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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To ask if you have an idea you believe would significantly improve life in the UK?

508 replies

ConfusedmumUC · 17/12/2022 18:44

I’ll go first.

I can’t help but think making someone’s rent payments eligible to prove you can pay a mortgage would go a long way to housing security for so many people. And limiting the amount of properties owned by one landlord / amount a landlord can charge in rent, would also go a long way. I can’t help but think profiteering massively off of a basic need and right such as housing is really not ok.

Im sure there’s a reason why my idea wouldn’t work, feel free to put me right 😂

What’s your idea?

OP posts:
dropthevipers · 17/12/2022 20:27

ILoveeCakes · 17/12/2022 20:25

When people propose huge penalties for crimes, they forget that Parliament can make anything a crime at the flick of a pen.

If you complain at a trans person being in a women's toilet or refuge. Crime
Remember when "emergency powers" were used to criminalise going outside and women were being arrested in parks or bundled into cars and killed?

Just be careful. You might be happy with the laws now. But they can soon change. Then who is going to protest those laws if they could be put to death for it?

You thought I was being serious? Right you are then.

WrongLife · 17/12/2022 20:27

Itisbetter · 17/12/2022 20:21

I’d like smaller more local schools. One class for each year with a maximum of 25 children at primary, 2 classes at secondary so 50 kids per year. Special schools up to 18 local too with specialist teachers moving rather than disabled children spending hours in taxis. Home education drop in centres with trained teachers and rooms/resources to help parents home educate if they want to.

I think you'd need them a bit bigger to make them efficient at providing quality education. 2 classes per year group seems to work well at primary, with the ability to balance the classes around personality and need. My children are at a 1FE primary and if two children clash badly there is nowhere to move them too.

For secondary, to get enough subject specialists you'd probably need 5 classes per year group. What I would improve is school transport.

and yes, better SEN provision would be an absolute must.

AuntieEntity · 17/12/2022 20:27

ILoveeCakes · 17/12/2022 20:04

People thinking teachers would be capable of teaching "life skills".

They went to school, uni then back to school.

Not so in most cases I know, but don't let the truth get in the way of your personal prejudices.

Kendodd · 17/12/2022 20:28

Puffalicious · 17/12/2022 20:21

This. This. This. THIS. It's an absolute fucking disgrace how much money is lost through this.

I agree

www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/uk-corporate-tax-avoidance-havens-justice-network-dodging-a8933661.html

ILoveeCakes · 17/12/2022 20:28

dropthevipers · 17/12/2022 20:27

You thought I was being serious? Right you are then.

There are other similar ideas on here.
Oh and ho ho ho. You split my sides! You're as funny as Katherine Ryan!

upfucked · 17/12/2022 20:28

Higher taxes and huge long term investment into social and health issues. In the long term it will pay off.

weaselish · 17/12/2022 20:29

Privatise the NHS

Judellie · 17/12/2022 20:29

Solar panels for everyone, starting with businesses (a farm shop having to close because it could no longer afford t run its refrigerators benefits no-one). Ok, you might have to wait a bit, but this should be a government funded thing.
Also, if things MUST be privatised (and I don't really think they should), shareholders need to be UK residents. I don't get why foreign investors are allowed to buy up our services/housing (was it the Turkish government that took back all the property that didn't belong to people who actually lived in Turkey or have I got that wrong).
And more parks etc for everyone; where I live we're classed as a better off area (ha!) so we have no libraries or anything. The poorer areas get them - and burn them down! I miss those swings and slides!

AuntieEntity · 17/12/2022 20:31

I agree that if you pay rent and have done consistently without any arrears for a designated period of time, then that should be just as much evidence for a mortgage as anything else.

LydiaBennetsUglyBonnet · 17/12/2022 20:31

Proper, effective and readily available postnatal care for women.

SO MUCH is linked back to bad birth experiences and early motherhood. For both women and children - negative experiences can have huge knock on effects and undiagnosed PND can have horrific consequences for the whole family. If every woman had the opportunity for the best possible birth, excellent aftercare where rest is promoted and choices are respected, then longer paternity leave for men then it would have so many benefits just doing that. Every Trust that has maternity care should also have a listening service and specific scrutiny to ensure high levels of care

Burgoo · 17/12/2022 20:31

Anyone that says "free" anything needs to remember that the money has to come from somewhere. If you are willing to pay a lot more in tax then by all means that is your option.

We need to have a serious think about what the NHS can and cannot provide in the longer-term. The sheer volume of non-essential stuff the NHS has to pay for is actually astounding. I also think we need to cut the HUGE amount of red-tape the is engulfing the NHS if we are going to be efficient. This means cutting duplication, nonsense referral processes etc. For example, I had an A&E attendance some time back and needed a referral to a specialist. A specialist that was literally across the hall. I had to get a GP to refer me back into the service because they needed to commission it. It was ludicrous. Also they need to do ALOT more outreach to catch illnesses earlier - I would advocate health buses that pitch up at supermarkets and give free health checks, blood tests etc and can then advise on what to do next. Plus there needs to be a massive culture shift away from "NHS can fix me"...NO! You need to stop getting into a physical state and expect the taxpayer to foot the bill. Nobody seems to want to actually take responsibility anymore, no wonder the NHS is in the state its in!

I would also suggest fines for missed appointments is a must. If you have a phone you can contact the GP to cancel, there is simply no excuse for missing appointments without letting them know. Yes it may impact the poor more, but I am not in the business of fragilising the poor. We must take much more responsibility for our behaviours. I know someone who works in outpatients - she has to book in appointments in advance and can't just "slot in" patients if there are non-attenders. She - at one point - averaged at 23 HOURS of missed appointments PER MONTH! 23 HOURS! She couldn't be sent elsewhere because it is all prebooked up.

In other areas, child-care needs to be under public ownership - not for profit. So parents can pay a reasonable cost for the actual cost of the care being provided but any extra goes straight back into the service and/or reduction of fees. You could charge a household £500 a month for childcare because with 40 kids at one children's nursery what would more than pay the wages of the staff etc. Greedy owners have no place in care settings.

Outlaw multiple ownership of properties. If you own two that is your maximum. If you own 3,4,5, 10, 100 houses/flats then you have to sell them. It isn't okay that the market is run by a relatively small number of landlords who sit back making a profit off of hard working people. I don't mind someone owning a few properties but it is disgusting how there are no houses for poor renters yet millionaire landlords make a fortune.

Replication of what works across all state sector organisations. If one NHS trust is exceptional, then that learning must be shared. It isn't at the moment.

Prison services need serious reform. I would actually go so far as to say that any offenses for non-violent crimes need managing in the community. We need to use the talents of criminals to the public advantage. You could have supervised community service (with a probation worker) and still it would cost less than prison per person. For example, Boris Becker was a world champion tennis player. He spent time in prison. Surely we could have had him coaching in schools/colleges and giving his experience over to help the next generation? We need to get away from the idea that being a criminal means you can't do anything good for society. For those with no skills, put them out to work in a public facing capacity and make it blatantly obvious they have committed a crime. Wearing a yellow tabard with their name and offense on the back. Shame them into stopping. I'd go so far as to say that anyone that has a violent criminal background should be placed on a "name and shame" register online. Make crime so aversive that they stop it. At the moment, prison is too easy an option.

Just some thoughts.

lieselotte · 17/12/2022 20:32

Turn holiday lets that are suitable to be used as residential property back into homes. Some are lodges on farms and the like so wouldn't count. Also make second home ownership far too expensive so the majority get sold. Provide incentives for people to downsize from homes that are too big for them. And sort out all the empty homes.

Then we wouldn't need to build more. Not yet, anyway.

lieselotte · 17/12/2022 20:32

Prison services need serious reform. I would actually go so far as to say that any offenses for non-violent crimes need managing in the community

I wholeheartedly agree.

lieselotte · 17/12/2022 20:33

I would also suggest fines for missed appointments is a must. If you have a phone you can contact the GP to cancel, there is simply no excuse for missing appointments without letting them know

I would have agreed with this pre-covid but people can't get face to face appointments now, and you can't fine people for missing a telephone appointment.

Blossomtoes · 17/12/2022 20:36

Fairyliz · 17/12/2022 19:41

Or the parents could try and educate themselves? It’s easier now to learn anything than at any time in history, and education doesn’t stop just because you have left school.

You don’t know what you don’t know.

lieselotte · 17/12/2022 20:36

We need to have a serious think about what the NHS can and cannot provide in the longer-term. The sheer volume of non-essential stuff the NHS has to pay for is actually astounding

I also agree with this, but when I said a while ago that a core urgent/life-saving healthcare should be free but lifestyle healthcare should be covered by insurance people hated the idea. For example, if you have cancer the NHS pays, if you want a hip replacement so you can carry on running your insurance should pay. I am not sure why it's such an awful idea as it seems to work well in other countries.

ArticSaviour · 17/12/2022 20:36

Real and significant investment in education, including widening the curriculum in secondary and genuine child centred early years and primary focus.

BirmaBrite · 17/12/2022 20:37

I agree the NHS needs a total overhall, but I doubt that any political party will dare touch it.

@Ilikewinter I see this being said a lot, can you describe what you think the overhaul of the NHS would look like ?
How will the mainly privatised social care sector be involved, given that a lack of social care provision has largely been blamed for the current crisis in 'bed blocking' horrible term and issues with Ambulance response times and their ability to discharge patients into A&E ?
Some might say we have actually cut acute and general hospital bed numbers far too much, given we have an ageing and growing population, you often hear people on here saying the country is too densely populated, not enough room etc and yet for the size of population we have a very small number of hospital beds for people who are physically ill or who are post-op and need an overnight stay.
We have approx 100,000 acute and general care beds ( so not maternity/mental health or learning disability ) for the population of England, which is currently just under 56 million people.
Will the 'overhaul' involve more hospital beds ( the Conservative manifesto promised 40 new hospitals by 2030 ? ) or massive incentive schemes to the private sector to provide more social care or both ?

DdraigGoch · 17/12/2022 20:37

I'd actually scrap inheritance tax (I've got no personal investment in this, my parents don't own enough to cross over the threshold for paying it). It's not really fair to expect people to sell grannies treasured possessions because they can't otherwise afford the tax bill, especially when the income used to buy them has already been taxed once. Instead I'd make granny's assets count for Capital Gains Tax, so that if/when you do liquidate them you are taxed on the income those assets earned if they appreciated since she bought them.

I'd roll CGT and Dividend tax into Income Tax, with the same rates and thresholds - I've never seen a good reason for capital gains or dividends getting their special low-tax status. They're income, like any other.

50p tax rate should come back, but I'd undo the clawback of the personal allowance that causes a 60p marginal rate.

Merge NI and Income Tax. There seems little point these days in keeping them separate. On the theme of simplification, I'd also remove the menagerie of tax allowances and exceptions.

A basic level of child maintenance should be payable, whatever the reported income of the father. It shouldn't matter if you work cash-in-hand to hide your income, or have 13 other kids to divide it between; if you spread your seed, you should still pay a basic subsistence level for each and every child. If you do earn more, then the courts could agree a higher payment. Non-payment should result in penalties - I believe that some states in the US will withhold your driving licence if there are arrears.

GordonShakespearedoesChristmas · 17/12/2022 20:37

ConfusedmumUC · 17/12/2022 18:44

I’ll go first.

I can’t help but think making someone’s rent payments eligible to prove you can pay a mortgage would go a long way to housing security for so many people. And limiting the amount of properties owned by one landlord / amount a landlord can charge in rent, would also go a long way. I can’t help but think profiteering massively off of a basic need and right such as housing is really not ok.

Im sure there’s a reason why my idea wouldn’t work, feel free to put me right 😂

What’s your idea?

Quite agree. With a 100% mortgage available if you have rented without default for 18 months.

Zone2NorthLondon · 17/12/2022 20:37

This has just turned into a wish list for ill informed,intolerant,intemperate to vent

ILoveeCakes · 17/12/2022 20:38

Zone2NorthLondon · 17/12/2022 20:37

This has just turned into a wish list for ill informed,intolerant,intemperate to vent

First day on internet forums?

Annabel073 · 17/12/2022 20:39

Vimto1 · 17/12/2022 20:15

🙄

I'll say it again, a 100% inheritance tax would be able to fund a better welfare and social care where robust support, accommodation and education could be provided to ALL children in the case of a parental death, regardless of whether they were lucky enough to be born to a set of parents that had savings or not.

I'd rather sell all my assets while I was still alive and make sure the money was used to help children in developing countries.

SirCharlesRainier · 17/12/2022 20:39

Enormous investment in early years

Repeal the GRA

Rejoin the EU (or at least the single market)

The total electoral annihilation of the conservative party

Zone2NorthLondon · 17/12/2022 20:39

ILoveeCakes · 17/12/2022 20:38

First day on internet forums?

That your best pithy put down? try harder