Rayner Will Not Rule Out Abolishing Council Tax Single Occupier Discount

That's a bit all over the place, sorry, I can't seem to see the whole message box to correct mistakes.

Allira, my understanding of the free childcare was that it encourages parental working. It attempts to adress the issue, for the less well paid, of being better off on benefits.

Abolishing the single household 25% discount would not just be "unpopular". Whipped up by social media and the gutter press it could promote the same kind of rebellion as the Poll Tax Riots. The courts are bogged down and the prisons are full. Many people would refuse to pay the extra and be willing to be taken to court. People who are self employed would "cook the books" and declare a lower profit so recoup the money that way. People on housing or council tax benefit would have most of it made up any way,

Councils are notorious for waste and squander vast amounts of money on vanity projucts, diversity schemes and other dreary woke nonsense. I think this is a hill many would be prepared to die on.

Mollygo

^there is no reason why pensioners with high incomes should be given money that younger people are not.^

Exactly!

By the same reasoning;

There is no reason why MPs on £91k should be given subsidised meals when other workers are not.

Fact check
catering services on the parliamentary estate are effectively subsidised by the taxpayers at a cost of millions of pounds each year.
(However, the yearly total is significantly lower than £17 million claimed on X)

There is no reason why MPs should get hefty travel/living expenses, when it costs other people a large chunk of their earnings to get to and from work.

We’ve already learned which unfairness will be addressed.

They shouldnt get travel expenses within “commuting” distance, many travel a large distance from their constituency so they do need expenses and subsistence, they would get it in most employment.

The hours they work also warrants some catering support, I’m sure their after hours socializing is discussing with others relevant political issues.

As I understand it MPs became salaried and got expenses so that those representing areas far from London could survive. Travel from Portsmouth or Northumberland would be very expensive and would disadvantage people who have to spend their time in both their constituency and the HofC.

At my workplace we got allowances to entertain guests and visiting lecturers- nothing fancy, but we weren’t expected to fork out ourselves- it’s perfectly normal, even in education, which is notoriously penny pinching.

If KS had an eye for public relations he could ask for cheaper food to be served I suppose, but he’s more concerned about getting the country back on its feet, I think. He doesn’t care about popularity. Also, even if he insisted that the HofC canteen only served food approved of by 30p Lee, people would find something else to criticise. There are false equivalences everywhere you look.

I'm hoping the big, most important issues will be first on the agenda, with expenses maybe being addressed way down the line.

It's not as if Starmer introduced and implemented MP expenses.

I know, MissA. Quite honestly in his shoes I wouldn’t care about the criticism either. He’d get it whatever he did, so he may as well roll with the punches and get on with his agenda.

That's where I think his often unappreciated strength lies.

Pensioners wouldn’t have voted them in if Labour had put it in their manifesto

I doubt any section of society would vote for things that might impact them, personally.

These things are only OK when they affect others.

MissAdventure

I'm hoping the big, most important issues will be first on the agenda, with expenses maybe being addressed way down the line.

It's not as if Starmer introduced and implemented MP expenses.

Myth busting -

MP’s pay and expenses are controlled by IPSA -the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority set up by the last government in 2010 in the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act.The current government does not control it any more than previous ones since that date.

www.theipsa.org.uk/who-we-are

ruthiek

Pensioners wouldn’t have voted them in if Labour had put it in their manifesto

I think they would, because the majority are more concerned about the demise of the NHS and other public services under a Tory government. We can’t have the penny and the bun unfortunately.

All people on benefits renting have money deducted from their benefit if they have extra bedrooms. I see no reason why Housing Authority rents should be any different especially as those renting privately are paying much higher rents so lose more money. It is an awful system which means that people have to pay rent out of their food money. Whilst I don't think people with 1 child should be able to rent a 4 bedroom house at the tax payers' expense, I do think that people who started renting with more bedroom requirements should not be penalised when their children leave home. There should also be some incentive for them to give up their homes for smaller housing in order to save the tax payer money.
We have deliberately set our rents at LHA rates but with the increasing costs for Landlords we might have to review that policy. With high care costs for Mum, I'm not sure we have the means to be as generous.

At the election it was all about billionaires and private schools, soak the rich. It is never enough, to collect enough the tax the burden has to be taken by ALL those who have even modest wealth or income.

It’s not about the wealthy wriggling out of tax, there is not enough of them and the cash is mostly tied up in business assets.

David
The hours they work also warrants some catering support, I’m sure their after hours socializing is discussing with others relevant political issues

By that measure, the hours teachers work outside school would also warrant some catering support.

Myth busting -

MP’s pay and expenses are controlled by IPSA -the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority set up by the last government in 2010 in the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act.The current government does not control it any more than previous ones since that date.

Which is just a convenient excuse, as any government with the will to do it could engage in negotiations to reduce the allowances, but the will is not there, as it would be to the detriment of MPs.

Personally I’d rather the government concentrated on the big issues that affect the whole country than faff around with pay and expenses for MPs at the moment, when there’s a system in place for expenses that works and so much else that affects millions doesn’t. We all have different priorities for change though.

My monet saving idea for Kier is to abolish free prescriptions for anyone over 60. Instead offer to those at state pension age and claiming pension credit. Could make provision for those on certain life long meds such as for cancer and others.
It is ridiculous that a working 60 year old automatically qualifies for a free prescription. And probably at the same time doesn't need now to pay NI depending on length of contribution history.

Bus passes are also on the agenda. If they are taken away, that + no fuel allowance and council tax single person reduction would put me on the breadline.

Beckett

Seems this government are targeting the poorest and most vulnerable in society. If they want to tackle the so called "black hole" they could start by stopping the £300+ PER DAY paid to those who turn up at the unelected House of Lords - if they all turned up that would be equal to approx. £250,000 per day.

I find it hard to accept that while taking the WFA from pensioners MPs are keeping their "energy" allowance for their second homes, also why do both HoC and HoL require subsidised restaurants and bars?

Seems the MPs don't have the "broad shoulders" that Starmer mentioned

Totally agree!
MP's are reasonably well paid so why do they have subsidised restaurants and bars , PM should get his own house in order first - after all 'tough decisions' need to be made.
As for the HOL members several of whom we're told turn up to sign the register and then don't take any part in the business, just another drain on resources.

Targeting pensioners who are by and large the people living alone is another money grab. Remember all the riots on the poll tax where it was per head? Labour are now no better!

We all have different priorities for change though.
🤣🤣🤣
Could have been written by Starmer himself. I’m working on what will be to the detriment of many people before I look at what I could do that would affect me.

Mollygo

*We all have different priorities for change though.*
🤣🤣🤣
Could have been written by Starmer himself. I’m working on what will be to the detriment of many people before I look at what I could do that would affect me.

Which is what I said… but if you want to worry about the minutiae of MP expenses too, that’s up to you of course.

Starmer has said that the burden of fixing the so called black hole will fall on those with the broadest shoulders. There has been no evidence of this so far! And as for VAT on school fees it is not the wealthy who will suffer (they can afford it anyway) but those who are struggling and making sacrifices to provide an education for their children which isn’t available in state schools.

Perhaps the Government could save some money by stopping huge foreign aid to the likes of India who have a their own space and nuclear programs also to those corrupt African countries. There are in this country some multi billionaires an I have heard it said that if I think it. Was the top 3% of these people paid 1% tax on all their wealth the countries debt would be cleared in one go. The House of Lords must go asap, I have always considered it retirement home for old PM’s and MP’s!

WelwynWitch3

Perhaps the Government could save some money by stopping huge foreign aid to the likes of India who have a their own space and nuclear programs also to those corrupt African countries. There are in this country some multi billionaires an I have heard it said that if I think it. Was the top 3% of these people paid 1% tax on all their wealth the countries debt would be cleared in one go. The House of Lords must go asap, I have always considered it retirement home for old PM’s and MP’s!

11.6 billion payment to foreign countries for "green energy " 😂 that won't stop the sun shining hotter.
300 billion for burger boy milliband "green energy" that will ensure we all pay more to foreign countries for energy, instead of utilising what is under our own feet, just think how much carbon is produced for making the wind turbines and solar panels that blight our landscape, never mind the potential to be held to ransome by some gas and oil despots. We already pay the highest energy bills in Europe and including America.
Have heard the term used today, Labours miners, as most in the energycompanies will lose their jobs after closure of the oil business.
Let alone the billions paid out each day to people who have not paid one iota into the system.
The robbing of Pensioners will net the tax man 1.4billion, a tiny fraction of the cost of those things above.
In 2017 Labour warned the WFA cut, proposed by Tories, but abandoned, could cause 4000 deaths. Seven years later, that would possibly be increased. Hope those who say pensioners should bear the brunt of these cuts,because they voted Tory, hang their heads in shame.