Budget good or bad for you?

[Ian_W]

Just curious as to what others thought of yesterday's budget? Is it good or bad for you?

[Little Miss Urchin]

A penny on cider? Bad!!

 

Like the reduction in the basic rate of income tax, just a shame we'll have to wait another year for it.

[The Invisible Man]

As far as I can make out, he gave with one hand and took with the other, but yet again it seems that the better off you are, you more you get (well obviously but you know what I mean).

 

Usual suspects get clobbered, beer and cider... petrol and diesel. Are house prices infrance still good and low??????

 

The predictable tosh about "gas guzzlers". Yawn. A barely disguised ploy to get taxes up and still appear to be the good guy. What does he expect owners of cars with moderate to large engines to do, all rush out and pout them up for sale? Hmm, maybe the prices might drop making it impossible to get rid of them so... we keep them all on the road while increasing tax revenue. Of course IF they could all be disposed of (maybe the government would like to buy them in the interests of the environment they're so keen on?) the owners would have to go out and buy a replacement car.... now, half the emissions of a car are actually produced in its manufacture. Doesn't that make a lot of sense?

 

Can anyone tell me what a "zero carbon house" is? Presumably one that is not connnected to mains electricity, gas, water or drains?

 

I'd like to vote for someone else (despite being a lifelong Labour voter) but I can't see any fundemental difference between the three main parties. Where's Lord Sutch when you need him?

 

At least Stalin made the trains run on time.........

 

 

[Sharming Paula]

Good for me.

I no longer smoke so 11p a packet saved.

My VED has NOT increased to £300 as my 4 X 4 not a gas guzzler (only a Freelander) and wont have so much work to do (eventually) as they are changing the way in which you receive Coucil Tax Benefit. There will be no claims to process - will be an automatic entitlement in a lot of cases.

Income Tax down but like Invis says not until next year.

However, I will be paying an extra penny on my pint

[Burnham Lad]

Originally Posted By: Little Miss Urchin

A penny on cider? Bad!!

Like the reduction in the basic rate of income tax, just a shame we'll have to wait another year for it.

That's just a con LMU - he reduces the basic level by 2p, but claws nearly all the money back by doing away with the 10p band, so you now pay 20p to start, and gets the rest by changing the NI levels....

Smoke and Mirrors.....

[pabird]

It was a great budget unless you are:

1. A pensioner

2. A primary school pupil

3. A driver

4. A hard worker

5. A mortgage holder

6. A public transport user

7. A council tax payer on fixed income

8. A small business, business man/woman

9. An earner under £18k pa

10. A NHS user

11. Any body seeking an NHS dentist

12. ?continue to add your own details

13. ?

14. ?

 

[Ian_W]

It was interesting to see that inheritance levels have been increased - but not until 2010 - by which time inflation will have overtaken that gap anyway.

 

Aren't pensions also going up in 2010? Why not 2007?

[The Invisible Man]

Is there something somewhere that says what the bands and things for VED's are? I couldn't make the usual website thing work for me - it only lists Discovery 3 (I have a Disco 2). I will therefore be heavily subsidising people in smaller cars to use the roads. Noite - this has nothing to do with road congestion or alleged climate change issues.

 

You are quite right Paula, the ill-informed fashion for knocking 4x4s and assuming that they are all gas guzzlers, and nothing else is, is rather annoying. You can also of course argue that your Freelander is not a 4x4 (it has a viscous coupling that varies the proportion of drive to the rear wheels according to the surface). I used to have a 1.8 petrol and it was reasonably frugal, but I understand the TD4 is pretty good. No doubt this is why you won't get taxed to death on it.

[Stu M]

Originally Posted By: Ian_W

It was interesting to see that inheritance levels have been increased - but not until 2010 - by which time inflation will have overtaken that gap anyway.

Also, nice to see the stamp duty issue (unless it's for zero-carbon homes) not even on the horizon. The 3% kick-in at £250k (now hardly an excessive outlay for many house buyers) has been the same for years, regardless of inflation and the property boom, and Gordon now trousers eight times as much from it as the Tories did in 1996. Scandalous.

[Big J R]

Has a budget EVER been GOOD for anyone ??

[Burnham Lad]

Originally Posted By: Big J R

Has a budget EVER been GOOD for anyone ??

Definitely has, Big JR, have you seen the size of Robber Brown's gold plated Pension?

[Big J R]

Don't get me started, Andrew !!!!

[Burnham Lad]

Originally Posted By: Big J R

Don't get me started, Andrew !!!!

How about Bliar's Platinum Plated Pension - Awww go-on go-on go-on - it's great when you get really mad!

[Little Miss Urchin]

I agree with Invisible, many people now don't want to vote for Labour, be it under Blair, Brown, etc, but have little other choice from the other parties. This is an opportune moment for the Tories to regain power by a landside victory or the Lib Dems to increase their power in Parliament but they're all being so naff and whimsical - pretty much singing from the same songsheet. Maybe not the Lib Dems, I'm not too sure what they've been up to of late.

 

Hardly surprising so few are voting now.

 

I might run for office. Dreamt I was PM once. Got stabbed in the back - sounds about right, eh!

[Big J R]

I think I'll start a new thread regarding our Navy........

[Burnham Lad]

Special Thought for the Day for Big JR!

 

A young Scotsman named Gordon bought a donkey from an old farmer for £100.00.

 

The farmer agreed to deliver the donkey the next day, but when the farmer drove up he said, "Sorry son, but I have some bad news... the donkey is on my truck, but unfortunately he's dead.Gordon replied, "Well then, just give me my money back."

 

The farmer said, "I can't do that, because I've spent it already. Gordon said, "OK then, well just unload the donkey anyway. The farmer asked, "What are you going to do with him?" Gordon answered, "I'm going to raffle him off."

 

To which the farmer exclaimed, "Surely you can't raffle off a dead donkey!"

 

But Gordon, with a wicked smile on his face said, "Of course I can, you watch me. I just won't bother to tell anybody that he's dead." A month later the farmer met up with Gordon and asked, "What happened with that dead donkey?"

 

Gordon said, "I raffled him off, sold 500 tickets at two pounds a piece, and made a huge, fat profit!!"

 

Totally amazed, the farmer asked, "Didn't anyone complain that you had stolen their money because you lied about the donkey being dead?"

 

To which Gordon replied, "The only guy who found out about the donkey being dead was the raffle winner when he came to claim his prize. So I gave him his £2 raffle ticket money back plus an extra £200, which as you know is double the going rate for a donkey, so he thought I was great guy!!

 

Gordon grew up and eventually became the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and no matter how many times he lied, or how much money he stole from the British voters, as long as he gave them back some of the stolen money, most of them, unfortunately, still thought he was a great guy.

 

The moral of this story is that, if you think Gordon is about to play fair and do something for the everyday people of the country for once in his miserable, lying life, think again my friend, because you'll be better off flogging a dead donkey.

 

 

[Big J R]

LUV IT ANDREW !!!