to wonder what cuts YOU would make?

[jade80]

I keep reading threads about how a, b or c should not, under any circumstances have their funding cut. So, given that cuts have to be made because of ongoing overspending in recent decades, what would you, personally, choose to take the money away from?

Yes. We'd have to take out extra security. We'll take that from all the extra money we'll make from cutting child benefits?

Lady if you have kids and you work, you are essentially paying monies to help pay for child benefit, so in fact you would be rightfully claiming back something you paid for iyswim

Then why, if you have children, do you not get a reduction in your tax? I don't pay into the pot to get it out.

I thought you had quite a good idea about the mortgages there Second. but if they did that, I don't think you should have the right to live in it as long as you want. It should become social housing, and imp people should only be allowed to stay in social housing for as long as they need it. So people that were living in homes that accomodate 5 children, would be moved into something smaller when those children left home.

The visa thing is a good idea.

Cutting is a false economy. Cuts involve redundencies, more unemployed people = less money being spent by consumers, business suffer, make people redundant... You see where I'm going with this.

The last time the UK majorly cut it's spending was after WWII - economic climate similar, ie Europe and most of world totally down the pan. It failed massively. Plunged into recession, until NHS created. Created jobs...

I don't think we need another NHS. This overspend is not as bad as then, but cutting will not help.

However if I had to cut anything I would start with the £3m new town council building where I live that will only be used by councillers. So far to fund it they have permanently shut the public toilets... & Trident.

We should definately be bringing back the job creation schemes as well. Labour had started them and they were getting good results, but the coalition chopped them I believe.

Register every house with empty rooms and force people to rent out spare rooms to people struggling to find a place to live. That way demand for rental properties would go down, forcing the market to level at an affordable rate for those on low incomes.

Raise the minimum wage, so that ordinary people can once again earn a living wage and not have to rely on tax credits/child benefits. This would also mean that more people would fall into middle rate tax payer status, and revenue would increase, while tax credist could be abolished.

if I could, I would
raise tax on(I assume they pay tax) on all boats and yachts over a certain very small size.
close ford open prison and sell the land.
tax people in large house on bedrooms that are not occupied by a person that sleeps in them.
pull out of the Olympics.
stop all foreign aid
sell the crown jewels.
stop supplying police protection at tax payers expense for minor royals and visiting heads of state.
abolish winter fuel payments and bus passes. for OAP's but make energy company's reduce bill s across the board
increase taxes for high earners.
stop all job related bonus's or TAX THEM VERY heavily especially wbankers.
keep DLA as it is, but make it simpler, thus cutting staff.

Well why should the average householder be forced to become a landlord? And no, the rents wouldn't be lower.

Raising the minimum wage would create more job losses and redundancies - false economy.

Because, goingforit there is a cronic shortage of afordable accomodation but no onwe want to build more homes, so somethings gotta give.

If you want to get rid of tax credits and child benefit there has to be an alternative to stop families living in misery. So its a choice, have tax credits, put up wages, or go back to dickensian britain.

I have no wish to get rid of all tax credits or child benefit at all. There are always going to be lower paid in society owing to the jobs they do, and to keep raising minimum wage means companies obviously have to raise productivity which during a recession becomes harder and harder. Inevitably they too cut back and make redundancies.

The situation isn't that simple. There is no way you can make people become landlords. I totally agree with you that there is an overwhelming shortage of accommodation. That isn't helped by immigration policies and building shortcomings, but if everyone did become a landlord I doubt very much if rents would see too much difference, just greedy people cashing in on it.

I fear we're going back to Dickensian Britain as it is. Library's closing, etc,

re new homes. there are LOTS of empty homes. there are more empty homes than people looking for housing. What's required is investment in returning them to become attractive and habitable. We should stop people owning more than one property as this reduces the amount of housing stock available, and increases pressure to build new homes. we should stop the increase in building of new homes and renovate/use the space available on brownfield sites. Cannot see that the visa thing would work as it would cost more than £20 in administration to actually collect the money/do the paperwork etc.

Hear, hear.

We should stop building on green fields. For a lot of reasons--environmental, food and just because the countryside is our children's heritage and shouldn't be destroyed.

Child benefit should be scrapped; Tax credits should be scrapped; Social Services should be scaled back massively; education authorities abolished; Equality commission scrapped (along with associated legislation); BBC should be privatised and the licence fee abolished.

That's a few to be going on with...

My bug bearer is the people who come here from other EU countries and immediately get benefits and free health car.

They work on self employed bases, pay no tax, disappear back to wherever they come from then come back 6 months later and do the same.

On the other hand those people not actually existing does save an awful lot of money in imaginary benefits and health care.

"actually toastie,i'd rather be back in dickensian britain,at least they'd 'know their place"

I really really hope that is a joke!

We should definately be bringing back the job creation schemes as well. Labour had started them and they were getting good results

Let Scotland become fully independent and let Holland & France competitively tender for England.

Given the size of the deficit we need things which have a massive impact, that's the issue. Labour proposed I think 5% less of a cut than the Tories but both knew and know big nasty cuts are needed. There is not a huge divide between the two parties.

Huge difference in how they would have achieved it though Xenia. Labour wouldn't be targeting deprived cities in the north of England for bigger cuts. Though they would also have kept the pointless Audit Commission I suppose. 5% of national spending is not an insignificant amount either. That's a lot of operations paid for or police kept on the streets.