Nervous/anxious/scared about the Autumn budget 2024

I thought of this thread when I saw that! Mixed feelings, makes me distrust our VC more, who the message came from. It's a pissy amount too, neither here nor there, so seems a bit half arsed.

They voted against NI increase for employees, yes?

Labour and the other parties voted against NI increase when Sunak introduced it

On the rest it comes down to growth. And if it is slows too much things will get more problematic for them, and us

Taxes have to come from somewhere. Only not the rich. Not the businesses. Not the poor. Not the squeezed middle.

Im prepared to not moan and take some of the hit required to get us back to a functioning country. The proof will be in how it’s spent going forwards, not that taxes are being taken in the first place. I’d much rather the Tories hadnt reduced NI when they did (stupid policy) and ploughed that money into public services but bribery was all they had at that point.

I don’t keep repeating that. I didn’t even say it in the post you are referring to.
We don’t know what will happen yet, but what we do know is cutting taxes and austerity haven’t worked

And you keep repeating ordinary people are unaffected.

Who said the 'world would end'? He clearly says lower wages and a tax on working people.

I have visions of an arena with benefit claimants being made to fight each other to the death for food tokens, whilst the MN benefit bashers watch, cheering and making bets.

You keep quoting that everywhere. It’s an opinion. I accept the person expressing it is in a good position to have such an opinion, but there’s no certainty there. It’s the same thing that was said when the NMW first came in, but the world didn’t end.

Workers are ordinary people

As the Resolution Foundation says

James Smith, research director at the Resolution Foundation think tank which aims to improve living standards for low-to-middle income families, agreed.

"Even if it doesn't show up in pay packets from day one, it will eventually feed through to lower wages," he said.

"This is definitely a tax on working people, let's be very clear about that."

That's a big chunk of the employment market

Fun to watch? I think you need a new hobby.

Having been a teacher since 1988, I’ve had Tories come after things that matter to me for 14 years - and without benefiting anyone other themselves and their mates. I’m currently largely unaffected by this budget, yes - as are most ordinary people - but if I had to pay a bit more but it was going to fixing the mess we are in I would be fine about it.

Well it’s only an extra £285 a year, they should stop wining. Why should I care? I’m not a student

Who said students should stop "wining"? I didn't. I just said it was not an excessive amount. Which it isn't.

How do you define work shy? It is already pretty difficult to get UC if you are not actively looking for work (or already working), as I understand it.

If (like Oakeshott) you mean sick and disabled people, successive governments have "come after" them since 2010 so plus ça change

Agree.

I think will come after the work shy next so that will be fun to watch.

There’s a lot of smuggery on this thread.

VAT on private school fees? “Well serves you right for having money, and why should we care, doesn’t affect us.”

Increase in inheritance tax on farms? “Well poor didums, so you’ll only have £5m to inherit, doesn’t matter that the farm will probably be bought out by developers instead.”
Getting rid of the winter fuel allowance? “Well tough shit. Those pensioners are all worth millions, and I’m not one so why should I care.”
Increase in tuition fees? “Well it’s only an extra £285 a year, they should stop wining. Why should I care? I’m not a student.”

At some point the government are going to come after something which is relevant to you. And at this point nobody knows what it will be. Housing benefit? Single person’s tax allowance? Income tax? Fuel duty? There is absolutely going to be something, but don’t expect any sympathy from the groups you’ve stuck two fingers up at.

PS: I’m not affected by any of the above, but neither am I so up myself that I think that it’s alright as long as I’m not affected.

It is £285 extra a year. Hardly excessive and not enough to lose them the student vote, unless the Tories pledge to cut or abolish fees.

Tuition fees have risen once since 2012. I don’t feel that a rise in rate with inflation is beyond the pale.

Both of you have extraordinarily short memories then.

"I can’t believe I’m saying this, I want them back. At this point, they seem the lesser of two evils"

@OneLemonGuide I feel the same.

But the students will only pay any more than the are now if they pay their loan off in full (so just the very highest earners).

Otherwise it’s still 9% of your salary over the baseline threashold for 40 years. Moving that from 30 years (a move from the previous government) will have a far greater impact on their pockets than this.

Possibly. If so the Green Party will probably be the beneficiary.

So that's the student vote they've lost as well now.

If people want to use private schools especially if their child has special needs I think the option should be there People spend there money on private healthcare I don't think the government making it more difficult is fair