Would you pay more tax to boost defence spending

[trainermush]

Obviously we are now in a more precarious position & defence spending has been underfunded for some time. RR had just said we need to spend more money & she will but without breaking her fiscal rules,

"So we will stick to our fiscal rules. But recognising the priority of defence spending in the world that we live in today means that we will have to make difficult choices so that we can spend that money that is needed to keep our country safe."

Mulling it over & even though I think I pay enough tax I would pay more each month towards this (cut back in other areas) as opposed to labour cutting back on something else. I guess thinking about my dc & other loved ones has changed my mind somewhat now things appear more bleak. What do others think?
Conscription of young people terrifies me even though my dc are too young.

Yes, and I think Reeves should have done the sensible thing, said "this was unforeseen at the election and we're going to do one-off borrowing to rapidly scale up defence spending" would be a lot more sensible than Austerity 2.0. We've tried austerity as a path to growth and it doesn't work.

Those who are saying they don't think we should spend on guns or it should all be political/diplomatic solutions are closing their eyes to the reality of where we've allowed ourselves to get to geopolitically.

Having tried appeasement in the 1930s and in the 2010s I'm not sure why we think the 2020s version would be any more successful.

Farming and nursing, top government research.

Yes absolutely. Ring fenced though.

ok but what about outa space, ? even if all humans got along the next wars are in space, theres whole galaxies out there

I think he has the right to be

I think we will have to, unfortunately.
The situation is clearly very precarious at the moment, our defence spending has been cut back over the past 20 years - as a percentage of GDP.
https://www.macrotrends.net/global-metrics/countries/gbr/united-kingdom/military-spending-defense-budget
It's also time that we took responsibility for our own continent and do not find ourselves reliant on US spending.

lol. Yes, and what about zombies? I've seen plenty of documentaries about those buggers.
They'll be coming next so let's ramp up the spend now . just in case

@Onlyonekenobe how would you get the billionaires to contribute more?

well yes, everyone is biased to some degree. Especially when it's your livelihood

Where is this apathy coming from?

I'm being realistic, the billionaires will be enshrined in their bunkers in New Zealand or whatever. Where is your naivety coming from?

I think he might be a bit more well informed.

True.

However I would expect they cost a fraction of the billions we have spent on for example Ajax.

So do we need to raise taxes ? I doubt it.

well russia is a case in point, better to have the army and not need them as much rather than oh fuck here comes Putin

well the usa has mount weather etc

We've tried austerity as a path to growth and it doesn't work.

Yes, that's why I would through gritted teeth pay more than have more austerity.

Same, tbh, but I'd go with borrowing first - especially considering the short term economic stimulus effect of defence procurement.

We need to spend money on defence obviously. But this will need to be done at the expense of public spending.

Absolutely not.

This the the list from Google for those not Conscripted in WW2 ..
Farming: Agricultural workers and farmers were exempt
Engineering: Many engineering-related trades were exempt
Medicine: Doctors were exempt
Teaching: Schoolteachers were exempt
Mining: Miners were exempt, though coal mining was not initially reserved
Railway and dockwork: Railway and dockworkers were exempt
Lighthouse keeping: Lighthouse keepers were exempt
Trade union officials: Trade union officials were exempt

maybe a combo of borrowing/taxes

Public services are already cut to the bone. There are two choices - increase borrowing or raise taxes. My money’s on both.

Only 11% of generation Z would fight.

But 1/3 of ccf participants are in private schools so it's good Labour are supporting these future soldiers that we may well rely on.

But this will need to be done at the expense of public spending

But realistically is that possible?

Not cut to the bone re public sector wages and pensions. Not if you drive trains for example. Plenty of meat to trim for defence.

Realistically if things go pear-shaped we won't have a choice. Better start preparing now. That old saying prepare for war to avoid war is probably relevant today.