Budget 2016

[!:random!:!]

Watch the live budget here... http://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/news/live-budget-2016/ar-AAgLfYR?ocid=spartanntp
What do we think?

[-:Undertaker:-]

What do I think? The same as any other budget of the last twenty or so years: a lesson in economic incompetence and wasteful spending.

Recently my grandparents health hasn't been great and I have been thinking how, despite saving all their lives and being sensible, should anything happen to them they will have that house taken off them by the government to pay for their care whilst somebody sat next to them in the same care home receiving the EXACT SAME care will pay zilch because they spent it on holiday and down at the pub and on bingo. It's a total crock of shit.

And then when you see the EU budget and Foreign Aid budgets in the tens of billions whilst the armed forces are told to drop dead.

[Martin]

Did students get anything? :P

[Inseriousity.]

Urgh a sugar tax.
I am addicted to coke. We need help and support not treated like this :(
(lol I actually am trying to cut down my sugar intake. Doubt it going up in price will make me think 'hmm I'll buy less now').

[Cerys]

It made me laugh when I read that theyre considering compulsory maths lesson til you're 18
poor kids ;)


Rip sugar tax tho I'm gonna be poorer than usual

[dbgtz]

17% corporation tax by 2020...
Budget surplus in 2019...

Combined with other stuff like all schools becoming academies, got to love the crappy and unrealistic decisions being made.

[Empired]

I actually support the sugar tax. Or at least I supported the tax jamie oliver suggested, don't know if it's the same now bc I'm not keeping up.

Also wtfff maths lessons til you're 18. If a kid doesn't like and understand maths at 16 the only thing two years extra will do is make him really fucking hate maths.

[Lucy]

Sugar tax isn't going to make people skinny, it is ONLY going to make the government more money. No way is it going to make a difference.

[dbgtz]

Sugar tax isn't going to make people skinny, it is ONLY going to make the government more money. No way is it going to make a difference.

Well, for England, it's going towards extra school funding for sports so it may make more of a difference than you think.

[xxMATTGxx]

I actually support the sugar tax. Or at least I supported the tax jamie oliver suggested, don't know if it's the same now bc I'm not keeping up.

Also wtfff maths lessons til you're 18. If a kid doesn't like and understand maths at 16 the only thing two years extra will do is make him really **** hate maths.

Well Jamie Oliver seems happy about it so I guess it's similar or enough for him to be over the moon about the decision.

[lemons]

i think all schools becoming academies is a good idea

[dbgtz]

i think all schools becoming academies is a good idea

Out of curiosity, why do you think it is a good idea?

[lemons]

Out of curiosity, why do you think it is a good idea?

because it will see more investment into schools with new buildings and modern facilities and the potential for longer school hours won't kill anyone

it will benefit failing schools greatly! all the schools which have turned into academies in my area in the last few years are now performing very well

[dbgtz]

because it will see more investment into schools with new buildings and modern facilities and the potential for longer school hours won't kill anyone

it will benefit failing schools greatly! all the schools which have turned into academies in my area in the last few years are now performing very well

I don't really understand the longer school hours argument as I never really understood why it couldn't happen before under LA control, but where is this investment coming from?

[lemons]

I don't really understand the longer school hours argument as I never really understood why it couldn't happen before under LA control, but where is this investment coming from?

as well as funding directly from government, the organisations and charities who run the schools have access to more money and have more say over what it is spent on

[scottish]

someone eli5 the sugar tax for me

IS IT GOING TO AFFECT MY IRN BRU

[abc]

Recently my grandparents health hasn't been great and I have been thinking how, despite saving all their lives and being sensible, should anything happen to them they will have that house taken off them by the government to pay for their care whilst somebody sat next to them in the same care home receiving the EXACT SAME care will pay zilch because they spent it on holiday and down at the pub and on bingo. It's a total crock of shit.

What do you think of benefits in general? Given that comment above, it would be nice to see if you think benefits should be abolished? If not, then why? The person sitting next to them who pays zilch would technically be getting a benefit.

[Empired]

because it will see more investment into schools with new buildings and modern facilities and the potential for longer school hours won't kill anyone

it will benefit failing schools greatly! all the schools which have turned into academies in my area in the last few years are now performing very well
Really? There was a good school that took in a failing school as an academy round me and the failing school's official reputation instantly rose but everyone knew it was actually worse than ever. Basically the good school took all the bright kids and put them on the good school site and dumped all the bad pupils on the failing school's site. Everyone knows if you go to Coleridge it's because you've been dumped from Parkside around here.

More importantly, in what world will longer school hours do anything positive? Teenage mental health is deteriorating massively and dumping more pressure and less rest on them will just make that worse - so I disagree, I think longer school hours could certainly kill some teens. School is not free childcare and it infuriates me that parents see it that way, and that the government panders to that ridiculous idea because obviously the parents can vote and the children cannot. (Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying kids should be allowed to vote.)

Really I think the entire education system needs a complete overhaul. I find exams to be quite useless and the current education system is massively biased towards girls, it's no wonder girls now beat boys with ease when it comes to educational achievements every year. I think it's ridiculous that a large chunk of your future rests on whether or not you could remember the answer to a 42 mark essay on a Wednesday afternoon in June - there's plenty more important knowledge out there than being able to memorise the Marxist view on the family or how important the structure of Frankenstein is in understanding Shelley's meanings of the novel, and regurgitate that knowledge on a piece of paper.
And I know that stuff isn't completely irrelevant and it certainly has some value but I remember the overwhelming feeling I got at sixth form was that I was not ever allowed to develop my own opinions. In fact, I lost marks if I were ever to express my own opinion because instead I should just be evaluating what other people say.

Soz I've got off topic so I'll just say I think the education system is FUCKED and we would do better to scrap formal exams (bc you're screwed if you've got a bad postcode no matter what the government tries to tell you) and encourage people to think for themselves and question everything that is put to them instead of force feeding them knowledge that they then have to spit back out on a day in May or June and then never have to remember again. What a waste of time it all is :/

[xxMATTGxx]

someone eli5 the sugar tax for me

IS IT GOING TO AFFECT MY IRN BRU


In response to growing concern over obesity, Chancellor George Osborne is imposing a levy on soft drinks with more than 5g of sugar per 100ml. There's a higher rate for those with more than 8g per 100ml. Fruit juice and milk-based drinks are exempt.

The Office for Budgetary Responsibility suggests the levy will add 18p or 24p per litre, or about 6p or 8p to a standard 330ml can.

Irn Bru has 10.3g of sugar per 100ml.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-35824071

[scottish]

Oh that's nothing and its fine I drink sugar free irn bru so I should be fine

[xxMATTGxx]

Oh that's nothing and its fine I drink sugar free irn bru so I should be fine

Wait, so if you drink the sugar free version you then answered your own bloody question! :@

[scottish]

I didn't think of it at the time, it used to be called Diet Irn Bru so was always used to that but forgot its sugar free these days and not 'diet' :P

Looked up the sugar level in it then remembered

[dbgtz]

You're not necessarily out of the woods yet as they could well raise the prices of diet drinks to be aligned with sugary drinks. They have 2 years to decide their tactics before the tax is in place.

[Lucy]

Well, for England, it's going towards extra school funding for sports so it may make more of a difference than you think.

I suppose at least the money is hopefully going to actually go to where they are saying it will, extra funding for schools is always a bonus.

[xxMATTGxx]

Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith resigns, citing concerns over changes to disability benefits

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-35848687

[dbgtz]

I wonder if he finally got tired of people hating him

[xxMATTGxx]

Apparently from his resignation letter;

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Cd2_TbRXEAIIzlq.jpg

[-:Undertaker:-]

What do you think of benefits in general? Given that comment above, it would be nice to see if you think benefits should be abolished? If not, then why? The person sitting next to them who pays zilch would technically be getting a benefit.

i don't understand the Q

yes i believe in a safety net but not a free for all where people who work and save get the exact same as those who didn't bother

ideally people should pay for their own care. if not then my grandparents shouldn't have their life savings taken away to fund their care when the lazy arse next to them who sat in the boozer all their life gets the exact same care & entitlements. its so wrong.

old age care and inheritance tax are the two most unfair and unjust benefits/taxation problems in this country