To think joke Chancellor Joke Budget joke Government

Is it wrong of me to hope it does?

I often think I wouldn't wish my health condition on anyone but I'd make an exception for this lot.

Yep lots of them. A sudden change of circumstances could up end them one day though.

Facts are so inconvenient, aren’t they?

"The workshy"

Christ alive the wankers of Mumsnet really are out in force today aren't they

My DP said the same when I was having a rant last night. They come in and do the same shit every time. Why anyone is ever surprised is beyond him. I took his point and shut up.

That’s what Labour have always been about. Unsure why you’re so shocked now, they’re hardly a low tax, low spend government are they?

Well might as well repeat it as someone else will be along confusing the cb with child element of UC

The majority of benefits are paid to pensioners; the second-largest beneficiaries are workers.

Workers do the same, i.e. spend their wages. Difference is that they work for their money, doing productive things, whereas the workshy are still net-takers even if they spend their money upon which a bit of tax is paid.

We need the right kind of children, i.e. those from parents with a work ethic. We don't need more children from the idle or scroungers. What we need is to incentivise current workers to have more children who are more likely to have a work ethic.

We also have millions of adults who either aren't working or only working part time. We could incentivise those to work or work more to help plug any labour shortages.

But AI is also on the way, which means fewer workers will be needed due to automation, etc., so maybe we don't need to increase the population even further anyway.

Are you sure you’ll get the tax you want in twenty odd years when AI takes jobs? How can you be sure you won’t have very high unemployment instead.

I’ve yet to read the budget in detail but I am glad they removed the 2 child cap. We need more future workers to pay for the elderly - (pensions, healthcare, social care, subsidised transport etc).

It’s either more homegrown kids or more immigration, it can’t be neither. The current tax base is too small.

The same people who told you Brexit was a brilliant idea, that Truss and Kwarteng were economic geniuses, that austerity was the price we had to pay for the greed of bankers, and that asylum seekers and migrants are the root of all the UK’s problems are now telling you to be angry that the government has allocated an additional 0.25% of the budget to helping bring children out of poverty, and right whingers are lapping it up.

No wonder this country is in the state it is.

A significant number of people don’t seem to understand what the NI element of salary sacrifice is at all. Either that or we’re surrounded by drama llamas who just love any excuse to throw themselves around like a fainting Victorian

How have they screwed your pension? You will still get income tax relief, just not the 8% or 2% national insurance. It will 'cost' me £160 a year and DH about £500. I'm ok with that. I wish they'd been brave enough to remove the triple lock for state pensions.

Literally no one is happy about this.

I think the answer to that is both.

They also have higher wages, meaning people on lower incomes can afford to pay more tax. When we raise our wages, we apparently ruin thousands of businesses.

The idea that the rich are taxed less is bollocks too. They pay more tax but the tax jumps are more even, so there are no massive jumps between tax brackets.

I think it might have to do with how many people actually contribute and pay tax. I have a feeling that % people paying in to the system in the Nordics is higher than UK. Hence they manage to get better services. Saw on the news today - around 43% of UK adults do not have an income high enough to pay income tax. That is huge. How do you expect to have good services if 43% of the population is contributing nothing.

There’s always BlueSky for those who want less criticism.

Out of interest, where does all the benefit money paid out go? Is it being hoarded and scurried off shore or does it go straight back to the economy and supermarkets; paying VAT, fuel duty, alcohol duty, cigarette duty, sugar tax.

I'm not advocating for a life on benefits, it should be a welfare state to help people to work but let's not pretend they are sitting in mountains of cash while the silly workers work.

Yes it’s called Twitter/X

You need to consider take home pay not net adjusted income to be making any accurate comparisons. It won't be anything like 5-6x fwiw.

Don't have a problem with much of this budget and I dont think most of it will last particularly long in a lot of voters minds. Freezing taxation thresholds has worked incredibly well as a stealth tax for a long time and they seem to be getting away for it for the time being.

Of what has happened thus far I think this government will be remembered for the U-turns on disability benefit / winter fuel allowance reforms + now the 2 child cap lifting.

Unfortunately doing the latter whilst failing to do the former has played 100% into the hands of the likes of Reform etc.

I think a lot of the electorate would have preferred to have seen the money used for more targeted action on child poverty in larger families, rather than simply handing out more money that can be spent elsewhere. Healthy food vouchers / rebates on kids clothing and school supplies / fuel allowances / transport allowances etc.

@Hellohelgawhy are you happy about this?