To ask what one or two policies you think could make the biggest difference to the U.K.?

[whatkatydid2013]

To me the big one is social housing. I feel like if we could build up a large supply of social housing at reasonable rates all over the country the benefits would be massive. It would make life affordable for many more people and lead to them being less likely to need in work benefits. The affordable rents would cover maintenance and could keep large numbers of people in stable employment doing said maintenance (as well as creating administrative roles). It would make it less challenging to staff key worker roles in more expensive areas. In the short term I appreciate it would be a massive expense but it seems like in the long term it would cost less than our current system on a going basis and it would make many people a lot more financially secure. I find it disappointing that all main parties seem so focused on home ownership in their policy statements. I know there are many important policy areas but this just always feels like one that’s very central and totally glossed over by all parties. Maybe because there isn’t a quick, easy fix?

@Sugarcoatt you realise that a high percentage of the autistic 'able bodied' population has learning difficulties to various degrees. Where would they fit in in your plan to get them employed despite their monotone voice (<eye roll>) esp if the learning difficulties are severe? Being able bodies does not equal the ability to live independently and hold down a job.

Take the NHS and education out of politics. Have cross-party and field experts (not just the management but also those doing the actual teaching and caring) and service users, e.g. patients groups and parents groups - particularly SEND- in a working group to run these services with a long term plan rather than say whatever will get us through the next election.
And budgets big enough to actually run the services effectively.

So if you save from my after-tax wages I should be taxed on those savings, as well as being taxed on the interest from them?

That doesn’t seem right.

Social housing - I think we need to get past the idea that it’s a home for life, and more that it’s a home according to need. So no automatic passing down through families, house size need reviewed every eg 5 years.

Fill in the pot holes.

Abolish the stupid 20mph default speed limit in Wales.

Get Khan out of London before he completely destroys it.

Stop foreign aid.

Invest in the police. Get rid of Special constables and train and employ more police officers.

Invest in the military.

Invest in the Space Agency.

Stop the dinghy arrivals and deport them
immediately back to France which is a safe country.

Fitness test for job seekers claimants who must participate in x amount of hours each week in litter picking.

Grants to help the impoverished have access to an allotment to grow their own fruit or vegetables.

I wasn't trolling but I was being stupid 😂 I misunderstood and thought they meant they wouldn't be able to buy a house for their child. Duh.

I definitely think students should be able to study further afield...some kind of widespread social student housing would be preferable to private landlords with large portfolios though imo.

If they have severe learning difficulties that’s a different matter. Nobody mentioned severely disabled people. I’m talking about the 80% of very capable high functioning people who are fully able of body and mind, but employers won’t hire them because of superficial issues relating to their disability.

This is a very bad idea. People, and children especially, need stability. There have been numerous studies showing how they benefit greatly from having a stable home. Insecure tenancies and moving every few years leads to lack of community and various other mental and social problems.

Not one single suggestion has been remotely “communist”

Surely there's a middle ground between home for life and moving every few years.

In areas where rents are high, that would be massive.

A single parent, with 3 children, renting a 3-bed house in my part of the SE would still be entitled to UC if they were earning £50k a year. And that's without including any childcare.

Make politicians accountable for their lies.

Make newspapers fact check their stories.

Drain the swamp and restore trust the press and politics. I don’t have to like them, but I should be able to believe them.

Proportional representation. The way we elect politicians is dumb and the two-party system has had its day. We'd have more interesting ideas coming through and better political debate with PR.

Bringing back national service - BUT it would be optional, civilian, nothing military, with the incentive that if you did it you would have a discount on uni fees, lower student loan or reduced stamp duty on house purchase etc. Would help fill labour gaps and give young people a different perspective.

UK:

1. turn the houses of parliament into a museum, and build a new HoP in the middle of the country, a circular chamber with glass walls, visible from outside the building, include electronic voting in parliament. The sense of transparency, modernity, and cooperation will change attitudes and banish antiquated parliamentary conventions.

2. an elected upper chamber, no life peerages, no PM appointments, and limited terms for representatives

stretch goals: proportional representation and no politically active role for the monarchy (eg no involvement in laws, parliament at all)

Also dividend tax and close all the other loopholes that help the rich cut their tax bills.

No-one should be paying more tax on their earned income, or pension income up to the level of the average wage, than they do on unearned income.

Actually, quite a lot of people scraping by on food banks in houses they can't afford to heat etc would probably take the reduction in freedom in exchange for secure income and housing and affordable food and necessities.

Afterthought: and NI should be paid on unearned income for people below pension age.

I agree with both of these. Moving HoP out of London and allowing remote voting would reduce the old boys club vibe hugely.

As someone from a communist country: Agreed!

an elected upper chamber

Similar to US?

In theory there already is accountability and the right to sue for wrong stories.

I think really we'd need to dial back the media and make everything less 24hr rolling news, politicians are subject to horrible hate campaigns and pressure that puts good people off standing as MPs, makes them leave earlier than they might otherwise, increases turnover of politicians in cabinet jobs so they never really grasp what they're doing.

Drain the swamp is bullshit Trumpian language, we need to restore a bit of the respect for public service and apply the rules where needed (all those PPI ripoff merchant Tory buddies suppliers are getting off the hook, for example)

Stop right to buy for council properties and build more social housing. someone mentioned earlier that the rents would pay for the maintenance but this isn't the case, paying for the upkeep of social housing is very expensive. I'd also make able bodied job seekers earn their benefits.

It may make a measurable difference in 20 years. But what about the victims of crime before then? They just need to suck it up?

@whatnext3 @Sugarcoatt

I am actually with @Sugarcoatt on this, when you are talking about high functioning autistics a lot of them are really highly qualified but either the interview process or work environment are not conducive to them being there.

example 1
Person with a first class degree cannot get a job as fails at interview, does a masters and again attains a first, still no job, does a second degree and gets another first, has to move across the country and take a lesser role than qualified for, eventually after several more rebukes gets a bit further up the ladder. At the age of 35 finally has some professional respect and is attaining well moving up within a company (no interviews just promotions)…. In a field not related to any of the first class degrees because every interview attended for that commented on no eye contact, mumbling, communication issues etc.

example 2
Some companies are hiring autistics as programmers as they are really good at it and they are facilitating what they need - ie there is one place that has a separate office for them. In this office it is quiet and there are no social niceties required. They come in sit down and get to work. Nobody with stop by their desk to ask how their weekend went or if they want a coffee or to whinge about their boyfriend or whatever. Nada. Silence.

So yes I do think many autistics are hugely talented and under-utilised. It really wouldn’t take much to help a lot of them attain more for themselves if given a chance or accommodated.

How would you make them earn benefits @usernother ?

Maybe building some kind of large out of town institution where they need to break up rocks or some other pointless work to humiliate them?