Anyone watching the Budget 2024?

[LadyofRutshire]

I couldn't find a thread on today's budget. Anyone watching live?

I actually work in insolvency.
Of the “currently close to bankruptcy” businesses I’m currently helping, I believe all can swallow this, some with increased cost cutting but nothing that would be specifically related to this.

So how a company was financially sustainable but suddenly isn’t, due to this, is quite hard to understand. Would love to come across some real examples.

It's not about individuals it's about a society working as a whole.

Better than a Tufton street enterprise.
Your own eyes must tell you the country is in a mess (that’s if you live here). Everything is broken. Trickle down economics is a busted flush. What’s your
answer ?

I do not own land, but your post is spot on and I think there truly is a lot of ignorance around how much it takes to keep a farm operating. That farming is in many respects a labour of love and you absolutely need that long term generational incentive for land to be cherished. Sadly, I think we are going to end up with just a few mega corporate farms like the States eventually, with all that means for the food chain, insect life etc. As for building over the greenbelt 🙈, actually makes me feel physically distressed for our younger generations. There are so many brownfield sites crying out for regeneration. Yes, costs more £ short term, but so so necessary long term.

That's pretty stark isn't it?

Of course it is about individuals.

Someone on £150k pays over 21 times as much income tax as someone on £25k.

How much more would you like them to pay?

Anyway on another thread someone’s just mentioned that arch Tory/Brexiteer John Redwood isn’t up in arms about it. In the Guardian. So rest easy.

Like France? Yes good idea. Better welfare benefits safety net, more affordable housing, cheaper public transport, access to a good healthcare system.

Because of course, as has been widely reported by many experts, austerity is a false economy.

I have relatives in France and Germany and things aren’t rosy there either. The west is in decline and it’s going to take a mammoth effort to stabilise

It’s cooled off a little; but up. Which means higher debt repayments for the UK. Let’s get the US election out of the way and see where we are at.

@PinkFruitbat which countries would those be? I'm genuinely interested.

Saving that for next year

How much tax would you like someone on £25k to pay?

France has incredibly high debt. I'm not sure we want to get to that level

https://www.rfi.fr/en/france/20241018-france-braces-for-economic-judgment-amid-political-turmoil-and-record-debt

I would savagely cut benefits. It forces efficiency. I would cut the NHS budget in half, end most employment benefits, introduce an NHS ID card, and remove the £12.5k tax free allowance.

That would stabilise the budget and enable massive reform of public sector pensions (far too generous, and funded from direct taxation), and massive reform of state pensions (unfortunately they need to be means tested any for only those who have nothing else to fall back on.

They will never be happy unless benefits are exactly the same as a middle class professional wage. And to be honest with the median wage at 37k - when you take into account what people on benefits receive in housing subsidies, low rent, childcare, child benefit, etc you can be a single mum on benefits and to be able to afford that same lifestyle you would need a wage of about 40k (70 plus in London). So it pretty much is the same, and is the same regardless of circumstances or abilities.

But the middle class who work and have to pay for it are not allowed to complain. Nor are we entitled to money from the government because we are deemed to have enough.

It's odd. I've met plenty people richer than me. My immediate attitude was not "the government owes me a bigger house because someone else has one". It's supposed to be a safety net, not a carrier bag.

About a 3rd of their income.

It’s always about individuals, as we make society, the businesses folding as they can’t afford it, the low paid workers losing their jobs as the min wage now is higher than they can afford, first time buyers who can’t afford their home anymore, average couples unable already struggling to pay their bills and what their homes, feed their kids, now on the breadline, how much do you think food, nursery etc will all go up now as these costs trickle down. The state schools already over subscribed trying to find places for all the private kids entering their state system, people no longer affording private health care, over burdening the nhs,

society working as a whole. It just crashed and burned, we are society,

Junior Doctor average starting salary: £32,000
Average weekly hours: 60-70
Hourly Wage: £8-£10

You do realise that doctors get paid overtime and extra for working weekends and nights? £32k is for working a 40 hour week on days Mon-Fri

You need to look at sector by sector; education, health, law and order and learn from the best.

Singapore, Switzerland, Australia, South Korea.

For example; why do we have so many weeks off on school holiday? Is that preparing our children for the global economy?

I didn't watch it, and it sounds like I would not understand much of it anyway.
Is there a simple breakdown of it out there?
I am on UC, and wondered what was mentioned about that. From this thread I gather it was about bank accounts being monitored?

That would stabilise the budget and enable massive reform of public sector pensions (far too generous, and funded from direct taxation), and massive reform of state pensions (unfortunately they need to be means tested any for only those who have nothing else to fall back on.

How would that work? Look at the furore re means testing winter fuel, the current pensioners would revolt over means testing the state pension. I agree some public sector pensions are very generous but we would see more strikes.

Do you think an extra 6k above minimum wage is fair?

Do you think it is fair for some of our brightest and hardworking young people to take on thousands of pounds of debt and thousands of hours of training and education to earn little more than someone with no qualifications?

Would you like the person with no qualifications making decisions about your health?

Why would she do that? Removing the freeze for 28/29 will give people an increase in income just before the next election. It’s pretty smart politics I think.

I think the last leader to be bold like this was Maggie. It’s not pretty but you have to be honest, and tough.