This may be unpopular - but what about the squeezed middle?

[AndroidUsername]

They are talking about raising taxes on the average person now. Which will really effect lower middle class families who are already feeling the pinch due to increases in cost of food, gas and electic, increasing childcare costs and rent or morgage increases. They are going to increase pensions and benefits with inflation but lots of middle class earners are not having their wages increased with inflation but will now have their taxes increased. What about help for the middle class, especially lower middle class and working class who earn slightly to much to qualify for any help but will now stuggle with all these increases.

I think it's you that needs to "have a think", that analogy makes no sense whatsoever. It's quite reasonable, in fact necessary, to bring age into the conversation when talking about pensions, social care and inheritance tax whereas ethnicity has no relevance whatsoever.

I think access to the NHS should be means tested. £15 for a Dr appt if you earn more than £40k.

The stupidest idea I’ve ever heard. Ridiculous. You’d be better off spending money targeting people who don’t follow basic health and lifestyle advice now. They burden the NHS.

A couple with 2 incomes around 50k would get full child benefit still (we earn over 110k combined and get the full amount).
The 30 free hours is still help with childcare costs, as is tax-free childcare, and it's not available to all as those earning over 100k individually don't get it.

We will be able to weather almost all increases we face. But mainly this is due to luck in that we both have jobs that increase slightly in salary year on year, and we have had significant pay rises (promotions) since taking on our mortgage so we have the capacity to cope with increased payments there. But I can easily see how others who bought a similar (basic) house at the same time may struggle if their wages have not increased

I remember learning about this impact of the ageing population in school 25 years ago. One of the solutions was to enable skilled, unskilled and sem-skilled labour immigration...

Paying for health if Not receiving
benefits simply means that more people will be better off on benefits

Paying for health means more people waiting too late for help

Would asthmatics get their annual review for free ? What about people who need multiple appointments each month for a disability or MS?

Paying for wasted appointments however is a no brainier

Don't hate the old

Target the bloody rich

No one hates the old, most of us are old or have older parents, gps.

It's unrealistic to target the global elite & ignores the fact that the wealthy in this country tend to be older simply due to assets. If you want to target the rich you can actually reach it's going to be the old people of the country.

Why on earth would a high earner keep doing the job to pay more taxes and receive average??? The lack of understanding how things work either in theory or reality is astounding on this thread

@PotKettleB if that happened I would want more choice in my health care, frankly, I wouldn't be happy to pay for some of the care I've had in the NHS, I tolerate it because it's publicly funded. If they started a charge system I would want to see more private options, and that's a slippery slope, it's no longer universal health care.

Oh good stuff - you’ve gone one better than my tongue in cheek suggestion.

Let’s tax anyone over a BMI of 25 an extra 20%. And if they can’t work, let’s reduce their benefits proportionately to their weight or alcohol intake.

This malaise isn’t just British in nature. It’s all
over Europe. Don’t think you can just escape to somewhere in Europe—they are all facing the same challenges. You may have to go further afield to the US, Canada or Australia.

Who would go to Spain for a serious job? It’s got serious unemployment issues, Portugal really has nothing to offer unless you are in tourism.

I don't think the population wants to acknowledge this so politically it's avoided.

I think NHS reform looking at European co-pay systems now would be a good idea - because I worry we'll end up with US disaster if we don't - as that's how their "system," developed everyone assuming some sort of fair system would develop and then corporate greed setting in - but politically touching NHS not really possible so it's back door privatisation - or creeping piecemeal like NHS dentistry and possibly GP accessibility.

I understood that Retired people pay taxes if their pension income brings them sufficient to meet the usual
Criteria ?

I think it's just the national insurance element they may not have to pay

So if lots of retired people are not paying income tax it's because they have an income less than the personal allowance

Hardly rich then!

I favour a healthcare model like France person

personally

No because you are just creating a pyramid scheme. Everyone gets old including unskilled migrants they will also need health, social care and pensions. Then you need increasing numbers of people to fund this.

The EU isn't a country, should the UK's inflation rate be taken as the average across the Common Wealth? or the USA's across Nafta countries?

Look at comparable economies in Europe, France has inflation at 6%, Spain at 9% and falling.
Germany is similar to ours, driven by their very high reliance on imported gas.
Italy 9.4% again imported gas prices.

UK should not be comparing itself to Bulgaria or Portugal.

The £ is weak, driving up import costs and it costs more to export to the UK from the EU... thats what you voted for.

BUT the real difference is in Govt borrowing costs, only Italy has similar, international investors are charging a premium to lend to the UK and have done for several years, long before Truss doubled them.

It's not stupid.
The NHS is it's current form is not sustainable.
People should co-pay. I very much hope we follow social insurance schemes as in France and Germany. It should be means-tested.

Most people actually are not money motivated

Most people once they have around 50k income are more motivated by the job itself or the work life balance or the status - not the money

The lack of understanding of human nature on this thread is astounding yes -

( yes not everyone but on average , so if you are strongly money motivated you are unusual )

Our GDP is considered to be 5% lower as a direct result of brexit

@midgetastic do you understand there is a difference between income & assets?

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/one-in-seven-own-a-second-property-at-age-70-fgrklhmlg

No because you are just creating a pyramid scheme. Everyone gets old including unskilled migrants they will also need health, social care and pensions. Then you need increasing numbers of people to fund this.

well now we have the upside down pyramid. How is that funded?

Well, unless, Brits start pushing out more children then encouraging younger immigrants to the country is exactly what will need to happen...so they can pay taxes, look after old and sick, and, generally, keep the country going.

👏
In regard to the NHS we knew in 1988 that 2020 would see 35% of nurses reaching retirement age.
What was done to mitigate this?
Nothing.
I have to laugh reading the governments Covid plan was to pull retired NHS staff back into service when actually what has happened is that anyone remotely near retirement age has retired early.
The average age (special classes) has dropped from 55 to 51
Its a disaster!

*The NHS is it's current form is not sustainable.

People should co-pay. I very much hope we follow social insurance schemes as in France and Germany. It should be means-tested.*

And yet when we had an nhs dental service, people couldn’t afford the fees.

Will we have a huge reduction in tax for this? I would rather pay higher taxes and have a functioning nhs.

Why should the10% with half the wealth of the country not fund stuff ?

Why should they? They're not cash cows to be milked at will.