What Government expenditure would you cut do you think?

[Wafflefudge]

Having seen quite a few posts recently which seem to be focused on disability spending being unaffordable and needing to be cut it has prompted me to think about what could actually be cut without causing issues/ knock ons that would be more costly long term.
I think perhaps for people who aren't disabled or with disabled children they see this as an easy cut. But we can of course all think of cuts that wouldn't directly or immediately affect us.
I personally dont think any cuts are particularly easy or straightforward though.
Off the top of my head I'd maybe cut libraries as they've put such short hours in place that they are barely useable anyway. Or perhaps maximise making money from them. But recognise this would be a drop in the ocean of public expenditure.
Id be interested in others opinions on where cuts might work. I'm sure answers will vary considerably depending on personal circumstances

Overseas help.
Drastically.

Everything has been cut back to the bone. I have a serious chronic condition and can't get any help at all.

I definitely would not cut back on libraries. They are important for the vulnerable in so with such as children, old people, poor people. Where else would these people go to use a computer or learn about stuff?

I think the only answer is to grow the economy so there are more tax receipts and increase tax in general. I'm thinking of Germany, the Netherlands and the Nordic countries where they generally have a bigger welfare state and more successful economies.

Overseas aid
Royal Family
Military Arms
House of Lords

I'm not sure buying and maintaining numerous mini buses and recruiting, paying and providing pension etc for all the mini buses needed would actually be cheaper than paying the taxis though.
Yes taxi firms need to make a profit and councild wouldn't bit they make that profit across a whole day of work. If the schools bought them they would only be used for the school runs.

They should be no cuts.

Tax the big corporations Amazon et al. Amazon paid less the 6 million in 2017 (profit of 95 million), Ed Sheeran paid over 7 Million on a profit of 35 million.

How is this legal?

MPs expenses and free lunches cancelled. They can claim universal credit and use food banks to buy food like others in public service sector.

Not another penny to anyone in the royal family, they can earn and pay for themselves or claim means tested benefits and have their finances trawled through like we the poors do.

Effective taxation of high earners. End housing benefit payments to private landlords, no more snouts in the trough for them.

Charge multiple council tax for every additional home people own.

Seizure and sale of vehicles of banned drivers caught driving.

Heavy fines for all driving offences, it's a privilege not a right.

Close taxation evasion loopholes.

Taxing Amazon and other big companies who expect to be able to do business here without paying their way.

That'll do for starters. Need a minute to come up with some more.

I don't think cutting costs is the answer (in my opinion) I think EVERYBODY needs to be taxed correctly, there are so many very wealthy people with excellent accountants who get out of paying the correct amount of tax, similarly self employed people who deliberately declare their salaries incorrectly. I think capital gains and Inheritance tax should be higher, and there should be a rent cap for private landlords who own multiple properties (i.e more than 5 say)

I agree with someone above about the NHS charging for missed appointments but probably for repeat offenders, I also think if people are responsible for their own illness/injury there should be a sliding payment scale whereby you have to contribute to the cost of your treatment.

Public services should be looked at and wastage should be tackled, and funds should be stacked from the bottom up, so we have more frontline workers than upper management.

Oh, and let's scale back the royal family!!! They could have a third of what they currently have and still have a very comfortable life!

Why not do inheritance tax on the wealth/income of the recipient? That would be a fairer approach.

If there's work available for unemployed people then it should be for a proper wage, not benefits. Otherwise that's exploitation - and increases unemployment because unscrupulous employers would simply make people redundant and/or not hire anyone new, as they'd have free labour from exploited unemployed people.

With missed NHS appointments, if any changes were introduced there'd need to be strong safeguards. Many missed appointments are vulnerable people - mental illness, homeless, DV, confused elderly person. In those cases instead of charging them, provide timely and effective support (social care, social housing, financial help, etc).

Also can the NHS cope without missed appointments? I've waited over 40 minutes a couple of times and for an appointment. I often wonder if doctors rely on missed appointment to be able to fit everyone else in?

I wasn’t suggesting it would be mandatory. I think it should be a choice though. I had an Aunt who lived in the Netherlands and she was very much euthanasia / pad is not for me and lived till her 90s although she was in quite a lot of pain in her latter years. I’ve had relatives who’ve went through with PAS (physician assisted suicide) in the later stages of cancer in the Netherlands and it felt like they made the right decision for them.

Canteen subsidy, MP wages & expense claims

This is slightly light hearted but also vaguely serious - I think we should treat the economy as a whole the way I treat my household finances, cut out unnecessary spending sure - but why aren't we making more from selling things we don't need or use? I mean how much are all the famous paintings in the galleries worth - do we need SO many of them? I love a nice museum tour but room after room after room of valuable art? Can't we just sell some on vinted?

Name the loopholes.
Many countries already give extensive and better tax breaks to major multi national corporations, e.g. Ireland, and we risk throttling growth or having them leave if we tax corporates more.
As for the wealthy the non-dom changes are already baked in. Beyond that you can’t tax people on income they pay tax on elsewhere.

And see them leave, open up elsewhere and the UK economy suffer through lack of tax revenue and jobs.

Infertility treatment (dons tin hat)

Translation services for courts, councils, hospitals etc

Also the rot of sending things out in several language.

People who are here need to speak the language and with smart phones that can translate docs not really needed. No other country does this.

Anyone fit to work should be
Charge for missed nhs appointments
Charge foreign visitors for all nhs care
Cut foreign aid
No benefits for immigrants
Housing needs a complete overhaul

Rubbish like this that Mr Sadiq Khan keeps wasting our money on. While there are so many crisis going on in this country at the moment,MrKhan thinks what is most important is to spend his time and our money (£6.3m) on renaming the overground. Yet some reason londonders keep voting him in ...
www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-68315382.amp

Are you adding boob jobs, tummy tucks, etc as they aren't essential to health? Or just fertility treatment

Financial decisions do play a part in death. There’s a push towards hospice at home these days. Ostensibly because people prefer to die at home which , when asked, of course they do, everyone wants to slip away quietly in their sleep, in their own bed. Reality is it saves hundreds of pounds per day and minimising a persons suffering and the accompanying trauma of their family is not necessarily what is currently prioritised.

Hs2

Definitely not libraries. They’ve been a lifesaver during maternity leave, they run rhyme times and other children’s centre classes around here anyway. (Wiltshire Council). They’re also funded by local councils not central government. They are also massive community hubs for a lot of people.

Foreign aid.

It benefits no-one other than the pockets of the corrupt governments it feeds.

Also question why we’re e.g. paying foreign aid to countries like India who can afford their own nuclear and space programmes.

I would make CMS be counted in benefits calculations. Why is it ok for someone to receive hundred, even thousands sometimes in CMS and still get the same benefits?

I would rebuild the civil service and the NHS. Far too many managers in the NHS and dead wood in the scivil service.

Then I would re-define the NHS to take account of the illnesses we have now, not the ones from 50 years ago.

Treatments such as plastic surgery, other than for conditions where required such as burns etc or breast reconstructions. Infertility treatment especially IVF.

The discussion about euthanasia is a valid one in terms of quality of life, but has no place on a thread discussing how finances can be helped.