Labour budget: who will feel the pain? With Paul Mason

[@nebulavape9889]

This guy is economically illiterate. I would place a large wager that he has never created value in his life.

[@MrDavidht]

He was the Wally that was saying at one general election 'everybody understands that more borrowing for investment will lead to improved productivity which will then facilitate the repayments'.

[@Pastaface]

He appears to be wearing a PJ top in a box bed-room. Did Kate wake him up?

[@MrDavidht]

@@Pastaface Just found out that he started life as a music teacher, not really an economist.

[@culturespot75]

He sees an industrial revolution based on solar power in the sunny UK

[@KevenHutchinson-gt1nn]

As someone who is midway through a masters. I have met him twice, and I can say he is hugely knowledgeable on the subject.

[@andys1333]

'The brilliance of a large public sector, you grow the public sector and you get tax back from it!' I'm happy to offer a similar deal to Paul, for every £100 he pays me, I'll pay him £33! The brilliance of this offer is the more he pays me, the more he gets back!

[@chrisroberts8235]

@@andys1333 I am so glad others picked up on this. I had a ‘hold on, what did you just say……!?!’ Moment

[@stephfoxwell4620]

Mason is a nincompoop.

[@Arpit89]

If the private sector is not able to create well paying jobs the public sector has to hire more Every public sector worker gets paid less amount as compared to his private sector counterpart if the private sector was performing well nobody would work in public sector, and with low GDP growth there will be mass unemployment if public sector does not hire

[@colinmoore35]

Wowwww this person is an economist" The brilliance of a large public sector, you grow the public sector and you get tax back from it!' !!! Just Wowwww !!!!!

[@wizzyno1566]

​@@Arpit89whoosh

[@jaaguitar]

"You get tax back from the public sector" - the stupidest thing I've heard about the budget.

[@thomashobbs1498]

What i think is meant is that if you spend 10 billion on giving doctors a pay rice, you will get 4.5 billion back in tax and then of course VAT etc

[@ep1929]

I thought same jaaguitar

[@KevenHutchinson-gt1nn]

What bit is stupid. The government would get back. The thing which is stupid, when the right talk about how expensive public sector pay rises are, it's always the gross figure, and not the net figure. The net figure being how much the excheqer gets back in tax and it's impact on gdp.

[@ep1929]

@@KevenHutchinson-gt1nn a very shallow impact as these people are not great in numbers, if nurses got a bumper pay rise then yes, it would start to have an effect.

[@SamInSomerset]

This guy is a quasi religious socialist.. his answers make no sense to me.. defend, defend, obfuscate obfuscate..

[@Andy.H1]

This chap is a good advert for reducing staffing levels and investing in automation

[@petermach8635]

Who was who said "The more I look at (something), the more I like my dogs" ? ........ but you're spot on though, him and his like are a waste of space, they're not progressives, they're regressive, they can only look to the past to try to rekindle the "Socialist Spark" that never quite took hold of the kindling enough to flourish ........ thank goodness! ....... and while typing that I let my sour cream dressing curdle, damn the Hard-Left and theit gruesome machinations.

[@ninasnyman]

What an idiot to say that employers are not working people…let me guess, he has never built up his own business and employed people.

[@theralphster8492]

No, he'll put himself in the journalist category, talks about work, writes about work, thinks he knows about work....economic nerd he isn't.

[@dylanblackhurst2832]

He clearly has never ever run a business! This is nearly as funny as his “no far right here” video. Total clown. Why anyone would ask his opinion is beyond me.

[@glostergloster6945]

I switched off when he mentioned 'class struggle'. Its terminology stuck in the 1970s. Bosses are also workers, workers can also be bosses.

[@kaya051285]

Yep. The mytical factory owner exploring his uneducated workers When in reality MILLIONS are employed by the state MILLIONS are self employed MILLIONS work for themselves in a tiny company employing a handful mostly family members Also even those who do work for large companies many are paid very well. Eg bankers. Staff of google Facebook etc While I'm sure some employyes are abused it's not the 99% workers vs the 1% owners

[@EnglishTMTB]

Not to mention... There's only so much burden you can put on business without making it not profitable enough to be worth the time, risk and investment... And if employer burdens are increased to the point that future pay rises aren't possible then they simply won't happen... Which means real terms pay cuts as inflation runs away from earnings... And in order to be consistent, that's no different from calling it austerity when the Tories decrease the rate of public sector spending increase (as opposed to actually decreasing it in absolute numbers).

[@kaya051285]

@@EnglishTMTB Even worse in that an increase in cost will bankrupt the marginal business. Allowing the remaining business to change a higher price to try and maintain their (often slim) net margins Majority of business aren't mega profitable like apple or Google. Most uk supermarkets operate on less than 5% net margins

[@lumpyfishgravy]

This is the point I've been making about Starmer's government with its obvious class war footing.

[@WilburD-x7i]

I can't watch anymore of this. What is the man on!?

[@paultweedley2026]

He's a socialist, they want equality and their happy to level down to achieve it, as long as they still get their perks and to hell with people who take chances to invest their hard earned money, politics of grievance. It's going to be a real mess financially going forward.!

[@EnglishTMTB]

@@paultweedley2026 Strictly speaking it's equity they want, as opposed to equality - equal opportunity would only breed the equal outcomes they're desperate for if people were capable of equal performance (an obvious nonsense). It's lowest common denominator politics, designed for people who think they're intelligent but know in their gut that competition would not suit them.

[@lumpyfishgravy]

He's on every left-leaning news outlet there is: confirmation bias personified.

[@pads-zr9ln]

Paul mason isn't a nerd, he's a dunce

[@irenecoulson3079]

I cannot believe a supposed economist, wants corporate tax raised.. that's every small/medium business. The engine of our economy who combined employ the most folk, he supports increasing an even bigger burden on struggling businesses. For growth less tax is the only route

[@pads-zr9ln]

@@irenecoulson3079 thankfully you can have a lot of expenses as a small business, cash in hand helps, I pay all trades in cash

[@AndrewKNI]

"You grow the public sector, and get tax back from it!". What brilliance, what nonsense! Government should be reducing the size of the public sector in the first place, starting with the number of MPs. There are far too many politicians and councillors throughout the UK. Reduce and restructure the whole mess. No wonder there is a black hole!

[@pads-zr9ln]

Why does labour make me feel like a second class citizens in my own country, why do they increase the tax burden on people like to pay for foreigners

[@Decocoa]

@@pads-zr9ln Why do you think? Isn’t it obvious?

[@dazzwsmith]

Maybe you should blame the tories for giving us the highest national debt on record and millions of extra immigrants in the hundreds of thousands every year.

[@rcoz2685]

What Labor have become, is the ruling class, as per Engels and Marx doctrine. Labor voters are finding out, that their new ruling class are no different from the old ruling class. They serve themselves and their children. Once they, the new ruling class, are all full and bloated after swilling at the trough, the workers can scurry around and fight for the leftovers.

[@zoot4358]

Not an excuse for Labour but didn't the Tories do the same ?

[@markhutton6055]

​@@zoot4358 There haven't been any Tories since the mid 90s. Truss attempted Conservative policies but was kicked out by the Globalists (who fabricated the market crash). The Tories, as a party, have been captured. In part by purposeful take over or because they 're scared to be called the nasty party (even though they will be anyway). But the economy was far better under the Tories than it is now. Normally after a change of government it takes anything up to a few years for the economy to be affected by a new government's policies, but this government has already scared investment away along with our highest tax payers.

[@Honourable66]

" i don't care", that just about sums these people up.

[@jwalker2396]

That clown just said a bigger public sector means more taxes raised. Is he nuts! The public sector makes nothing and no profit, jobs are paid for from the private sector and so the taxes they pay cannot be counted as they are paid from money they have not created. Cutting the pubic sector would save money, making it bigger does nothing for our debt problems. I'm surprised this went unchallenged.

[@joe.c9308]

It’s the surplus from economic production that “pays” for non market activity. So if a community produces surplus food then someone in that community does not need to be a farmer but can be a teacher etc

[@Arpit89]

What public sector does not create nothing, it is the public sector because of which you are able to do your job and not have your money stolen, it is public sector NHS which treats people so that they can go and work and contribute to economy, without a proper NHS, police you would not be able to perform your best so a public sector does create economic growth

[@chrisroberts8235]

As a business owner who works for / with other business owners, Paul’s comments are unbelievable. As if somehow business owners are not ‘workers’. Morons. Tell you what, private sector starts sacking people or not recruiting people due to a combination of ‘Worker’s Rights’ and Employers NI. How’s that for ‘Pro Growth’……

[@fergusbarnett6029]

‘Workers’ to him (and the labour left) implies a ‘worker class’ who are constantly under the boot of an employer class. It’s all communist rhetoric dressed up with economic language. Life is nothing but class struggle to these people.

[@existentialvoid]

This man is insane - and if this is what Reeves is listening to then investment will not come.

[@notalefty999]

If you raise employer's contributions to NI, the cost of labour goes up and the demand goes down. If demand for labour falls, the price of labour will fall accordingly. So yes, inevitably, if you make employees more expensive for employers without raising their wages or making them more productive, their real term wages will fall, because their value relative to their cost will fall. Crapping on about a communist struggle does not change that.

[@Schiltron]

Paul Mason, communist dinosaur, graduated from the University of Sheffield[ with a degree in music and politics in 1981 and trained to be a music teacher at London University Institute of Education. His grasp on things that matter like science, technology, engineering and mathematics is close to non-existent, likewise economics.

[@jaaguitar]

Why can't we have an economist that isn't an activist.

[@MrCameronian]

This tosser was on the editorial staff of BBC Newsnight. The unbiased BBC 😂😂😂

[@Anggfddvvbhyttdddd]

How is “I don’t care” when asked about tax raises a valid answer?

[@joshm7081]

Absolutely astonishing that this man sells himself as an economist

[@misteroz]

I’ve always found Paul entertaining to watch, but I’d sooner take economic advice from my neighbour’s cat.

[@prashantkotak5181]

You had the pick of the entire universe to discuss the budget with, and you pick Paul Mason?! I'm sorry but the Spectator has been relegated to the same status as the Beano in my eyes now.

[@stevelangridge1755]

Perhaps she’s giving herself and ourselves to challenge the alternative view rather than to simply parrot our own?

[@SisterAbdullahX]

@@stevelangridge1755Or maybe she’s giving leftists the opportunity to show what an unmitigated disaster they are about to create.

[@advocate1563]

The public does care. We are withdrawing our labour through a variety.of.tactics - worklessness, early retiremebt, leaving the country, etc. Amazingly incentives matter and that includes the moral compass of politicians.and the sense.of "we're all in this together". Manifesto lies are not acceptable, nor is £107k of free gear. .

[@Meetpete-2024]

Like bad preachers...politicians don't practice what they preach, to get elected.

[@evolassunglasses4673]

Dreadful man, poor interview.

[@Beach_comber]

If I understand Mason correctly, the borrowing we did in the past is holding us back because of the huge cost of debt servicing and the answer is to borrow even more quickly than we are already by fiddling with the rules. That and "class war" is what he thinks we need. But the Labour Party is the party of public sector workers these days isn't it? Fortunately it's given up on class war.

[@AnthonyConstable]

Paul expresses clearly, what many on the left obfuscate when talking publicly. I appreciate the clarity and the discussion.

[@pauloliver7853]

good grief that was dire.

[@davidkelly3751]

To all those who voted for these clowns, you reap what you sow. Reform is the only way out of this nightmare.

[@altudy]

His words, "I don't care" sum up the Achilles tendon of this Labour government and why the wheels will inexorably fall off.

[@Its.all.a.game.m8]

If Paul is the sort of advisor that the Labour Party is surrounding themselves with, this is going to end very badly.

[@briangasser973]

The UK economy already suffers from sluggish growth. Raising taxes isnt going to help. Who will be excited to open up or expand businesses in the UK with its tax policy.

[@keithvers569]

It might help if they stop a million people a year from entering the country to claim a free mobile phone and benefits in a 4 star hotel

[@tae_ethusiast]

You get tax back if you have a large public sector 😂

[@jamesbradley2585]

Righteous elitist arrogance.

[@krileayn]

Don't watch anything with Paul Mason. Good Lord can't you find decent guests ?

[@stepheng9607]

If you are running a local authority or a hospital and you only get a 1% budget increase but a significant part of your costs goes up by 2% then you have to make savings. This can only come through cuts in services, which will mean redundancies.

[@TheDesertIslandInvestor]

I am so pleased it was not just I who picked up on the “Brilliance of a large public sector …………………..”

[@willfletch5871]

Watching a labour government being elected is like watching a dog eat its own vomit. You watch in disbelief and wonder why.

[@nickwalsworth7650]

No growth economy is an uncomfortable reality for indebted government, denial is not helpful, the consequence is liquidation of personal savings and pensions. Time to choose people over the banking interests.

[@kaya051285]

NI on employers is simply passed on as higher prices If Tesco has to pay higehr NI and so do all the other supermarkets the only way to respond is to increase prices

[@SiL-uj2zl]

At one point he practically said I don't care if taxes go up for working people.....ugh Labour always show their true colours when they get in power. Contempt for the average person

[@maxthemagition]

By far the greatest tax avoidance in the UK is trusts which enables inheritance tax to be avoided. This has been going on for centuries and has caused the great divide in our country. There is also the ability to hide wealth in tax havens and yet still be a citizen of the UK. This is why Britain is called ‘Treasure Island’ and why it is so divided. Will the Labour Government fix this divide between the haves and have nots? I doubt it.

[@ChrisVaughan-gj7ve]

This bloke actually believes this, bless him. The public sector is lazy, needy and unaffordable Paul, wakey wakey son!!

[@KevenHutchinson-gt1nn]

I'm really confussed, he was part of Momentum. Yet he's saying Labour should stick to their borrowing rules and massively increase defense spending

[@DaveSmith-s6e]

Housing and rail. Never thought I’d see myself in full throated support of Mr Mason, but I’ve never heard anything more correct. Milton Keynes is known as the roundabout city. Why don’t we make a Railway city?

[@markbateman9222]

I am getting increasingly fed up with all this talk of the OBR. An unelected, non accountable bunch of civil servants in the Treasury seems to have more influence over Budgetary matters than the elected government. How can this be justified? The Civil Service is there to help the elected government implement its programmes not exercise some kind of veto over the actions of the democratically elected government.

[@lewismorrison7493]

Lots of words summed up by one word. Inflation.

[@michaelmorley6522]

Back to the 70’s, look how well that ended.

[@cnrspiller3549]

Government borrowing is taxation without representation, as it is presumed it will be paid back by people too young to vote.

[@IainFrame]

The working and middle classes will feel the pain. As always.

[@maxthemagition]

Might as well not have inheritance tax because that is the one tax that is so easily avoided through trusts and tax havens and let’s face it this avoidance has been going on for centuries and has caused the great divide in wealth in the UK.

[@theralphster8492]

Beats me why would anyone start a new business in the UK, other than processing immigrants.

[@unblessedcoffee1457]

I wouldn't count on 5 years in power if this is the level of performance...

[@ahenne]

Justin Kruger and David Dunning want their test subject back.

[@greencloud2225]

Every redundancy from now should have a note attached to it - “ due to the government rise in NI making your job too expensive to maintain “

[@danielrobertson8774]

One of the worse legacies is the state of Justice, where the rich and influential no longer just have great Lawyers they have PR teams. The poor and middle class, go straight to the courts.

[@stevo728822]

I'm ok with public sector spending as long as it is spent effectively and it is spent on UK companies.

[@p.s.2008]

Farmers are doomed.😢

[@andyp6913]

Great, thank you 👍👍👍👍😀

[@Treeburnify]

Quite frankly with Kate Andrews and Paul Mason you have two extremes represented. Untempered both ideologies are harmful.

[@charleskriswell7938]

Kate Andrews voted for Joe Biden.

[@petermach8635]

Well, that was illuminating in many ways and on many fronts. You don't, can't and never will get growth from the public sector, even without the inbuilt inefficencies and the usually mis-placed central direction, the public sector doesn't create anything, it's parasitical and relies on the productive sector of the economy to provide the funds it needs. But the biggest and best was the acknowledgement that "Labour doesn't care" .... with an overwhelming Parliamentary majority they can pay no heed to anyone else, their own client groups excepted ....... welcome to a dark future (and not just economically).

[@jamesmorley3222]

The question should be "who can take the pain"

[@Pat14922]

Investment? Leave the Private sector to invest. It's what they do. If they don't get it right they go bankrupt, the ones who are still trading are the ones who have got it right before. So don't raise taxes, of any kind. We are already at the highest tax rate since WW2., and lets not even talk about taxes on North Sea Oil companies. Reduce taxes as soon as possible. Reduce government spending, reduce welfare spending, increase public sector productivity, and sickness levels, let private sector comnpanies make more investment , make more profits, employ people and pay more taxes.

[@billynomates920]

labour budget? 🥶

[@advocate1563]

Oxymoron? Liebour omnishambles? Any advance?

[@stewartyboy]

'That's a matter for the class struggle' ... Dear me...

[@charleskriswell7938]

The new editor is working out well then...

[@mark9716]

**** around, and find out. UK and the Labour Party over the next 5 years will find out alright. Will be a different country by that time.

[@lizwood510]

Employers are not workers??? Excuse me??? What an idiot.

[@trumphodge]

Why does Kate dignify someone like this with an interview?

[@Iridiumwins]

Labour need to please the WEF and ESG plan...build small nuclear plants, Bitcoin mining to load balance ESG renewables into the grid, allow people to feed the grid with home solar for bitcoin.

[@danielrobertson8774]

We've had 5 to 6 years of the most ridiculous Palace Politics between an outrageous set of different people. As such outline issues have been funded, such as solar power in Scotland or hydro electricity in East Anglia. Both are technically marginal to say the least, yet fashionable advocates. At the same time coal, steel and oil processes have been blocked, as these are 3D jobs. Given that economic spending, separate of income earnings, you want the Labour party to solve the problems instantly. Yeah, that's as foolish as mass solar power in Scotland.

[@caractacus22]

Good man.big thing for defence, we are awaiting your resu”ntss

[@alanglasgowbassist]

Wow! Please tell me this guy isn’t advising the government about how to spend my hard-earned tax 😢

[@ant270]

Sounds fabulous....everyone in the private sector can give up their jobs tomorrow and the public sector will take up the tax paying slack....the UK will be minted.

[@kindke]

Down vote

[@phwbooth]

What an idiot.

[@monkeyboy8424]

This winter I am forced to play Freddie Starmer's Heating or Eating Games - the region with the most dead pensioners wins.

[@karlarcher8773]

Solar Power revolution above 51° North?

[@janethart123]

Rachel has no idea what she is doing as she has no idea about finances

[@MrDavidht]

'Employers are not working class' really, tell that to a plumber employing a couple guys and a lad with a couple of transmit vans. He is just a vacuous motor mouth.

[@unbabunga229]

Did Paul Mason refer to himself as an economist? He has a degree in music tech and has never held any position or job in anything related to business or economics. Being left wing really is an act of narcissism

[@petertappin9568]

Why nothing on Dividend tax..? Easiest tax avoidance system going..

[@chunky6253]

It's like argueing with your pissed mate against the bar. Utter nonsense.

[@karlarcher8773]

Workers protect there wages against mass migration?

[@ANTHONYCooper-b8e]

This man is deluded the majority of the public can see through all this rubbish.

[@SecretSquirrel2023]

8:40 ish profit pays pensions to hard working pensioners , providing child care and food banks, they cannot strike. Is this hubristic trot going to direct his class struggle towards the hard work of pensioners, driving these kulaks into an earlier oblivion along with the UK economy. Absolutely extraordinary how labour takes so little time to unravel as the dictators of the proletariat emerge to preen their socialist purity.

[@wizzyno1566]

7:00 Wow. Just wow. This is a monumentally ignorant statement.

[@SisterAbdullahX]

“We in the economics profession…”😂

[@markwilson7788]

I am guessing that Paul Mason's brother is called Baldrick.

[@erniesbiscuits8691]

This guy is displaying the student level politics

[@Arisherif]

It is just sooo clear that Paul and his mates at the Labour Party are purely ideologically driven… He reminds me of myself when i was defending socialist ideas when i was 20 years old at the university….

[@openbabel]

There is no relationship between building houses and growth..they will be lucky like the conservatives to build 260k houses over five years. What type of houses ? 3/4 bedroomed bungalows for the elderly and disabled.3 bedroomed family homes for population. As the government has NOT invested in services for 25 years.All house builders should only rebuild schools, hospitals, main roads, new stations, train a new skilled army of doctors, teachers, surveyors, engineers, and railways BEFORE a single house is built. Where its all gone wrong is,all developers walk off with supper normal profit without funding some time substantial infra structure (roads in 20 mile radius). Leaving these costs to the taxpayer, who has no money or interest. Remember every housing serviced plot before you build a house on it costs on average 247 000 pounds....labour wants to pay for this enormous bill from taxation to house migrants and foreign owners . But never for actual UK citizens. Labours plans will crash the economy, labour still thinks they are in 1964 when house building was still necessary on the back of mass unemployment ,cheap energy, bombed out cities and baby boomers. None of that exists, its a delusion based on over extended credit which has crashed the economy to date. Please discuss what qualifications future Mps need to qualify for office to change this country?

[@BaiHuJ]

The thing about right-leaning outlets feeling like they need to have left wing nutters like Mason or John McTiernan around to give them a "Labour" perspective is so nauseating. It's completely redundant - every outlet by default already spews this. We know already what their perspective is, it has seeped into everything.

[@karlarcher8773]

All sounds like a sleight of hand.

[@nhb0011]

What a strange guest for the Spectator to choose.

[@danielrobertson8774]

I take this channel seriously, hence 3 comments. The UK is hardly dead economically; however, it's the outrageous pet project's that never actually seen to be completed, except retail project's 🙄.

[@NeilAyers-ge9yk]

I;m 1 minute in and can't stand this guy already

[@willh5061]

This guy is economically illiterate. He wouldn’t pas a GCSE in the subject. Please can you interview someone better qualified than this. A total waste of our time.

[@drstrangelove4998]

This bloke never knew what he was talking about. A marxist ‘economist’ is a contradiction in terms, an oxymoron. Even more sinister is he doesn’t give a damn what the voter thinks, communism 101, 2tK has shown us this every time he opens his mouth.

[@culturespot75]

Another neocon who should edit The Speccy when Mr Gove gets bored or doesn't get Kemi into the top job. As for Labour, Mr Mason indeed carries the spirit of 19th century class struggle, but from the era of Marx rather than Adam Smith which only goes to highlight the student politics under which this incompetent government labour.