You have won a competition to be Chancellor for a day.

[Alouiseg]

You can make one decision. What decision would it be and how would you fund it?

I would remove Stamp Duty on property purchases which would make moving easier and cheaper so people could move without the added expense. To pay for this I would tax the profit made on a property when you sell it.

i would have all my pals round for a party in no. 11 and i would put it on expenses

I'd put VAT on private education.

I'd nationalise banking.

I thought it had already been nationalised?

DD2 (7) would make a pack of cigarettes £100 - she is very anti-smoking, and came out with this idea on Monday.

Banking has been subsidised, in the main by killing off public services. Massive victory for the neo-fash...

Just wait til the next recession, you'll be getting your fucking kids up chimneys faster than you can say i've got nothing to eat.

I'd allow parents to remove themselves or their children from state schools / state funded healthcare and allow them to claim a tax allowance for it..

It would allow parents who want to opt out but are currently unable to afford fees to educate and provide medical care for their families in the way they would prefer..

The savings would be direct - and there would be a bit less stress on the NHS and on state schools..

I like that one Duritzfan. In America you can write off healthcare and education costs against tax, as well as things like car depreciation. Of course there is no Insurance Premium Tax either there, they reward you for being responsible unlike here wher they pay you to be poor and punish you for taking care of yourself.

I would kick the banks up their big, fat greedy, cigar smoking, champgane quaffing backsides, and make them pay every single taxpayer back the money they stole from them. In person. On foot. With a pink ribbon tied round each wad of cash and a humble, grovelling apology.

Am I allowed 2? I'd also remove the ability to inherit the lease on a council house and then buy it for a song.

Maisie .. I agree re council houses...

Alouiseg - we seem to agree on a fair bit - I am leaving the other thread now though ...madness !!!

No, it's "against the rules" to have 2 but as it's such a good one I think it should stay.

Duritzfan I left it, once they start being deliberately obtuse it's time to go.

yep .. and I am apparently another scrounger as I am a sahm too.. living off the bank of dh

what happened to equality within a relationship ?

If I come back on and post again, does that count as a new 1? Or will you see through my attempt to go for a sneaky 3?

I'd change the council housing churn idea (making a future council tenancy dependent on moving out whenever you have a spare room) and instead extend the existing Rent a Room tax free amount for renting out your spare room so that if you rent out space in your council house (up to the normal overcrowding levels and up to a certain rent amount) it doesn't affect your benefits.

And I'd make the second prize a week as Chancellor because honestly, what a horrible job.

I'm going to have 2 seeing as Maisie did. I'd remove vat on tampons and I'd fund that by putting vat on razor blades.

Go on Maisie, the thread police won't exactly excommunicate you :o

Now, I don't wear tampons but I do shave my legs - I would curse you and your VAT and your Chancellorship

Stop trident.

Obviously my law would apply to all feminine hygiene products. I just can't bear saying sanitary towels.

(I'm getting too carried away with this, the megalomania is returning)

I would only allow child benefit to be claimed for the first child for any child born after 01/06/2011. I wouldn't change the situation for any children currently born/concieved though.

Any idea how much scrapping trident would save?

I think it depends on whether you use CPI or RPI and the fluctuations in LIBOR would obviously bring up the FTSE in one's GDP but by making certain reasonable assumptions at today's prices I would estimate bags

I'd kill myself in the public interest

I would like to work with the unions constructively and give them some options instead of mass job losses. When an employee looses their job everyone suffers from the public losing their services to the tax payer paying for benefits and the traumatic impact of losing a job. Surely there is a better way.

1. Re-negotiate contracts. Give options such as higher pay for an agreement to reduce the final salary benefits
2. Have final salary calculated on average pay instead of the final salary.