Should I vote Conservative

Winter fuel allowance is paid to the individual so what would happen if one member of the household earns above whatever the limit may be and the other one below it, even if they are a married couple?

Once these ideas are introduced it is very difficult to untangle the complications that arise from them.

A member of my family has an income which is just a few pounds a year above the level for pension credit, I can hardly call her 'wealthy'!
If you’re an eligible age, you can claim Guarantee Credit if your weekly income is less than £159.35 if you’re single, or £243.25 if you’re a couple.

It is cornergran, but my younger daughter now lives in Linconshire, she wanted me to move there but I couldn't/wouldn't leave Wales . Recently she informed me - informed not asked ?- if I reached the stage of needing care they were sending a private ambulance to Wales to take me up there, she did add the assurance I would be brought back to Wales for burial, quite a cheery conversation !

Mixed feelings whitewave as usual there will be a giant divide between big and small businesses. A big business can usually afford to pay the fee for taking on a skilled professional from abroad whereas a small one often cannot. We are once again on a hiding to nothing as even taking a young person on and training them "in house" means the business will be shelling out for the cost of training and wages etc. and as soon as the person is trained they up, they leave for better wages paid by the likes of Nissan (in this area anyway). We do have a few customers who, as large volume manufacturers rely heavily on unskilled migrant labour as they are unable to recruit the amounts of people they need from this country. The reasons for this are that either the (homegrown) unskilled person will not work for living wage as they get more in combined benefits or they simply won't to the mundane work.

Not sure what the solution is to be honest. I am disappointed that neither the LP or the C party have offered any help to small businesses.

Benefits are generally paid on household income Jalima even if you are not married, even if you have no legal relationship that one would provide in any way for the other.

I do think memories are short and don't take into account how much we have all benefited from the a NATIONAL Health Service and NATIONAL Insurance. There seems to be a great deal of 'I'm alright Jack' and to hell with everyone else.

(Just as ridiculous but off topic Jalima, if you are a student claiming loans, etc., and you nominate the responsible parent - you can choose - then your grants and loans are decide on the household income of that parent and any partner, not on a combination of your mother and father - madness, sheer madness). Just suggest that no one goes to live with anyone whose children are coming up to University age!

It is a tough one when families live so far apart Anniebach I was fortunate (or not as the case maybe) to live only a short drive away from my late grandma and my late mum and was able to give them both the care they needed and deserved.

My thoughts exactly gilly

I think you have a real point gillybob as businesses do vary, but surely governments (all of them) should understand this and make it work? If all small business owners would like to scream and stamp their feet I am sure we will all understand

So must we. The care thing is quite appalling, when there is such a simple solution.

What happened to working hard and saving - a Tory mantra that we have ringing in our ears for years.

It is difficult Gilly, I lived very close to my parents so was able to see to their needs day and night. This is why I have had to accept I may have to leave Wales , for my daughters peace of mind

Immigration policy - apparently Maybot is the only cabinet member who believes it can work.

The Bow Group -a Tory think tank has put out that the care plans is the "biggest stealth tax ever thought of"

It means that the majority of the property owning public -except the wealthy, will be transferring the bulk of their assists to the government on their death.

Burnham says that it is a reversal of the NHS principle. i.e. the more you need the more you pay.

I say it is a tax on the infirm.

A form of equity release. What happens if you have already gone down that road and released equity? That's the way to go folks!!!! Release it and spend it.

That sounds so reassuring for you annie. Many would wish for such a caring family.

The FSB (Federation of small Businesses) of which I am a member is supposed to be the voice of small business in parliament. In the forums I attend, many of us are becoming more and more disillusioned with them and we feel that there should be a cross party "board" set up specifically to put our points across. We know a few small businesses similar to our own in Germany and their government seems to bend over backwards to assist them in making a success, growing and thus providing more (and better paid) jobs. German companies (big and small) very rarely compete on price.

I agree that NI should be paid after retirement. We owe it to our children and grandchildren not to lumber them with the cost of our care.

Big protest outside Maybot launch

No idea what a 'Maybot' is.

Moving some government departments around the country - hasn't that been tried before? Good if it works.

GracesGran Since September 2016, students don't receive any non-repayable loans, so household income is no longer relevant.

Some universities give small bursaries to the poorest students, but that's it.

Yes Anniebach I can see your DD's point but leaving must feel like such a wrench. We are a small family, none of us have moved very far away from where we were born and brought up. To be very honest sometimes this can be very suffocating but when it comes to looking after an elderly or poorly member of the family we are close by. I am not sure what the next generation will be like though as I would hate for my DS and DD to feel that they have had their lives ruined by running around after me. For me,(especially with my grandma)I felt she had looked after me and helped me so much when I was a child that I felt duty bound and happy to pay it back.

I know DD but the same system applied before and we have only just changed over.

A lot of Trumpism going on with a witch-hunt to find who told the locals the Tories would be in Halifax. They didn't want any real people there apparently.

Gilly, leaving here would be distressing but I have to be sensible , far easier for me to leave a rented bungalow than for them to have to sell up , move and buy new property . Sister next down from me has her three sons and families living here so she will stay here, next sister down is only five miles from town, her daughter will move out there from town should the time come, youngest sister will leave here too, either to her son in Cardiff or daughter in Plymouth, we have all discussed it and accept it cannot be all take and no give , my daughter would be frantic with worry if I was dependant on someone popping in three times a day . The thought of us splitting up is upsetting but this is how things are now.

Just skimmed through the Conservative manifesto.

Confirmation that the triple lock on pensions will go from 2020 and be replaced by a double lock.

I think this one is interesting...

Student fees wil remain BUT anybody staying in teaching after graduation will be shown "forgiveness" on repayments. I'm not sure exactly what this means, but it's a good move, because it will hopefully address teacher shortages.

Of course, it depends on the details. Will it be "forgiveness" on the whole loan or just the part which was taken out to do teacher training? What happens if the graduate gives up teaching? Will interest have accrued during the time the graduate was "forgiven"?

A demonstration shouldn't be a surprise, she didn't play safe and stay in a strong area, as Corbyn did in a safe labour area, and part of the demonstration was led by UNITE, this I suppose is what Corbyn meant by a more honest way of politics

Not sure what you mean GG. I know how the system worked, because I have one child, who had a non-repayable grant plus her loan. My other child started uni in 2016 and has had to take out repayable loans for the whole lot: fees plus maintenance costs. He receives a small bursary from the uni as part of its funding agreement, because he achieved high A level results and I have a very low income. His father has never contributed to my son's maintenance since he was three.

One child owes circa £27,000. The other will owe circa £80,000.

I only meant I was aware it had changed DD but it didn't seem that important re what we were talking about which was household income being used to set benefits.

We have young people who span the change too but that really wasn't anything to do with the point being made by either Jalima or me.