Anyone watching the Budget 2024?

[LadyofRutshire]

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

It works pretty well in Scandinavia.

Try again

I'd rather use the land for nature if we're talking about what we want. Countryside should be about trees and wildflowers and natural hedges instead of walls and not "food production." Especially when the quality of food in this country is dire. I didn't see a single good strawberry anywhere this year, and we appear to be burning food rather than harvesting it due to lack of workers.

Scandanavia are not socialist.

Low and medium earners in Scandinavia pay waaaaay more tax.

This.

I never ceased to be amazed at the level of cognitive dissonance that exists in the general population. You don't have to look far on MN (for example) to find people justifiably complaining about GP appointments, waiting lists, class sizes, policing levels etc etc. Then, on a day like today there is an outcry at the idea we might have to pay for the public services we want. How else are they going to improve? I've seen Jeremy Hunt being interviewed this afternoon and he still seems to think massive improvements in public services can come from welfare reform and better productivity in the NHS. Now, I don't doubt that there are saving to be made here, but not on the scale required. And of course, welfare reform will inevitably hit the most vulnerable.

I'm prepared to give what the Government have done today a chance. I really hope we see the benefits from the investment set out.

If people want lower taxes then they have to accept that they will have a reduced standard - or privatisation - of public services. But no one wants to face up to that reality.

All the rich lot threatening to leave.

Just go. It will be fine without you.

I think this budget is a step in the right direction.
Depends on how it's spent of course, but one step at a time.
Rachel Reeves sounded informed, calm with an overall vision.

First female Chancellor. Yeah seems ok

Everyone wants good public services but no one wants to pay for them, as usual.

Which is roughly the same increase proportionally as someone would pay flying in a private jet.

This👆👆👆The NMW workers keep you in a job …childcare,filling shelves in supermarkets ,home deliveries, caring for the elderly or your disabled family member,cleaning etc etc etc …do you get it now?! If they didn’t do these jobs you wouldn’t be able to work 🤦‍♀️

@Brananan As I teach in a school that needed to rebuilt over a decade ago (according to the regs), yes, it makes me happy. Have you not seen the articles on public sector workers who are dying from asbestos poisoning due to breakdown?

The real irony is £100k isn’t even a very high salary compared to lots of other places.

The UK is eating itself.

I am generally happy with the budget, seems fair enough to me. Public services need to be paid for and pretty much they have stuck to their promise to keep working people out of it.
The only thing I wish they'd changed is the freeze on the personal allowance, might have made a difference to young people and families starting out, but at least they have promised to remove that in the future.

Those talking about people working hard on minimum wage and having to choose between heating or buying shoes for their children. My answer is no hard worker should be on minimum wage for any length of time.

Care workers, nursery workers, SLAs in schools all paid minimum wage - lots of essential jobs that society desperately needs and paid minimum wage. Jobs where experience is very valuable in terms of practice but not valued in monetary terms - minimum wage should provide a dignified level of existence.

The OBR estimates that 80% of the employer's national insurance increase will be passed on to employees.

Aren't small business owners working people?

I mean they work don't they?

Oh that I completely agree. There actually isn't that much difference between a 25k salary and a 55k salary when you take into account benefits.

And these people work too

@Summernightsinthe21stcentury

Yes a few southern European countries are open to the British elderly with cash on the hip. Good thing you’re fluent in Portuguese and will obviously love the culture and adapt easily too!
Don’t you love it when the elderly are so very upwardly mobile. I think we’d quite like more of them to be like that. As long as we stop their state pension and nhs entitlement, obviously.

Exactly, bring on the Scandinavian model because I won’t be paying more tax but I would get better public services!

Minimum wage should be enough to live on, and enjoy life a little too. Being on jobs that pay that should not be considered temporary, as some people are simply not capable of more. Not always to do with disability, but things like general people skills and aptitude. Plus, some people just don't want the stress.

Saying that people on NMW should always aspire to be better brings the implication that people that stay on it are somehow lacking. That is a horrible way to see the people that do such vital jobs. Experienced care workers are stuck on NMW, yet their time in that role and experience is utterly priceless.

I was a hospital porter on NMW, and the next step up was supervisor, but was little more than I was on anyway with a whole lot more shit thrown at you. So many porters and cleaners worked their way up, and dropped back down again. The meagre pay rise was not worth the stress. During my time in the 'lower decks' of the NHS, a lot of people in their 30s/40s/50s stayed in the porter/cleaner roles. The only people who stayed for a short while were youngsters who were using it as experience for nursing/med school application... and tbh, the rest of the staff hated that.

How do you think businesses will fund the additional NI contributions?

I agree about concerns re farmers. I think, as a pp suggested, if the beneficiaries are working farmers they should be exempt from the IHT changes.

This isn't only an issue for farmers. It affects all of us. It's about food security.

Farms aside, I think IHT should be taxed on the wealth/income of the beneficiaries.

Re the Nordic Model (which is not socialism. It's a mix of socialism and free-market capitalism).
Yes everyone pays higher tax. But it pays off. They have an internationally recognised higher quality of life, and a strong social security safety net - and consequently more contented and cohesive societies than many other countries.

good lord I really dont know how to respond to this post because it is so stunning in its utter stupidity. Let me break it down for you. If we dont produce our own food for our own people we are then reliant on other countries to produce that food. we are spending huge amounts in terms of carbon transporting that food thousands of miles into the country. It will need more packaging to keep it fresh. and you think THIS is greener and more environmentally sustainable? and if you own land do you think you can just afford to let it sit there ideally doing fuck all so that townies have some naice flowers to look at as they whizz past in their electric vehicles? We need to be growing MORE food not less. We need to be encouraging people to buy and eat local seasonal produce. the average age of a farmer in this country is over 65. we need more young people getting into farming and producing that good quality local seasonal produce that saves on food miles and protects us from unreasonable commodity price rises abroad. If you think the quality of food in this country is dire then

a) start shopping in a farm shop local to where you live and buy local seasonal produce.
b) start looking at where this low quality food actually comes from.

I have never read something so utterly stupid on MN in the25+ years I have been a member. I am staggered.

I’m not an OAP! But I am wealthy / a high earner.