To wonder how the UK will look in 3 years time?

[Labradorlover987]

I was inspired to write this after reading the UC post that was just reported - the govt’s welfare bill has passed but was watered down so unlikely to make any real savings.

I earn 40k, have a school age child and just feel like I am living hand to mouth 😩 I 100% think there should be a welfare systems that supports people on low incomes but I wonder how the current system will be sustained in the long run?

Just wondered what other people thought.

I actually wouldn’t mind paying more in taxes if we could be guaranteed more in services etc - for example my council tax just went up and the services seem even worse this year than usual.

Even when that pensioner paid high levels of tax for decades and took nothing out? There are a lot of us in that situation. I agree that the triple lock should go and perhaps we should pay NI at the level higher tax payers do, 2% would be acceptable.

🤣Where did I say I expected it to all be fixed in 1 year? I expect things not to have got worse. You know, like they have.

“Even when that pensioner paid high levels of tax for decades and took nothing out? There are a lot of us in that situation. I agree that the triple lock should go and perhaps we should pay NI at the level higher tax payers do, 2% would be acceptable.”

Yes I think so @blossomtoes. It should be the equivalent of what workers pay in NI contributions, same amount, same thresholds.
By all means, make it a care fund then. To go into respite care whatever, there is so much need for this stuff.
I also think that those actually working should get priority on NHS lists for treatment, but that is more controversial. Especially those doing physically demanding jobs. You cannot work if you cannot get treatment quickly. As we have an increasingly ageing population, we will have to make decisions like this.

That things feel worse is because we are all still suffering the negative effects of policies implemented by a succession of incompetent conservative governments for many years. Like a large ship being slowed, stopped and turned round, the same is true of an out of control economy. It takes time. Certainly considerably more timethan a year.
We are all still paying for the disaster inflicted on us by the Truss/Kwarteng “government”.

It’s really not this. Ik it’s your view but most can see it’s not.

As for the very rich, I really do not think a 2% wealth tax will work. Too few of them and just a few changing their behaviour leads to the money not being raised.
Better to do an incentive - a war time style bond to bring down the sovereign debt and give them tax incentives to do so and some patriotic credit. I am sure some financiers can come up with something. There are quite a lot of patriotic rich people left who would contribute something.
Look if private schools can raise 500 million in prepayments in a few months by offering a discount equivalent to what they would have paid in income tax on savings, then the Government can do similar with a bond. Borrow from your own rich at a rate where they are tax neutral and we are all better off.

It really is 🤣

Nope. 2% across the board. And NHS treatment should continue to be based on clinical need. If working people want to be head of the queue they should take out health insurance which is completely unaffordable if you’re a pensioner.

Emojis won’t help Labour either.

They don’t help anyone. They’re highly expressive though.

Eh?

She hates emojis. 😂

You fill too much head space with this type of stuff.

So what’s your solution? Question is not about the kind of policies which will fix them, we all know that. Who is going to do that. Tory? But they were crap. Or Farage, who lied about benefits of Brexit. I would like to know which party, in your opinion, will implement those beneficial, nation building policies.

So which party has been great at making good decisions? Why not update us with that so we can vote for them.

Nation building? That would be nice, wouldn’t it. That anyone actually believes Farage cares about the people of this nation is nothing short of laughable.
Were he, perish the horrific thought, to become PM, he would follow the pattern demonstrated as an MEP and now MP. Barely turn up, when he does spout shite, cream off any direct or indirect benefit he can and then piss off to the US when it all becomes a bit uncomfortable and the public begin to hold him accountable for the disaster he will unleash.

Why, oh why does anyone believe this man of the people persona he’s adopted?

It's also illogical because it doesn't include the value of the work itself.

A care worker might not be a net contributor, but they do an essential job, with the additional benefit of enabling their clients' relatives to keep working in their own careers.

A refuse collector might not be a net contributor, but we would have a reduced quality of life without them, and there would also be a risk to public health. There might also be a negative effect on some of our other sectors, such as tourism.

A supermarket shelf-stacker/till operator might not be a net contributor, but their work contributes to the billions of pounds in annual profit made by some supermarket chains.

A bus driver might not be a net contributor, but they provide a (relatively) environmentally-friendly way for others to get to work, attend appointments, go shopping and make use of leisure amenities.

A crop-picker might not be a net contributor, but without them, the crops would rot in the fields, more farmers would go out of business and supermarkets would import more produce from overseas, with the added cost to the environment.

🤣 to keep in sync with your communication style.

Now to serious stuff -

You are complaining about the government after just one year of them elected when ( one) the country’s issues are far more complex and long standing and developed over many years.

2 there are things happening at global levels which have also contributed to prices (A) going up every where and UK being a country of imports is impacted by it. (B) migration crisis of west due to conflicts in Middles East and parts of Africa.

But the great thing is that elections will take place again, and you are free to elect your favourite party to make Britain great again.

Could the rise in numbers of people on Universal Credit be because ESA is being stopped, and everyone changed over onto it, in fact by the end of this year everyone who received ESA will instead get UC. This process started last year.
Context is important.

Vote for whomever you like. If you’re committed to Labour then go for it.

If posters are that loyal there’s no point in ‘updating’ them.

Unfortunately not.

It's UC statistics which talks about all benefits.

And most recent news is that the number of UC claimants hit 8mn people last month, 2.8% up from last year

I don’t disagree. The problem is that we’ve got a new head and the school thinks he’s even more embarrassing and hopeless than the last few.

Things have got so bad that the finance manager has been found sobbing in the toilets.

I know of people who have just changed from ESA, onto UC, you have to make a brand new claim with a different department, I am sure that must affect the numbers.
I'm also not sure how we decide who gets benefits and who doesn't, because the criteria is already quite strict, with disabled people struggling to navigate the system.

It's all very well saying stop the piss takers, but how do government go about it?

I think what will actually happen in the future is state pension will be means tested, young people will have to save more into work pensions to support themselves in old age, and once the boomers die off things will even out.
We're just entering the difficult bit before that happens.

Edit to add..universal credit is an out of work benefit, so more people are losing their jobs then? You have to sign onto it between jobs, and it can take months to find a new one, do you have figures for the number of jobs available for all the unemployed people?

I have lived a life, by most metrics.

During my career, in Europe, Asia and the US, I have met some truly exceptional people, but the vast majority are what you might term ‘mediocre’, of various grades of mediocrity. Without the rain makers, many of these individuals would not have had the opportunity they did.

Remove the incentives for the exceptional, and you will experience unintended consequences.