No more tax rises petition?

[Mountainbetweenus]

Has anyone else seen this petition?

www.whatlaboursaid.com/no-more-tax-rises?dm_i=7XP6,2XATP,62F9PD,7DA6V,1,0,0,0

The thread has attracted those who want to pay higher taxes, or usually someone else to pay of course, but I don’t think more of the same will go down well for Labour.

If Burnham is still listening to MPs who start every meeting with who can we tax more for benefits he might be as clueless as Starmer. Perhaps he’ll be a bit better.

This question should be linked to "what improvements to public services have you seen?"

It isn't just about tax rises. There are two parts to the problem. How much tax revenue is generated, and whether it is used efficiently.

At the moment, we have public services that are sub optimal, armed forces that are under resourced, and an economy that is struggling.

All of these things require investment to resolve. The only place that comes from is us, via the taxation revenue. We have one of the lowest levels of taxation. I agree with @Poppingby in that I think there should be higher taxation, but only if it is deployed wisely.

Quite frankly, I haven't trusted a government to do that in a long while. Coupled with Brexshit, the pandemic, war in various places we are really in a pickle. It is going to take a brave PM to take the measures necessary to get the money in, but if they do deploy it wisely and people see change, then they may just get away with it.

I used to be a high earner and have paid a considerable amount of tax over the years, I have since switched to running my own business where the employers NI changes made it impossible to hire anyone which is now limiting growth. However, I have seen reductions in waiting lists at hospitals in my area, and we have had a police station open in town that the Conservative party closed. That is to name just two items. There are many more.

I think we have to recognise the reality of the situation the UK is in, and accept that we will have to collectively dig deep. Lets hope that the latest Chancellor does a better job of collecting from more appropriate places than the last one did. We live in hope.

Nobody wants to pay higher taxes. Recognising that we might need to is a different matter.

How can we have the demographics we have without ever increasing taxes?

Well it would be nice if nobody had to pay taxes, very unrealistic though.

What about your claim about Labour supporters and benefits, any proof?

The employer NI is a difficult one because many European countries have higher social security employer taxes which in turn feeds into healthcare & pensions. We are missing that but where should it come from instead?

I didn’t mean that as such. I meant that taxes are inevitable.

Also do people signing this think people like paying more tax? Of course we don’t! Nobody wants to pay more tax.

Ik that. Usually it’s demands for others to pay more tax.

Well I don’t think we can hit income tax much further

No. Probably not. Labour are likely out of road on tax hikes and increased borrowing.

@EasternStandardhow can any party not increase taxes though? Again it’s a demographic issue, or do you favour private healthcare & means testing state pensions for example?

People want the triple lock? Yes
The additional billions this will cost with an ageing population is to come from where?

‘Who can we tax more to pay benefits to others’?

Is this what you mean?

@MountainbetweenusIm not against means testing the state pension

There will be outrage though

Nah. The OP is going on about the apparent tax rises, that appear to do something to how many holidays per year etc.

Including those on disability and other support?

Don’t be like that.

The former chancellor gifted us ‘The Great British Summer Giveaway’ or similar.
I just think that some posters on MN might benefit, seriously.

I have

They’re not ’apparent’. The first budget included tax hikes and increased borrowing.

The second did too.

Triff!

Thats one, so far.

@Mountainbetweenusagain not against means testing DLA, AA etc but I would want a high threshold. I do think it’s complex because I don’t necessarily think some get enough but others take the piss.

We have few options, cut taxes or services or a combo of both. But as I’ve said we have never had this shift in demographics & with the NHS & state pension model it’s a huge pressure on the tax system.

Unfortunately, Labour’s fiscal policy has been infected with ideology and grievance eg. VAT on PS fees, and the ‘broadest shoulders’ etc.

This means that, increasingly, for many it does not pay to work, nor start a business, nor invest in the UK.

So, at a time when we have the shifting demographics you mention, coupled with ‘advances’ in AI, tariffs and geopolitical conflict etc., this government have been doing everything which is ‘anti-growth’.

As to the spending side of the equation - we all know that this government are powerless to cut spending - courtesy of the back benches and unions. Any mention of cuts is met with howls of protest.

I don’t buy into party politics, the Tories were also shit when it came to growth, we never recovered from the crash & kicked the can down the road. Low interest rates masked a lot of this
The deep rooted issues need cross party consensus & will take years to fix but the ageing population is a big part of the problem or rather the lack of planning for it.

I still work despite it not being “worth it”, why wouldn’t I? Who will fund my life otherwise? So does DH. What I did do under the Tories is stay p/t as more hours means 40% tax & my time is worth more.I am still p/t.

Historically if you look at fiscal policies labour & tory governments have been broadly similar.