Where would you LIKE to see cuts made?

[Rosieeo]

I recognise that people are going to vote for certain parties because if another party gets in they might lose some benefit/possibly jobs etc. Or because they have a deep-seated hatred of one side, for whatever reason.

But (and you can correct me, I know very little about politics) the country is in debt and some cuts have to be made, regardless of who makes them.

So where would you be prepared to see cuts being made?

I would also stop 'right to buy'

Unless there was a caveat that any profits made on selling within 10 years would be passed back to the council

There's no more Incapacity Benefit.

It's now Employment Support Allowance and it's harder to get.

18 and 20-year-olds are not children.

Oh and yes - My mother goes to weekly Acupuncture on the NHS , she admits it does nothing. Must cost a fair bit though.

Child benefit for the rich.
CTF - why?
Tax credits for families over 40k.
Massive overhaul of NHS. everyone who works in it agrees it is a bottomless money sucking pit.
No MPs second homes.
Public sector pay freezes.
Public sector pensions.
Increase tax on fuel for airoplanes. Sorry but we can no longer support cheap holidays abroad.
Set up a public defenders office.

"If you limit inheritance tax in this way it does nothing to help gross inequalities because the seriously rich will simply buy houses for their kids earlier, set up trust funds etc."

Totally agree. It is idealistic and unworkable.

18 year old is not a child, quite often though they are still doing study, not actually working.

'18 year old is not a child, quite often though they are still doing study, not actually working. '

Combine study and work then. Degree programmes where that is not possible have bursaries to cover such a thing.

Barring disability, there's not much reason why an 18-year-old can't study and work at the same time.

Many do.

It is politically impossible to confiscate all inheritances in excess of £50K and always will be.

incapacity benefit (now ESA) should be short term for those who only need it short term but there are some people who are genuinely in need of it long term for example if they have several things wrong that rules out any type of work. some people however get it long term as they have a bad back so can't do a physical job - but they could do a non-physical job e.g. office work, in this case they should only get it short term.

if you only get state subsidies for one child per adult what do you do if a couple have one child and try for another but get twins? or try for a first child and get triplets?

Fully fund proper academic and useful university courses but impose tuition fees for others. We can't afford to be subsidising 'degrees' in alternative medicine, meeja studies etc. (Also DO fund proper apprenticeships and useful vocational courses without feeling the necessity to drag them out to 3 year degrees)

trident

ID cards

CTF becuase I like the idea but tbh we could live without it, easily. I'd sign our 2 back over in fact if I could.

Fembear your policy would disproprotionately affect those who do actually make the effort to work and pay taxes but become ill or disabled later on, or carers. Those who think they can afford extra kids. Surely it is better to penalise those who never worked than those who did but got unlucky?

I'd bring in a variant of work for claim, but ine that heavily focussed on training course rather than effectively amde it cheapr to take on claimants than actually employ people.

Chiodcrens centres can be community centres and help provide respite, summer schemes, elderly services etc without such schemes having to rent private rooms or build separate venues

Stop right to buy

We don't pay much tax atm but will do again soon adn we have said we would pay more. Not exactly happily but rather than see other things cut.

gradual cap on TC's

No change to inheritnaxe limits- it's already enough but shouldn't be heavily penalised either

universities could save a lot of money but it won't be achieved just by giving less money to the VCs and telling them to get on with it - they would just take the easy option by cutting the most vulnerable staff (which would mean part-timers ie women).
They need to scrap pointless paperwork (eg ethics approval has got very cumbersome even for very low-risk research activity) and above all, reform the way research funding is related to promotion so that people are no longer rewarded for doing expensive research instead of cheap research. And encourage them to recruit more and more foreign students who pay big fees.

Oh and ESA and fit notes

fit notes nice idea but unless the job exists a complete waste of time and effectively penalises those who can't work for the rise in unemployment.

Realistic version would be nice.

Yes fembear the seriously rich will do this and find a way round every loophole like they do now. This approach to inheritance will do nothing to stop that - but it will stop those of higher than average wealth doing it as they won't be able to buy their children a house outright as most are asset rich and not cash rich.

It would bring in a fortune to society and bring down cost of housing.

My house is 'worth' 250k (tiny 3 bed bed in south-east) - I could not afford to buy dd a house outright - neither do I think i should get my care funded and that she should benefit from a free family house.

Limit public sector pensions to £50k per annum. Anymore has to be built up in a private pension. Make child benefit taxable for higher rate taxpayers (note, they should still get it because I think the admin of means testing is not worth it). Means test free nursery places for 3 and 4 year olds. Charge £5 for doctors appointments (but free if you buy a prepayment certificate ie have a chronic condition). Increase fuel taxes and VAT). Increase by 5 years (at the rate of 1 year every 3 years) the retirement age of public sector workers including police. Increase the rate of raising of the state pension age, and raise it to 70.

I agre Childrens centres need money poured in.

How many Social Services referalls do they prevent?

How many women with PND are picked up on and helped?

abolish free nursery places and use (a proportion of) the money in a way that more directly targets those that need the help.

Yes they can study and work and know that when all there mates go home to there family home theres will have been sold and the money they got will at least cover there student diggs and bills - there will not be a need for a bursary...?

To lose a parent isn't easy at any age but to lose a parent when young is harder - to then have to sell the familiarity as the goverment can take the share they are due - its just a tad harsh.
i am sure a lot of students in this position would feel and get extremly down about not having at least a home to go home to any longer.

SS are quite clear with 16 year olds that they do fend for themselves at this age, having seen the effect of an only parent passing and leaving two teen boys and knowing the effect, it is harsh. But I suppose such is life and they really should have just got over it quickly as they were adults, losing your home isn't harsh at that age when you are not a child anymore.

With the funding to faith schools, what do we do with the kids when the schools close? I know ours would and tbh if it is taken on as LEA funded then it's a big Yay! from me, but if not- well they ahve to go somewhere don't they? Other lcoal school is far smaller, couldn't take them all.

JSA for people not wanting to work- eh? JSA is only paid to job seekers: you ahve to prove you are looking for work. Do you mean IS?

ID Cards
Quangos,commissions and all those other groups that we pay for to sit around pontificating.
CTF
Surestart centres-should bee combined with other services and buildings as another poster mentioned.

Re naming and messing about with NHS services.Friends tell me millions are wasted everytime a trust changes its logo or letterhead.

Stop benefits for fit able bodied people who are able to work but don't.They could work in the voluntary sector in return for benefits if there is genuinely no work available.

"I could not afford to buy dd a house outright - neither do I think i should get my care funded and that she should benefit from a free family house."

But it's not free, it's been paid for - by you! It's an asset, why should you have to give it back to the government?

muddleduck

My single parent friend who can't afford to work would probably have gone crazy by now without the free nursery places. It gives her time to do all the boring shite one needs too, also a little time alone.

I do think again they should be means tested....

'To lose a parent isn't easy at any age but to lose a parent when young is harder - to then have to sell the familiarity as the goverment can take the share they are due - its just a tad harsh.
i am sure a lot of students in this position would feel and get extremly down about not having at least a home to go home to any longer.'

LIFE is harsh. The belief that it shouldn't and it's not fair that it is is partly responsible for the huge mess that this country is in financially.

And if it isn't stopped NOW life is going to get a helluva lot harder for more and more people.

You could ask: Why should I benefit from massive house price rises?

Why should my family get richer?

Why should dd who hasn't worked for it benefit from it/have an advantage over her peer group?

It should go to fund my/dh's care, then it should go back to society.