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Gee thanks (again) George

(32 posts) (18 voices)

Started 2 years ago by Mary Evans
Latest reply from The All New Jeni B

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Mary Evans

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Having already lost my daughter's Child Trust Fund by virtue of her being born after 1 Aug, I see now I am to lose my Child Benefit in a few years' time. I appreciate that families drain resources and therefore should have to pay something back, and I'm very happy to accept my responsibility for repaying the almighty financial fuck-ups that have characterised our nation's economy (actually, no, I'm really not). But if you're going to take money out of my tax-paying pocket Georgie, could you also have a word with some of the lazy tosspots who are perfectly capable of doing a day's work but elect not to?

I have always put the kids' child benefit into a savings account for them for their future, but I probably needn't have bothered as at this rate, they're not going to have one anyway.

*End of peeved rant*

Posted 2 years ago #
George Osborne

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You're quite welcome Mary. And don't call my parliamentary colleagues lazy tosspots. Some of them work quite hard.

Posted 2 years ago #
SingingHinny

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This is one of those things where celebrities pay people to do stuff they don't want to do, like running a twitter account and talking to their children. Really, Vince, I'm sure George can give you something better to do.

Posted 2 years ago #
Des Custard

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Wouldn't this be better rewritten as a sub? I was thinking of the removal of state pension rights, use of the NHS, free prescriptions etc from everyone on more than the minimum wage. Needs to be really grumpy, so wouldn't suit me at all.

Posted 2 years ago #
andhrimnir

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I suspect one of two things:

1. A Yes Ministereseque distraction. Massive coverage on how the cut is unfair to single earners, against family values, anti-marriage etc etc. Meanwhile, the NHS is closed and hospitals sold off to BUPA or some similar stunt.

2. It was only half an announcement. "...and child benefit will also be stopped for those in the lower tax bracket".

I've lost count of the Mazlets, but look at it this way Mary, it's at least the equivalent of a £4500 gross pay cut to you.

HTH. (That's me being down with the kids btw after the thirty minute rant I had earlier when someone said "my bad". Now wtf is that supposed to mean.)

Posted 2 years ago #
Stan Laurel

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If we hadn't just won the Ryder Cup and I hadn't been celebrating it in a City wine bar, I'd be pretty grumpy too.

Posted 2 years ago #
Sinnick

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I think you need to be careful here. I know for a fact that George Osborne logs onto NewsBiscuit for ideas, and you've just supplied him with some awful ones that even he couldn't come up with. In fact, he even commented on Mary's initial sub, above.

.. and I'd like to know just which of his parliamentary colleagues aren't lazy tosspots

I hope Jeni B brings this back on track ... ah, there you are, Jeni

Posted 2 years ago #
The All New Jeni B

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To go back to your original rant Mary, I whole-heartedly agree.
Ok, Mr B's income is (just) above the thresh-hold, but seeing as they fleece his income at every turn as it is, why can't the £80 and a bit a month we get be left alone? It goes into my account and is used solely for unexpected additional child related costs. Because of it, my son can go on next years school trip to Paris, without it, he'd have been one of only three in his year to stay at home.

Not that I would ever in my life vote Conservative, but this just reinforces why they can all go fuck themselves.

Posted 2 years ago #
FormerlyAlOPecia

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Because they really have had quite enough of Social Mobility thank you very much - too many uppity Grammar School and "New University" types actually have the audacity to voicee there over-informed opinions. So let's screw them at every turn.

Posted 2 years ago #
The All New Jeni B

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Mr B could never be described as over-informed. Although I'd be described as a 'New University' type.
Bastards.

Posted 2 years ago #
Hunter F. Thompson

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Oh buck up! You won't be middle class for long, once this lot of jackasses have finished hacking away at taxpayer-built and maintained publicly-owned assets and selling their daughters and grandmothers for soap and lampshades.

You can expect to be on full benefits, because there's another round of bank bailouts being rolled out. Watch the dollar crash, see how that works out for British Banking.

Posted 2 years ago #
Quaz

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Hmm, this is interesting. The benefit adds up to just over £1,700 for 2 children, but will be cut for families with one earner on over £44,000, which is about DOUBLE the average wage in the UK. At first glance, it would seem that the Tories are fans of Karl Marx's maxim "From each according to his ability, to each according to his need", while Labour are up in arms against it. That is until you take into account that if both parents earn £43,000 each (joint income of £86,0000) then they would still get the child benefit....

It would also seem seem that any parent earning between £43.99K and 87.99k from their own business or investments could arrange for the bit above 44k to be paid to their spouse and still get child benefit (likely they already have done something like that to avoid 40% tax).

As Mr Orwell said, "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others".

Those not lucky enough to be earning over 44k will have to carry on as before, spending their child benefit on the children's shoes and clothes rather than complaining that they can no longer invest it.

Posted 2 years ago #
Mary Evans

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Ouch Quaz... I'm not complaining that I can no longer invest the money, simply that families keep getting hit by these cuts and I rather feel there are a few more obvious areas of waste to target first. We were lucky enough to have one member of our family earning over the threshold, but we don't have two - thus muggins here filing copy the day after giving birth because our family cannot afford for me to take maternity leave - and yet by working at all, I instantly render myself ineligible for any maternity allowance. I'm not pleading poverty, but I'm sure I'm not the only "affluent" middle-class parent who worries where the next pair of shoes is coming from.

But hey, Mr Mary just got made redundant today, so looks like we might qualify for our £40 a week after all. Every cloud...

Posted 2 years ago #
fernandomando

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Mark my words, the publicity from this cut and the backlash that follows will pave the way for the savage cuts to the benefits system for the really poor. The embittered middle classes will now demand their pound of flesh from the underclass, and they will get it and feel that justice is restored.

On a plus point, I am looking forward to the return of slavery and domestic servants.

Posted 2 years ago #
The All New Jeni B

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Hear hear (or is it 'here, here?) fernandomandoandomando.

I agree it's about time the children of the truly poor were forced into Domestic Service rather than thinking they should be provided for by the state.
If this does happen, I'll be in the market for a Housekeeper, Maid and Nanny if anyone has any family members who don't pull their financial weight...

Posted 2 years ago #
Quaz

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Ahh, now I see your worry Maz, sorry to hear about that but you see where I was coming from.

Yep, plenty of other places to cut. But let's ignore for now the aid budget to nuclear armed states (surely common ground for left and right). I have 'rich' friends, unemployed single friends who struggle to exist, people who have been penalised for taking courses to gain work, people who can't afford to earn too much in case they loose benefits, people just outside the limits for benefits who get by and know of people who just plain rob the state. In short, it's a mess and rarely as simple as it seems (as you may be about to findout).

I don't believe in any party (Tories think I'm a lefty, Labour fans think I'm a Tory, and I upset the libs by putting broken glass on the fence to stop them sitting on it). Roughly speaking it seems to me we should have a living wage, rather than a minimum wage, and set the threshold on paying tax at whatever we can settle on as being a fair yearly wage without needing benefits. If you earn over that, then no benefits need be paid and you pay tax at whatever rate. How much money do we waste by taking cash in tax, paying civil servants to shuffle it around, and giving it back to us again in tax credits and benefits? It must be cheaper to let us keep it and spend it ourselves!

How much paperwork do we have to get mailed, fill out, and respond to just for the children's tax credit? In the first couple of years (I admit it did get better) I measured it as about 4 inches thick per year!

Oopps, this is a comedy site.

Posted 2 years ago #
Scroat

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I'm with Quaz. It's all very well putting the allowance into some sort of savings account, but this isn't what it's for. The money should be in the system being used to pay for stuff, not stashed away by those who don't really need it for basics.

And people complain about the apparent single income / double income anomaly. With two workers in the household, both are paying tax and paying back into the system. So child benefit acts as it should do, as a form of tax relief.

Posted 2 years ago #
saltire

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If you can't play together nicely,there will be no benefit for any of you.

I said if you can't....right, NO BENEFIT FOR ANY OF YOU. You were warned.

Parents,don't you love 'em...

Posted 2 years ago #
IABP

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In 60 years most of us will look back on this and be dead.

Posted 2 years ago #
Mary Evans

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Oooh, can feel an affluent middle-class flounce coming on. So suffice to say, the second you know about my family's finances, do please feel free to tell me what I am and am not entitled to do with my money. Secondly, I hope that you live well about the bread line yourselves, and thus your social consciences preclude you from claiming child benefit, child trust funds etc.

Consider me flounced. Or at least paying one of my domestics to do it for me.

Posted 2 years ago #
fernandomando

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I think the real question is this: Would you be prepared to countenance your servants being paid benefits for their children and spending it on non-child related things?

Posted 2 years ago #
Mary Evans

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Who's paying my servants? The damn nerve...

Posted 2 years ago #
Scroat

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Anyway, I think there may be some sort of U-turn or "clarification" in the pipeline if the people at the conference kick up enough fuss.

Posted 2 years ago #
the coarse whisperer

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So Clytemnestra isn't going to get "free" piano lessons any more. Quel Domage. The point of all these New Labour middle-class benefits was to create a client group where none existed before. And it worked, take them away and the Daily Mail (always the voice of middle class entitlement) is screaming like it was every Briton's natural birthright rather than what it really was; someone pretending to be your benefactor doling our fivers they'd nicked from your back pocket seconds before.

[Edit:Just want to say I'm not getting at anyone, it was just a cynical and misguided policy in the first place.]

Posted 2 years ago #
Mary Evans

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Posted 2 years ago #
wallster

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Here's a dancing monkey

Posted 2 years ago #
saltire

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He's obviously delighted that his child benefit won't be cut. Unlike SOMEONE we all know.

Posted 2 years ago #
Charlie

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Mary I agree with all you said to release all your obvious frustration try this:

Posted 2 years ago #
andhrimnir

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I still say it is a distraction tactic.

It shouldn't be too long now before I can afford to buy the UK, does anyone know who I should talk to or will it just go up on e-bay?

Posted 2 years ago #
IABP

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Contact the EU. They are the current owners

Posted 2 years ago #