The Budget 2024 thread

[Quartz]

How is today's Budget going to affect you?

It's not going to affect me much at all either way. I'm retired so I don't pay National Insurance. I don't trade property. I do take the occasional business-class trip - once every few years - so will pay more there. I might benefit from the £5K ISA allowance if it comes to pass. No children. I don't smoke. I don't drive much. Etc. For me it's pretty much a nothingburger.

 

[Quartz]

As Hunt is talking about getting rid of NI, will people just be happier when their income tax has increase to make up for it?

Unless he's going to shift NI wholly to the employer that's going to hit pensioners hard. And pensioners are one of the Tories' core vote groups.

 

[Quartz]

He's been on Sky news this morning:

Ah, I don't have Sky.

The chancellor says this not "going to happen any time soon".

Because he's not going to be in power, perhaps? Mind you, now the civil service have got the idea...

This could have a knock impact in a number of areas - including for pensioners, who do not pay national insurance but do pay income tax.''

I think I might have mentioned that.

 

[Quartz]

How can you cut benefits? They’re **** poor already compared to a lot of Europe

If the state benefits are that poor, why are people coming here? Anyway the easy way to cut benefits is to time-limit them. For example they could limit unemployment benefit to 12 months. Another way would be to severely limit benefits paid to non-citizens (e.g. illegal immigrants). Another way would be to put the responsibility on relatives. And so on.

More positively they could cut benefits by needing to pay out fewer benefits. For example, if parents could use the personal allowances of their children then there would be less need for child benefit. If you allow children to use the remainders of their parents' personal allowances then you encourage elderly parents to move in with their children.

 

[Quartz]

And what happens after 12 months? How are they housed, clothed and fed?

Precisely. You only have to look to America to see how well that works. I didn't say my suggestions were good suggestions.

 

[Quartz]

If you get your money by investment/ wealth and not from income. Then you are laughing,

Actually no. I'm retired so fall into that category and it's pretty much no change.

Had to see a GP today, and she has a kid the same age as ours - so I remarked about how great the 30 free hours are, having seen bills upwards if 900 a month for nursery previously; only to hear that she had regular ones for 1400 a month!

Interesting. I'm told that a big problem up here is that there are too many female GPs working too few hours working part time in part because of childcare - not just costs but because they want to spend time with their children. I have not been able to find data to back that up but I give it credence because the person who told me was in the medical profession. And then there's been the pension cap.