The Budget 2013 - 12:30

[Sankari]

Not my concern, make sure you are ok before you worry about overseas. That's what the yanks do

No it's not.

The Yanks fork out huge amounts of foreign aid every year (5,193.50 million in 2011 alone; that's >$5 billion!) and they don't lift a finger to help their own people.

Hell, the USA doesn't even have a national health service. It's barbaric.

 

[elmarko]

Where is the divide between the low/middle income earners? I'm always confused when you here this mentioned in the press, how on earth do you go about evaluating this? Is there some kind of rough ballpark figure they use?

It depends on how you judge middle/low - do you use equal size tiles or use set values.

Due to the fact income distribution in the UK is so slanted in reality 90% of the population are in the "Low income" category - with 9% in the "mid" and 1% in the "High"

Note - the below graph stops at £54,600 per year..., so think where the richest in society are on that scale.

 

[Mercenary Keyboard Warrior]

No it doesn't mean that at all, it just means the people who rely on benefits for a higher portion of their income are receiving a larger % drop in income.

Which is obvious when the greater reductions are in benefits rather than tax rises.

It absolutely does mean that, it couldnt possibly not.

Draw a grid and put each person into a combination of teh two quoted and you will get a distribution.
We are talking percentages here, the top 10% paying a lot more tax (or less benefits) will need a LOT more people to balance it at the other end.

 

[StriderX]

No it's not.

The Yanks fork out huge amounts of foreign aid every year (5,193.50 million in 2011 alone) and they don't lift a finger to help their own people.

Hell, the USA doesn't even have a national health service. It's barbaric.

How much of that aid is not tied aid?

The US at least from my time in Political studies, does a lot of tied aid, it may have changed since the millennium, but i doubt it. (Though i do remember African debt being written off).

What the US does is hardly charity frankly, its just business to them, mostly military business as well (Guns, ammo, old surplus vehicles and so on). In some ways it is a good way to deal with aid without just throwing money away, but it is nothing more than war profiteering, its all they're good at.

 

[Theophany]

£27 better off a month after tax on my basic according to http://www.thesalarycalculator.co.uk (not sure on the accuracy of this, but interesting).

Waiting for the BBC's more in-depth calculator to see how I shall be affected though.

 

[Pudney]

Wow. Wish I was in your office..

We are well known for our fun lifestyles...

Well to be accurate it benefits on anyone under £116,030 (2012-2013). You don't lose your allowance at 100k, it starts reducing, by a quid for every two quid earnt, so it you only lose it completely once you're earning £100k plus two times the allowance.

Well if we're having a pedant discussion, to be accurate it benefits everyone under £100,001. Everyone over loses so there's no benefit.

 

[Mercenary Keyboard Warrior]

......



Something I've thought for a while. Whilst the media is owned by the rich, it's day to day running is by the middle and upper middle classes who I always felt inventing this "squeezed middle" moniker before any cuts that would affect them even were announced. Even today the child benenfit cap for those earning over £80k is the only one I can think of that affects them.

And they get some of that back through the new higher income tax allowance anyway (which benefits all tax payers under £150k p.a. and not just the poor as the Lib Dems try and make out whenever they talk about it).

Its an interesting thing. My view is that with the middle being the true battle ground between the parties they are the ones who every party least wants to impact heavily.
They are likely (generalisation of course) to spend the majority of what they earn or even more via borrowings on cars, holidays, houses etc. So as soon as something impacts them they feel squeezed. I guess historically they are the strivers and have felt rewarded by seeing an improvement in their situation.

I agree though that in general they have not been squeezed hard.

 

[estebanrey]

Well if we're having a pedant discussion, to be accurate it benefits everyone under £100,001. Everyone over loses so there's no benefit.

How are they losing out by getting a higher allowance?

 

[sports_brah]

From the sound of it (listening radio 5 live) it sounds like its just a game to them all.

 

[Azza]

Does Osbourne's tie need an iron or is it meant to look like that?

 

[antijoke]

What a bunch of idiots.

 

[Cosimo]

The speaker puts the boot in.

 

[LiE]

What a bunch of idiots.

Agreed. So unprofessional, and they run the country.

 

[Steedie]

It is like a bunch of school children in there

 

[Muffin`]

Agreed. So unprofessional, and they run the country.

Ed Balls runs nothing, look what happened when he did.

 

[Maccapacca]

Sounds like the noise when I pick my kids up

 

[Lil old me]

Embargoed Evenin Standard report on the budget leaked early.

http://order-order.com/2013/03/20/standard-accidently-leak-budget/

 

[GAC]

Ed Balls runs nothing, look what happened when he did.

he runs his fat mouth any chance he gets.

 

[SDK^]

The chancellor starts by saying it is a budget for hard-working people

right on

 

[Azza]

• 1 penny off the price of a pint of beer, and the fuel escalator has been scrapped

• Fuel duty: the 3p per litre increase in the fuel duty scheduled for September is cancelled

• The economy is expected to grow by just 0.6% this year, not 1.2% as expected. Then growth of 1.8% in 2014, and 2.3% in 2015

• The national debt will hit 85% of GDP, and will not start falling until 2017-18 (a year later than expected)

• Whitehall spending cuts will reach £3bn, not £2.5bn as expected, to fund a capital expenditure programme.