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What do you hope for in the budget?

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Doodledog Sat 21-Sept-24 21:45:17

Just that, really.

There has been so much speculation, scaremongering and all round nonsense spoken lately, that I'm interested to know what people would like to see, and why. Not just what would benefit them personally (for a change) but what would be good for the country as a whole.

I would like to see some announcements about what is not going to happen. If the government doesn't intend to tax holidays and bingo tickets or whatever the papers are pretending, I'd like to see that declared at the start, so people actually listen to the budget, and will possibly stop speculating quite so much going forward. Obviously the papers would just speculate about different things though, so that's probably a bit of a pointless exercise.

I'd like to hear what is intended to happen with pensions, so that people can plan with guarantees. Will there be free contributions for non-workers with school age children, or will everyone be expected to contribute to their retirement - and if so, how will 'retirement' be defined? Can you retire from not working? Are workers expected to support non-workers, and if so, which ones and why? I have no problem with contributing towards benefits for carers, the sick, the disabled or the unemployed, but absolutely object to paying for people to look after their own homes when their children are at school. It would be good if we knew how our taxes are going to be spent on that sort of thing so people can make choices about who to vote for and what to insist on. Too late for our generation, but there is no reason why future ones shouldn't have a say in what their money supports and doesn't.

Apparently one in five people of working age isn't working. I'd like to see figures for that, and a plan for how the government intends to deal with it. Will they force the sick back to work, or will they expect those who do work to do two jobs for one salary? (I'm not saying these things are easy grin).

I'd like to see inheritance tax raised. Not the threshold lowered, but the percentage charged after the threshold raised. Maybe allow a sum per heir free of tax, as opposed to the estate being taxed? That would mean that larger families wouldn't be penalised on a per-person basis, but fewer people would get large sums tax free.

I'm not sure about sugar, alcohol, cigarette or junk food taxes. I'd prefer to see subsidies for healthy foods to make them more affordable and the same applied to soft drinks in pubs and restaurants - currently there is no cost advantage to ordering a non-alcoholic drink, so the options are ridiculously limited,

Enough about my wishlists (which are absolutely open to change if your ideas are better than mine). What are yours?

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growstuff Fri 11-Oct-24 16:35:33

Allira

growstuff

I lived in a semi-rural area in 1992, when my daughter was born. I went back to work full-time when she was nearly six months old and she went to nursery full-time. There were at least two nurseries near where I lived.

That's a generation after my first child was born!

Which rather proves my point.

The difference in ages on GN is why it's dangerous to talk about the past. We're a generation apart.

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Norah Fri 11-Oct-24 16:41:57

growstuff

I lived in a semi-rural area in 1992, when my daughter was born. I went back to work full-time when she was nearly six months old and she went to nursery full-time. There were at least two nurseries near where I lived.

I had our first in the early 60s and didn't finish having the others until the early 80s (8 pregnancies, 4 children lived to be raised up).

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Allira Fri 11-Oct-24 22:20:21

growstuff

Allira

growstuff

I lived in a semi-rural area in 1992, when my daughter was born. I went back to work full-time when she was nearly six months old and she went to nursery full-time. There were at least two nurseries near where I lived.

That's a generation after my first child was born!

Which rather proves my point.

The difference in ages on GN is why it's dangerous to talk about the past. We're a generation apart.

The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there

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Mollygo Fri 11-Oct-24 22:23:03

Trueloveways

I would like council tax to be doubled on second and subsequent homes. I would like the tax threshold raised for those who still went into work during lockdown because they are the essential workers that need rewarding and supported. I would like penalties put on people who live and pay tax abroad but still have houses lying empty here.

Good ideas there, especially the raised threshold for the essential workers.

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Doodledog Sat 12-Oct-24 01:36:24

I would love to know how to claim the £200 a month for 11 months plus the £400 for month 12 I don’t know about, but the Labour Party is apparently keeping from me.

That’s £2600 I might be missing out on! Possibly annually, which would be amazing.

There are lots of ways I could spend that money if Mollygo decides to share her ‘knowledge’ with the rest of us.

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growstuff Sat 12-Oct-24 01:40:42

Doodledog

I would love to know how to claim the £200 a month for 11 months plus the £400 for month 12 I don’t know about, but the Labour Party is apparently keeping from me.

That’s £2600 I might be missing out on! Possibly annually, which would be amazing.

There are lots of ways I could spend that money if Mollygo decides to share her ‘knowledge’ with the rest of us.

So would I!!

It's a good thing I don't believe in scaremongering because I might be worried I'm about to lose £2600 a year, which would be a huge chunk of my income.

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Doodledog Sat 12-Oct-24 01:45:00

I know - it seems we are losing thirteen times the amount of the WFP in this raid on our finances. Why isn’t FN and the Mail up in arms?

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Doodledog Sat 12-Oct-24 01:45:27

GN, not FN

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Norah Sat 12-Oct-24 11:53:44

Doodledog

I would love to know how to claim the £200 a month for 11 months plus the £400 for month 12 I don’t know about, but the Labour Party is apparently keeping from me.

That’s £2600 I might be missing out on! Possibly annually, which would be amazing.

There are lots of ways I could spend that money if Mollygo decides to share her ‘knowledge’ with the rest of us.

Monopoly Rules: The amount of money that you receive from the bank at the start depends on your opening dice roll, as follows. If you rolled a one, you get £500. For a two, £1,000. For a three, £1,500. For a four, £2,000. For a five, £3,000. For a six, £5,000. (Figures underestimate the scale of wealth inequality in the UK.)

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Mollygo Sun 13-Oct-24 20:17:58

I have no idea what all these posts are about. Where did I say you can claim an extra £200 pm?
If you get it, you get it. If you don’t, you don’t. It’s too late to claim it.

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growstuff Sun 13-Oct-24 20:37:36

Mollygo

I have no idea what all these posts are about. Where did I say you can claim an extra £200 pm?
If you get it, you get it. If you don’t, you don’t. It’s too late to claim it.

So what is it?

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Doodledog Sun 13-Oct-24 21:14:59

A mystery £2600, spread over 11 months with a bonus £200 on the 12th.

Strange that there has been no mention of this in all the weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth since the government changed, isn't it?

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Norah Sun 13-Oct-24 22:53:29

Doodledog

A mystery £2600, spread over 11 months with a bonus £200 on the 12th.

Strange that there has been no mention of this in all the weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth since the government changed, isn't it?

Monopoly Game money, just saying!

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Doodledog Mon 14-Oct-24 00:15:59

Maybe I'm overthinking, Norah (who? Me? grin) but none of that is a monthly payment of £200 - isn't it a one-off when the game starts? Obviously I could be wrong, as I'm not in the know, but it sounds about as real as Monopoly money - if it wasn't another invented story about the Evil Labour Party someone would have been able to say what it's supposed to be, so that those who qualify could get it.

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Mollygo Mon 14-Oct-24 01:55:33

Those who qualify already get it. Those who don’t won’t ever get it, unless the LP or any other government realises how bad it is.

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MaizieD Mon 14-Oct-24 08:28:07

Mollygo

Those who qualify already get it. Those who don’t won’t ever get it, unless the LP or any other government realises how bad it is.

What are you talking about? Do you realise that no-one has a clue about this?

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Mollygo Mon 14-Oct-24 10:56:35

Probably because you get it, and don’t realise that others don’t.
I read a post today which puts it really well.
I believe there are people on here who don’t recognise when things are presented in a way that tells a story different from what they want to believe.

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Allira Mon 14-Oct-24 12:10:09

Mollygo

Probably because you get it, and don’t realise that others don’t.
I read a post today which puts it really well.
I believe there are people on here who don’t recognise when things are presented in a way that tells a story different from what they want to believe.

Oh, yes, I've got it!!

And no, I don't get it. 🙂

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Norah Mon 14-Oct-24 12:30:06

Doodledog

Maybe I'm overthinking, Norah (who? Me? grin) but none of that is a monthly payment of £200 - isn't it a one-off when the game starts? Obviously I could be wrong, as I'm not in the know, but it sounds about as real as Monopoly money - if it wasn't another invented story about the Evil Labour Party someone would have been able to say what it's supposed to be, so that those who qualify could get it.

I assume all is Monopoly money until 30 October.

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Norah Mon 14-Oct-24 12:31:09

Mollygo

Those who qualify already get it. Those who don’t won’t ever get it, unless the LP or any other government realises how bad it is.

Qualify for?

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MaizieD Mon 14-Oct-24 12:47:07

Mollygo

Probably because you get it, and don’t realise that others don’t.
I read a post today which puts it really well.
I believe there are people on here who don’t recognise when things are presented in a way that tells a story different from what they want to believe.

Still don't have a clue what you are talking about, I'm afraid.

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growstuff Mon 14-Oct-24 13:51:31

MaizieD

Mollygo

Probably because you get it, and don’t realise that others don’t.
I read a post today which puts it really well.
I believe there are people on here who don’t recognise when things are presented in a way that tells a story different from what they want to believe.

Still don't have a clue what you are talking about, I'm afraid.

Neither do I, but I've given up bothering. It's highly unlikely anybody is going to take £200 a month away from me. If there's a cohort of people somewhere who are about to lose that amount of money, I can't get worked up about them because I haven't a clue who they are.

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Doodledog Mon 14-Oct-24 14:36:42

Is everyone on hallucinogens?

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Allira Mon 14-Oct-24 14:37:50

Can't afford them
Although we do have some mushrooms in the garden that look promising.

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Mollygo Mon 14-Oct-24 14:49:24

Who said anything about taking £200 per month away from you?
Certainly wasn’t me.
If you get it, you get it and if you don’t, you won’t ever get it. But just imagine what a difference £2400 pa would make for those who don’t get it.

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