The New UK Budget
 

Or part of it anyway.

The most controversial aspect being cutting the 50p rate of tax charged on every pound earned above around £150,000(?). Labour is in uproar saying its out of touch with the needs of the public but my friend came up with a good theory that we need to tempt the high earners to stay in the country as they provide jobs as they're usually high earners because they run a business. If they take their business aboard, new job's aren't created for British citizens.

So, thoughts on the matter?

Re: The New UK Budget
 

Reducing the tax rate to something less than 50% for people who earn over £150,000? Sounds like making the rich even more rich, yes, but there is the argument that it will create jobs as more businesses find it more beneficial to stay in Britain.

But it'll be low income people who will end up paying the short-fall in the government's coffers at the end of the day, so it's hard to say who'll be better off. The rich, most likely.

Re: The New UK Budget
 

The government can either tax people more to pay off the national debt and fund the various social services that people demand, at the expense of economic recovery, or they can cut tax to speed up economic recovery at the expense of the various social services that people demand.

Unfortunately, as well as paying off the national debt, and funding various social services, people also demand speedy economic recovery. AND tax cuts.

Even more unfortunately, cutting social services in a country with an economy so dependent on the public sector can damage the economy as well.

Basically, whether they increase or decrease taxes on any particular group, the government is fucked every which way. I'd rather they make a little extra money available to everybody, to start with by doing something about our absolutely atrocious fuel costs, but we're usually lucky if they don't increase fuel duty, let alone try to decrease it.

tl;dr - the budget will suck for everybody, there's nothing we can do about it, don't worry and carry on with your life as best you can.

Re: The New UK Budget
 

Apparently they're going to be sending around a breakdown of how different parts of your primary tax is used. The biggest item's almost undoubtedly going to be welfare. Imagine that'll cheer people up when it gets cut.

As it undoubtedly will be. Gov's approach to social mobility being that poor people can move to another country.

Re: The New UK Budget
 

I believe that the income tax : benefits ratio crossed over in the 2009/2010 tax year; that is, in the UK, more is paid in benefits for *not* working than is taken in by the tax collected from peoples' wages.

Re: The New UK Budget
 

The government further attempt to screw the common people. As has always been. The rich will always bleed through the poor before they need to worry about themselves. There was talk not so long ago about charging the rich higher tax; nothing ever came of that I don't believe. It's the same old story, repeated time and time again.

Government X promises changes. They never happen. The next government comes along and promises more changes, that never happen. It's always the way, and people (the majority at least) always believe them, though if the video posted by n0e of that female passenger who couldn't work out the 80/80mph mathematics question is anything to go by, most of the global population are beyond help anyway.

Read somewhere the other day too that they were thinking of adding charges for motorway use; as if we don't already pay road tax. Such fees we pay for roads that are covered in holes. If anyone wants to visit pothole heaven, take a trip to Gloucestershire.

Re: The New UK Budget
 

Oh, yeah. They might as well privatise the roads, the Tories privatised everything else.

Re: The New UK Budget
 

Is your country running into the same "corrupted by the elite" issue as ours?

Re: The New UK Budget
 

I think every country ran into that issue a very long time ago.

Re: The New UK Budget
 

It seems natural that the elite of a country get involved in the govt of that country and corrupt it to their advantage. The UK has probably gone through a few phases. The US is on its first.