Can someone explain to me why/how the Labour government has directly made them worse off in the last 15 months?

[MotherofAdults]

Can someone explain to me why/how the Labour government has directly made them worse off in the last 15 months? I see this claim a lot on these pages, but I don't understand why. Sorry if I sound stupid, I am just trying to get clear.

I totally understand that the cost of living keeps going up - that inflation keeps rising (3.5-3.8%?) and that mortgage interest remains relatively high, but I don't understand why or how this is the fault of the current government? What have/haven't they done? Are people angry that they haven't curbed inflation? What should they be doing?

If we could avoid mentioning the things that didn't actually happen (eg the Winter Fuel Allowence cuts) and speculation about what the next budget will do (doubling of council tax, rise in minimum wage etc), that would be really helpful. I am looking for actual changes made by this that have directly affected your financial situation since Labour got it.

Us too.

Private schooling in my home country is under a third of the cost here at our small, non-selective non-elite PS. Because the government there understands that there is a very real benefit for some students to be privately educated.

DS1 finishes GCSEs next June. DS2 is going into GCSEs the year after next. I have already toured schools

We are moving end of June. Our DCs know that there is no real future here for them in the UK.

Unless you are a Labour MP….

Honestly Labour will not be a blight on your lives forever.

Perhaps a different view of the VAT on school fees.

A few schools have closed. People have lost their jobs and not only the teachers but the cooking/cleaning staff, caretaker - the support staff - jobs that are not easily found elsewhere. Companies with contracts to service equipment etc lost income and along with the rise in NI they have been affected in consequence their employees may not get the pay rises they may have expected, promotions etc. It is not just the parents/children who have been affected

The OP asked how you had been directly made worse off.

@BlindSpotForCats where are you moving to? If you don’t mind saying of course

Labour are utterly incompetent, spraying taxpayers money around like confetti as usual, unable to understand basic economics, they are a joke.

This is a naive view. If more and more people and businesses move abroad, the jobs will move with them. The UK ultimately loses out. Economically mobile individuals are more likely to have specific skills which may be hard to recruit for. Policies encouraging skilled workers to leave the UK are not a positive thing.

The CBI is already warning of this.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cz6g85qp0p6o?app-referrer=deep-link

Ask again on 24 November.

Australia.

NSW to be more precise.

Of course, there is a tipping point. But we are nowhere near that point. The majority of higher earners aren't leaving and won't leave. There is a lot of hot air.

Businesses leaving is a bigger concern, and I have already acknowledged that the NI increases haven't helped, but Brexit is also a major problem in this regard.

I don’t know about that. The six-hour working day in Sweden, while not a government policy, was popular enough that many companies kept it after the trial period and Sweden generally has a higher standard of living and higher wages than the UK, and higher taxes. Yes, people should provide for themselves but the main reason many people in the UK can’t is the cost of housing versus low wages, not because they’re workshy layabouts. Many recipients of UC are working, for example. But on the other end of the scale, working yourself to the bone just to own more stuff is a fool’s game.

And this government pledged not to raise income tax? It could well happen so I don’t trust a manifesto.
While I’m at it, if RR is so keen to get in bed with Europe why doesn’t she levy city tax and entrance fees to attractions as our neighbour’s do? There are zillions of tourists in our major cities who could and should contribute to the kitty.
Why doesn’t she chase those who’ve deliberately worked their whole lives cash in hand then receive a large portion of their OHs’ state pension? (I’m looking at several people I know.)
I could go on, but will spare you…

Wrong thread

I think it's interesting that very few (any?) mention is made in this thread of the decision to give certain public sector workers a large payrise immediately on gaining power. This was massively inflationary and set the economy off in a dismal direction. You may object all you like to the Tories but Rishi Sunak was reasonably responsible and though the economy had some systemic issues when he handed it over, labour have hobbled it entirely.

You have (1) the injection of inflation with those huge payrises, (2) the dampening effect on employers of the NI increase (while insisting to our lying eyes that this would not be a tax on workers), (3) chasing the wealthiest and most mobile (i.e. the wealth creators) out of the country with tax measures. All together these are having and will continue to have a horrible effect.

Does that answer the question?

The immigration costs are small in the context of the welfare bill faced by this country. We need to get used to the idea of paying for own old age. It's political suicide to propose it so no one will. Instead I guess we shall have to wait for the IMF to come and get rid of the triple lock for us. In the meantime the young and working population will continue to be punished.

One of my friends is an IFA. He says that right now his wealthy clients are giving money away to family, selling assets (especially BTL properties) and taking money out of pensions rather than putting money into them. None of this affects me personally, but I can see it’s bad if people don’t bother with private pensions and there’s a worsening shortage of rental properties available.

The tax threshold for 20% should be set at £20,000, 40% at £75,000 and then 60% on anything over £150,000 rising to 75% over the next five years.

And you honestly think that those people will happily hand over 75p in every £ rather than move to other countries with more favourable tax rates? You’d have financial services firms, for example, leaving the country and basing themselves elsewhere (many already have an international presence).

The Gov is spending more than it 'earns', and has been borrowing the rest.
But without any clear plan on how to repay the borrowing without borrowing even more, the cost of the borrowing keeps going up.
From what I understand, the money markets are less inclined to lend money and therefore charge more.
Technically, the Gov has been doing 'quantative easing" which is equivalent to printing money. This causes inflation.
Secondly, they have put higher costs on private businesses, also causing inflation as businesses will charge it back to the customer.
So the Gov has to cut spending or raise taxes (or both).
So far we have been fed many rumours of where these tax rises will be.
But remember some tax rises produce less tax.
Stamp duty goes up, and people stop buying houses, etc this is just one example.
I have not yet seen any figures, but vat on school fees could lose money, if too many parents swap to state school.
So the question is which taxes will go up, and by how much.

As name suggests. My DC have moved their small business to Europe.
Both have EU passports. It is just not doable here any more.

MyHappyGreenAnt · Today 11:48

I think it's interesting that very few (any?) mention is made in this thread of the decision to give certain public sector workers a large payrise immediately on gaining power. This was massively inflationary and set the economy off in a dismal direction. You may object all you like to the Tories but Rishi Sunak was reasonably responsible and though the economy had some systemic issues when he handed it over, labour have hobbled it entirely.

You sound like my DH.
👏

It’s very difficult to “game” the disability benefit system btw. I’m on PIP, DH works. He always has, even when it was really dangerous for me to be left at home alone. Whenever I’ve been reviewed I’ve had to send in reams and reams of medical evidence, the last time it was 499 pieces. I’ve been seen by multiple assessors, who have even checked the soles of my feet to see if there’s any evidence of me walking.

I absolutely do believe that if you can work you should work, and being on PIP doesn’t mean you’re not in work. I worked until I couldn’t physically drag myself in anymore. We have always instilled a decent work ethic into our children, too. They both earn well, are ambitious and don’t take the piss.

We are always going to have sick, disabled, old and vulnerable people in society who should be looked after. It sickens me that every single time money needs raising, we start attacking that group.

The NI increase cost my organisation £1.5m. It means staff will be getting a 1.4% pay rise as opposed to a 3% pay rise.

Proposals to tax DB pensions will impact our estate and what our children receive.

Due to the decimation of HE funding, the Humanities and associated staff have jobs at risk. Accordingly my DS has left the UK.

You see these posts from time to time mocking people who now pay tax on their children’s education or their schools have had to close, it’s never from the point of view of look at how much it’s improved …well anything. The glee seems to be from hurting someone’s children to take their parents down a peg or two rather than anything positive . Really weird and toxic world view, I’ll never get my head around it.

Being an employer in hospitality is awful atm. We have stopped rehiring, but that doesn't show up on the statistics...

I thought you might be from your post on schooling. Best of luck