No doubt he wanted some shag pile to deal with carpet burns

MPs' expenses: Nadine Dorries pays �50,000 of allowances to close friend - Telegraph

2010-07-02T22:03:00.000+01:00

MPs' expenses: Nadine Dorries pays �50,000 of allowances to close friend - Telegraph: "MPs' expenses: Nadine Dorries pays �50,000 of allowances to close friend
A Conservative MP whose parliamentary expenses are under investigation by the Commons sleaze watchdog paid more than �50,000 of public money to a close friend"

Expect more of this as a way round the expenses system

BBC News - Kenyan MPs vote to join world's best paid lawmakers

2010-07-02T21:48:00.000+01:00

BBC News - Kenyan MPs vote to join world's best paid lawmakers: "MPs in Kenya have voted to boost their own salaries, making them among the world's best paid politicians.

Under the new legislation, the Kenyan prime minister will take home over a third more than his British counterpart.

He will also earn almost 10% more than the US president. The vote has provoked anger from the general public and the media, correspondents say.

The parliamentarians have voted to be paid a basic $44,000 (�29,000) a year.

But extra allowances can bring the salary up to up to $126,000 (�84,000) after tax - a rise of 18%."

Don't tell the Lords or the MPs. They will do a Cameron. ie. You can't have people in the public sector paid more than the prime minister. In this case it will be that they are poorly paid compared to third world Mps.

Senior CPS lawyer admits taking �20,000 bribe - Telegraph

2010-06-29T19:31:00.000+01:00

Senior CPS lawyer admits taking �20,000 bribe - Telegraph: "Father-of-three Sarfraz Ibrahim, 51, agreed to drop an assault case in exchange for cash - despite hearing a confession from a suspect.

A court heard the 'suspect' was in fact an undercover agent sent by the Serious Organised Crime Agency to test if Ibrahim was corrupt."

More corruption in the UK. It's endemic. You just don't get to hear about it.

How else did the Olympics go from 2.4 billion to its current massive cost without corruption?

Lord Blagger

Benefit Cuts

2010-06-28T20:23:00.003+01:00

So the government is going to get tough on benefits.

You know the target. People who are old, been sacked from their jobs, get a friendly mate to sign them off on the sick. They then sit around all day, talking and not doing anything, when they could be out there in the real world earning money and paying taxes.

Peers face a 10 per cent cut in their allowances under a new House of Lords expenses regime set to be announced today.

Yep, its started.

Lord Blagger.

Frank Chalk: Pay Rises

2010-06-27T23:19:00.000+01:00

Frank Chalk: Pay Rises: "Whilst the England football team performed with all the drive, enthusiasm and vigour of a bunch of council workers looking for something to do; teachers up and down the land can at least celebrate NASUWT leader Chris Keates' 7% pay rise to �135 000 and head of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, Mary Bousted's 3.4% pay increase to �148 000."

Yet another rip off. Are they worth similar sums to the Prime minister?

Is the PM worth this much? You're in debt up to your eyeballs to pay his salary

Lord Blagger

Quote of the Day

2010-06-26T20:54:00.001+01:00

Most people prefer to believe their leaders are just and fair even in the face of evidence to the contrary, because once a citizen acknowledges that the government under which they live is lying and corrupt, the citizen has to choose what he or she will do about it.

To take action in the face of a corrupt government entails risks of harm to life and loved ones. To choose to do nothing is to surrender one's self-image of standing for principles. Most people do not have the courage to face that choice. Hence, most propaganda is not designed to fool the critical thinker but only to give moral cowards an excuse not to think at all.

- Michael Rivero

Google Reader (35)

2010-06-26T19:06:00.000+01:00

Google Reader (35): "Prison-Bound Filers Among 14,000 First-Time Homebuyer Applicants Who Wrongly Got $27M in Credit. Living in prison didn't stop nearly 1,300 inmates from cashing in on a popular tax break for first-time homebuyers, a government investigator reported Wednesday. Their take: more than $9 million."

Again, a really nice blag. Show's why governments shouldn't be trusted with your money. People like myself get to spend it.

Lord Blagger