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What's in the Red Box? Roll up for the MNHQ Budget Day thread

98 replies

RowanMumsnet · 29/10/2018 10:28

Hello

As lots of you will know, at 3.30pm today the Chancellor Philip 'Spreadsheet' Hammond will be presenting the government's budget to the House of Commons.*

MNHQ sometimes gets asked for comment from journalists on budget measures that affect families, so we thought this year we'd start a dedicated thread for you to let us know what you think as the nation gets its calculators out.

Some stories/guesses/leaks that have been heavily trailed in the weekend newspapers and this morning:

There's speculation that 'better-than-expected tax returns have given Hammond a £13bn windfall, reducing the need for the substantial tax increases' - but Hammond has stressed that 'the measures being announced would be contingent on the government securing a Brexit deal... in the event of there being no deal, he would have to return to parliament with an emergency budget setting out an alternative economic strategy for the UK' (The Guardian)

£2bn for the mental health crisis among children and young people by 2023-24, with headlines talking about 'a mental health unit in every school and hospital' (The Times, £; The Guardian)

A special Brexit 50p coin (The Sun)

Extra money for road and pot hole repairs, and a continued freeze on fuel duty (New Statesman)

An increase in the personal allowance to £12.5k, and an increase in the threshold for top-rate tax to £50k p/a (BBC)

A £650m 'Future High Streets' fund to 'help retailers adapt' as Brits take their shopping custom online, combined with a £900m cut to 'business rates for independent retailers' and a new tax for 'internet giants' (Daily Mail)

A possibility that there will be 'extra cash to ease the transition to Universal Credit when its rolls out nationally from next year' (The Independent)

Please do add any other stories you've seen, let us have your thoughts on the rumours so far, and (if you feel comfortable doing so) tell us how this will affect the people and things you care about.

Thanks
MNHQ

*'Spreadsheet' is Mr Hammond's nickname among his colleagues, apparently

OP posts:
GhostofFrankGrimes · 29/10/2018 18:59

Managed to keep the roof over my head but like all things, if you max out your credit card, eventually, you have to pay the Tally Man and 10 years on, it still has to be paid for.

Shame the Tories couldn't hit their targets. Can't even agree if austerity is over or not.

fullfact.org/economy/did-george-osborne-promise-eliminate-deficit-year/

CarryOnScreamingValenta · 29/10/2018 19:02

I'm gathering suggestions for a commemorative coin design on this thread Wink.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/eu_referendum_2016_/3408726-A-commemorative-50p-coin-to-mark-the-UKs-departure-from-the-EU-what-to-put-on-it

DoctorTwo · 29/10/2018 19:06
  • littlebillie Mon 29-Oct-18 16:11:07

Every time Labour is in power they bring the country to its knees - short memories

Gidiot borrowed more in 5 years than every Labour government ever. Under the Tories debt has gone from about £750Bn to about £1.8Trn and we have nothing to show for it. Austerity is weakening the economy by taking money from those most likely to spend it , the poor, and channelled it to the rich/corporations. Short termism and theft is what they do best.

littlebillie · 29/10/2018 19:17

Doctor Labour are the crowd pleasers, I would be better off under a Labour government. However if businesses can't survive who will have a job.

I suspect from your user name you are in a VERY comfortable government/NHS protected final salary job. Whereas I work in the private sector where taxation will determine how and if I am paid.

littlebillie · 29/10/2018 19:21

Ghost you probably think the winter of discontent was a fiction. I can assure you it was a scary time to be in the uk.

The country was lead by Corbyn style labour politicians who didn't have a clue, here we are again and they were calling for a general strike at Labour conference if they didn't get an election. 🙄

GhostofFrankGrimes · 29/10/2018 19:24

Labour are the crowd pleasers, I would be better off under a Labour government. However if businesses can't survive who will have a job.

Nothing more crowd pleasing than blue passports and commemorative coins. Also fuck business...

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-44618154

I suspect from your user name you are in a VERY comfortable government/NHS protected final salary job.

Public services have been cut to the bone under Tory austerity.

GhostofFrankGrimes · 29/10/2018 19:26

Ghost you probably think the winter of discontent was a fiction. I can assure you it was a scary time to be in the uk.

No. I realise that 3.5 million on the dole, 15% interest rates, the sell off of industry and privitisation weren't fiction either. Nor are record numbers of people in food banks.

HelenaDove · 29/10/2018 19:58

Report on Channel 4 news just now on UC. A woman had to spend the first morning in her new job on the phone trying to sort out the mess.

grumiosmum · 29/10/2018 20:11

Nothing on climate change.

DerelictWreck · 29/10/2018 20:50

grumiosmum there was loads on climate change...

GhostofFrankGrimes · 29/10/2018 21:39

Not according to Caroline Lucas...

DerelictWreck · 29/10/2018 22:36

OK...but there was if you watched it!

Yeah of course it didn't fix everything - no party other than Green will ever do enough sadly, but you can't say there was 'nothing on climate change' when there was new taxes on plastics, reforms on packaging, more money for recycling and investment into sustainable plastics innovation. Bear in mind this is in addition to previously revealed policies like cracking down on single-use plastics (e.g. cotton buds) and carrier bag charges.

DoctorTwo · 29/10/2018 22:41

I suspect from your user name you are in a VERY comfortable government/NHS protected final salary job. Whereas I work in the private sector where taxation will determine how and if I am paid.

I'm on a zero hours contract and am of no fixed abode. Your opinion of me means nothing.

My user name comes from Count Arthur Strong, not from any job I might have. If you AS my NN you will see all I've just posted is true.

HelenaDove · 29/10/2018 23:09

@DoctorTwo is telling the truth. Ive been on some of the same threads.

SpoonBlender · 29/10/2018 23:19

Amazing how quickly a "comments on politics" thread can warp into an "harangue the other commenters personally" thread.

How about, just for once, we try not to do that?

ginghambox · 30/10/2018 00:07

Come on Ghost.give us proper soundbites.

GhostofFrankGrimes · 30/10/2018 06:34

Sound bites? But there are so many! Strong and stable, brexit means Brexit...

theboxofdelights · 30/10/2018 07:15

PFI contracts - an end to this labour legacy ........only they started in 1992 under John Major.

GrabEmByThePatriarchy · 30/10/2018 07:56

Brexit coin my hole.

PanGalaticGargleBlaster · 30/10/2018 08:07

........only they started in 1992 under John Major.

Correct. However PFI was very limited in its use up until 1997 when Labour picked it up and ran with it despite their criticism of the scheme when in opposition. Gordon Brown loves it as he could keep PFI ‘off the books’ while saddling the tax payer with huge future liabilities while some truly epically shit contracts have little value for money. Current PFI schemes are costing the NHS over 2 billion a year.

jasjas1973 · 30/10/2018 08:51

Tories as always support the better off - from Gov.uk.

Changes in personal allowances will mean..... (2019/2020)

A basic rate taxpayer will have an average real gain of £66. A higher rate taxpayer will have an average real gain of £387. An additional rate taxpayer will have an average real gain of £236 all per year.

We are all in it together lol!

Also, this £30billion for major roads will come from the present pot of taxes raised from transport (currently not ring fenced) surely that means £30billion less from other Gov departments?

Kazzyhoward · 30/10/2018 10:08

PFI contracts - an end to this labour legacy ........only they started in 1992 under John Major.

Indeed they did, but 90% of current PFI contracts were signed by Blair/Brown.

prh47bridge · 30/10/2018 10:23

We are all in it together

You are looking only at income tax, ignoring other measures. You are also looking only in cash terms. Most Labour budgets could be presented in the same way. A higher rate taxpayer pays more tax so inevitably any change to tax thresholds or rates is likely to give them more in cash terms than a basic rate payer.

jasjas1973 · 30/10/2018 10:26

All very well criticising PFI but they built 100 new hospitals, some offer poor vfm but if anyone thinks the previous ways of building/funding hospitals was somehow perfect, they are very much mistaken; i was involved in the building of the West Dorset hospital in Dorchester in the 80s, it was a lesson in inefficiency at its best(worst)

Perhaps we should be looking at the private companies that exploited the Government (tax payer) renegotiate and/or have a windfall tax to claim back the over charging?