What would you cut?

[Rum]

Currently here in the UK we are being softened up by our new government for major cuts to government expenditure, which when we see them will make the public blanche I have no doubt at all.

We don't know the half of it frankly at this point. They are even trying to lead us, like Turkeys deciding when to be butchered for Christmas, into a pseudo consultation process so that the public are 'involved' in crippling our public services.

Assuming that we have little choice here, what and where would you cut costs in government expenditure?

Serious, semi serious and frivolous responses all acceptable!

(Brought to you by the 'movement to get Ratz semi serious now and again' sub-committee)

[cowiz]

Cut cheese tax

[floppit]

I'd rather have wage cuts than lost jobs. I'd rather have wage cuts than lost services. So, I guess I'd cut wages but only of those earning more than £20K FTE.

I also liked the idea of a short term extra tax. I'd (again) rather know I'll lose 2 or 3 hundred quid a year than sit wondering what will be axed. I'm scared shitless they'll cut health and I know they will - but that's a bit selfish really as it's not as though other services don't matter.

I also question libraries in wealthy areas, poor areas no question, but seriously, people living in flippin' palaces do NOT need to borrow books FOC in the age of the internet! I'd also stop building so many new kids parks - let them get something called imagination, a field, some trees - all is good.

Oh oh and axe the shit out of farming subsidies for those who have assets (over debt) exceeding 3 million squid! We pay the richest huge, unspeakable, sums of money year in year out which they use to go eventing, play polo and bleet about how fucking hard life is!

I don't see my plans being popular with the Tories though - do you?

[Rum]

I think the 'short term extra tax' will be an immediate increase of VAT to 20%. It is the easiest one to implement and will raise a lot of money very quickly. I would put a bet on that.

The stuff you and I do will be hammered too.

[Clinton Huxley]

I'd close the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh Assembly.

I'd move PArliament to the Floral Hall in Southport.

[tattuchu]

I thought this was going to be another thread about circumcision I should be more circumspect when circumnavigating these threads in order to...um...circumvent...oh, i give up

[Clinton Huxley]

I'd impose a derail tax upon Rationalia.

[Rum]

I'd impose a derail tax upon Rationalia.

This would solve the deficit problem overnight!

[Clinton Huxley]

I'd impose a derail tax upon Rationalia.

This would solve the deficit problem overnight!

Sideboard.

Quebec

That'll be £10.

[quisquose]

Most of my immediate family, including my wife, have good jobs in the NHS. All of them have seen their salaries improve quite dramatically in the last 13 years. Back then my wife's salary was some 30% behind mine, but like many in the public sector she accepted this as normal since she had more job security and a pension. Today her salary is still 30% behind mine, despite going part-time (3 days per week) and invalidating herself from any promotions. "Agenda for change" in particular cost the taxpayer dear.

I was talking to my brother-in-law about this just this weekend. He is a medical consultant in the NHS and his salary has increased 150%, yes 150%, in the last 13 years. He is fully expecting to see his salary frozen for some time.

I can't comment for other areas of the public sector, but would be very surprised if it's not a similar story.

[RuleBritannia]

Trident.

[Feck]

Scrap Trident,decriminalise cannabis ,Double the tax on Lager ,nationalise the churches ,charge students twice as much for all Art and social "science" degrees ...... A large tax on mobile phones , retax gambling , reinstate dog licences ,charge for the licence to have kids.
Petrol to cost double for French cars ,road tax to be £1000 pa for all large 4x4's registered in urban areas .

[RuleBritannia]

Decriminalise all drugs, not just cannabis.

[Horwood Beer-Master]

I'd cut all the fucking useless PFI (or whatever name they're given these days) contracts. We are currently paying more money for a worse service then if we ran all these things direct, it's the most grotesque and gratuitous waste of public money and it's gone on for too long. This includes getting rid of City Shitty Academies.


Oh, and while we're at it (and for precisely the same reason) renationalise the sodding railways.


Other suggestions, cut as far back as we can on spending for the 2012 Olympics, cut the civil list, cut spending to the Arts Council (sorry, but as was pointed out in an episode of Yes Minister, art can survive on private patronage), have a big cull of unnecessary quangos, slashing cuts to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (probably one of the more needlessly overbloated departments) and flog-off or lease out a load of the Crown Estate.

Also either make the SFO and FSA actually do their sodding job, or scrap them as well. If we're foolishly not going to bother regulating our financial services sector, then at least we can not pay to have then not regulated.

We also need to raise income tax, but also make the tax fairer and stamp down hard of tax-avoidance schemes. Have a slashing round of wage cuts among all the current highest wage positions in all government departments, as well as in all organisations run/funded by government. Threaten to slash central government funding to any council that doesn't have a similar round of wage-cuts for their highest paid positions. Identify and tax all the riskiest financial behaviour in the City.

Do not cut health.

Do not cut education.

Raise funding for Science.


It's unnecessary to add "don't cut funding to the DWP", since with the amount of people who are going to be losing their jobs, the Tories couldn't cut funding to the DWP even if they wanted to - not with all the extra Job Seeker's Allowance they are going to have to pay out.

[Xamonas Chegwé]

When Henry VIII was short of a bob or two, he dissolved the monasteries and seized all of their assets. In my onion, he didn't go far enough. Dissolve the CofE and seize all of its land and assets. And might as well do the same to all other religions while we're at it.

Need a new hospital? Gut a mosque.