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AIBU?

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Original poster

AIBU to wonder what on earth the government is doing with our money?

103 replies

Lapland123 · 23/03/2023 16:04

So we have higher taxes than ever

yet we have all public services at an all time low, with everyone involved striking due to poor pay, which is causing a vicious circle in terms of recruitment of new staff and retention of existing staff

Teachers, firefighters, criminal law barristers, doctors, nurses, university staff etc all striking

What on earth has the government done with all the money we give them?

Aside from the blatant theft such as the PPE scandal, how are they draining the taxpayers money?

Because the one thing we are sure is that it isn’t reaching the workers delivering public services we all need.

OP posts:
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5
inky1991 · 23/03/2023 18:38

@RafaistheKingofClay

Sorry I obviously used the wrong phrasing. What I actually meant was the people who wanted longer and stricter lockdowns. Pretty sure Starmer would have kept up locked up for the whole 2 years if he was in power.

Thesharkradar · 23/03/2023 18:45

Apparently 40% of the working population takes more (in various benefits) than they put into the system
does that not depend on how we measure thier contributions to the system? What about the value of unpaid labour; child and elder care, domestic work. What about those who work for a low wage while the company gets rich from the work they do?

LaCerbiatta · 23/03/2023 18:48

MaryMcCarthy · 23/03/2023 17:45

Yeah this idea that the private sector is always best, is always efficient, is discredited. The profit motive alone extracts a certain level of value never mind the monopolistic inefficiencies, cronyism and sheer incompetence.

We've had decades of the private sector making things more expensive, more complex, more wasteful, delivering worse outcomes and worse value for the taxpayer. Look at the agency nurse situation for a glaring example.

We need to get away from the notion that public sector is inefficient and not innovative. Put enough investment into it, attract the best minds into it, and you can build things that genuinely impact people and society for the better. You build the economies of the future, environments where private investment follows.

We've seen none of that. All we've built in recent decades are profit-siphoning exercises, wringing dry the people, the families and communities they're apparently designed in the interests of. It needs to change.

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Hear hear!

LaCerbiatta · 23/03/2023 18:55

MaryMcCarthy · 23/03/2023 17:45

Yeah this idea that the private sector is always best, is always efficient, is discredited. The profit motive alone extracts a certain level of value never mind the monopolistic inefficiencies, cronyism and sheer incompetence.

We've had decades of the private sector making things more expensive, more complex, more wasteful, delivering worse outcomes and worse value for the taxpayer. Look at the agency nurse situation for a glaring example.

We need to get away from the notion that public sector is inefficient and not innovative. Put enough investment into it, attract the best minds into it, and you can build things that genuinely impact people and society for the better. You build the economies of the future, environments where private investment follows.

We've seen none of that. All we've built in recent decades are profit-siphoning exercises, wringing dry the people, the families and communities they're apparently designed in the interests of. It needs to change.

Show quote history

And just to add a couple of examples: the water companies with incompetent CEOs being paid millionaire bonuses while we're wasting precious water away with archaic and unfit piping systems and sewage being dumped in our rivers and sea with irreversible consequences to the environment. The train companies, again being paid millions of our money to be providing one of the most expensive and mediocre services in the world. In times of war, the Ukraine are able to provide a more reliable train service than the UK in time of peace😡

Thesharkradar · 23/03/2023 19:06

the UK is now the Beano comic, complete with those fecking jokers rees mog and borris the clown

Chateaudiaries · 23/03/2023 19:07

Pretty sure Starmer would have kept up locked up for the whole 2 years if he was in power.

FGS stop blaming someone who wasn’t even in power and look at how much money the tories threw at their mates. Michelle Mone a prime example. Dido Harding anyone….

namechange3394 · 23/03/2023 19:36

It's paying a lot of rich old people a state pension, for one thing.

Plus, a lot of people work in the public sector. I am not badly paid at all and pay about, what, 6 or 7k a year in tax? So you need several of me to pay for one nurse or one teacher.

paiop · 23/03/2023 22:37

TheInterceptor · 23/03/2023 17:17

Paying a lot of people not to work for two covid years cost quite a lot. It needs repaying.

I can't believe it took more than an hour before someone said this. Where do they think all that furlough cash came from?

ginghamstarfish · 23/03/2023 22:42

Furlough, benefits, free childcare, ridiculous hHS2 scheme, to name a few.

TheHoover · 23/03/2023 22:49

Paying money to energy companies to ensure share prices don’t drop rather than making them take the hit

SheilaWilcox · 23/03/2023 22:57

Billions in interest on the national debt.

Nicecow · 23/03/2023 23:06

Well considering more than 50% of the population take more than they put in, it's not that hard to wonder where a lot of it is going ....

Neededanewuserhandle · 23/03/2023 23:07

LaCerbiatta · 23/03/2023 18:55

And just to add a couple of examples: the water companies with incompetent CEOs being paid millionaire bonuses while we're wasting precious water away with archaic and unfit piping systems and sewage being dumped in our rivers and sea with irreversible consequences to the environment. The train companies, again being paid millions of our money to be providing one of the most expensive and mediocre services in the world. In times of war, the Ukraine are able to provide a more reliable train service than the UK in time of peace😡

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and the vast sums paid to the people working as fake regulators in QUANGOs like OFFWAT and Rail Regulator who actually get paid to do fuck all (or even make things worse).

Thesharkradar · 23/03/2023 23:18

Chateaudiaries · 23/03/2023 19:07

Pretty sure Starmer would have kept up locked up for the whole 2 years if he was in power.

FGS stop blaming someone who wasn’t even in power and look at how much money the tories threw at their mates. Michelle Mone a prime example. Dido Harding anyone….

with Johnson at the helm they all behaved like bank robbers didnt they!

Flandango · 23/03/2023 23:25

Lapland123 · 23/03/2023 17:07

Yes some sort of accountability should be in order, given what we pay them

All government spending is accounted for. You might not like where it goes but you can easily find out where it is spent.

5 seconds of internet searching shows this is the breakdown

AIBU to wonder what on earth the government is doing with our money?
Nicecow · 23/03/2023 23:28

namechange3394 · 23/03/2023 19:36

It's paying a lot of rich old people a state pension, for one thing.

Plus, a lot of people work in the public sector. I am not badly paid at all and pay about, what, 6 or 7k a year in tax? So you need several of me to pay for one nurse or one teacher.

This a good way to think about it. My husband and I are paid quite well and together pay for a nurse probably

Endlesssummer2022 · 23/03/2023 23:41

There are a lot of people shouting stuff like ‘I’ve worked hard all my life, so I’m entitled to x,y,z !’ who’ve put nowhere near as much in as they think they have or have taken out much more than they ever put in.

Neededanewuserhandle · 23/03/2023 23:42

Endlesssummer2022 · 23/03/2023 23:41

There are a lot of people shouting stuff like ‘I’ve worked hard all my life, so I’m entitled to x,y,z !’ who’ve put nowhere near as much in as they think they have or have taken out much more than they ever put in.

are there?

Phoebo · 24/03/2023 00:37

Endlesssummer2022 · 23/03/2023 23:41

There are a lot of people shouting stuff like ‘I’ve worked hard all my life, so I’m entitled to x,y,z !’ who’ve put nowhere near as much in as they think they have or have taken out much more than they ever put in.

Yes, I'd have to agree with this - I have family just like this!

freckles20 · 24/03/2023 01:10

I'm no fan of the government OP, but you're taking a simplistic approach! What about furlough and the national debt for starters.

Then look at the NHS- the range of services, treatments and pharmaceuticals which are available now is huge, complex and of course very expensive. Compare that to how things were when the nhs began.

Also, what about the annual tax summary? I used to get one automatically from hmrc in the post and for the last couple of years ivr been able to login and print mine off. It shows exactly what my personal tax payments have been spent on. I'm confused because this sounds exactly like what you're suggesting is missing? Or are you suggesting it's fabricated?

freckles20 · 24/03/2023 01:11

Description of the personal annual tax summary from the Gov website BTW:

"In the Annual Tax Summary, the government makes available a clear and simple summary of how much income tax and national insurance individuals paid in the last financial year and how these payments were used in its spending."

Babyroobs · 24/03/2023 01:17

TheYearOfSmallThings · 23/03/2023 18:26

Honestly, I do the opposite - I wonder where the money actually comes from to pay for all the stuff.

I earn an average salary and pay a fairly modest amount in tax and NI. Over the course of my life I might pay for myself, as long as I don't get cancer or something expensive to treat, or on the other hand live long enough to soak up 40 years of pension (unlikely).

But I know lots of people (friends and work clients) who, due to totally valid circumstances, pay barely any tax. They survive on meager benefits, but the actual cost is high because of housing costs, legal aid, you name it. There are lots more of these households than there are really high earners, so I don't understand how it balances.

I'm from Ireland and I must say I'm even more mystified how they make it work.

I think the same way as you. I work as a benefits advisor and every day see so many people getting a lot of money in benefits ( albeit a lot paying towards expensive private rents and disability benefits), that I wonder how on earth it is all afforded. I appreciate my views may be scewed due to my work, but it's just the amounts for years on end tat are mind blowing really.

MaryMcCarthy · 24/03/2023 09:42

LaCerbiatta · 23/03/2023 18:55

And just to add a couple of examples: the water companies with incompetent CEOs being paid millionaire bonuses while we're wasting precious water away with archaic and unfit piping systems and sewage being dumped in our rivers and sea with irreversible consequences to the environment. The train companies, again being paid millions of our money to be providing one of the most expensive and mediocre services in the world. In times of war, the Ukraine are able to provide a more reliable train service than the UK in time of peace😡

Show quote history

Yep I was working at our local water company when it was sold to a Hong Kong investment fund. They've been siphoning profits out of the country ever since. It's just absurd. How have we let this happen?

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