We need a political party that will…

[Skippp]

I work in finance and this country is on the brink of collapse. It’s spending too much, it’s not growing the economy and needs someone to come in and make good decisions quickly if we are to survive. It’s in a really serious state now and action must be taken. I’vote Labour, and did so hoping Keir would be brave enough to take the hard decisions needed but he’s been a pathetic wet blanket. We need a government who:

1. get rid of the triple lock. It’s laughably unaffordable.
2. reassess the whole benefits system and get rid of disability payments for anything but the most severe conditions, increasing the amounts to those who have these conditions.
3. restrict benefit payments to those born outwith the UK to those that have been in full time work for a large proportion of their adult lives here.
4. Reduce the minimum wage to help companies hire again.
5. Reduce housing benefit. People will have to move to somewhere cheaper or landlords will have to drop prices to what people can afford.
6. Go to an insurance backed healthcare system like they enjoy in Europe.
7. Ditch 95% of planning regulation and get Britain building again.
8. ditch net zero. No one is going to run a successful business in a country with the highest energy costs on the planet.
9. Reopen Scotland oil and gas production (inc refineries) and explore for more areas.
10. Simplify income taxes. Roll income tax into NICs. Give everyone child care hours, child benefit, personal allowance and increase tax rates to pay for this. Stop artificially restricting people from earning more.
11. Simplify VAT. Drop the threshold to £20k to ensure no one has a ceiling on earnings.
12. Simplify IHT. 5% on everything. No nil rates or exemptions.
13. rejoin the single market and customs union.
14. Explain policies better! Tell people how unaffordable the triple lock etc is. Tell them what the single market and customs union non is and why you’re rejoining. Tell people what the ‘bond markets’ are and why they’re important. Tell people why paying for rich people’s child care is much better for the economy than forcing high earners to drop their hours.
15. Probably ought to start deporting economic migrants with no right to stay quickler to throw some red meat to reform voters.

We need a party to take on ALL of these policies and move AT PACE on them. Who’s the party that will do this? I thought it was Labour but BOY was I wrong on that!

What are people adding to the list?

Our NMW was below oECD average, then we increased it and now it hugely exceeds OECD average. It’s so high because HOUSING is so expensive in this country. Successive governments have propped up housing as they don’t want pensioners to think they’re getting poorer by their house price falling. But high house prices are crippling this country. We need to look at reducing house prices. That’s not going to happen when house building is plummeting - which is undoubtedly is:

www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy099qv9qjlo#:~:text=House%2Dbuilding%20in%20London%20falls%20by%2084%25%20in%20a%20decade&text=New%20research%20from%20consultants%20Molior%20found%20construction%20work%20began%20on,compared%20with%2033%2C782%20in%202015.

@bltwithoutthet me too which is why I want the thresholds raised !

I think we have different experiences because I’m coming at it from the position of working there.

Hospitals need two health professionals on the door. If your issue isn’t serious (I.e., a sprain, an infection with no signs of sepsis, etc), you should be turned away at the door. No coming in, no waiting, you’re turned away and sent to the correct place.

Start fining them for missed appointments. That’s what works
This shows your ignorance of the matter. If you fine people, you need to employ an admin person. Probably more staff because people will not pay so you'll have to manage the debt. It is not cost effective as a system. So you think noone at NHS England has ever thought of that before you!

Second, the cost of missed appointments is peanut compared to the cost of diabetes.

You come across not so different to people who get into politics with utopian beliefs and sadly no economic understanding of the issues they are so passionate about.

Those who do get it know to stay away from politics because they understand that politics has little to do with economics.

Hahaha.

So what’s your solution to the impending economic crisis?

That is what our local hospital has

You realise, economic migrants, as a group, put more into the country in tax than people that are born here on average.

Every hospital needs it.

I think my perspective comes because I’m so used to patients lying through their teeth to me. “Oh I never got the letter” - okay well I gave you the date over the phone, you were told three weeks ago you’d get a letter and you didn’t think to call when it didn’t arrive? “Oh I forgot we’re going on holiday” - yes, you definitely forgot your foreign holiday that is magically in the half term, more like you got a great last minute deal and figured you could cancel your surgery.

People really are buggers and they abuse the system.

I'd agree with nuclear but in the meantime can we chug down the gas in the north sea.
Nuclear takes years to just get through planning.

Worklessness is a huge problem. But whilst we allow migration to keep coming in we're not going to solve that.

Net zero could, if implemented properly create an economic benefit. Our reliance on imported gas and oil is what is causing the current crisis. Had we invested harder and longer in green energy years ago we would not be in the situation.

@bltwithoutthet no I don't think anyone does I've seen branded Weetabix being used /crap useless cleaners/ endless going around in circles/
Someone who worked private said you couldn't take a pen without it being accounted for...

It’s crazy that you say the minimum wage is “so low” when its increased from £8.72 in April 2020 to £12.71 in April 2026, marking a total rise of 46%. Yes, there’s been inflation, but not 46%!

Ahh right. So it's yet another Bond Market thread.

Disguised as " I work in Finance".

Come on then. What party is this in aide of ?

@OnceUponATimed the head of octopus energy is good on this and is obviously in the business.

£12.71 an hour works out to be about £25,000 a year. That’s not enough to survive on.

Some pay loads of tax. Some pay zero. We need to filter them and remove those who aren’t working / paying enough. Looking at a whole populace on average doesn’t work does it?

Forcing the nmw up puts more tax in govs pocket not ours.

They need to raise the thresholds.

@Skippp you work in finance in what capacity for what type of organisation/business and is it in the UK? Please provide some more context to help me understand your perspective.

What? You think weetabix is the issue in the NHS and not the patients constantly abusing the system? Missed hospital and GP appointments cost the NHS £1 billion annually. Add on patients missing surgery, and it’ll probably triple that figure.

I’ve seen stats that show the opposite:

I think what your saying is fair and as a patient that is not a side I see. And I do think the nhs has got significantly better over the last few years with text reminders. I've never missed an appointment and I have appointments at least twice a month. Covering 5 different trusts. So I do struggle to understand how people miss the 1 appointment they have to remember about.

I had an employer that if you went to the stationary cupboard for a pen you had to take the old one to prove that it had run out of ink. But hey that’s the private sector for you.

Because they don’t care and think they’re just owed care. I’ve had one patient who’s missed five surgeries. Every single time there’s an excuse. On the sixth time they did attend (finally!) and after six letters and reminders of the fact they needed to not eat before the surgery, they turned up having eaten. Needless to say they got removed from
the waiting list.

And yet millions do survive on it.

And you know full well those aren't the migrants that the poster is talking about.