Anyone else irritated by the media coverage of budget?

[flymetothemoo]

Clearly, if it was at all possible then Labour would want to spend billions / on public services, fixing everything. The fact that they are having to be so frugal is NOT what they would choose, politically or materially!

Clearly it's the last government's fault we are in this position. And yet Labour are the bad guys, according to the press, and even the BBC and the Guardian are contributing to this stoking of negativity and fear.

What are they supposed to do in terms of the budget?

They must find the money from somewhere. They've promised to protect working people, employees NI, income tax etc. So they have to find it from somewhere. It might be employers, or inheritance tax loopholes, or benefit loopholes.

They are damned if they do and if they don't aren't they?

Every single post some Tory supporters write, is full of bitterness, these people cannot even give the new Govt 12months and wish it well

It's not a fucking new neighbour moving in next door. How lovely it must be to drift through life unaffected by financial changes so you have the headspace to blithely smile and cheer from the sidelines.

Some of us are going to be really impacted by the budget, people who have to make decisions about other people's jobs. Bollocks to let the government 'settle in'.

All of us are going to be impacted by the budget, just as all of us were and are being affected by the shit show of the last few years.

All this fevered speculation and breathless gasps of horror is utterly ridiculous until we know is planned, and how it is likely to affect us on a national, and individual level.

People who say speculation and forward planning is 'ridiculous',.clearly don't have much riding on the budget.

We've been warned that this budget is going to hurt all but those on full benefits.

We are in a financial mess, covid made it worse. The Tories ran out of steam, brain power, but we're not alone Europe has it's issues as does the USA. Even China has economical problems.

My 23 year old wants a vinyl turn table for Christmas, second hand, built in the 70's. Why I asked. Because I can get it serviced/repaired was his reply.

That's it in a nutshell, we've been buying crap for so long. Washing machine, three years, gas boiler, ten years. Fridge freezer, eight years. Built in obsolescence. The houses built today won't be standing in 100 years.

The bubble has burst.

Unless you believe in magic, the wrongs of 14 years of mis rule cannot be undone in 4 months.
If you don't want tax rises, where does the money come from to reform/fund the NHS? educatiin? crumbling roads? military? PO scandal? Blood scandal?

what changes are going to mpact you? you don't even know what they are or the level of change...

If you mean the changes in business NI, then its also been reported that there will be changes in business rates to off set this.

My point is that the Tories & some of their supporters are dancing with glee over how Reeves is going to fund the cut in employee NI, they cut this tax not for the good of the country but for long term political gains & fuck the rest of us, inc you.

How many here gave a toss when the Conservatives were cutting benefits left, right and centre but now it might affect you? Bo ho.

We can't have a country built on benefits. Cuts that impact financial growth will be disastrous for this country 10 years down the line.

Well no I agree but was there much sympathy to the people affected? Not really.

It’s the wealth creators and high earners that pay the most tax that help to support the huge benefits bill of this country. Without them and all tax payers there would be no benefits. Your comment really is ignorant.

@Alexandra2001 the money has to come from growing the economy! All governments measure productivity in all sectors. Private or public. The public sector has had some money but it’s the nhs that’s had the most. Just look at the figures. It does not spend it wellbevayse it has poor outcomes for too many people. It has high sickness rates and poor productivity. It’s not good value for money, it pays out £billions in compensation each year. The private services make a contribution to people getting seen and overall it’s a small portion of nhs work.

This country cannot keep taxing people and companies and expect growth. They hunker down. They stop spending. We get recession, Bigger companies can move to Ireland within the EU. Why stay here? Labour has its socialist ideals but does not understand anything about business. Large or small. If we don’t nurture business the goose that lays the golden nhs has gone. The nhs does not pay for itself. The highest 1% of tax payers pay 29% of all income tax. Lose them and then what?

The nhs needs reform. We need an insurance system in return for lower NI. We could levy NI from all workers including retired ones but at a lower rate. Also the idea that you can hammer savers and get investment is also ludicrous! What does the government think pension funds do with their (our) money? Or banks? It’s there to be lent to business. To fund growth. Being too harsh to fund high salaries for doctors (who already get the best financial return on their degrees according to IFS) and not insisting on productivity snd better outcomes for patients is just not acceptable. Their training costs us £250,000. No going abroad - 10 year contract here after graduation or uni loan must be repaid.

@friendlycat We have a high expectation of benefits and services. What we don’t have is enough people working or creating wealth to fund them. We have become a nation of takers.

Of course there was - tempered with the realisation that a lot of people defraud the system.

My relative has been off work for MH reasons for 5 years now. Her MH is affected by people at work - she doesn't like them and falls out with them. No effort to try and find something she enjoys or could manage, just sits at home doing nothing and claiming benefits. She's perfectly physically healthy but it's not worth her working as her benefits are too great. I feel for her, but when it comes down to it I don't see why she should be coddled to live her depressing lifestyle while people who slog their guts out running small businesses that employ people get penalised and demonised by not being classed as 'working people'.

I often think people overestimate how much of their money goes onto benefits. I am not ignorant at all but I am not sure I have much sympathy for the likelihood of high earners getting taxed more when there is no empathy for the struggle those on the lowest income face when benefits are cut (even those who work and receive a top ups).

It's not about empathy or sympathy. It's about the economics of this country.

What it sounds as though RR is doing is borrowing absolutely insane amounts to placate the unions and public service workers and the assuming wealth creators and high earners will pay for it all. That is not going to produce a healthy, innovative economy.

This is the group Labour say they are going to entice back to work…we’ll see.

What Reeves is doing is borrowing a relatively modest sum of money to invest in the country’s infrastructure. This will produce jobs and repair some of the neglect of the last 14 years. She’s been crystal clear that she will only borrow for capital spending.

Personally I'm sick of the endless advance government drip feeding which has become so common these days. Completely patronising. Announce the fucking thing or don't.

@BIossomtoes

"What Reeves is doing is borrowing a relatively modest sum of money to invest in the country’s infrastructure. This will produce jobs and repair some of the neglect of the last 14 years. She’s been crystal clear that she will only borrow for capital spending."

It's not that modest if it increased the bond yields to 4.25%.

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/oct/29/bond-vigilantes-punish-rachel-reeves-truss-style-market-meltdown

Put in context of current borrowing it’s modest. Your article uses exactly my words to describe the rise in borrowing costs - “relatively modest”.

@TizerorFizz Other countries tax more than we do & have higher productivity, Labour are focusing very much on growth and about time too.... over the last 14 years, its not been a topic high on the Cons agenda.... theirs has been all about spending & so called tax cuts, which have not led to growth & have ironically, led to higher taxes.... Austerity has a lot to answer for.

On the Insurance model, how does that put more money or efficiency into the NHS? how does it get more people to want to be HCP's?

Europe has better HC, because they have spent, over decades, far more than the UK has....

Making Doctors or other HCP's do x number of years as a payback to the investment made in them? nope, Dr's pay high taxes on their salaries and personally, i wouldn't want to be treated by a Dr who hated working for the NHS..... why not make working conditions better ,so people stay of their own free will?

Do agree on negligence claims, that needs to stop but is that a symptom of underfunding and lack of suitably trained staff?

10 yr Gilt yields were higher 12 months ago.... & at similar levels in April this year.
30 year gilts similar pattern.

BOE rates are high, tends to lead to higher yields.

Alexandra2001
Bus fare subsidy was a temp policy, due to be stopped end of this year, note Hunt never extended it when he had the chance.... its unaffordable and doesn't target the least well off.

June 2024

A plan to extend the £2 cap on bus fares in England have been announced in the Conservative manifesto.

The document commits to maintaining the scheme for the entirety of the next Parliament.

It stated this would benefit “young people and low-income households”, and would be funded by “reform of the railway which will save up to £1.5 billion annually”.

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/london-tories-conservative-party-parliament-england-b1163628.html

Sunak and Hunt also promised tax cuts in the manifesto which we now know were pure fantasy. I don’t know why you think anything in that fictitious prospectus is relevant now. It was an unachievable pack of lies designed to buy the votes of the gullible.

Well they could have cut taxes, they weren't planning to give into the wage demands for one, they weren't looking to go on a spending spree either

The strikes were costing more than the pay settlements which were recommended by their own pay review bodies. They certainly didn’t cost as much as tax cuts would.