What would you like to see in the budget.

Also:

What do you mean by "Public service to serve the public"?

ronib What would your revised parameters for the NHS be?

volver

^Reduce foreign aid. Our more affluent allies could step in to bridge the gap?^

Do you think we're the only country that pays foreign aid?

If other countries step in to "bridge the gap" as you put it, then they'll get the benefits. Not us. Foreign aid isn't altruistic and selfless charity. I wish people would appreciate what foreign aid is.

For two years only, I would reduce foreign aid to ensure the vulnerable here including children and the elderly are protected.
I think the whole area of foreign aid needs a rethink…..

Reduce foreign aid. Our more affluent allies could step in to bridge the gap?

Do you think we're the only country that pays foreign aid?

If other countries step in to "bridge the gap" as you put it, then they'll get the benefits. Not us. Foreign aid isn't altruistic and selfless charity. I wish people would appreciate what foreign aid is.

Daisy Anne
Essential services from taxes are:
Defence
Education until 18
Nhs although with revised parameters
Transport
Housing

Non essential
Bureaucractic costs including allowances given to mps and members of the House of Lords. Halve pensions to former prime ministers. Public service to serve the public. Rethink refurbishment of palaces and the Palace of Westminster out of taxes.

Reduce foreign aid. Our more affluent allies could step in to bridge the gap?

Stop spending on vanity projects

Other measures
Two or five year work visas for skilled and required workers
Try to find new trading partners
Ensure London as a financial centre

Are you aware that almost all people, including those receiving benefits, pay a percentage of Council Tax? The amount depends on the level set by the local authority.

I doubt if there is anybody in the country who doesn't pay some form of tax, whether it's VAT, road tax or whatever. Moreover, the vast majority of people pay income tax and National Insurance contributions at some point in their life.

MaizieD

^Tax should be paid by everyone including those who claim benefits.^

What, exactly, would be the point of taxing benefits, swampy1961?

There is an argument that would say we should raise our insurance benefits so that all can, for example, pay Council Tax and feel they still have a part in their community.

Also, no basic income UC, Pension Credit, Minimum Wage, etc., should fall below the bottom level of tax so again, making people part of the tax system gives them a sense of agency regarding our democracy.

Tax should be paid by everyone including those who claim benefits.

What, exactly, would be the point of taxing benefits, swampy1961?

We do not give foreign aid for altruistic reasons, we expect something in return, trade and influence for example. It is a drop in the ocean compared to the self inflicted cost of Brexit.

NotTooOld

Let's stop HS2, or at least put it on hold. It would save us billions.

I'm not in favour of throwing more money at the NHS. It needs someone competent to reorganise it and make it cost effective. And they need to do it quickly - not in a year's time.

How would you reorganise it? It's already had two major reorganisations in 12 years.

How would you make it more cost effective? It could be argued that many treatments (even life-saving ones), which GN posters have received, aren't cost effective and should be scrapped. Would you support that?

How about getting people over pension age to contribute to healthcare, as they do in many other countries?

Tax should be paid by everyone including those who claim benefits.
Set the pension age to 65 and free up more jobs for those who are unemployed.
Stop Foreign Aid until we can actually afford it - can't see the point in giving our money away when we are facing austerity measures.

ronib

Back in the 1970s, we saved for two years to find a deposit on our first house. We cut back on non essential spending and had quite a boring lifestyle. I realise that we had quite a determined mindset and that eventually, we benefitted from our scrimping and saving.

I would like to see a very pared down approach so that essential services are maintained with efficiency and non essential projects are postponed or rethought. I think a cap on administrative expenses incurred by mps is important in order to lead by example. Also the huge refurbishment of the Palace of Westminster should be revised. No more vanity projects and instead a focus on the essentials so no child is hungry, cold or badly educated.

What would you consider essential and non-essential ronib? I think that we need to know to understand what you are looking for from the budget.

Prentice

I watched Jeremy Hunt on the LK show this morning and thought he spoke some good sense.The country needs some honesty about the state of the country tempered with fairness, which he says will happen in the budget.

I watched Hunt too and he put over what he had to say as if it was good sense, I agree. But was it?

His fairness could well mean that the different levels of tax, while not raised, take in many more people - basically wiping out any salary increase given to help with the rise in cost of living.

I would not take the budget at face value, but you should not have long to wait to see it unravelled - either that or I will admit he has special powers.

NotTooOld the thing the NHS desperately needs is more GPs followed by more doctors, nurses and hospital beds. DD's friend who is an A&E doctor told her this week that they are on the edge of collapse. She said she had started work on Sunday and been sent home on Tuesday because she had already worked longer than the working hours directive allows. She also said that the patients she was dealing with were more seriously ill than they need have been because they had waited so long to see a doctor. This is at one of our larger hospitals with a good reputation. Still not much point talking to Hunt about doctors.

Grantanow

I would like Labour and the Tories to commit to rejoining the EU and the single market. Hunt admits Brexit imposes costs so why not change that?

I think you are a bit ahead of things. However, we will reach the point where we could choose to rejoin the EU. Step one, we have to have a better relationship with Europe. We may get some way towards that, but it's not particularly budget related at the moment. The budget will show what people will tolerate, however, and that includes whether they will put up with any more unicorns.

To help raise your spirits, "Brexit" is again allowed as a word on the BBC. They are talking about the effects of Brexit. Many Brexiteers seem to be telling us it's "not the Brexit I wanted" (code for "it's failed the reality test").

The postponed "Rejoined" demonstration showed a shift towards this view in the short time from its original date to its later one. First and foremost, the government, whichever party they are, will have to get a deal with Northern Ireland. As a group, Brexiteers, who thought they could dictate to everyone as long as they were rude enough, will have to face reality or find a small bunker where they can live, repeating the fantasy.

Brexit economics, which many leave voters did not seem to understand, was badly wounded by Truss and reality will have to be faced. This budget will a) show how much their party will move back to pragmatism and b) how much more of these people the country will tolerate.

Back in the 1970s, we saved for two years to find a deposit on our first house. We cut back on non essential spending and had quite a boring lifestyle. I realise that we had quite a determined mindset and that eventually, we benefitted from our scrimping and saving.

I would like to see a very pared down approach so that essential services are maintained with efficiency and non essential projects are postponed or rethought. I think a cap on administrative expenses incurred by mps is important in order to lead by example. Also the huge refurbishment of the Palace of Westminster should be revised. No more vanity projects and instead a focus on the essentials so no child is hungry, cold or badly educated.

Let's stop HS2, or at least put it on hold. It would save us billions.

I'm not in favour of throwing more money at the NHS. It needs someone competent to reorganise it and make it cost effective. And they need to do it quickly - not in a year's time.

biglouis

And no more foreign aid - including Ukraine.

We should not give up Foreign Aid, and I do not believe we will do.
What I do wish though is that countries who have a space programme for example were left off the list.
I would also prefer some accountability for the huge amounts of money going to countries where the leaders buy more palaces and expensive cars due to it.They should be able to show what the money was spent on, such as wells and medical centres.

I watched Jeremy Hunt on the LK show this morning and thought he spoke some good sense.The country needs some honesty about the state of the country tempered with fairness, which he says will happen in the budget.

biglouis

And no more foreign aid - including Ukraine.

Foreign aid in the whole of 2021 - £14.5 billion.

Amount knocked off the country's stock and bond market in a period of 2 weeks due to Truss's budget - £300 billion.

It's all about perspective, isn't it?

I would like to see the covid fraud investigated. Maybe we should put as much effort into this as we did into "partygate" and other distractions. The individuals who awarded duff contracts to their mates should be made criminally bankrupt

Or ….take part in a few reality shows ?

growstuff

Norah

growstuff But do you know how much the country was paying? Were you personally aware of the payments and how much your contribution was?

Yes and no.

I knew payments, at the time, it wasn't secret. It was a burden.

I have no idea to cost per person.

So you have no idea how much of a "burden" it was to individuals?

Should point out that Lend Lease was a debt which we owed to another country.

We don't owe any other country anything now, AFAIK.

Government bonds bought by overseas investors, although they could be seen as 'debt', in that we pay interest on them and we have to repay the principal at term, isn't a loan to get us out of trouble. Overseas investors choose to buy government bonds as an investment with a guaranteed return.

We don't actually need their money to keep the country going...

I'd like to see 50% tax over £150,000 income per year. And 0% tax at less than £50,000 income per year.

I'd like to rejoin the EU, no matter which persons think brexit had merit. Many intelligent people can point to reasons brexit was good - but I think being member to the EU is preferable.

Money to begin fixing the NHS.

Reset of pension age? Current ages to amount collected may be unsustainable with regard to the size of retiring population?

By the way, the last payment was £46 million, which is peanuts.

Abolition of non dom status.

Either you’re normally resident, or you’re not. If you are, then you pay U.K. taxes.