# Budget



## rachelha (Jun 22, 2010)

2 year pay freeze, VAT increase, pension age increasing, review child tax credits. 

Thanks a lot Nick Clegg, I dont think you will be getting my vote again


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## Sugarbum (Jun 22, 2010)

It doesnt sound good news for anyone really does it?


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## Caroline Wilson (Jun 22, 2010)

I bet the poloticians wont have a pay freeze or take a pay cut!


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## Akasha (Jun 22, 2010)

What!? 
Surely they cant tell employers what they can pay someone?! 

The pention age has been set to increase for a few years. Only just come into place though.


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## MargB (Jun 22, 2010)

I have just trawled the BBC website to find where it says pension age is increasing.  I should have been retiring in 2012 but now can't until 2014 but probably going to work until 2017 anyway to get a works pension.

Thought they had moved the goalposts again!


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## rachelha (Jun 22, 2010)

Akasha said:


> What!?
> Surely they cant tell employers what they can pay someone?!
> 
> The pention age has been set to increase for a few years. Only just come into place though.



I work for the Botanic Garden in Edinburgh who are a non-departmental public body (i.e. most of our money comes from the Scottish Government) so if they don't give us the money for a payrise, we don't get one :-(

I hate to admit they have done something right, but if I remember correctly government ministers have taken a 5% cut and then a 5 year pay freeze


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## Northerner (Jun 22, 2010)

rachelha said:


> ...I hate to admit they have done something right, but if I remember correctly government ministers have taken a 5% cut and then a 5 year pay freeze



23 out of 29 cabinet members are millionaires. They won't miss it. Try living on ?150 a month after bills. I remember years ago, Conservative Matthew Parris tried to spend a week living on what you then got on the dole. He didn't make it through one week. Most of these people have no idea what it means to be poor. Fair dos to him though, it did change his attitude significantly.

Also, every MP has a guaranteed job on pretty decent pay for the next 5 years - how many people can say that?


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## vince13 (Jun 22, 2010)

Herts County Council has already frozen my pension from them as at May this year - it's usually a minute increase but this May no increase at all - they must have known what was coming even before the election brought in the coalition government.  Remember what Kinnock said just before he lost the election for Labour all those years ago  "If the Tories get into power, I warn you not to be old........."


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## Vicsetter (Jun 22, 2010)

Akasha said:


> What!?
> Surely they cant tell employers what they can pay someone?!



I suspect most of you weren't working in the 1970s when there was a Government imposed pay freeze - no-one got a pay rise, so yes they can do it.

And in case you haven't noticed the last government has run up huge debts which need repaying unless you want things to get a lot worse.

Nick Clegg is not the Prime Minister, so if you voted for him you were maybe responsible for the coalition Goverment 

The change in pension age was already on the cards, my wife (60 this year) now has 2 birthdays, her real one and the one when she can take her pension.


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## SilentAssassin1642 (Jun 22, 2010)

tbf, I'm not really that bothered about it all - at least i've got a job yaknow? It doesn't really affect me tbh


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## AlisonM (Jun 22, 2010)

At 16 hours and basic wage I'm way below the tax bracket and my tax credits won't change, so I won't be any worse off and still doing better than I was on benefits. Plus I don't mind the idea of working past 65 health permitting. I'm a bit miffed about the cuts in DLA though, I know a few folk that will hit hard. Why couldn't they cut the flipping Defence budget instead?


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## rossi_mac (Jun 22, 2010)

haven't fully analysed it but they had to be harsh other wise the phrase up said creek without a paddle comes to mind, the worse thing I can see for me at the mo is the VAT rise in Jan I'll be trying to get the build on the house done then! Have they cleared up the VAT on fuel (petrol) isn't rising also??


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## MargB (Jun 22, 2010)

Apart from the rise in VAT, which I was expecting, I can't see where it is affecting me too much.  No capital gains tax to worry about, certainly not in the higher tax bracket.

My memories of working in the 70s was galloping inflation where we had to have pay rises every three months to keep up with the cost of living.  The first time we went a whole year between pay rises was a very strange sensation.  Inflation scares me.  I have worked hard and saved for my future, savings suffer when inflation hits.


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## PhilT (Jun 22, 2010)

Akasha said:


> What!?
> Surely they cant tell employers what they can pay someone?!
> 
> The pention age has been set to increase for a few years. Only just come into place though.


 
I think you'll find that the pay freeze is for public sector workers.


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## Andy HB (Jun 22, 2010)

rossi_mac said:


> haven't fully analysed it but they had to be harsh other wise the phrase up said creek without a paddle comes to mind, the worse thing I can see for me at the mo is the VAT rise in Jan I'll be trying to get the build on the house done then! Have they cleared up the VAT on fuel (petrol) isn't rising also??



Totally agree. 

In a strange way, I think that this was one of the better budgets for quite a while. I found myself nodding at an awful lot of it.

We now just have to wait and see if Harriet's doom-mongering comes true! But, I have to say that I was disappointed that she didn't stand for Labour leadership. She was either cynically biding her time or doesn't have the bottle!

Andy


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## Northerner (Jun 22, 2010)

I know it's the way of the capitalist world, but I do dislike the way that we are still very much beholden to 'the markets' and if they are 'nervous' or welcoming of the budget. The budget has done me a favour in so far as mortgage interest is likely to stay low for a while yet.

Having worked in the private sector in the past, I've had periods of huge pay rises and years with no pay rise whatsoever - effectively a pay cut when inflation was higher. I was at school/uni in the '70s, but remember all the turmoil - first with the 3 day week, then with the unions and the winter of discontent. And the dreadful inflation and the IMF.


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## AlisonM (Jun 22, 2010)

Me too Northe. I clearly recall that awful winter of the 3 day week, I've never been so cold in my life, I actually got chillblains.


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## D_G (Jun 22, 2010)

I voted for clegg in the hope that he was going to put the tax allowance up to 10,000 which would have made me better off......but alas it has risen but to only 7,400 and something which i know will help alot of people but not when they have also increased NI tax! 

Why dont they just sack all the footballers who get paid millions for doing..er....nothing!! that will save some money in the long run


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## aymes (Jun 23, 2010)

Given the state the public finances are in I'm reasonably happy with the budget, it could have been a lot worse! Certainly we're all going to feel it in some way, by the VAT increase if nothing else, but the country's finances are in such a state I think that was inevitable. I'm not a fan of Osbourne but in the circumstances I think he's done a good job.


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## rossi_mac (Jun 23, 2010)

good point D_G about the tarts that call themselves footballers, that bubble has to burst soon enough! Do you think the rates will stay low for a bit longer, my mortgage deal is going to expire this autumn, has been 5 year fixed and assumed by the time I need a new one the rates would be a lot higher, maybe there's hope yet. Yes agree Northe it seems wrong how the markets control so much I don't understand to be honest. Pay rise sorry haven't had one of them for 5 years! In fact my pay has steadily gone down! Hey ho I'm not moaning my glass is half full!!  (i think!)


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## aymes (Jun 23, 2010)

Akasha said:


> What!?
> Surely they cant tell employers what they can pay someone?!



They can for the public sector workers. It won't be a popular decision at all, my worry is that we're set for a lot of strikes as the public sector cuts start to hit. It's not good news for the public sector but I have to admit it does reflect what's happened elsewhere over the last few years. I think pretty much everyone I know in the private and voluntary sectors have had pay freezes/cuts and job/hours losses over the last few years. The voluntary sector will be hit again in terms of funding with the public cuts.


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## Northerner (Jun 23, 2010)

aymes said:


> ...The voluntary sector will be hit again in terms of funding with the public cuts.



No doubt charities will be hit also by people being less able to donate.


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## MargB (Jun 23, 2010)

Some things have needed to be sorted out for a long time though.  Apparently, there are households who receive over ?100,000 in HOUSING BENEFITS!  Whaaaaatt?  Someone was on the radio saying it might force people into smaller accommodation and how awful that would be.  That just boggles my mind.


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## am64 (Jun 23, 2010)

MargB said:


> Some things have needed to be sorted out for a long time though.  Apparently, there are households who receive over ?100,000 in HOUSING BENEFITS!  Whaaaaatt?  Someone was on the radio saying it might force people into smaller accommodation and how awful that would be.  That just boggles my mind.



in central london if someone is put into private rented as emergency accomodation they can be getting ?1000 per week HB because thats what the landlords charge ....ummmm someones making a quick buck arent they ....as for the comment by osborne that the rich have been hit aswell its all proportional realy and judging the way people are around my way it doesnt really effect them TBH .....i know for a fact that a number of people around here have 'flats' that they pretend to live in so they can get the full ema/benefits for their kids ....we were ?100 over the threashold one year and got nothing ....ps a 1 bed flat is >?230,000 houses > ?1mill


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## MargB (Jun 23, 2010)

But, if someone is not working, not looking for work and having a nice life on housing benefits, then why are they living in London?


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## am64 (Jun 23, 2010)

MargB said:


> But, if someone is not working, not looking for work and having a nice life on housing benefits, then why are they living in London?



there are many reasons why people become homeless in London...unfit housing stock repossesion because of landlords defaulting and abuse being some of them ...as for having a nice life on benefits im not really sure it works like that ....some folks my hubby meets cant actually afford to eat


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## getcarter76 (Jun 24, 2010)

The budget is a sore topic for me on a personal level. I am a public sector worker and alas my pay has now been frozen. I work full time but barely make ends meet as my childminder takes all my dosh. On the flip side tax credits are some help (i say some) but due to partner and i working (he is also public sector worker) and our income amounting to just under (i say just) the bracket of ?40,000 joint income we will probably get 'limited' help. I barely make ends meet as it is as we fall into the 'middle class - middle earners' where we are between the devil and the deep blue sea and as such 'struggle' along the way. I feel for poor families and as normal the rich get richer!

Is it worth me working i ask myself? I have my values and don't want to get 'benefits' even though when i sought advice from CAB after the birth of my daughter about working or not they advised me 'not to'!

As someone else posted about 'Kinnocks' quote...well, he was right about under a conservative government don't get old! We'll all be working till we drop! 

I think it is a scarey future to be honest whilst some of us feel it doesn't affect us, it stealthly affects us all!

Bernie  xx


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## muddlethru (Jun 25, 2010)

The point is that the country is broke. Up to our eyes in debt. Like that bloke said in the note he left behind as the Labour Govt left office. "There is no money" so what can we do but tighten our belts. We are pensioners, not rich ones might I add but I have started to see where we can cut down in our housekeeping, utilities etc. I've just changed my Broadband etc and have got the monthy bill down on that. Our ten granchildren will have less cash given on birthdays and Christmas but we all love each other so they won't mind, they all know the score. Brought up during the war I know what it is like to go without but I survived and learnt to appreciate things. It isn't going to be easy for any of us but we will just have to cut our coats according to the cloth. Mind you thought the VAT was a bit steep, thought maybe 19 but not 20.


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## RachelT (Jun 27, 2010)

*Whinge--whine*

Ok, i could have been worse, somebody was muttering darkly about abolishing prescription exemption and charging you a tenner to see your GP. (I wouldn't give anyone a tenner to see my GP!!!) Still, pay freeze for me (I'm an NHS worker) (does this mean i don't have to do knowledge and skills framework stuff for a couple of years? Silver lining?) and the pension age is going up (and the deal's getting worse). Wonders if they'll ever let me out in time to push me up to the ward with all the horrible complications i'm trying not to get...
Look it's not my fault we got a co-illition government, the Tories would have won Northampton South weather i voted for them or not (not that i did). I guess as a nation we just couldn't make our minds up. My late Granddad used to say that we get the government we deserve....


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## Freddie99 (Jun 27, 2010)

Try being an NHS employee. I've got a two year freeze on my pay, not that I was ever going to get a raise but I'm just putting that in for argument's sake. They are looking at making cuts/centralizing the labs. The funding for the 2011 intake for my course has been wiped out of the books by the SHA. Upside is that most of the staff in the lab that I work in are all coming up to retirement age in a few years. There are opportunities there. On the other hand I don't want to work in the place I trained and have lived for many years. Sod this, I'm going to Australia.


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## RachelT (Jun 27, 2010)

I don't know about you Tom, but we've also had a recruitment freeze. So much for "the health service is important to us " but they're not going to pay the flipping staff?!?! You're a microbiologist arn't you? I went round to our micro labs once, i had to borrow their pH meter when i erm...broke...ours, it was full of all sorts of weird and wonderful stuff. I don't see how they can justify centralising things like pathology and microbiology, because there's such a big push to get results through quicker so we can dischage the patients quicker. Oh, i think we scored....Northampton just exploded...


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## SilentAssassin1642 (Jun 27, 2010)

if i worked in archaeology, i would have had my pay frozen. But I don't anymore, so am lucky. Got out at the right time it seems. Gonna just keep plugging away with RBS and work my hardest to get a permanent job with them - i have to...it's like...seriously needed. I'll beg if i have to.


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## Freddie99 (Jun 27, 2010)

RachelT said:


> I don't know about you Tom, but we've also had a recruitment freeze. So much for "the health service is important to us " but they're not going to pay the flipping staff?!?! You're a microbiologist arn't you? I went round to our micro labs once, i had to borrow their pH meter when i erm...broke...ours, it was full of all sorts of weird and wonderful stuff. I don't see how they can justify centralising things like pathology and microbiology, because there's such a big push to get results through quicker so we can dischage the patients quicker. Oh, i think we scored....Northampton just exploded...



I'm rotating around the departments inside pathology. Micro was interesting. Full of wierd and wonderful smells. There's nothing like the incubators being opened up on a Monday morning to cause a rapid emptying of the stomach. The thing is that labs in Kent which have been centralised just said it was all hot air and nothing had been done other than to put it on paper. We've already lost the histology facility at my hospital. It's now shared with another one. We have one small cut up lab but apart from that the rest goes on in the Conquest hospital in Hastings. Makes life a bitch as at the moment I've got to travel there to train. Infact it just makes more work for the Hastings mob. It'd have made more sense for us to keep it.


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## Jimbo (Jun 29, 2010)

getcarter76 said:


> The budget is a sore topic for me on a personal level. I am a public sector worker and alas my pay has now been frozen. I work full time but barely make ends meet as my childminder takes all my dosh. On the flip side tax credits are some help (i say some) but due to partner and i working (he is also public sector worker) and our income amounting to just under (i say just) the bracket of ?40,000 joint income we will probably get 'limited' help. I barely make ends meet as it is as we fall into the 'middle class - middle earners' where we are between the devil and the deep blue sea and as such 'struggle' along the way. I feel for poor families and as normal the rich get richer!
> 
> Is it worth me working i ask myself? I have my values and don't want to get 'benefits' even though when i sought advice from CAB after the birth of my daughter about working or not they advised me 'not to'!
> 
> ...



?40K! Wow! my wife and I get by on half of that, we get ?40 from the tax credits, fortunately our oldest child is at the age of responsibility and helps out when our shifts cross. Again, fortunately these cross overs only last a maximum of an hour. We get by because we live out in the sticks and my wife is a phenomenal money manager. I would be lost without her.
However, the last Government got us into this mess due to their irresponsible attitude to spending more than they were earning and now "we" have to pay the price. So years of living carefully and frugally are wiped out by a shower of idiots who will never have to survive at our level of existance, due to their wonderful salary, pensions and expenses. Makes me extremely cross! 
The country needs this budget and thats the problem, the current generation have no idea how to live carefully, they are totally wrapped up in the consumer, throw away society and don't know any better.
We are all about to learn a painfull lesson!


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## ypauly (Jun 29, 2010)

Jimbo said:


> ?40K! Wow! my wife and I get by on half of that, we get ?40 from the tax credits, fortunately our oldest child is at the age of responsibility and helps out when our shifts cross. Again, fortunately these cross overs only last a maximum of an hour. We get by because we live out in the sticks and my wife is a phenomenal money manager. I would be lost without her.
> However, the last Government got us into this mess due to their irresponsible attitude to spending more than they were earning and now "we" have to pay the price. So years of living carefully and frugally are wiped out by a shower of idiots who will never have to survive at our level of existance, due to their wonderful salary, pensions and expenses. Makes me extremely cross!
> The country needs this budget and thats the problem, the current generation have no idea how to live carefully, they are totally wrapped up in the consumer, throw away society and don't know any better.
> We are all about to learn a painfull lesson!



Very well said. Most of us (the private sector)have been feeling the effects of the last goverment for two years with short time working, redundancies and pay freezes. Not once in that time did I hear the public sector moan even though it is the private sector that funds the public.
For two years my local and national tax has risen whilst my pay has fallen.
It isn't nice for anybody and I do have sympathy to a point, but the public sector can still sit on very nice pensions that the rest of us are paying for whilst we have go to work to pay for our own.


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## Northerner (Jun 29, 2010)

Let's not forget that it was the profligacy and greed of a relatively small number of individuals that caused a global financial meltdown and put the entire Western world in this position. And ALL the governments and people living on the never-never on the back of that greed. 

Latest forecasts are for 1.3m job losses over the next 5 years due to the budget reforms. Don't forget that a lot of the private sector depends on public sector contracts which are going to be seriously affected by the cuts. And people working in the public sector pay taxes and support the private economy by buying stuff.


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## ypauly (Jun 29, 2010)

Jimbo said:


> ?40K! Wow! my wife and I get by on half of that, we get ?40 from the tax credits, fortunately our oldest child is at the age of responsibility and helps out when our shifts cross. Again, fortunately these cross overs only last a maximum of an hour. We get by because we live out in the sticks and my wife is a phenomenal money manager. I would be lost without her.
> However, the last Government got us into this mess due to their irresponsible attitude to spending more than they were earning and now "we" have to pay the price. So years of living carefully and frugally are wiped out by a shower of idiots who will never have to survive at our level of existance, due to their wonderful salary, pensions and expenses. Makes me extremely cross!
> The country needs this budget and thats the problem, the current generation have no idea how to live carefully, they are totally wrapped up in the consumer, throw away society and don't know any better.
> We are all about to learn a painfull lesson!





Northerner said:


> Let's not forget that it was the profligacy and greed of a relatively small number of individuals that caused a global financial meltdown and put the entire Western world in this position. And ALL the governments and people living on the never-never on the back of that greed.
> 
> Latest forecasts are for 1.3m job losses over the next 5 years due to the budget reforms. Don't forget that a lot of the private sector depends on public sector contracts which are going to be seriously affected by the cuts. And people working in the public sector pay taxes and support the private economy by buying stuff.



But the country had massive debt beofre the banking crisis. 42% of GDP to be precise.
it was the goverment that relaxed banking rules and abolished the gold standard which allowed them to take on debts that were sometimes 10x their capitol. all because the goverment needed the tax to waste.
we were overspending before the crisis MASSIVELY that's why tony B liar and gordon clown raided the pension funds (private pensions at that) and sold off all our gold on the cheap.

It is far too easy to blame the banks, the goverment didn't do right in the good times and save because they were as reckless as the banks.so when the bad times come the piggy bank wasn't just empty it had been sold.


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## getcarter76 (Jun 30, 2010)

ypauly said:


> Very well said. Most of us (the private sector)have been feeling the effects of the last goverment for two years with short time working, redundancies and pay freezes. Not once in that time did I hear the public sector moan even though it is the private sector that funds the public.
> For two years my local and national tax has risen whilst my pay has fallen.
> It isn't nice for anybody and I do have sympathy to a point, but the public sector can still sit on very nice pensions that the rest of us are paying for whilst we have go to work to pay for our own.





Jimbo said:


> ?40K! Wow! my wife and I get by on half of that, we get ?40 from the tax credits, fortunately our oldest child is at the age of responsibility and helps out when our shifts cross. Again, fortunately these cross overs only last a maximum of an hour. We get by because we live out in the sticks and my wife is a phenomenal money manager. I would be lost without her.
> However, the last Government got us into this mess due to their irresponsible attitude to spending more than they were earning and now "we" have to pay the price. So years of living carefully and frugally are wiped out by a shower of idiots who will never have to survive at our level of existance, due to their wonderful salary, pensions and expenses. Makes me extremely cross!
> The country needs this budget and thats the problem, the current generation have no idea how to live carefully, they are totally wrapped up in the consumer, throw away society and don't know any better.
> We are all about to learn a painfull lesson!





I said this was a sore topic for me.....

You don't know me personally and whilst i am not a young teenager and your comment about a throw away society....may remember the phrase of "make do and mend" which i do where and when I can. I certainly throw nothing away (much to my husbands disapproval) as i never know when i might need something...! I made a beef roast last 3 days last Sunday!

Anyway, I think you should be aware as well that I live in the South of England where the cost of living is much much higher than Ayreshire or anywhere ooop North. I bet i could live like a Queen on my wages elsewhere but i don't live there i live where i live and it aint cheap.

I bet childcare costs aren't as high and I pay nearly ?800 to mine a month and get diddly squat back in help as we come under that bracket as said before. The rest goes on bills/living. Hubby and I work to make ends meet. We are by no means extravagant and buy most of our material things second hand from charity shops/nearly new sales/ebay.

I don't need to quantify my/our earnings or outgoings to anyone but we can't afford to work which makes no sense due to the cost of living down here and other factors which i'm not prepared to go into on here. Basically, we both have too much month at the end of my money. As said the budget does not assist us one iota and its quick for others to judge on the surface but underneath there's more than meets the eye. You should walk a mile in my shoes before saying you live on half of that. You are more than welcome to...?

The public sector has made to be the scapegoat for the financial crisis and if victims of crime had this attitude, as a public sector worker I would love to shred the paperwork and say stuff it. It is me that prepares cases and get justice for victims and where the 'public' turn to when in need!! 

I am not funded by the private sector yPauly as i don't think anyone is who works for a government department - hence taxes and NI?? I pay myself you could say! I could earn double elsewhere in the private sector but i think my job is safer where i am thank you  BTW although a minefield - your wages just can't be lowered without contracts and your say so?!

The cost of living down here goes up (along with petrol) but wages won't. My childminder will be putting her wages up 25p more an hour - nice increase - but mines been frozen (have I already mentioned that)? If i didn't work there would be comments about that!

As for pensions...i'll be in the grave before i get mine and thats about 35 years away so its not even on my mind.

Enough from me for now as its giving me a headache  but the bottom line for me is that the rich get richer and the poor poorer whoever you are and wherever you live....


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## getcarter76 (Jun 30, 2010)

Northerner said:


> Let's not forget that it was the profligacy and greed of a relatively small number of individuals that caused a global financial meltdown and put the entire Western world in this position. And ALL the governments and people living on the never-never on the back of that greed.
> 
> Latest forecasts are for 1.3m job losses over the next 5 years due to the budget reforms. Don't forget that a lot of the private sector depends on public sector contracts which are going to be seriously affected by the cuts. And people working in the public sector pay taxes and support the private economy by buying stuff.



Now i gotta say here here to this....


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## Steff (Jun 30, 2010)

totally off thread but carter your ooop north comment made me LOL.


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## Andy HB (Jun 30, 2010)

Northerner said:


> Let's not forget that it was the profligacy and greed of a relatively small number of individuals that caused a global financial meltdown and put the entire Western world in this position. And ALL the governments and people living on the never-never on the back of that greed.
> 
> Latest forecasts are for 1.3m job losses over the next 5 years due to the budget reforms. Don't forget that a lot of the private sector depends on public sector contracts which are going to be seriously affected by the cuts. And people working in the public sector pay taxes and support the private economy by buying stuff.



But, if we can believe our great PM and that new OBR (or whatever it's called!), those 1.3m of job losses will be reversed by increased jobs in the private sector. Hmm, lovely if it proves to be true. 

Andy


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## getcarter76 (Jun 30, 2010)

Steff2010 said:


> totally off thread but carter your ooop north comment made me LOL.



 .. i love the north...its boootiful in parts....i write how i speak teehee

Bernie xx


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## ypauly (Jul 1, 2010)

getcarter76 said:


> I said this was a sore topic for me.....
> 
> 
> 
> ...



This is something I don't get?
 ALL goverment/public sector workers ARE funded by the private as they get the money from tax. As for taxing people that are paid from the public purse, Thats just stupid In my opinion. Why give it to take it back? surely not taxing public workers could save a fortune in administration costs.

I really do sympathise with you from what you have typed, i was merely pointing out that the private sector has had this pain allready for years. I have had one pay increase in 6 years many of my colleagues, friends and family are in the same position. 

But and it is a very big BUT we have a financial crisis looming, current goverment debt stands somewhere near ?954 BILLION and was set to rise to ?1.4 trillion in just 4 years well above the 110% of GDP that caused the problems in greece
where they are no longer in control of thier own fiscal policy and cuts are hitting 60%
Yes it is painful and hard but the pain that will come if it isn't dealt with would be far far worse. most probably a depression.


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## getcarter76 (Jul 1, 2010)

Fair do's ypauly its great that we aren't all the same.

I would like to add that I don't much like your editing my text as looks offensive to everyone. What i wrote was the 

"rich get richer and the poor poorer whoever you are and wherever you live" - do you work in the media????

I pay my taxes and NI as do all Public sector workers and i am not waving the flag for this side of the coin as i appreciate the money grabbing, pension gaining, fat cats that have penny pinched to get us into this mess (namely the government and their swindling)!

I like Toms idea of bogging off to Australia as this country is a mess!!!

I was merely saying i will be effected by the budget financially as we are neither poor nor rich but due to where we live in the South is an expensive place to live. When you come visit Brighton on Saturday you will see....will the drinks be on you then?  

Until then.....Bernie


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## lyndasw (Jul 1, 2010)

ypauly said:


> but the public sector can still sit on very nice pensions that the rest of us are paying for whilst we have go to work to pay for our own.



I have had my pension forecast and its showing I will be sitting on a very nice pension of 4k a year  (if it happens) and this is apparently the average pension figure for a public sector worker, it was certainly the case on my team when we compared figures.  I do realise that there are exceptions to this for a privileged few in the ps.


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## am64 (Jul 1, 2010)

i have no pension ...nor does hubby .....but we have no debts  if id taken a pension out when i left college i would be well quids OUT by now ...got rid of mortgage in 2001 phew or i would be looking at a deficit on the endowment policy i had aswell ...so all in all i think we are better off !! cos we have nothing !


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## Northerner (Jul 1, 2010)

Personally, I don't understand this need to set public sector against private sector. They are all people trying to earn a living, and whatever some people may think we NEED them, or we are not actually living in a society. There are poorly paid people on both sides, and some very well paid ones too. There seems to be a perception that we can do without public services, and that somehow taxpayers should begrudge them every penny (this seems to apply particularly to those who may never need to take advantage of a particular service - part of the 'I'm alright Jack' mentality engendered in Thatcher's Britain).

A lot of people work in the public sector and accept poor pay because they have a vocation and get their rewards not from accruing money (although it would be nice!) but from doing a job that benefits other, usually more vulnerable and less able members of society. 

Let's not set one section of society against the other!


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## rachelha (Jul 1, 2010)

Northerner said:


> Personally, I don't understand this need to set public sector against private sector. They are all people trying to earn a living, and whatever some people may think we NEED them, or we are not actually living in a society. There are poorly paid people on both sides, and some very well paid ones too. There seems to be a perception that we can do without public services, and that somehow taxpayers should begrudge them every penny (this seems to apply particularly to those who may never need to take advantage of a particular service - part of the 'I'm alright Jack' mentality engendered in Thatcher's Britain).
> 
> A lot of people work in the public sector and accept poor pay because they have a vocation and get their rewards not from accruing money (although it would be nice!) but from doing a job that benefits other, usually more vulnerable and less able members of society.
> 
> Let's not set one section of society against the other!



Well said Northerner.  What would we do without your voice of reason.  When I started this thread I did not intend it to be a public v private sector issue, I was just having a rant about my personal situation.


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## getcarter76 (Jul 1, 2010)

I agree wholeheartedly Northe...this thread seems to get me going lol

You are right re the job being a vocation. I work in the legal framework - some earn mega bucks, some peanuts. I have also just finished studying with my job (for no pay rise i might add!) but because i want to better myself and have greater opportunities for the future (to erherm earn more money one day). 1 of my very good friends is a staff nurse and earns an absimal amount of money and my hubby is in the Ambulance Service - again earning peanuts. Even paramedics (which he hopes to be one day) only have a starting salary of ?21k!!! 

I do agree though with your point about society against each other as at the end of the day we all have our purpose and function somewhere.

I might add as well that I notice yPauly is moving house!!! I don't even own my home as can't afford it!! The 'cheap' cost of a property here is about ?200,000 haha how am i ever supposed to get on the ladder....beacuse the other sector snapped up all the homes to make money and Thatcher sold off all the council houses before she jumped ship. Wrong wrong wrong. I hope for a property decrease (sorry) as then we could get our foot on a ladder! 

Interesting times ahead i must say....Bernie xx


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## Northerner (Jul 1, 2010)

It will indeed be interesting to see how it all pans out! When I was in hospital at diagnosis it really brought home to me just how hard people work and really earn their money. Nurses with huge responsibilities working 12 hour shifts for far less money than I earned as a computer analyst (before my job got outsourced to India, thank you capitalism )

Slightly off-topic, but I have never understood why those people with millions, if not billions, feel the need to evade taxes and accrue more and more money than they can ever spend in their lives and often not sparing even the tiniest proportion of that wealth to help others. It might be said that these people are wealth creators, but in a global market, that wealth is often accrued from exploiting less well off parts of the world.

Right! Off my soapbox!


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## ypauly (Jul 1, 2010)

getcarter76 said:


> Fair do's ypauly its great that we aren't all the same.
> 
> I would like to add that I don't much like your editing my text as looks offensive to everyone. What i wrote was the
> 
> ...



Lol I will gladly buy you a drink. I only edited your post because it was so long, so took the section aimed at me. sorry if this offended. And yes we are all in the do do together no matter which goverment got into power so moaning at each other will not help.


Hugs xxx


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## ypauly (Jul 1, 2010)

I dont own a house. I sold it in 2007 and will not buy again till I feel the market is stable. I am moving to another rented property.

But I will still get a round in lol


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## getcarter76 (Jul 1, 2010)

No problemo...thanks for clarifying...

As you say we are all in the same boat somewhere along the line..hope the move isn't too stressful...I'm holding you to a drink now...

Bernie


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## Jimbo (Jul 1, 2010)

Dear getcarter76, my post was not intended as a diatribe against you and if that was how you perceived it, I apologise, nothing could have been further from my intention. 
My generic use of "the younger generation" was intended as exactly that, a generic term. Ultimately people cannot be boxed in this manner, statistically though a large percentage of youth today don't know how to mend and get by because they have not been taught how to, due largly to the same education (or lack of) that all young folk seem to receive these days. I also include my own children in this group, I am however trying to make up the short fall and teach them that looking after their goods (whatever they may be) make them last longer and therefore become better value for money.The  throw away element in society today is prevalent because so many goods and services are cheaper to replace than to repair....sadly. 
As for your offer of walking in your shoes, been there done that, still doing that, BUT, we only do so because we have too, not through choice! ... prior to ill health (on my part) our combined salary (my wife and I) was similar to yours, however coming from poorer families taught both my wife and I to be carefull, very carefull with money and to maximise the return for our investment (and I don't mean stocks and shares  my wife is just very sensible with money) so we are walking in your shoes at the moment, after a significant downturn in salary, fortunately, our early training at our parents knees has stood us in good stead.
I realise that your cost of living is higher than ours but by comparison so are salaries. My original comment of "Wow 40K" was meant more as a ...I wish... than anything else, it was not in any way meant to be derogatory.
My point is that life goes in cycles and although you are going through a tough time just now, every day is a learning experience and you will pull through and be stronger and better for it.
The sad thing is that we are all having to do it again just as we did in the seventies because we have all been badly let down by the very people we all trusted to make things better in the first place. The Government!
I sincerly hope that the lot, of you and yours, improves soon, regards Jimbo.


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## getcarter76 (Jul 1, 2010)

Hey Jimbo...it did annoy me a tadge gotta admit and you may have sensed. I did think your comments were aimed at me personally. Thank you though for your recent post as it helps me to understand where you are coming from too. 

I question every day about working but hubby and I can't live on his wage alone. I don't like our housing set up or the fact we live by the hand that feeds us (like most i know). Our wage down here as a joint income is actually well naff whilst i appreciate it may sound a lot. With help from the govt i can work, with no help its questionable, as sadly i am better off on state benefits...pretty crap really.

I don't want to go round in circles as that doesn't do anyone any good but it is a sore subject as said for many factors all round for us...

As you said ya live and learn but at what price....i just hope in reality its not as bad as all that....

Until then i shall start to do the lottery i think and i'll remember you if I do  Oh yes and i am a size 7 and like heels if you really want to try my shoes 

Bernie x


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## Jimbo (Jul 1, 2010)

Until then i shall start to do the lottery i think and i'll remember you if I do  Oh yes and i am a size 7 and like heels if you really want to try my shoes 

Bernie x[/QUOTE]

Oooh Bernie...size 7! .....are they .....leather?..... six inch heel.....red?

Yes! 

Great!, they'll fit my wife then! :


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## getcarter76 (Jul 1, 2010)

lol i gotta box full of shoes...i love em


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## Jimbo (Jul 1, 2010)

getcarter76 said:


> lol i gotta box full of shoes...i love em



Well I'm going to change the subject before I get into trouble!


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## Steff (Jul 1, 2010)

Jimbo said:


> Well I'm going to change the subject before I get into trouble!



Psst jimbo theres no one around go on be brave


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## ypauly (Jul 1, 2010)

Steff2010 said:


> Psst jimbo theres no one around go on be brave



lol I think you should lead by example steff


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## Steff (Jul 1, 2010)

ypauly said:


> lol I think you should lead by example steff



i,m never the leader when it comes to examples


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## ypauly (Jul 1, 2010)

lol thought you might say that


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## Steff (Jul 1, 2010)

ypauly said:


> lmao thought you might say that



another telepathic diabetic .


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## Jimbo (Jul 2, 2010)

Steffie said:


> Psst jimbo theres no one around go on be brave



Mother warned me not to be lead on by naughty girls Steffie!


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## Steff (Jul 2, 2010)

Jimbo said:


> Mother warned me not to be lead on by naughty girls Steffie!



Yes and always listen to mother she knows best


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## Jimbo (Jul 2, 2010)

Steffie said:


> Yes and always listen to mother she knows best



I did, I wish I still could, but sadly she has passed away. Still she lives on through me and my sibs.


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## Steff (Jul 2, 2010)

Jimbo said:


> I did, I wish I still could, but sadly she has passed away.



Ditto Jimbo (((hugs)))


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