BRFR Cake Stop 'breaking news' miscellany

[C R]

Is this the first time you have found a Brexit benefit?

Is that a trick question?

 

[PurplePenguin]

And if they can't find the rest it won't happen.

Fair bet to any engineer that the second time is easier than the first.

They're not going to put in £14bn, then shrug and walk away. Their plan, and there is a good chance it happens, will be to get another investor in who will take comfort that the UK government is involved and thus likely to fund shortfalls.

 

[PurplePenguin]

Is that a trick question?

It's not common for Brian to notice positive outcomes of the apocalypse Brexit.

 

[briantrumpet]

Is this the first time you have found a Brexit benefit?

Well, I didn't find it, but probably yes. Not sure that this one quite outweighs the negatives though...

 

[Stevo 666]

Is this the first time you have found a Brexit benefit?

I'm not sure how hard he has been looking

 

[Stevo 666]

Is it just possible that the 'exodus' of millionaires was a bit of misinformation by people not wanting taxes on very rich people to go up? I mean, perish the thought...

https://bylinetimes.com/2025/06/10/...media-told-you-about-never-actually-happened/

Is it just possible that is at best leftie clickbait, or more likely a deliberate attempt to mislead?

By taking the total number of people in the UK who on paper have assets of £1m or more - which is per the report 3.06 million people (not far off 5% of the entire UK population), many of whom are probably included by virtue of having bought a house 40+ years ago and/or are sitting on a final salary pension - and then dividing the number of properly wealthy tax taxpayers who have left by 3.06m, they have come up with a very small looking percentage. Quote:
"For example, the 9,500 millionaires widely reported to be leaving the UK in 2024 represented 0.3% of the UK’s 3.06 million millionaires."

Of course most those 9,500 that they accept have left the UK will be worth far more than the £1m threshold and will account for a decent chunk of tax revenues (or not, now that they have gone somewhere a bit more tax friendly).

In any event, an article making claims like that from an organisation called the 'Tax Justice Network' should make people suspicious before they've even read the detail 🙂

Probably best to do a sense check before you go posting rubbish like that 😉

 

[Stevo 666]

Well you might be right. I mean, Stevo is still here isn't he?

Well TBH a stint somewhere like Singapore or HK would probably be worth it for me from a tax point of view, but sadly I manage teams based mostly in London (and some in NL) and I also have a contractual restraints which means it's not really workable in practice. In the end many those who are leaving/have left will have less of those sort of barriers, either by being self employed/a business owner or having an employer that adopts the 'work from anywhere' approach.

 

[icowden]

Is it just possible that is at best leftie clickbait, or more likely a deliberate attempt to mislead?

Not if you read it, no. The article discusses calculations and methodologies at length

By taking the total number of people in the UK who on paper have assets of £1m or more - which is per the report 3.06 million people (not far off 5% of the entire UK population), many of whom are probably included by virtue of having bought a house 40+ years ago and/or are sitting on a final salary pension - and then dividing the number of properly wealthy tax taxpayers who have left by 3.06m, they have come up with a very small looking percentage. Quote:
"For example, the 9,500 millionaires widely reported to be leaving the UK in 2024 represented 0.3% of the UK’s 3.06 million millionaires."

Perfectly valid point. They also point out that:-

In 2021, Henley described 2,000 millionaires leaving the UK as “insignificant” but in 2023 described 1,500 millionaires leaving the UK an “exodus”.

And

The now-controversial report is published by Henley & Partners but was prepared by New World Wealth, which describes itself as a “wealth intelligence firm” on its website. New World Wealth appears to have only one staff member and does not appear to have made the data behind its calculations public.

Also

A response sent by Henley & Partners to the Tax Justice Network said: “We have never claimed that Labour tax policies were the sole or root cause. If papers such as the Telegraph, Times, [and] Mail, decide to add their own layer on to that, and deliberately exclude from their story our standard reminder to them that these were the Conservatives’ tax changes, then I think your argument is with them not with us.”

In any event, an article making claims like that from an organisation called the 'Tax Justice Network' should make people suspicious before they've even read the detail 🙂

Perhaps. But in criticising the report without actually reading it should also make people suspicious.

Probably best to do a sense check before you go posting rubbish like that 😉

And probably best not to throw stones in glass houses ;-)

 

[First Aspect]

They're not going to put in £14bn, then shrug and walk away. Their plan, and there is a good chance it happens, will be to get another investor in who will take comfort that the UK government is involved and thus likely to fund shortfalls.

Have you really just explained patiently that the government's plan is not to fail horribly?

Thanks.

 

[PurplePenguin]

Have you really just explained patiently that the government's plan is not to fail horribly?

Thanks.

No.

 

[First Aspect]

No.

Oh in that case you are making the same point about cost over runs. Fine, but you are also in favour of HS2 as I recall. Pretty much comes with the territory.

It's still lower risk than the first one.

 

[briantrumpet]

Maybe another minor Brexit benefit: Gibraltar solves its long-standing problem by deciding to be European. Maye overlook that they've seen what being out of the EU has done to the UK.

 

[Stevo 666]

Not if you read it, no. The article discusses calculations and methodologies at length

Perfectly valid point. They also point out that:-

And

Also



Perhaps. But in criticising the report without actually reading it should also make people suspicious.


And probably best not to throw stones in glass houses ;-)

They are not contesting the absolute numbers, as other reports put them in the region of 10,000 per year. Which as you can see, is a significant increase on the 2,000 or so per year not so long ago.

My point was about the rather disingenuous use of percentages to make it look like all of the genuinely wealthy were just staying put and paying whatever tax is asked of them, which we know is not the case. What you apparently fail to grasp is the amount of tax that these 10,000 or so pay. Or rather don't any more as they've left. And there will be more to come.

Welcome to the Laffer Curve, even if you don't like it...

 

[briantrumpet]

This feels like it's missing some context.

 

[briantrumpet]

Surrender or betrayal... just take your pick. Let's ignore the fact that it's what Gibraltar wants.

Anyway, normal Telegraph objectivity.