Greg2607

And why would they do that?? Also, they can absolutely deduct at source currently.. it's how things like the CSA operate, or where people are ordered to repay overplayed benefits, or debts.

Everyone already has "digital currency". You don't get given physical cash every month. You probably pay for stuff via your phone or watch. I appreciate that isn't a CBDC currency, but very few people are using physical cash these days. Certainly not as the main means of making payments.

Yeah you can. So let's say the HR Function is based in Newcastle and you now need to drive to me to show. How does that feel for you? Self employed.... Well that's different, but you will need to provide details that identify yourself assuming you are setting up a legal entity. In theory, this stops you having to gather multiple.different forms of identification and proofs of addresses. It makes things easier and more streamlined. NOW......do I think this "stops the boats"? Absolutely not! But I'll tell you what, I currently MUCH prefer being able to book a doctor's appointment digitally through my NHS App than having to dial 87 times at 08:00 in the morning. We are living in a digital age... Why wouldn't we digitise ID??? What's the main freedom that you are scared of losing and is so very sacred to you?

Because none of those things are digitised. If I want to employ you, you can't send me a digital copy. I have to see a physical original of those documents before I can make you a job offer. Most companies have gone paperless now, so if you need to prove your address to me, you have to download and print things out. Much better and easier to have 1 form of ID that does all these things in a digital form and is legally acceptable.

You can't work without your national insurance number either. Or at least 1 form of photographic id. But I haven't heard anyone say that these things are designed for control.

sure.... but people were also sceptical of the seat belt when that came in.... so..... not to forget the world was going to end when chip and pin came in.... I'd see people pretend to be putting the code to fort knox into the machine when it was first introduced. when the UK postal service was originally bought into service, there was a campaign against it as it would "allow governments to monitor the populations communications".... Most alarmist reaction is over reaction to change. Not ALL, I'll grant you that.... but we aren't China for goodness sake, or North Korea.

I don't see an issue with it. It's intended as a proof of ID for work. You currently already have to produce a birth certificate, passport or driving licence as well as proof of address to secure employment in the UK.. this would remove the need to provide those documents, you'd just provide a share code (which is how people on VISA's prove right to work in the UK currently) and it's all taken care of. the world is now digitalised. Move with the times. OR buy in to the dystopian conspiracy theories and think that this will revoke access to food and starve us all for "not complying"...

Surely they can call it the "patriot card" and it will be an instant hit with all the flag hangers. They are proudly and loudly patriotic right?? They'd be right behind it!! 😂

if you have included the NEW iX3 on your list, then I would. looks like a phenomenal car. We have the BMW i4 currently, which is a fantastic car to drive.... technically, that's my wife's company car. I'm due to get a new company car early next year and the ix3 will be the one I pick.... I am likely to do a lot of miles and it's WLTP range of 500 miles is a real step change... I appreciate i'm only likely to get say 400 - 420..... but that's as much as a lot of Petrol cars with the kind of performance you get in an EV.

start an investment account as early as is possible and get into the habit of depositing small amounts little and often.... it's amazing the "freedom" that financial security can give you and amazing how easy it can be to build over time. far too many people are less than 2 pay cheques away from financial disaster.

it's a really hard problem to solve isn't it.... can't really "inflate" our way out of it, otherwise people's mortgages become unaffordable and repossessions spike. We've built a service led economy which is almost predicated on keeping wages suppressed (US Companies now outsource to the UK as a result of the "cheap labour".) Our infrastructure is particularly poor outside of London. I live in a Region that doesn't even have access to the main railway network (well, any rail network to be fair) We've privatised our energy to the benefit of multiple countries except our own. Privatised water the same. layer on top of all of those issues, the one which is closest to your heart around climate change and the migratory effects that will have on the human population. i don't think it just takes "someone smart"... it requires a collective reset of expectations from governments and the populace. Which country will be the first to blink and remove the State Pension for citizens of a certain age? Because it will happen somewhere at some point. There is going to be an entire destruction of the status quo coming. Look at Argentina and what Milei has done there. to great fanfare from some on here, but he's doubled poverty in the country. The post war era from 1950's onwards is a real anomoly in terms of wealth in the general population... there is a fast retrenchment coming....... all whilst the very very very richest in the world, continue to grow their wealth at an enormous rate. governments across the world are run by / owned by the super rich.... they aren't going to be doing anything to rebalance the equity in society.

I don't disagree. The Western World appears to have maxed out it's credit cards on the previous generation.

this is blasphemy of the HIGHEST order!!!

it's not a uniquely UK problem though.... https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cvg9n6vr2eyo Most of the Western Democracies are going through this. The ONS released data yesterday showing that house prices in London are unaffordable for ANY decile of the earnings across the population. This is replicated in almost all modern societies. I think there will a large reckoning on what and the type of support that is offered to the general public moving forward. Clearly, Government spending for all nations is going to have to significantly reduce.

and I can't believe you are ruining all our lives.

our puppy is on a raw food diet.... there's a real benefit to raw that people potentially don't talk about much.... swapping between brands doesn't really have an impact on your dog, as raw meat is raw meat. So we pretty much interchange between what we can find when we happen to be in a shop. Just For Pets has probably got the best range of options that we've found. What we have found though, is that Murphy only really likes raw food that is a bit "chunky"... we did buy one particular product that was almost smooth like pate and he just wouldn't touch it at all. make sure you get an 80/10/10 mix as that has the right balance of nutrients. We've gone back to something chunkier and he absolutely nails it down from a licki mat. we've also gone mainly raw / natural with treats which are in a mason jar on the kitchen side..... or "the jar of death" as my son refers to it as.

just for record, I don't actually think Reform would go for a fully Americanised model of healthcare. There are lots of other viable models out there in Europe that are what you would almost call "Hybrid". BUT and lots of people have sort of cited this, it does require people to pay more in. Virtually every healthcare system that performs better than the NHS, has higher levels of funding, whether that's through general taxation or through some form of "insurance". The UK is kind of stuck generally isn't it. We are absolutely tied in to the ways that the country has done things, but ultimately, we aren't the industrial or economic powerhouse that we used to be. So something needs to change... I DO think labour are trying to change some of those things.... moving things out of Westminster, trying to set up technical colleges to train the required industries of the future, trying to move towards renewable energy (Nuclear or SMR absolutely needs to be part of that mix) privatising rail, improving the performance of the NHS... and yet... People are only looking at things at a Macro level and screaming about boats. I'm pretty confident that the next Government will be a Reform government. Now, clearly, I can't predict the future, but based on their performance for Leicestershire County Council, I suspect they will be a disaster for the country. I used to think that Labour could run a platform at the next election, that was based on re-joining the EU. There would be a large part of the population that would think that would be a good idea. but I fear that the malice and discontent towards Labour, would mean that the opportunity to rejoin would be lost forever at that point.

I was listening to a really interesting debate on LBC earlier which resonated with me... which was essentially this.... The "conservative" and "labour" voters of the past currently don't really have a choice in terms of political parties.... The Centre Right has been abandoned by the Conservatives and the Tories are moving increasingly into the space that Reform are occupying (which must be further right whichever way you look at it) The current labour government has probably moved to the Centre Right or at least closer to it than any previous Labour government... so those of a left leaning persuasion feel like they aren't represented either. which leaves us in a scenario where at the next GE... in a system designed really for 2 or 3 parties at MOST, we are likely to end up with The Greens (who are doing well under Zack Polanski) Lib Dems, Labour, Conversatives AND Reform.... all taking votes off of each other and a result that is entirely unpredictable. FPTP wasn't designed for a 5 party system (and that's not including anything that Corbyn comes u with) - we could end up with a result that almost no one wants - which is arguably the situation labour have found themselves in this time around... it almost brings the argument for PR to the fore... at least that way, everyone's vote counts to a certain extent.

I don't disagree, I was just giving it an equivalence....

the bit I would be worried about, would be the unintended consequences of this type of policy..... Would people default to turning up at A&E instead? is there is risk that hospitals would become even more overwhelmed? Me and my wife often watch "Ambulance" on the BBC and it always horrifies me, the amount of calls the ambulance crews have to attend, that arguably, should be dealt with by tertiary services... unfortunately, though services don't seem to be easily accessible and therefore it falls to emergency crews. in principle.... to get back to the original point.... would I consider paying to see a GP.... yes... I can afford it... (although i do always try to think about the impact on others rather than just for myself) arbitrarily, looking at @Tommy G points about looking at generating £4bn for the NHS.... again in principle it looks great.... if we were doing that purely through people on higher rate tax bands.... it runs to the equivalent of an extra 1% rate on the high rate tax band... (which, if labour did in the october budget... I'm sure would be roundly shouted down)

this sounds like something that @Dr The Singh would have some expertise in.

no you are right, that was my basic premise.... people will generally want to feel like their livs are improving rather than going the other way... and losing out on free healthcare, for most, would feel like a retrograde step.

you might be right there's a chance it wouldn't be that unpopular and it may reduce some of the burden on GP's...... but wasn't the cut off for WFA, that any pensioner who wasn't on means tested benefits, would have to pay for their own heating? ... that didn't land particularly well if I recall correctly.

and I don't necessarily disagree with an element of means testing for the NHS. For example... if you are a higher rate tax payer, then sure, let's pay a charge for seeing a GP... In theory, we are the ones that can shoulder that burden a little bit more. is there a definitive "stop" on that though? do we then say that the middle class should be able to pay for certain procedures? I'm not sure i'd agree with that, but if the direction of travel starts in a direction, it very rarely reverses.... I also suspect middle England would be in absolute uproar though.... it would be a little bit like adding VAT to private school fee's for instance....

Sure... but now imagine you are a single mother, and you have 3 kids..... each of those kids gets sick when they first go back to school.... so that person has paid 3 lots of school clothes out of a tight budget and now, potentially has to find an additional £60 that month, to see a doctor. One of the kids then has an accident at their football club and twists an ankle... that's another £20, taking her total for the month to £80. OR... if I take the example of my FIL who is in his late 70's. He has a number of complex needs and is probably at the doctors at least once or twice a month. so he is then having to factor an extra £600 a year, which is far more than the amount proposed for withdrawing the WFA. and that's assuming a £20 cost.... currently, the average cost of a GP appointment (in terms of what there are paid for their NHS contracts) is around £37..... so if we use that number... the cost amplifies very very quickly.