"He's a classic Thatcherite, believes in very low taxes and no public spending, really, except in the defence sector. He was saying public services are all crap, everything's collapsing, we've got a high tax burden and his answer was just to abandon it all. I said no, that was because of austerity. Because of Cameron, because of Truss: the fabric of communities in Britain has been torn apart because of all the damage that's been done by Conservatives."
"If they reduced taxes, the government would get more money that's been proven throughout history. High taxes are a disincentive to work. The main parties don't get aspiration. There are too many people on welfare, and they're going to have to accept less, going forward. Joe believes in a wealth tax. We were on comparable salaries, and he said: The people richer than us will pay this. My view is that that's not true."
A shift manager voted Labour in the 1990s, became Conservative in the 2010s despite disliking them, and now plans to vote Reform. He lives in a Georgian mansion built in 1776 that is hard to heat and sometimes sleeps in his overcoat. A 37-year-old NGO worker from Sheffield was a Labour member under Jeremy Corbyn, was expelled in 2023 for Labour International Left Alliance membership, voted Green in 2024, and backed Zack Polanski for the leadership. They shared a meal and debated tax and public spending, clashing between low-tax Thatcherite views and calls to rebuild public services with taxes and a wealth tax.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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