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.

Taxing wealth is a false economy
Thats a well known fact
but
something Labour will probably do because they want votes given how crap they are doing at the moment

The free hours are to benefit the child - not the parents.

So yeah, every year up until 2022 when I retired I was in one of those crappy local gov jobs getting that 1-2% rise per year.Then I retired and the tories that year put a hold on the triple lock , then labour stopped the heating allowance...great ain't it . It's like swimming upstream all my life !

I mean I enjoy the break to clean my house as well but it is for my child. 🤷

But they can afford a roof? They have a separate housing element.

They have free prescriptions and free dental and eye tests. Why should their health decline? The NHS is free at the point of use.

Are are clutching at straws here.

Haven't rtft but would there be any benefit in lowering the inheritance tax threshold? But have a lower rate? Then more people would pay it...
If it was a lower % then maybe people wouldn't be as tempted to avoid paying it?

Boots was bought out by Americans years ago.

And you know they're able to work how?

The problem is, no system is fool proof. It is impossible. I am not going to deny that there are likely people who have manipulated the system (although, the amount of work that would entail makes me think they could make more money doing an actual job. Believe me, i have first-hand knowledge of the system and it is designed to punish and catch out not help). But I don't believe it is in the numbers people posit on here.

And if the only other answer is to either monitor people 24/7 or get rid of the welfare state altogether or cut it to such an extent that even more people die (on top of those who have died due to austerity already) then I think it is a price worth paying for a society that doesn't fall into Dickensian levels of deprivation.

What would help above anything is early years education and health support. Early years support, so that those at risk of falling through the cracks due to illness/disability, abusive/chaotic family life, living in care are given more opportunities to escape.

Of course it matters. Different demographics have to prioritise different spending.

Universal credits reciprocate spend a higher proportion of their income than any other demographic. Keeping businesses a float keeping lots of you in jobs.

And people with lots of money also won’t spend it because they have been proven to hoard it.

Or they are literally self-sufficient and they don’t need to spend money with you.

Increasing tax wont push anyone into hardship and poverty. Cutting benefits will.
It is easy to say benefits should be cut when it wont affect you. You wont get anymore money in your pocket either.

Yes, I think it plays to the economic illiterate, 'kind' contingent. The ones who don't think anything should cut and don't want taxes to rise for ordinary people (I e. 99% of the population). They just blandly talk about wealth taxes, PPE and HS2 as if these things alone are the answer. It's infuriating and almost enough to make you question the validity of democracy and giving everyone a vote. Surely people should only be able to vote for actually at least semi viable options.

Sorry, what are you trying to say?

Appreciate that argument but parents should be capable of bringing up their kids and there are plenty of free pre school clubs, groups and playgrounds around so kids can mix

Its just another expense the country can’t afford.

If parents want the best for their kids and want them to attend nursery they can go out to work and get the free nursery hours. Up to 30 !

I am joking.

I have worked since I was 16 and late 50s now. I have a private dentist as cannot get nhs and pay for opticians. I dont consider myself to be a scrounger by any stretch BUT I do get free prescriptions because I have a long term medical condition which I have had since my teans and I'm stuck with it until the day I die. I would happily swap places with someone who does not have my issues. They can have my free prescriptions and I will have their good health.

Everyone in Scotland gets free prescriptions and eye tests.

It could well push someone who is just about managing into hardship and poverty.

Some people get more in benefits than a single person on minimum wage earns - and that single person may well not be eligible for UC.

And how are these children going to be prepared for school? What if there are no groups nearby? These hours prepare them for that. In the case of my son and others it gives extra support due to SEN. I am sure we can afford this in this country.

I thought the argument was that the free hours for all gave all children a much better start in life which helped improve their health, education prospects and socialising. This the leads to less costs on the state and NHS in the long run?

An added benefit was that it allowed parents, mainly mothers, to return to the workplace and contribute to the economy and their own pensions.

I’m happy to be corrected here.

Yes I agree with you. It’s this and that cartoon.

Yes. The IFS studies have shown that something like 5% on absolutely every penny of an estate would raise more - and more from the wealthy - than our current IHT system.

Bollocks. There are people out there who qualify for NOTHING and PAY for EVERYTHING out of their one and only wage packet. These people will get taxed more, why is this fair?!

Do you think that Thomas Piketty is economically illiterate?

But working people get pay rises! Everybody has to buy the same things - fuel, food, council tax, TV licence, etc., so why shouldn't pensioners get a pay rise every year like most other people? If you freeze that payment, and these items go up in price every year, then slowly but surely the pensioner will have less and less to show for their income.