A 1p / 2p raise to income tax should lawfully trigger a general election

[TesChique]

There are vague promises in manifestos, and there are those which are explicit and should be binding except in exceptional circumstances (war etc)

If labour, or any party reneges on a core manifesto promise it should lawfully trigger a general election

They have lied to the public.

AIBU to think we need to see this change in law?

But should they be entitled to anything? £25k a year isn’t bad for a minimum wage job.

The problem for many is housing costs. Lower and middle earners pay less tax vs other similar countries but our gov pays out far more in housing benefit than other countries.

Makes me laugh when I hear Labour say we have the fastest growing economy in the G7.....its hardly a thing to brag about..our economy is still shit

Truss crashed the economy and cost us billions. Boris lied to us, to the queen, handled Covid appallingly badly, and led Brexit which cost us billions. Blair took us into an illegal war. Starmer hasn’t been any better at stopping the boats than previous governments. Your point is what exactly?

@EasternStandard who did you vote for in the last election?

Nope. Voted for them all my life and a member of the party.

The Conservatives are appalling ( Lived under Thatcher) and Lib Dem’s don’t get enough votes.

It’s not Labours shitshow, it was rooted in Brexit and austerity.

They are low tax, small state. Excellent public services but less of them with personal responsibility for more areas in life. In the past it would just have been called standard conservatism.

Makes me laugh when I hear Labour say we have the fastest growing economy in the G7.....its hardly a thing to brag about..our economy is still shit

True

The Labour government were well aware of the state of the country’s economic situation prior to the election. All info is available to the party in opposition, the black hole was there to be seen by anyone who cared to look. They not only knew but they’ve made it worse.

They broke their manifesto promise almost immediately by raising employer NI. It’s NI after all. They think they are clever with words like ‘safe spaces’ instead of ‘single sex safe spaces’. NI instead of employ/employer NI.

We see you Labour, what were you doing for 14 years in opposition- sleeping? I have no doubt they will raise income tax, the sad thing is this - it will raise a load of money and they will spaff it up the wall. There will be no reform of the benefits system, the NHS, the civil service etc. However they need to remember that those people paying have choices - to change working patterns, cut hours, pay into their pensions, leave etc. I think they could be in for a shock if they come after those keeping the country afloat.

@Bumblebee72 but how does that work with ageing population?

Mostly nonsense.

Forget income tax. The head of the Digital I.D project had said publicly, backed by Keen Kier

"We want to fundamentally reshape citizens relationship with the state"

So, there you have it, the real reason.

Dave down the Spoons would be a better choice to run the country.

If you care about your children's future, Labour is not the goyou want.

Delusional.

Might as well be unpopular for some reason, rather than unpopular for lots of vaguer reasons.

I will put up with it if I have to, but I just hope it won’t be wasted. Governments are far too good at wasting taxpayer money.

This just demonstrates the main problem with democracy - people vote en masse for fantasies and then get upset when reality bites, but instead of accepting reality, some people want a chance to vote for even more outrageous fantasies.

a lot of this income tax increase will be used just to fund the triple lock....

Most of it will be used to service the debt accrued by the outgoing government. And they knew that was the case, hence Sunak pushing the narrative that a Labour government would increase taxes. Obviously he failed to mention that any government, including his, would have to raise them and that his £10 billion NI giveaway was unfunded.

Yes, although they’ve lied and lied again, it’s nothing new, and we can’t keep having elections.

But, Reeves has been beyond hopeless, and should be ousted by Christmas 🙄

The latest saga about ‘forgetfulness/didn’t know” with being a private landlord is just turning it into satire.

Labour are a huge disappointment, and Starmer just runs round the globe, playing statesman, throwing our money around, and sucking up to Trump.

They will pay heavily at the next election.

It's what they should have done in the first place. All that rubbish about not increasing tax on the working person was bullshit. Just a huge stupid incompetence.

It's the only place money comes from. Companies rely on their workers generate income. If corporation tax rises, companies just cut back on investment and employment, damaging the economy, which is what Labour have done.

It shows Labour have no clue how the economy runs. The sooner we are rid of them, the better.

We need to cut costs but in a moderate way. WFP doesn't need to go to anyone with an income of £35k. Make that the same level as the minimum wage. Cut back on Motability to those who actually need cars (I work in the industry, there is a massive abuse of the system), cut back on money to asylum seekers, basics only. And so on. We waste so much.

It’s not Labours shitshow, it was rooted in Brexit and austerity.

It started in the 70s under Thatcher selling everything off. Every successive gov has fucked something up though but the big problem was never recovering from 08. Low interest rates masked it but so much damage to younger people. Brexit obviously hasn't helped.

But the electorate need to take responsibility too as many don't want anything to change for them just others to pay more.

Why should working people pay anymore to support sick or disabled people?

There's a limit to how much empathy people have, if the choice is not being to afford the Mortgage, or paying for sick or disabled people, the mortgage comes first.

There you go then why ask. No one’s going to give you and Reeves answers now, it’s Labour’s own doing. You’ll be in a shrinking minority who think they’re doing well and nothing to see here.

Can you explain that or is it just something you are repeating because you heard it on the tv.

Well, that’s patronising of you.

Brexit is both a leading and exacerbating cause of the UK’s economic problems because it’s made almost every other challenge worse. By cutting the country off from its biggest trading partner, it’s created new barriers for businesses, pushed up import costs and scared off investment that used to flow in when the UK was a gateway to the EU market. On top of that, the end of free movement led to worker shortages in everything from farming to hospitality, driving up costs and adding pressure to inflation. These effects have amplified all other global shocks – Covid, the energy crisis – because the UK lost the flexibility and resilience it once had. Brexit has made the UK uniquely vulnerable and almost impossible to recover, turning what might have been short-term bumps into deeper, longer-lasting economic strains.

DH and I both work in global trade, finance and economics, but sure – I got it off the TV 🙄

Obviously he failed to mention that any government, including his, would have to raise them and that his £10 billion NI giveaway was unfunded.

obviously

It will be just those on PAYE…

I’ll be relieved if it’s just income tax that’s the target. It’s pensions I’m seriously worried about.

Excellent public services but less of them?

Can you be more specific? Which public services would be stopped?

Social work?
Health?
Education?
Police?
Fire?
Food safety?
Building safety?
Planning?
Pharmaceutical safety and licensing?
Environmental health?
Inspections of abattoirs?
Customs and border control?

Fascinated to hear how this will work.