Can’t just be me who is sick of the moaning about the private school VAT and winter fuel payments

Spot on.

Aint fiscal drag a wonderful leveller…

Tax rises and spending cuts will feel different to the populist and ineffective VAT

More people will feel it, public sector will still be keen as pay rises but otherwise I doubt higher taxes etc will be welcome

Not extreme thoughts . Just reality. Less voters for Starmer than there was for Corbyn at the last GE but it’s what we’ve got and what’s done is done.
People have incredibly selective memories.

Let’s wait to see how Reeves delivers in her October speech… 🙄🙄🙄

I am not arguing to take the pensions off. I am actually working within the public sector and I will do what I can to encourage my union to ensure an inflation busting pay increase and thereby increase my pension (I am still amazed at how brilliant public sector pensions are, absolutely unbelievable).

but fundamentally, as a country, we cannot afford the public sector pensions - or the massive pay increases. It is a huge, ever increasing cost public expense and there is no solution.

capital gains tax equalisation… it could work… maybe… But most people with a lot of money (and capital gains) are not U.K. citizens and there are several countries in Europe with better prospects… Luxembourg, Switzerland, Monaco, Italy and maybe even France (I believe that France has some complex rules around how money earned is allocated among family members but on this I am not sure). Then there is Dubai. Most expats of Indian heritage loves Dubai as it is closer to home, minimum tax and decent schools. But then again, only the main income owner could also move abroad, leaving wife and children (none of whom makes any money) in the UK until the schools have a good exit point.

Fundamentally, the country is broke, the NHS is broken, public sector spending (and pensions) are out of control- and the big savings so far is a) winter fuel allowance (hitting some very badly off pensioners) and VAT on independent schools (hitting a lot of children with undiagnosed SEN) - both policies unlikely to bring in anywhere near what they are expected to do.

if we then start to clobber highly movable people who pays a huge amount of tax revenue (if you not are a UK citizen, expect to realise a huge capital gain, why would you do that in the U.K. if you can live abroad for a couple of years), the finances will not really improve?

Again, this is an intellectual argument. As a public sector employee with a great defined benefit pension scheme, I will clearly make the argument that my workplace should have an inflation busting salary increase - as this is what other public sectors are getting. This will nicely increase my pension as well.

‘where are these figures for fees coming from? ’
Institute of Fiscal Studies, The Good Schools Guide, The Telegraph, just about any wealth management/money management firm offering to help you budget and manage it…
It‘s one of the few things they all agree on, the average day fees, average boarding fees, the fact that fees have risen well above inflation for 2 decades…
If you go and look at the grps on SM trying to rally against VAT the same theme comes up over and over again… fees were already rising to ridiculous levels with parents feeling they had no choice but to pay up and be fleeced year after year, child after child… seems primary school
was okay for many but once they hit senior schools…

It is in relation to this thread.

Strikes have economic impact, these have affected growth and they ve helped cause longer waiting lists, again impacting on the economy.

Good luck taking these pension schemes off Dr's and Train drivers, giving the money saved to schools etc, at what cost? how long do you think the ensuing strikes would last for and would extend into other industries?

Its stupid idea.

Equalising taxes on unearned income and changes to CGT would raise far more and at almost zero cost, as it would align us to most of Europe.

DA manages really well on her state pension and it means she can have her heating on all winter (although to be fair we've put her heating on today already - Scotland) based on getting the winter fuel payment.She is 85, very frail and feels the cold awfully. She gets £5 over the new limit which means she will no longer get it. Given how well she did she never claimed AA however now they've taken the WFP away it's actually going to cost the government more. I don't care about private school VAT but I do care about our elderly terrified to put their heating on each winter.

i said that children like the posters daughter were worst effected by the vat increase, I didn’t say she was the worst effected out of all Sen children. Basically the worst effected Sen children are the poorest who can’t afford a private school, indepdent reports, solicitors etc and /or the ones who have parents that are unable to out a legal argument together themselves and go to tribunal (this is not a criticism just fact). This doesn’t mean thst the posters daughter isn’t entitled to an education like every other child in the country just becuase they have Sen, all Sen children are entitled to an education.

I actually voted labour I will add as I don’t agree with the tories and what they’ve done for last 14 years but I don’t agree with this policy

I thought the UK was going to become Venezuela?

Are you an actuary?

6 million people work for the state in the UK - let that sink in for a moment.

Of course Starmer and his mates are going to award hefty pay awards to the public sector - that’s how they get to remain in power.

We will soon be twinned with Argentina…

Absolutely this. Beyond the debates on whether the VAT on school fees is fair or unfair, has anyone seen any info on exactly how the money raised will be spent in a quantified way - for example how much extra it will mean per state school child, what exactly it will be spent on, how the promised improvements will be measured, over what time period do they expect to see these improvements, how much of an improvement do they need to see to quantify this policy as success/failure, will it be spread evenly over the country or focused on struggling schools, or SEN, or buildings? There doesn't seem to be any depth to this policy beyond a very vague 'improve state schools'. I guess if they keep it vague, no one can tell if they have failed, so maybe that's intentional?

Please can you post a link x

They don't all have. But lots do - I've stayed in them!

How do you know they have second homes? They all tell you?

Big cars tell you little about wealth, as we know.

Well done for trotting out the obvious.

I am very familiar with the BOE - I work in finance. Central bankers don’t always make competent chancellors. Reeves is an ideologist.

But pay increases are not a separate matter.

The government has income and expenditure. They have spent a massive amount in pay increases (expenditure) and there is more to come. This is like me starting to shop exclusively at the deli in Waitrose and redecorating the entire house after a minor pay increase.

The train drivers and doctors who are getting pay increases by the government are also getting massive pensions, paid for by the taxpayer linked to this pay (I think I made an example earlier about equivalent to a £350k pension pot for someone on£50k - which is a LOT less than the salaries of train drivers and most doctors after the first few years. These people will never struggle for fuel allowance - they are sorted for.

the money those pay increases (and associated pensions) cost could have been used for education in state schools with a massive impact, but it wasn’t… not important enough… I am waiting for the next set of pay increases in the public sector.

I’d settle for unearned income taxed at the same rate as earnings - despite being one of the people it hits.

We'll see. I'd be all here for a higher rate of tax for high earners, but they are too chicken shit to do that.

Kind of belies economics not being Labour’s strong suit. And she’s made it very clear this government is Treasury led. Inconvenient for some people though it is.

Im sure shes a very clever woman, but she doesn't work in a vacuum though.

I predict a winter of strikes, a winter of pay settlements then an April budget full of tax rises and cuts.

Economics is not Labour’s strong suit, as we know.

The Chancellor is a former Bank of England economist. 🤷‍♀️

7 billion over 5 years?! Is that what they think they are going to collect from vat on school fees?

Oh dear oh dear

£7 billion over 5 years, has to go somewhere, like i said, if its not collected from school fees, it will need to come other budgets ie service cuts or the taxpayer.

I m sure if the government announced a cut of 7 billion over 5 years in the notional SENs budget, you wouldn't be saying it was a small amount and make no difference.

Pay increases are separate debate.

No - there are some but also loads of wealthy British parents with second homes and huge cars. It's extraordinary.

Expat packages or overseas students predominantly.

Speaking from experience.