Spring Statement - what nonsense!

Greece is promising pensioners who make it their residence for tax purposes a 7% tax rate for 15 years. They are doing this because they know pensioners will spend their money in Greece and provide employment for their young people. It's extremely tempting.

NetZero was a Conservative policy, what specific new taxes has Miliband put on energy bills?

As far as i understand it, the price cap will fall in April because of the removal of certain taxes onto general taxation.

Wholesale gas price has been quite stable for around the last 10 months, obv now they are not.

Understand the voting situation, fortunately, not another GE for 3.5 years

It's to do with falling gas prices worldwide. Ed's policies are adding to energy costs by about the same amount as removing that levy, that's why the levy has had to be removed.

I attribute blame where the facts say that blame lies, it's not to do with any particular political party.

My vote is currently homeless amongst the complete shambles we have on offer.

Its because Labour have removed the Green taxes Sunak and others put on bills

Though i bet when the price cap goes up in July, because of Iran/USA, you'll be the first to blame Labour 😂😂😂

Jobs are needed. Driving unemployment up doesn’t help. Especially youth unemployment. Many will have dc wanting to work.

The energy prove cap reduction is zero to do with anything that Labour has done, it's world has process that is doing that. Their Net Zero policy is, so far, increasing bills not reducing them.

Do you know how they've got the waiting lists down?

They have been paying a company shed loads of money to trawl the lists and remove anyone who has died waiting or had their procedure done privately because they couldn't wait any longer.

There has actually, I've read, been a reduction in numbers treated.

Anyone can end a strike by giving the strikers what they demand. And it hasn't even stopped the doctors, who were the ones who got the most.

Unfortunately Starmer only cares for himself, not the poor, the rich or anyone in between, just himself, likewise Reeves.

Yes, heaven forbid we pay public sector workers a decent wage and support the poor and vulnerable. Much better to make the rich even richer like the Tories do…

Thing is, the Tories totally screwed up public services. They decimated them. Labour can only reverse the damage at a slow rate as people don’t want to pay the necessary taxes needed to fix the many years of Tory damage. Tories only care for the rich.

Yes 35k threshold, very generous isn't it.

Its the very fact we have paid less in tax, over decades, than our European neighbours is why we have awful public services & roads.

It never used to be like this, even in the 70s, lane to the village got resurfaced every year, we had a local maternity hospital, with a 24hr AE, dental services etc all gone, the lane is actually dangerous now.

But Govts cut cut and cut in the name of "efficiencies/tax cuts" but all we end up with is this.

I really wish I was 50 rather than 70. I think I would stand for Parliament now. Past misdemeanours are probably forgotten, and I have much better formed opinions and ideas as to what should happen, for everyone to progress.

I wish I knew! I would struggle to vote right now. More likely to spoil the ballot paper.

Indeed they were also incapable. The point is that Labour are no better. Hence why a majority are now preferring the Greens and Reform!

Where have all the capable MPs and ministers disappeared to??

The Tories, of course, had already shown themselves incapable and were handed their marching orders in July 2024.

My main grumble is that borrowing money to pay welfare benefits is a hiding to nowhere.......... and I cannot believe that the Greens, Reform, Labour and the Lib Dems are all colluding in this mass deception.

Nope @jasflowers tagged the right person. WFA stops at 35k, I also assume that was a typo. You claim that older people dont need money, you'd obviously prefer to push them into a grave by ensuring they cant heat their homes.

The point I am making is that old age is actually very expensive because when you can no longer do as much for yourself you have to pay people to do things for you. Money that remains in the uk economy and keeps people in work, work that is not easily replaced by AI and often done by those who would otherwise be neets. As for the savings - if not used for care needs they will be paying eventually for the funeral. Would you rather the state pay for that too? Have you looked at funeral costs recently - even the most basic will cost thousands. The average cost is over 5k now.

I would like to see higher tax allowances for those over 80.

I think it's clear that Labour have already committed political suicide. There's more chance of the Monster Raving Loony Party winning the next GE than Labour. Quite impressive considering they've been spunking taxpayer money on benefits, public sector wages, keeping their union paymasters happy, etc - i.e. their core voters!!

Rishi finished off the Tories, Starmer has finished off Labour. Amazing how we keep getting such utterly useless and incompetent MPs and Ministers.

We're on target for a Reform/Green coalition due to the two major parties (and of course the hapless Libdems) committing political suicide.

• Inflation down
No it is higher than before GE
• Waiting lists down dramatically
Some are but 12 months down to 9 maybe 25% but it is still a long time to wait.
• Net migration halved
Students and skilled people prefer to go elsewhere. Or Arabs banned by own Governments because of Radical groups here.
• Economy grown
No only a few factories the closed retail stuff not yet in figures
• Energy price cap coming down by 7%
The key words are going to or should do.
• Strikes ended
Cave in buy them off, easy.
• Breakfast clubs and free school meals
Giving your child breakfast is a parenting job not the state.
• Rail fares frozen
Only some NOT AL, read the small print. Still 2X the European prices

WFA stops at £35k @jasflowers but I assume that's a typo. I agree that well-off pensioners should contribute as long as their income is high enough but I also think the NI exemption is justified, given that the rationale underlying it is that it pays for unemployment benefits (by definition, pensioners are ineligible) and state pension (already in receipt).

For everything else, there's income tax, VAT, vehicle and fuel duties, air passenger tax, insurance premium levy, capital gains, SDLT and finally IHT on their (already taxed) estates. Did I miss any big ones?

Our income tax burden on low to moderate incomes may be fairly middle of the road by European standards, but look around you and it is hard to see evidence that it is being well spent. Our infrastructure is aging, the NHS limps along, and we have a huge cadre of ineffectual public "servants" who rush around telling everyone else what they can and can't do. The police don't police, except to issue parking fines and speeding tickets. The UK is cripplingly over-regulated to the point of inertia... by every single government of the last 30 years... all equally culpable.

I think you are tagging the wrong poster or misread what i wrote.

It was @Dragonflytamer who wants this.

Taxing interest on savings, bear in mind you need £20k min to be paying tax on interest, its also at 20%.

Quite why you think people with money should pay less tax into old age is a bit weird.
Pensioners already don't pay NI and very wealthy pensioners still get a state pensioner and those with an income over 35k get WFA.

How much more do you want to give people at the end of their lives?

I think it is better than if the Conservatives had remained in power, not that from 2022 onwards that seemed even a remote possibility.

However you note the successes (and there are several as noted), I do not think it is going at all swimmingly.

I agree that benefits should be contributory, based on duration of employment, but there need to be opportunities and incentives (perhaps even an element of duress) for young people to work. However, employers also have to be willing to take them on.

My DS eventually found a temp job last summer, and it was turned into an apprenticeship and made permanent a couple of months later, but it's in the southeast and NMW for 40 hours doesn't cover the rent, plus food and bills for a flat share.

Fortunately BoMaD can subsidise for now as we both continue to work PT in our SME, but it isn't taking on anyone new or unskilled. There simply isn't capacity. And there are 20 more SMEs and one-man-bands on our industrial estate alone who are hunkered down worrying about the new landlord's plans to raise rents and impose new leases. If that's the situation in a single postcode, the picture looks bleak.

@jasflowers doesnt want benefits for all. She's more than happy to take every penny from pensioners who saved into their pensions so that they would not need to claim benefits in old age. They are the ones keeping many people in work as they cant do their own DIY, heavy gardening and sometimes cant cut their own nails or wash their own hair. Very short sighted to think they dont need money - how else do they keep younger people employed. Of course if taxed too much they'll be back to claiming state benefits.

Ummm there is a happy median.

Personally, i think benefits should be contributory but thats another argument.

I do think though, some benefits/PIP are far too high but hell, look at the anger from the Tories when they realised the "extra" money for SENDS wont be and the number of children getting it will reduce.

We have almost 1m NEETS, yet a single person, will get as a NMW earner around 4 times what they would get on benefits, so £400 vs £1720, surely thats a good enough incentive, yet we still have 1m NEETS.