Well done George Osborne - stonking budget

[claig]

Tax free Allowance rising to £11000
40% tax threshold rising to £43000
Corporation Tax falling to 19% and then 18%
National Living Wage will reach £9 by 2020, will start at £7.20

If they carry on like this, Labour are finished and poor old UKIP and Farage won't stand a chance of getting a look in. But credit where credit is due - well done Osborne!

[avoiretre]

Just as a side point, did anyone see Duncan-Smith jigging about and punching the air like a demented football fan? What a pain in the backside that man is.

[DuploElephant]

I meant to add in my post at 15.53 although inflation may be below 1% now it has not been the case each year in the 5 years since the 1% public sector pay cap has been in force.

[HarveySchlumpfenburger]

Hang on, isn't this going to cost the NHS money too? My hourly rate is about £9 and I'm at the top of my band. I'd be willing to bet the bottom of band and the lower band are on about the 7.20 or less that is being introduced from April. And if you adjust the rate of pay at the bottom of a scale then you need to adjust the rest of tbe scale and the bands above that accordingly.

Wonder how far the extra funding for the NHS will go then?

[Boosiehs]

"LLPs are Limited Liability Partnerships and the offshore ones are why London is the Money Laundering capital of the world.
No other country allows what London does."

talkinpeace what on earth makes you come up with that assertion?

[AuntieDee]

Well I've got another 1% pay rise over the next four years. That's nearly a decade on the same wage. Whoop whoop.

The agreed 'not' to take away the 1% they gave us last year in the NHS - no payrise this year. 1% payrise in the last 5 years. I earn less now than when I qualified 13 years ago!

[LashesandLipstick]

Avoiretre it really annoys me because it's such a false logic. It assumes everyone's starting from the same position, no ones disabled, that labour can be transferred with no time/finance cost...it's bullshit

[Boosiehs]

avoiretre that again is a really offensive comment.

I am rich (goady i realise) but i worked bloody hard for it. Some people do!

[Hillingdon]

I think it was a cracking budget. Personal responsibility should be put right at the front. There are too many bleating about picking the wrong partner, having an accidental pregnancy, messing around at school (and spoiling it for others) and then claiming they aren't paid enough on benefits or it's not worth them working etc etc.

The genuinely disabled are excluded from all of this but complaining about zero hours contracts as though most of the workforce is on them. Isn't the number of people on zero hours 2%?

My son has one whilst he is waiting to go to university. They are not all bad and certainly suit some people.

[avoiretre]

Some do, most don't, Boosiehs. Did you actually read my post?

[TalkinPeace]

Boosiehs
How much of the financial press about corporate transparency do you read?

The fact that LLPs are allowed partners who are themselves LLPs and their partners can then be trusts in tax havens is an absolute recipe for dodgy financial machinations.

More corrupt Russian money flows through the LLP offices of Mayfair than anywhere else in the world.

All of HMRCs offices are now owned by an offshore LLP structure that pays no tax.

Tony Bliar manages his business empire through trees of LLPs

Cameroon talks about wanting transparency in the world's business but the core of the hornets nest is in London - and he knows it and does nothing about it.

If those LLPs had to pay tax on their earnings (such as the rent that Hospitals and Tax offices and Schools pay through PFI) the deficit could be closed with great ease.

[lutra3d]

Can you clarify what you mean by your comment about the 'genuinely disabled.'

[avoiretre]

Very true L&L, the problem is that people think that right-wing governments care about people's circumstances. They don't care, their only concern is taking money from the masses and handing it to the classes.

[Hillingdon]

I believe re the uni grants that even poorer households will have to pay them back but there will be some relief. I also believe that 60% of loans are never paid back. My nephew went to uni, has dossed around for the last 10 years. Never in a million years is he going to pay it back. He doesn't earn anything like the threshold so for him it was a few years of living of the state and avoiding the responsibility of working.

[butterfly133]

boosiehs, I can't see what avoiretre said that was offensive.

Hard work and pay have very little correlation. If they were linked more sensibly, cleaners would be paid a lot more (for example). Certainly the jobs I've had which have paid the most have not been the hardest work. It isn't always that simple.

agree with the poster upthread who said this infantilises people of working age. As for the argument "It used to be like that" - what an awful scenario to be thrust back into, after progressing out of it!

that said, one of the worst things that has happened for all of us is that degrees are now practically essential - a tragic waste of time, money and resources.

[specialsubject]

thanks for the explanation, talkinpeace. That makes sense - I think the LLPs are also the cause of the 'buy to leave' and money sheltering in London. Such an obvious loophole to close.

love the assertion from someone else that most who have money have never worked for it, or have stolen it! Isn't it fun when you can just make things up?

[Baddz]

I still can't figure out how much better of the person would be though...not much I guess.

[IKnowIAmButWhatAreYou]

I think it's a bloody good budget overall.

I especially like the £140 tax on all cars, some of that should be diverted to actually pay for the upkeep of the roads.

Raising tax thresholds is always a good move too!!

[IKnowIAmButWhatAreYou]

one of the worst things that has happened for all of us is that degrees are now practically essential - a tragic waste of time, money and resources.

Couldn't agree more!

[plum100]

My post wasnt offensive. I said SOME people. If you dont believe that there are people out there who cant be bothered to get a job, just have kids because it boosts their income, then raise more kids that go on to not work , have more kids , take up more social housing , then you are kidding yourselves. It happens all the time , repeating generation after generation , and it has to stop. And again , just to be clear - i said S -O-M-E.

[Baddz]

Plum...yes but it will affect ALL

[LashesandLipstick]

Plum I don't believe talking about a tiny minority of people when there are masses more genuine cases is helpful to the discussion. Especially when it will demonise and stigmatise the genuine cases.

[TalkinPeace]

Iknow
I especially like the £140 tax on all cars, some of that should be diverted to actually pay for the upkeep of the roads.
Yup, its a massive cut in road tax for those who drive gas guzzlers.
Perfect.
It will save me quite a lot as I have two "luxury" cars.

[MrsUltracrepidarian]

George has done a great job - relieved that we finally have a grown up in charge.

[avoiretre]

It's totally correct specialsubject, most either inherited it (often from people who acquired it in a dodgy way at some point), made the money in dodgy ways, won it on the lottery, or stole it from Russia (or some other country). There's a program on tonight about those thieves being welcomed here with their stolen money. Watch it and learn something!