It always comes down who they take it off and how much, they haven't made a great start tbh.Yes, I understand that and would hope (and expect) there would be exemptions for pensioners, but as an overall policy I think it’s currently unjustifiable, given that people who live on their own (like me) who earn (like me) and don’t have any dependents (sort of like me, although I will be supporting my son during his pHd) have no justification for getting a discount on council tax when (like me) they elect to live alone and take a dwelling up for themselves. I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with that (obviously) but I fail to see why they should get a discount per se when they have their bins collected just as frequently (for example).
There is a wider point to this, and people need to wake up to it, and it does very much engage the elderly. Taxes are going to have to rise generally if we are going to make the books balance. This is partly due to Covid, and the need to increase defence spending due, in particular, to the threat from Russia; but it is principally because of the evolving demographic make up of this country with the associated demands on health and social care that will entail.
People can huff and puff about this tax and that tax, but that is the reality, and the alternative is old people dying in ways that are avoidable because we will not meet their needs. The low tax party that we’ve enjoyed of the last forty or so years is over. It really is a straightforward as that in my view.
This will involve pain for all of us. It will include some pensioners following means testing, it will involve people who work hard for what they earn (like me) it will involve people with assets and it will hopefully involve the very rich too. Anyone who can afford to is going to have to take up the slack, and this will include many people who will feel aggrieved because of how hard they’ve worked to acquire what they have, but the sums don’t otherwise add up.
And if we don’t bridge that gap, then what does that say about us as a society? It says that we weren’t prepare to take the pain that was required to remain a civilised society.
When?You'll be getting a £400 a year pay rise soon.
There are things they can do quickly and things that are more systemic. They need to be judged in a few years time, not now - and I didn’t even vote for them!It always comes down who they take it off and how much, they haven't made a great start tbh.
True but the fuel payment isn't big enough to make any real change to the finances so needn't have been done so soon. It was a very poor political move which is a tad worrying so soon.There are things they can do quickly and things that are more systemic. They need to be judged in a few years time, not now - and I didn’t even vote for them!
He often is in front of a camera. He’s socially quite awkward and doesn’t project the same self-confidence as his last three predecessors.True but the fuel payment isn't big enough to make any real change to the finances so needn't have been done so soon. It was a very poor political move which is a tad worrying so soon.
I saw Starmer being interviewed before on the Beeb and he was totally unconvincing on the subject.
And what will certain members of the public working be getting as rises? My last 3 years in work I got nil, nada, zero pay rises, but still paid my NI contributions for 40 years to fund the state. The £400 is nothing to do with this government, its triple lock which existed before I was on state pension.You'll be getting a £400 a year pay rise soon.
£400 is peanuts. The UK state pension is very low relative to most, if not all other Western European countries. That’s one of the reasons the triple lock was introduced. To improve that situation. £220 a week is hardly generous. As I recently explained to the 23yo son of one of my friends, who was complaining about it: you will be an OAP one day. And that day will come much quicker than he could ever imagine. Be careful what you wish for, and even more careful what you vote for…And what will certain members of the public working be getting as rises? My last 3 years in work I got nil, nada, zero pay rises, but still paid my NI contributions for 40 years to fund the state. The £400 is nothing to do with this government, its triple lock which existed before I was on state pension.
Very unlikely to get a secular society led by Islam, even Christianity a few hundred years ago didn't impose an absolute way of life on its followers like Islam does today in certain countries, even some Muslim communities here.I wish Islam in the UK went through the same change as Christianity and goes on the backburner. Cba with devout religious nutjobs who think women should be second class citizens and that their religion cannot be the subject of comedy, it's all very serious.