How should the Budget Deficit be tackled ?

[olddutch]

To start the ball rolling some ideas below:-

Let the USA fight its own oil wars (how many billions let alone lives have been wasted) - bring back all our troops within 6 months

Quangos - get rid of unnecessary Quangos, surveys/ reseach and inquiries

VAT remain unchanged up to items costing £10k - but go up should go up to 25% on items over £10k ,

Income Tax should increase to 22% and 45% respectively.

Low earners should be protected from the worst of these rises by the rise in the tax threshold to £10,000.

Tax bonuses at 50% to £25000 and 75% above that.

Corporation tax should go up by 3%

Bring back betting tax

Scrap,put on hold or slow down expensive public sector projects - Future projects to be scaled down more affordable achievable, and also be contracted to UK contractors.

Across the board pay cuts - for all public sector workers, including MPs,Police, BBC etc - those earning over £20,000 should have a pay cut, ranging from 1% for the lowest, to 10% for the highest earners (eg those earning over £100,000).

Cut all public sector budgets by 5%

Cut EU payments

Scrap Trident

Scrap ID cards

Tax lorries from abroad an entry tax

Cut immigration costs - tackle illegal immigration costs - no benefits

Health tourism to be stopped - visitors to pay the going rate

Cut pointless university courses


Desperate times call for desperate measures - the above ideas could do with improving - how would you tackle cuts and tax increases ?

[zita-green]

Brave words, old dutch but it's a bit strange for you to be suggesting public sector pay cuts when the vast majority of public sector workers are on pretty low wages. I know that the Daily Mail keeps pumping out this daily stuff about the bloated public sector but it's crap and so are the wages of MOST public servants. How much does the editor of the Daily Mail 'earn'? Why has all the attention been on MP's expenses when what realy matters is what the bankers have done to our economy? Not one serious economist has recommended cutting the deficit now; all have said to wait till the recession recedes.

[olddutch]

Zita

yes timing of cuts and tax increases important to allow continued recovery

but many difficult things will have to be done

dont overlook the following

Income Tax should increase to 22% and 45% respectively.

Low earners should be protected from the worst of these rises by the rise in the tax threshold to £10,000.

Tax bonuses at 50% to £25000 and 75% above that.

Corporation tax should go up by 3%

Across the board pay cuts - for all public sector workers, including MPs,Police, BBC etc - first £20K frozen but uncut - then on every £1 of earnings over £20,000 a pay cut, ranging from 1% for the lowest, to 10% for the highest earners (eg those earning over £100,000).

what, if anything, would you do instead?

[jednbutter]

olddutch nice one, also lower the scottish welsh and northern irish budget levels to the same rate as england so its a fair shout across all of the uk and not endland bearing the brunt of any cuts.

[olddutch]

Forgot to mention capital gains tax to be raised to match higher rate of income tax

Yes Jed fiscal tightening to be spread fairly

[youngmafbog]

Capital gains tax should match the individuals level, ie it should be treated as income tax, otherwise you run the wrath of the Pensioners and it woud not be fair.

Otherwise its pretty much spot on.

The Public sector spending can be cut. There are bloated payments, mainly to managers and above but they are there. Councils and Whithall are not businesses, what business can just put the price up if they run short? In addition dump all the 5 a day co ordinators and lesbian outreach workers etc I am more than sure the lesbians and others can look after themselves.
In addition, if you dont speak English - tough, we are not going to translate for you. This costs $400 for 1/2 an interpeter in the NHS and MUST be stopped.
Now council houses for young mums, put them in Hostel type lodgings, that'll put them off.

[DrFilth]

bring back betting tax and the people who have a large bet will bet online to avoid the tax.
any person on the web will use the online service to avoid the tax

[jake-the-peg]

Interesting list - ranging from Government policy through the fairly practical to the hopelessly impractical.

I think some of these might have unintended consequences - your 25% VAT over 10K is effectively a tax on buying new cars. The Car manufacturing industry is a big UK employer (nearly a million people) - hence the scrappage allowance last year.

As I mentioned on Geezers thread yesterday simply defaulting on EU payments would probably result in a collapse in the UK Gilts market and a loss of our cretit rating a la Greece.

I tend to agree about Trident (although I think we should probably retain a tactical nuclear capability) but the politics of it is complex as Nick Clegg found out in the debates.

I'd love to know how you'll determine which University course are pointless - perhaps you could set up a Quango ;c)

[dzug2]

Surprised no one's suggested paying for hospital treatment, doctors visits and drugs and the like. Maintains front line services without increasing taxation - may even allow it to be lowered.

I'm not advocating it but it's on a par with some of the other suggestions.

[olddutch]

Jake

ta for your input but i did say the above ideas could do with improving - it would be interesting to see an improved list of your own to deal with cuts and tax increases - any further ideas ?

[jno]

why are oil wars solely the preserve of the USA? Don't we depend on oil just as much? That doesn't mean we should start wars over them, but no point pretending it isn't a British issue too.

Pointless university courses presumably include English, music, art and stuff like that? Anything but engineering, accountancy and rocket science?

[olddutch]

Jno

what would your list be to tackle budget deficit - interesting to know ?

[jno]

closing tax loopholes would be a great start. Not necessarily a matter of raising tax rates, just collecting what people should already be paying. Curbing bank (and other) bonuses too; if they don't like it, let them try to find work in America.

I'm with you on Trident and ID cards.

[olddutch]

Thanks for input Jno

How about (I pinched this one)

No Public employee should be allowed to earn more than £100,000 including

Council Chief Executives
The PM
MP’s
Police Chiefs
NHS Managers and staff
BBC staff
Everyone paid for out of the public purse

Exorbitant salaries to attract people who can do the job is nearly always a fallacy.

Anyone who is paid in excess of £100,000 should be taxed at 80% (for every £1 over £100k)

[R1Geezer]

does that include the BBC Dutch?

[olddutch]

Apart from zero income tax and zero capital gains tax, whats your plan then Geezer ?

[R1Geezer]

well I'll go into that another time. I was just wondering if those highly paid pratts at the BBC were included in your public sector pay plan, that's all, I agree mainly.

[boxtops]

You're going to hit most of the hard-working nurses and other staff in the public sector if you cut their pay by raising taxes on the over £20K employees.

[boxtops]

^ PS otherwise, oddutch, I would go with quite a lot of the other suggestions you make. Down here in Dover they are talking about slashing the Immigration/Border control staff - who have been highly successful in the past year in a) identifying people trying to get in and b) seizing drugs etc being brought in illegally. I'd vote to keep them, not decimate their team.

[Woody23]

Stop handing out aid to third world countries.

[joggerjayne]

Kill all the members of the last Labour administration, and sell their organs.