Forum Topic

Summer Budget.

Mr. George Osborne has delivered an excellent Summer Budget - a 100% Tory budget, without any constraints from Lib Dem demands!  Britain's now motoring into prosperity imo.  I like particularly his restricting Tax Credits and other benefits and his aims for minimum living wage. Well done.  I'm not a perennial Tory - I've always been an 'undecided', but I think this budget is OK.  What are other views?

Gerry Tan ● 3862d12 Comments

Most of them are fairly average imo Gerry but I wouldn't be surprised if some of them are on 500k +.Of your and my money btw.

Keith Iddon ● 3857d

Btw, how much pay  does an average BBC TV/radio presenter earn per annum? Roughly, on average?

Gerry Tan ● 3857d

One good thing that the lot have done is tighten the tax loopholes that allow all the 'left wing' bbc presenters, amongst others, who all want a decent health service, education, public housing etc. and rather than pay their rightful amount of tax have been paying body swerving their responsibilities by paying themselves through a company or some such and therefore pay a lot less than they should. They seem to take the moral high ground on just about every other issue except this one. This budget is all about shrinking the state which is long established Tory policy, goes back a century or more as opposed to Labour who want it as big as they can get it.

Keith Iddon ● 3857d

Have I got this right? From April 2016 the income threshold to claim working tax credits will go down from £6,420 to £3,850, at the same time the minimum wage will rise to £7.20ph.To Claim/qualify for Working Tax Credits, you must work at least 16 hours per week. 16 Hours Per Week at £7.20ph pays £5990 per year.That's £2140 OVER the threshold to qualify for tax credits at all. Does this mean NO-ONE will ever qualify this benefit after April 2016?Has Osborne really abolished working tax credits on the sly and no-one noticed?I hope I'm wrong, but if not, you have to admire his cheek in disguising it.

Leslie Bailey ● 3857d

If parents, or a parent, cannot afford to have a third child, or more, then don't have them. Birth control is cheap and available.

Martin C. Harris ● 3860d

Can't fault any of that Sue,social engineering by the side door methinks.

Tony Wood ● 3860d

Dumping the cost of free TV licences onto the BBC is in effect robbing the BBC of 20% of its budget - £650 million a year. Free TV licences for the over 75s was a political decision by a Labour government - one that the Coalition was only too happy to continue with and now the Tories are as well. I'm sure that Sky, News Corp, Fox and the other Murdoch operations are delighted. As for restricting pay rises to 1% for public sectors, that is really going to encourage those working in the NHS to stay in London who are having to pay ever-increasing amounts of rent and who don't earn enough to buy. Not to mention all those  who will have to deal with the fallout from the cuts in child credit allowances where there are already more than 2 children in a family.

Sue Rowe ● 3860d

Interesting how he has hijacked the Living wage phrase which many employers use as a minimum. In London it is currently £9.15 and nationally £7.85. So he is talking about 5 years. The idea of increasing the minimum wage to comply with this standard would be good. But I don't think he is proposing that. But remember that the raising of the basic tax threshold was a LibDem policy. I like the idea of shifting and simplifying benefits by increasing the take home pay. But the devil appears to be in the detail.

Peter Chadburn ● 3860d

Of course you're quite correct Ed ,in 2020  £16,324 P.A. should  be much more than enough for any newly married youngsters to rent a room in LBE (so long as they don't expect any windows).    Sorry,you don't know me but I think you're and idiot.

Tony Wood ● 3861d

I still believe that this Budget is a positive one for working people and not benefit claimers.  I've never heard Mr Osborne so confident and almost 'cock-sure' - he's got his eyes on the future premiership I think.

Gerry Tan ● 3861d

When Labour left office in 2010 the minimum wage was £5.93 in London and someone working 40 hours a week at that wage would have paid £983 tax and taken home £814 a month. They would have started to pay tax after earning £6,475.By 2020 someone working in London will earn £9 an hour in the living wage (a rise of more than 50% in 10 years) or £17,280 (based on 40 hours / 48 weeks). They will not pay any tax on the first £12,500 of earnings and will pay around £956 tax on that, giving them a net wage of £16,324 or £1360 a month.The difference is a 39% increase in net wages through a period where we are likely to continue to have many years of little / no inflation. This clearly improves the lot of those at the "bottom" despite what the tired old lefties would have us believe.

Ed Yelland ● 3862d

Well Gerry, I'm not even a perinatal Tory so as you'd expect I'm not too enamoured with Ozymandius Osbournes (King of Kings am I) efforts.     When you say that Britain is "now motoring into prosperity" do you envisage that prosperity dribbling down to the lower orders? I'm afraid I don't it's not what  "they" do,restricting Tax Credits and generously allowing a minimum "living" wage (Let them eat toast) is what they do when unfettered and thats just for starters.    Carpe diem!

Tony Wood ● 3862d