This mini budget

It does say 'former professional footballer' on his Wikipedia page

 

This is why conspiracy theorists wind me up.
Because you don’t have to imagine that there’s some ‘mysterious’ cabal trying to take over the world, we know who’s running the world and their corruption is in plain sight.

 

The idea of 'trickle down' economics which is the whole 'raison d'etre' for this budget makes sense, except.........
...trickle down economics has NEVER worked because Multinational corporations, millionaires and billionaires have a limitless supply of corks which they use to stick in the end of the pipes!!

Lower paid and median wage earners tend to spend the vast majority of income on necessities which usually incur VAT and usually by domestically - notwithstanding the fact that many things (including energy) have been sold off to foreign investors to the money 'leaks' out of the country. The tax cuts in this budget are aimed at big business and the rich, most of whom will merely offshore the increase in profits, and will benefit wealthy shareholders through higher dividends. The only benefit for ordinary people will be through increases in their pension funds.
The UK may well increase profitability and attract business but when has that ever benefitted the majority of the UK workforce, who lets face it, are the people who actually make the stuff we sell and generate income? They are right inasmuch as you have to speculate to accumulate, but overreaching by borrowing unaffordable amounts is not big and its not clever. Apparently the cost servicing of the national debt now exceeds the entire education budget.
Reducing reliance on imports i.e. 'Buy British' may well have worked a few years ago but what is actually left that is entirely British that is not owned, or partially, owned by foreign multinationals or venture capitalists.
Attracting foreign investment, unless the tax laws are tightened and loopholes closed simply means those foreign companies investing here will cream off profits at our expense.
Unregulated capitalism and unchecked corporate greed has brought us to this state and not capitalism itself, and yet ,Truss is leading us down the path of even further deregulation! They have adopted Friedman economic theory on steroids!!

Sorry, I have tried to avoid commenting on politics but simply cannot comprehend how this direction will take the UK anywhere but total disaster for the economy and public services

 

Spot on.

 

Back then to the old saying... " Knowing the cost of everything and the value of nothing."
Unsurprisingly no direct reference made during the budget statement of the impact that directing all this 'borrowed' injection of cash towards big business and high earners will have towards public services. The money should really be directed inwards with investment in infrastructure.. Hospitals schools transport. That would have created skilled jobs, improved overall efficiency and output - GDP long term benefitted everyone AND ( depending on how many contracts could be awarded to UK businesses) rewarded high earners and shareholders via ' trickle up!'.
One problem has always been that when awarding contracts to the lowest bidder (usually foreign) successive govts never seem to factor in the overall benefit that in- house provides.. Employment with the knock on reduction in drop in the welfare budget and increased tax revenue. They also overlook the leakage of money out of the UK longer term.
'Short termism'is a product of the two party system where changes in incoming govts always results in them scrapping all previous govt's policies both good and bad.

 

You just can't debate with some people. Pointless when you start with 'if you are going to be an idiot'.

You categorically were blaming brexit on everything to do with the cost of living crisis.

I think you have to 100% start with income tax reform, it's the single biggest contribution most people make every month. So if you reform it to be flexible to target those most in need it will help ease things enormously.

Ps. I don't see you coming up with ideas, but if you are happy just pulling other people's suggestions apart because they don't fit a tunnel visioned ideology then that's up to you.

We have to work together not create division!

 

The interesting thing about Brexit is how much it has also damaged and destabilised the Eurozone as well as the UK (although clearly the lockdowns are the primary cause of their current economic decline).

Interestingly, if they had allowed the UK to adopt its own border controls and override EU rules in the same way that it did with all its member countries during Covid (when they were all allowed to adopt extremist right wing closed border policies in direct contravention of EU rules) then that would have quelled the Brexiteer lobby to the extent that this whole shitshow could have been avoided. Instead they took a hard line on their rules, only to totally abandon them a couple of short years later. Foolish.

 

I fear that the brain-dead cuπts who voted for them last time will do so again, despite their whole world collapsing around them. A few well-timed soundbites and slogans around immigrants & sovereignty will get the dumb fu¢kers back on side.

 

The biggest thing they could do is get rid of the National Insurance threshold 4 year freeze. With inflation that’s going to be a loss in pay to everyone and will bring low paid people into paying it sooner.

 

Jeez
The economy has shrunk.
Sure I’m in favour of a more progressive tax regime but realise it only serves to redistribute the money that is already here.

2 things wrong with that:
1 even if it were possible, we still have crippling staff shortages across the economy, and redistribution won’t drive growth or cure those issues.

2 it’s the exact opposite of the policy of the government who were elected solely to ‘get Brexit done’ and the cost of that is a more divided society, enriching the already rich and making the rest of us poorer.

it’s utter madness wishing for the biggest tax reform for centuries, when there’s literally no political willingness to accept it as a premise.

You need to realise that the tax breaks just given to the rich aren’t even a spending choice. The money promised doesn’t exist, you and me and our children will be paying for this for decades. They have borrowed money that we’ll have to pay back, to gift it to people who already have more than enough.

And just to add… we won 3-1, were in the playoff places after playing most of the rest of them at theirs, we would have been mental to hope for this. Let’s have a drink and enjoy

 

Well said Julia.

 

Simple as, being chancellor.

How much will your new tapered tax rates reduce state income by (bearing in mind you're taking an average of 5p in the pound, so 25%, off anyone earning under the median wage of £30k, which is half the population)? Will the windfall tax cover the gap?

Will there be enough left to fund the hardship fund, the school meals and the energy VAT cut, and start to restore the services the Tories have ****** over the last 12 years?

Sorry to sound like a Mail reader circa-2019 hacking Corbyn to bits for proposing vaguely decent socialist policy, but it needs accounting for, you can't just make up some numbers.

 

I think it speaks volumes that you and I agree on this, Tekky. Normally, you say Dover, I say cheddar, but this budget is (non-straightened) bananas.

 

90 days a year. Got a caravan lined up in Blighty for the other nine months?

 

When JHB thinks a budget is too right wing, the country is fücked

 

The thing here is your analysis is about 1mm deep.
We have the furthest right government in my lifetime. Those decisions aren’t s surprise to me for a right wing PM and chancellor.

So; here’s a question for you to mull whilst you’re eating your cornflakes:

When we held an election in 2019; why did we have a choice between a progressive left party and a far right version of the Tories being controlled by the ERG?

And why did the electorate choose the far right option?

See if you can answer that concluding Brexit isn’t part of the cause of the mini budget.

 

If you’re living in a caravan in England nine months of the year, sorry to point out you’re not ‘retiring to the sun’. You’re retiring to a caravan park whilst owning a property abroad.

If you’re only doing 90 days, you’d get a better ROI by short term leasing a property abroad. You can almost save money by renting something for the winter abroad thus not paying to heat a large house here.

And just to add; you get 180 days a year (not precise) as you can stay 90 in every 180. So Jan to late March and July to late September, or similar.

 

Unless you’re a lot richer than you are pretending to be then you won’t be able to, unfortunately. You have to be able to prove you have a certain level of money otherwise you are limited to 90 days and then you’ll have to leave for the rest of the year.

 

Or he could just be lying again.