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Original poster

To think there is no more money?

443 replies

Rainbowsponge · 24/07/2024 20:17

And Labour have admitted this.

So many threads saying X or Y needs to be ‘properly funded’ (even though most of the time our spending is actually in line with comparable countries), but no acknowledgment of the fact there’s no money to spend.

And when you bring it up, posters completely ignore you or accuse you of being Jacob Rees Mogg Hmm

Wouldn’t the quality of debate be improved if we stopped burying our heads in the sand?

OP posts:
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7
Towelmode · 24/07/2024 22:04

I read that you need to earn £40k+ to be a net contributor (quick Google search).
That is well over the average wage

So many are paid low wages & then millions of pounds of people tax is used to prop those wages up reducing costs from their employers. Then we pay millions more in housing benefit into landlords as there isn’t enough social housing.

lemonmeringueno3 · 24/07/2024 22:02

ThatBusyPanda · 24/07/2024 21:56

If they can spend 700 million on a harebrained gimmick like Rwanda, they can spend it on starving kids IMO

The idea was that the deterrent effect would save the uk money in the long run.

It's also a drop in the ocean. The nhs cost £200 billion in 2022.

Towelmode · 24/07/2024 22:01

@MidnightPatrol sorry I thought it was obvious. I meant the funding model of paying it forward.

Notmycircusnotmyotter · 24/07/2024 22:01

I cannot see why we should remove the two child cap. Having more than two children is a luxury. If you can't afford to look after your family, don't have the third.

Yes things change but for most families affected it's about planning.

mrsdineen2 · 24/07/2024 22:00

When they stop dropping bombs and stop building towards a nuclear holocaust, I'll believe there's no money left.

Notmycircusnotmyotter · 24/07/2024 21:59

@AgathaMystery MPs salaries are recommended by an independent body, not by MPs.

It's 650 people. They could multiply them by 100 and it would be negligible.

Tel12 · 24/07/2024 21:59

The thing is that governments always find money for the things they consider to be important. They will get what they need to fund their priorities. From somewhere.

Towelmode · 24/07/2024 21:58

And everyone moans about foreign aid but we don't do it out of kindness. We pay to protect our interests whether that's to encourage trade with those countries, or to stop immigration at source.

This,

AvrielFinch · 24/07/2024 21:58

@XenoBitch Surely healthy childfree people need to earn less? Some people use nothing more than roads, bins, etc.

TheThingIsYeah · 24/07/2024 21:58

VividQuoter · 24/07/2024 21:42

Honestly, if they just gave working rights to some of these refugees, they would work and pay taxes. For tens of thousands refugees millions given to Rwanda. What was all that about

Would they though? More likely to be low skilled, poor grasp of English. On a NMW job any small amount of tax would be dwarfed by what they take from the public purse by way of UC, housing, education, NHS. And wait til they get old.

There's some romantic notion in this country that all asylum seekers are fit and healthy homeowners-to-be, just champing at the bit to pay 40% tax.

The reality is somewhat different. Just look around you.

Gall10 · 24/07/2024 21:57

YourKindPeachMaker · 24/07/2024 20:26

Funny how “there’s no money left” gets wheeled out whenever talking about child poverty, disability benefits, NHS, education and the like, but you never hear it uttered when it comes to military aid.

Exactly! There’s £3billion a year every year for aid (weapons) to Ukraine….same amount needed to scrap the 2 child benefit cap.

AgathaMystery · 24/07/2024 21:57

MidnightPatrol · 24/07/2024 21:35

MP’s salaries aren’t anything to write home about vs what they could probably earn elsewhere

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Agreed. But there is always money for a pay raise.

iamtheblcksheep · 24/07/2024 21:57

meganorks · 24/07/2024 20:35

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/article/2024/jul/22/reeves-to-appoint-covid-corruption-tsar-to-claw-back-billions-of-waste

Hopefully this will claw back some. Or at least prosecute some of those committing fraud.

Complete waste of money. It’s all long gone.

I would love to see baroness bra strap go to jail though. She could share a cell with Paul Vennells.

Rummly · 24/07/2024 21:57

ThatsCute · 24/07/2024 21:47

Can’t wait for this!

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What will be raised won’t cover the popcorn.

All the ‘clawing back covid money’ talk is a massive political scam.

lemonmeringueno3 · 24/07/2024 21:57

I disagree with pp that there is no political will to tax big business and billionaires.

Successive governments have attempted it. It would be a vote winner for sure.

But it's not that easy. Tax avoidance is legal. Tax evasion is difficult to prove. Billionaires and businesses can base themselves anywhere. Nobody wants them to pack up their offices and factories and move to Europe. Quite the opposite, we want them investing and recruiting in the UK.

ThatBusyPanda · 24/07/2024 21:56

If they can spend 700 million on a harebrained gimmick like Rwanda, they can spend it on starving kids IMO

XenoBitch · 24/07/2024 21:55

Notmycircusnotmyotter · 24/07/2024 21:51

Exactly and everyone else is expected to pay more and more

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I read that you need to earn £40k+ to be a net contributor (quick Google search).
That is well over the average wage.

lemonmeringueno3 · 24/07/2024 21:53

Everyone gets annoyed about big companies performing perfectly legal tax avoidance, but think nothing of paying a tradesman 'cash in hand' if it means getting the job done a bit cheaper.

Everyone thinks everyone else needs to pay more tax, not them.

Rummly · 24/07/2024 21:53

Rainbowsponge · 24/07/2024 21:43

But the problem is the public WANT that level of red tape, they just say they don’t. How many posts do you see on here about ‘have they done a risk assessment?’ ‘they should’ve known X or Y was a mad idea and not rushed into it’ ‘how was that allowed to happen?’

At present parents are campaigning for CCTV on school transport!

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That’s a very good post.

berrybug · 24/07/2024 21:52

Cecilly · 24/07/2024 20:29

It's not that there's no money. There is no political will to tax the super rich billionaires and their corporations. Instead they up the taxes on the already squeezed middle class and take away services and benefits from the utterly decimated low earners.

This. Well said.

Notmycircusnotmyotter · 24/07/2024 21:51

lemonmeringueno3 · 24/07/2024 21:48

Most people don't pay enough taxes to cover the benefits they receive.

54% of households are net recipients, taking more than they pay in. This includes use of state education and nhs services.

Exactly and everyone else is expected to pay more and more

Original poster
Rainbowsponge · 24/07/2024 21:48

CraftyNavySeal · 24/07/2024 21:47

If Jeff Bezos gave away all his money (or rather, sold his businesses to someone else who happened to have 220 billion dollars) that would be enough to fund the NHS for 1 year.

The money that billionaires “have” (and many don’t really have it, it’s imaginary valuations of their companies) pales in comparison to the cost of the modern welfare state.

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😐 it’s sobering isn’t it

OP posts:
lemonmeringueno3 · 24/07/2024 21:48

Most people don't pay enough taxes to cover the benefits they receive.

54% of households are net recipients, taking more than they pay in. This includes use of state education and nhs services.

WhereIsBebèsChambre · 24/07/2024 21:47

MidnightPatrol · 24/07/2024 21:44

I agree - but, I also think people
aren’t paying enough ‘in’ to fund their retirement.

Auto-enrolment was one strategy to offset this.

But that doesn’t stop the issue of the cost of state / state-backed pensions.

People need to save more during their working lives.

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And what of those who never pay in? Again not those who can't, those who won't, of which there are despite the concerted efforts of those who insist there's never anyone who would choose not to work and live of off benefits.

CraftyNavySeal · 24/07/2024 21:47

Clma · 24/07/2024 21:32

There are more billionaires than ever before. There is plenty of money, it's being hoarded by a small and greedy few. We're living in the most unequal time ever in human history. The 1970s was the most equal decade. If the greedy individuals at the top, who have more money than they could spend in 20 lifetimes, actually paid there fair share of taxes, there would be enough money. And they bloody should pay it, as they don't create that wealth without exploiting the work of the majority.

If Jeff Bezos gave away all his money (or rather, sold his businesses to someone else who happened to have 220 billion dollars) that would be enough to fund the NHS for 1 year.

The money that billionaires “have” (and many don’t really have it, it’s imaginary valuations of their companies) pales in comparison to the cost of the modern welfare state.