New Alternative News Channel "GB News" chaired by Andrew Neil launching - read OP before posting

I've already done the research, thanks.

The problem is that you are closing your mind to the problem of Romanian gang crime. Almost as if you're pretending it doesn't exist.

I could mention Italian gang crime, of course, as they are the largest contributors to gang crime in the European Union. But on a pro rata basis in the UK, Romanian gangs have posed the greatest threat with minor crime - such as ATM crime - and that is totally undeniable, no matter how much you hope it goes away.

Here is a balanced analysis conducted by that titan of conservative orthodoxy, Channel 4.

“Claim: 28,000 Romanians were arrested in the last five years in the Metropolitan Police area alone”

This number is accurate (it’s 27,725, to be precise) and comes from another Met Police Freedom of Information release. This is based on the nationalities people use to describe themselves when arrested, hence the inclusion of a number of “countries” that no longer exist (the Irish Free State, British Central Africa) or indeed have never existed (Yanam).

The data has been very widely misreported and indeed Mr Farage got it slightly wrong again in today’s Telegraph ad.

The figure of 28,000 is for the number of arrests made over five years from 2008 to 2012, not the number of people. One shoplifter can be arrested and re-arrested dozens of times and each one of those arrests counts towards this total.

But of course this applies to all countries, and compared to others, Romania does not come out of these arrest figures covered in glory.

Only Poland saw more arrests of its citizens over those five years (nearly 35,000) and there are likely to be many more Poles living in the Met Police area.

We can’t be precise about this because the next population survey doesn’t come out until August next year (recent estimates from the Labour Force Survey suggest there are in the region of 180,000 working age Romanians in the whole of England, but there are big margins of error here).

The latest census data showed there were 579,000 Poles and 73,000 Romanians in England and Wales in 2011.

While the number and rate has dropped slightly, Romanians remain the fourth most numerous foreign group in the prison system, behind Poland (898 inmates) , Ireland (778) and Jamaica (711)."

Clearly, this analysis is out of date. It could be worse, it could be better.

But 28,000 arrests from Romanians despite the fact that there were only 73,000 Romanians in England and Wales at the time. The fourth most numerous nationality in UK prisons, too.

It's quite obvious there is a pro rata problem with crime from Romanians.

That was a massive mistake to cut police numbers.

Just because I'm a conservative doesn't mean I agree with everything a so-called "conservative government" does.

I would regard Boris Johnson's government as a mutated form of neo-Blairism, and not the kind of conservatism I would like to see.

If their peak was in July, and not in the initial launch, that suggests to me that things are moving in the right direction.

I expect peaks and troughs, and in this initial period - the many millions of viewers is quite respectable.

I expect these figures to grow. I could be wrong. We'll see.

Let's assume the worst and GB News fails. That doesn't mean conservatism has failed, it means that a TV station has failed.

Conservatism will always triumph. That's why the Labour Party in the UK are struggling, and will continue to struggle, against the Conservatives.

The only major time since 1945 that the Labour Party triumphed was under Tony Blair, when he moved to the far right of the left.

Reads like a pretty crap parody of "if you only knew the power of the the dark side"

It appears that Nigel Farage will be taking on A-level student grades on tonight's show!

To GB News!

Sorry to burst your bubble but there is a marginal tax rate of 52%, made up of:

40% income tax

4% PRSI

8% USC

This applies to any income over roughly 70,000 euros.

The fact you are embarrassing yourself, over and over again on this issue, speaks volumes. You don't know the figures and casually exclude PRSI and USC as if they are insignificant.

Stop pretending you do, and focus on GB News perhaps.

Here's a sample calculation based on an income of 150,000 euros. Note how the combined tax obligation reaches 44% in this example.

Cool. Pity the poster you quoted never mentioned €150k or anything near it. They said €100k is taxed at around 33% when you said it was 48%.

Why don't you input €100k in that revenue calculator and see what figure is payable, we can all see then if it's closer to your figure or his, instead of this intellectual dishonesty to try hammer home a point which you've failed and are continuing to fail to do?

I'll wait.

I've already stated that, in my own personal circumstances, I am effectively taxed at 48pc. It depends on other factors, too, but I won't go into those factors here.

That is the point I was making, and a simple calculation at 150,000 euros shows the breakdown and how it can quickly rise into the mid-40 percent range.

My central point was that, whether you're paying net 42pc, 45pc, or 48pc, that it's way too high - a total scam. That other poster disingenuously implied that a net combined tax in the mid-40s range was absurd. I have shown him that it's not absurd and is very much a reality for me!

True, I should have stated at least 150,000 euros to be more precise in my language.

Again, I can only talk about my personal circumstances and that mid to late 40s range is a reality for me - and a disgusting reality, too, for that matter.

Ya, it sounds suspiciously like Eskimo is typing in numbers until he gets the one he wants...

No, sorry, you challenged that other person and insulted their intelligence when they claimed you were talking rubbish (which you are). You

There is no figure above 100k I can enter into that calculator whereby the net liability is 48%.

No number.

Prove me wrong. Or admit you're talking sh1te.