AIBU to say that I have had enough of this government and Its grabby supporters.

[Ihavehadenough1345]

I have name changed for this and am prepared for the pile on, backlash, kicking I am going to get but I have had enough!

My tax bill was £80,000 this year. I am self employed. I pay £16,000 a year in VAT. I have a valuable asset. I own my own home.
no mortgage. I have worked bloody hard. No inheritance, no Oxbridge, no privilege and no luck!

I pay for private school for 2 DC.

I am asset rich, cash poor. I have enough money to pay all of my bills, no debt, I’m not extravagant. If you met me you wouldn’t know my financial situation. I am normal.

But my tax contribution is not enough for this government and its supporters.

I read all of the posts of all of the threads regarding VAT on school fees, UC, the cost
of living crisis and on and on and on!

I have had enough.

And I do not need therapy and I do not have ADHD or bipolar.

Let the games begin!

Why is private school the best option for some people and state the best option for others?

The same reason some people live in bigger, more expensive houses than others. Why some people wear more expensive clothes than others. It’s not hard to work out.

You mean it's the option that some people can afford and some people can't.
That's precisely my point: I think all schools should be state and therefore available to everyone. I also think all schools should be properly funded, resourced and supported so that they offer the highest standards of education and facilities for children of all abilities and with all needs and ways of learning.

Yep. It’s what people wanted on here but it’ll cost more.

I do agree that in an ideal world everyone would recieve a decent state education. In the current set up, you end up with lots of people that have been trained to pass exams, but actually aren't all that clever and do not perform well in their roles. Whilst lots of genuine talent is held back.

In any case OP, whilst you have money, you do not have genuine wealth. You do not earn enough to be completely self sufficient for generations and your GC will likely do better here than in countries where they need to be fully self sufficient.

Now I know you are just shit stirring - the right to a private education. Pull the other one it’s got bells on it.

Well then you would have to parent and help them. That is what we with kids in state have to do.

Where does this stop? Should everyone wear the same clothes? Should everyone live in the same identikit apartment blocks?
why should all schools be state schools? The world moved from pining after USSR standards about 50 years ago.

What is no ‘properly funded’ and ‘highest standards’. There needs to be a baseline standard that everyone gets, those that want to buy more should be able to. Why does it matter to you that someone may want to pay for add ons?

What you really mean when you talk about these generic ‘properly funded’ and ‘highest standards’ schools is that it should be equally bad for everyone. This barking mad dogma rarely ever means raising standards for all, especially the poorest, it means everyone having equally poor standards. Because it somehow scratches some weird socialist itch.

What’s betting that you would not be the least bit interested in average standards being raised if it meant a larger private provision for those with more money.

Question number 1 when reading the start of any article like that is what study and who by.
That is answered part way down and it’s the Adam Smith Institute. It’s a right wing think tank and lobbying group which has form for this sort of thing. I doubt the numbers given are particularly accurate.

@Ihavehadenough1345
You’re completely entitled to your view. I find the use of “grabby” a little odd because it sounds as if you think the Government is collecting taxes to buy sweeties with. Personally, I think we as a society need services and they need to be paid for. I wish the government had imposed a wealth tax- it’s in all our interests to have good public services and for people to be well supported.

Oh for heavens sake Op.

Now you’re scraping the barrel and going into hyperbole.

My DD went to a state school and got 7x9, 2x8 and 3x7 at GCSE. She’s on track for 2A* and 2A at A level and has placed at the top Universities.

State Educated all the way through

I was state educated and went to Bristol University where my results were better than some of the toffs I met from Eton etc etc

Who the fuck wants to go to the US at the moment. There’s a shit show going on and none in their right mind wants to be part of it

Like what? These three taxes make up 75% of our tax take. Public services are on their knees. Looking at any other taxes is tinkering around the edges.

Let me guess that the school you send your kids to bears no relation to the one in OP’s local area!

yet another poster who lives in a bubble and had NO CLUE about quite how bad a bad state school can be!

You're entitled to your opinion.

Please, though, have the self-awareness to realise that what you don't like is the current government "grabbing" money and services from you. You much preferred the previous government when they were grabbing services from other people. Politics is about who gets what, when, how. Everyone is irritated when they aren't the winners but that's life - you can't win all the time.

People cannot bear to hear that it is they - the ordinary member of the public - that has to pay up, and not ‘a n other’.

The OP is jus an old school Conservative, probably a Reform voter now.

It's simply about what she wants and needs, not what is good for society overall.

She was probably fine the the Tories targeting the vulnerable and leaving the rich and well off to their tax avoidance schemes, they need to look after their core voting numbers so let the wealthy get away with stuff like no VAT on Private School fees.

If you are a Labour /Lib Dem voter you are more concerned about society as a whole, recognising that a happy stable general population bares fruit for all. Like now, they are simply making the wealthy pay their way. I acknowledge that there are issues with this government, but they are unravelling what went before them.

I wouldn't say the OP is unreasonable to feel the way they do, but unfortunately for them it's their time to pay their fair share.

Yep.

Plus it’s an own goal to drive out wealth and lower tax receipts. Those asking for those policies will be line to stump up more. Maybe not all will get tax rises, but the increased costs will filter through.

Oh get off your high horse

Op didn’t say anything about her local comp. she is being most generic in the part of her post I was quoting ( below). She’s sensationalising. I would love to know the area she lives in and her local state schools to be able to get the correct data.

“My leaders might also deny my DGC the right to private education and send them to the local comp where the GCSE pass rate at grade 5+ is average 23%”

It is very possible to get a very good education at a State school if you put the effort in and work hard. The only thing you’re not going to get is access to the “right” clubs, societies, networks etc. And the snobbery that goes along with it.

Multiple economists and accountants have been warning the government for years about the tax cliff issue. It isn't a brand new Labour problem. I agree it ought to be fixed because the current situation is nonsensical, but that is one particular tax problem that can't be pinned on Labour. Surely there has got to be a fix to eliminate the cliff that's also revenue neutral.

I do have a lot of sympathy for some of the OPs points. It can feel like the higher earners are being taxed a lot (they are) and it can feel
like they pay the largest amount of income tax (they do).

I think where they come across badly is the whole “cash poor” thing. You can’t spend your money on something optional then claim to be cash poor. Private schooling is optional (no statement about its value in that)

I like cars. Probably spend too much on them. If that leaves me short that’s my choice. I can’t buy a Ferrari then claim to be cash poor.

No one should be free from tax because they are asset rich and cash poor.

An asset rich person is still a rich person. Just that they have decided to hold all their wealth in assets.

There are also plenty of mechanisms for asset rich people to raise money against assets in order to pay tax bills without liquidating the asset.

If you own a huge house and can't afford a tax bill the solution is to downsize the house.

Would like to be one of those cheerful saintly souls who just loves paying tax but admit I am not! Paying yet another £6k quarterly vat bill tomorrow 🙄- we pay between absolutely shed loads of tax but still need private health care to get seen. It’s hard not to feel slightly resentful.

I don't begrudge you the things you have and am pleased you have the lifestyle you want.

But the phrase "I've worked hard" irks my soul. Most people I know work hard. Lots of people work their fingers to the bone and will never have the luxury of choosing private school and owning a home outright.

There's no correlation between level of income and 'working hard'. Plenty of people work extremely hard for minimum wage; plenty of rich people live off inherited wealth and do nothing. There's an attitude that the more money people have, the more they must have done to earn it - and why the hell should they have to pay their fair share of tax on it - and frankly that's a lot of the reason why the global economy is so screwed.