What would you like to see in the budget.

Pammie1

dizzygran

I would like them to keep the triple lock. Many OAPs are struggling. However. I do think that people who carry on working past the age of 60 should pay NI in relation to earnings.

I remember my late husband was an agency worker on a fixed term contract with BT when he reached retirement age. He was flabbergasted when he received his first payslip after his state pension kicked in - he hadn’t realised that NI contributions would stop. I too, think it should carry on if people choose to work after receipt of state pension. I assume it stops because it’s not possible to accumulate any more pension entitlement, but continued contributions would perhaps make it more sustainable.

The NIC stop for the individual once they reach pensionable age but, assuming that they are employed, rather than self employed, their employer continues to pay employers' contributions.

I would like to see NIC paid by those whose main income is derived from dividends (directors of small companies) and also from rental income. Most people pay both NIC and IT - why shouldn't the aforementioned pay too.

omega1

I've only just realised how much money it costs to keep the Government, Opposition, House of Lords, and all their staff in wages, luxury cars, flights, hotel rooms, banquets etc. We could save a lot of money by getting rid of the lot of them and starting a new system

My sister has a fantasy that we can sell off the Palace of Westminster brick by brick to the USA and rebuild some more practical debating chamber with offices in the middle of the country. Just made me smile 😊

Reductions in payments made to former PMs, windfall tax on energy companies, higher NI contributions (yes I think they should definitely be higher) and all the money to be ringfenced for the NHS and social care. I spent 13 hours in the A+E department of a large prestigious London hospital yesterday which has featured on TV as a beacon of good practice. It was like being in a Third World country - the waiting times, the lack of seating, the over-crowding, the pervading sense of trauma, the need for police - never ending. OH walked in with a suspected TIA and although triaged as Urgent, waited for hours - he did have a seat though which is something (he's 82). Interestingly, I did several surveys as we moved from one place to another within the overall A+E department and overwhelmingly the population was below 70. I asked various staff if yesterday/last night was representative of other days and was told that it was - it's not so much the older population using A+E. My feeling is that if you can afford to go out and get drunk then involved in an accident then you can also pay a higher NI contribution. I know that won't be a popular statement but after 13 hours observing the situation I am feeling irritated.

GoldenAge

Reductions in payments made to former PMs, windfall tax on energy companies, higher NI contributions (yes I think they should definitely be higher) and all the money to be ringfenced for the NHS and social care. I spent 13 hours in the A+E department of a large prestigious London hospital yesterday which has featured on TV as a beacon of good practice. It was like being in a Third World country - the waiting times, the lack of seating, the over-crowding, the pervading sense of trauma, the need for police - never ending. OH walked in with a suspected TIA and although triaged as Urgent, waited for hours - he did have a seat though which is something (he's 82). Interestingly, I did several surveys as we moved from one place to another within the overall A+E department and overwhelmingly the population was below 70. I asked various staff if yesterday/last night was representative of other days and was told that it was - it's not so much the older population using A+E. My feeling is that if you can afford to go out and get drunk then involved in an accident then you can also pay a higher NI contribution. I know that won't be a popular statement but after 13 hours observing the situation I am feeling irritated.

I do think there’s something to be said for higher NICs as well as higher taxes. If we were sure they would be used to fund proper levels of public services I’m sure most people wouldn’t object. It’s beyond me where they’ve managed to find room for cuts this time round, given where public services are at the moment - it’s quite frightening.

On medical insurance, what happens if you are not in work;only work part time. Who pays for children? Or would it be a blanket amount to be paid by all or based on earnings - back to those who don't work again.

A radical rethink of the NHS. We should look at alternative funding models, NOT the USA but European. The expensive new treatments and rapidly advancing technology were not envisioned when the NHS was originally founded and indeed the initial concept was of a public/ private partnership mooted by a conservative minister and taken over by Labour. This should be a cross party/Royal Commission endeavour. Dead wood (and seemingly there’s A LOT of it!) should certainly be cut! I would also like to see housing given the priority it has long deserved, particularly social housing. It is an utter disgrace to our so called civilised country that so many are homeless or in substandard accommodation. Our people deserve better than the present shambles and children, most affected by this, are the future of all of us. However, I have very low expectations of this ‘financial statement’ as I doubt that Sunak and his cronies will have the guts to tamper overly much with our failing sacred cow, the NHS, and housing ministers are full of fine rhetoric but absolutely no convincing action.

DaisyAnn. Fir a long time I have thought along the same lines as you. National insurance and NHS need to be taxed separately. I think most people would
accept its something we need to fund if its clear the money is going directly to the NHS. And we would be more accepting when the amount we pay has to increase. Hunt has acknowledged pensioners are struggling, so suspect they will get a decent, if not the full triple lock, increase in pension. And I think the household fuel supplement for next year may be means tested in some way.

My feeling is that if you can afford to go out and get drunk then involved in an accident then you can also pay a higher NI contribution.

What about if you don't work, earn your income from renting property or are retired and don't pay NICs?

I agree with you Dinahmo.

I do wish people wouldn’t say “like a third world country”.

The NHS provision is nothing like that.

It is struggling, but it is there. Not 200 miles away. Not in a corrugated hut. Not only for those who can pay for treatment and any medication that might be available if you’re lucky.

I get you’re frustrated and irritated Pamiel. It wasn’t the care your husband should have received. But third world? No.

growstuff

*My feeling is that if you can afford to go out and get drunk then involved in an accident then you can also pay a higher NI contribution.*

What about if you don't work, earn your income from renting property or are retired and don't pay NICs?

Totally think we should continue to pay income based contributions.

varian

Proper windfall tax on the energy producers, tax the international companies like Amazon on the basis of the revenues raised in the UK, cancel the tax loophole of "non dom status", increase the top rate of income tax to 50%, raise tax thresholds for low and middle income earners.

Pursue furlough fraud and crooked covid contracts, Invest in insulating homes, building more social housing, training more doctors and nurses, repairing school buildings and making the most of renewable energy resources.

this!

Scottiebear

DaisyAnn. Fir a long time I have thought along the same lines as you. National insurance and NHS need to be taxed separately. I think most people would
accept its something we need to fund if its clear the money is going directly to the NHS. And we would be more accepting when the amount we pay has to increase. Hunt has acknowledged pensioners are struggling, so suspect they will get a decent, if not the full triple lock, increase in pension. And I think the household fuel supplement for next year may be means tested in some way.

If a new tax HI (Health Tax) was brought in to cover both health and care I agree, it would help to balance the triple lock. My only worry would be that, in time, another far-right government would allow people to opt out if they pay the equivalent into private insurance. It's probably worth trying though.

Lathyrus

growstuff

My feeling is that if you can afford to go out and get drunk then involved in an accident then you can also pay a higher NI contribution.

What about if you don't work, earn your income from renting property or are retired and don't pay NICs?

Totally think we should continue to pay income based contributions.

But we don't all pay income based contributions. Some people earn their income by means which don't incur National Insurance.

Yes I think MPS get to many perks especially their subsidies
meals

Totally agree.

Pensions to rise, minimum wage to rise, tax cut 1%, electric vehicles to pay half road tax as they use the roads, benefits to rise including SSP, increases in tax for over 70k a year, gas and electricity to be monitored and prices set by government, water boards forbidden to discharge any untreated waste into sea or rivers and managers imprisoned if they do, loopholes closed on tax Avoidance, mandatory 12 months prison for blocking roads first offence then double for each subsequent offence. Mandatory prison for animal abusers, assault on emergency workers, assault on transport workers including planes, busses trains etc. Doubt we will get any of this.

I'm not praising France in order to decry the UK but my recent experience in a French hospital is very different to that expressed by GoldenAge. It was an example of what should happen everywhere.

At the end of September I had a bout of colic. The usual remedies didn't work and so I went to my GP who examined me and said I had a blockage and need to go straight to A & E. He gave me a letter to take and also started to phone the hospital. He couldn't get through but by the time I arrived he had done so.

Because my DH had driven me I had to wait until my number was called. I was then taken into triage where I was given some pills and a phial of morphine to swallow. A short time later a young doctor came to see me and check that I was OK. Later 2 doctors arrived - I had an umbilical hernia and they tried to push it back in. They confirmed that I needed an op. Then the surgeon came and sometime during the early evening I had the op.

During the night nurses checked my temperature and blood pressure every two hours. In the morning a nursing assistant came to give me a bed bath to prepare me for the surgeon.

I asked this young woman how long she'd been a nurse. She explained she wasn't and that she'd done the work for 7 years. She also said that she was happy and enjoyed.

As far as I could tell there were 3 shifts of nurses, each lasting 8 hours. None of them were overworked. They had time to deal with queries. I was in a single room with a self contained shower/loo.

On the day I left my DH was late in collecting me due to a misunderstanding. Sitting in my room I could see the cleaners pass by at intervals, stopping to check if I'd gone so that they could clean.

The only think I didn't like was the food - not suitable for someone who'd had their digestive system mucked about with. one lunch was a large plate of boiled broccoli (cold) with a defrosted and reheated omelette (disgusting).

No doubt there will be some who have a different experience of French health care. Currently I have regular appointments with a rheumatologist and a chest specialist and my DH is having treatment for PHN and also for a bad knee. He's had other things wrong in the past.

We get to see our GP within a week and sooner if really necessary. My local health centre has well equiped rooms for physio and a small exercise pool.

We are part of the health system and pay a top up insurance. Next year it's increasing to 223 euros per month.

At 75 I still work and pay cotisations ( similar I suppose to NIC) at 27% of my turnover. (other regimes are different)

A Scottish friend had problems with his prostate (not cancer)
He was given a catheter which he was told he would have to wear until he got an op - in 18th months minimum. Imagine, there are lots of men walking around with catheters. He could not bear this and so decided to go privately. It cost him £8000 for a Harley Street surgeon. It was worth it for him and he could afford it.

I could go on but won't bore you all further. To my mind the French health systems warrants 90+ marks out of 100. I wish it could be the same in the UK.

Re-nationalise rail and bus transport, water and energy. These should all be services for the population and not money makers for the few.

I'm pretty certain there will be nothing useful to the millions of ordinary people. At the moment we have a government made up of WEF puppets carrying out the WEF agenda. If only people would wake up.

effalump

I'm pretty certain there will be nothing useful to the millions of ordinary people. At the moment we have a government made up of WEF puppets carrying out the WEF agenda. If only people would wake up.

Oh dear! Now we're into conspiracy theory territory. The puppet masters are far nearer home.

Pammie1

I’m concerned by rumours that the government is looking at introducing means testing for disability benefits like PIP/DLA/AA and carers allowance. I feel as though disability benefits are at the forefront of any round of cuts and are considered the low hanging fruit. I know it’s been leaked that pensions and benefits will rise by inflation, but this has to be paid for somehow and like everything else, the devil is in the detail. Mel Stride was asked about it in parliament last week and would not confirm or deny, saying he couldn’t comment on what may or may not appear in the budget.

Like others, I would also like to see House of Lords attendance allowances reduced along with in house subsidies on food and drink. Would be nice if the annual payments to ex PM’s were either stopped after a period of time or reduced. About time MP’s shouldered some of the ‘burden’ as they possess the ‘broader shoulders’ the government are looking for.

I don't know if you use "Benefits and Work" as a source Pammie but if you go to www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/ you can scroll down the page and subscribe to their email newsletters (you don't have to take out a subscription). The next one is due on 23 November so will cover what has been said in the Budget.

If you click on the "News" tab at the top of the home page you will see a recent article headed "PIP and DLA will not be means-tested, minister finally confirms".

growstuff

effalump

I'm pretty certain there will be nothing useful to the millions of ordinary people. At the moment we have a government made up of WEF puppets carrying out the WEF agenda. If only people would wake up.

Oh dear! Now we're into conspiracy theory territory. The puppet masters are far nearer home.

I was just thinking that it made a change from the IEA and the ERG 😁

Though I think these are puppet masters...

oldnproud - that's exactly my thoughts. They get paid enough to be able to buy their own food and drinks. Makes me mad to think we have to pay for them. If they introduced that, people would consider them much more serious about their concern for ordinary people's cost of living crisis.

I'd like to see all OAPs get the same pension rate, regardless of the year they were born. We have the same expenses to pay after all.