The Budget

[andrewb]

Originally Posted by g jones

Given your Party wants 'An Age of Austerity', how will you pay for this allowance increase.

Being cynical I think you are trying to say Britain's debts are a tragedy and we need deep cuts on the one hand but on the other you'll be better off under the Tories. All this without an explanation of how.

Whatever Labour is, at least it is being more upfront, clear, with one just policy it is sticking too. Believe it or not you know what it is.

It's not Conservative policy to change the allowance in the way I suggest, as far as I know. They were against removing the 10p tax band, and were against the stealth tax in freezing the personal allowance though.

It is Conservative policy to start paying back the debt this year, which means we will save money on interest payments. Interest payments to bankers currently dwarf the entire schools budget. The public knows leaving debt just makes it worse.

Darling is now saying he will cut spending "deeper and tougher" than Margaret Thatcher's government did. I just wish he wouldn't raise taxes on the backs of the lowest income workers.

[cashman]

your hero "Margaret" did, n also flogged off the housing stock.

[accyman]

Originally Posted by DaveinGermany

Alcopops o.k, but Cider ? you can't get much more British than a Pint of Cider in a Country Beer-Garden, or at Home in your own Garden with family & friends on a Summers evening. No I find that wrong personally. Maybe that's why they've done it ! They'd sooner have us drinking imported fizzy pish from Europe, sad days indeed.

all this fuss over cider and how its a disgrace taxing a british drink and all the romance of drinking cider in a country pub.

come on lets face it higer percentageof cider drinkers are jeremy kyle black toothed inbreds smashed out their skulls on white lightening and any other high percentage cheap nasty cider sitting on benches in town centers or clogging up hospitals after clobbering each other or looking at them selves in teh wrong way.

thats teh only people that are going to be hit ,anyone who enjoys an odd pint of cider isnt gonna be hurt too much in the pocket

[turkishdelight]

Originally Posted by andrewb

Are you better or worse off?

You can find a budget calculator here: BBC News - Budget calculator 2010 although it is not comprehensive.

My housemate is not too happy with the 10% increase in the price of cider.

My biggest peeve is the hidden stealth tax on working people. It's not within the BBC's budget calculator as it's sneakily done. They're going to freeze the personal tax allowance, where as normally it increases in line with inflation. This means that you'll be taxed an extra £50 on your income. I'm absolutely against this. I think the personal allowance should be raised to £10,000 so the lowest income workers are taken out of tax altogether.

Yes great idea. Have the conservatives considered this and what are their plans in terms of lower income workers. It appears to me that the Labour party are no
longer the party for the working class.

[jaysay]

Seems Mancie hasn't been on because he's so upset at cider going up White Lightening

[jaysay]

Originally Posted by turkishdelight

Yes great idea. Have the conservatives considered this and what are their plans in terms of lower income workers. It appears to me that the Labour party are no
longer the party for the working class.

That ended in 1997 TD Blair saw to that

[turkishdelight]

Originally Posted by andrewb

It's not Conservative policy to change the allowance in the way I suggest, as far as I know. They were against removing the 10p tax band, and were against the stealth tax in freezing the personal allowance though.

It is Conservative policy to start paying back the debt this year, which means we will save money on interest payments. Interest payments to bankers currently dwarf the entire schools budget. The public knows leaving debt just makes it worse.

Darling is now saying he will cut spending "deeper and tougher" than Margaret Thatcher's government did. I just wish he wouldn't raise taxes on the backs of the lowest income workers.

Cameron has Brown and Darling summed up well. One comes to the door and reads your gas meter while the other robs your house.

[cashman]

Originally Posted by turkishdelight

Cameron has Brown and Darling summed up well. One comes to the door and reads your gas meter while the other robs your house.

Cameron has no-one summed up well, as his interview yesterday proved, where would he be without advisors? the mans a bumbling fool.

[Ken Moss]

There seem to be more cider lovers coming out of the woodwork than ever before following this budget, the country is up in arms!

Cheap cider such as White Lightning may well be the rocket fuel of the alcoholic but if it becomes too expensive then the next cheapest alternative will become the preference.

When talking about the price of a pint in pubs, there is always a tax increase on beers and spirits in every budget but the cost at the bar isn't helped by over-greedy breweries.

If you want to blame anyone for our ailing pub trade then point the finger squarely at them, there is no doubt about it.

[cashman]

I point the finger of blame at sucessive goverments fer punishing the majority with increases, whilst in my eyes proper punishment fer the dick head abusers whilst not entirely stopping the problem, would sure as hell reduce it.

[andrewb]

Originally Posted by turkishdelight

Yes great idea. Have the conservatives considered this and what are their plans in terms of lower income workers. It appears to me that the Labour party are no
longer the party for the working class.

For a start I believe they'll soon come out and scrap the National Insurance increase set to come in April 2011. That's a tax on jobs and the completely wrong thing to do to get out of recession.

Osborne came out strongly against freezing the personal allowance, I think they might reverse that and link it back with inflation, rather than increasing tax on working people.

Originally Posted by cashman

I point the finger of blame at sucessive goverments fer punishing the majority with increases, whilst in my eyes proper punishment fer the dick head abusers whilst not entirely stopping the problem, would sure as hell reduce it.

Think you're right. No reason at all why any regular drinker of cider should be punished with a 10% increased, just because of the irresponsible ones. One way is to increase tax on JUST the very strong cider (like White Lightning), but also come down harder on people who abuse it and go on to harm others because they're so drunk.

[Ken Moss]

Originally Posted by cashman

I point the finger of blame at sucessive goverments fer punishing the majority with increases, whilst in my eyes proper punishment fer the dick head abusers whilst not entirely stopping the problem, would sure as hell reduce it.

I agree with your second point but to be brutally honest about tax increases, a few pence extra per pint year on year is nothing to what breweries charge the landlords of tied houses per barrel.

If all pubs could buy their beer at one price then the industry would be back on its feet in no time. A pub that is tied to a brewery must buy its beer from them at a massively inflated price compared with what landlords could pay from independent stockists. As an example, a 72 pint barrel of Fosters might cost around £120 from an independent outlet whereas a tied pub (one run by Scottish and Newcastle or Enterprise Inns, etc) would be forced to buy it from that specific brewery for about £240.

Benipete may be able to explain this better.

[Ken Moss]

Originally Posted by andrewb

For a start I believe they'll soon come out and scrap the National Insurance increase set to come in April 2011. That's a tax on jobs and the completely wrong thing to do to get out of recession.

An increase in National Insurance is not only prudent, it is also slightly more palatable for the working masses. We are currently facing future problems with pensions in this country and I would rather increase my NI contributions each month and sort that out than speed up the bailout that the banks have left us with.

Yes, there are governmental faults in the way the banking situation was allowed to run out of control but the recession is a short-term problem whereas National Insurance contributions are a long-term investment for the whole country.

Recessions come in cycles and this is nothing new. By 2030 we'll have seen the same banking crisis and everyone will come out to state that this must never happen again. Think long-term.

What the banking sector really needs is the best kick in the nuts we've ever seen. It's all good and well for David Cameron to criticise but does he really have the chutzpah to do it? Time will tell if he gets in.

[katex]

Originally Posted by Benipete

We have to tighten our belts - The poor old Cornish people have to pull in the strings of their trousers.

I know being pedantic .. but Somerset people Benipete, not Cornwall.

Can someone explain please, is this an increase of 10% on the tax of cider or does it work out at 10% increase to the consumer ? Don't think will have any effect on binge drinking, and the breweries will just pass on to the consumers/landlords anyway.

I don't like the freeze on personal allowance either .. still cutting into my pension whilst the price of goods increase ...

Can understand that the relaxation of stamp duty may help to get the housing market going which will be good for all concerned.

Just puzzled that there are comments that have stated this budget is hitting the middle class ... if someone can explain in detail, would be helpful ... ta ....

[cashman]

The thing that really brassed me off about this budget, whilst obvious to anyone "Cuts" will have to come, was hearing that "Overseas Aid" will NOT be cut, whilst not really objecting to aiding less fortunates, OUR OWN PEOPLE should come FIRST.