General News Thread

[splinterdream]

13 minutes ago, foxes1988 said:

I thought the budget had a very Phillip Hammond/George Osbourne('after' austerity feel)

 

Lots of little bits and bobs here and there raising the tax. Think really if we are raising taxes would almost prefer them just to go ahead and raise income taxes rather then this.

 

For a growth government don't think there's enough policy in for the growth at all.

 

The markets reacting well to it is very good news though. Hopefully there's more confidence and in turn investment generated through it.

Freezing tax thresholds for 3 years is as much as an income tax increase

[CrazyKopCorner]

What a **** 

[foxes1988]

1 minute ago, splinterdream said:

Freezing tax thresholds for 3 years is as much as an income tax increase

Yes I'm fully aware it's a 'stealth tax'.  I'd just prefer the more straight forward 'honesty' of raising income instead but the tik tok / twitter nature of the general population these days I don't think you can do it.

[st albans fox]

She is finally removing the de minimis customs rule whereby you can buy product from abroad without paying any duties if it’s below £135 (totally unfair on U.K. retailers) 

 

but that won’t happen till 2029 

 

the USA have already scrapped theirs 

the EU is going 2028 but bringing in an interim charge from next year. 
 

so for three years the far east will be dumping more of their product here and forcing more and more U.K. retailers to go bust 

 

they are commercially so inept  

[Tommy G]

Whoever wrote Kemi’s speech deserves a pay rise - never seen anyone destroyed so much after a budget delivery. Her best performance so far. 

[splinterdream]

29 minutes ago, foxes1988 said:

Yes I'm fully aware it's a 'stealth tax'.  I'd just prefer the more straight forward 'honesty' of raising income instead but the tik tok / twitter nature of the general population these days I don't think you can do it.

But for what though? Why do you want the govt to take more of people's money. Governments are just frivolous with it. People wouldn't resent paying tax if they saw some benefit from it, but we are being taxed more than we ever have since WW2, and services have just got worse and worse, the welfare budget is out of hand, 81% of current borrowing is to pay for previous borrowing, and as of today a family on UC with 6 kids is £14,000 a year better off whilst state pensioners only get £12,500 a year to survive on. Its a mess

[splinterdream]

25 minutes ago, st albans fox said:

She is finally removing the de minimis customs rule whereby you can buy product from abroad without paying any duties if it’s below £135 (totally unfair on U.K. retailers) 

 

but that won’t happen till 2029 

 

the USA have already scrapped theirs 

the EU is going 2028 but bringing in an interim charge from next year. 
 

so for three years the far east will be dumping more of their product here and forcing more and more U.K. retailers to go bust 

 

they are commercially so inept  

I hear a suggestion on the radio the other day, a 1% tax on all online purchases, but this done with something like a reduction in fuel duty, I thought this was a great idea

[leicsmac]

I'm still looking for a good explanation as to how laissez-faire economics would lead to decreased inequality and thus a better society when it has shown us the Gilded Age and the 1980s, among other times. 

[grth2004]

8 minutes ago, Tommy G said:

Whoever wrote Kemi’s speech deserves a pay rise - never seen anyone destroyed so much after a budget delivery. Her best performance so far. 

Probably the easiest Speech to write all year for any Shadow Government as it’s rare for a Government to have a popular Budget unless it’s the one before an Election. 
Kemi is thick as 💩 so she definitely wouldn’t have written it. 

[CornwallFox]

50 minutes ago, Dahnsouff said:

Because it incenticizes people to look after their futures and prepare for the inevitable squeeze on the public pension purse. You are no using Salary Sacrifice for a,fridge, that feels extremely disingenuous, you are funding your own old age.

People buy cars, bikes, white goods and other stuff via salary sacrifice

[Dahnsouff]

Just now, CornwallFox said:

People buy cars, bikes, white goods and other stuff via salary sacrifice

Well that loophole should be shut. Never heard of it myself. My company doing me a dirty clearly  

Only child care vouchers and/or pension contributions is all we get!

[Sly]

Was that a budget for the unemployed? To get voted? 

[kenny]

2 hours ago, CornwallFox said:

I the only thing I'd really thought about is the fact I'm not sure why most salary sacrifice schemes have any tax incentives. Why should people get money off fridges just because it comes out their salary? I find it bizarre. 

I would too if there were any truth to your statement.

[kenny]

20 minutes ago, CornwallFox said:

People buy cars, bikes, white goods and other stuff via salary sacrifice

You have got the cycle to work scheme in there. That exists and was designed to encourage sustainable travel.

 

The others, they do, but it's all taxable. Typically the schemes to do it sells their goods at higher prices than the high street so no one bothers.

 

 

[kyleolly]

58 minutes ago, Sly said:

Was that a budget for the unemployed? To get voted? 

There’s still a benefit cap in place so scrapping the child benefit cap will not advantage the unemployed with multiple children, working parents with more than 2 children who claim universal credit will benefit around £150 per month per extra child until they reach said benefit cap.

Edited 26 November 2025 by kyleolly

[Spiritwalker]

1 hour ago, Tommy G said:

Whoever wrote Kemi’s speech deserves a pay rise - never seen anyone destroyed so much after a budget delivery. Her best performance so far. 

It seemed very personal to me, especially the mimicking stuff, I can’t remember seeing that before.

 

[VLC86]

1 hour ago, Tommy G said:

Whoever wrote Kemi’s speech deserves a pay rise - never seen anyone destroyed so much after a budget delivery. Her best performance so far. 

Reeves face while it unfolded was sensational as well.

[leicsmac]

13 minutes ago, Spiritwalker said:

It seemed very personal to me, especially the mimicking stuff, I can’t remember seeing that before.

 

Yes. The political has become ever more personal over the last decade or so.

 

And that means a lot to those with ideologies like Badenoch, because making things personal gives them reason to appeal to self interest, which of course is what they're all about.

[Tommy G]

36 minutes ago, Spiritwalker said:

It seemed very personal to me, especially the mimicking stuff, I can’t remember seeing that before.

 

The Cheerios line was sensational - I mean if you can’t take that then the world has gone completely mad. 
 

She is incompetent and it needs calling out, there were warning signs after the last budget, now we have this - where do we go next year when all the economic indicators are south? They have literally backed themselves into a corner now, it’s sh*t or bust time. 

[ian__marshall]

I get there will be winners and losers in any budget, but I've never encountered a budget which has previously hit me on so many levels. I think there are likely many people in the same boat as myself, which earn a decent living but are far from rich and seem disproportionately targeted by this budget.

 

It feels like a rather lazy budget to keep certain demographics on-side. Suffice to say, having been screwed over twice by Labour governments in my lifetime, they've destroyed any chance of ever receiving future votes from myself. 

 

[Bellend Sebastian]

Not going to lie, this tax on Yazoo chocolate milk is going to hit me pretty hard

[CornwallFox]

Really not sure what people want. 

Being realistic with suggestions, what do people think any of the parties would have done differently? 

The Tories might not have raised tax but would have splashed public spending to already utterly crippled public services thanks to austerity. 

Reform are a joke party with no policies.

Greens would raise taxes on wealth and invest hugely, which kinda appeals to me but isn't really popular with any media or usually the electorate. 

Lib Dems I'm not really sure tbh.

If we want public services to get better were going to need to invest.

Removal of two child benefit cap not universally popular it's fair to say but it is also the most direct means to reduce child poverty. 

What different choices would you make? Not just what would you like, but what would you give up in return? 

 

[danny.]

7 minutes ago, CornwallFox said:

Really not sure what people want. 

Being realistic with suggestions, what do people think any of the parties would have done differently? 

The Tories might not have raised tax but would have splashed public spending to already utterly crippled public services thanks to austerity. 

Reform are a joke party with no policies.

Greens would raise taxes on wealth and invest hugely, which kinda appeals to me but isn't really popular with any media or usually the electorate. 

Lib Dems I'm not really sure tbh.

If we want public services to get better were going to need to invest.

Removal of two child benefit cap not universally popular it's fair to say but it is also the most direct means to reduce child poverty. 

What different choices would you make? Not just what would you like, but what would you give up in return? 

 

I wouldn’t have lifted the cap. It’s costing 2.3bn, if people can’t afford kids then don’t have them. I’d have loved kids but never felt financially stable enough to have them, and now I have to pay more for other people’s children. 

[Zear0]

3 minutes ago, danny. said:

I wouldn’t have lifted the cap. It’s costing 2.3bn, if people can’t afford kids then don’t have them. I’d have loved kids but never felt financially stable enough to have them, and now I have to pay more for other people’s children. 

We need people to have children to have a workforce and for those with them to be able to afford to feed them.

[MaidstoneFox]

3 minutes ago, danny. said:

I wouldn’t have lifted the cap. It’s costing 2.3bn, if people can’t afford kids then don’t have them. I’d have loved kids but never felt financially stable enough to have them, and now I have to pay more for other people’s children. 

We do actually need children though. I think it's been pointed out on here before that a number of countries are facing serious population decline and in some cases have put in place quite generous incentives for people to have children. In Hungary, mothers who have more than two children, have a lifetime exemption from paying tax! Imagine if we brought that in here!

Reality is, we need more future tax payers, we have an aging population.