To ask if you were Prime Minister for a year, how would you combat the cost of living?

[MzGG]

To ask if you were Chancellor of the Exchequer, how would you combat the cost of living?

Scrap all the political non-jobs that cost the country billions in wages and budgets for vanity projects: all mayors, almost all of the Welsh assembly and Scottish parliaments, most councillors and most MPs.

Some areas have literally 5 or 6 politicians 'representing' them, each given a budget. The locals have no idea who they're meant to complain to re the potholes but there's no money to spend on the potholes because it's all gone to ..

All these ridiculous politicians

I find it quite odd that people are suggesting things that are already policy, do they not actually know how their own country works?

Well it wouldn’t take a year, twenty would be a little more realistic. A big change thats needed is attitude change, at the moment the most common want seems to be paying £0 but receiving gold and not giving a shit about other people, you can’t have success with that. The British attitude to education also needs to change, being a bit thick and putting in no effort is the norm and celebrated, the whole “oh I can’t do maths” is really damaging.

Obviously being in the EU would help, but the UK rightfully wouldn’t have the same package as before.

Food prices don’t need to fall, food is already extremely cheap in the UK, further falls would either mean increased tax funded subsidies, or more farms going out of business, both of these things would be a negative on the economy.

Some services could be brought back into state control, however that requires people to vote in a party who can do that in a way to benefit everyone, rather than just voting for themselves rather than society as a whole. Imagine if we had nationalised water during Johnsons term for example, it would have led to an even worse outcome to whats currently going on with water companies.

1.Rejoin the EU, and join the Eurozone.

2.Dismantle the NHS and rebuild more efficiently for the modern world. Focus more on prevention and emergencies. Make citizen mental health a priority.

3.Raise the PAYE tax starting point and introduce a decent rate flat tax with no loopholes.

4.Remove means tested benefits (they cost a fortune to administer) and introduce UBI, a smaller amount for children akin to child benefit, larger for adults.

5.Compulsory solar and underground rainwater tanks plumbed to toilets for all suitable new builds.

6.More emphasis on retrofitting insulation, solar, and rainwater tanks to all properties.

7.A high tax on new, plastic based clothing.

8.A high tax on UPFs, and their ingredients, such as cheap fats and emulsifiers.

9.A high tax on all single use plastics.

10. Increase taxes on petrol and diesel cars.

11. Investment into expansion of railways to increase capacity for both passengers and freight.

12. Investment into expansion of cycling and walking infrastructure, with an increase in safe places to park bikes.

13. Introduce higher taxes for shorthaul, domestic flights.

14. Introduce a wealth tax for assets, and remove the loophole where the very wealthy can place their money and assets in trusts to avoid inheritance tax.

15. Move parliament to a new, modern location and remove the adverserial nature of the debating chamber. Open the old buildings to the public, host citizen debates, etc.

16. Introduce elections for the higher house, open to UK citizens over 45, with elections every 10 years. Remove bishops.

17. Make solar compulsory on all suitable infrastructure, both in existance and new. Ban solar farms in open countryside.

18. Invest in tidal power.

19. Move to the most efficient and successful form of PR for all elections.

20. Change the house purchase system in England and Wales to one which ties everyone in much earlier.

That'll be enough for my first 12 months! 😆😆😆

I would increase the tax allowance threshold for a start and I would let people have tax free overtime and bonuses once you hit a threshold of 35 to 40 hours a week. So if you have to work more or have 2 jobs you keep it yourself. If people on benefits get free money the workers get the same. Fuck this shit where there worse off than us also as a pensioner paying into the system for 30 years or more they would get a lot more state benefits tax free not talking universal credit people just people who choose not to contribute when they can. I wouldn’t give people with anxiety or depression more than 2 years of benefits without them helping themselves. Cannot sustain this shit forever.

Income tax personal allowance set an national minimum wage.
Income tax thresholds to increase with inflation
End the erosion of personal allowance at £100,000
End green levies
North Sea Oil
Frack
Reduce tax on fuel
Sort out business rates on hospitality
Cut VAT
Paid for by welfare cuts and taxing profits in the country they are made (I'm looking at you Amazon)

Capitalism rather than socialism is the way to raise living standards. Slash taxes, cheap energy, slash welfare, incentivise work and get out of the way.

I think this is the ultimate problem. A year isn't long enough and some of the things that are required won't be popular enough to get you re elected.

I'd reinstate Sure Start, build new social housing. I'd build a healthcare system that deals with causes not symptoms. But that costs and someone's going to have to pay more tax.

I'd take a lot of the current measures that are supposed to help away. Universal free school meals, child benefit for families earning £100k, funded nursery hours. Too many benefits for those who should be able to support themselves.

Mostly I think a huge public education campaign on taking responsibility for your own health, living, children is required. Create an environment where people want to take care of themselves and their families, because the alternative is not socially acceptable. I absolutely don't mean remove the rug from under them, but gradual nudging, and education, to change attitudes.

That's not to bash people who currently have poor health or rely on benefits, but to help them create a better life for themselves because, whilst the state can make things slightly more bearable, they're not going to have "good" lives until they make changes themselves, and that's going to need a complete change of attitude and lots of support. That will cost too.

Raise taxes thresholds

Stop paying for childcare for those parents with a total joint income above £150k (including dividends) and stoo paying it for anybody who is not working the number of hours tgey want free childcare for.

I think doing away with every billionaire would be a good start.

I forgot to add mine. I’d tax the ultra wealthy more,

That's what the Beatle's 1966 song "Taxman" was about, it was a protest again the more than 90% tax rate for the highest earners!

In theory it sounds like a good idea @MzGG but the problem is that the ultra-wealthy can use tax planning strategies to avoid the high rates and/or easily move abroad. If tax rates skyrocket, there'll be a mass exodus.

Tax the ultra wealthy

Lower immigration

Free degrees for teachers, nurses, HCP's, daycare workers etc. Need to commit to 3 years of working in the UK post graduation.

Massively reduce foreign aid, we can’t afford it. Reintroduce the two child benefit cap. Look at benefits again, the cap for benefits should be no more than someone on a NMW job. Speaking of that, benefits should be viewed as a lifeline, not a lifestyle. Claiming long term (with benefits your only money, I’m not talking about top-ups), needs to be looked at.

For anyone able bodied on benefits for more than 6 months, there would be a community service requirement eg picking up litter/scrubbing graffiti for 3 days a week with time off for job interviews. I bet people will realise fairly quickly that they’re ok to get any job once they realise the alternative is 3 days a week of community service for £70 (ish) a week in JSA.

As for the workers, I’d unfreeze the tax thresholds and put them to where they should have been 4 years ago or whenever the freeze was implemented. Reduce tax by 1% and basically try and put money in people’s pockets to help stimulate the economy to allow them to go out and spend.

Edited to say:

Scrap the triple lock. My mum goes on and on about how great it is but won’t hear it when i say that the workers are paying for it and our wages aren’t keeping up.

Also, the cold weather payment. It should be per household, not per person. A couple don’t have twice the amount of radiators as a single person. The cold weather payment should be sent to the person on the bill and that’s that. My mother in law and her husband got one each, bonkers. It should also be means tested. My late grandma used to put hers in savings!!! There’s people on here all through winter saying how cold they are but they don’t get a payment.

Specifically, what do you define as ultra wealthy? And what taxes specifically do you want to raise or establish?

I'm not having a go, I just want you to expand on this, because often it is a bit of a get out of jail free card for lefties to just scream tax the rich without really explaining how they'd do it. The tax regime is incredibly penal to higher earners as it is so I guess you're talking Earl of Westminster level stuff?

Reduced vat on fuel/gas/electricity. Gove banged on about this pre Brexit. The Exchequer is currently receiving increased revenue due to the increase in oil prices.

Tax on second homes worth more than £5m
Solar panels on every home!
Raise personal allowance
Nationalise railway and water
Wealth tax on very high earners

I am not sure how you would structure a wealth tax on higher earners.

For a start, high earnings does not automatically transfer to being high net worth. You might earn £250,000 p.a. but with two kids in private education, a mortgage, a car and our delightful tax system wont necessarily leave enough change to build significant wealth. In any case, income above £125,000 is taxed at 45% and the personal allowance is fully tapered. I feel that 45% of anyone's income is enough to take from them.

I take it you mean UHNW individuals rather than higher paid people?

CGT is paid on disposals, dividends are taxed, interest is taxed and so on. Furthermore, illiquid assets such as property, land, shares in companies that aren't tradeable would need to be sold off to meet wealth taxes which will be incredibly slow and disproportionately affect the individual. Is the 'mansion tax' council tax hammering not enough for you?

Wealth Tax to combat wealth inequality.
would be paid by the actual wealthy not the average higher earner. Tax wealth not work.

The problem is that you could do this once. Then you start to drive away the wealthy and the very high earners, which is your tax base.

The wealthy won’t leave as they can easily afford to stay. They aren’t forced to live in a cheap place.

I reiterate, reduce Foreign Aid to zero for five years. Fix things at home first. If a homeowner's house is in disrepair, you don't give your money away to somebody else to fix theirs first, do you?

Less wealth inequality will drive up living standards for the very wealthy as well as for everyone else. The experience of the very wealthy is dragged down by their wider environment being poor. They suffer with potholes too, and crime, and the rest of it

Fuck me. Not sure what is more depressing, some of the suggestions on this thread or the fact the posters can vote.

Wealth tax on assets, particularly property.

Change inheritance tax- everyone can leave their primary residence to their children (or a nominal amount for non home owners) tax free, but any other properties and assets should be highly taxed.

Children allowed to be taken out of school without a fine for 1 week per year- to allow families time together at home or abroad without having to pay extortionate school hol prices. This would boost the economy and improve family mental health for many.

Universal free school meals.

£10 charge for second missed appointments in the NHS. One DNA is sometimes unavoidable, but a second needs to be actioned.

Cap on how much care homes can charge per week to save councils money.

@Princessfluffy Perhaps, but why would they choose to stay if they can move elsewhere and pay less tax? This is what's happening where I live in the US - the property taxes and state taxes are much higher than in other areas, so people are leaving. Even middle-class DH and I have discussed moving, and we probably will at some point.

Of course, it's more complicated if you need visas to relocate, but the wealthy can usually work that out.