If Labour raises taxes what will you think?

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Typing on my phone so not sure I can do a poll? But, if the government raises income tax or NI at the budget, will you think:

A - let’s get real, they had no other choice
B - those duplicitous / inept bastards

A

@Thelankyone14 years of Tory rule did that.

That’s mn for you, I doubt the general view will be the same. People can remember the earlier lines and lies.

I accept that I need to pay more taxes, I don’t mind if the end result is we have decent public service. I’m not seeing any improvements.

There have a lot of people that take (as they entitled to) and not enough putting in. And if we keep pointing at one group demanding they pay more …eventually there will be nothing left for anyone - at and that point we all will be impacted.

A. But I'm annoyed that they weren't honest and upfront about this in their manifesto. We all knew that taxes were going to have to rise, regardless of who was elected. I wanted them to have the courage to say so at the time.

The social infrastructure of the country was decimated by Austerity (now widely considered by economists to have been a mistake). The economy was hampered by Brexit and Covid. There is no other option than to raise taxes or for public services to continue worsening.

A - but really go through taxes what can go what do we need. Get rid of the small wins that just look like they are targeting a certain group. Actually try to overhaul it instead of trying to grab little bits from anywhere. Relook at welfare spending think of a new proposal after the last one got voted down etc

Apart from this thread, yep I’d say you’re right.

The social infrastructure of the country was decimated by Austerity (now widely considered by economists to have been a mistake). The economy was hampered by Brexit and Covid. There is no other option than to raise taxes or for public services to continue worsening.

But why just target PAYE workers? This won't improve public services though, the increases aren't enough.

Hear, hear

I think part of the reason is they didn’t realise how much of a black hole the country was in.

The last Labour government left the country in the biggest recession in 70 years.

I'm fed up we have another month to go. I have never known a build up to a budget like this. The media have been frothing and full of doom and gloom for weeks.

Is this some sort of Labour bias? Or are Labour leaking stuff trying to gauge opinion? Or even leaking stuff so everyone thinks it's going to be awful and then when they only put 1p on income tax rather than 2p everyone is happy?

That's because the two questions are completely different. People answering 'A - let’s get real, they had no other choice' are not necessarily saying they support an increase in tax. There's a difference between supporting an increase and being pragmatic about accepting it.

B

It's probably because everything they have done, or tried to do, so far has been dreadful.

Does anyone know the date for the budget?

I don't really buy that tbh. Most major economists were clear at the time that, whoever got in, taxes would need to be raised. If they genuinely didn't realise at the time, then they should have done.

I think they did know that things were dire, but they chose to bury their heads in the sand and hope for the best instead of having the courage to face up to the reality and level with the public.

They didn't think that they would be elected if they said that they would have to raise tax. Perhaps they were right, or perhaps the electorate would have accepted it because they wanted the Tories out at any cost. Unfortunately, we will never know because they bottled it.

I think they probably should but then they also need to start making some proper spending decisions rather than flip flopping around and pissing billions away.

Raise taxes and embark in large scale social housing projects would I think save money in the long run. Madness to pay billions of pounds for private landlords to own houses. I could support that. I think if there were decent social housing available it’d really help lots of people.

Reform social care for young and old. Sounds harsh but like to see a lot more pragmatism in the NHS. So much time and money is spent on very elderly people with poor quality of life. I had an aunt who had a terrible last couple of years after they amputated her leg. It did save her life but it was pretty awful and in hindsight it’d of been kinder just to let her go.

B

there is so much waste - cut it all and if there still isn’t enough then we can talk about tax increases. As it stands almost no amount of money can sort out the black hole of the NHS

and I’m sick of working hard and making sacrifices to fund everyone else who chooses not to. Now they’re talking about lifting the 2 child benefit cap which will cost more billions. Why?! Working parents don’t get more money when they have a kid, they have to plan accordingly. I’m now planning to stop working and live off savings much earlier than I had been as I refuse to keep being taken advantage of. I currently pay six figures in tax a year.

"But I have made an important choice today to keep every single commitment that we made on tax in our manifesto. So I say to working people, I will not increase your national insurance, I will not increase your VAT, and I will not increase your income tax.

Working people will not see higher taxes in their payslips as a result of the choices that I am making today. That is a promise made and a promise fulfilled"

Reeves, '24 Autumn Budget.

Yeh if Labour’s lurking I wouldn’t go by these responses.

I will think 'Typical Labour - tax and spend - as usual'.

B labour should have a gateway to pass before any public money is spent. I very much understand the financial situation but we need to look long and hard at where the money goes.
I estimate 3-4 weeks post tax increase there will be another white elephant project/s of spending.
They are like someone who’s managed to get a fully loaded dodgy credit card 💳!

Yep. That’s a cracker. Just the language of it.

Labour's manifesto is, "fully funded and fully costed - no ifs, no ands, no buts… no additional tax rises."

"I have been very clear that every policy we announce, and every line in our manifesto, will be fully costed and fully funded."

“Nothing in our plans requires any additional tax to be increased.”

“We’ve got the Office for Budget Responsibility now… You don’t need to win an election to find out [about the public finances].”

“I don’t believe that fiddling around with tax rates is the best way to grow the economy.”