More economic pain whoever wins 2015 general election

[Anna Glypta]

There will come a point when the borrowing will just be cut off when the creditors realise, the UK will just keep continuing to overspend by a ludicrous amount. £1.1 trillion is the total debt at the moment isn't it? £1.4 trillion by 2015 and then the other huge costs such as state pension liabilities, public sector pensions, PFI deals, cost of decommissioning nuclear power stations, etc.

 

Borrowing doesn't get cut off the rate of interest charged on our borrowings would steadily increase. At the moment we pay around 2% interest compared to 7% in Italy and Spain and 12% in Greece.

 

At the moment repayment interest is around £30 billion/year. At 6% that £30 billion would become £90 billion.

[WeX]

WeX I thought weekly signing is only after 13 weeks and it only lasts for a while before it reverts to fortnightly? It was when I signed on but things change that often with Jobcentres God knows..

 

I agree that the process could be streamlined further through using online means but then we'd get the usual arguments that not all claimants are IT literate, have access to a computer, etc.

 

I still think making weekly signing compulsory will effectively double the workload of JSA advisors who oversee the signing - unless the time per signing session is reduced further. The Jobcentres are going to be busy anyway and the DWP are having a cut of 9.5% in 2015/16.

 

I heard that the weekly signing on was being rolled out across the board. I think GO's announcement is more of a headline catcher than anything.

 

In regards to the workload, I certainly do not relish the Job Centres challenge to get everyone through their doors every week, but if they need more staff to do it, they should be provided with them. I suspect there is more to this that is being announced.

[EDWOOD]

Great idea. I'll buy all my goods from Rumania where wages are 1/4 of what they are here and hit our markets considerably cheaper. That means that all the folk in the UK on the new higher rates of pay will be able to afford even more of these Rumanian goods and will therefore have a much better standard of living.

 

Now.. What are these folk on £12,000 starting salary going to make?

 

Anna, why would this measure impact on UK companies and make their costs increase?

 

Are you happy with the current rates of taxation on the low-paid?

 

This would not cost companies more or make their labour costs increase. This is purely what the Government takes out of their pay-packets. It would not make companies less competitive - they'll probably become more efficient as workers on low pay will have improved morale when they see more money at the end of the month.

 

Also, as I brought up NI, I would reduce NI employee taxation that the business pays on each employee. This would have the opposite effect of what you described.

 

Some of this extra money will probably be filtered back to the Government anyway as spending power increases for the low-paid they buy more things that have VAT on them and indirect taxation would go up.

 

Taxation in income is too high, especially at the lower end, even with the changes that the Coalition have created (one of the only policies I support BTW).

 

A highly taxed country with massive public spending cannot work in the long-term especially when we have competing economies on the rise. This is why this one proposal IMO would help. It wouldn't solve the problem totally but its an important first step.

[Jeffrey Shaw]

I predict a riot.

Or you want one?

[Anna Glypta]

Anna, why would this measure impact on UK companies and make their costs increase?

 

Are you happy with the current rates of taxation on the low-paid?

 

This would not cost companies more or make their labour costs increase. This is purely what the Government takes out of their pay-packets. It would not make companies less competitive - they'll probably become more efficient as workers on low pay will have improved morale when they see more money at the end of the month.

 

Also, as I brought up NI, I would reduce NI employee taxation that the business pays on each employee. This would have the opposite effect of what you described.

 

Some of this extra money will probably be filtered back to the Government anyway as spending power increases for the low-paid they buy more things that have VAT on them and indirect taxation would go up.

 

Taxation in income is too high, especially at the lower end, even with the changes that the Coalition have created (one of the only policies I support BTW).

 

A highly taxed country with massive public spending cannot work in the long-term especially when we have competing economies on the rise. This is why this one proposal IMO would help. It wouldn't solve the problem totally but its an important first step.

 

 

Putting up wages increases costs. That is why much of our manufacturing industry has now relocated over seas. But don't worry. We have some of the highest paid workers in the world but their hours have been reduced to zero.

[Anna B]

But there are more people in work now than there were at the time of the last election.

 

Part time workers unable to get a full time job, pensioners working to supplement their pensions, people rotating on job creation schemes - there's no end of ways these figures can be manipulated to show what the government wants it to show.

 

Unemployment figures still in excess of two and a half million, and that's only the official figure, the actual figure may be a lot more.

 

---------- Post added 26-06-2013 at 18:28 ----------

 

I think most people have been affected by the cuts, but just because you have been affected by the cuts (and it may be painful) doesn't mean that yours is one of the 'millions of lives which have been ruined.'

 

All of the people in the UK are far better off than 95% of the people in the world.

 

Bedroom tax? - You mean 'The government gives me less money than it used to give me?' Tell that to people elsewhere who don't have even one bedroom to pay a tax on. People who have been given nothing.

 

Life may be hard - but for some people it's very nearly impossible.

 

You are right of course, a lot of people are far worse off than we are.

 

I would happily do with less if it meant that these people were better off, I am all for a more equitable distribution of money and resources. I don't want to live in a world where 90% are struggling to survive while the minority have far more than they need.

 

But this is not what's happening. The money which is being 'saved' is going to pay greedy banks interest when we are also pouring vast quantities of money (QE) into them. I don't know how it works (does anybody?) but I do know some very very rich people are getting even richer still, and that I do object to most vehemently.

[Rupert_Baehr]

Just seen that Osborne wants jobseekers to sign on every week now instead of fortnightly.

 

How are the job centres going to cope with a doubling of signing-on with the same amount of staff?

 

AFAIK, 40 or so years ago people wishing to claim unemployment benefit had to sign on every week. Presumably the process was a bit faster.

 

Could it be that Osbourne is attempting to reduce claims by people who are on holiday and are not available for or looking for work?

[staninoodle]

cuts cuts cuts.....but wheres the investment in jobs thats going to stimulate growth.

[Mister M]

I predict a riot.

 

I fear you may be right.

David Cameron made clear his committment prior to (and since the election) that recovery would not be made on the backs of those least responsible for the credit crunch. Quite right too. Unfortunately with every passing day there seems to be less pain for bankers, and headlines like this:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/new-banker-bonus-boom-payouts-leapt-64-to-new-record-when-chancellor-george-osborne-cut-toprate-tax-to-45p-in-april-8665810.html does nothing to convince me that anything has changed; and it simply confirms the view that 'it's the rich what get the pleasure and the poor the get the pain/blame/prison' etc.

 

 

Where and when?

 

Will it include tear gas, water cannon, rubber bullets, and large gentlemen with big sticks whacking and stomping on people?

 

Or would it be a 'peaceful demonstration' like the recent demonstration in Turkey?

 

Either way, if people are warned clerly of the likely outcome beforehand and they still choose to riot, will they get much sympathy?

 

Please let us know the predicted date ...some people may choose not to attend.

 

I hope there are demonstrations and lots of them, and that they are well attended. I genuinely hope they don't degenerate into rioting. That's the last thing we need.

As we know some in the police would be only too happy to administer the punishment, and there are posters on here who would like nothing more than to tarnish genuine protesters as thugs deserving of a good kicking.

[tinfoilhat]

I fear you may be right.

David Cameron made clear his committment prior to (and since the election) that recovery would not be made on the backs of those least responsible for the credit crunch. Quite right too. Unfortunately with every passing day there seems to be less pain for bankers, and headlines like this:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/new-banker-bonus-boom-payouts-leapt-64-to-new-record-when-chancellor-george-osborne-cut-toprate-tax-to-45p-in-april-8665810.html does nothing to convince me that anything has changed; and it simply confirms the view that 'it's the rich what get the pleasure and the poor the get the pain/blame/prison' etc.

 

 

 

 

I hope there are demonstrations and lots of them, and that they are well attended. I genuinely hope they don't degenerate into rioting. That's the last thing we need.

As we know some in the police would be only too happy to administer the punishment, and there are posters on here who would like nothing more than to tarnish genuine protesters as thugs deserving of a good kicking.

 

Can you tell what the rallying call will be?

 

"What do we want?"

"Erm...tax the rich?"

 

Which won't happen with any mainstream party in charge. There won't be massive protests because a lot realise there aren't many other options. Nobody has said they are going to reverse anything (new labour never has) so it's more cuts, from a democratically elected government who promised cuts. There are posters on here that forget that.