To ask how much you think income tax will rise by?

[Wonderofwimbledon]

We’re absolutely financially at our limit… I’m so incredibly stressed. An income tax rise will break us and we won’t be able to afford it. We won’t have money to eat.

What do you think it’ll be? I just want to curl up and cry- we can’t take anymore increases our bills , mortgage everything has increased we have no spare money at all

These sound relatively fair which is why I think they probably won’t do them

This is worrying me too. Especially talk of dropping the threshold of higher rate income tax to £45k. I earn £45,300 as a primary school teacher. I am also a widowed parent. Every month I am just scraping by with nothing left over at the end. We haven’t had a holiday for years and I am relying increasingly on my credit card even for paying for food and petrol by the end of the month. I am not entitled to any benefits.

I don’t know what will happen if I am now to be classed as a high earner and taxed accordingly. My salary could definitely be described as comfortable if I had a partner who earned similar. But nothing about my life supports the idea of me being well off. It’s always people like me, who just scrape over the threshold that suffer the most. Earn too much for any financial support but not enough to live without constant fear of affording things.

Interesting!

Given the polarisation in the debate, would it be broadly accurate to conclude that those who are pro-Labour are in receipt of welfare support, or who have friends/family who are?

I don't think that's true at all. Aren't labour voters normally younger & in recent years London has voted for labour.

@academicallyblonde. I hear you. And as the single earner in a family it’s bloody hard.

According to the Times people dependent on benefits make up a core element of Reform supporters. Make of that what you will.

Which makes sense, presumably a lot are older, are the Times classing those on state pension as dependent on benefits? Immigration worries a lot of Reform voters so I assume a lot will be disenfranchised and blaming immigrants for their woes.

That's not surprising. Their policies are Trumpian / populist, and are based around stopping immigration and spending much more money on essential public services and much less on stuff like asylum hotels.

It's completely unworkable but can see why it appeals

It appeals because a large part of the electorate wants to believe in unicorns.

One wonders why the Labour back benches revolted over last summer’s attempted welfare reforms?

Hence my earlier post.

Why did backbenchers stop the welfare reforms?

The biggest issue is an ageing population and that our policies haven't accounted for that. I can't think of another country that has a healthcare model & pension model with such little contributions by the public. And then the fucked up housing market which became our economy has compounded things.

Reform is attractive to people on benefits because it peddles the line that the problem in the UK is ‘foreigners’ and ‘immigrants’. Sadly people buy into this, and think therefore that Reform is the ‘answer’.

The Reform manifesto is complete fantasy, much of it is illegal, and the rest is economic nonsense. However, like the Brexit campaign , it has big finance behind it and a knack for finding politically attractive slogans and tapping into the anxieties of those who are not able to look behind press / social media statements. I am also very afraid of Reform.

The people moaning (us) are the net providers. We pay enough tax as it is and unlike those who are stuck on low pay forever we have ambition to improve and get better pay.

Yes we do work wne try and get better jobs. They should to. Stop relying on us. He responsible for yourself

Why did backbenchers stop the welfare reforms?

I'm not sure why that is relevant to my post? I'm not a labour backbencher, why do you think they did @EasternStandard?

I personally think it was a huge mistake to reverse the cuts.

Some of the reforms went through. The PIP elements were removed. They were not well thought out at all, would have loads of unintended consequences and were anathema to a lot of Labour supporters, not just Labour supporters on PIP as pp likes to claim.

It’s relevant because of your post a few up. Labour MPs want to keep voters, so those receiving benefits are important enough to them to stop the welfare reform.

This post.

It doesn’t tally with what Labour are doing, presumably from pressure over votes.

Do you think that the government will try again? But based on them being better thought out.

Who will do the low paid jobs if every left to do better?

I used to do a low paid job. I did not need top ups as things were more affordable. Now they are not, and top ups are needed. That is not the fault of the people needing those top ups.

@EasternStandard are you saying younger voters aren't more likely to vote labour or London hasn't seen a shift?

I don't quite understand the logic that because backbenchers were against reforms the majority of labour voters have to be on benefits?

Then people can’t afford those ‘things’ and have to make do with other ‘things’, I’m sure a mugger thinks it’s fine to take someone’s wallet so they can afford nicer things - but it’s not fine.

I’d say there’s a mix, but welfare pressure did overturn the £5bn cuts and MPs would have been concerned about votes.

London does tend to vote Labour as you say, younger generally but Greens will likely start to pick those up and Reform gets following on SM with (male) younger groups.

The drop in support looks substantial for Labour rn so it depends how it maps out.

When I was studying Alevel economics, I remember learning that the basic rate of tax was 33p in the £1. Thatcher only managed to reduce the basic rate of income tax because she sold off all our industries and utilities (that's been a great success, I'm sure you'll all agree). Now there is nothing to sell off, plus we have to afford the shambles of Brexit (costs us £850M per week as opposed to EU membership which was £350M). So this is why tax has to go back up.

What can you have other than housing if you can't afford to rent anymore?
Live in a tent?

Claiming benefits is not a crime so please don't equate it with it being a mugger. Is that what you really think of claimants?

Depends on the out come of Timms.

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/the-timms-review