AIBU to want spending cuts rather than more tax rises?

[PinkFruitbat]

The foundations are being laid for more tax rises in the October Budget.

https://www.ft.com/content/6d43b599-3d7c-471c-88c2-0f056475a840?syn-25a6b1a6=1

AIBU to ask for savings in spending to help balance the budget rather than more taxes.

With welfare spending at nearly £1bn each day, when is enough, enough?

What I suggest it's a comprehensive attempt to tackle fraud first

On all areas ! Including NHS fraud and benefits and all the rest.
Let's see what can be recouped from those quarters first.
And wastage within public departments.

NHS incompetency and bloat.
Then we can look at tax rises or cuts.

Funnily enough they want to pay more tax in theory but never voluntarily contribute more in practice.

Personally I'd stop all benefits for smokers - to be radical.

Well... tbat wins a prize for the dumbest thing anyone has said today.

How much do you earn? It's easy to say you would pay more tax if you are not actually paying a huge amount already.

Absolutely agree, there is no public mandate for yet more taxes so the money can be wasted. Major benefit reform is needed, including widespread changes to PIP, a new 2 child cap, the housing element of UC, and an overall cap on benefits regardless of family makeup or working status. The triple lock and winter fuel payments need to go. Spending per SEN pupil needs to be absolutely capped at a reasonable level, parents should not be able to choose eyewateringly expensive private schooling at the taxpayers expense. Large proportions of the civil service need to be rationalised to reduce waste. I’d protect defence and front line health and police, not much more.

• id also be happy to pay for specific projects with tangible visual results eg raising money for NHS priorities like air con, more hospitals and more beds so people are not dying in corridors etc . Giving money to the NHS generally doesn't work for me because I don't trust where it's going. And I think they should raise the tax thresholds because this would boost the economy and help lower paid people immediatly.

Nail on the head. But that's "too hard" for the government and civil service, so they'll go for the easy option of tax rises on workers - after all it's only the economy they're wrecking and they'll have left Parliament/retired by the time the shit hits the fan.

They'd find plenty of openings in the Labour and Lib Dem parties. They already represent them in the service - unofficially, of course.

The problem is cuts in public services negatively affects the economy. Read Austerity by Mark Blyth.

Did you mean to quote someone, what did?

Re Sen they shouldn't need to go private the state provision needs to be better and nothing will change until all teachers and ta understand Sen. Which I believe maybe coming...

But even for specific projects, most will get lost/frittered away with inefficiency, fraud, etc. The NHS procurement specialists would probably buy faulty air conditioning units that never work, or the wrong ones that are too small for the space, or that work on the wrong voltage, or some other stupidity, the procurement officers of course, then go off on long term sick due to stress or get a huge pay off for early retirement. Either that, or they'd buy them on PFI where they'd have to use the suppliers to change a fuse at a cost of £500 per call out!

At our hospital, the thermostats in the rooms don't work. My DH has just spent a couple of weeks in a private side room (due to immune suppressed because of cancer/chemotherapy) and the thermostat made no difference at all - the nurses said it had never worked. And this is a modern hospital, not a 1920s crumbling wreck.

@EasternStandard it was mainly aimed at the proposal to remove benefits from smokers, but TBH it could apply to about 45% of the posts in this thread.

If people want to pay more tax HMRC have always made it clear they are welcome to do so. Funnily enough these people never do.

Far more tax on huge profits made by gas / electricity/ water, rail companies. Or better yet bring them all back to being owned by us as a country with the profits being reinvested in the infrastructure and the country. No tax rises for normal people earning within the realms of normal wages.
There’s so much scope for tax increases that don’t need to be directed at people already paying in. It’ll not be worth working soon.

She's the only vaguely sensible person in the Commons.

UK Civil Service now has around 550,000 staff. A 25% cut simply takes the number down to pre-Covid level.

Removing benefits from smokers would be the greatest public health initiative ever. 99% would stop smoking immediately doing wonders for their own health and it would save the NHS a fortune. It would save thousands of lives a year.

Building more council housing will save millions on the housing element of UC.
DWP etc are the civil service and a large portion of the workforce are AO grade who get just above minimum wage! So they can’t have a 25% decrease in wages!
I would reinstate the child element of UC to 3 children.
Bring social care back in house for councils as if a private company can be making profit the council should be able to manage cheaper! Or at least pay the staff properly ie not make one appointment after another with no time to magic yourselves half a mile away!

I'd rather pay more tax and have better services. I'm very fortunate. I had a state funded education including university before fees, which was far better resourced than we have now. I was able to buy a property when prices were affordable. When I used the NHS for my maternity care a couple of decades ago, the service was good. I hate that people today are having to put up with such a poor offer and the only way of improving it is if we're prepared to pay for it. As someone comfortable enough not to miss a few extra pounds in tax, I'm happy to do my bit to pay it forward.
I do feel taxation needs review though as I know for some increases hit hard. I Hope Burnham is true to his words and places the burden on those best able to carry it. If I'm one of them, fair enough.

Do you really want to live in a country that refuses to help those who need it? That’s a worrying growing selfish mentality in this country.

I think that the probelm is that we are now helping anyone who asks for it or who cba to stand on their own two feet. That has led to a backlash from those who do work hard to support themselves and not take more than they absolutely need (school/NHS) and then wonder why they bother.

@PinkFruitbat numbers of civil servants increased to deal with Brexit and there are now things the UK government has to do that was done by the EU or we have to resource extra trade and travel friction introdiced by choosing to be a third country.

Brexit has be awesome for public finances (sarcasm).

@Binnyforthewin You would spend the savings made policing it. Also why stop there - eat too much, drink more than 14 units of alcohol a week?, don't do the recommended amount of exercise? No benefits for you

Yes !

I accept the additional post brexit roles. However there are plenty of CS roles which can be chopped.