We don't want the government to lurch to the left

[Bargepole45]

I am absolutely astounded that Labour think it's democratic to decide that they can lurch to the left despite being elected with a very clear promise to not tax and spend. I believe this is absolutely not what the general public want and I am really worried that the economy isn't going to survive this and we will end up with an IMF bailout that will lead to very painful spending cuts for our most vulnerable.

Please vote:
YABU :I want Labour to lurch to the left in order to increase taxation and spending
YANBU: I don't want Labour to lurch to the left and would be against further tax and spending rises

We have already taxed those that can afford it. Where do taxes on those earning say £80k end? How much of their salary is enough?

Funnily enough Mandleson and Mcsweeney were up to their necks in that shite…. And as a lifelong Labour supporter I didn’t vote for backstabbing Starmer and his manipulative corrupt little crew. I’m not surprised they are struggling, I think it’s called Karma.

The top 25% of earners are on course to contribute 75% of income tax! Isnt that enough?

Is this figure to do with the top 25% of all earners or just those on PAYE? @Dorisbonson

So what were the Conservatives doing for the 13 years they were in office. This happens every single time there's a change of political style and government.

That political parties aren't forced to be more transparent about funding their policies is one thing but if the majority of the electorate vote Reform then they deserve everything they get. Or not get which is more likely.

Not really, people can vote still, thankfully.

And if you and others want more taxes you might get that but then you might find people don’t like it and vote accordingly. That’s democracy tg.

I earn over 50k and don’t feel at all ‘hammered’. As plenty of people have said, if we want good services, we have to pay the taxes that go with that. People who go on about paying too much tax will also complain about crap roads, sick, difficult to recruit and under-trained staff, NHS waiting lists and so on. Unless you are very, very wealthy, you can’t have everything. We all have to cut our cloth, even those in the highest tax bracket.

How much we pay depends on our income. Not everyone will be paying huge amounts, and we all benefit.

Government economics are different to household economics - There is an argument that spending is not funded by tax, with the government being able to simply create the money needed.

@Bargepole45

Are you and your household net contributors or beneficiaries?

It’s normal that the majority are net beneficiaries over their lives and this is impacted by the number of pensioners as the vast majority of pensioners will be net beneficiaries in retirement. Very few will have paid enough tax to support their state pension, education and the NHS.

I imagine I'd I'd look at the broad spectrum tax avoidance schemes / ways in which individuals / businesses (including 'lifestyle businesses' that aren't ever intended to make a taxable profit) optimise their tax liability and see which ones I could target.

Why the obsessive and repetitive use of the phrase 'lurch to the left'? You sound unhinged. I hope labour do move to the left. The steady drift to the right is whats causing the current mess we're in and the sooner they bring in some proper left wing policies the better. They also need to be considering electoral reform as the majority vote in this country is against the parties of the right cos most people do actually care about others, despite what farridge and the tories want us to think.

I think we have a fundamental issue with entitlement in the UK.

Lower earners invariably believe they are paying their way and higher earners are the ones not paying their fair share. Of course the opposite is true however this misconception makes it extremely difficult to resolve any unfairness in the tax system.

A 2 adult household needs to have around 100k income between them every single year of their working life to not be a net drain on the public purse, significantly more if they have a lot of children.

The uncomfortable truth is that a growing majority are entirely bankrolled by a diminishing minority and that simply isn’t sustainable in the long run.

Was I imagining it or did I watch a video of a woman saying one of the Reform Party (I’m going to have to look this up) wants to tax women who don’t have children more than those who do..?

Bargepole45 · Today 14:08

Tax and spend is a left wing philosophy. A lurch to the left will undoubtedly include higher taxes and more public spending. The lifting of the two child cap will just be the start

Hmm. Lets not bother with potholes, or more NHS staff. Perhaps we can sack another 22,000 Police? I mean, we don't want to spend any money improving things, do we?

WHAT LOOPHOLES? As someone whose job it is to know about loopholes I hate to break it to you but HMRC are doing as well as they can here. They’re not turning a blind eye to a massive pot of gold! Why would they?????

@EasternStandard so if you don’t want to taxes to increase what services would you be happy to cut?

Taxes are going to rise just because of the ageing population alone.

Of course they can, and they’ll likely vote for services to be cut and then later complain when those same services collapse.

I can envisage that people who say now that they think across the board cuts are necessary, will later complain that their state pension is crap.

I believe the ability to afford housing in parts of Europe is also aided by young adults living at home for longer too
Although home ownership in places like Germany, Austria etc is lower than the U.K. in part due to lower rents.

You are 100% right. Since the increase in NMW and company national insurance contributions the local company I work for with approx 200 staff has had to make redundancies and has a recruitment freeze, we will not be getting a pay increase this year. My son, as a student, is trying to find part work and there is absolutely nothing available - friends of his who graduated last year still don't have jobs, the student loans they took out are stacking up with interest and they have no jobs to even start paying back this educational tax.

I hate to say it but there was growth for our business under the final years of the Conservatives. However thanks to Labour this country is absolutely going to the dogs - it's terrifying.

Cannot believe I fell for it and voted for them. Never again.

If you are happy to pay more taxes please do so. There is a HMRC mechanism of voluntary overpayment.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/voluntary-payments-donations-to-government

Please don't make excuses crack on and give as much as you can other wise it's just dead empty words.

How would you change the tax system to make it more fair?

Labour sold in fully funded, fully costed and then that first budget with NI and debt, it hasn’t helped.

Ik mn is quite tax happy with the tax me or them more but I don’t think the electorate is. Plus people just buggering off as suggested below makes the situation worse.

@DrPrunesqualer the housing burden is too high vs other European countries which limits the tax we can collect from them plus there is intergenerational inequality.

news.sky.com/story/uk-spends-more-on-housing-than-almost-any-other-developed-country-and-gets-the-least-value-from-it-too-13099925

Even if tax and spend results in an IMF bailout when we will be forced to cut spending by the IMF and so there will be a lot more child poverty?

Mosern Monetary Theory? You think that’s the solution? Seriously?

Has Labour said it was going to increase taxes?