Young at heart not very smart
Scotland, United Kingdom
Joined January 2018
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John Murison retweeted
Every time we put petrol into
our cars at a fuel station, the government are fleecing us. And it’s not just the fuel duty and VAT at the petrol pump price.
£70 of petrol at 197.9p a litre buys just 35.37 litres - a partial fill for many cars. Of that £70, £18.73 is fuel duty and £11.67 is VAT. That is £30.40, or 43%, taken by the government before the engine starts.
That £70 itself was already taxed. To have £70 left after 20% income tax and 8% National Insurance, you first earned roughly £97.22. Another £27.22 was taken at source. On this single fill alone, nearly 60% of the money you worked for has already gone to the government.
It does not stop there.
Most drivers also pay Vehicle Excise Duty of around £200 a year simply for the right to use the road. On top of that, the average comprehensive car insurance premium is roughly £650, of which 12% Insurance Premium Tax - about £78 - goes straight to the government. Add those annual charges and the government extraction of our money continues to escalate with endless stealth taxes.
You earn the money. It is taxed. You spend what remains on fuel. It is taxed again. Then you pay again every year just to keep the car legal and insured…which is taxed.
For millions who need a vehicle to reach work, drive children to school or live ordinary lives, this is no longer the cost of petrol or the cost of motoring. It is a stacked system of extortionate tax charges that repeatedly takes from the same earnings. Motorists are not merely paying for fuel. They are being systematically fleeced at every stage by the government.
The cost of living crisis is also a cost of excessive government taxation crisis. So @andyburnham - if you really want to help cash strapped motorists during the cost of living crisis, drastically cut fuel duty and VAT on petrol and diesel rather than just giving advice to use google maps to find the cheapest local fuel station.
John Murison retweeted
This morning, I appeared on Good Morning Britain in a live interview about the grooming gangs. Before I went on air, I was told not to mention the race of the perpetrators. I, of course, didn’t listen.
I have now received an apology from the editor.
My interview is below: 👇🏻
John Murison retweeted
What if the biggest “win” for families in the last 50 years was actually a trap?
Rory Sutherland dropped this on Alex O’Connor’s podcast: The two-income household started as a nice option. Both partners work, more money comes in. Feels great at first.
Then reality shifted. Governments got double the tax. Existing homeowners watched their property values soar. House prices rose to match two salaries.
Suddenly one income wasn’t enough anymore — even for high-earning singles like consultant surgeons. Families traded ~35 hours of free time per week for only modest gains in lifestyle.
What began as freedom quietly became an obligation. And it left single people and parents who want to raise their own kids at a real disadvantage.
This one stings because we sold it as pure progress.
Personally, it makes me question how many modern “upgrades” we’ve normalized without counting the real cost — especially lost time with family.
What’s something you once thought was clear progress that now feels like it came with a heavier price than we admitted?
John Murison retweeted
🚨CUMMINGS BOMBSHELL: THE FAKE GOVERNMENT EXPOSED AS OLLY ROBBINS SCANDAL ERUPTS! 💣💥
Dominic Cummings Old Warning As Relevant As Ever As Unelected Officials Run The Show Behind Starmer's Back 🤔
Remember that jaw-dropping clip of Dominic Cummings ripping the lid off Whitehall?
He warned the whole British system is fake.
"You have fake meritocracy, fake responsibility and fake cabinet government", he said. "It's all nonsense. The cabinet is just a kind of stage theatre and actually officials in the cabinet office have already decided it all".
Now fast-forward to this week's chaos: top civil servant Olly Robbins is out the door after his department overruled security vetting to fast-track Peter Mandelson as US ambassador, without even telling Keir Starmer or David Lammy.
Exactly the kind of backroom power play Cummings described years ago.
Cummings laid it out crystal clear. Politicians pose and smile for the cameras, pretending they're deciding big calls on foreign affairs, immigration, you name it.
But the real power and decisions? Locked behind closed doors by unelected officials who've already scripted everything.
"Meetings in Whitehall are literally scripted", he revealed.
Before the Prime Minister even sits down with his ministers, officials hand him the script. He reads it out. Every Secretary of State reads their lines.
If anyone dares go off-script? Officials glance at each other with concern, note it down, and quietly make sure it never happens.
It sounds like a parody, Cummings stressed, "but it is literally how the British state functions today".
MPs love it because the system pretends they're in charge. Officials love it because they hold almost all the real power.
"The Cabinet Secretary is now a hundred times more powerful than any cabinet minister apart from the PM."
This isn't theory. It's happening right now.
The Robbins scandal proves Cummings' point in real time: while the public sees the show, the Blob runs the country.
John Murison retweeted
For most of Scotland today, getting around just became more affordable. However, Fraserburgh and Peterhead remain the largest towns the furthest from a station anywhere in the UK. Extending the railway to Buchan will see 80k people brought within 15min of a station. @FionaHyslop teapawt.org/JohnSwinney/status/196…
John Murison retweeted
You make a sale of £1200 in your business.
£200 is VAT.
You have £1000.
You pay 25% corp tax on it.
You have £750.
You pay it to yourself as a dividend and pay 20%.
You have £600.
You spend it, and £100 of the spend was VAT.
You have something worth £500.
You die and pass that thing onto your kids, and your estate owes 40% in taxes.
Your kids have £300.
Are you seeing why it's nearly impossible to get ahead in the UK? This is why people are leaving. And it’s even worse in SNP Scotland, where higher taxes and relentless bureaucracy crush ambition further.
John Murison retweeted
One year on, and there is no doubt that reconnecting Levenmouth has been a success! Now is the time to ask where's next.
Fraserburgh and Peterhead are the largest towns, the furthest from a railway station anywhere in the UK - an area with a larger population than Stirling!
John Murison retweeted
Once again a new UK rail project has massively outperformed it's predicted passenger numbers.
People want rail connections, and if you build it, they will come!
aberdeenlive.news/news/aberd…
And we believe the establishment tell us our country is skint!!
Keep thinking for yourself.
You make a sale of £1200 in your business
£200 is VAT
You have £1000
You pay 25% corp tax on it
You have £750
You pay it to yourself as a dividend and pay 20%
You have £600
You spend it and £100 of the spend was VAT
You have something worth £500
You die and pass that thing onto your kids and your estate owes 40% of it in taxes.
Your kids have £300
... are you seeing why it's nearly impossible to get ahead in the UK? This is why people are leaving the UK.
John Murison retweeted
Matchday! The day has arrived and we now make our way to Ibrox for our Scottish Cup tie. Thank you so much for your support and backing - whether you're heading to the game or watching from home - enjoy your day!
Ok, so in Scotland we say- “if you fly with the crows then you get shot with the crows” this is merely a figure of speech to explain that if you get involved, then be prepared to take the punishment! I guess that’s acceptable if you were proven to have acted unlawfully. OPPRESSED
This is how ludicrous things have become.
The judge said: "Of the people I have thus far sentenced, you are the person who provides me with the most difficulty because it cannot be levelled at you that you hit anyone, neither have you thrown anything, neither is it said that you spat at anybody.
But it is accepted by you that you were a party to this disorder and I have to sentence you on that basis, and you know that anyone party to it has to receive a custodial sentence.”
Man described by judge as the 'least involved' in riot jailed for a year
telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/08…
This piece resonates with my own concerns for our future, where real honestly and real integrity are at risk. You can’t build a trusting and meaning relationship on lies. The media are intentionally confusing us, this preventing us from from thinking straight for ourselves.
John Murison retweeted
Piers Morgan:- “Would you like to take this opportunity to tell the rioters to stop rioting?”
Political will decides.
The Fraserburgh Harbour plans will help to deliver the Just Transition we need. We must extend the East Coast line to Fraserburgh and Peterhead to kick-start the regeneration of these towns and support their ambition. Welcome @FionaHyslop, let's get these towns back on track! 🚂
