Where would you LIKE to see cuts made?

But that would mean in most cases that a house a home would have to be sold - where would the children of 18 and 20 live?

You would turff them out of their family home and make them homeless?

'2. Change the publics mindset about 'retirement' - people start work much later at 22-25 (after Uni)and only want to work til 55-60. So people think its ok to only work for 30 years and then be a drain on the state/draw a pension for the last 10-30 years.'

LFC for PM.

Double property tax on houses left empty for over 6 months.

Ivykaty, Laurie did say that the IHT limit suggested shouldn't apply to financial dependents.

I'd like to see retirement age across the board raised to 68, though it's easy for me to say that, not having a physical job.

More specifics on benefit cheats - do you mean spending money pursuing people who are moonlighting while expected to live on £60 a week? Not keen on that tbh.

Ivykaty - up to 50k to leave per child (if finished fulltime education)

Wealth passes to surviving spouse who then uses it for their care til they die and only when all people in the family who need cared for by that money should it then go back to society.

I do think there should be massive reform of the benefits system. It's an utter mess.

The people that truly need, don't get and the people who can't be arsed, do.

I agree with increasing public sector pension age to 65 for all non-physical jobs, and all new employees to the system to 68, with ability to increase it in line with life expectancy increases.

It should be set at whatever 5 years under average life expectancy is, tbh, because it was only designed to last that long on average.

Don't like it, well, feel free to go work in the private sector, we all get paid so much more.

LFC - and IIRC, civil service pensions were index linked ...during the years of high inflation they did tremendously well (ahead of wage rises I think) whereas other pensioners were stuffed.

fembear - if you read the thread the point is that I don't mind and I've already said so.

And I don't have a pension. But because I think I should be taxed more (and likely won't be)I will now probably start one as I probably should take some personal responsibility.

Rosieo, I am happy to see some cuts made to the NHS if it has to happen, but I'd like to see intelligent, specific cuts, rather than mass slices across the board. The deficit being so huge may of course require that.

And as for cuts to Welfare, what do you mean? Lots of suggestions for cuts to specific benefits here, if that's what you mean. I don't think any of them will make a huge amount, but again I'd rather see a steady stream of intelligent cuts than massive whacking great percentage cuts that only cause huge problems we end up paying for another way.

So if I can only leave 50k laurie - is that between my two children or is it 50 k each?

If my spouse dies is he only able to leave me 50K and will I have to sell my house to pay the rest into society and who will then home me If I can't afford a house of my own - as there is little soical housing.

In prinaple it is a great idea but in practice it could mean children of 12 being left with no home and no one to look after them - they would have possibly lost a parent and been put into foster care.

I would like to see child tax credit cut back to one child then 30k. 2 children 33k, 3 children 36k, 4 children 39k, 5 children 41k and so on uping the amount by 3k for every child. This would be based on the household income regardless of one or two parents.

I would also like to see 5% on income tax on every band and NI abolished.

i would be happy to pay 25% and not pay NI

Oh yes, final salary pensions in the public sector.

The rest of us are truly stuffed on pensions, and whilst it is nice to safeguard public sector employees, we can't afford to. Pass legislation that prevents ridiculous claims about the changes.

cut tax credits for those on 45k plus, stop funding second homes for MP's they could after all stay in a cheap hotel when working away from their 'primary residence'.

stop ctf - there's not much point unless you can afford to add to it (in which case you could set one up yourself anyway).

change ema to free buses for students and give them vouchers to help pay for books/general study supplies etc.

do more to stop benefit cheats.

Second homes to be returned to local community (gradually obviously - compulsory purchase)

No second homes allowed apart from 'holiday homes' where you can't live in them all year

I work as a transport planner(highways/public transport etc) for a local council. We are expecting our budget will be cut, and if past budgets
etc are anything to go by, the cuts will be significant (30-40%). Probably because transport is not 'sexy' or a vote winner, we always seem to be losers in terms of funding in times of crisis.

So, since LFC is so anti-riches, who votes we cut the wages of her and her DH (both public sector) and their pensions. I'm sure that they won't mind.

Pencil pushers
'art' and what not for hospitals etc.
JSA for people who choose not to work
Child trust fund
Maternity grant

Rosieo - he had a civil service mortgage at preferential rates - his housing costs (for 4 bedroom in Surrey) were 10% of his income. He then had a final salary non contributary pension scheme. He paid off his mortgage in 15 years.

The housing market could have been controlled. It wasn't.

And we need to build more houses. A huge house building programme.

I agree with TDWP

DH - teacher

me - FE lecturer/psychotherapist

picc

worse is

A close family friend, turning left at a junction on a country lane. Distracted as her DD had thrown up in her car seat, sadly hit a boy on a motorbike and he died.

It was found he had no license and was just 15. Horribly sad and it took 8 months of court cases for her to be sentenced to 5 years for reckless driving.

So her children are in care as her exH wasn't fit to take them (violent)...

and surely the pain of what she did is enough of a sentence.

I'd like to see cuts for

Trident
Child benefit if you earn a joint income of 100K+
CTF
No ID cards
Contactpoint
Funding to faith schools

Those are the main ones, but tbh I've plenty more I could rant on about

"DH has a well paid public sector job"

What do you do for a living LFC?

Rosie - he didn't work hard, he had an easy job. Certainly not as hard as an HCA or a cleaner - and he was lucky becuase society (which we can change) was set up to benefit him.

We can now change it to benefit more people. The baby boomers didn't but we can.