What are the biggest consumer finance issues for the election?

teddyco

The biggest problem with Britain is our membership with the European Union. Many Brits thought it was a good idea in 1974 to be part of a 'European Trading Association'. But unfortunately, many didn't know that one day, that trading relationship would metamorphose into a United States of Europe. They have their own Central Bank, Government, Courts, and Currency, and they want that Pound next.

Your forefathers bled the soil of Europe red with their blood fighting for British sovereignty. Are you going to allow our own government to give it all away?

The European Union costs Britain approximately £200 billion through regulation and taxation costs. Sixty percent of the laws that affect this country are made in Brussels.

If we don't get out of the EU now, one day we won't be able to contact our Members of Parliament to object or discuss taxes, bank charges or monetary questions because Brussels will have complete control.

It is time for Britain to stop sitting on the fence and get out of the EU before we lose every one of our freedoms.

Ladies and gentlemen, the only people who want Britain in the EU are the rich and powerful. Trust me, the common person on the street will not benefit one stitch by being a member.

Why do we fight to stop Tesco's from buying up all the other supermarkets? It's to keep the market fair for the consumer. The same holds true with the EU; Once Brussels has total control, the only thing we'll be able to argue about and discuss are parking tickets and which brand of breakfast cereal we like the most.

Alan_Cross

How about this, Martin:

Where does each party stand on the need to recreate manufacturing in this country so that we are not left so vulnerable to the [STRIKE]jaw-droppingly ridiculous behaviour[/STRIKE] interesting management style of [STRIKE]self-serving morons[/STRIKE] worthy gentry in the City?

What incentives and legislative sanctions do they propose to ensure that it is home grown technology/firms and not existing, giant American/German/Japanese vested interests which are favoured in the building of renewable power generation, cleaner cars and recycling?

jax1305

stop everyone, either on a personal level or as a corporation/business from making profits on our essentials - such as utilities, housing & food.
it's ridiculous that housing costs will rise so much (and already have) that people are unable to afford housing. have realised that if my son is going to be able to afford an education & to make any progress afterwards, I'm going to have to start saving for him otherwise his only option will be to live at home!!

paybacktime2008

Single parents who get paid maintenance have the same eligibility to tax credits as single parents who do not. Either maintenance payments are taken into the earnings equation or the CSA needs to sort it's act out. I am being penalised for the fact that my ex is an idiot!

civilservicestruggler

Suggested idea to ask the parties for their manifesto.....

Will the party expect cuts to civil servant pay in real terms to plug the hole in the economy made in bailing out the banks?

i.e. What will the party do to put reward and responsibility in the same place with regard to the bonuses and pay restraint to put the economy back on track? Will harsh treatment of public servants help the economy where reducing banker bonuses wouldn't?

background
(The suggestion has been made to freeze civil servant salaries which already do not keep pace with the cost of living - to demonstrate the type of restraint that the likes of the banks should make when awarding pay and bonuses. So we get a ceiling of £400 per year but are only just above the threshold for tax credit type handouts but we are not earning 1/2 of the bankers basic salaries *. We're already lucky if we get as much as 2%, and although I agree that lower earners need to be brought up to a fair rate, There are some civil servants making a real positive difference and are performing well. This proposal will mean that they will relatively be punished - as their good performance will not be rewarded in relation to their impact or positive contribution (you will get an equal pay rise for being junior or because you fell behind when there was proper performance pay as you would get for making a real difference) - this is the opposite of performance related pay - and will result in the best people leaving the civil service..Which party wants to spread the news that.it pays to be a bad boy in the city?

(*I'm not talking of local authority CEs, I'm talking guys earning less than the PM e.g. between £25-£60k pa))

civilservicestruggler

I would like to know what the party plans to do with the equity in my house?

I am planning to use it, when I downsize (eventually), to pay off the shortfall my endowment mortgage will have provided me with. I am also planning to use it to top up my pension, eroded during childbearing/caring years/poor pension growth AND I want to use it to fund my kids through higher education (I hope I will have enough equity in those bricks - it seems a tall order doesn't it!)
I understand THEY are planning to use it to pay for my old age and various other things I hadn't planned for....I'd like to know, because I would like to plan & have some input into controlling my own future...

civilservicestruggler

glossyhair wrote: »

Well said!!

Put a sensible cap on total benefit levels payable to families . . . if neither parents work and they have several children, they will be receive several types of benefit, have their rent and council tax paid, with a substantial disposable income left over. This money could be more fairly distributed amongst the growing single people category to bring their benefit levels closer to or even above the poverty line.

.....

It seems there could do with being a sliding scale of support rather than such a black and white scenario on benefits.

I know a single mum (who I love to bits) who, provided she didn't work, she was entitled to so much benefits she had a huge relative take home. To go to work, pay tax and NI and pay all the bills she had paid for her, as well as paying exhorbitant childcare charges, you would have to earn quite a whack to break even. If she worked AT ALL she would loose the benefits - and how could she ever earn enough to cover rent and council tax with a tot in tow? She would like to work some to keep her hand in and keep herself sane but daren't. Seems [STRIKE]daft [/STRIKE] unfair on her and if the benefits were simply scaled down carefully in proportion to her earnings it seems a little unfair to the tax payer too?

I guess there are a few folks wondering whether they can afford to go to work, and a few others wondering whether they ought to not bother!

Debtphobic_Dinah

Dear future Prime Minister
We need many more council houses and affordable houses to be built as there are not enough to go round. People who don't have adequate accommodation are not happy people.
As a second priority, stop wealthy people dodging tax so easily- that could pay for it all.
Simples!

Debtphobic_Dinah

Oh and another thing,
You lot are all right about EMA. My son gets it and spends it all down the pub. It should at least go to the parent - there is nothing a parent can do to get hold of it from an unwilling 17 year old. I have checked.

tina1946

What are the Tories and Lib Dems going to do about the great hike in Airport Departure Tax due in November? It will make holidays by air impossible for a family; we'll be locked in this country like China if this happens.

Also, why don't any of the Parties attack the Benefit system (the great unemployed and work shy) by only paying for children up to the age of 1 and then only pay for Creches etc., to make the work shy/unemployed reralise they have to work or they won't get any benefits. If their children are looked after all day and paid for by the Government, there is no reason why those able to work can take any job as they would have no income if they didn't?