So it's Budget day

[ShadeofViolet]

If you were the Chancellor, what would be in your budget?

Utterly agree about scrapping stamp duty, it's one of the factors in the overpriced housing supply we have. Everybody tries to sell their house for what it's worth plus stamp duty which people eventually buy due to lack of supply and the market gets ramped up another notch.

I can't see Gordon Brown scrapping a big revenue stream that stamp duty represents. I do, however, agree that it distorts the housing market. Moreover, the vast majority of people buy a house to become a home (not as an investment) I find it morally reprehensible to have to give HMRC a huge wodge of cash for the privilege of putting a roof over my family's head.

We've got loads of new taxes coming in on April 1st too which are going to hurt.

I lied, it's April 6th

It will be interesting to see what sort of a budget it is - everyone agrees that cuts are needed, but in a pre-election budget there's not much incentive to actually make them. So I reckon it'll be a bit of a non-event - lots of posturing and little real substance.

noddyholder I was of course being a little bit sarcastic, but I AM of the opinion that prison should be a punishment.

If people knew that going to prison meant some hard graft (not sitting in cushy cells with Playstations and taking all the drugs they like) many of them would not commit the crime in the first place.

We're always being told we need greener energy, so where's the harm in making people that owe a debt to society pay it back by making themselves useful?

I find it really iteresting that a group of mothers (who you might assume would want the CTF) want to scrap it. I agree with you all as it seems such a waste of money!

I would increase tax on 'junk foods' as well as Tobacco and alcohol.

I would make child benefit decrease for all, children, so that instead of one rate for the first child and then another rate for each subsequent child I would make it a sliding scale for each child, with a cap of 5.

Don't worry cavemum, noddyholder never knows whether to laugh or cry at things I post either.

Phew! I'm still a bit new round here so trying v hard not too offend too many people!

I'm glad to see that most people agree that something needs to be done - Labour have been spinning the "we'll spend our way out of recession" line for too long! Role on the General Election, the next few years are going to be painful that's for sure!

Don't worry about offending anyone! We all enjoy it far too much

The trouble is if you scrap child benefit for those earning over £30k, presumably that would be joint household income ? And the original idea behind child benefit was to give the mother her own money that she could spend on the children to feed them should her husband spend all his wages down the pub.

But if the Husband earns in excess of 30k he is going to have to do alot of drinking to spend it all surely?

Well no not necessarily and that's the point he has control of the money what does she do if he won't give her any at all ? That was why it was introduced.

There are of course lots of families who could live quite happily without it but universal benefits are a great way of encouraging births to be registered and keeping families in some strata of a system.

Personally, right at this very moment my little family would manage fine without it but when our company suddenly went bust when the dcs were very small it was my absolute lifeline, it kept us in nappies and basic food while my dh's priority was attending legal meetings and paying tax and court costs, it really gives the power to the mother and while we don't need it I'm squirrelling it away for a rainy day and if that day doesn't come it will go toward university tuition.

feck orf alouise merci

D'accord. bonne nuit.

I love MN so much better than RL for insults x

Well we will ind out shortly, I bet he is absolutely bricking it!

The issue with many benefits is that means testing it costs more in admin than just dishing it out. So whilst I agree that, for example, the fact of expats on the Costa del Sol claiming winter fuel payments is ludicrous, I accept that for the number of people who get it unfairly, it's not cost effective to weed them out.

Similarly child benefits as many people who would need to be means tested would not be means tested for anything else so would require a whole new strata of jobsworths.

I feel that the parents with the second family really get no help at all.

If you have re-married and are financially supporting your first family, I think there is a huge void with respect to this common occurance today.

My DH was crunched last year from a well paid job. When means tested it appears that the £700 pm was not taken into account as an out going commitment.

Clearly it could not be paid. He was awarded £61 per week to provide for me and his son together with this first family? Absolutely no consideration at all.

We still staying here are we?

Have dedicated a whole afternoon to this

PMQ in a mo.

'Um, foreverastudent - if you tax people 99% of their income even if it is eg 240000,that would only leave them £200 a month to live off, so they would then be able to claim lots of benefits - which are paid for by taxes. So quite apart from driving high earners to live in other countries which is bad for the economy, a 99% tax is actually a really stupid idea, sorry!'

That's not true, these taxes, such as the 50% tax rate only come into force after a certain threshold, foreverastudent didn't offer a threshold, but I am sure that is what she meant.

I'm sorry, but I don't agree with a pay freeze for the public sector but I do agree there has to be serious management cuts and incentives to perform more efficiently. If you freeze pay you will have less and less well-educated motivated people joining, which doesn't do the sector any good.

Increase tax on tobacco and alcohol.

Scrap CTF

I think means testing child benefit would probably cost more than universal coverage does.

Anyone watching it on bbc24 - with commentary like 'the Conservatives are waving goodbye to Labour now]

Poor Nick Clegg, he talks sense(to me)