akiralx

OK so I've got my letter from HMRC telling me I've got 25 qualifying years of NI up to 05/04/2015. Figures below are UK pounds if no symbol. They say I can pay 9 years back (2006/7 - 2014/15) at 52 x 13.25 per week (some years slightly less) so around 700 per year cost. Which I'm thinking may be worth it. Doesn't actually tell me if these are class 2 or 3, but if I tell them about employment since 2006 I may be able to pay cheaper class 2 - so I'm inferring the 13.25 per week is class 3... so if I tell them the history I could end up paying less? So I go on their calculator, and it tells me that with 25 years, from age 67 (I am now 49) I 'may' get 115.95 per week. So far so good. I increase that to 30 years and it gives me the same answer, 115.95.... but the calculator is using the current state pension system, not the new one from April 2016 I would get in 2033. Any idea how much more per week I would actually get? The other issue is that I'm thinking we as a couple can receive $284 (around 150 UKP) per *fortnight* from the Aus pension before losing 50c in the $, but I guess maximising the UK pension is still better? The new asset test of $375,000 won't affect us, we will be well below.

You do realise most UK fish and chip shops serve a vinegar-flavoured brown liquid that is an oil by-product. It is not malt vinegar.

My wife does run a genuine small business which makes a reasonable profit (tops up her part time job) - but not enough turnover/profit for the ATO to recognise it apparently. So the temptation is to not bother them with the income from it...

Sell your bank shares. The exposure of Aus (and UK) banks to Greek debt is pretty high - if they default they lose the money they lent.

It is just insane - as most are office workers just let them work from home.... I could, and commute daily from Geelong to Melbourne CBD (one hour) which is fine, but working from home would be simple, at least 2 days a week..

There was an interesting article in the Melbourne Age last week - pointing out that there 2 million small businesses in Aus. Really - so 1 in 11 of the population is 'running' one? More like 1 in 7 if you exclude the young and very old. Many of these are just bogus tax rorts - the comments under the article confirmed this, some saying in certain areas everyone is at it: electrical goods, renovations, landscaping, faster broadband etc all written off against some loss-making 'business'. One said his neighbour claimed for a guard dog (the family pet - probably a chihuahua...) I was amazed to see a huge banner outside a Melbourne CBD branch of JB Hifi pointing out the imminent $20,000 small business write-off - pretty much encouraging spending on laptops, TVs and other nice electrical items for your 'business'... apparently the Government are slightly concerned about tax rorting relating to this - no sh*t, Sherlock!

Yes, this correct: far North QLD for example is conservative with a Federal MP who is a reputation of being unenlightened in this area, and he has stated there are no gay people in FNQ... Rural areas generally are less forward thinking. But in metropolitan urban areas like Sydney and Melbourne, there are no such fears.

You seem to have cracked it...

The SNP's tactics in this election were clever - they knew they were going to win most Scottish seats but they correctly feel their independence aims are better assisted by a Conservative government. This is why Nicola Sturgeon was constantly quoted as saying the SNP would keep Labour honest in a coalition, and so on - knowing this would alienate many Labour voters in England and ruin Ed Miliband's chances. Now with five more years (at least) of Conservative austerity to 'look forward' to, the SNP leadership takes the view that more Scottish voters will be begging for independence at the end of it. Their only task now is to try and arrange another referendum, which should be easier to manage now David Cameron is hamstrung into addressing 'the Scottish question', aka the West Lothian issue: the paradox of Scottish MPs voting on UK-wide legislation which does not affect them or their constituents north of the border.

Maybe he will be as well... As others have said British citizenship is not necessary to receive a UK state pension, so not sure why he should be penalised specifically.

Yes, that's undoubtedly correct. As for David Cameron leaving as PM within a year, that is fanciful - his position is rock solid after being the first Conservative leader to increase his majority in decades. He has previously stated that he will not stand for a third term, so one would imagine his standing down in 2019 to give a new leader a run-in to the next election. I'm mystified as to why Boris Johnson is a favoured successor, apart from his amiable persona - which is at least partly an act.

No - there were plenty of people who voted NO to independence in the referendum who voted for the SNP in this election. The numbers clearly show that. And many of them would vote No in a future referendum. The party is not called the Scottish Independence Party - it has plenty of other policies to further the cause of the country, which many Scots supported, e.g. opposition to Trident in Scotland.

How will they know you've left, if you don't tell them?

Request that the case be postponed as an essential witness is not available. There must be a system of duty solicitors for defendants who cannot afford representation. Anyone who represents themselves has a fool for a client, so the old legal saying goes...

Apart from their attitude to Trident (and Scottish independence) SNP and Labour policies are nigh-on identical, so the fear of the SNP has no real basis for left-leaning voters. Whereas Labour and the Conservatives have few areas of common ground so there is no chance of an agreement there. Actually I suspect the Conservatives will be the largest party but even with the LibDems they will fall short of a majority - but the LibDems will do better than their polling. Labour + SNP could be enough for a majority, but if Nick Clegg loses his Sheffield seat which is possible, Vince Cable will take over as leader, and he is much more friendly towards Labour, so could join a coalition with Labour and the SNP. That would be entertaining as he would probably insist on being Chancellor (a role he should probably be doing now), which would put Ed Balls' nose seriously out of joint...

Yes, I agree. Sydney has the harbour which is great of course, and other nice spots - but is very hilly and crowded in the CBD. Plus it is always humid when I go there. I could not live anywhere in Australia other than Victoria I think.

Isn't it unusual for one person to refer to 'Pommies' and 'Aussies'? I don't refer to my UK-born friends as 'Pommies' and my Australian-born colleagues don't refer to their 'Aussie mates'. Sounds a bit stateless to me...

That's just chump change to your average Tory, isn't it? I think you'll find all your figures are way out of date, education was a lot cheaper back then...

I did like the way he conducted his part of the ceremony, along the lines of 'You've reached a significant milestone on your Australian journey - but enough about you, let me tell you my life story...'

Well done, I did it last September. Awarded by his eminence Darren Lyons? I was surprised by how many friends and colleagues here started to regard me as a native.... as in 'Now you're an Aussie...' whereas I'm just a Briton who has dual citizenship.

With the possible exception of Harriet Harman, all those quotes tell me is that they are well educated and successful, not that they were born into riches and privilege.

You seem to be referring to the Conservative Party - they have no real presence in Scotland or Wales and their policies are generally for the benefit of an English affluent urban elite, more specifically within the M25...

I don't mind chips like that - and I feel that fish, like fine wine, is best after being laid down for a while rather than prepared to order...

Ah, but you weren't given priority terms to purchase them as certain hedge funds were - who amazingly were closely allied with the merchant banks tasked with handling the sale...

It certainly wasn't illegal, just disgraceful. Just a vindictive attempt to discredit a successor government using hundreds of millions of dollars of Victorian taxpayers' money.