The autumn budget should cut benefits before increasing tax

[Leett]

There is talk of Labour breaking their election pledge and increasing income tax by 2p. I doubt they'd do that because voters will revolt. However they need to do something with the state pension due to increase by 4.7% next year.
I really hope they cut benefits / pensions before the deciding to increase taxes.

And those who can't increase their working hours? Those who can't work due to illness and disability?

It was never meant so that people can swan about buying fifty inch tvs, the latest iPhone and going on holiday three times a year.
benefits were meant to be a safety net so that families had a roof over your head and food on the table. If you want the extra comforts that tax payers have, earn it.

Let’s not forget no free nursery
No early school openings with free breakfast clubs
Employers that didn’t employ mothers just because they were mothers
No flexible hours and being sacked if you ran home because your kid at school was Ill

Once again, it is virtually impossible to 'choose' to live for years on benefits. Unless you have a dossier of evidence showing you are unfit, you are expected to prove you are searching for work a set number of hours a week or sanctioned.

Some of the posts on here are so nasty, in the post yesterday about immigrants getting £2000 to leave people posting spend it on the homeless/elderly. Today its screw the elderly
/homeless as they'll be on benefits right?
From the countless unpleasant posts I'm sure some of you were on that thread yesterday. Basically I work hard for my money and it should only be for me and mine. When all the low paid people needing to be propped up with benefits find these better well paid jobs? How you going to spend your money no servers in the restaurants, no shop workers to serve you, no carers left including for the wealthy who I guess wouldn't want to pay a living wage to a lowly carers. No one left to look after your children or any of the middle class children.
Cut expensive and wages for politicians
Higher taxes for large companies
Higher vat on luxury items
Means tested free prescriptions
Charges for misuse of NHS and other funded services straight from wages/benefits
Making criminals either pay for there crimes or make them work to pay for their imprisonment.
Stopping things like offering prescription for aspirin (recently offered this it's less then £1 why such a waste as some would take this)
Uplift to lower paid workers because a lot of large companies certainly could be paying over minimum wage
Much higher taxes on alcohol/tobacco
Controversial but legalized cannabis that's heavily taxed and no I don't smoke it but it's used heavily here so why not make money from it.

Severe disabilities that render a person incapable of working are exempt. Because Those people are disabled

That is a very small number compared to all those who receive UC

Wow, they're doing all that on £400 a month?

If only they had the benefit of mandatory employer contributions during most of their working life, as younger generations will have, maybe it wouldn't be so bleak for them.

I know at least 3 people who have lived on benefits for years, who can/are able to work. It does happen sadly. More than people think.

Except the conversation is always centred around those who are disabled. It is PIP that is always focussed on. Or those on out of work UC which is all of £400 a month.

UC for those in work exists because of shit wages. There should be no need for it.

We are self sufficient. What do you mean? Education, healthcare, police ect are all public goods that I will benefit from. Then again the NHS isn't very good, that's why we have BUPA. But nevertheless I support universal healthcare.

I'm talking about people who rely on benefits all the time. I'm all for supporting and helping me with education and training and then for them to build their own career and future.

Exactly !11
People of today seem to think the grass was always greener in the past.
A bit of reading up on when the benefits and privileges of today were actually introduced and it’s very clear that todays workers have far more protections, financial incentives and benefits than todays pensioners.

I know what you meant, but quite frankly I don’t want anymore of MY money being wasted by this thieving and cowardly government. I’m in favour of cutting spending, not tax cuts.

You forgot about Premium Bonds. Another great way to avoid paying tax and earn money.

To those who want to cut benefits and taxes, genuine question, what would you do to halt inequality and the decline in living standards? More and more people are being affected and at the bottom end of society we have in increase in genuine poverty - severe food insecurity (i.e. actual hunger) is on the rise, especially among children. This is obviously unconscionable, I hope we can agree. So what do we do about it? If not tax and spend then what else? As I say, genuine question, I'm open to any solutions.

Also I think government should set private house rental prices by area. Each area has a cap as a large part of people not being able to live on low wages stems from high private rents. If a landlord can't pay the mortgage on these lower rental income then they've no business being a landlord.

Benefits should be significantly cut or frozen so yes I agree.

Pensions- no.

Agree but if everyone had to work a full working week of 30 hours minimum. Not shared with a partner. Wages would be higher.
Currently the requirement to claim UC is 16 hours shared with a partner. So 8 hours of work each a week.!

How can anyone’s life improve on 8 hours a week.

Working parents on UC are struggling as it is. Cutting benefits will make it even worse.

Reading threads like these always make me think how the extremely wealthy ie the 1% who own over 50% of the land /assets in the country must laugh as the poorer argue over who should be worse off among them. Living standards are reducing and the normal people are going to get further and further squeezed.

I like the economist Gary Stevensons idea
His "Tax Wealth Not Work" campaign focuses on taxing vast asset ownership and hoarded wealth rather than income from work or jobs. He advocates for a wealth tax, possibly a 2% tax on assets over £10 million, to curb the concentration of wealth at the top, which he claims is draining resources from the middle class, government, and public services, making homeownership unaffordable and risking societal collapse.

Agree. Previously these people would have been embarrassed but now they gloat.

Until things change, ostracise them completely from your life, playgroups, dinner parties. They will then feel shame and might address their behaviour.

Agree with some of your proposals but I’d like to add
Free nursery hours only for those working
If you work 20 hours you get 20 hours free nursery etc

For me. I wouldn't cut PIP because these people suffer severe health issues that impact them

What does it matter who spends the money? it doesn't have to be by the recipients of UC? it will be spent by someone else.

So poor children have no nursery until school? I am guessing you will moan even more that kids aren't potty trained etc if they aren't getting the 15 hours universal.

There is no reason why pensions should be linked to wage increases (part of the triple lock), by definition pensioners don't work. They are a greedy, entitled group who get lots of other perks already- bus pass, free prescriptions etc. I am a pensioner