Universal Credit is madness

[Gerrydelasel]

Poverty will rise as universal credit kicks in to more regions, there has been a slight uptick but projections are that come 2020 we will see more in poverty.

The south east grossly distorts the poverty figures. Relative poverty is 60% of median household income, but the median income is inflated by the high wages in the SE. That means people in the NW (for example) get counted as being in relative poverty based on their earnings, but this ignores the fact that prices in the NW are also lower. In the NW you can have higher real disposable income than in the SE yet still be classed as in poverty. Inequality in the UK is highly regional in nature, so national measurements don't make sense.

 

[vinty]

Under UC you will see a return to Victorian style absolute destitution, it is already happening coroner's reports showing how people who were obviously ill have had their benefits stopped and told get a job this in turn contributed to their premature deaths.

 

[transam]

lol. Reading problems?

Get your head around this.

http://www.econ.ku.dk/okojacob/makromappeE02/Chapter07.pdf


No I won't be bothering , not interested in the majority of links posted on here , (although it depends who they are from tbh)

That fruit cake Himagin used to constantly bung up links, never looked at any of em

 

[JP_]

Under UC you will see a return to Victorian style absolute destitution,.

Don't be silly, that will never happen! Oh ...

 

[durhamplumber]

The social security budget out of control, and the endemic attitude that it's a way of life needs to be changed.

There is no money tree.

Well said

 

[JohnD]

There is no money tree.

Just give it a bit of a shake, and out falls a billion-pound bribe to buy the parliamentary votes of ten religious fundamentalists.

 

[JohnD]

The social security budget

remind me, how much goes on social security, and how much goes on pensions, education and health?

 

[JohnD]

remind me, how much goes on social security, and how much goes on pensions, education and health?

well bless my soul! Who'd* have thought it!

*Answer: Anyone who cared enough to look at the facts. Not woody or dum, obviously.

 

[vinty]

I thought the UK now had full employment, apparently unemployment can't go below 3% as you need flexibility in the Labour market.
So if there is full employment in the economy why aren't the tax revenues flowing in to clear the deficit, if the UK can't balance the books with full employment how will they ever balance them.
Is this paradox of alleged full employment vs claims by the government that there isn't enough money coming in caused by the fact that due to massive immigration of low skilled labour Britain is now a low wage economy.

 

[JP_]

Can't tax people that are only earning 8k a year.

 

[JohnD]

Britain is now a low wage economy.

What can you tell us about Minimum Wage legislation?

Start with the name of the party that claimed it would be unaffordable and would lead to mass unemployment.

 

[Notch7]

I thought the UK now had full employment, apparently unemployment can't go below 3% as you need flexibility in the Labour market.
So if there is full employment in the economy why aren't the tax revenues flowing in to clear the deficit, if the UK can't balance the books with full employment how will they ever balance them.
Is this paradox of alleged full employment vs claims by the government that there isn't enough money coming in caused by the fact that due to massive immigration of low skilled labour Britain is now a low wage economy.

Its a fair point. It could be argued that with full employment that is the most tax revenue that can be achieved. However not all tax is directly related to employment. Of course tax revenue can be increased by raising taxes but unfortunately the Tory party seem to pledge they wont increase income tax so it restricts where they can get more revenue. Mostly taxes over the years are increased by stealth, a tax on insurance, raising fuel duty etc etc.

I expect JohnD will be along with his super rich living in tax havens stuff soon....I suppose the poor chap has a point

Of course we are now paying huge amounts for PFIs etc which swallow the budget

 

[vinty]

Just give it a bit of a shake, and out falls a billion-pound bribe to buy the parliamentary votes of ten religious fundamentalists.

The government is getting a bargain, allow Jeremy ,John and Diane to get control of the nation's finances and 1 billion will be peanuts to what they will waste.
The DUP don't need to be bribed to vote for what is right as their record shows, this billion pounds you go on about doesn't go to the DUP , if it is spent in N.I. anything that is spent on will have to be approved by the treasury.

 

[vinty]

Can't tax people that are only earning 8k a year.

That is the point isn't it ,so how do we raise incomes to the point where people are paying more tax to cover the nation's bills.
You could abolish the welfare system but that would only cause more poverty because you would have millions of desperate workers undercutting each other to earn a crust, only the rich would benefit.

 

[SirGalahad]

The government is getting a bargain, allow Jeremy ,John and Diane to get control of the nation's finances and 1 billion will be peanuts to what they will waste.
The DUP don't need to be bribed to vote for what is right as their record shows, this billion pounds you go on about doesn't go to the DUP , if it is spent in N.I. anything that is spent on will have to be approved by the treasury.

What's happened to the deficit under the fiscally conservative Tories? Their policy of using private companies to assess welfare claims has ended up costing more than doing it themselves. Billions of pounds of government money flows to private landlords and then out to foreign investors.

We need electoral reform and we need a separate independent organisation setting economic policy not encumbered by political election cycles. We vote politicians on their ability to implement the plans.

Fixing the UK economy so there is better distribution of income, the right incentives to work and raising living standards can all be done but not under the current political system.