AIBU to suggest this idea to the government?

[mrshess]

That collection tins are placed in banks, supermarkets, libraries etc and people if they can afford any spare change to put in it directly goes to getting us out of the debt we are in.
People might contribute to getting Britain back on its feet by paying some of the debt we are in back,
perhaps Richard Branson, Alan Sugar and other rich people could contribute and we could have a jackpot running total somewhere which would encourage people to give?

I rarely have any spare change these days. However, when I do, it goes to The Safe Motherhood Foundation to try and put an end the needless death of mothers and babies in 3rd world countries, or children in abject poverty both in the UK and elsewhere. My family is already being taxed, cut and hounded to our limits without giving whatever pence I may have left.

Oh yeah, we can have a debt-o-mometer on Blue Peter and all sorts. What a great idea. Can't think why they aren't doing it already, I bet you'll be appointed to the Really Really Brainy Economic Foundation Thinktank for that one.

Perhaps if we start by collecting all the tax that's due from businesses we can skip this, after all, we have already dug down the back of the sofa to buy half the high street banks.

Even if they held Telathons and Live Aid style concerts I doubt they'd raise enough money to make any difference.

True worra, a lot of people don't know our borrowing is actually going up despite the public sector cuts.

One of the Good Gifts catalogues had an option to buy off a bit of the national debt. It's also common place in the US.

It won't make a critical difference, but on the basis of "every little helps", then it would be worth giving it a go (it would after all be cheap and easy to run).

SAGA, BTW, have set up something similar - a fund to which well off pensioners can send their winter fuel payment, and it is them redistributed via charities.

Wobbly there is no need to be rude,some people if they are able to would contribute to getting us back on track.

I think they should double the tax on alcohol. Less people drinking would save the nhs a fortune (actually it might save the nhs full stop) save the police a fortune and still have money coming in because people will still drink, just won't be able to afford to drink as much. It's like the smoking thing, fags are bloody stupidly expensive, which is fine as they aren't necessary and are a lifestyle choice, drink should be the same, while ever it's on sale in every supermarket for peanuts, people will get arseholed, injure themselves and require treatment or at best a wasted ambulance trip, or behave like louts and have police and possibly court involvement, or as happened on Saturday night, a young man was killed after interfering in a drunken brawl outside a night club.