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Where is the money going?!

148 replies

WilderHawthorn · 07/11/2025 14:32

All we seem to hear at the moment is that spending needs to be cut and tax increased. I’m a middle earner (not higher rate tax) and don’t mind paying my fair share. But where is the money actually going?

welfare is being cut
education is on its knees
the NHS is a shambles
roads are atrocious
infrastructure generally seems poor
public transport is useless
social services are appallingly overstretched
the £ is at a terrible rate internationally
food inflation is huge

I get that illegal migrants and adult social care are huge costs, but where is the rest of it truly going? I cannot fathom the situation we’re in, is it truly to service the economic debt from Covid?

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Thisiswhathings · 08/11/2025 09:14

caringcarer · 07/11/2025 22:15

Over 3 years ago they started HS2 near to me. Noticed stated it would take 2 years. It's now been almost 3 1/2 years and it's nowhere near finished. They got the job done then keep increasing the cost.

That will down to weak leaders like Sunak and Johnson having to bow down to back bench MPs . It meant building pointless tunnels, repairing churches , building kids playgrounds all to keep them inline. We can build stuff like this but not when MPs who have no clue get involved.

WildLimePoet · 08/11/2025 09:14

The latest gem. People pensions are going to be stolen and pissed the wall. Taxes will go up on pension savings.

It is an unmitigated disaster.

Punishing people for saving for their retirement when this is exactly what people need to do given the ageing population. And hitting pension funds when they are capital investors into the economy.

You could not make this shit up. Rachel from Accounts gives a bad name to people working in accounts.

WildLimePoet · 08/11/2025 08:59

Who told you welfare is being cut?

Welfare is the highest it’s even been. Over 1000 people a day are on going onto PIP because it’s basically become a lifestyle choice for people who can say they have a mental health problem and no one really checks, a bit like the sick note culture.
There are 10 million people of working age who are not working. A million of them young people who just decided that working or learning is just too hard because benefits are so easy to get. And yes, motability cars for ADHD is a thing. It’s complete madness.

The size of the civil service is the highest it’s ever been and their output the lowest ever. There are more administrators in the ministry of defence than soldiers. Just imagine, having more pen pushers than doers, and no one is doing anything to cut the pen pushers.

The size of the immigration related is out of control. £4b a year on asylum accommodation alone, not to mention all the healthcare and other services provided.

Less than half the people in this country are now net contributors while the other half are takers. And the top rate taxpayers are leaving the country like it’s plagued, which it is - by successive corrupt and incompetent governments with this one just putting the final nail in the coffin. Which is that corporation are also on a max exodus. Just imagine that Astra Zeneca, one of the largest on FTSE 100 is leaving to list in New York. The word disaster doesn’t even begin to cover it.

The unions have Labour by the balls, and labour and pissing taxpayer cash is the wall by giving colossal pay rises to train drivers are the like who offer 0 productivity increase in return. Their NHS is a black hole that keeps eating cash with no improvements in return.

Spending is out of control and needs cutting by tens of billions, starting with benefits.

The consocialists turned this country into a dumpster. Liebour came along and set fire to it.

Honestly, anyone earning enough to be a net contributor should get out of this country while they still can.

EasternStandard · 08/11/2025 08:47

Iknewyouwerewaitingforme · 07/11/2025 20:03

This government, this life in the UK is now a shit show. So disgusted by anyone dim enough to vote Labour, so smug, so proud of themselves, I was on here in the run up to the election and the truly vile, aggressive, bitter way you shot down anybody willing to go up against your nasty bullying and tell you how shit Labour would be - will always remain with me. SHAME ON YOU ALL. My life, as a parent of three, two SEN, has got so much worse and is about to sink into utter despair and actual complete pure misery after the budget. Taxing us all to the hilt, grabbing more of our hard earned and desperately needed money to supposedly “SPEND” on our “behalf”. Oh fucking get real. Let people - at such a hugely miserable time in most lives, hang onto their own pennies. Maybe spend it? Put it back into other businesses, move house finally, take that holiday, enjoy LIFE AND LIVING. But no.

Ik it was ridiculous

Whoknowswherethewindsblow · 08/11/2025 08:39

I think lot of local authority budgets (see e.g. Enfield council in London) are going to private landlords in the form of emergency accommodation/ housing benefit, whilst they close libraries and other community services are cut. I don’t think it’s a sustainable model but no idea when change will come. In the meantime, those few landlords are becoming extremely wealthy.

hattie43 · 08/11/2025 08:29

Iknewyouwerewaitingforme · 07/11/2025 20:03

This government, this life in the UK is now a shit show. So disgusted by anyone dim enough to vote Labour, so smug, so proud of themselves, I was on here in the run up to the election and the truly vile, aggressive, bitter way you shot down anybody willing to go up against your nasty bullying and tell you how shit Labour would be - will always remain with me. SHAME ON YOU ALL. My life, as a parent of three, two SEN, has got so much worse and is about to sink into utter despair and actual complete pure misery after the budget. Taxing us all to the hilt, grabbing more of our hard earned and desperately needed money to supposedly “SPEND” on our “behalf”. Oh fucking get real. Let people - at such a hugely miserable time in most lives, hang onto their own pennies. Maybe spend it? Put it back into other businesses, move house finally, take that holiday, enjoy LIFE AND LIVING. But no.

Those of us who are older knew Labour would be dire from past history . They’ve never been able to run the economy . I fear the UK is so bad now it’ll never recover . More and more people are in despair at doing the right thing by going out to work yet don’t have a bean to show for it .

EasternStandard · 08/11/2025 08:20

YorkshireGoldDrinker · 07/11/2025 16:53

Brexit and austerity both have nothing to do with it. The latter doesn't even exist.

Austerity just means "The government isn't spending as much as I think they should be, therefore austerity."

Now we have let’s borrow to the hilt and pay £100bn on debt servicing because we can’t rein it in.

EasternStandard · 08/11/2025 08:13

Hampering growth with NI policy and others, people changing behaviour and opting out, vast debt servicing is just taxes going on that.

Pay more taxes to fill that in and it feels like you don’t get more back.

Hons123 · 07/11/2025 23:26

RubySquid · 07/11/2025 21:18

Might as well pay for private schooling that case. Better value for money

I would disagree, as a ripped-off full fee paying parent. Private schools are a con - they recruit from the same pool of teachers, they don't grow them separately for private schools, I am afraid. I am a product of a state school and thought they knew what they are doing when I sent mine to a fee-paying one. It is all a con - a business in other words, take your money, don't care about teaching.

FortyDegreeDay · 07/11/2025 23:22

Huge inefficiencies and tonne of resource waste.

So much public money pilfered on outsourcing crucial services to private companies who are creaming a huge amount of profit off the top and delivering a substandard service/product/outcome with whatever sum is left.

Effective delivery is hampered by a tonne of process for process sake, bureaucracy and middle managers with vague job descriptions in every organisation that don’t add value. I work in the civil service and the amount of underperforming staff who contribute nothing but busywork is phenomenal, and I don’t think it’s unique to the public sector.

WhitegreeNcandle · 07/11/2025 23:19

WaryCrow · 07/11/2025 23:16

For the benefit of youngsters today, at one stage Britain owned, publicly and communally, its energy - both supplies and infrastructure: its water, all of its transport connections, communications - post, telephones, etc. and its education - schools, libraries and universities.

Weird how privatising all that has actually left us all impoverished and much much poorer isnt it.

https://equalitytrust.org.uk/evidence-base/billionaire-britain-2025/

What I can’t understand is why are we not more worried as a country that we can’t feed, heat or light ourselves without imports. We are so vulnerable!

WaryCrow · 07/11/2025 23:16

For the benefit of youngsters today, at one stage Britain owned, publicly and communally, its energy - both supplies and infrastructure: its water, all of its transport connections, communications - post, telephones, etc. and its education - schools, libraries and universities.

Weird how privatising all that has actually left us all impoverished and much much poorer isnt it.

https://equalitytrust.org.uk/evidence-base/billionaire-britain-2025/

Billionaire Britain 2025 - Equality Trust

Introduction For the past 35 years, various governments have claimed to have variations on a similar set of goals for the UK economy: decarbonise; spread more wealth and growth out of London; end the housing crisis; encourage the growth of new (and fre...

https://equalitytrust.org.uk/evidence-base/billionaire-britain-2025/

WaryCrow · 07/11/2025 23:11

Privatizations.

Means, straight into the pockets of the idle rich.

Think of housing as an obvious example. When we had council housing, housing benefit went back to the council and circulated. When private landlords came into being it went straight into their bank accounts. Public money direct into the boomers’ pockets (and didn’t they whine about how selfish we were, for objecting to ruining our lives to pay their extended pensions).

Lurkingforalaugh · 07/11/2025 23:05

PomandersandRedRibbon · 07/11/2025 22:56

I don't understand?

No ventilation and poor hygienic means bugs will spread and children become ill. Therefore they need time off school. Why waste money sending nasty letters about it.

im struggling to understand no ventilation 🤔 mobile teaching units of the day with no windows in the height of summer that was no ventilation! Poor hygiene?? Tracing paper for toilet roll so your hand was soaking with wee when you’d done and then washing your hands and ‘drying’ on a reusable towel that rolled around but more often than not was soaking from everyone else using it first, did we get bugs? Damn yes, did we get time off? no! Why? because mum and dad were both working and could not afford the day off to look after you so you’d be sent off to school, that’s the difference!

PomandersandRedRibbon · 07/11/2025 22:56

I don't understand?

No ventilation and poor hygienic means bugs will spread and children become ill. Therefore they need time off school. Why waste money sending nasty letters about it.

Bumblebee72 · 07/11/2025 22:56

Welfare hasn't been cut. It is increasing massively year on year.

Lurkingforalaugh · 07/11/2025 22:53

PomandersandRedRibbon · 07/11/2025 22:36

It's going to bureaucrats sending us nasty letters about attendance simply because our DC have been ill and schools with poor hygiene and no ventilation.

Imagine going to school to be given fresh full fat milk that hadn’t been refrigerated & not needing time off 👀 needing time off for no ventilation and poor hygiene! You are one of the many problems this country has my dear😂

Ineedtenholidaysayear · 07/11/2025 22:48

Somersetbaker · 07/11/2025 18:37

Well Michel Mone and her husband are sat on £100m of our money plus the £37 million of tax their company forgot to pay, presumably that was their intention take as much as possible then go bust, how many fast track crooks are in the same position. We did at least get the fines from Johnson and Sunak for partying while the rest of us were locked down

And where did THAT money get spent?

bailiffs go in an repossess cars, homes, savings, possessions and more when

Winteriscoming80 · 07/11/2025 22:46

24caratgoldlabubu · 07/11/2025 21:59

Israel. It's going to Israel to fund.. things.

And

PomandersandRedRibbon · 07/11/2025 22:36

It's going to bureaucrats sending us nasty letters about attendance simply because our DC have been ill and schools with poor hygiene and no ventilation.

Lurkingforalaugh · 07/11/2025 22:34

PeonyPatch · 07/11/2025 22:27

Just basing it on your own biased point of view then, okay.

On a 20+ year career of observing the decline of work ethic and the ages associated with that and also networking across multiple national companies in different sectors who have all observed the same thing, extremely biased 🙃

PeonyPatch · 07/11/2025 22:27

Lurkingforalaugh · 07/11/2025 22:23

I’ve been a recruiter for a long time and trust me I know who the ‘working generation’ are, the ones that grind it out day in day out, the ones who don’t need a ‘mental health day’ the ones who turn up and get on with it and pay a vast amount of tax and take very little out as they’re not constantly at the doctors (using taxes) because of a headache or anxiety or not knowing if they’re identifying as male female or bloody toaster this week, and that my friend is the mess we are in unfortunately

Just basing it on your own biased point of view then, okay.

Lurkingforalaugh · 07/11/2025 22:23

PeonyPatch · 07/11/2025 22:03

How utterly ridiculous it is for you to claim it is 40-60s doing the bulk of the work and criticising young people. Such generalisation that is likely v inaccurate.

I’ve been a recruiter for a long time and trust me I know who the ‘working generation’ are, the ones that grind it out day in day out, the ones who don’t need a ‘mental health day’ the ones who turn up and get on with it and pay a vast amount of tax and take very little out as they’re not constantly at the doctors (using taxes) because of a headache or anxiety or not knowing if they’re identifying as male female or bloody toaster this week, and that my friend is the mess we are in unfortunately

caringcarer · 07/11/2025 22:15

tarheelbaby · 07/11/2025 15:13

All of the things PPs have mentioned plus:

Don't forget HS2 - millions and millions (billions?) wasted on that and it's never really going to happen. Imagine if all that money had been diverted into the COVID maw. Things might not be so dire now.

And also, corruption: throughout 'austerity' the tories collected taxes (which increased b/c they didn't increase the personal allowance) whilst simultaneoustly cutting funding for pretty much everything. Where is all that money now? Or should we ask: in whose pockets? (I'll be sitting in the hot sun, living off my trust fund ... ) We were all distracted by those stories about MPs' duck houses and extra flats but they were still robbing us blind.

Over 3 years ago they started HS2 near to me. Noticed stated it would take 2 years. It's now been almost 3 1/2 years and it's nowhere near finished. They got the job done then keep increasing the cost.

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