So Just Where Has The Money Set Aside For Social Care Gone?

Of course tax must be mandatory.

Rates could increase for high earners - that was my point.

High earners benefit from society, no reason for the drop to 2%

Current NI: £242 to £967 a week (£1,048 to £4,189 a month = 8%, Over £967 a week (£4,189 a month) = 2% . Two percent is ludicrous.

Labour are pinning everything on economic growth to pay for all the things that need funding including social care. I doubt growth is going to happen. In the USA growth has been stimulated by massive government grants at the cost of racking up more debt. It may be the best that can be achieved in the UK is extra taxation.

It may be the best that can be achieved in the UK is extra taxation.
In which case, so be it. We can't carry on as we've been doing.

The US is different anyway. The mentality of many is based on 'why should I pay for someone else's health or education', whereas here we are more egalitarian. We are used to a welfare state that is based on a cradle to grave ideal. For too long governments have assumed that the public want to pay less at all costs, but I think they were wrong, and that people can understand that if we all pay a bit more it will work out cheaper in the long run, as we'll get more back.

It’s not going to be just extra taxation, as we have seen benefits will be restricted, WFA has already been withdrawn for most, there are a lot of other universal benefits that could be withdrawn.
There will also be some extra borrowing and some services will be reduced, there are plenty of ways Reeves can reduce spending as well as increase taxation

I agree that it's possible to pay for some improvements through selective cuts, savings and more taxation but the shortfalls are so large that only growth could pay for them and I doubt any UK government's ability to bring it about.