Budget Day

[Kendhni]

So what do you hope for in the budget?
From information that has leaked out I suspect that for once in my life I will not be in the worst hit category ... however i think that is only because of fiddling about with child tax credits etc.

Hopefully there will be announcements on expenditure on infrastructure and other large scale capital projects to try to bring the economy around again.

The deficit is heading in the right direction but it is still no where near the point at which we start paying off our massive debts.

[Boris+]

Morning - nice to be back ..... I am wondering if there will be any changes made to the pension start dates and the new promised better rate? I suppose that I haven't explained that very well, but then I haven't even had my first coffee of the day yet!

So - will they change the 'threshold' date for people getting their pensions? Will they permit people to take an oppportunity of postponing their pensions in order to be able to receive the promised higher rate of pension?

Not holding my breath, going shopping!

Em

[howard18]

I just wonder if Labour will be any different when they get back in power in 2015. Very possibly many more years of austerity - I feel so sorry for the youngsters.

[Emrobo]

I just wonder if Labour will be any different when they get back in power in 2015. Very possibly many more years of austerity - I feel so sorry for the youngsters.

me too

[Boris+]

All in all not a bad Budget - suits us.

Em

[howard18]

Yes Em. Doing the calculations on the BBC website it would appear that I will be a few hundred a year better off. I might even treat myself to a single malt!

Howard

[Boris+]

Hi Howard,

I go and vote, and take an interest in politics from a distance (preferably from a cruise ship), but I reckon the thing to do (it's what we do) is to see who is in power, what they are doing, work out the new 'rules of the game' and adjust our game accordingly.

Mustn't let the blighters mess about with our plans!

Em

[Onelife]

Hi Ken

Haven’t seen what the budget has thrown our way yet other than what I’ve just seen on the news.....did I hear this right that Osborne has allocated child care at £1200 per child for those earning less than £150k? What planet is this man on? I would have thought those earning over 60k should have been the cut off point if he is really trying to cut the deficit.

I see he’s borrowing another £61 billion in the hope that this wiil kick start the economy.... well let’s hope he cuts out the middle man because we’ve seen how the banks dish it out £££££ for them and ££ for us. I sincerely hope they’ve come up with a better way of distributing this money than the way is been squandered in the past.

Regards

Keith

[paultheeagle]

If I drink 1000 pints of beer a week I will save myself £10.00 per week

Seem okay to me.

But I don't drink beer.....so bruddy useless George has done it again.

[Boris+]

Hi Paul,

We don't drink beer either - but at least the fuel situation is going to ease a bit.

Em

[gfwgfw]

Hey Ho

I was quietly amused by the right honorable Mr Edward Samuel Miliband's post budget retort directed at the Chancellor and his cohorts

More or less sums up present day parliamentarians

We shall survive, rocking in our rocking chairs . . . make no mistake about that

Lubooo all

[Kendhni]

Have to agree gfw, about from comic value and blatant misrepresentation Millibrain was blatantly trying to mislead those that have no idea about economical matters.

Overall it was a better budget than any of us deserve ... personally i eould not have given so much away (except at the lower end of the salary scale). I would like to have seen him reduce the price of petrol to help those in work .. even if it meant sticking another 5-10p on to alcohol and tobacco (or possibly mobile phone usage). The changes to NI rules should also help firms that take on new employees.

I also have mixed feelings about his changes to corporation tax, on one hand it is good and will (hopefully) help to attract proper investment (not that there is much of that going around) but the announcement about closing tax avoidance loopholes may be counter-productive and negate the value of a reduction in corporaiton tax.

[Kendhni]

Hi Ken

Haven’t seen what the budget has thrown our way yet other than what I’ve just seen on the news.....did I hear this right that Osborne has allocated child care at £1200 per child for those earning less than £150k? What planet is this man on? I would have thought those earning over 60k should have been the cut off point if he is really trying to cut the deficit.

I see he’s borrowing another £61 billion in the hope that this wiil kick start the economy.... well let’s hope he cuts out the middle man because we’ve seen how the banks dish it out £££££ for them and ££ for us. I sincerely hope they’ve come up with a better way of distributing this money than the way is been squandered in the past.

Regards

Keith

Hi Keith
My understanding is that he is basically giving tax relief on the first £6000 of childcare costs which amounts to £1200. I can see your point about higher earners, but then 2 thoughts come to mind ... firstly why pick £60K, why not £30K, £35K, £40K, all of which can afford to fund childcare. Secondly there is an argument that says those at the higher end of the scale contribute the most to the system therefore why not give a small amount back to them (I don;t necessarily agree with this argument but it could be more cost effective than the shambles that is means testing').

I agree with you about squandering money in the past .. Labour threw millions at filling the public sector with tens of thousands of non-jobs to massage the unemplpoyment figures .. a practice that we are now paying dearly for. I personally would like to see them bring Labours deficit under control much more quickly but sadly that could mean making tens of thousands of public sector workers redundant and a reduction in services, or we have to continue to pay them and accept that the public sector is costing far more than this country can currently afford ... hence the deficit and need to borrow.

Something still needs to be done about the financial markets though .. they have all been burnt, as have the customers. The public are demanding more and more regulation, laws and restructuring all of which is zapping vast sums of money ... that is money that will not reach the customers. Personally though I am more worried about pension schemes which are the main funders of government borrowing ... if any government defaults, it could mean many peoples pensions could be wiped out overnight (both those currently retired and those saving for retirement) ... and that is irrespective of the type of pension (final salary, money purchase etc.).

The biggest disappointment to me was that the OBR has again had to estimate down the amount of growth we can expect this year. I am guessing that much of this is down to the situaiton in Europe that has still not been addressed properly ... but on the plus side it was good to hear that we are now exporting and trading even more with non-European partners.

[Onelife]

Hi Ken

I was thinking along the lines of £35k-£45k but decided on £60k to take into account the higher cost of living in such places as London etc. The reason I “wouldn’t” give a little bit back to them is that the vast majority of working people are earning a fraction of what they are earning and as we are all supposed to be in the same boat as we should all be feeling the same amount of hardship.... comparatively. This coalition needs to demonstrate that we’re all in the same boat and not what is happening at the moment where some boats are far more buoyant than others.

If the chancellor is prepared to put a cap on public sector wages increase to 1% then he should also be prepared to do the same for those who get very lucrative bonuses.

Ken, I like your plays on words when it comes to who has squandered the coffers but in reality every Government over the past century have been found wanting when it comes to squandering money...different times different circumstances.

I don’t agree with you about public sector none-jobs as I think the dependency of these jobs related more to the man power required to do the tasks... which isn’t the case now due to our reliance on computers which do the same amount of work which would have otherwise required the labour of hundreds if not thousands of public sector jobs.

If Mr Osborne is serious about creating jobs he should take my advice and bring in legislation that prohibits “Milk” being sold in retail outlets such as Tesco’s etc, this would over night create many thousands on Milkman jobs around the country....Oh yes! And it would stop our dairy farmers being ripped off as well.

Regards

Keith

[Onelife]

I’ve just re-read my post and having done so I wish to apologise for the crap grammar...Ah well you should all be used to it by now.

[Kendhni]

I’ve just re-read my post and having done so I wish to apologise for the crap grammar...Ah well you should all be used to it by now.

Have you ever seen me criticise anyones 'crap grammar'?
There is a reason why I don't

[Kendhni]

I can agree with much of what you say, Keith, and in an ideal world I would agree even more, however we do not live in an ideal world. As a country many would complain that our boat is far more bouyant than theirs and we should be willing to help others out more .. but there is a growing call for us to stop giving away as much foreign aid.

As far as bonuses go, I have said before that I think all bonuses should be scrapped (public and private sector). If anything I would suggest giving more to the major shareholders (i.e. fully putting the money back into the pension schemes). I thought it was ridiculous that this morning we hear of the bonuses being awarded within RBS .. the problem with bonuses these days is that they are often awarded on easy targets, that even then fail to get hit.

I agree with you about successive governments squandering money ... they all seem to allow power to corrupt their ideals. One possible exception, ironically, could be Thatcher who failed to spend as much as she should have .. which resulted in bursting coffers but sadly it also meant in under investment in many services.

The public sector is very very bloated at the minute ... I will never forget one departmental minister who had previously said how vital and hard working his department was and then a few months later announcing that he was putting 50% of the staff in that department up for transfer due to lack of work. I don't totally blame Labour for the bloating though .. much of the problem came from the general public expecting the government to fund thousands of little pet projects all of which zapped money from core services.

Interesting idea about milk, however would the average family be willing to pay a significantly higher price for one of their basic 'staples' (to cover delivery costs etc.)? I think the milkman has probably had his day and that we need to be more innovative and look to new areas for jobs (in the same way as many other jobs have been resigned to the annals of history). In the meantime construction work on capital projects would probably be better ... and on the milk and other farm produce front, I have always wondered if it should be an exception whereby a 'cartel' pricing model is acceptable.

[paultheeagle]

I think the Cypriot's had a good idea that could work here.......Take 10% of peoples savings to help pay the deficit.....We are supposed to be 'all in this together' and this would be a way of everybody doing their bit...I would go a little further though and take 15% off the millionaires, they could afford it.....The one mistake Cyprus made was they told people what they were going to do.....We should just 'nick' their savings and tell the people afterwards....will it ever happen?......I won't hold my breathe.

It was a nothing budget...There is so much more that George could have done to try and stimulate the economy and get people spending again and back to work but he missed every opportunity.....Things can only get worse.

[Kendhni]

Paul, do you seriously think it is fair to raid peoples savings while the feckless that spent every penny they got get away scot free? Remember that this would affect anybody with savings right across the earnings/benefits scale (poor to rich)?
Do you think it is right for a government to raid the savings of our service men and women while they put their lives on the line?

If so, then say goodbye to your pension, say goodbye to the welfare state ... and say hello to mass repossessions, soaring inflation and high borrowing rates (assuming you can even get a loan).

TO be fair, it is something I have often pondered as to whether it is feasible to do such a thing ... in fact I even asked in a post on the old board whether the government should temporaraily tax ISAs and other investment income ... however when you think about the long term and wider impact of the above it could be even worse than the current situation.

[lioness]

I'm £83 per annum better off! LOL - shall I spend it all at once?

I do think it's unfair that pensioners getting their pensions from next year will get £144 per week and those that have already retired still get the same as they get now.

I:m OK, as I get more than that anyway with additional Serps. But my husband gets the ordinary rate and will remain on it.

[suespud]

Am I the only one,who doesnt take any notice of what is said. Didnt watch it nor read about it.
What will be, will be.
If we have to cut our cloth we will.

I cant see the sense in worrying or getting het up about something I cant do anything about.

[Boris+]

Hi Jean,

Sorry if this is double posted - I haven't worked out the amount, but I reckon we'll be better off with this budget. Anyway, you are really on the ball to have it all worked out so promptly.

I hope that somewhere along the line in the not too distant future the two different rates will be evened out, so that people won't suffer the disparity.

Em

[paultheeagle]

You can work out, roughly, how you will benefit or not from this years Budget here.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-1744 ... ctions_nav


I will be £97.00 better off.

[HK phooey]

Paul, surely theft is theft no matter who the thief is?

[paultheeagle]

Paul, do you seriously think it is fair to raid peoples savings while the feckless that spent every penny they got get away scot free? Remember that this would affect anybody with savings right across the earnings/benefits scale (poor to rich)?
Do you think it is right for a government to raid the savings of our service men and women while they put their lives on the line?

If so, then say goodbye to your pension, say goodbye to the welfare state ... and say hello to mass repossessions, soaring inflation and high borrowing rates (assuming you can even get a loan).

TO be fair, it is something I have often pondered as to whether it is feasible to do such a thing ... in fact I even asked in a post on the old board whether the government should temporaraily tax ISAs and other investment income ... however when you think about the long term and wider impact of the above it could be even worse than the current situation.

Ken....Yeah why not.....Most people on benefits ain't feckless, they are just unlucky but you are right....there are loads of people who ain't got any savings, not because they spend all their money on booze or fags or football but because they need all their income to survive....these people do exist...They reckon that many use their credit cards to buy food.

I am only talking 10% of savings.....I don't want to clear people out....I don't see why that would affect pensions or wipe out the welfare state...Reposessions are happening now and inflation is going up now. Savings are a luxury that just sit there doing nothing apart from gaining a tiny amount of interest, why shouldn't those with plenty do something that hurts to help the country out of this mess we are apparently in.

I realise those with savings and plenty won't find this popular but I would willingly give up 10% of my savings, they can have it tomorrow......'We are all this together'...remember.