Budget 2015 - what do you think?

[KateMumsnet]

Today at 12.30pm - and with only 50 days until the general election - chancellor George Osborne will deliver the last budget of this government. Amongst other things, he’s expected to announce an increase in the personal tax allowance, a reduction in the rate at which savings are taxed and, possibly, a move on inheritance tax. We'd love to know what you'd like to see emerge from his briefcase - and to hear what you think as he announces his measures.

[JillyR2015]

There is the new google tax and there are a whole raft of anti avoidance measures.

We don't own most of the train companies in the UK although Labour has thoguht of renationalisation so they cannot tell them what price they charge. Feel free to set up a charity to run a local railway though with no profits for shareholders and no pay for your local volunteers.

[alreadytaken]

The Telegraph on the budget (after some gloating about the lies) " austerity can always be tightened up again if the Tories are returned to power." This is a very political budget. Tory bankers got us into this mess but are the only ones who havent paid for it. The recession was prolonged as a result. Osborne ran up a massive amount of debt by taking money from the poor to give it to his rich friends. He's now claiming that the benefits of a low oil price and selling off the country's share of the banks (probably once again at less than he should get for national assets) are in some way down to his management instead of a stroke of luck.

The Tories have done some things that were necessary to deal with structural debt but they are too bust sucking up to the grey vote to do everything that is necessary. They are destroying the NHS, they aren't doing anything about housing except fuelling the bubble, they are so vicious to the sick that they kill quite a few, there are long queues at food banks. You can fool some of the people all of the time.

[BMW6]

they are so vicious to the sick that they kill quite a few

And your evidence for that allegation is what??

[alreadytaken]

unless your eyes are shut you can find the evidence in the papers, you can start with one who starved after benefit payments were withdrawn. www.theguardian.com/society/2014/feb/28/man-starved-to-death-after-benefits-cut I am ashamed of my country.

[blacksunday]

Suicides reach a ten year high and are linked with welfare “reforms”

Figures released in February by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) indicate that suicide rates, which had fallen consistently since 1981, are now at their highest in over a decade. It is primarily male suicides which have increased.

The figures for 2013 give a total of 6,233 deaths by suicide, 252 more than in 2012.

Suicide rates are highest in areas of high unemployment, with the north-east of England having the highest rate and London the lowest. Older males are now the most at risk, with 45-59 year olds having the highest rate.

The link between the welfare “reforms” and increased suicide risk has been highlighted by Mind, amongst other organisations. The charity has found that people with mental illnesses are having their benefits cut more than those with other kinds of illnesses.

There has been growing concern regarding how benefits are administered in relation to vulnerable individuals and last year, revelations that the Department for Work and Pensions had internally investigated 60 suicides related to benefit changes led to calls for greater accountabilty and transparency.

kittysjones.wordpress.com/2015/03/18/suicides-reach-a-ten-year-high-and-are-linked-with-welfare-reforms/

[Edsgreypatch]

Suicide rates are highest in areas of high unemployment,

Good job unemplyment is lower than at any time ever, including all the Labour years, then.

[blacksunday]

Good job unemplyment is lower than at any time ever, including all the Labour years, then.

It isn't. It's nominally lower, because, instead of being employed in full-time jobs, people are taking up temporary, part-time, and low-paid work.

There are also a record number of people in zero-hour contracts, which provide no security and no steady income.

Finally, many people have just given up finding a job and have classified themselves as 'self-employed'. Having a go at working as sole traders or freelancers instead of subjecting themselves to the abuse of the DWP.

[Isitmebut]

Blacksunday ........ Re suicides: despite Labour's anti coalition, disingenuous 'uncaring' posturing on the welfare cuts they knew had to happen, the link below just ONE statement by Labour ministers over the past 5-years - how many more suicides would we have under an incompetent Labour government with TWICE our current 5.6% unemployment rate, they see in the Eurozone?


“Labour will be tougher than Tories on benefits, promises new welfare chief”

“Rachel Reeves vows to cut welfare bill and force long-term jobless to take up work offers or lose state support”
www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/oct/12/labour-benefits-tories-labour-rachel-reeves-welfare

[Edsgreypatch]

I love how those on the left can even put a negative spin on more people than ever being in work.

[Isitmebut]

Blacksunday .... in the budget speech yesterday the Chancellor said 80% of the jobs created under the coalition were full time and secure, please show us your evidence that the majority of jobs are "temporary, part time and low paid".

[Isitmebut]

alreadytaken ..... always individual cases, never the big picture - like what happens to the sick under Labour's care - with cover ups.


July 2013 “Labour's NHS denial machine: Expert's verdict of ministers who 'covered up problems at failing hospitals as thousands died'
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2363808/Labours-NHS-denial-machine-Experts-verdict-ministers-covered-problems-failing-hospitals-thousands-died.html

• Prof Sir Brian Jarman said health ministers tried to stop NHS criticism
• Report by Sir Bruce Keogh tomorrow will reveal failure at 14 hospital trusts
• The trusts are 'responsible' for up to 13,000 ‘excess deaths’ since 2005

[BMW6]

Well Ed Balls was on BBC Breakfast a few minutes ago and he said that the last 5 years, for most people, have "not been that great"........ a bit of a stretch from that to the Government Killing people.....

I would have tought that if Labour could make any kind of case for the austerity measures being directly responsible for a great many deaths - they would have done so.

I would be interested to see some statistics re the number of suicides related to Gambling issues - which Labour made easily available.

[Edsgreypatch]

Re the NHS. Simply look at the state of the NHS in Wales under a Labour run Welsh Assembly to see how terrifying it would be in Labour hands in England too.

People are coming to stay in England to get cancer drugs they can't get in Wales.

[noddyholder]

By the time the ISA has reached the 15k prices will have gone up and it won't be enough! Plus with rents as they are saving 200 a month is impossible for your average worker.

[needastrongone]

Ed Balls said today on Five Live that he's unlikely to reverse much of what has been contained in THIS budget (notwithstanding bedroom tax et all, contained in previous budgets). Labour will cut too, that is clear.

I am undecided still about which party will get my vote, but to suppose Labour will be radically different would be the wrong assumption, I think.

I have a DS nearly 16. I quite like the idea of being able to stick a little into an ISA for him when he reaches that age, with the intention of helping a little with a deposit for a house. I would like him to be a home owner at some point if possible.

To the poster that asked, I think that you are able to stick an initial lump sum into said ISA of £3k. I may be wrong, but I think that is the intention.

[GentlyBenevolent]

I think the initial lump is £1k isn't it?

[needastrongone]

gently You might be right, sorry. I knew that there was an initial lump sum, and £3k stuck in my mind. I will check and come back.

[needastrongone]

You are correct, the £3k is the maximum that the Govt will contribute. Apologies for the error.

[Isitmebut]

No doubt Ed Balls said every average family is £1,600 worse off, when that is for a GROSS salary and in 'real' (inflation adjusted) terms, so people might have had a pay rise, but inflation have made them worse off - but why is this the coalition governments fault, as recessions like the one started in 2008 always lower living standards for the majority and inflation has only just come down?

However people do not put GROSS salaries on their kitchen table.

And looking at Income Tax Personal Allowances, a family man under Labour could earn £6,475 before being taxed, yet under the coalition I believe the current figure is £10,600 - with plans yesterday to take it to £11,000.

So how can the majority of people be worse off?

How can any Labour political leaders demand debates when they'll be so disingenuous with their soundbites?

[noddyholder]

www.independent.co.uk/money/mortgages/help-to-buy-isa-qa-are-they-real-help-for-firsttime-buyers-or-simply-a-votewinner-for-the-2020-election-10118723.html?icn=puff-2 Not so fast indeed People need homes now Anything to keep prices inflated. Where will these 'savers' be living until 2020 when the 3k is available on a 300k shoebox

[Isitmebut]

We needed homes from 2001 when the Labour Commissioned Barker Report in 2004 said we needed TWICE what was currently built, yet home builds averaged 115,000 a year with 3-4 million new citizens in the country.

By 2010 many people had left the building trade and there was a shortage of brickies etc.

Over the next 5-years, we need the Private Sector to 'Build for Britain', so the voters have to decide WHICH main party encourages the private sector, and which party tries to bash them to achieve their political aims - causing them to contract, not expand investment/jobs.

[Viviennemary]

I'd love to know exactly what Labour would be doing so that we suddenly all found ourselves better off under labour. Are they giving us all £5K a year pay rise. I wonder what this miraculous plan is to suddenly make everyone better off and the country booming. It's a figment of their imagination which is why I certainly will not be voting for them.

[WhistlingPot]

Suicide rates are highest in areas of high unemployment

Good job unemplyment is lower than at any time ever, including all the Labour years, then.

How on earth can that counteract the key point that "suicide rates, which had fallen consistently since 1981, are now at their highest in over a decade"?

[JillyR2015]

Geroge O did well on the Today programme today.
Robert Peston was good enough to correct his statement yesterday and say he had been wrong to say yesterday that planned cuts would be more in the next Parliament than those made in this one.

On the right to buy isa it is a maximum of £12k saved with a maximum of £3k put in by the state - so £15k in all. I am not sure if you could take your £12k savings you already have and put it into an ISA next month and the state does the top up right away and then you buy or whether you have to do it over time. (My daughters have bought unfortunately just before stamp duty came down. My older son hasn't yet and he has saved up about £15k so far so this might be relevant to him).

[WhistlingPot]

Institute for Employment Studies - IES Viewpoint: The UK labour market after recession and austerity: normal business resumed?

In short:

Employment: Much jobs growth during this period has been ‘underemployment’. This includes surging self-employment (which hit 4.5 million, over 15 per cent of the employed workforce), which was as likely to be part-time freelancers and ‘odd jobbers’ keeping a toehold in the labour market as dynamic entrepreneurs setting up sustainable businesses. Among employees, part-time work grew strongly, with record numbers doing this not through choice but in the absence of full-time alternatives. Arguably, if this under-employment was a temporary phenomenon keeping people in some form of work during the downturn, it may not have been a disaster. The jury is out, but it’s interesting that the past few months have seen falls in self-employment and involuntary part-time work as full-time jobs and job vacancies grew strongly.

Concerns about labour productivity : Following a period when UK productivity was catching up with international competitors, the recession saw a major slump in output per hour.

What’s more concerning is that the productivity stagnation has continued long after the recession, and GDP per hour remains below its 2008 level.

Unemployment: Despite the recovery, concerns remain about those trapped in long-term unemployment, and large numbers of school leavers whose first labour market experience has been an unsuccessful struggle to find work. These groups are likely to remain targets of government policy intervention in the labour market for the foreseeable future. So far, so familiar.

Skills shortage and mismatch in the labour market may be re-emerging.

Falling real wages and squeezed living standards have been a persistent leitmotif throughout the recession and recovery, and those in work experienced the longest fall in real wages in living memory.

With some targeted exceptions, the challenge is less to do with the number of jobs available in the economy, and more to do with the quality of the jobs and how much they pay, and with the skills and productivity of the people doing them. The exceptions relate to those groups in the labour force for whom the labour market and government policy have persistently failed to find sustainable employment – some groups of young people, the long-term unemployed, and people with health conditions and disabilities. This area of public policy is crying out for innovative approaches, and efforts to generate and innovation (e.g. through involvement of the private sector in public employment services) have not so far been a notable triumph.