To think benefits need to be cut to fund increased spending on defence

[Viviennemary]

This is absolutely necessary. Keir Starmer shouldnt have backed down the last time. But now with the current situation with Russia drastic steps need to be taken. We simply can't afford to sustain the current benefits bill with the armed forces so depleted. The money is needed to increase defence.

Do people actually know what they’re talking about when they’re saying “ ban offshore accounts” ?
I think what MOST of them mean is “ban uk businesses from funnelling profits into offshore entities to avoid tax” but that has little to do with the “account” location and a LOT to do with corporate structure, and transfer pricing rules: and legislating on that is quite complex.

How is it nonsense for e.g. carers allowance saves the government an absolute fortune how much do you think full time care actually costs its significantly more then people get in carers allowance. My personal circumstances I get pip which pays for taxis to take me to hospital appointments across 4 different trusts prior to getting pip i was entitled to hospital transport (no longer entitled as i get the high rate motability part of pip) but I bet not only does hospital transport cost more then a taxi but it was also very unreliable which meant multiple missed appointments which costs the nhs money. Housing benefit cut that make people homeless and then have to put them in emergency accommodation which will cost significantly more then housing benefit. Child benefit/ uc cut that people can no longer afford to look after their own kids, kids end up in care how much do you think that costs

Maybe but that is your experience and your opinion, all those circumstances are covered under the equality act because they all contribute to bias and discrimination.

Why should disability benefits not be considered for change if other benefits are?

The country cannot continue to pay out as much as it is doing in welfare and it's very likely that changes will be made (see the article I linked earlier) I don't think disability should be sheltered from those changes if other areas of welfare are looked at and I'd rather those who qualify for the higher rates keep them and are continued to be supported.

I've made this point on here before, but this "country can't afford it" argument is completely baseless tripe perpetuated by right-wingers because of their ideological prejudices.

The UK is still spending less of it's GDP on Welfare than similar countries and many others with much smaller economies than the UK's. Our Welfare payments are also smaller than those made in comparable countries.

What this point amounts to is "I don't like how much money is spent on Welfare and I'd like it reduced"

It's nothing to do with "can't afford", because the UK can easily afford it's current Welfare bill being that other countries can clearly sustain higher spending than the UK does. It's a simple question of priorities, and what the nation choses to spend it's income on. Clearly plenty of people believe other areas should be prioritised over Welfare, which in itself is a perfectly reasonable view to hold provided you are familiar with the consequences of what you are proposing, but the mere assertion the current Welfare spend is either "unaffordable" or "unsustainable" is nothing but a baseless right-wing trope intended to seed the ground for continued ideological attacks on the weakest and poorest.

Some benefits are worth continuing, but there’s a huge swathe of benefits that have become simple handouts. That’s not what the welfare system is supposed to do. Benefits should be a hand up, not a handout.

We have got ourselves into a real mess where benefits now cost more than the whole of the income tax collected by our government. Unsustainable doesn’t even come close to describing the situation.

So which benefits aren't worth continuing in your opinion

It’s not about the type of benefit, it’s the thresholds and amounts that need to change, across the board.

Such as?

We have got ourselves into a real mess where benefits now cost more than the whole of the income tax collected by our government. Unsustainable doesn’t even come close to describing the situation

Yet another utterly meaningless soundbite.

The UK's Welfare spend is also larger than the total collected in Gaming Tax annually by the UK. This still has no relevance whatsoever to the "sustainability" or otherwise of the Welfare spend.

Two child cap should be brought back, for example.

Yeah i actually agree with that, that was a really bizzare decision that came out of nowhere

Just shows the gap between certain groups of people. Surely it’s the % of a person’s overall income that matters? (Eg people who make huge amounts of passive income but pay less %tax than I do on run of the mill PAYE). Not talking about those who pay higher rate income tax from work, but again it’s sickening for them when those like Sunak pay % less if I remember right)

Another punch down thread 👊

Did someone upthread say people should lose their state pension if they have a decent private pension? Why? These people will probably have paid a huge amount in tax and NI over the years, only to lose out when they come to retire. Doing the right thing in life doesn't seem to be the best way to live anymore. May as well not save for a private pension and just enjoy the money when you're young.

Loads of children will be back in poverty then.

Which benefit? Pensions?

It didn't come out of nowhere. It was due to research by charities who stated that child poverty had increased since it was introduced. It was a no brainer decision.

Try living off PIP and ESA because your body is growing 2 incurable fucking cancers and tell us by how much benefits should be cut by.

This is true imo. The country is crumbling because benefits are being prioritised above all else.

Everyone knows what is ment by "we can't afford it" etc. The country does only have so much money and does need to prioritse where it is spent, just as you wrote. That isn't right wing, it's people wanting to see decent return on their taxes. Which at that moment for many people isn't happening. The premise of the thread is should benefits be lowered to pay for defence? - yes is my answer, I would rather better armed forces and cuts to some benefits as i've detailed before. There's nothing right wing about that.

Yes.

Second wives and over 2 kids to start.
Foreigners claiming benefits., for seconds.

This is an excellent suggestion. Sadly I don’t think it’ll ever happen - they’ve never shown any inkling to moderate their excesses to help chip in. Perish the thought!

Stupid comment

Agree with this wholeheartedly.