On a scale of 1 to 10, we're Fcked!

[escapeUK]

Thing is, everyone is complaining about higher taxes, but that's what happens if you want better services.

For context, the UK tax burden is around 34% and rising to 38% within 5 years. In France is 46% and had been for a long time.
You can see however, how much better things are there with infrastructure such as trains.
It's not perfect, but it's not crumbling.

Yes, tax income needs to be spent efficiently but you don't get European standard services on US levels of tax.

While many of the Telegraph and Mail readers will look back fondly to the tax cuts of the 80's, these were funded from a one off bonanza - North Sea oil. This is never coming back and was frittered away by the Tories.
The more enlightened nations such as the Scandis set up sovereign wealth fund with their bonus and continue to reap the rewards of that wisdom today.

To those who might leave the UK, I say bon voyage! We need people like you to help balance the net migration figures. Go for it.

Ok, lets reduce the cost of housing and energy to French levels then we can pay more tax. And we'd still have more disposable income than most people in UK do now!

We cannot have sky high treasure island prices for everything and high taxes too. It doesn't work.

"Average UK household £8,800 a year worse off than those in France or Germany" And thats from 2022, so much worse now with high mortgage rates.

Also, when people say they want better services, what they are actually saying is why am I paying £1500 for a £50 bin collection service and the council makes it every fortnight? Why are the pavements covered in litter? Paying £2000 won't get you a better weekly service, they'll just fritter it away on bike lanes and 20 mph signs. So only idiots equate paying more with a better service when it comes to taxation. Council tax has doubled in 20 years, and everything got worse except public scroungers wages and pensions.

[NotAllThere]

Thing is, everyone is complaining about higher taxes, but that's what happens if you want better services.

*cough* Switzerland *cough*

[ladymuck]

You could always take part in the public consultation on the NHS

https://change.nhs.uk/en-GB/

Just need similar consultations on other parts of the public sector.

[WTFH]

That is a very simplistic interpretation I'm afraid. But probably no point in explaining why.

A bit like the simplistic interpretation that even though Truss wrote off £30bn, because the economy has grown by that amount, then we can just forget about the £30bn her government cost the country.

[willendure]

Thing is, everyone is complaining about higher taxes, but that's what happens if you want better services.

The problem is... we are not raising taxes to pay for better services. We are raising taxes to compensate for government receipts falling in real terms as inflation overtakes growth. We are also raising taxes to pay for a rising benefits bill - you may have heard of the demographic timebomb? - boomers are retiring, there are a lot of them, their pensions were never funded but are payed out of government receipts. Basically our country is in too much debt (or unfunded liabilities) and is attempting to use taxation to solve that. It isn't going to to work because it will dampen economic activity, the very activity which is essential to funding government tax receipts in the first place.

How close are we really to a catastophic debt/GDP ratio? Currently somewhere around 100% I think, and maybe 120% would be the level from which no recovery is possible.

[DoctorStrangelove]

Inconsiderate boomers bringing up all these whining kids and even more whining grandkids.

Durex was a home's best friend. .

[willendure]

Inconsiderate boomers bringing up all these whining kids and even more whining grandkids.

Durex was a home's best friend. .

The boomer generation is the biggest in this and most western countries. Its the generation that had the boomers that created the population bulge. Can hardly blame them, they lived through WW2 before having kids.

[willendure]

[FIERCE TANK BATTLE]

<pic all the remoaners have been frothing over>

It is pretty normal for something replacing something else to take a small while to get up to speed.

The UK paid in more than it got out of this scheme. Now it does not have to pay that.

The figures are speculative, loss is not measured in money, basically there are no facts along with this image other than a small contingent of people still hellbent on clinging to every negative news story about the UK and blaming Brexit for it, while everyone else forgot about Brexit on account of it being mostly irrelevant and not connected to any metrics, many of which show the UK outperforming various EU countries.

Thing is, everyone is complaining about higher taxes, but that's what happens if you want better services.

That is not correct, if we put the tax rate to 100% we do not get TRUCK loads of public money, there's a sweet spot, and it's already been argued that we're there now hence the budget being so difficult to squeeze more money out of the country.

Personally I work up to the higher tax bracket and stop. I don't see the point in losing so much more money. If they lower the bracket, I lower the work I do, they get less tax, I get less money to spend and more days off doing nothing productive for society.

Already I am planning my exit from the UK.

[sadkingbilly]

Personally I work up to the higher tax bracket and stop. I don't see the point in losing so much more money. If they lower the bracket, I lower the work I do, they get less tax, I get less money to spend and more days off doing nothing productive for society.

Already I am planning my exit from the UK.

well, DLTDSYAOTWO.
(and can you take that other winging twat Euk with you?)