To think the Labour Party are writing cheques they just cannot afford to cash

[butterflycatcher]

I am in absolute disbelief. The Labour Party are making more and more promises to end this, abolish that, pay for this, remove costs from that...

Am I the only who thinks they are writing cheques that they cannot afford to cash? Who out there honestly believes that they can achieve these things without imposing heavy taxes and fines on ordinary people? The rich are too rich to care, they have means to move money, find new tax havens, leave the country, invest elsewhere etc.

I believe in helping those who need it most, I believe that the NHS should have the funding it deserves, that children shouldn't live in poverty and that those who are most vulnerable should be able to get the help they need.

But I cannot see how all of this is possible without hitting the middle income earners, further widening the gap between the haves and have nots.

For starters, this land value tax (garden tax) is an absolute farce if it comes into force. Why should people be penalised because they live in an area where land is in demand and therefore prices are pushed up to compensate the lack of supply? It doesn't mean that they earn any more or that their struggles are any less.

Please help me come to decision on who I should be voting for.

Oh, I think you know who you are going to vote for..........

The land tax is not even a thing. FGS it's a tory spin on one line in the labour manifesto.

Please stop spreading mistruths.

They can't. Thry havnt even costed in how much nationalisation all the utilities will cost.

It's s blpody shame as the policies are great but utopia is very very expensive and no bugger wants to pay for it whatever they say.

It's the mythical rich that most certainly will not.

Well I voted labour (postal) and I think lvt is very fair.

In a way I feel the same - Tories are unpalatable, deliberately nasty and have basically become UKIP for the respectable.

Labour's plans do seem unrealistic because everything is coming from corporation tax which given Brexit isn't a hugely safe bet to increase.

I am in the fortunate position that Lib Dem is the 2nd party in my constituency (rural/affluent small market towns with a few pockets of relative deprivation) so will vote lib dem in the hope that more people will compare the coalition with a "pure" tory government and see how good a job they did!

all promises fully costed and most will be met through increased taxes on the richest 5% and large corporations. They will of course borrow to set up an investment bank to fund investment projects that will drive economic growth and tax revenues. The will NOT as current Govt does borrow to cover day to day spending. The Tory manifesto has no detail and no costings - its all about trusting TM who has shown since she took office she can't be trusted as always changing her mind. She was a failed Home Secretary - policing, security, immigration. Labour will deliver for the many not the few.

its all been fully costed, unlike the tory manifesto. We CAN afford these things, in fact we cannot afford not to invest more in public services. Its not utopia, its what we need, and wouldnt even be seen as particularly extreme in a lot of europe

I am conflicted to be honest. I have always traditionally voted Conservative but this lust for Labour across social media platforms and on the television has made me stop and reevaluate. I just now feel at a bit of a loss to see why everyone thinks Labour is so great. Do people honestly think they are going to deliver what they are promising? Why are people jumping ship, is there something going on I can't see?

Oh come on like you don't know who your voting for.............

None of the above. Never felt so like putting that on the ballot paper. I won't but really what a bloody crap choice.

The richest 5% will hide their money abroad or move abroad. They went in droves during the 70s.

Corporation tax just when we really need to attract new business post Brexit.

Sorry it's never going go happen.

Look I love the policies but it's not going to happen.

well the Torys haven't costed any of their manifesto ...

It assumes that corporation tax and income tax increases will be in line with Labour predictions.

I think that's a big ask frankly.

Do we really believe that no corps will make changes to avoid the hike? Do we really believe that none of the targeted 5% will make changes?
Do we really believe they'll just smile and cough?

If you just listened to social media then yes, there is a clear labour majority. It's not the case, though.

if Corporation Tax is raised it will still be LOWER than most of Europe and the USA - so I think we are safe

One side is too severe (May,) and the other is too soft (Corbyn.) No middle ground with either of them. This election is going to be harder for me than any one in the past ever. I am close to abstaining tbh.

I think people make a huge category mistake when they think of the public finances as like domestic finances. They are NOTHING alike. The public finances are elastic in terms of both taxation and borrowing, in a way that just doesn't translate to any kind of domestic setting. We absolutely CAN afford to fund our public services properly but it involves those who are better off paying a bit more into them.

We seem as a society to have lost an idea of the extent to which our worlds are interconnected, economically, culturally and physically. Those of us who are lucky enough to have better incomes and living conditions absolutely owe it to others to help them out.

(Oh and the advantage of LVT is that you can't hide land abroad).

Please help me come to decision on who I should be voting for.

I don't think there is really any doubt about who you will be voting for, is there?!

laniuvelle it doesn't really matter what you or JC think people should be prepared to accept. In terms of tax take it matters what people are corps will actually do.

And nothing supports the premise that corps in particular will just smile and cough up.

It's very tempting to spoil my ballot this time round. I will vote Labour as I like the local candidate and what she stands for, however, I wouldn't choose any of the party leaders to run our country.

My mum, life long Labour supporter, wife of a miner, says she will spoil her ballot she is so disgusted by the current state of affairs.

I'll be interested to know if she actually does it on the day though!

They why do other countries bother having higher rates carl?

Of course there is usually tax avoidance behaviour, but no-one thinks that the rise in the rate won't raise ANY money.

I would point out that, when we are thinking about tax rises, we should be weighing these against the cost of private healthcare insurance, which runs to thousands and thousands of pounds for many US families/corporations. (Because, make no bones about it, the Tories ARE destroying the NHS). Compared to this, the tax rises proposed by Labour - for both businesses and individuals - are utterly modest.

Other countries rely less significantly on tax take from corps. Especially non domestic corps. They are not aiming to significantly attract investment going forward either.

The Labour manifesto relies heavily on money coming in from corps. It's a central plank of our economy and Labour's predicted economy.

Clearly we want and need corps here. We want them to invest going forward. I'm not convinced we can do that by making it less attractive to be here.

Totally agree with Brexit coming we will need to cut all our cloths and attract new businesses.

Radio 5 live talk now nursery providers cannot afford to provide 30 child care hours. The 15 hours now isn't properly funded so 30 hours is cloud cooko land.

I know so many ousted registered cms who won't provide this, I wouldn't as a cm, and nurseries won't either.