h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I heard an item on the radio earlier this morning, in connection with the debate between the 3 main parties' possible chancellors after the next election..(well I doubt the Liberal guy will be chancellor but the Libs may have influence in a hung parliament).

I didn't watch it yesterday, but they said that all three agreed the the cuts will be something far worse than Thatcher ever made.

Before it becomes virtually impossible to discuss it here, once the election is called, I thought it might be good to discuss. It scares me half to death remembering how severe things were under Thatcher. And for sure its going to be horrendous.

Should we get rid of things like Trident? I mean are we ever going to use the damn thing that costs billions? Not to mention the millions we spend at present in Afghan?

I can see plenty of the health service getting hit. I personally use various mental health services..I can see that going back to how it was under the Tories, if not worse. It's usually the first area hit.

Whichever party gets in, it's going to be an utter nightmare.

So where do you think cuts should fall? And will that affect which party you vote for? What political consequences may occur if the degree of anger which will occur, boils over?

Well, universities are getting hit hard already and that's only going to get worse. Aimhigher has already been told it's going to be cut altogether, so that's me out of a job.

I expect the Building Schools for the Future programme to be scrapped: it keeps on getting delayed for schools in the second group so I can see it not happening at all.

Community outreach projects and youth services are often one of the first to suffer and I don't see that changing. I think that will lead to a lot of troubles in already restless inner cities like Bradford, Manchester and the Pennine mill towns.

I'd like to see Trident abandoned completely, I was opposed to it even when we could afford it. Military cuts should be looked at now we've gotten out of Iraq.

The first two are the most important to me and the Lib Dems seem to be better focused on them and that may well swing my vote.

Tax collectors.

The most complex taxation system in the world costs 48p for every £1 collected it should be replaced with a flat tax that doesn't penalise the poor and costs 11p in the £1 to collect.

Needs as needs must.
Charity begins at home.

Gnomic as ever, AB.

How about a financial transaction tax, with exemptions for low income people? That's not public spending, but it's a way of avoiding health and education etc cuts.

aka a 'Tobin Tax'. Already being considered.

There's an unspoken assumptions, is there not, that the concentration should be on cuts rather than taxation.

IMO if the Tories get in with an overall majority it will be a holocaust from hell in public spending cuts, they are already showing their right wing wolfish side..despite the bealocks of sheeps clothing. On last week's QT the Tory said something about wanting to get rid of strikes all together. Things might get quite authoritarian I think.

Seeing as all we mentals won't be getting the sort of treatment and help we've had under Labour, there'll be lots of steam to be let off in the streets

But I fully expect to see plenty of people living on the streets again in London, in cardboard boxes, as was a common sight under the Tories.

"But I fully expect to see plenty of people living on the streets again in London, in cardboard boxes, as was a common sight under the Tories."

Did that go away in London under Labour? It hasn't in the Midlands...

>Did that go away in London under Labour? It hasn't in the Midlands...<

No not entirely. But it did at least become possible to walk around the central area without being accosted every few yards by people in sleeping bags surrounded by cardboard boxes...especially after dark. The Strand was incredible at its worst..and up towards Oxford Street, and all around the South bank complex.

I reckon the centre of London was quite a Mecca because lots of rich people went out night to fancy restaurants and shows at the theatre..it was excellent begging territory.

Raise taxes? every penny on income tax raises about £2.5bn. just to stop the UK debt getting any bigger before we even think about reducing it we would need to add about 72p in the pound to income tax. Current tax rate is about 20p in the pound so just to match spending tax should be 92p in the pound

We're half way through a conservative term, and it is pretty scarey. It's not like the old conservatives where they at least had some actual ethics and values. The modern, new right lot are completely enamored of the dollar and seem bizarrely disconnected from reality (or maybe they just don't care).

Not the Tobin Tax I don't think Ed. I was meaning a general tax on all financial transactions. Yes Effers asked for discussion on public spending cuts, but I was offering an alternative given that she didn't seem to happy about the prospect.

So when does the discussion ban take effect? Is it a month before the election?

A speculative cast two names.
Ground bait may be required.

"The most complex taxation system in the world costs 48p for every £1 collected...."

I find it very hard to believe that that's true - there's no way that government spends half its income on collecting income. If that were true, then the Inland Revenue would have a larger budget than nearly everything else combined. Nearly half of civil servants would work the revenue, but that's clearly not the case.

Along similar lines, though, I would like to see all or most of the current benefits, credits, and allowances (and TV licenses) to be rolled into a single citizens' income, payable to everyone without means testing, but subject to taxation. Essentially, this would mean that everyone has a decent minimum, no-one slips through the safety net, we do away with the costly and inefficient means testing (because everyone gets it), and the rich just end up paying it back through tax. I believe the social minimum is Green party policy.

"....it should be replaced with a flat tax that doesn't penalise the poor and costs 11p in the £1 to collect."

Presumably a rate flat percentage tax? A flat percentage tax that did not penalise the poor would have to be one with a much higher personal allowance than at present, but higher taxation rates at the top end. The problem with a flat tax - even one which exempted the poor (and most proposals that I've seen, don't in fact do that), is that it tends to shift the tax burden away from those who benefit most (the rich), and onto those whose benefit from civil society/the state is less (the middle class).

>So when does the discussion ban take effect? Is it a month before the election?<

kea election rules kick in the moment the election is called. The date everyone is suggesting is May 6. Our elections are always on a thursday. Don't ask me why..I think it's some sort of funny Brit tradition.

AB:
>>A speculative cast two names.
Ground bait may be required.

Or even better...a clearer explanation of what the dickens your last Posting meant. If anything.

Are we in such a bad shape when we give so much away with no return and pay so much for services that yield little or nothing.

See...there you go again. *Tell us what you mean*. Give us something concrete, will you?

You may have a point...but with the best will in the world, it's hard to see what it might be.

I keep wondering where AB is suggesting the cuts should fall. That was the question. But if prefers to speak in riddles, and not spit it out, I suppose that's just his way. Maybe he's embarrassed about his opinions? We all can be now and then.