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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To ask what you would cut if you were David Cameron?

323 replies

Seeingthebeautyineveryminute · 10/05/2015 19:12

Can't for the life of me see how £12 billion savings are going to be made. I fear it will be cuts to already diminished support and services (as opposed to increased taxation). If you were David Cameron what would you do?

OP posts:
SaltySeaBird · 10/05/2015 23:59

Yes Aermingers my annual increases have been far better than the pay freeze my DH endured for several years followed by a couple of tiny increases. It's been tough for public sector workers under the coalition government and I don't see that changing.

Yes, I'm fairly senior but not on mega money. I'm supposedly part time but in reality work full time to prove my worth and to try and retain my position since having DC - it's not easy but it's not easy for anyone.

CaptainHolt · 11/05/2015 00:00

We have patients on trolleys in our corridor. It's awful. There is so little dignity.

almosthuman · 11/05/2015 00:12

No the figures do not add up if tax credits were abolished and instead no tax for those earning under £20,000. I would be several thousand worse off a year.

Weathergames · 11/05/2015 00:20

In regards to sick pay.

I work for the LA Children's Services.

We have gone through a massive amount of restructuring and people have been moved about to jobs they don't really want BUT the amount of people who get signed off sick for six months of full pay by their GP (including my manager right now) disgusts me. No one does their job while they are off meaning it places a massive amount of pressure on the rest of the team.

No one ever gets instantly dismissed for misconduct either, you can appeal and be on garden leave for up to 18 mnths on full pay.

I often think you would actually have to interfere with a child to get sacked from the LA Hmm

HarveySchlumpfenburger · 11/05/2015 00:25

I'm not an expert, but I'd guess moving elderly patients with pneumonia or something similar down unheated corridors for an xray isn't the best idea either. So that just leaves meeting rooms.

How is this policy going to work in practice anyway? I'm not sure there's any sensible way of working it practically.

BlackeyedSusan · 11/05/2015 01:08

HS2

noddingoff · 11/05/2015 01:09

A local one: apparently policing riots in Northern Ireland costs quite a few bob so I'd put headcams on all the riot police, catch anyone who is actually rioting rather than protesting, and stop their benefits. After all, if you're able to throw breeze blocks at the cops, you don't need DLA and if you have the time to spend all day every working day smashing things up then you're clearly not jobseeking hard enough.

Eustasiavye · 11/05/2015 09:46

Reheat is hs2?

muminhants · 11/05/2015 10:17

I like the 100% inheritance tax idea - certainly the best way ever to redistribute wealth. But maybe more acceptable would be to increase threshold to £500K and say 50% for everything else.

Raising the minimum wage to the living wage so employers pay proper wages for the jobs done and the taxpayer doesn't have to subsidise employers. Presumably that would save a few billion?

Mean-testing certain things for pensioners eg free TV licence or bus pass, but I think they should get free prescriptions. After paying into the system all their lives, I think that's the least the country can offer.

Trident; not sure. Why does it need renewing anyway? Are the missiles degrading? Are the submarines nuclear-powered and do they need renewing too? If so, can we make do with two instead of four?

cakebydelia · 11/05/2015 10:22

Scrap all the govt 'initiatives' which end up costing millions and no-one uses. Things that spring to mind are the energy saving deals for insulation etc and the one in the last budget where people save for a house deposit in an Isa style account which the government matches. They cost huge amounts to implement, the take up is usually very low and there are often horrible unthought of consequences i.e. dozens of nuisance calls from companies offering to insulate the loft 'under the government initiative', many of whom are charlatans.

Many of the EU rules and regs stifle small businesses and also cause a rise in abovementioned charlatan companies offering to do PAT testing, fire risk assessments etc which under HSE are unnecessary. I don't want the UK out of the EU but do think we are under a massive burden from the sheer volume of additional EU requirements.

Charge overseas visitors to galleries/museums etc. We have to pay to visit galleries in Italy/France so think unless you have proof of UK residency you should pay to visit our world class museums.

No more QE, ever ever ever. It costs and the only people it benefits are already wealthy. There is little evidence of 'trickle down effect'.

Stop paying salaries to local councillors. People used to do the job for expenses (I'm sure a lot of expenses were padded but this could be scrutinised). Our councillors with 2 notable exceptions are a shower of lying pocket lining arses. They are either wealthy retirees, or have full time jobs on top of their council activities.

Build more housing - a wide range of options from studio apartments to 3 bed houses, good quality with good fences and soundproofing (!) and not all on estates, but spread across the whole residential gamut. 1% increase in housing in all towns and villages will not cause overcrowding or problems with transport etc - if you live in a village with 100 homes, then an extra one house will not cause problems - similarly a town with 10,000 homes is not going to be disadvantaged by having an extra 100 homes built. These homes should be social housing and NEVER be sold off to the tenants. There should be options for tenants to downsize once family leave home without having to move miles away because there is no smaller accommodation available.

Mousefinkle · 11/05/2015 10:23

Instead of the EU referendum I'd have a referendum on whether we want to keep the Royal family or not and hopefully we'd be able to scrap them...
Clamp down on tax evasion
Tax cigarettes, alcohol and junk food even higher thus saving the NHS MILLIONS.
Ditch George Osborne and Michael Gove.
Get rid of OFSTED.
Raise minimum wage to £10 an hour (that one is idealistic, I know but if we did tax credits wouldn't be necessary.)
Cap/stop bankers bonuses
Landlord tax

Basically, hit out at the rich which is something the Tories won't do.

angelos02 · 11/05/2015 10:36

As much as a I agree with raising the minimum wage to a living wage. What would happen to all other salaries? Eg, who would train to be a nurse or teacher if they could earn around the same doing a less taxing job that didn't need any skills?

JassyRadlett · 11/05/2015 15:08

Well, the living wage outside London works out at around £15,500 as a full time annual salary. The starting salary for a teacher is £21K outside London, moving to £31K in 6 years.

I'd say double the salary is often a good incentive to get qualified. And the idea that jobs on NMW aren't particularly taxing isn't based in reality.

angelos02 · 11/05/2015 15:25

Well I'd say £6,000 a year extra pay (before off-takes) isn't worth 3 years of training?

angelos02 · 11/05/2015 15:26

Sorry - ignore my post, I didn't read in properly. Twice the pay within 6 years is worth it.

Guirado · 11/05/2015 15:31

Most of you are verging on Communists.

LurkingHusband · 11/05/2015 15:32

Therefore, it makes poor economic sense to cut tax credits. It would cost the economy.

If there is any economic sense to the cuts, it'll be accidental. Cuts are a perfect way (along with subsidies) of the state finding a way to enforce it's will onto the population.

One thing we do know, is that whatever the decisions, they will be pure Tory with no interference.

So the cuts will be made to enforce or reinforce Tory morality.

That's it really. I do think people here are seriously overthinking this.

VivienScott · 11/05/2015 16:02

Raise minimum wage. Too many firms pay their employees shit wages so they end up needing tax credits to live, essentially welfare supporting the profits of Sainsburys, Next etc.

Child benefits for children resident and attending school in this country only.

MarianneSolong · 11/05/2015 16:03

My own throat.

Viviennemary · 11/05/2015 16:42

I don't get how people would be thousands worse of a year if they stopped tax credits and increased the tax free allowance. Unless you include housing benefit. I see what people mean about raising the minimum wage. But you have to bear in mind that prices would go up for a lot of people. In supermarkets for instance. They'd pass on the increased costs so poorer people would pay more for their shopping.

GobbolinoCat · 11/05/2015 16:47

I'd go through the local councils like a dose of salts - nobody would be getting £300k salaries there, and if they don't want to do the job for less I'd find someone who did. Nobody in local government agencies needs to be earning twice what the PM is

with you 100% on that tatty, its a disgrace.

SomewhereIBelong · 11/05/2015 16:54

stop the smokescreen that everyone needs a degree or to carry on at school til 17/18/whatever.

stop changing stuff just for the sake of showing that you are doing something - applies to many many fields - education, health, defence etc. just stop for a bit and don't spend money changing stuff that isn't broken.

LurkingHusband · 11/05/2015 17:30

stop changing stuff just for the sake of showing that you are doing something - applies to many many fields - education, health, defence etc. just stop for a bit and don't spend money changing stuff that isn't broken.

What do you think the point of government is ? You can't really govern (or persuade people they need to be governed) if everything works.

Hence (for politicians) nothing will ever be perfect.

captainfarrell · 11/05/2015 17:55

Make museums only free for British citizens. You pay a fortune abroad and it is lovely for London's museums to be free but it should only be to the people who live here. That should raise a few million.

Stop child benefit for high earners( has that been done already?)

Stop our NHS being used as an international service for those who live abroad!

SomewhereIBelong · 11/05/2015 18:04

Hence (for politicians) nothing will ever be perfect

I know... but sometimes it would be nice and cheaper if stuff was held to be "good enough" for a bit....

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