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?

Loads of people question where the money goes! The NHS is complex and imperfect, and is subject to continual assessment, expert and otherwise.

Profit? To whom? The poster clearly means that the money would support the costs of delivering the NHS!

As for it costing money to collect money… Of course it would, so the business model would need to ensure that more money was collected than spent recovering it. If no one sought to earn money because there were costs associated with generating it, we’d still be in the Stone Age!

You’ll be delighted to hear that the expansion of urgent treatment centres, which is what we’re talking about is a government priority.

Pension credits go only to pensioners on the “old” state pension to bring them up to £241.30 a week. Anyone of any age can claim housing benefit. Your obvious resentment of older people is clouding your logic.

Reducing the triple lock to a double lock is exceedingly simple. As is reducing IHT to a flat rate 5%, and getting rid of the marginal tax rates. Even making all businesses register for VAT is easier than you might think with automated / integrated banking and accountancy solutions such as though off meted by Xero, Sage and a free agent these days. Everything you earn instantly goes into your accounts, bank and on your tax return. Everything you spend likewise.

No, not “anyone” can claim housing benefit. Your desire to pull the ladder up behind you is clouding your logic.

So why is it an issue that the elderly might still have housing costs?

You are having a laugh.

i recently brought my daughter out of hospital after meningitis. She can’t walk. I’ve had to provide a wheelchair, crutches and frame for her myself. They weren’t even going to give her a physio assessment. She gets absolutely nothing. I’ve organised her physio privately. Being disabled actually costs you more. She hasn’t even received her follow up appointment yet and she was admitted in March. I mean you are living in cloud cuckoo land. Get back to your rich banker lifestyle and stop preaching about stuff you know nothing about!

No not profit.Make money to cover costs Of food and admin not profit. The nhs paid 634 million a year on food and catering costs in 2019 I would imagine that number is significantly higher now. Its an added expense that most people could happily cover themselves. Where not talking ridiculous money like expecting people to pay for their surgeries and treatment and leaving hospital with a 500k bill where talking paying a few pound a day for food.

You’re asking people to do something incredibly unnatural by expecting them not to care that the many £thousands they have in assets doesn’t get passed to their children.

We need an insurance system for social care i believe. If you don’t want to be liable for your home being sold to most for your care, you pay an insurance premium. That seems like an obvious and equitable way of managing this.

Millions in profits on what turnover?

Most companies quoted as making millions in profits aren't making unreasonable % profits.

The sums on the tax/low wages/benefits aren't simple. If you put up wages across the board everyone gets paid the higher wages. If you pay a low base you can top up only the people who need it. I agree it doesn't seem sensible on the surface but I think it's actually feindishly complex economically.

Regarding disability benefit - what do you consider to be ‘the most severe conditions’ that you would allow? I have ME/CFS. I am permanently fatigued but my body is in full working order in other respects. I’m not well enough to work. At the moment, the benefit is based on the difficulties you face rather than the diagnosis, so you can get 2 people with exactly the same diagnosis but living in different circumstances and one will qualify for the benefit and the other won’t.

Reduce housing benefit and move somewhere cheaper - I live in England’s smallest studio flat and the rent equals the maximum housing benefit amount in this area. Would you expect me to move to another part of the country away from my friends and family? (That would be the only way to get lower rent).

Yes I think making companies publish data would be good. They did this with the gender pay gap and we saw progress. They should publish the proportion of disabled staff they employ too.

This. I think there will be some very shocked people when they need to use the nhs.

This was the Theresa May solution. It didn’t seem to have any downsides. It should be offered again.

Housing benefit isn’t age related. I didn’t say “anyone” I said “anyone of any age”.

Okay? I’ll say it, I’m sick to death of selfish pensioners thinking this entire country is set up to serve them, and expecting the young to struggle to support them.

You should get all of the aids free though. This is what the NHS should be doing. It should be providing physio. People shouldn’t be buying their own wheelchairs out of the £400 a month when some are also claiming the same when they have no real expenses.

Does anyone question where the money goes?
It's been answered. It goes treating long term conditions mainly caused by poor lifestyle choices.

Nearly 80% of total gross current expenditure (£14.6 billion) is spent on long term care, which consists of residential, nursing and community care

So how do you propose fixing this problem? Please answer. You seem keen to ignore facts that don't support your agenda. Typical politician attitude!

The minimum wage is already too little to live on. Many people working full time on minimum wage have to claim Universal Credit. If you reduce minimum wage, you will increase the benefits bill. In effect the government is subsidising employers by topping up wages with UC. I think minimum wage should go up to reduce the benefits bill.

The Theresa May solution was to include the value of a person’s house in the financial test for receiving free care at home. Currently anyone receiving home care self funds if they have assets over £23.5k excluding the house they continue to live in. The house enters the equation if they move to a care home and don’t need it any more. It was nonsensical to make someone sell the home they were living in and move to a care home which is what would have happened.

State pension increases should be set at the lowest percentage increase offered to public sector workers. If 2% is enough for nurses etc its enough for pensioners.

But that is far better than people not being employed, getting used to being economically inactive and thinking being on benefits for life is a normal way of living. It’s cheaper for the government to top up poor wages than pay unemployment benefit.

There was an insurance aspect to it too though wasn’t there? Pay £70k up front and if you need care it’s free I seem to remember?

Wasn’t Liz Truss’s ‘trickle-down economics’ largely the same principle. That worked well as I recall.