re: #347 Wendell Zurkowitz ((slave to the waffle light))

That is no coincidence, especially given the number of hats she must own…

In 1991, Thatcher introduced a tax on local services, which was very unpopular because it was the same rate for everyone regardless of income. The queen quietly paid it for all her domestic staff. Another moral equivalent of wearing an EU hat…

Oh, the poll tax was even worse than that, it was utterly repulsive. It was 500 pounds per person household tax. If you let your elderly parents move in with you, your tax goes up 1000. If you threw your 16-year-old out of the house it went down 500. If you have a new baby, the hospital tells the tax authorities and it goes up pro-rated for the year. If your boyfriend stayed over on a regular basis, they’d investigate how many days exactly and whether he should count as a resident.

This was a replacement for property tax; it didn’t matter how much your home is worth, whether you own or rent.