In an earlier blog I contrasted the Labour Government's approach to tax credits with the Conservative Party's, in that the Tories policy discriminated against the unmarried and singled parents.
Recently the Labour Government has changed Inheritance tax, which increases the allowance to £600,000 for those who are married or in Civil Partnerships. I do regard this as discriminatory against co-habitees and think this should be extended to any couple.
Thursday, 25 October 2007
Thursday, 11 October 2007
Daredevil: Man without fear!
Daredevil is one of my favourite comic characters. I first came across him in The Punisher (who is my favourite comic character). In his day job Daredevil is a lawyer called Matt Murdock, who was defending Frank Castle (The Punisher's not very secret identity).
It may be odd, that a liberal in criminal justice matters, has The Punisher as his favourite character. And maybe this is why I find Daredevil interesting. By day he is a lawyer, dealing with law. By night the Daredevil is a vigilante.
This contrast was highlighted in Daredevil: Wake up, volume 3 of Brian Michael Bendis's Marvel Knights run (issues 16-19). The moody story was told through the eyes of reporter Ben Urich, who is investigating the story of Timmy. Timmy has witnessed a fight between his Father, Leapfrog (a costumed petty criminal) and Daredevil. Urich should be covering the trial of Wilson Fisk, the Kingpin of crime. His boss, Jonah Jameson is not amused by his interest in Timmy.
The story is seen mainly through Urich's eyes, but also Timmy's. Timmy is catatonic, and Urich is desperate to find out what Timmy saw in the fight between Daredevil and Leapfrog, which involves looking for Matt/ Daredevil - Urich is one of the few people who knows Murdock's secret identify.
Daredevil barely appears- he is the background... but the story goes to the very core of the who and why of Murdock the lawyer and Daredevil the vigilante. It is a testimony to Bendis's storytelling.
The artwork is also excellent. Some of it is painted by David Mack, other parts are pencilled by him, inked by Mark Morales & Pond Scum and coloured by Richard Isanove.
Some of the artwork represents stories told by Timmy, and is in traditional comic form. Other parts are highly realistic, others are painted and there is no strict division between frames. The artwork really conveys the mood of the story and where the protagonists are in their head.
This is an excellent book - superhero comic fans will love it, it should encourage comic fans to look at the genre again and encourage others to consider the medium.
It may be odd, that a liberal in criminal justice matters, has The Punisher as his favourite character. And maybe this is why I find Daredevil interesting. By day he is a lawyer, dealing with law. By night the Daredevil is a vigilante.
This contrast was highlighted in Daredevil: Wake up, volume 3 of Brian Michael Bendis's Marvel Knights run (issues 16-19). The moody story was told through the eyes of reporter Ben Urich, who is investigating the story of Timmy. Timmy has witnessed a fight between his Father, Leapfrog (a costumed petty criminal) and Daredevil. Urich should be covering the trial of Wilson Fisk, the Kingpin of crime. His boss, Jonah Jameson is not amused by his interest in Timmy.
The story is seen mainly through Urich's eyes, but also Timmy's. Timmy is catatonic, and Urich is desperate to find out what Timmy saw in the fight between Daredevil and Leapfrog, which involves looking for Matt/ Daredevil - Urich is one of the few people who knows Murdock's secret identify.
Daredevil barely appears- he is the background... but the story goes to the very core of the who and why of Murdock the lawyer and Daredevil the vigilante. It is a testimony to Bendis's storytelling.
The artwork is also excellent. Some of it is painted by David Mack, other parts are pencilled by him, inked by Mark Morales & Pond Scum and coloured by Richard Isanove.
Some of the artwork represents stories told by Timmy, and is in traditional comic form. Other parts are highly realistic, others are painted and there is no strict division between frames. The artwork really conveys the mood of the story and where the protagonists are in their head.
This is an excellent book - superhero comic fans will love it, it should encourage comic fans to look at the genre again and encourage others to consider the medium.
Monday, 1 October 2007
Marriage, Tax and benefits
The British Conservative and Unionist Party has produced policy proposals, in the document "Fixing our broken society"*, which would make the tax and benefits system favourable to married couples. While it must be stressed, these are proposals which may not be adopted as policy it does raise some serious questions.
The document rightly points out the UK taxation system does not favour married couples. They argue that it should because this would prevent "family breakdown", i.e. reduce the number of divorces. The document also argue that married couples are more likely to stay together than unmarried ones. The document also suggests the tax and benefit system makes it economically more viable to split up, £50-£100 a week better off is one figure cited.
There practical problems with these arguments are:
-in many cases its better for some parents to split up, domestic abuse being an obvious example
-some single parents are widowed
-if people get married for financial reasons, does this mean they are less likely to split up if they remained unmarried? Who makes any of these sorts of decisions entirely on economic grounds?
-it can't be taken as read the extra money £50-£100 would cover the extra costs of living apart
Furthermore, the Conservatives argue they are committed to social justice. If so, how can discrimination against unmarried couples, same sex couples and single parents be justified? Or, to put it another way, why should children of unmarried, same sex and single parents be discriminated against?
This is the nub of the issue. When the Conservatives were last in power, there was a 'Married Man's Tax Allowance'. The problem was that this benefited married men without children, but did not help unmarried men or women with children. The Blair/Brown Labour Government's approach, while far from perfect, is more child centred in its approach. Families receive tax credits, not married couples.
There is also an interesting point of principle and ideology. The Conservatives are supposed to be the Party that believes Government should stay out of peoples lives, but Labour is meant to be in favour of the nanny state. However, this is a point for anyone who believes in a liberal democracy (not necessarily to be confused with Liberal Democracy!). While there may be some debate on the extent to which Government can and should intervene to reduce poverty, surely people should have the right to decide if they want to get married, enter into a civil partnership or not, without having to consider the tax system. Nor should the state consider the marital, or even relationship status, of someone when considering the taxes or benefits they should receive.
P.s.: As an Anglo-Catholic I believe marriage is a sacrament, however, crudely, I also believe baptism is a sacrament: this does not believe I think people should get tax credits for being baptised or having their children baptised.
The document rightly points out the UK taxation system does not favour married couples. They argue that it should because this would prevent "family breakdown", i.e. reduce the number of divorces. The document also argue that married couples are more likely to stay together than unmarried ones. The document also suggests the tax and benefit system makes it economically more viable to split up, £50-£100 a week better off is one figure cited.
There practical problems with these arguments are:
-in many cases its better for some parents to split up, domestic abuse being an obvious example
-some single parents are widowed
-if people get married for financial reasons, does this mean they are less likely to split up if they remained unmarried? Who makes any of these sorts of decisions entirely on economic grounds?
-it can't be taken as read the extra money £50-£100 would cover the extra costs of living apart
Furthermore, the Conservatives argue they are committed to social justice. If so, how can discrimination against unmarried couples, same sex couples and single parents be justified? Or, to put it another way, why should children of unmarried, same sex and single parents be discriminated against?
This is the nub of the issue. When the Conservatives were last in power, there was a 'Married Man's Tax Allowance'. The problem was that this benefited married men without children, but did not help unmarried men or women with children. The Blair/Brown Labour Government's approach, while far from perfect, is more child centred in its approach. Families receive tax credits, not married couples.
There is also an interesting point of principle and ideology. The Conservatives are supposed to be the Party that believes Government should stay out of peoples lives, but Labour is meant to be in favour of the nanny state. However, this is a point for anyone who believes in a liberal democracy (not necessarily to be confused with Liberal Democracy!). While there may be some debate on the extent to which Government can and should intervene to reduce poverty, surely people should have the right to decide if they want to get married, enter into a civil partnership or not, without having to consider the tax system. Nor should the state consider the marital, or even relationship status, of someone when considering the taxes or benefits they should receive.
P.s.: As an Anglo-Catholic I believe marriage is a sacrament, however, crudely, I also believe baptism is a sacrament: this does not believe I think people should get tax credits for being baptised or having their children baptised.
*See page 3 of: http://standupspeakup.conservatives.com/Reports/BreakthroughBritain/discussionguide.pdf
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Please feel free to comment, any offensive posts will be removed.
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