To think that there is no hope here?

I think it’s inevitable isn’t it.

May the markets, the protests, the headlines, the defections, the backbench rebellions, the polls - guide us to salvation….

I’d prefer they admitted defeat due to incredibly poor decisions and bowed out but they won’t.

@MyNameIsX your posts are clear and factual thank you.

When having discussions about leaving the UK for the groups you mention, what are the other sides of the argument for them? Reasons to stay (financial not emotional etc). And do most see it as a no-brainer decision to leave, or is it not clear cut?

(i’m not in those groups sadly but pondering a return to the Uk…)

This can't be ignored. Labour will have to bite the bullet, be ruthless, upset everyone by making swingeing cuts across every strata of society.its going to hurt everyone, rich, middling and poor.

Starmer has to ignore the unions who weren't elected by us and drive home the need for everyone to tighten their belts coz we're in for a hairy ride

Income tax payments are concentrated among those individual taxpayers with the largest incomes. The 10% of income taxpayers with the largest incomes contribute over 60% of income tax receipts.

The OBR predicts that it will collect 37.1p of every pound generated in the economy in 2028-29 - the highest level in 80 years.

Its very simple - tax this cohort beyond what they are prepared to bear, and they will cut their exposure - via the methods I have mentioned.

Incidentally, Labour have belatedly seen this with the non-doms. I have sat on numerous round tables with family offices, UHNW, non-doms, tax lawyers. I can tell you all about this.

Yes just listening to reports in this. What a mess they are.

It was easy to see it would happen but still, depressing to see it in reality.

Rachel Reeves must raise taxes immediately to plug a fresh £50bn hole in the public finances, according to one of Britain’s most respected economics organisations.

Slowing economic growth, a weak jobs market and the cost of Labour’s about-turns on welfare spending have combined to plunge government finances deeper into the red, the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (Niesr) warned.

The Chancellor is now on course to miss her borrowing targets by £41.2bn, the think tank predicted. If she wants to restore the £9.9bn of headroom maintained since last year’s Budget, Ms Reeves must therefore raise taxes or cut spending by £51.1bn.

David Aikman, director of Niesr, said it was increasingly difficult for the Chancellor to avoid raising taxes on working people if she wanted to maintain her fiscal rules and stick to spending promises.

The forecasts will worry Downing Street given Niesr’s stature. It is Britain’s oldest independent economic think tank and was co-founded by John Maynard Keynes, the British economist who has helped to shape modern Left-wing thought.

Niesr’s economic model is highly respected globally and used by organisations such as the Treasury and the International Monetary Fund. Its president, Sir Paul Tucker, is the former deputy governor of the Bank of England.

DAMN LABOUR.

52.6% of UK individuals are reliant on the State (that is 35 million people). Only 47.4% are net contributors. How did we get here?

AIBU to think that the UK is now a declining economy that will never recover if this continues to be the case?

I am 49 and a high earner (just shy of the top 1%). My husband is also a high earner and we are thinking of leaving. We don't know where but we know we have to as the situation in the UK is getting worse not better. The only thing that is keeping us here is our son, who is still in secondary school. I am actively encouraging him to consider a future outside of the UK.

I genuinely feel that being ambitious and successful is not worth it in the UK. People hate you for it and want to see you penalised. They think that whatever you do to earn the money it must be easy and a breeze. That you are greedy and need to be made to pay for doing well. Just last week, I heard that the government might be thinking of implementing a charge, payable by high earners, to access the NHS. Everything is about taxing the already heavily taxed even more and few want to face up to the fact that this is unsustainable when you have most of your people relying on the State to live.

People complain about the immigrants but they make up a tiny proportion of 35 million.

I feel disliked for doing well and just can't see a future here and it is making me angry and sad. I believe in having a welfare state, in helping those who are in need but 52.6%? The country is on its knees when most of its people are in need. That is like a developing country not a developed and thriving economy.

Sorry for the long rant. I'm just tired, sad and have just about lost hope of enjoying life in the UK.

What an absolute wassock of a comment.

What an absolute wassock of a comment.

It’s bad.

DH and I are seriously considering moving to Israel. Even an active war zone seems safer and better than the UK right now for us.

That’s certainly not what’s happening here. The current government is a very long way from socialist. There hasn’t been a socialist government in the UK since the 1970s.

ETA East Germany was communist.

Nor do I have a problem with either retiring on a percentage of salary after 25 years service. But if you did dangerous tasks, I'd like to think your pension was better than a military chef, or is that unreasonable!

It's had not to conclude that there is definitely no hope for the UK when so many fail to acknowledge the cold hard facts and instead dive into weeds in an attempt to make the problem go away.

However, you cut it, the country cannot afford to tax the minority to fund the majority, regardless of what constitutes the growing majority. The composition of that majority may change and there may be a myriad of reasons why certain groups or even individuals are in that majority. Nevertheless, it has reached an unsustainable point where it is no longer beneficial to the UK to increase the taxes levied on the minority. We have reached the point of diminishing returns.

What is very worrying is that more people are on sick related benefits than before. The wealth of a nation is correlated with the health of its people. Why is happening? Is the answer to tax more to support a nation that is sicker and getting sicker? Or is the solution to tackle the root of the problem?

On another note, I marvel at those who feel such anger and contempt at those who are financially well-off. Reading some posts, it sounds like high income folks should be punished for being "lucky" and "undeserving". It's all very warped and quite frankly, a disastrous way of thinking for the future of the UK. Taxes should be paid to support those who, for whatever reason, simply cannot help themselves. It should be a safety net and not a way of life. When taxation begins to harm the future prosperity of a country and in turn, the well-being of the very people who rely on state support, then surely it is time to go back to the drawing board.

It's had not to conclude that there is definitely no hope for the UK when so many fail to acknowledge the cold hard facts and instead dive into weeds in an attempt to make the problem go away.

However, you cut it, the country cannot afford to tax the minority to fund the majority, regardless of what constitutes the growing majority. The composition of that majority may change and there may be a myriad of reasons why certain groups or even individuals are in that majority. Nevertheless, it has reached an unsustainable point where it is no longer beneficial to the UK to increase the taxes levied on the minority. We have reached the point of diminishing returns.

What is very worrying is that more people are on sick related benefits than before. The wealth of a nation is correlated with the health of its people. Why is happening? Is the answer to tax more to support a nation that is sicker and getting sicker? Or is the solution to tackle the root of the problem?

On another note, I marvel at those who feel such anger and contempt at those who are financially well-off. Reading some posts, it sounds like high income folks should be punished for being "lucky" and "undeserving". It's all very warped and quite frankly, a disastrous way of thinking for the future of the UK. Taxes should be paid to support those who, for whatever reason, simply cannot help themselves. It should be a safety net and not a way of life. When taxation begins to harm the future prosperity of a country and in turn, the well-being of the very people who rely on state support, then surely it is time to go back to the drawing board.

That’s what she was saying. Maybe she will come back and clarify for your comprehension.