Am I just being impatient and mean? New PM

I think he is trying to get the working class on his side and this is something he can do right at the start. How everything will pan out in the future is another matter.

I know. It happened when public transport was privatised. Previously well-used routes subsidised the quiet ones.

I would very much like to see transport back in public hands, so that everyone has access to clean, safe, reliable buses and trains. Who knows? If people give Burnham the chance they denied Starmer, it might happen.

Sorry - the above was in response to Primrose. I thought I had quoted, but obviously not.

These minor changes bring little financial benefit other than self-promotion for Burnham. Perhaps the cap on bus fares will help those struggling to get to work, but it is necessary to have buses in place first, and cities and urban conurbations are generally well equipped; rural areas need car transport to arrive and depart from work and education. It is obvious tax rises are planned, and will be targeted at those in work rather than the elusive 'wealthy.'
Burnham should be focusing on cutting the welfare bill and creating work opportunities, not making welfare comparable to a living wage, without any work required.
But I doubt he will.

In attempting to cut the welfare bill, who do you 'sacrifice'?

Getting more people on public transport potentially means that it's possible to improve the service, reduce pollution, reduce wear on the roads, decrease the need for parking spaces in cities and towns etc. We have visited lots of cities in Europe where it's so quick, easy and cheap to travel that we don't use taxis or need to hire a car. So I'm hugely supportive of AB's decision although I don't have access to a bus service.

Maremia

In attempting to cut the welfare bill, who do you 'sacrifice'?

Adhd, autism, anxiety, depression?

The £2 bus fare doesn't start until 1st January 2027 and the VAT drop doesn't start until October and is only for 6 months. They are just trying to grab the headlines but I expect the £2 bus fare will be welcomed by a lot of people.

Benefits and welfare should only be available to British citizens we need to look after our own people first.

The OP seems more like an AIBU question and the little research I've done on such questions tells me that the majority of times the answer is "yes".

You can console yourself however, with the fact that many people chose the "short tempered" route You are not alone.

I agree, foxie. It isn’t only about the savings that working age people and their families make from this but additional bus revenue, additional business revenue and tax yield because more people are more likely to make a journey and spend money at their destination, as well as the ancilliary savings from the environmental reasons you mention.

DAR. That’s exactly what I said at 19:20 yesterday, which Cossy acknowledged. There’s a limited amount to what can be done at this time of year as Parliament is in recess. We really do need to be patient and wait for the Autumn Statement.

Sunshinegirls

Benefits and welfare should only be available to British citizens we need to look after our own people first.

British citizens who meet the normal eligibility rules (income, disability, unemployment, etc.) can already claim relevant benefits. The UK welfare system already prioritises people who are British or who have a strong legal connection to the UK.

Most migrants cannot claim benefits immediately. Eligibility depends on immigration status, residency rules, and, for many benefits, having a right to reside and being habitually resident in the UK. People with "no recourse to public funds" (NRPF) - a condition attached to many visas - are generally barred from claiming most means-tested benefits.

You are proposing a much stricter system than the one that currently exists, where some non-citizens with lawful status can receive benefits. I wonder just how many such people you think there are?

Sunshinegirls

The £2 bus fare doesn't start until 1st January 2027 and the VAT drop doesn't start until October and is only for 6 months. They are just trying to grab the headlines but I expect the £2 bus fare will be welcomed by a lot of people.

AB said the fares cap will last for the whole of 2027.

DAR. That’s exactly what I said at 19:20 yesterday, which Cossy acknowledged. There’s a limited amount to what can be done at this time of year as Parliament is in recess. We really do need to be patient and wait for the Autumn Statement. Graphite Thu 23-Jul-26 08:45:01

Okay.

Thanks DAR you made the point I was just about to make. The media spreads information about the benefits system which is either completely untrue or distorts the truth!

I can't stop thinking about the £10billion that was wasted on PPE, the huge amounts of money being spent (wasted) on HS2 and the millions thrown away on the Rwanda project...........

08:53Mollygo

Which is good although it was the Torys who first introduced the £2 fare and it was Rachel Reeves who put it up to £3 so really Labour are just reinstating it. It makes you wonder why Reeves did the things she did ie stopping winter fuel allowance when she first got in seems everything she did was against the voters as if she was deliberately trying to upset us all I just can"t make any sense of the last 2 years. Perhaps behind the scenes it was all done to turn the people against Starmer to get Burnham in plotting by his so called advisors who knows 🙂

Crikey- Its only Thursday morning- AB only PM for a few days.

Saying he will look at the possibility of unfreezing TAX thresholds later seems a very sensible thing to say- would need fully costing and thought out.

What he has offered so far will benefit large numbers of people.

Let's remind ourselves this is a more positive start in a few days than the high doom and gloom messages we got from KS and RR is the. early days of government 2024. Plus he's not taking things away like the WFA either.

I think the £2 fare is on a voluntary basis from the bus companies.

One bus operator said on the News last night that they had been out of pocket the last time.

That needs looking into, as they won’t be taking part if it means financial loss for the company.

When Sunak introduced the freeze of the tax personal allowance in the Spring Budget 2021, he said:

Our response to coronavirus has been fair, with the poorest households benefiting the most from our interventions, and our approach to fixing the public finances will be fair too, asking more of those people and businesses who can afford to contribute and protecting those who cannot. So this Government are not going to raise the rates of income tax, national insurance or VAT; instead, our first step is to freeze personal tax thresholds …. until April 2026.

hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2021-03-03/debates/C8618796-C14D-4695-8DC0-20BC6C6DDED4/FinancialStatement

What Sunak said then was wrong because fiscal drag does mean the poorest are dragged into the tax net ... so how was he protecting them?

Hunt then extended the freeze to April 2028 and Reeves has further extended it to April 2031.

In successive forecasts, the OBR has increased its estimates for the yield of the income tax threshold policies.

In the latest forecast, the OBR estimated the cumulative impact of these measures will raise £67 billion in 2030/31.

In March 2026, the OBR said that if thresholds had been uprated in line with inflation, the personal allowance would be set at £16,070 in 2026/27 (over £3,500 more than the current level); the higher rate threshold would have increased to £64,470 (almost £14,200 more than its current rate).

researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-9687/CBP-9687.pdf

In other words, a basic rate tax payer with taxable income of £3,500 or more is paying an extra £13 a week more tax than they would have been had the tax personal allowance been uprated each year with inflation.

But before people start knocking this on party political grounds, remember the previous government wanted this in place until April 2028.

Tax expert Dan Neidle has calculated that a raise of just £500 in the tax free allowance would cost £6 billion with the biggest saving going to those with higher incomes.

Regardless of what the government does people on lower incomes are sick of sucking off the tax man while money is lavished upon dud defence systems, housing illegals and benefits for people who choose not to to work.

People will simply alter their behaviour. Employed people will look for cash in hand ways to make money on the side. The self employed will pass a % of their business under the counter and bump up their business expenses to apparently decrease their taxable income.

People will reason that if they keep some of their money out of the grubby hands of the tax man is still going back into the community to pay for goods and services. So if they spend £100 on the weekly shop at Tesco it is going somewhere they know and approve of - towards providing goods, jobs and services in the community. Rather than being wasted on vanity projects or poor and corrupt procurement by the MOD.

I'm still bereaved for Keir Starmer and I believe AB stabbed him the back for his own gain as a first priority not the gain of the . I can't look at the man and as for these little dribbles - well!

People will reason that if they keep some of their money out of the grubby hands of the tax man is still going back into the community to pay for goods and services. So if they spend £100 on the weekly shop at Tesco it is going somewhere they know and approve of - towards providing goods, jobs and services in the community. Rather than being wasted on vanity projects or poor and corrupt procurement by the MOD.

In theory, friendlygingercat, even though that £100 may have been kept of the grubby hands of the tax man at that point it will still get back to those 'grubby hands' as it circulates through the economy. Unless, of course, everyone embraces the black economy, which would result in financial anarchy and inflation.

Your last sentence will strike a chord with most people, I think, because most people have their own pet 'hate project' which they regard as unnecessary and/or money wasting. But even those projects will be putting money into people's pockets to circulate in the economy and be taxed back as it circulates.

The biggest problem, though, is that they will be putting the greater part of the money into the hands of the already wealthy, company owners, CEOs, shareholders and the like who will be far less likely to spend it into the domestic economy and who have the best tax exemption concessions and the best tax avoidance schemes, so it will be less likely to be taxed back.

These are, of course, the people who are most likely to be approved of and defended on this forum... Even though they are taking the p*ss with many of their charges (remember the 'bat shelter'?) and running rings round the civil service procurement departments...😕

Bus fares were £2 till fairly recently and back to £2 from £3 . The young man next door in total confusion as to who to vote for and am beginning to feel the same ! 😳😵‍💫 🗑️

Anyone heard Brian Eno multi millionaire on TV this lunchtime arguing for a 2% tax on the unearned income ( ie income from assets not the daily grind) of the very wealthy like him?

He was speaking as the front man for an organisation made up of the richest people in our society who are in favour of paying out what they can well afford to benefit the many in order to achieve a better Britain...Good for him. And maybe for us if AB/Healey can enable it...

Makes little difference what he does as long this Labour government are in power, it'll be disastrous for GB