Re: UK to be bankrupt by 2014
 

A sound argument for a single tax rate imo ,the original idea of NI contributions was to fund the NHS and pensions afaik and since that has not happened for quite some time ,why not scrap NI's and fund out of general taxation .

Stopping foreign aid will only increase the welfare budget across Europe as starving and homeless people flock to other countries ,the European aid budget serves as a means of keeping people in their own countries

Re: UK to be bankrupt by 2014
 

Well,we'll need an HONEST discussion about this... I get the feeling that people think that since the NHS is 'free' that we should be grateful for the government to provide it in the first place. Unfortunately since it comes out of general taxation the NHS is vastly underfunded,but since it's a socialist system that covers everyone that is somehow good enough....

No,it isn't.... We can't expect top medical care and expect to pay nothing for it.

But then of course people will go into this whole spiel how it's unfair and everyone should get equal treatment and bla bla rubbish. :rolleyes:

Re: UK to be bankrupt by 2014
 

better them than us. Europe have loved fact they have come here. Remember the French whining because of the camp Songat was it? telling us we should let more in.

Re: UK to be bankrupt by 2014
 

Hence an additional tax so people know they're paying for it and can see how much it costs. Also the NHS should treat people equally. You don't want a country where people can't afford treatment, I don't want to think we're that kind of society.

Re: UK to be bankrupt by 2014
 

A big major, major problewm this country has, is the government running it.

We have a NHS run by pen pushers, who are ripping off the NHS with there high wages to themself, and yet the most important people the Drts and Nurses getting paid a pittance of a wage.

Too many private companies thinking they can run it and fall flat on there backside.

Osborne has borrowed MORE money than any other chancellor in living memory. The most inmportant thing we need in this country is jobs for the work force.

We have the evil bedroom tax that idiot at no 10 wont axe, we have more food banks than ever before.

If that idiot doesn't do anything soon, we wont have no power to give us utilities - why they wont spend money - instead of putting it there pockets - they claim they deserve money wages and expenses.

Re: UK to be bankrupt by 2014
 

Not the government that got us in to this position?

As for doctors earning a 'pittance', let me refer you to this:

http://www.nhscareers.nhs.uk/explore...y-for-doctors/

I don't call £55k - £81k a year a 'pittance'.

Re: UK to be bankrupt by 2014
 

I was watching a webcast of a previous council meeting of mine. there was a job that was quoted £250,000 for by one company, and £900,000 by another.
and they were talking about asking the £900,000 one if they could do it any cheaper. nearer to the £250,000 quote.

one councillor was asking why are we being ripped off, and asking them if they can do it cheaper? why don't we just save the publics money and give the contract to the the £250,000 one?

a couple of the other councillors replied rather sheepishly that the £900,000 one was on the list of the councils preferred contractors.

all corrupt to the core!

amongst that issue there was another issue about missing money from the sale of land sold by the council.
you just know by their faces that a couple of them have nicked it!!

Government bodies, councils and the like are the worst people for wasting, spending, losing and nicking publics money.
it's been going on for years. and in many cases will still keep carrying on. it's all about money and corruption.

I think when this big thing suddenly kicks in. you're going to see a lot of MPs, government bodies and the like flee the country with all the money they've swindled.

that's what's happening now. blank cheques galore :)

Re: UK to be bankrupt by 2014
 

Isn't that how it already works

Re: UK to be bankrupt by 2014
 

You don't qualify for the proper state pension until you've amassed, I think, 40 years of NI contributions. I think he is talking about linking the amount with what you've put in in terms of cash however.

Re: UK to be bankrupt by 2014
 

Isn't that what already happens, you qualify for the full pension after a set period.

Re: UK to be bankrupt by 2014
 

Yes but this would mean everyone gets differentiating amounts based on the total sum they put it. I imagine. In the current case a minimum wage worker who has 40 years of contributions gets the same as high-earner who also has their 40 years.

Re: UK to be bankrupt by 2014
 

Really? In a previous job I worked for a while in the accounts dept of a large hospital and I can assure you Doctors are not paid a pittance. Close to Six figure salaries were on offer to some and this was 10+ years ago so I doubt they've had a pay cut since then.

Plus part of the current high demand on A&E depts is down to GPs contracts being renegotiated by the last government which pretty much abolished night and weekend cover for minor ailments.

Re: UK to be bankrupt by 2014
 

Actually, you are oversimplifying the problem there. For one thing, Doctors certainly are not paid a pittance, even compared to other careers that require similar levels of qualification. Regarding Nurses, some do an amazing job and do deserve a good salary. Others do naff all, and just sit their doing the minimum they can. Sorry my opinion of Nurses is a little harsh, but it was formed when I was doing accounts at my local hospital and was able to find evidence that some nurses were skimping slightly on portions for patient meals then giving the difference to themselves. Essentially stealing food from patients. The real villians, IMO, in the NHS are the private companies running the contracts. The system under which the NHS worked when I worked there was too open to abuse by the contractor, and the contractee (the NHS itself) was too restricted in the actions it could take when enforcing the contract. This leads me to my next point:
Most private companies are perfectly capable of running hospitals. They just are unwilling (or unable, as they have to justify it to their shareholders) to spend the money required. This why they fall flat.

I think you missed the end of one of those sentences.. Osbourne has borrowed more money than any other chancellor in living memory to pay the interest on the previous government's borrowings.
The bedroom thing is a double edged sword. While even I can see it's unfair to tax a little old lady or mother with a disabled child* because they have a bedroom they are not using, it's equally unfair that some councils have put tenants in 6 or 8 bedroom houses because they have more than two kids.

I think one way around it is for the government to actively encourage councils (or housing associations) to build more homes.

The trouble is, successive governments (on both sides) have failed to tackle big business, and, in fact, seem frightened of it.


*on a side note, does anyone find it odd that while the Daily Mirror will happily trot out stories about old ladies or single parents with disabled children being affected by the government's actions, they were silent when the previous Labour government made changes to the benefit system that made the whole claiming process much harder and more stressful on the very people the Daily Mirror is now accusing the Tories of victimising?

Re: UK to be bankrupt by 2014
 

Sounds a little unfair - I have paid NI for the last 39 years, the last 20 years at the maximum amount, and I will pay in for the next 10 years (minimum).

During this time, I have also contributed to a number of Pension Schemes (due to moving jobs), and invested in my house by extending/improving it rather than taking holidays some years.

So, over 49 years I will have worked hard, contributed in both NI and tax (which I have no issue with), saved up rather than blown my money on frippery when I couldn't afford it, and it would appear it would be better if I stopped saving/being careful, spend what I have now, and let the State (i.e. those who pay NI and taxes (in one form or another)) take care of me......

btw, NI was never just for pensions, it was also to pay for the day to day running of the NHS.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/10078062

Re: UK to be bankrupt by 2014
 

Which is a stupid way to save money.. I don't know the exact figures, but I was told by a friend of my mums (who was quite high up in our local A&E department at the time, and certainly had access to the figures) that it costs the NHS as a whole considerably more to treat a patient at A&E for a minor ailment than it does for the GP to treat that minor ailment.