Matt Hancock Has Resigned

[Rena]

Ref "working from home" :
Does the mortgage stipulate that your domestic premises can be used as an office?   Usually a business morgage is more expensive. (I've been there, done that).
If you're using your home as an office then you should expect to pay business rates on your telephone and other utilities.   Additionally what portion of the utilities has the company you work for stated they will pay?

How does that work if you are working from home but as an employee - you aren't actually running a business? According to articles I've read as long as you’re not altering your property considerably, such as adding an extra room to use for your business, your lender should agree to you continuing with your residential mortgage.

It is worth informing your insurance company though if you have expensive office equipment, although presumably if your employer has said you need it to work from home, they should have insured it.

I wonder if burglaries have gone down over the last year with fewer homes left unoccupied during the day?

I think the advent of computers has blurred the lines somewhat between what constitutes an official office.

Additionally there are far less Inland Revenue and Customs Offices in towns and cities around the UK these days, thus less local Tax Inspectors and VAT Inspectors to make visits..

[Nick_Ips]

Additionally there are far less Inland Revenue and Customs Offices in towns and cities around the UK these days, thus less local Tax Inspectors and VAT Inspectors to make visits..

Fewer offices, partly because HMRC cottoned on to the idea that more employees working from (/based at) home means fewer desks, which means less expense to the taxpayer.

Or, the 'Gamekeepers' have turned 'Poacher'. 

[heywood]

Victoria,
At the moment, this is not concerning Kier Starmer or the Labour Party.
Heywood

The Labour Party was mentioned in a post  by Guy at 9-16 today prior to my post at 9-21.
His post was relevant and so was mine.

So?
Viktoria.

I am not sure what ‘So?’ means.

However, you are correct. He mentioned the ‘Labour  Party, a discontented Conservative or a Civil Servant.’

[Rena]

MPs and civil servants work for the people, thus they are employees of the people.

No, they really aren't.  As a long-time local government manager it was really tiresome dealing with entitled people demanding a member of my team should do what they were told (by the entitled person) because "I pay your wages" or "You work for me". The lack of respect shown by people demanding this or that was quite remarkable. 

I think the majority of the population would agree the modern approach is superior and not wish to go back to those days.

The role of local government councillors has also changed. Historically they would only attend occasional meetings and have limited (usually postal) correspondence with their constituents.  Now many councillors are in executive roles within the council structure, and phone and internet communication has enabled all constituents to have virtually 24/7 direct contact with their councillor. It isn't the same 'job' as it was in days of yore.

Practically every decade they dip their hands even further into our pockets.  One example being the £10K per annum each MP receives from the public purse to pay for their own IT page.  Previous to this MPs had a free write up in their daily newspaper extolling their virtues and the opposition's failures.

The pay and expenses of MPs are determined by the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA), not by the MPs themselves. Members of the public are entitled to make representations to IPSA if they disagree with any specific aspect of the scheme, or to the idea of MPs being paid at all.  More info here...
https://www.parliament.uk/about/mps-and-lords/members/pay-mps/

ref IPSA = when do we stop laughing?

Their pronouncements are incongruous. MPs have to have an increase because "They're worth it".  We have had times when the country has been on its knees, we've had "toy town money" what was  practically valueless in other countries; no work for the masses; massive debts owed to international monetary funds and only lent because we are "the fifth richest country" (even with debts)

[Rena]

Additionally there are far less Inland Revenue and Customs Offices in towns and cities around the UK these days, thus less local Tax Inspectors and VAT Inspectors to make visits..

Fewer offices, partly because HMRC cottoned on to the idea that more employees working from (/based at) home means fewer desks, which means less expense to the taxpayer.

Or, the 'Gamekeepers' have turned 'Poacher'. 

My first interaction with the Inland Revenue was in my home in the 1970s after my late husband was demobbed and as there were labour shortages, but no money to pay for increased number of workers, it meant we had to use our own initiative to earn an honest crust.    After examining my books he listed all examples of transactions that needed me to pay the government some money.   One was no claim could be made for transport from home to wherever the workplace was at any given time.  A claim could be made from an official workplace but not from a residence.    As with most government officials it took quite some time before he admitted that he was allowed to give a 10% discretion.

   

[Viktoria]

Victoria,
At the moment, this is not concerning Kier Starmer or the Labour Party.
Heywood

The Labour Party was mentioned in a post  by Guy at 9-16 today prior to my post at 9-21.
His post was relevant and so was mine.

So?
Viktoria.

I am not sure what ‘So?’ means.

However, you are correct. He mentioned the ‘Labour  Party, a discontented Conservative or a Civil Servant.’

[Viktoria]

It means why query my post and not Guy’s.?
They are both relevant given the questions re who is most likely to have planted a hidden camera in Hancock’s office ?quote author=Viktoria link=topic=850346.msg7179061#msg7179061 date=1624883169]

Victoria,
At the moment, this is not concerning Kier Starmer or the Labour Party.
Heywood

The Labour Party was mentioned in a post  by Guy at 9-16 today prior to my post at 9-21.
His post was relevant and so was mine.

So?
Viktoria.

I am not sure what ‘So?’ means.

However, you are correct. He mentioned the ‘Labour  Party, a discontented Conservative or a Civil Servant.’

[/quote]

Viktoria.

[heywood]

Oh I see. Thank you.

I didn’t query Guy’s post because I saw nothing to query. He was writing about the focus and was speculating, I assumed, on who installed the security camera.

[GR2]

Another example of a midlife crisis?

Personally, I have decided to postpone my midlife crisis for as long as possible. Perhaps combine it with my second childhood.