Please convince me that the Tories WON'T create wider divisions btween the rich and poor and haves and have nots?

[poshsinglemum]

I'm not great at politics but I am under the imptression that things like inheritance tax and tax breaks for married people are going to widen the gap between the rich and poor?

Am, I wrong? Would anyone like to explain how the Tories would improve my lot as a single mum. Would they find me a nice man to marry for example?

"I don't see why someone wanting to be a fashion designer should have their course funded only to go into middle management at boots when they've finished!"

Surely if someone is going into middle management at boots they will be paying back their loan anyway?

Just beginning Riven. They have all seemed the same to me since I was old enough to notice, in all the countries I have lived in.

Maybe he is just pleased that Tracey Emin has buggered off abroad and doesn't want her to come back

I dont get why (some) people on here keep saying that 'the gap between rich and poor is wider now than it was under the tories'
Surley thats just bollocks?
I was a child in the 80's and we were poor. We were hungry and had no money for clothes or shoes.
I was poor when I had ds in 2001 and had enough to eat and money for clothes and even the odd treat.
I just dont get it.

I dont get why (some) people on here keep saying that 'the gap between rich and poor is wider now than it was under the tories'

Kinnies: I agree with your point. I think that most studies show that while the above is largely true, although groups such as pensioners and young families ARE much better off. It's also true to say that ALL of us are richer than we were 20 years ago - so the poor are also better off.

Thescondcoming

wrt educational standards (and i am prepared to be flamed here for this one) it used to be clever people that got degrees,now you've got people who are not academically gifted doing degrees by degrees/as mature students-people i went to school with who were set 3 and set 4 are now teachers...btw i don't have a degree or an axe to grind-good on them but it has removed the value of the degree.

I think that statement is a bit harsh tbh.

My husband may well have been one of those in set 3 or set 4, he failed miserably at school and was no doubt not considered to be 'academically gifted', rather he was called thick and lazy. Turns out he was dyslexic, not stupid, but it wasn't picked up at school.

He went to university, full time, as a mature student whilst also working, full time. He's now in a good job which meets his abilities, rather than being left to rot in a dead end job. Being able to study as a mature student who failed at school has been priceless to him.

"peacocks, at least under labour your tax has been used to bring down waiting lists at hospitals, pay for surestart centres and pay CTC to the poorest. "

Is that a joke ?

Regarding the inheritance tax business, as I understand it, married people do get a break from it that perhaps cohabitees don't.

Now people may say: why shouldn't cohabitees get a break, too?

But the answer to this is simple: cohabitees haven't signed an agreement saying they wish to be regarded as a long-term couple so there is no way for the tax authorities to know that they are in a long-term relationship with another adult. After all, none of us can know what goes on between a couple unless they declare it in some way.

Perhaps the answer is a sort of contract a cohabiting couple to sign that expresses that they are in a long-term relationship with someone?

This is not an attack on cohabitees at all, just a recognition that unless a declaration is signed in some way there's no other way of knowing.

i'm sick of explaining to my son why he can't have 30 a week like his schoolmates; or 3k towards car insurance and all the other things that his friends get whose parents don't work. Plus he will be descriminated against if he applies to uni, and have vast amounts of debt that his friends won't have. Where is the fairness in that? Everyone should have opportunity and be treated equally - labour has been in power for ever and since they haven't cracked it yet they are never going to.

Nah - sorry. They will I'm afraid .

So while I agree that a long-term cohabiting couple should be entitled to an inheritance tax break like a married couple do, I do feel it is essential that there is some mechanism by which they declare it in some way.

I don't see how inheritance tax is a rich/poor issue, though- I mean you'd have to be reasonably wealthy to incur it in the first place, anyway.

I know all this is subjective: but I don't regard someone who has an estate worth over £300.000 as poor.

If the tories do wish to help single mums on benefits, they should abolish the archaic cohabitation rule that means a single mum on benefits loses her benefit entitlement instantly if she is in a relationship with a man who is living with her.

Or, at the very least, allow her to maintain her benefits for a say, up to a year, to allow the relationship to mature into one where shared financial burdens are agreed upon.

"it used to be clever people that got degrees,now you've got people who are not academically gifted doing degrees by degrees/as mature students-people i went to school with who were set 3 and set 4 are now teachers"

You still get graded on your degree. You still have to put all the work in and you get graded on it in order to pass it (whether it be a 2:2, 2:1 or otherwise) People don't just get 'given' degrees for nothing, mature or not.

I was in top set btw, before you think you have offended me as a mature student

i have friends who buy very expensive things; have second homes and go abroad on holiday. Whilst I've no arguement obviously with them doing these things i don't see why they should get CTC if they have this amount of cash.

you don't get CTC is your joint income is about 64k, which is not exactly enough to buy you a second home and lots of trips abroad

i'm sick of explaining to my son why he can't have 30 a week like his schoolmates; or 3k towards car insurance and all the other things that his friends get whose parents don't work.

? Don't understand the point you are making

I thought it was a joint income of 50k? and you only get £547 a year over a certain amount anyway (about 23k or something silly) and £547 would have been less than the married person allowance equivalent

I suppose you could buy a second home if you earnt 64k and had already paid off your current mortgage

currently 64k but WILL be 50k if labour get in, I THINK (off top of head) or 30k if tories/lib dems get in

Can't do it, op. Vote Lib Dem.