The Budget

I don't have the answers MDS and I am not moralising either. And I agree wholeheartedly that it is a travesty when children or spouses suffer as a consequence of a dad's or mum's addiction but making me and people like me pay more tax is not the answer either.

I don't know the best way of dealing with mum or dad's drink, betting or drug etc addiction but I don't think it's through the tax or welfare system. That would be too blunt an instrument which would too often have undesirable side effects.  But I think the welfare system might at least mitigate some of the effects of those addictions on the families & dependents of such addicts.   

If the budget hadn’t included unnecessary tax cuts, there could have been more money for local authorities to put into the Troubled Families programme, which addresses exactly these things, and tries to turn families around. Getting people off benefits and out of trouble gets them working, paying tax, saves benefits and most importantly gives them a better life. When I was working we had youth workers in parks at night befriending young people with drug problems and making a real difference. But when the government cuts forced reductions in discretionary services, the youth service was hammered. Giving everyone £10 a month more won’t change their lives, but add up all the cash and it really is possible to change the lives of those who can really benefit. 

My Dad's a working class, labour voting bloke from the north-east. 

In the 70s/80s he earned a crust on the oil rigs in the North Sea, sometimes doing 12/16 hour shifts consecutively for  fourteen days or nights. 

When he came home I think its fair to say he had earned a pint or two. I remember him always grumbling when he came back from the pub about this person or that person who was always in there or the betting shop even though they had never had a job.

I didn't take much notice as I was too busy enjoying myself listening to the Fall and Half Man Half Biscuit but, looking back, I dare say that what gripped his shit was working hard away from home in treacherous conditions with the fruits of his labour then being distributed to the undeserving by the government by means of punitive income tax rates.

We live in a society which has a tax-funded welfare state and health service. It's a slippery slope when folk say who should and shouldn't be deserving of benefits and tax breaks. That could lead to hospitals turning away people with lung cancer for treatment because they smoke, or refusing alcaholics liver transplants. 

Education ........ is the answerr ....innit ....

Jonners wrote :

'..It's a slippery slope when folk say who should and shouldn't be deserving of benefits and tax breaks.'

Nope.

Its what we expect and demand in fact as tax payers and we delegate this  to our elected representatives. Who gets benefits and how much they receive is a normal function of government and is always open to debate as seen in the controversy around the changes to Disability allowance and the newly introduced Universal credit scheme.

So I am not playing God here, just one of the daft buggers who pays the bill.

Ray

thebigfredc posted:

Jonners wrote :

'..It's a slippery slope when folk say who should and shouldn't be deserving of benefits and tax breaks.'

Nope.

Its what we expect and demand in fact as tax payers and we delegate this  to our elected representatives. Who gets benefits and how much they receive is a normal function of government and is always open to debate as seen in the controversy around the changes to Disability allowance and the newly introduced Universal credit scheme.

So I am not playing God here, just one of the daft buggers who pays the bill.

Ray

I hear what you are saying Ray. Its very easy for those of "us" who have comfortable lives and have always paid in without taking out to moralise over the recipients of the fruits of our labour. I feel a distinction needs to be made between directing that judgment toward Government, not individuals whether they are the poorest or the richest in society.