This is another great budget, why do people moan about it?

Question

With the best figures for interest rates and inflation rates ever, what sort of person could possibly think about voting a tory govt in. They spent 3 terms destroying our economy, Brown has spent 10 years making it the best in the history of British govt. Of course we have to pay some tax, we dont pay enough, not for what we expect, so stop whining and contribute to the best place on the planet. BRITAIN

There is a working man, because this govt created them, after the tories tried to wipe them out. Im working class, not middle, and nearly own my own home due the fact a workable interest rate allowed me to pay my mortgage. Not crippling rates that the tories prefer.

I hate benefit ponces mad k, i work and am proud to pay into a mega Britain. If we want good schools etc, we have to pay for them.

You might be right there nigel m8

Steven, when i left school 18 years ago under a tory govt, the school looked like a slum, falling to bits. It now looks like a uni, twice as big 10 times the investment, and still growing. Our local hospital is the same, growing all the time, offering new services, the unit my wife gave birth in was fantastic, the hospital that looked after my grandad and dad until they passed away could not have been better. These advances that we ALL expect to continue need paying for by the people that use them, US. So why do people still moan about paying tax, the next time your wife or daughter needs a hospital visit, think how they would look if the hospital was in the same state it was under the tories. Would you not mind then if they were not treated? Thats the difference investment makes, so before anyone else complains about their taxes, think how much it cost the last time someone you loved needed the service your contributions provide.

Veritas, how sad that you cant see whats under your very nose, i hope your loved ones dont ever need a hospital bed, because if we paid the taxes people like you are prepared to pay, there wouldnt be a single bed anywhere. I pay my taxes in the knowledge that at some point i get the benefit from them. Stop whinging and pay your share with some dignity!!!

naplusultra, no im not, but a colleague i have contact with through work is, and he has nothing to complain about. He is wheel chair bound yet works 40 hours a week, and never complains about the help he is given. Hes an inspiration to those that know him, im proud he thinks of me as a friend. Just a pity more abl;e bodied people are'nt as big a men as he.

Answer 1

Mick, you're not going to get rational debate here. Here's something interesting to ponder:

Has Gordon Brown put taxes up?

Earlier this year the Conservatives claimed that Gordon Brown's tenure in office had led to a £1,300 increase in tax for the average family. In fact, this claim was based on a crude average figure which doesn't hold up under close analysis.

For one thing, it doesn't include the effect of benefits. A more sophisticated analysis by the Institute of fiscal Studies, though slightly out of date, suggests that people in the poorest half of society have gained from Gordon Brown's budget, while people in the richest half have been paying more tax, and people exactly in the middle have remained about equal.

Answer 2

The fact remains Gordon Brown is the most succesful Chancellor in living memory. I disagree with a lot of what labour do but im much better off now then i ever was under the tories. given the choice at the next elections will be Brown or Cameron its got to be Brown Like him or not you have to admit hes better then Cameron.
lets just look at facts should we.
minimum wage
working tax credits.
low unemployment(yes some of this is because of extende education and training but surely thats better then just being unemployed)
more people in work
not a single recession in ten years thats virtually unheard of and this at a time when their has been two in the USA a country our finances usualy follow.

Answer 3

Nearly an OK budget! The abolition of the 10% tax band (through which nearly everyone paid £232/pa) will mean nearly everyone now paying £464 at the 20% rate. So to capitilise on the new 20% rate, most people will have to earn £17k+ to compensate. The lower paid will have to scrabble around to claim for benifits as usual. A far more equitable fiscal policy would be to increase the personal allowance to £7k or thereabouts, which would help the lower paid, leave the middle-income group largely untouched and shift the burden of taxation to the £40k plus cohort!

Answer 4

I have to agree with your enthusiasm for Brown's record as Chancellor. His 10 years as chancellor have seen a period of economic stability unprecedented in the post war years, and the majority of people in the UK are better off as a result. Love him or hate him, he has to be given due credit for his handling of the economy.

People moan because they either can't see how much worse off they would be under any of the alternatives, or because they have a short memory and can't remember the period of boom and bust which became an economic disaster for the Tories, or simply because they want to further their own political agenda.

One thing I would disagree a little on is that I don't think this is a particularly great budget. I think its a "give with one hand and take with the other" budget where very few people are much better or worse off.

Me? I'm a bit better off, so I can't complain.

Answer 5

I am sure if Gordon read this and the answers he would be a happy man that he has 'conned' so many people the day after the Budget when most of them have only read the headlines in the newspapers and haven't a clue on the detail. Anybody who believes we don't pay enough tax is obviously in the position of avoiding most of them. Best country in the world?. I suggest you travel more.

Answer 6

Sounds like you must have a fantastic life....the economy may be strong but the country is full of problems..wonder how many people have suffered a serious crime while i'm writing this,who's just died because they had to travel an extra 50 miles to a hospital....why does the tax keep going up while the services most of us want and need go under funded..just where are labour spending all the extra revenue they collect...could it be to subsidise the part time work force they have created with working tax credits

Answer 7

In response to the last poster, voting for the BNP isn't going to make any difference. Yes, I have seen your manifesto and I disagree with every word of it.

Back to the budget. Thanks to Brown my income tax will be going up and funding corporation tax cuts. Education spending (direly needed, not by PFI) will be rising by a slower rate. Even though my school is crumbling to bits. I don't drive or smoke so those taxes don't affect me. How about a tax on Labour party donations?

P.S. Is the questioner taking the p***?

Answer 8

Why do we need to vote a Tory government in, when we've already got one. This so called 'labour' budget is great for the middle class that the tories targetted time and time again.

Abolish the lower tax rate and decrease the 'standard' rate. Increase fuel duty, increase beer duty, but not spirits and increase the tax rate on small companies.

Great budget for mondeo-man... crap budget for the poorer folks.

Outstanding - takes a real lack of perspective to think that this government is good for the working man.

Answer 9

We all have to pay our way, im about even after the budget, that will do.

Answer 10

in my opinion the big business getaway with billions every year via tax doges so we little people have to stump up to keep this country going , and why do we allow our ministers throw money into hare brained schemes . and still continue to work in there cushy jobs.