Am I the only one that thinks that the budget is good?!

Gosh, everyone obsessed with the Tory pie when I never even mentioned it….

I mean how was that pie under Tory rule…
https://ifs.org.uk/publications/conservatives-and-economy-2010-24 “on a per person basis, economic growth has been slower than in the US, the EU27 and Germany in that time. The slowdown has been particularly stark given that the UK economy, and its productivity, were growing quite quickly prior to 2008”.

If you’re looking at GDP as the measure of growth, it’s always something strongly effected by external factors and things outside the control of the government of the day. A logical comparison is probably the GDP of other developed nations https://ifs.org.uk/sites/default/files/2025-10/Final_The_IFS_Green_Budget_2025_full_report_amended%202.pdf optimistic prediction here that the UK will be second in the G7.

But I honestly hate party politics. It’s such a distraction and a waste of time fighting between parties and even worse when it’s infighting. 🤦🏽‍♀️ And I’ve tried focusing on what’s published by independent bodies rather than some of the headline grabbing from both the left and right wing press.

but what I do think is really interesting is the research on the links between child poverty and wider society.

Being proud to pay your taxes is admirable. But under this government, the need for more and more tax is inevitable. They do not have an economic strategy that promotes growth.

Imagine a pie, shared among 100 people. If more people need a share of the pie, but the pie doesn't grow, then what? The share gets smaller. Under Labour, that is what will happen. Low growth, wealth redistribution and the pie gets ever smaller.

I hope you continue to feel good about paying more and more tax. You're going to need to.

The same old straw man gets wheeled out: question a Labour policy and suddenly you’re a deranged right-winger.

In reality, only the uninformed think Labour’s habit of taxing everything owned by workers, actually lifts children out of poverty. It’s a feel-good fantasy worthy of Steven Spielberg, designed to win brownie points from the uneducated, the resentful, and the well-off do-gooders who love the warm glow of their own ‘tax sacrifice’. It’s pissing in the wind while the structural challenges remain. With so little growth, what exactly is Labour going to do when they run out of other people’s money to spend in their race to the bottom?

I’m a high earner and proud to pay my taxes.

You are proud to pay for children to stay in poverty and the limited life choices that comes with that?

Yes, give your self a big charitable pat on back.

Please point to wherever in my post I said that the Tories had done well?

Imagine a pie that only grew 0.4% in 2023 (the last full year of the Tories).

Now imagine a pie that was growing at 1.5% in 2025 (Labour's first full year).

Now imagine that welfare spending as a proportion of GDP under the current government (10.3%) is at the low end of where it had been under the Tories over the last decade.

Now image that lifting the child benefit cap is likely to cause only a 0.1% - 0.2% increase over the next 5 years.

Now imagine that maintaining the triple lock for 2026 alone is forecasted to add 0.3% to welfare spending as a proportion of GDP.

Finally, imagine putting down the right wing tabloids, eating a pie instead, and gaining a sense of perspective.

Yes. I agree.

it’s sad to have seen such an outpouring of moaning. I wish it felt like people cared about the poorest in society.

lifting children out of poverty has huge cumulative effects over time for society as a whole.

I’m a high earner and proud to pay my taxes.

Imagine a pie that only grew 0.4% in 2023 (the last full year of the Tories).

Now imagine a pie that was growing at 1.5% in 2025 (Labour's first full year).

Now imagine that welfare spending as a proportion of GDP under the current government (10.3%) is at the low end of where it had been under the Tories over the last decade.

Now image that lifting the child benefit cap is likely to cause only a 0.1% - 0.2% increase over the next 5 years.

Now imagine that maintaining the triple lock for 2026 alone is forecasted to add 0.3% to welfare spending as a proportion of GDP.

Finally, imagine putting down the right wing tabloids, eating a pie instead, and gaining a sense of perspective.

We really need a sarcasm emoji 😁

It’s disingenuous to keep posting the Gareth Morgan “report” - for want of a better word. Are you really suggesting the CfSJ are tweaking their figures? If so, perhaps you should let them know rather than keep dismissing it on here?

FWIW - and this has been pointed out to you previously by other posters - it’s Gareth Morgan who appears to be comparing apples with oranges. His workings appear to resemble that of a GCSE psychology assignment where you need to include stats.

Workings are on last page. Nothing not to understand.

It’s disingenuous to keep posting the Gareth Morgan “report” - for want of a better word. Are you really suggesting the CfSJ are tweaking their figures? If so, perhaps you should let them know rather than keep dismissing it on here?

FWIW - and this has been pointed out to you previously by other posters - it’s Gareth Morgan who appears to be comparing apples with oranges. His workings appear to resemble that of a GCSE psychology assignment where you need to include stats.

That reinforces that their “workings” - which don’t appear in the report - are comparing apples and oranges. I think you’re quite intelligent enough to understand this but are hoping others aren’t. It’s disingenuous to keep defending this, just as the CfSJ press office is dishonest.

Being proud to pay your taxes is admirable. But under this government, the need for more and more tax is inevitable. They do not have an economic strategy that promotes growth.

Imagine a pie, shared among 100 people. If more people need a share of the pie, but the pie doesn't grow, then what? The share gets smaller. Under Labour, that is what will happen. Low growth, wealth redistribution and the pie gets ever smaller.

I hope you continue to feel good about paying more and more tax. You're going to need to.

Labour are all about the working class.

https://www.centreforsocialjustice.org.uk/newsroom/post-budget-research

I expect you’ll come back with some whataboutery. I would certainly tend to believe anything the CSJ published over the workings of Gareth Morgan, whoever he may be.

Being proud to pay your taxes is admirable. But under this government, the need for more and more tax is inevitable. They do not have an economic strategy that promotes growth.

Imagine a pie, shared among 100 people. If more people need a share of the pie, but the pie doesn't grow, then what? The share gets smaller. Under Labour, that is what will happen. Low growth, wealth redistribution and the pie gets ever smaller.

I hope you continue to feel good about paying more and more tax. You're going to need to.

https://www.centreforsocialjustice.org.uk/newsroom/post-budget-research

I expect you’ll come back with some whataboutery. I would certainly tend to believe anything the CSJ published over the workings of Gareth Morgan, whoever he may be.

Yes. I agree.

it’s sad to have seen such an outpouring of moaning. I wish it felt like people cared about the poorest in society.

lifting children out of poverty has huge cumulative effects over time for society as a whole.

I’m a high earner and proud to pay my taxes.

It’s not. I’ve read the CoJ report in its entirety and invited someone who made the same assertion as you to tell me which page the “workings” are on. Tumbleweed. Because they’re not there. Of course if you can find them and post a link …

How are the workings bollocks?

is it not true that someone can be on benefits equating to 70k pre-tax earnings if they meet the right criteria?

I didn’t forget and I will continue to post it until you acknowledge that the Telegraph’s “workings” are bollocks. Every time you repeat it I’ll post it.