Page 22 | Scared of what labour will do

Wantachangefor2024 · 2025-02-22T01:58:58+00:00

Is anyone else terrified of what labour will enforce. The tax on farmers. Will they means test pip? Will they tax state pension more? What else will they do and where will it all end. They ruthlessly without no care took away the winter fuel allowance. Means testing and taxing state pension would massively impact my family

Original poster

Wantachangefor2024 · 22/02/2025 14:47

JustMyView13 · 22/02/2025 06:05

What do you mean ‘taxing state pension’?
Pension, whether state pension or private pension, is income. All income above the personal allowance is taxed.

Also, can you expand on why you think making the winter fuel allowance a means tested benefit is an issue? I think the eligibility needs revisiting, but as a tax payer I am quite comfortable that they are now excluding:
-Wealthy pensioners
-Pensioners not living in the UK permanently
-Dead people.

And before anyone scoffs at dead people receiving it, you only had to be alive for the assessment week in September to qualify under the old rules. This meant that people who died between that date and receipt still received it via their estate, despite not being alive for the winter. In my view, that’s an absolute waste of taxpayer money.

Edited

You make some great points, objectively from an economical overview. You seem really clued up. I’m being genuine here aswell as there seems a lot of scoffing sarcasm on this site. I am fairly new

OP posts:

Yorkshirelass04 · 22/02/2025 14:46

I don't agree that Starmer isn't respected on the world stage - he's not the showman some people would like but I feel thats a massive simplification.

I voted Labour because I don't want swagger. I want honesty and tough choices.

BIossomtoes · 22/02/2025 14:43

Land can be worth a lot more for housing than farming so the value is artificially high on the balance sheet.

It only has housing value on the balance sheet if it has planning permission which isn’t the case with arable land.

Finerthingsinlife · 22/02/2025 14:41

Honestly, I'm more worried that we have an extremely weak leader who is not at all respected on the world's stage at this point in history.

He's just too weak for today's global politics. He has no presence or bearing and is instantly forgettable. He doesn't even have a strong monarch to back him either.

It's a mess and we are embarrassing on the world stage quite frankly.

MrsSkylerWhite · 22/02/2025 14:38

Where are you going to next year @dottiehens ?
(no point to question, just incorrigibly nosey 😁)

Yorkshirelass04 · 22/02/2025 14:37

I bet you were gutted when the Tories led us out of the EU and made us all poorer!

But the blue passports were worth it.

Maybe don't overthink sensationalist headlines? Most of the press is anti Labour and loves making them look incompetent- which they are not. I don't think there is reason to worry.

Original poster

Wantachangefor2024 · 22/02/2025 14:36

dottiehens · 22/02/2025 07:55

So still can’t link this with Russian propaganda.
I am glad you are doing well even when families like us have been bled to the point of leaving next year.

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The irony is this post is more Russian propaganda led. Fear the boats? Nooo I don’t. Do you not know that that is a drop in the ocean compared to legal migration. So no I don’t fear illegal migration

OP posts:

pointythings · 22/02/2025 14:35

OswaldCobblepot · 22/02/2025 14:30

@pointythings I don't think it's as simple as that. A lot of older people are put off claiming because of the application process. The forms are very lengthy I believe.

They are. So were the forms I needed to complete to claim tax credits when my marriage disintegrated. There's help and advice available, and also life is tough sometimes. Being old doesn't mean you should have everything handed to you on a plate - for the past 14 years, older people have been a government priority because of their voting trends (and no, not all older people!). Now they're having to take on a bit more of the burden carried by the young for so long. Forms aren't that high a price to pay compared to what young people have had inflicted on them for the past 14 years.

OswaldCobblepot · 22/02/2025 14:34

@MrsSkylerWhite I agree it was right to take WFA away from some pensioners, I just don't think the bar was set in the right place.

MrsSkylerWhite · 22/02/2025 14:34

OswaldCobblepot · Today 14:30

** I don't think it's as simple as that. A lot of older people are put off claiming because of the application process. The forms are very lengthy I believe.

Again, entirely their choice. There is plenty of help available with form filling. CAB, Age UK, myriad local voluntary groups.

Original poster

Wantachangefor2024 · 22/02/2025 14:33

Katypp · 22/02/2025 07:55

I have questions.
Why do posters always do this? What has the last 14 years got to do with how the OP feels right now?
Why are people's fears minimised like this because it's Labour making the cuts?
Would you brush the cuts to WFP and hints of benefits Reform if it was the Tories making them?
Why is 'the Tories were worse' used over and over again on MN to shut down debate on what a hash Labour have made so far?
A wider question: When will Labour supporters own the mistakes their party has made instead of blaming to Tories for everything that's going wrong?
Yet happy to pat themselves on the back for any positives, even though it's really got little to do with their competence? I am thinking of the increased NHS appointments here.
Anyone got any answers?

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This. This. This.

I have voted labour my entire adult life. I come from Barnsley. A town where they say, you could pin a red rosette on a seaside donkey. And it would get in. It’s generational disdain for the tories so in no way did I ever think they were great. But for the first time in my life, I feel a shift. A scary shift. With trump and musk and the ruthlessness that labour could bring in, it could be so catastrophic that we could see a far right shift repeated.

OP posts:

MrsSkylerWhite · 22/02/2025 14:31

@OswaldCobblepot

There has to be a line drawn on everything. I’m sorry that your FIL fell foul of that line. The economic mess was bestowed by the Conservative governments of the past 14 years. His predicament is entirely down to them. Those are the ones you ought to be pissed off with.

Every generation is having to take a hit to try to deal with the above mentioned mess. The vast majority of pensioners are still more economically protected than other generations. .

OswaldCobblepot · 22/02/2025 14:30

@pointythings I don't think it's as simple as that. A lot of older people are put off claiming because of the application process. The forms are very lengthy I believe.

pointythings · 22/02/2025 14:27

Wantachangefor2024 · 22/02/2025 14:12

Live it up! While you can. I agree. To the poster saying I’m not genuine. Why wouldn’t I be! My parents were boomers. There is no boom for my generation. Only gloom

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Maybe, but if you look at who has been in power for the majority of the time you've been alive, you'll find it isn't Labour. Were you scared when the last government was in power? No? Then you weren't paying attention.

pointythings · 22/02/2025 14:25

MrsSkylerWhite · 22/02/2025 14:14

OswaldCobblepot · Today 13:40

MrsSkylerWhite · Today 13:34
No. Cutting the winter fuel allowance for better off pensioners was the right thing to do.

It might have been if they'd actually done that. What they did was cut the winter fuel allowance for all pensioners that don't receive pension credit. Those pensioners are not all "better off". Some of them are less "better off" than those still receiving WFA.

In such cases, they were very publicly urged to apply for pension credit. That thousands of older people choose not to is entirely their decision.

Quite right. Not claiming what you have a right to isn't pride, it's stupidity. It's stubbornness. It's nothing to be lauded.

ItShouldntHappenToMeYet · 22/02/2025 14:24

I thought this was going to be about the potential tears, etc, post birthing!

OswaldCobblepot · 22/02/2025 14:23

In such cases, they were very publicly urged to apply for pension credit. That thousands of older people choose not to is entirely their decision.

@MrsSkylerWhite I wasn't referring to those who could claim pension credit but don't, I meant the people who are just over the cut off for pension credit. Some of those people (my FIL included) are a couple of quid a week over the limit so not entitled to pension credit. Those people are worse off than the people claiming pension credit.

MrsSkylerWhite · 22/02/2025 14:14

OswaldCobblepot · Today 13:40

MrsSkylerWhite · Today 13:34
No. Cutting the winter fuel allowance for better off pensioners was the right thing to do.

It might have been if they'd actually done that. What they did was cut the winter fuel allowance for all pensioners that don't receive pension credit. Those pensioners are not all "better off". Some of them are less "better off" than those still receiving WFA.

In such cases, they were very publicly urged to apply for pension credit. That thousands of older people choose not to is entirely their decision.

Original poster

Wantachangefor2024 · 22/02/2025 14:12

Mespher · 22/02/2025 05:33

I'm spending all my pension and savings on holidays, just in case, I doubt they will means test below about £15k income which is what I will end up with when the extra has gone.

Live it up! While you can. I agree. To the poster saying I’m not genuine. Why wouldn’t I be! My parents were boomers. There is no boom for my generation. Only gloom

OP posts:

Paulrn · 22/02/2025 13:54

Mespher · 22/02/2025 09:49

You are lucky you could go to college, obviously from a fairly well off family, I had to leave school at 16 in the 70s and get a job so I could contribute towards household expenses, no further education for me, however free it was.

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1

HeldBack · 22/02/2025 13:51

I am in my fifties and have always voted Labour. I was relieved when the Tories left as I work in the NHS and was scared at what was happening. I am a bit nervous however about our Labour government now, as I don’t know how far they will go to help the vulnerable.

What I hate is when people accuse people like the OP being a bot, Russian, working at CCHQ etc. Ordinary people are having conversations like the OP in real
life all the time. I am on WhatsApp groups with friends worrying about Labour and the economy.

It makes me cringe when people think OPs criticising Labour have some other agenda. As much as I hated the endless previous accusations of anti-Tory threads being planted by Labour HQ. Or are we saying that we humble folk can’t have opinions on the government?

OswaldCobblepot · 22/02/2025 13:40

MrsSkylerWhite · 22/02/2025 13:34

No. Cutting the winter fuel allowance for better off pensioners was the right thing to do.

It might have been if they'd actually done that. What they did was cut the winter fuel allowance for all pensioners that don't receive pension credit. Those pensioners are not all "better off". Some of them are less "better off" than those still receiving WFA.

4C0rners · 22/02/2025 13:36

Perseimmion · 22/02/2025 13:27

We should not be importing any food. It’s not good for the planet.

We need to support our farmers to be a better industry. They work very hard. It’s not really a job you go home from at 5pm, it’s a 24/7 way of life. If you have a dairy herd you have to be available to milk twice a day, every day, even Christmas Day. You don’t get paid leave. During the lambing season you are on call day and night. If you grow corn/wheat etc., you’re out combining all day and through the night, to make sure you get the crop in on time. The weather is a farmer’s nightmare. Too much rain and a whole crop can be ruined.

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We are supporting our farmers.

MrsSkylerWhite · 22/02/2025 13:34

No. Cutting the winter fuel allowance for better off pensioners was the right thing to do.

Perseimmion · 22/02/2025 13:27

Alexandra2001 · 22/02/2025 12:52

It isn't all or nothing!

Perhaps some acknowledgement that they receive an awful lot of financial support? as an industry, far more than any manufacturing sector... yet all they do is complain.

No one likes paying taxes, they have a very good deal at 20% and 10 years to pay, far better than anyone else gets.

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We should not be importing any food. It’s not good for the planet.

We need to support our farmers to be a better industry. They work very hard. It’s not really a job you go home from at 5pm, it’s a 24/7 way of life. If you have a dairy herd you have to be available to milk twice a day, every day, even Christmas Day. You don’t get paid leave. During the lambing season you are on call day and night. If you grow corn/wheat etc., you’re out combining all day and through the night, to make sure you get the crop in on time. The weather is a farmer’s nightmare. Too much rain and a whole crop can be ruined.