The Con - Dem nation!


Number2Fan

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Well we'll have to agree to disagree on this I reckon.

Labour did not cause this and the Tories are going about it in a way that makes life harder for nearly all of us but the rich.

I'm off to buy a Mars Bar now with this weeks 87p that I suddenly have leftover..

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Yeah we'll have to disagree. I'm not really sure how you think you'd be better off if Labour were in power unless you were on benefits. They're the only ones that are worse off - and thats only because they were given money that the country didn't have, which is why we're now billions in debt.

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I'm not on benefits I work hard and so does my partner.

So whats the problem? Like the rest of us, you work, earn a salary, get taxed on it, then live off what's left over. We're all having to pay increasing costs in fuel, food and gas bills, etc.

I'm struggling to see how you think you should be better off when the money isn't there for the government to give us? You weren't happy with the 87p a week increase - but in reality, in the current mess, we were lucky not to have extra taken from us. Labour left us billions of pounds in debt due to wreckless giving away of money that we didn't have.

Also, if you think the rich are better off now - then perhaps keep in mind that it was Labour that let the bankers take home £100,000+ bonuses - and its the current government that have just put an end to that ;)

I see people on benefits alot tho, and they aren't any more worse off than I am. ??

In fact many of them have alot more money coming into their houses than we do. Still.

Which the current government are sorting out. It was the party you're trying to defend that gave them all those benefits that are making them better off than you. The current government are taking those away.

I'm not being rude - but the things you're complaining about are things that were all introduced by Labour. The current government are sorting those out - yet your against them? Very odd.

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I just fail to see how 'this' is better.

But someone had to quit the thread :)

I'm not really that arsed to be honest. I just get frustrated at the "anti-Thatcher" brigade who whinge and moan about the current government - but can't actually state how they're suddenly any worse off because of changes that the current government have made.

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I was quite pleasantly surprised with the budget as well. I was imagining it could have been much worse.

I agree mate. I was expecting taxes and the usual suspects to rise - so it was nice to see we've been let off for at least a year.

I think it was a very fair budget overall.

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Increased VAT (definitely has affected me)

Scrapping tax credits for working parents under a specific wage

Plans to scrap Child benefit (despite saying they wouldn't)

Proposed increases in tuition fees has priced my daughter out of the uni Market and I'm yet to see what they do to substitue EMA but let's face it, it probably means my daughter won't be entitled.

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Increased VAT (definitely has affected me)

Scrapping tax credits for working parents under a specific wage

Plans to scrap Child benefit (despite saying they wouldn't)

Proposed increases in tuition fees has priced my daughter out of the uni Market and I'm yet to see what they do to substitue EMA but let's face it, it probably means my daughter won't be entitled.

Vat is only an extra 2-and-a-half pence in the pound - so 25p in every tenner? Can't see that making a huge life-changing difference to anyone. That should only affect people that are making big purchases such as a car - and lets face it, if people can afford a new car, then they're not struggling for money anyway. We didn't all become mega rich when Labour dropped it to 15% - so this VAT increase isn't going to make a lot of difference on small purchases.

Scrapping tax credits - fair enough - but that had to be done really.

I'm pretty sure they U-turned on Child benefit though and thats staying?

As for the tuition fees - that was introduced by Labour.

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Vat is only an extra 2-and-a-half pence in the pound - so 25p in every tenner? Can't see that making a huge life-changing difference to anyone. That should only affect people that are making big purchases such as a car - and lets face it, if people can afford a new car, then they're not struggling for money anyway. We didn't all become mega rich when Labour dropped it to 15% - so this VAT increase isn't going to make a lot of difference on small purchases.

Scrapping tax credits - fair enough - but that had to be done really.

I'm pretty sure they U-turned on Child benefit though and thats staying?

As for the tuition fees - that was introduced by Labour.

VAT increase is massive! 2.5% is huge when you think about how much money you actually spend on everything - I put £50 in my car per week in petrol, over the course of a month, a year and further onwards it's a huge levy.

Labour were going to do something similar anyway so it's not a party specific measure.

The Tories have let Universities charge what they like and it will affect people - it wasn't a Labour measure to give free reigh to unis when setting fees and quite frankly £9k per year is extortionate!

Tax credits were such a massive cost (in the way that they were managed as much as anything) and people abused them so badly that it was inevitable that they were going to go.

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VAT increase is massive! 2.5% is huge when you think about how much money you actually spend on everything - I put £50 in my car per week in petrol, over the course of a month, a year and further onwards it's a huge levy.

Its not that bad. If we spent £1000 a month on items a month under Labour - then the total payout inc VAT would have been £1175 per month. Under the current government, it would be £1200 a month - £25 a month more. A good sum of money - but hardly make or break - and lets face it, if we can afford to spend £1000 a month to spend on various items, then we're not in a position to moan about struggling anyway.

The Tories have let Universities charge what they like and it will affect people - it wasn't a Labour measure to give free reigh to unis when setting fees and quite frankly £9k per year is extortionate!

This is true - it was the coalition government that agreed to that - but it was Labour that ditched the free tuition fees to start with - so either way, she'd have had to pay tuition fees.

Tax credits were such a massive cost (in the way that they were managed as much as anything) and people abused them so badly that it was inevitable that they were going to go.

This ^^

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I'm with Briggsy on VAT as well. The increase is really only very small for day to day purchases. I guess Tom makes a good point though about its effect on fuel. The knock on effect of fuel price increase due to VAT is that food which should be VAT exempt ends up costing more because of increased transport costs etc. So I guess the total difference the extra 2.5% makes could be much more complex than simply another 2.5% on goods.

That said I still don't see it having a huge impact on what people can afford. We may all have to tighten the belt a bit to get by but I don't think we'll starve. For me I have just cut back on the number of visits to the pub I make. I can easily spend £20 when I just pop in for a couple of drinks with 2 or 3 mates. Cut out one of those trips a month and you've nearly saved Briggsy's £25 on £1000 worth of purchases and I certainly dont make that amount of purchases a month. Just a simple example but though times are tough, life does go on. I do agree that the defecit needs sorting so I can't really complain if the government deal with it by making cuts or increasing taxes as that's what I'm expecting them to do in this situation. The fact that the recent budget wasn't full of harsh cuts and tax rises was a nice surprise. I guess I tend to expect the worst and therefore end up generally feeling better about the results even when they still aren't amazing.

We can't expect the massive debt the country is in to ever decrease if there aren't cuts and taxes. It's just part of life and I'm afraid I don't see it getting much better or really any other options.

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Would've loved to have seen what the budget would've been like had Labour still been in power.... I dont know how anyone can defend the last government in power.

I cannot understand why people cant realise that Labour got us into this shitty mess, they were in power since, what, 1997, look where we are now from the smug git Tony Blair to the Scottish Dribbler Gordon Brown! They did a fine job of running this country...... *sarcasm alert*

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People are fooling themselves if they think the Conservatives give a Damn about working and lower middle class. Corporation tax was cut. It will be workers who will end up paying for that. Then the 50% tax rate will go at the next budget. How many on this forum will that benefit?

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People are fooling themselves if they think the Conservatives give a Damn about working and lower middle class.

People are also fooling themselves if they think the Labour party are 'working class party' too. Their spell in power proved that they weren't.

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Interesting Read Here (click)

Maybe it's because I'm supporting a family and need future hope for them that I feel so differenty to the Tory voters?

Although you cannot imagine how I was better off under Labour, how exactly are you all better off under the Tory government, and lets face it too, it is a Tory Government and not a Coalition, Nick Clegg really should be hanging his head in shame. :(

Personally I liked the prospect of a Lib-Lab deal but it wasn't to be.... :rolleyes:

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To be honest, the whole discussion is fairly irrelevant because whether we like it or not, we've got a coalition government and that isn't going to change anytime soon.

Its far too early to tell whether we're going to be worse off or better off - the time to judge is in around 4 years time, which the current government have said that if the way they're working goes to plan, then the deficit should be pretty much wiped out. If it all goes tits up, then their plan will have failed and then thats the time to criticise.

If their plan works out, there should be some money in the pot - and then we might get to see tax relief, investment back into the country and relevant benefits may be introduced on a "if you need it, you can have it" basis (which is how it should be done anyway), etc.

Until then, we're in for a rough ride thanks to Labour spending money that we simply hadn't got.

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