What would you cut?

[RuleBritannia]

Middle management across the entire public sector. Half of them just go to meetings about what to discuss in the next meeting and are a total waste of resources. A large percentage of them could be culled.

Would that actually be a saving though? I would think that most "middle managers" have mortgages, children etc. So that's job seekers allowence, housing benefits, child benefits etc.

[Rum]

Middle management across the entire public sector. Half of them just go to meetings about what to discuss in the next meeting and are a total waste of resources. A large percentage of them could be culled.

Would that actually be a saving though? I would think that most "middle managers" have mortgages, children etc. So that's job seekers allowence, housing benefits, child benefits etc.

You raise an interesting point. The 40 % of the economy that goes is the public sector, most of which is spent on wages does not just go down the plug hole. Those people use their wages to buy cars, Dev's wine, cinema tickets and the rest. It is money which gets circulated and actually keeps a lot of people in the private sector in employment. Brown and Darling factored this in. The Conservatives may be aware of this - I am sure they are - but they are willing to cut despite this. Thus the threat of the 'double dip' recession - which is quite real.

[ED209]

All grants, charitable statuses, and subsidies to religious organisations and establishments (including schools - we pay for them anyway, so run them for the whole community and stop religious fuckwits wasting classroom time on prayers), legalise and tax cannabis and MDMA for starters, Trident.

[Xamonas Chegwé]

Every cut is a job-loss.

Reduce the scandalously profligate overuse of paperclips in the department of putting things next to slightly larger things and some poor cunt in the paperclip factory gets his papers.

Increasing joblessness reduces tax income, increases benefits and undoes all of the good work done by the cut in the first place!

The most effective measures are those that target a very few, vastly overpaid people - this has maximum effect while minimising those added to the dole queues. So behead the richest 200 people in the country and seize their assets. zero increase in unemployment plus shitloads added to the public purse.

What is more, announce that this will be repeated every year and just watch those corporate bonuses dwindle as every top executive fights to get his head below the 'cut-off' income level!

[quisquose]

Decriminalise all drugs, not just cannabis.

Fantastic idea.

The so called "war on drugs" ... how much does that cost? £1.5bn apparently, and that doesn't include the money spent on fighting drugs related crimes which must be three times as much. Then we could tax it.

It makes perfect sense. Plus as a bonus it would offend the Daily Mail readers plus all the other sundry "morally righteous" types.

If that fails we could just sell The Falklands to Argentina. If they win the World Cup they'll be in the mood for paying some loopy price.

[Pappa]

Every cut is a job-loss.

Not if you use a guillotine!

[devogue]

Instead of squeezing everyone to pay the debt, why not do what every bastard does and just declare the country bankrupt.

Sorry America, sorry, France, sorry everyone - we're not paying our debts - what are you going to do? Invade us? Stop trading with us?

[Svartalf]

I'd start by cutting off the heads of the fricking hanovers and of every member of the accursed tories and whigs, especially those that are currently in any sort of elected office.

[Svartalf]

Cut Wales. The UK doesn't really need Wales, does it?

and give the 6 Northern Counties back to Ireland, even if you have to repatriate the british subjects living there (esp rev paisley)

[Clinton Huxley]

Maybe we could collect bottle tops and melt down railings and have a Blue Peter appeal.

[devogue]

Cancel Children in Need this year.

That will save about £30,000,000.

[Clinton Huxley]

The deficit is £176bn a year. Total debt is around a £1trillion. There's is only one thing for it - a charity raffle. £1 Billion a ticket and you could win one of the Home Counties.

[Horwood Beer-Master]

Cut Wales. The UK doesn't really need Wales, does it?

and give the 6 Northern Counties back to Ireland, even if you have to repatriate the british subjects living there (esp rev paisley)

Give? Come-on, we're trying to cut the deficit here!!!


Sell the six northern counties back to Ireland!

[ficklefiend]

I feel sooo sorry for students in England if they are going to get buggered again by this government even more than the last one. It looks like it. I just hope the Scottish government can continue to cushion students in Scotland. Yes, there are too many easy degrees now for lazy people to slip into, but higher education is one of our most important assets. With our industries gone we are a country of graduates. If cuts are to be made, then I would make a table of the most to least need in graduate degrees and charging accordingly.

Actually I would cut down in the NHS, but absolutely NOT on nurses as they are doing in Scotland. (unbelievably stupid care-wise and very unfair on those newly graduated nurses) The management structure I'm sure could do with some pruning. I would take away free and very cheap prescriptions because I don't think they make sense economically. I would take a serious look at charging a capped amount for the very expensive cancer drugs which are crippling our drug budgets.

I have met a few people who work for our local council, who freely admit they are paid good money for sitting at a desk doing almost nothing. Local councils whine about not getting more money each year, but I think they need to look internally at where that money is disappearing and not just what they are spending on externally. Ours seems to cut anything and everything they are PAID to be FUNDING e.g-PUBLIC FUCKING SERVICES before they'd dare to question themselves.

VAT increase sounds like a good idea, but won't they be scared about people not buying stuff?

[devogue]

VAT increase sounds like a good idea, but won't they be scared about people not buying stuff?

As a retailer I can say that when VAT dropped to 15% nobody batted an eyelid. I would imagine that if it rises from 17.5% to 20% there won't be much grief either, at least on day to day purchases.