Universal benefit - £0.425bn to be written off.

Graham_Devon

ringo_24601 wrote: »

Won't stop boozing, so uses tax-payer funded free medicines to neutralise the effects. Nice one.

Don't worry, people like me are loosing their child benefit allowances so that rich pensioners can get free stuff. I do hope they re-address that balancing in the coming years as a lot more wealthy baby-boomer start to milk the system dry

</rant>

The only party that has even hinted at doing anything like the above is UKIP. All the others won't touch pensioners with a barge pole, no matter how much it costs everyone else.

All 3 parties are far too worried about the loss of votes. UKIP don't seem to care. Indeed, Farage last nigth was having an argument with an audience member. The other 3 parties wouldn't dream of doing such a thing, they'd simply avoid the question instead (which is what they did). But Farage focused in on it and argued it out with the women until they were both forced to wind it up.

You can say a lot about Farage, but one thing that does stand out is that principle stands head and shoulders above the desire for votes. And that has to be welcomed.

[Deleted User]

Graham_Devon wrote: »

The only party that has even hinted at doing anything like the above is UKIP. All the others won't touch pensioners with a barge pole, no matter how much it costs everyone else.

Because we still see pensioners as 'the war years generation' - the battle hardened, poor, blitzed old people

In a few years, the people retiring will be the post-war generation who saw free university education, easy access to jobs and huge rewards in the housing market. Those guys don't need our help as much. Problem will be is they will be in huge numbers, affluent and ready to vote for stuff that benefits them.

grizzly1911

ringo_24601 wrote: »

Because we still see pensioners as 'the war years generation' - the battle hardened, poor, blitzed old people

In a few years, the people retiring will be the post-war generation who saw free university education, easy access to jobs and huge rewards in the housing market. Those guys don't need our help as much. Problem will be is they will be in huge numbers, affluent and ready to vote for stuff that benefits them.

Don't forget that our children are following you so we kind of do have an interest in what gets passed on.

grizzly1911

ringo_24601 wrote: »

Won't stop boozing, so uses tax-payer funded free medicines to neutralise the effects. Nice one.

Don't worry, people like me are loosing their child benefit allowances so that rich pensioners can get free stuff. I do hope they re-address that balancing in the coming years as a lot more wealthy baby-boomer start to milk the system dry

</rant>

I appreciate your rant but presumably someone in the exchequer weighs up the tax and duty taken against the cost of dealing with the problems.

If there is an imbalance why isn't something done to resolve the problem?

chucky

Graham_Devon wrote: »

You can say a lot about Farage, but one thing that does stand out is that principle stands head and shoulders above the desire for votes. And that has to be welcomed.

That doesn't make him right if he argues with members of the public.

Last night was a great opportunity for the Farage Roadshow to start. At one point I thought that it was him chairing the programme and not Mr Dimbleby.

[Deleted User]

grizzly1911 wrote: »

I appreciate your rant but presumably someone in the exchequer weighs up the tax and duty taken against the cost of dealing with the problems.

If there is an imbalance why isn't something done to resolve the problem?

[insert something pithy about the manipulation of the welfare state to win votes over the last 60 years]

Loughton_Monkey

ringo_24601 wrote: »

Won't stop boozing, so uses tax-payer funded free medicines to neutralise the effects. Nice one.

Don't worry, people like me are loosing their child benefit allowances so that rich pensioners can get free stuff. I do hope they re-address that balancing in the coming years as a lot more wealthy baby-boomer start to milk the system dry

</rant>

At least I said very strongly that I do not agree with my freebies. Please admit you gave all your child benefit back over tha last X years because you didn't need that either!

What do you want? Everyone lucky enough to have a FS pension giving £90K a year to decline to claim or receive their £6K state pension? That's not how the system works and I would suggest two or more faces in your tone. The degree to which I am in any way "rich" is down to saving my hard-earned money and very little else. I paid my tax.

Please explain why I should not use free prescriptions that have been legislated by our democraticly elected government. If Sainsbury offer buy one get one free should I just take one and tell them to give the other one to a starving child in India?

If you are losing child benefit, then you are in a two income family, at least one of which is on £50K+ and you 'rant' about milking the system and 'rich' pensioners?

I suggest that's a rather smug attitude on your own part. If you don't understand the word, look it up. You'll find it between "sanctimonious" and "specious".

[Deleted User]

This won't help your peptic ulcer you know

I'm really just sad that you'd rather medicate yourself than change your health-damaging lifestyle choices

I lived in Wales for 2 years, I thought free prescriptions were nice too

I'm more peeved about needing to do a self assessment than loosing the money from child benefit. I'd scrap it for all and build the money into tax credits. I accept my place as a hard working tax-paying machine for HMRC, but I hate paperwork.

Ho hum, my generation will make a FORTUNE selling care home space to your generation

wotsthat

Graham_Devon wrote: »

The only party that has even hinted at doing anything like the above is UKIP. All the others won't touch pensioners with a barge pole, no matter how much it costs everyone else.

All 3 parties are far too worried about the loss of votes. UKIP don't seem to care. Indeed, Farage last nigth was having an argument with an audience member. The other 3 parties wouldn't dream of doing such a thing, they'd simply avoid the question instead (which is what they did). But Farage focused in on it and argued it out with the women until they were both forced to wind it up.

You can say a lot about Farage, but one thing that does stand out is that principle stands head and shoulders above the desire for votes. And that has to be welcomed.

You don't understand politics. Farage craves votes just as much as the next politician.

He's paying attention to the focus groups which show that UKIP's supporters are interested in Europe and immigration and the economy comes a poor second.

As long as he is consistent on Europe and immigration the rest of the time can be spent impressing the gullible by doing things like arguing with an audience member on the telly.

Graham_Devon

wotsthat wrote: »

You don't understand politics. Farage craves votes just as much as the next politician.

Your put down is interesting, as politics is not something that can be "understood" on a single level. It's not something that's either right or wrong.

It's viewed differently by every single one of us. What you "understand" to be right is different to what I might "understand" to be right.

The point, before you found some way of disagreeing and coming up with a put down is that Farage was the only one on that panel to answer a question DIRECTLY. For doing so, he got some flack from a member of the audience. He then argued back his point.

All other politicians on the panel simply ignored the question and answered their own, pre-defined question which allowed them to put their point forward.

While Farage will gain votes from his focus on the point at hand, he will also lose them.

This, IMO, is the difference. He has principal whether you agree or disagree with him and he will stick to and argue out that principal, gaining and losing votes for doing so.

The majority of other politicians are too worried about losing votes, therefore take on board a question and answer a completely different one. Often the answer is so far away from answering the actual question, but put across in a way which attempts to pacify the majority.

Now, if this is me simply "not understanding", fine. However, I was listening to QT on the radio. They continue with a phone in after. From what you say, the majority of the callers didn't "understand" politics either. So maybe, just maybe, we all take different stuff from politics and it's not there to be understood on whatever level you deem to be the correct one.