Nervous/anxious/scared about the Autumn budget 2024

[Cartwrightandson]

I know that we don't know any details. We have read or heard bits that might be incorrect or just plain wrong. I also know we won't know anything until Wednesday when Rachel Reeves publishes/announces the contents of the budget...

But what we do know...it's the first labour budget for over 14 years, we've had a conservative government, austerity, brexit, covid and cost of living/interest rate increase meaning our economy is not in a good place.

Our services/infrastructure haven't had much needed investment for a long time.
Councils are practically bankrupt, some already are. Schools, housing, NHS, social care and economy are all struggling..to remedy this requires money and this will need to come from higher taxes.

There's a 19 billion pound black hole and Labour have already removed the winter fuel allowance, showing they are willing do things that are unpopular or possibly controversial..the Labour manifesto said it wouldn't increase taxes, but now they are saying they have to.

They've already allocated money for Ukraine, teachers, train drivers, junior doctors, NHS staff ect

Keir said people who don't 'work' for their income (shares/savings/landlord income) aren't classed as working people and will be taxed..

Basically this budget is going to need to raise taxes to pay for investment in services. That much we do know. But where the cuts and the tax increase will be is unknown. I don't think anyone will be 'better off'...

Possibilities.. (note these are not absolute, I could be very wrong)

Inheritance tax changes
Fuel duty increase
Income tax increase
Social housing rent increase
Benefit cuts
No free universal prescription for over 60s
Change to tax free allowance
Removal of help to buy, right to buy and alterations to stamp duty
Pension age to increase
State pension to decrease?
Tuition fees to increase
Tax free pension allowance to be reduced
Isa/bond/shares/investments taxed

Who really knows...but I think the labour comms are possibly leaking information so that we are being drip fed so when the budget does happen we already know and are braced/prepared for it.

Or what is being leaked about the budget is really bad but when the budget happens we are relieved it wasn't as bad the leaks hinted at. But it is still painful but we are more accepting because it's not as bad as it could have been...if that makes sense.

@cardibach I'm a swing voter.
If it had not been for the disgraceful mess over the trans issue I would have voted Labour, I did a protest vote this time.

"what are you banging on about" says more about you than clavinova.

@PandoraSox the world is in dire eccomics straights.

Only naval glazers here attribute it to the tories.

Look around, there are issues everywhere because we stopped the world with a global pandemic that's what we are paying for on top of oil and Ukraine and still recovering from the major global crisis of 2006.

Every large economy has debt and is expected to have debt.

This mantra on repeat from labour is another reason I don't trust them. If they acknowledge the global issues and then speficically pointed out where tory made mistake : fine.
They just sound inward looking and childish to me.

Im worried. People like me, single income, two kids at Uni with minimum maintenance loans, so technically 'well off'. Well in the last 15 years, under a Tory Government, my income tax has raised, I've lost pension tax relief & child benefit. I'm a small business owner so increases in employers NI will significantly impact me. I think 'people like me' income > 100,000 but less than 250k are hammered, each and every time.

Yes, I could move , but do do that would cost a lot, disrupt my business ... I've taken a lodger to make ends meet, but definitely feeling the squeeze

Not sure which of my posts you are responding to?

Yes of course it is not just the UK facing economic difficulties. But 14 years of Tory austerity undoubtedly has made things far worse in terms of public services than necessary and has had an horrendous affect on many people. And then there was the Truss/Kwarteng budget.

Look around, there are issues everywhere because we stopped the world with a global pandemic that's what we are paying for on top of oil and Ukraine and still recovering from the major global crisis of 2006

Things were not good prior to the pandemic. In fact the pandemic laid bare a lot of issues.

Acknowledging that Tory policies did a lot of damage does not make one a "naval glazer"(sic). (I have visions of coating a series of sailors in sugar glaze).

And on this point, years ago, in the last time Labour were in government I was advising small to medium businesses on employment issues.

The number of times I was told that employers don't touch women of child bearing age due to the costs of maternity care, risk in investment due to the fact that childcare costs are so high that some women opt not to return because it is not cost affective.

Of course, there are laws in place but you have to prove that being a woman is the reason which is easier said than done.

IF money is going to be spent on better child care options so that ALL women can return to work then this can be justified so we'll have to see.

@lifeturnsonadime of course you can't prove it, unless someone mentioned it to their face they really wouldn't bother.

It’s not about being a woman, it’s about being a woman at a particular life stage. I know I benefited from it post menopause. I was hired over other younger women because there was no prospect of maternity leave or childcare issues. If the job goes to an older woman an employer can just say the decision was made because the candidate had more experience.

The Labour manifesto said it wouldn't increase taxes, but now they are saying they have to.

I pity those who voted genuinely believing Labour would do something different.

Proves yet again that Tory and Labour are two cheeks of the same arse!

Hallelujah! It's ridiculous that you can pay reduced rent forever, despite income increasing beyond those in the private sector. Means testing is essential.

That’s not what I wrote. I said I didn’t know what she was banging on about because she posted a list of ways Labour intended to change tax as laid out in their manifesto as evidence that nobody knew they would raise tax to fund the manifesto because they didn’t put it in the manifesto.
Manifest nonsense.

Except it didn’t. Look at the link Clavinova posted which outlines the taxes they said they would raise.

They are doing something different. They’re making a start on repairing the damage that has been done over the last decade and a half. The Tories promised tax cuts, if they’d won the election Hunt would now be trying to explain why he promised something that’s undeliverable. They’re not on the same body, let alone the same arse - and it’s time that tired old cliche was put to bed once and for all.

Not at all. It's more accurate now than it ever has been.

I’ve just explained why it’s nonsense. 🤷‍♀️

Cartwrightandson · 26/10/2024 19:45
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From what I've heard, social housing rents might be means tested and households with higher income might pay more. I could be wrong, 🤔

Don’t see the problem with that. Personally, once people reach a certain income, where they could comfortably privately rent or buy, I think they should be given notice to move on and free up very limited public housing for people who really need it.

Don’t one or two MPs and a union leader or two live in social housing? Just wrong on their salaries.

That's your opinion. Good luck with that. You're gonna need it.

But how are they repairing the damage? So far it appears to me that they are giving a load of money to the unions and scattering money elsewhere - nothing that is going to have a decent impact on society or most people's lives.

It feels like they are scattering money around with policies that sound nice rather than have a significant impact. If we had a more diverse energy policy that focused on bills coming down that would massively help families every month. Or if we had a decent state school or if they focused on having more affordable transport. Instead money is scattered across on things like breakfast clubs.

But how are they repairing the damage?

Maybe give them more than three months?

Me too. What is also massively ignored is the 'cost' of earning more. The cost of commuting every month for many of friends is over £400. You need to have about £700 of pre-tax salary available for this.

I don't expect them to create power stations overnight but they are absolutely capable of communicating what they will do for the country!

They aren’t giving money to “the unions”. They’ve given money to health care professionals whose wages have been suppressed for years.

“The unions” are groups of ordinary workers who have been shat on for years quietly and who finally reached tipping point.

So what did everyone think? So much of the scaremongering turned out to be unfounded from what I can see.

@pinotnow agreed, I think it was actually fine.

Good budget, Sunak’s rage was a fair indication of just how good.

I thought it wss ok? Not sure about small businesses? I think she said they’d be protected?