Is there money to do what Labour wants to do?

[AutismHelp1980]

The majority of us are feeling optimistic today and we should!

However my concern is, is there the money to do what Labour needs to do? I keep thinking back to Gordon Brown selling off our gold!

Putting VAT on Private schools means they can then claim it back

It won't raise what they say it will.

good financial
management is better than taxing
more, which cripples everyone but the squeezed middle especially) but Labour only know how to spend...
(have notes the champagne socialists on this thread who say they don't mind higher taxes cos they're higher rate tax payers. Sure, won't affect them, but will affect the majority of us.

80% of eligible voters didn’t vote for Labour so it’s fair to assume that the vast majority are not feeling at all optimistic, quite the opposite in fact.

I also pay for private school and private healthcare. Without wanting to derail into a private school VAT debate (as there are enough of those already), I feel I’m paying ‘normal’ tax into a state system I don’t use, which is fair enough, that’s my choice to ‘opt out’. Then funding my own DC’s education (again, fine, my choice), but now being asked to pay a third tax, only applicable to 7% of people with school age children, to once again, fund a state education system I don’t use. I’m paying 3 times to educate my own DC.

If Labour came out and said we need to fix state education, it’s not working, schools need more money, so everyone needs to pay in a bit more, that would be understandable. And fixing state education benefits everyone. But they are asking 7% of school age parents, to fund the education of the other 93%. And my understanding of our European colleagues (who I hope will correct me if I’m wrong), is that everyone in those countries pay higher taxes, including lower earners.

No they will need to raise more tax
They said they wouldn't raise income tax but I imagine petrol, cigarettes abs alcohol prices will all go through the roof. I expect VAT will rise too. They may take money off councils and allow them to pull it back on council tax.

They are restructuring council tax bands, everyone moves up a level, an extra 1,000 each. A higher tax for private school fees and pensions.

I hope they do not get rid of the single person discount but I'm not hopeful at all anything to take more money from.single people who onltnhave one income to rely on

I didn't vote Labour this time but I really hope they do well - for everyone's sake.

Unlike a lot on here I have no Party "loyalty".

I fear a future under far right or far left equally.

The world is a very dangerous place ATM. We, as a country, need to concentrate on what we can achieve working together, perhaps on a small local scale for starters.

@MissyB1

...dh says he would happily pay more tax for improved public services.

What's stopping your DH from paying more tax now if he is so inclined?.Tell him to open his chequebook and send off a donation to HMRC.

Go on, do it today.

Sorry, what's that? He said he'll do it tomorrow? Oh ok. Sure he will.

This one made me laugh, adding VAT to private school fees won’t magic up teachers. Half the reason there’s a shortage is because they can’t convince the ones they’ve got to stay in teaching! Nearly half of newly trained teachers plan to leave the profession within 5 years of qualifying.

Well hopefully having a government that respects public service will encourage teachers to stay if working conditions are improved and they are actually respected by the govt for the very difficult job they do.

Not this again!

The note was a myth, and it doesn’t make sense anyway because national finances are not like a household budget or monthly pay check.

I’d be interested to know how wages and housing costs compare.

Don't be ridiculous.

One person sending a thousand pounds or so will make not difference.
Thirty million doing so, would help a bit.

The Tory way of managing public services is

1/ strip them to the bone
2/ outsource to private sector
3/ realise private sector don't know what they're doing and massively fuck it up
4/ end up buying in the ex-civil servants who they made redundant on huge consultancy fees to try and sort out the problem and claim a victory for privatisation.

At least labour are more likely to keep things in house. More costly short term perhaps but longer term we are better off.

Multinational corporations like Facebook employ very expensive tax lawyers to minimise their tax bill by basing themselves in ultra low tax countries. It is legal and without international consensus there is not a lot we can do. The US will not agree to the UK squeezing more tax revenue out of US businesses, irrespective of how much money is generated from UK territory. Life lesson: don’t shop with Amazon, etc.

Labour can raise more money only from either:

1. Personal capital (higher capital taxes).
2. Borrowing from UK and overseas.

There is little place elsewhere to go.

The problem with 2 is an annual interest bill approaching £120 Billion a year as it stands. That is £1 in every £7 collected in central government tax paid away.

If you were to capitalise that figure, the UK has an interest only mortgage of £3 trillion on which it is not making capital repayments. We have no Sovereign Wealth Fund to help us do that.

Neither Labour, Conservative or the 2010 Coalition come out of the last 30 years with clean hands.

Reform come in worst on economic policy. There is a £150 billion gap which they cannot explain how they will fund. Everybody gets a tax rebate, but spending goes up. It makes Truss’ plans pale into a small student overdraft to get by until payday by comparison. Like £350m per week for the NHS, it’s true because it’s written on the side of a bus.

God help Starmer. He needs to break and share fishes and loaves now.

The majority!? More people voted Reform and Tory than Labour. I dread the next five years.

Yes. There always has been if they taxed the tax dodgers and got rid of non-dom loopholes etc

@MysteryofNils Madness you say?? Might that be because if they did that it would cost YOU money? You are ok with others paying more of course, but YOU shouldn’t have to pay more? Of course not, that would be madness 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️

@cryinglaughing PFIs started under John Major and were then expanded under the subsequent Labour government. So you can thank both parties for that mess.

I agree with other posters that Labour will have to raise tax (I think this would be the case for whoever got in). I suspect inheritance tax might be their first go to. I'd like it to be proper tax on big corporations (tax dodgers like Amazon and Esso) but I won't hold my breath. Also appreciate international laws will make this very complicated.

Well doing that on his own obviously wouldn't make much difference would it? 🙄🙄🙄🙄

This 👆

We currently have the highest rate of tax for over 70 years. If waste stops, stupid contracts that line the pockets of the Conservative party's chums, Rwanda stops, etc. etc. there might not be a need to raise taxes. I know that a lot goes on paying back borrowing, but even then.

Historically, Labour spend, Conservatives cut back, however many of the best things were brought in by the Labour government which takes money. Labour Have also presided over higher GDP growth, and lower levels of unemployment.

If more people are working, and GDP growth is good, then people are earning which makes them less susceptible to tax rises.

Starmer strikes me as considered and targeted in his approach.

They’re coming for every working person. Nat insurance up. Income tax up. Inheritance tax up. I just hope they spend it all wisely.

I forgot he was going to get a windfall tax off the utility companies as well. That will sort it.