The spring Budget

[zag]

Its just about to be announced, what's peoples hopes and reaction?

 

I'm personally hoping they raise the level of the tax free allowance again which benefits most people.

 

I'd like to see the ISA rates increased as well.

 

I think the single persons discount for council tax should be abolished as its wide open to abuse.

 

I also hope they keep the top rate at 45% even if its one of the highest in the world! Its a good compromise for the rich/poor thing that Labour and the Tories keep arguing over.

Edited March 19, 2014 by zag

[featured_spectre]

tax free allowance to raise

cigarettes to raise by 1-2p per pack

alcohol to raise by 1-2p per pint

 

I would LOVE to see a corn syrup tax, because it is used in so many foods and drinks now that it should be taxed, and its got health risks attached, so why not tax it.

 

Would love to see ISA rates go up also.

[Andrew_C]

Its just about to be announced, what's peoples hopes and reaction?

We get screwed over to feather the nests of the powerful. That is what will happen, however it is dressed up.

[localzuk]

Single person discount definitely shouldn't be abolished at all! Why should I pay the same council tax as a family? I use less of the resources and services of the council! If anything, it should be a 50% discount.

 

They'll likely change the tax allowance again.

 

They're unlikely to hit drivers with more fuel duty, I'd guess.

 

I'd hit smokers again though - add a few more pence to their habit, discourage them from smoking. I'd also likely start adding costs to e-cigs too to be honest (well, those with nicotine in anyway).

 

To be honest, the only thing I really want, which they can't and won't do, is call an early election and get rid of the Tories...

[featured_spectre]

Thing is, cigarettes pay for a large majority of the NHS, stop smokers and you have more people in old age using NHS services costing more!

[hardtailstar]

alcohol to raise by 1-2p per pint.

 

No just no!

 

Its already gone up too much!

[sted]

Its just about to be announced, what's peoples hopes and reaction?

I think the single persons discount for council tax should be abolished as its wide open to abuse.

 

I also hope they keep the top rate at 45% even if its one of the highest in the world! Its a good compromise for the rich/poor thing that Labour and the Tories keep arguing over.

any system is open to abuse but why should i pay as much council tax as a house thats got 8 people in it?

 

im not sure the top rate of tax matters that much as anyone in that tax bracket can afford to pay people to find loopholes so they dont pay it anyway

[featured_spectre]

Sorry, but the alcohol needs to go up. More people are complaining about the costs of alcohol, but the fact is, people binge on alcohol, costing NHS, and emergency services millions every weekend to make sure people dont get harmed or help people that have been harmed. Raising the cost of alcohol will help stop it. 1-2p per pint may not sound like much, but if you consider an average bar on a Friday night goes through close to 1000 pints per tap, it is an extra £10-£20 per Friday. Now lets say there are on average 500 bars in a town, this is an extra £5000-£10000 per town used for emergency services.

 

It helps cover the cost that binge drinkers cause!

[zag]

To be honest, the only thing I really want, which they can't and won't do, is call an early election and get rid of the Tories...

 

I'd be far more worried about a budget with Labour in charge! They have a habit of raising taxes, (which to be fair is sometimes needed) but I would much rather see tax cuts and the economy do well.

 

It does make me wonder what would happen with a Lib Dem/labour coalition.

[Andrew_C]

I would much rather see tax cuts and the economy do well.

Sure, we would all like that, but do you really see it as "cause and effect"? If the Govt were to spend money (locally) THAT might kick start a recovery.

[featured_spectre]

The cycle of governments is like this - Labour, Spending and Debts increases. Conserv, Spending and Debts decrease.

 

Why not balance the books, then start paying off debts we owe to other countries?

[penfold]

Sorry, but the alcohol needs to go up. More people are complaining about the costs of alcohol, but the fact is, people binge on alcohol, costing NHS, and emergency services millions every weekend to make sure people dont get harmed or help people that have been harmed. Raising the cost of alcohol will help stop it. 1-2p per pint may not sound like much, but if you consider an average bar on a Friday night goes through close to 1000 pints per tap, it is an extra £10-£20 per Friday. Now lets say there are on average 500 bars in a town, this is an extra £5000-£10000 per town used for emergency services.

 

It helps cover the cost that binge drinkers cause!

 

But this doesn't solve the problem it just help create money to help to mop it up.

[hardtailstar]

Sorry, but the alcohol needs to go up. More people are complaining about the costs of alcohol, but the fact is, people binge on alcohol, costing NHS, and emergency services millions every weekend to make sure people dont get harmed or help people that have been harmed. Raising the cost of alcohol will help stop it. 1-2p per pint may not sound like much, but if you consider an average bar on a Friday night goes through close to 1000 pints per tap, it is an extra £10-£20 per Friday. Now lets say there are on average 500 bars in a town, this is an extra £5000-£10000 per town used for emergency services.

 

It helps cover the cost that binge drinkers cause!

 

whilst I agree that binge drinkers cause the NHS millions but its the cheap bottles and shots bars and clubs are offering that cause problems. yes pints are drunk too by binge drinkers but it should be the cheap shots and bottles that are increased and not pints.

[TomDrummer]

I would much rather see tax cuts and the economy do well.

 

A bit of a negative post coming up, but I do think that it's only a matter of time before the whole thing collapses.

[featured_spectre]

True, but the only way to solve the problem for binging is putting it up by £1-5 per bottle/pint.

[TomDrummer]

whilst I agree that binge drinkers cause the NHS millions but its the cheap bottles and shots bars and clubs are offering that cause problems. yes pints are drunk too by binge drinkers but it should be the cheap shots and bottles that are increased and not pints.

 

Alco-pops and all that neon, fruit-flavored stuff that appeals more to younger, underage drinkers is the stuff that should be hit hard, I think.

[JJonas]

True, but the only way to solve the problem for binging is putting it up by £1-5 per bottle/pint.

 

Not necessarily why not charge the drunk for wasting police/NHS time? That way those of us who enjoy drinking in moderation dont have to pay for those who cant.

[ICTDirect_Dave]

Sorry, but the alcohol needs to go up. More people are complaining about the costs of alcohol, but the fact is, people binge on alcohol, costing NHS, and emergency services millions every weekend to make sure people dont get harmed or help people that have been harmed. Raising the cost of alcohol will help stop it. 1-2p per pint may not sound like much, but if you consider an average bar on a Friday night goes through close to 1000 pints per tap, it is an extra £10-£20 per Friday. Now lets say there are on average 500 bars in a town, this is an extra £5000-£10000 per town used for emergency services.

 

It helps cover the cost that binge drinkers cause!

 

Whilst I agree with your sentiment. I don't agree with having to pay for idiots getting drunk.

 

Can we not educate the idiots? It's got to be a better long term solution. I'm all for teaching people that there's a better way, especially if it saves me money, I don't buy alcohol often, mainly because i'm not paid enough! So i'd rather not have to go without a little more often just so we can pump the stomachs of morons and patch up those getting into fights.

[hardtailstar]

Alco-pops and all that neon, fruit-flavored stuff that appeals more to younger, underage drinkers is the stuff that should be hit hard, I think.

 

that and proper education in schools!

[TomDrummer]

Can we not educate the idiots?

 

The problem is, they'll only learn if they want to, and their frequent binging and stomach pumping escapades suggest they may enjoy what they do ><

[pantscat]

True, but the only way to solve the problem for binging is putting it up by £1-5 per bottle/pint.

 

Interesting. Nothing to do with education, health awareness and trying to get the media to de-glamourise lad-culture (ladette-culture?) then?

 

Perhaps bars and pubs should actually be made to enforce the law by which they're not allowed to serve alcohol to someone who is intoxicated?

[featured_spectre]

Interesting. Nothing to do with education, health awareness and trying to get the media to de-glamourise lad-culture (ladette-culture?) then?

 

Perhaps bars and pubs should actually be made to enforce the law by which they're not allowed to serve alcohol to someone who is intoxicated?

 

Pubs and clubs that do enforce that law, tend to close within 1 year due to lost business. Education on alcohol, people will only learn if they have an interest to learn on it.

[Bananas]

I have no real hopes for this budget, it's being produced by someone so detached from how the rest of us live that he has no idea what his policies do to us. Same with most of them in all the other departments too the old Eton chums never done a hard days work in their lives and never got a job without family stepping in (yes im looking at you Cameron) and that's across all the parties not just Tory bashing.

 

I'd like them to scrap the social housing rent escalator as each year the rent goes up by RPI + 0.5% + £2 per week which isn't great for those that pay their rent but the other year when inflation was at 5% we got slapped silly and bearing in mind how many people in social housing are claiming housing benefit it's just a scheme for them to hammer the government for more money, cap it to 1% until the economy recovers same as my wage rises are capped to 1%

 

Any tax cuts are just going to be a sweetener for the upcoming election trying to bribe their way back in. How many promises were broken this time?

 

No plans to increase VAT

No intention of shutting Surestart centres

 

There's a lot of them, that's if you can find them after Camerons little "tidy up" on their website LOL.

 

Anyway I shall stop there before I need to drag the soapbox out. I'll be voting Labour next time round, not because they're the answer but because they're the only party with a chance of keeping the damn tories out.

[pantscat]

I'm not necessarily disagreeing with you @nephilim, but I've observed very different attitudes to alcohol/binge-drinking in different places and I don't think that just making a drink unaffordable will solve the problem. I can only think that would lead to either a black market trade in imported drinks, perhaps cause more people to take up recreational drugs, or possibly worse - dodgy home-brewed moonshine with anti-freeze in it. (I'm being facetious about anti-freeze, but you get the point).

[ICTDirect_Dave]

The problem is, they'll only learn if they want to, and their frequent binging and stomach pumping escapades suggest they may enjoy what they do ><

 

Then we need a creative solution

 

Pubs and clubs that do enforce that law, tend to close within 1 year due to lost business. Education on alcohol, people will only learn if they have an interest to learn on it.

 

Not always true. Pubs and clubs stay open because they're a good night out regardless of the alcohol sales. I've worked with several bars that didn't do the best behind the bar all the time, but put on such good nights that they absolutely killed on the door take. I've also worked for others that put on piles of cheap offers for 'happy hours' only to close because nobody would come at any other time.

 

@JJonas simple solution, start charging repeat offenders for their medical care. We all have a medical record, it'd be easy to see if people ended up in hospital due to excessive drinking more than a couple of times in a year. Saddle them with a bill and see what happens.

Edited March 19, 2014 by ICTDirect_Dave