Popular cuts and popular taxes

[jollydiane]

Can we think of anything which we could agree on?

1. The national lottery is a type of tax, but nobody is forced to pay it and we all like the thought of winning a million pounds so lets increase the tax up on this.

1. Winter Fuel allowance. This is scary for all governments but it cannot be fair for higher rate tax payers to receive this benefit, scrap this allowance they managed to do this for Child Tax Credits so it cannot be that hard.

1. When I went to Turkey I had to pay for a £10 Visa to get into the country, lets have the same here for tourists. After all many of our best tourist attractions are free any way so its not much to ask.

1. Can we scrap the free swimming for over 50, would it really put the over 50s off swimming if they had to pay a few pounds?

1. How is it that so many big projects go so wrong, e.g. NHS IT system, what system do we have that allowed this to happen?

1. There was talk by the government that if a pensioner paid £8500 they would have all their care paid for and would not have to sell their home. Although I have not heard much about this I cannot think this would ever be affordable.

1. Do we really need Trident are there better alternatives?

If we can agree then perhaps we can give this to our MP's or let Ed and David know we have solved their problems

Ok over to you

"Oh I have one before someone is allowed to come here either on a holiday or student or working visa they must show they have health insurance"

I thought they do at some stage during the visa application process.

Many come simply get health care or whats even more guru ex pats who don't want to live here or pay tax here come back just for the free health care they can't get in the us or whatever country there in gurrr

slavetofilofax well thats why it was one of the first things on the governments cutting list

I do agree with the benefit reforms, just
Maybe not how they are doing it iyswim.

It's not fair to take from dla for example and give to youth unemployed etc.

I just think there are so many different types of benefit it is so confusing.
I also don't really agree with council house for life. My mum and dad are downsizing due to us moving out/ the expense not being needed. Why do others get a 4 bed house of which 1 bed is used?

I also noted that the council spent a lot of money evicting and chasing up non rent payment from someone I know, and never got it, only to then evict them and give them another house 2 doors
Down. Seems like a lot
Of wasted resources. Because of course they had to then redecorate and clean both places? It confused me

OMG! Benefits take up 9% more of the budget than the NHS??

This is a rather good Guardian Infographic with all the 2010-11 Government spend on it

bemybebe nope oh is a nurse and tells me each trust has a team that basically chases tourists for money after they have left or has to call immigration for suspected health tourist it would be simpler if people just didn't come in unless they had Health care

Perhaps we need some input from 'gransnet' but I would be interested if anyone has any thoughts on cutting the Winter Fuel Allowance. I was when I found out how much this costs.

International students are entitled to NHS treatment. You could argue that they should have to take out private health insurance, but on balance, they bring in millions of pounds to our economy each year, so I have no problem with them accessing the health service.

Tourists should not be treated unless it is an emergency. In a civilised society, I would not want anyone to be left dying in the street, regardless of who paid for the ambulance.

I don't see why it matters how long tax-paying workers have been here before they are entitled to NHS treatment. Lots of British people won't have paid much into the system either, but i presume you don't object to the NHS treating them?

Schengen countries definitely have "valid health insurance" as one of visa the pre-requisites.

Maypole- people who are not resident in the uk are not entitled to anything other than A&E treatment. Some people (not many) do come here just to get treatment, and they are required to show that they have the finances to pay for their treatment and are required to pay up front in most cases.

Kayano we have generations basically weened on benefits I think we all need to go cold turkey ad start again like you said with a more steam lined system

And their needs to be real sanctions for people who WON'T work

Well I agree the 50% tax payer should not need winter fuel allowance. But I think if they cut it they will cut it a lot more than that so it would be the 'squeezed middle' that would lose out again iyswim?

Don't think everyone should get it though

Free swimming for over 60s has gone already.

Maypole- people who are not resident in the uk are not entitled to anything other than A&E treatment. Some people (not many) do come here just to get treatment, and they are required to show that they have the finances to pay for their treatment and are required to pay up front in most cases.

Thats the theory.... but the reality is a lot of unreported health tourism. It's one of those things like immigration numbers, its being massively covered up underplayed by the government, but the scandal will eventually out.

jollydiane this may be very conterverisal but were are these people families

I am aghast the old people who have children will die because they are cold

My oh grand mother we ALL made sure she had electric blankets we all put in £50 towards her heating bill (which is no more than a trip to the pictures nowadays )which paid it for the quarter and checked with her elec company ourselves she was using her heating

We also made sure she had a stand alone heating

I think people could do a lot more for their grand parents than waiting on the government

We are to used to the government doing everything for us

I would be ashamed if my gran went cold this winter when we did don't

I definitely don't agree with scrapping the bus passes for over 60's, but money could be saved with better regulation of that. Means testing somehow, or restricting the journeys to the district the pass was issued in.

I am shocked about the 9% stat.

Winter Fuel Allowance needs to be scrapped completely, my Gran gets nothing but the state pension but has spent her WFA on nicer Christmas presents for us all since she started getting it. She will Not Be Told.

Old people shouldn't get free TV licences either.

And if the pregancy/new baby grants are still around, they need to go too, as does child benefit for any more than two children. But I think it should stay as a universal benefit.

I can understand that young people and elderly getting free stuff pushes up the price for everyone else but the whole point of todays strikes are about pensions. Elderly are already on a tight budget with their pension, is it fair to make them pay for things when they can barely scrape by on the minimal money they get? They have paid for those things since they started working, I think making them pay for bus fare and such like will only cause them to not go anywhere very often because they couldn't afford to pay for it.

It's one of the perks of getting older, in this country it isn't like they got fuck all else to look forward to is it!?

But I agree with the majority of what you are saying.

I think a big problem is that a lot of tax isn't collected because the very wealthy use offshore accounts etc. There was an article in the Guardian (I think) recently which said something like a billion pounds a year of stamp duty isn't paid because people use property management companies when buying/selling very expensive houses. I would like to see tax loopholes that allow the very rich to get away with not paying a tax that everyone else pays closed, but while Dave et al are in power I'm sure they wouldn't want to ruin their own second home budgets

Not scrapping really but sort of lime the young people passes where they can use their pass and pay like £1 a day for a day rider etc...

It's a low amount and I think a lot would be willing to pay that. And most people are still working at 60. Why random free travel? Why not link it to pension age?

I don't get why 60 is a relevant age to be honest anymore

autonomousmind.wordpress.com/2011/02/19/the-guardians-rank-hypocrisy-on-tax-avoidance/

The guardian has a vested intrest in deflecting on this issue

So I don't really believe a word they have to say on the matter

Free bus travel should be linked to the retirement age. WFA shouldn't apply to those in the higher-rate tax bracket - in fact, no benefits should apply to those in the higher-rate tax bracket and I will be happy to give up my CA when that goes.

Where big cities have free museums etc, they should only be free to council-tax payers and anyone not from the area should have to pay to get in.

A mass review of all government and council physical properties to sell off 'prestige' buildings in the centre of town and 'dehub' workers out into the communities, in shared buildings. So libraries should be in the same buildings as community centres, with 'hubbed' teams working there, instead of being in their lovely offices in the centre of town. (Thats not a dig at council workers because of course it isn't their fault, but big businesses can't afford to be in city centres anymore so why should council/govts?)

Agreed we cannot expect to spend half our working lifes in retirement any more

We are living much longer my oh nan lived until she was 89 we can't be paying out all this free stuff from 60 until 89 thats almost 30 years

A tax rise I would be willing to pay for is being able to see a doctor early in the morning (before work) or in the evening (after work). I would pay £15 for this service. The current situation of phoning on the day and you may get an appointment in the middle of the day doesn't really work for me.

oh leave old people alone, that is the trouble old people and the vulnerable have always been the targets .
there are other cuts that could be made that would not make Granddad freeze of a disabled person starve.
look at that crap thing about education for 2 year olds for a start