Wednesday 22 April 2009

Alternative UK Budget 2009


Well CityUnslicker's really.

(Bill Quango is at home claiming the last of his expenses after yesterday's shock annoucnemnt)


- End public sector pension schemes from today onwards and announce that any new public sector worker will be on a defined contribution scheme like in the private sector.

- Move MP's to defined contribution pension scheme from beginning of next parliament.

- There are over 1000 quango's, promise to close at least 250 throughout the course of this budgetary year.

- Re-impose stamp duty and do not support the housing market. next year, when prices have stabilised will be the time to support this action.

- Increase VAT back to 17.5% as this policy clearly failed.

- Small rises in alocohol and tobacco taxes

- End child benefit for higher earning couples



- Do not encourage people to buy more cars

- Do not raid private sector pensions again when the 1997 raid destroyed the best system in the Western World.

- Don't raise any extra taxes on income, allow people to spend what they have.

- Do not encourage saving this year by raising isa thresholds more than the minimum. Announce a large increase for next year.

-Do not move tax bands with wage inflation, leave them the same, 'reward' those in work.


- Use the savings/tax rises to pay down potential borrowing and at least try and balance the books. Do not issue £200 billion of long-dated guilts that will saddle my toddler children with debt.


That is what I would do, I will not be surprised to see this as the diamtetric of what Darling proposes

8 comments:

Bill Quango MP said...

I resent that expenses slur.I shall publish them before the newspapers do.
I am in the house listening to "eyebrows"
I have "global= 16 times" on the sweepstake. I think that's going to be much to low.

asquith said...

Re: child benefit. Wouldn't imposing a means test be too much like hard work? We have seen from shite like working tax credits that it often goes wrong. I foresee that, particularly in households whose income fluctuates, such a policy may be trouble.

Better, in my view, to withdraw child support from those with over 3 children. This would also remove a pernicious incentive to have large families. After all, no one has suggested that this country is underpopulated.

Let it not be denied that many are having children who are not coping well with them & it is morally questionable to encourage them via the tax & benefits system (I suspect that many of your commentors would have less polite ways of phrasing that).

I am quite moderate when it comes to the welfare state as I think it is too hard to distinguish the merely unlucky from the lowlife & the former would be the first to lose out under any severe strictures.

I can see the need for means tests in some cases, but I do dislike them.

Tom Powdrill said...

"End public sector pension schemes from today onwards and announce that any new public sector worker will be on a defined contribution scheme like in the private sector."

What about defined benefit schemes in the private sector? Contrary to popular belief there are still quite a few big schemes left.

And why DC, rather than career average, hybrid or some other design?

To call for a mass transfer to DC is basically to argue to exposure more people to investment risk. That maybe fair enough, but what is the policy objective in a this?

CityUnslicker said...

Tom P - the objective is to cut expenditure on the pubilc pensions.
The country simply cannot afford gold plated pensions. the argument of yesteryear was that civil servants had poor pay. Well today civil service pay is higher than average private sector pay; and yet the gold plated pensions remain.
In an ideal world we would increase tax relief on DC schemes to make them a better option. but this will have to wait until after we have sorted out the finances in the next few years.

Tom Powdrill said...

I'm not actually opposed to reform of public sector schemes (I don't work in the sector and I'm in a DC scheme myself, so vested interest). But I genuinely don't get the desire on the Right to vandalise the remaining good pension schemes out there.

Unless you propose paying less as a % contribution into new DC schemes for the public sector than the current employer cont you won't save any money. If you do pay less it will make the public sector far less attractive as a place to work (maybe that's the idea?)

ho hum

AntiCitizenOne said...

Want to align the government with the people???

Make MPs pensions consist solely of 25 year gilt investments...

Martin S said...

I wonder how many Quangos duplicate the work of other Quangos? 1,000 does seem a lot. A cull would be sensible.

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