We’ll all take the hit

[Tiredofthis2022]

Hi. If we’re all going to take the hit, more cuts higher taxes. I have a few thoughts on where we might start.

First like to see the numbers in the Lords reduced significantly, we can’t afford to support this number.

I do not want to see any cuts to education, disability or carers, if they have to come I want to see change at the top first.

Any other ideas?

Most teachers in their 20s and 30s aren't bothered about their teachers pension to be honest. They will be working until they are 68 anyway. Will struggle to get onto the housing ladder. And will have little work life balance for their entire working life if they stay as a teacher. No amount of pension would be enough to make some teachers stay in the profession. And the teachers pension might be very good, but teachers have to pay in around 10% of their salary to their pension. I know people that are even opting out of their pension because they need the money now due to the cost of living.

Fantastic idea

I don't think you understand what MPs do?

Select committees, important receptions/forums for groups of people in this sector or that sector, visiting civil service, hosting someone from your constituency as they take a petition to Downing St - it isn't a 'job' it is being an elected representative. Plus party business too.

Top down reform of the NHS, renationalising what can be done after so many years of the tories selling it off. Cut down on managers and put the money into admin and medical staff.

No more decorating expenses and heated stables for MPs.

Windfall taxes on energy companies. Keep the cap on bankers bonuses. Tax the likes of Amazon properly. If possible recoup the money wasted on track and trace - billions and billions of pounds disappeared into the pockets of tories and their mates. They should be sued for breach of contract.

Scrap HS2 and trident. Scrap any more plans to build aircraft carriers. Stop selling off council housing and build more genuinely affordable homes. Put more deterrents in place to owning more than one home.

Unless the government is proposing to match private sector pay (which they won't), they'll go to the private sector and get much better working conditions alongside the better money. A lot of public sector professions have well paid private sector equivalents.

It worries me how much people complain about things they clearly don't understand at all. The idea you could just relocate parliament without spending billions for example. Parliament = thousands of people from.cleaners up.

Just tax shell and bp. And introduce a property tax on residential property owned by non doms. Stop giving councils money for four fucking feet of cycle lane that goes nowhere. Scrutinize public sector consultancy contracts. Stop giving money to the royal family. If they want to be kings and queens they can fund it themselves.

I cant think of any cuts - everything looks so underfunded it scarely functions. Im glad i dont have to decide.

Id like to pay less interest on the national debt - can we find a cheaper lender?

I think they need to
A) reform higher rate tax incentives for pensions. It is very unfair that the highest earners get significantly higher incentives, and I say this as a higher rate earner.
B) increase inheritance tax above a lower band
C) increase vat on non essential luxury goods, particularly those that the UK does not produce and tends to import
D) reform council tax although rates need to take into account regional disparities i.e the top 5% of prices in each region go in the highest band
E) remove charitable status from private schools however instead of ploughing the money into the state sector they should use it to fund burseries in the private sector so the sector does not collapse and 1 in 4 places are awarded to state pupils on merit.
F) it is vital the nhs is retained as despite what many believe it is more efficient that most health systems especially in relation to bulk procurement but could look at moving to a more european model
G) increase skilled migration - it is much cheaper importing skills than growing your own. Securing trade deals with countries such as India will also rwquire this.
H) link university tuition fees to the economic value and demand for skills e.g zero for nurses, higher for those doing PPE.
I) Increase energy self suffiency - I think this means more nuclear and onshore wind. Green hydrogen may also have a future role in energy storage when wind is low although expensive at present
J) Demonstate that the country is fiscally responsible by balancing the books, this will reduce borrowing costs and save money.
K) rejoin the single market to increase our exports and align our standards with europe to reduce companies adminstrative burden.

I work in private sector and have NHS equivalent. We are NHS are only paid a few £k less, but I get bare minimum of sick pay, holidays, maternity leave (took 4 months because I couldn't afford more) and my boss contributes 3 or 5 % or something to my pension, again whatever the minimum is.

In fairness I should have clearer. I meant scrap the current expenses regime. No more second homes furnished at the taxpayers expense, just ordinary travel expenses that all other civil servants have to abide by.

If your constituentcy is in Truro you're put up in a Premier Inn (for example, clean but reasonably priced) with a £25 per evening meal allowance and your train ticket is claimed back/paid for through the civil service booking system. If your constituency is inside the M25 you travel on your own money to Parliament.

It should also be a requirement that MPs live in the constituency they represent with no second property owned anywhere else unless legitimately rented out as a long term option for housing in that area.

The money thrown at MPs as perks of the job is appalling considering they're civil servants. People rightfully kicked off at the old fat cats who had silver service restaurants and bars in their offices for the exclusive use of executives, why the hell do we still allow our MPs these privileges?

Even a block of serviced apartments for the exclusive use of MPs (thinking along the lines of security concerns) would be cheaper than the current farce.

Thing is… although a fortune is spent on MPs expenses a democracy needs to ensure even people who can’t afford it can do the job. Hence the salary/accommodation etc.

As for the stopping of pensions…. What about people who have paid all their lives/half their lives and retire overseas. Them?

We could try being a more reliable prospect and then our borrowing would be cheaper... Thanks for that fuck up, Tory Truss

Legitimate expenses aren't the problem though. (Although there are enough dodgy expenses from "family" for many MPs).

Getting the taxpayers to fund and decorate 2nd/3rd homes is an appalling abuse of taxpayers money that isn't remotely warranted.

That's the point. They only need accommodation and travel expenses. They don't need 2nd/3rd homes paid for by us!

As for migrants from UK to elsewhere...claim all they want on private pensions but if they want to draw from the public purse they should remain in this country and contribute to our economy, not somewhere else.

What do you mean by "they will be working until they're 68 anyway"? Is that not the point of a pension? To provide an income in retirement?

I would like to see greater flexibility in public pensions, so workers could choose to contribute more or less, and have more or less in their take home pay depending on their situation. Just like most private pensions.

The subsidised food for MPs!!!!

Why the fuck do they get subsidised food when children can’t get free school meals??

And expenses…. With seemingly no limit - see the hideous amount of money Truss has spent on travel. Or the two private jets to go to Scotland to see the Queen.

Or heating stables…..

Expenses yes - let’s give them a set amount that ought to cover their needs.
Anything as long as there is an invoice? Why? I mean why should they be able to chose the most expensive stuff, have no concern about the heating in their house, leave it on all day and night if they chose to?
A lot of the cost in expenses paid by us isn’t necessary for them to be able to work. They should be able to ‘make do’ with a small flat etc… for example (having a PA is a different issue obviously)

If someone works for many years in the UK, pays NI, and from that gets their state pension, why shouldn't they move abroad if they want to? They have paid into the system. It's not like Australia where you don't pay into the state pension and it's means tested. We pay for our pensions!

Holy shit, you have no idea! I have been in the CS for over 15 years, I DO NOT have a final salary pension! My pension if I were to retire now(I'm in my 60s) would be 5k a year! I earn less than someone stacking shelves in bloody Lidl! With 15 years experience. My wages have gone up less than £500 per year because when the government want to cut costs it puts a cap on CS wages. You will soon realise that the shit show during covid will be the way that it is when we all bugger off and get a better job!

Get rid of the subsidised bars and restaurants in HoP.
Sort out the illegal immigration crisis, speed up the process to kick out those who are abusing the system. No more putting them up in hotels and giving spending money.
Get rid of all the city mayors.
Abolish HS2
Get rid of the useless NHS managers on huge salaries.

Unless you're on a massive wage it's not a good idea to pay less than 10% into a private pension anyway especially if you're on one of those stakeholder ones because they're really not very good.

Re people retiring overseas, not all of them buy a second home. I personally don't own a home anyway so my retirement plan was to move to Spain and rent there because it's cheaper, plus the healthcare system is better and the weather is easier on old bones.

Of course now I can't thanks to brexit so instead I'll have to stay in the UK and will eventually cost you all loads more over the years by the time you've topped up my rent and funded me getting my hips fixed on the NHS. Oh well.

I think scrapping the MPs subsidised restaurant and stop serving booze at the HoC bar would certainly make a lot of the public feel better as firms are so bloody tough. They can buy their own lunch or bring sandwiches like the rest of us. They shouldn’t be drinking at work anyway.

MPs should have the same pay rises as other public sector workers as well.

Do MPs have paid for flats? I’d put them up in perfectly pleasant halls of residence type blocks for the nights they need to stay overnight. Small kitchen/bathroom/bedroom.

I think that those running our country showing themselves to be corrupt, lying and profiteering-claiming to have their stables heated and moats cleaned and getting large pay rises, whilst simultaneously voting for school children to go hungry has really hammered home how unfair things are. It’s very them and us. Why can’t ‘they’ stop with some of their privileges?

In the grand scheme of things, it is pennies - not even worth the analysis - you'll have to come up with bigger ideas than saving a few thousand - it's billions we need. And we need clever people with good morals running the country - not relying on wealthy people who don't "need" to claim expenses to take up positions as MPs or MPs taking up second jobs - which incidentally I think should be stopped.

Do you work full time and how old are you that had a massive bearing on weather that’s a good pension or not