The Budget

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aberimp

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So, we've had the Budget delivered today.

For what it's worth, I think it's a very tough budget. Good to see that alcohol, fuel and cigarette duty will not go up, so that we can at least get so drunk that we can forget that bad points of the budget. VAT was always bound to go up, unfortunately. I just hope the government remember to put it back to 17.5% when the deficit is reduced :roll: .

As for the public sector pay freeze, I don't know what previous years pay rises are, so can't comment on the fairness of it...

Good to see that the Income Tax Personal Allowance is going up by £1,000.

Is a benefit cut for the disabled fair though?

Any opinions at all?
 
Very quickly: On the face of it, it seems a well thought out Budget, taking a little off everybody, more of those most able to afford it.

As for the disabled, the problem isn't the genuinely disabled, it's those dolebludgers that are farmed out onto disability living allowance to massage them off the dole figures. If you look at the number of people with a disability, according to government figures, more than 1 in 10 of the general population has a disability! There is no way all of those 6 million people are disabled to the point of requiring assistance. Put another way, if you know 100 people, 10 are disabled. I don't buy that for an instant.
 
hunnymonster said:
Very quickly: On the face of it, it seems a well thought out Budget, taking a little off everybody, more of those most able to afford it.

As for the disabled, the problem isn't the genuinely disabled, it's those dolebludgers that are farmed out onto disability living allowance to massage them off the dole figures. If you look at the number of people with a disability, according to government figures, more than 1 in 10 of the general population has a disability! There is no way all of those 6 million people are disabled to the point of requiring assistance. Put another way, if you know 100 people, 10 are disabled. I don't buy that for an instant.
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Oh yes, I certainly agree that a large number of people claiming Disability Living Allowance should not be claiming it. I think the budget mentioned introducing a medical assessment for all new and existing DLA claimants from 2013 onwards. My only concern is for those who genuinely need the DLA support. I hope that the cuts do not affect these people who rely on the money as their main or only source of income.

But as you say, I think the pain is generally shared equally. I can't see a single group of people who can say they will be better off after the budget, and nor can I see a group that has been penalised excessively. The news programmes show people who want 'everyone to pay more except for myself,' but looking objectively, I'm not sure what more the government could have done.

I just hope, though, that the VAT increase doesn't make public spending collapse so much that we have a double dip.
 
Why would it? The only people that actually pay VAT are those charities/companies/organisations too small to be VAT registered and individuals... pretty much everyone else reclaims their input VAT and stiffs the buyer for the output VAT.

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aberimp said:
So, we've had the Budget delivered today.

Any opinions at all?
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A good, sensible, measured statement I thought; there is a huge amount of dogmatic damage to repair.

Ask Invisible Gordon why the VAT has had to go up! The biggest screams will come up when the public sector pesion review reports in the Autumn.

In the words of the Great Lady, the problem with socialism is that sooner or later you run out of other people's money to spend.

:shock:
 
The VAT measures have been shrewdly thought out. They come into effect from Jan 2011 so for the next 6 months its still 17.5% as such if you are considering buying a new telly or sofa or having a new kitchen get on with it this year don't wait until next! Basically it promotes spending at a time when we most need it and delays the knock on effect until (hopefully) the recovery is more secure.
 
2 year pay freeze for me. Could've been worse - they were talking about a 4 year freeze. They'll probably still do that by stealth anyway.

If they bugger my pension up I'll not be happy. I'm expecting to put my feet up at 50!
 
joe mcclaine said:
If they bugger my pension up I'll not be happy. I'm expecting to put my feet up at 50!
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It wouldn't surprise me if they do. The NHS is gradually having bits stripped away so that they don't have to pay the workers' pensions. Mrs PC's community dental service is being dropped by their NHS Trust. They can either work for a private company who takes on the contract or start up their own service (a 'social enterprise') between them. And isn't the main reason Foundation Schools are being encouraged that the teachers and staff will not receive state pensions? :roll:
 
hunnymonster said:
Why would it? The only people that actually pay VAT are those charities/companies/organisations too small to be VAT registered and individuals... pretty much everyone else reclaims their input VAT and stiffs the buyer for the output VAT.

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/taxation/vat/how_vat_works/index_en.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/ta ... dex_en.htm</a><!-- m -->
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Yes, so the VAT system is just a way to get companies to do some tax collection for the government. But the reason an increase may discourage purchasing is because the price the end consumer pays goes up so people may think twice about paying more. Quite a lot of individuals and rather a lot of VAT payments.
 
hunnymonster said:
Why would it? The only people that actually pay VAT are those charities/companies/organisations too small to be VAT registered and individuals... pretty much everyone else reclaims their input VAT and stiffs the buyer for the output VAT.

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/taxation/vat/how_vat_works/index_en.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/ta ... dex_en.htm</a><!-- m -->
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Thanks for the link Hunnymonster - very informative. My concern was based around the fact that, to the final consumer, an item costing £500 now will be £510 next January. So will the final consumer be able to buy as much as they are at the moment? If not, this obviously ripples through the whole economy.

Having said that, the VAT decrease by 2.5% to 15% didn't exactly cause a stampede of people buying everything in sight. So, conversely, will an increase of 2.5% have that much effect? Maybe not. Who knows?
 
I'm vexed that Trident is still getting money.

And the EU.

Big savings to be made by pulling of those two projects for a start.
 
moodymick said:
well, there's no point bitching about the Budget, we knew it was going to be tough - now it's time to pay the piper.
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I fully agree moodymick; we've got to understand that if we've got £1 to spend, then we can't spend £2. To make savings, everyone has got to accept their share of the responsibility. The budget, in most parts, does this pretty satisfactorily.
 
Should have guaranteed the general public's money and let the banks go to the wall. SAVING about £130 BILLION in subsidy.
 
I am liking this coalition, they've scrapped the proposed rise in duty on cider. :cool:

A few years ago, pre-recession, someone on R4 used the phrase "We have too much government that we a struggling to pay for" something which I fully agree with! State involvement needs to reduce and personal responsibility increase, IMHO.
 
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