What Goverment spending would you cut? poll discussion

gailsmail

• I would change the benefit system so that it would just supplement wages so that there is more incentive to get a job than to stay home on benefits. A girl started work where i work then quit because she would lose her child benefit if she worked P/T
• I would not give us the promised increased tax allowance of £10,000 pa, as, while it would be nice to earn more before I start paying tax, it is silly to give me more money with one hand then have to tax me some other way, eg VAT,to get the money back. If I am already paying it, I would rather keep on paying it and not have so much additional taxation on other things. Plus it will not help those who are unemployed, only those who are in work.
• I would put a minimum price system on retail sales of alcohol, and use the extra money as income for the NHS who are having to deal with the results of alcoholism and binge drinking
• I would only give child support for the first child, and not encourage people to have more children by paying them for each additional one they have.
• If there are many young men trying to get into Britain from Afghanistan, why not enlist them in the armed forces, train them up as soldiers and send them back to become part of the solution to Afghanistan's need for their own police and armed services training?

aggrieved

puckstopper wrote: »

well olic, i would rather you did not assume things about me when you do not no me. Actually i was against the invasion of iraq because i belive we were missled by our government. We should have waited until the un made the desicion. And i can assure you no one has brainwashed me.
As for aggrieved you need to grow up and smell the roses, its people like you that are helping to drag this country down, i do not live in the past but look to the future. We should all aspire to get this country back on its feet and instill some national pride and patriotism back in to it.

land of hope and glory aye? Keep hoping mate, you may get your five minutes of glory or more likely the country will continue its downward spiral. At least then we won't be able to afford to go and kill innocent foreigners.

portlandboy

NorthWalesGraham wrote: »

I am a benefit fraud investigator for the past 12 years and from my experience I can state that fraud within the benefit system is rampant. If this Government is serious about reducing the massive public sector bill which the last Government ( and previous Governments) have accumulated they must address the fraud in the welfare system. Despite what the last Government has claimed in that they had reduced the fraud in the system I and my colleagues in local authorities and the DWP would challenge this. I agree with the comments of some of the other contributors to this post and it's insulting to those hard working, taxpaying members of the public who witness day in day out benefit claimants blatantly stealing money from taxpayers. Remember it's the taxpayer who funds the public sector not the Government ! So here's what I would do:

Abolish Child Benefit (There's Child Tax Credits which is means tested)

Abolish Job Centres and replace them with Employment agencies run by the private sector and reward the agencies by the number of claimants they place in employment.

Stop single parents on benefit from being given more money every time they have another child.

Make all benefits taxable.

Well said NWG...I voted to stop overseas aid as I thought that, in my own situation, if I was in debt I wouldn't freely give money to other people. But after reading this comment I think I actually agree with every word and therefore would go for the benefit option (even though I'm on benefits myself).

newzealander

Geoffsave wrote: »

How sad that you don't realize how well off you are.
Ever visited the third world?

Why would you want to visit the third World?

I certainly would cut the whole overseas budget to ZERO!

Marisco

Gailsmail - Would it not be better to raise the tax threshold, giving people more money and choice? Even if VAT does go up, it would then be up to you what you spend the money on. If you want a 100" plasma, dishwasher and all the latest gizmos then you pay for them. There is no VAT on kids clothes, food and books, and VAT on utility bills should stay the same, so the choice is yours. Those who need more help i.e. pensioners, those on low incomes etc would benefit.

ghost663

Europe, £45 million a day!

indierocker85

Leave the EU and utilise the money in other areas within Britain.

Reform the welfare system completely, and stop benefits for long term scroungers.

Pension to stay, as if you have paid into the country, you should rightlfully receive it back when it's needed. However with most benefits now, this isn't the case, and we are paying far too much to foreign nationals who have paid nothing into the country.

All benefits should be in the form of vouchers, i.e milk for children, vouchers for baby clothes etc. Super market vouchers etc. Not cash which they can spend on fags and chocolate!!

no1riggie

chocolatemaniac wrote: »

As for pensions, I am actually fed up with people saying public sector worker dont contribute to their pensions, WE DO!! It's council workers, civil servants and the armed forces who do not.

I'm fed up with it too. However, I must to correct you on one point. I work for a Council and I can assure you that we DO contribute to our pensions,

malni

NorthWalesGraham wrote: »

I am a benefit fraud investigator for the past 12 years and from my experience I can state that fraud within the benefit system is rampant. If this Government is serious about reducing the massive public sector bill which the last Government ( and previous Governments) have accumulated they must address the fraud in the welfare system. Despite what the last Government has claimed in that they had reduced the fraud in the system I and my colleagues in local authorities and the DWP would challenge this. I agree with the comments of some of the other contributors to this post and it's insulting to those hard working, taxpaying members of the public who witness day in day out benefit claimants blatantly stealing money from taxpayers. Remember it's the taxpayer who funds the public sector not the Government ! So here's what I would do:

Abolish Child Benefit (There's Child Tax Credits which is means tested)

Abolish Job Centres and replace them with Employment agencies run by the private sector and reward the agencies by the number of claimants they place in employment.

Stop single parents on benefit from being given more money every time they have another child.

Make all benefits taxable.

i agree benefit fraud is big business and has to be stopped, why not make those on benefit and job seekers work for thier benefits obvioulsy depending on thier disability etc but those on job seekers should put something back into the country after all there getting paid for doing nothing

Daisy_Bell

indierocker85 wrote: »

Leave the EU and utilise the money in other areas within Britain. (We get back a fraction of what we put in anyway!)
Reform the welfare system completely, and stop benefits for long term scroungers. (Hard, when there are children involved, as they play on this!)
Pension to stay, as if you have paid into the system all your working lilfe, you should rightfully receive it back in retirement. (Wrong to call it a benefit in these circumstances!) However with most benefits now, this isn't the case, and we are paying far too much to foreign nationals who have contributed nothing. (Oh how I agree! Then of course, after a suitable interval, they send for their dependents, who have contributed nothing either - therefore adding to the bill!)
All benefits should be in the form of vouchers, i.e milk for children, vouchers for baby clothes etc. Super market vouchers etc. Not cash which they can spend on fags and chocolate, Bingo, booze, drugs, boyfriends who only contribute more babies, etc. etc. :rotfl:

In addition, pull the troops out of Afghanistan, make foreigners who have no medical insurance pay for treatment on the NHS and...... finally.......break up and sell off the BBC! :T