New Budget

http://www.babyworld.co.uk/news/Mar08/13.03.08_budget.asp

Any thoughts on this years budget?

Once again nothing shocking to learn that if you smoke or drink you will be worse off, but if you have kids you will be better off.

A bit of a nothing budget really. No one particularly better off and no-one massively worse off either.

According to the BBC news website, I will be £90 a year better off. But that is because of the change to income tax from last year, so nowt really affecting me much this time

£354 better off for me, mainly income tax too. I'll consider it a rise.

BBC said I will be £722.6 better off- I very much doubt it.

To be honest given the rate of inflation at the moment of petrol and food the budget is the least of my financial worries $111 a barrel the other day so delaying the 2p rise on petrol means nothing as it has risen by that amount in the last three weeks alone where I live.

Some serious mismanagement of the economy is coming to light at the moment then again with a PM who sold half our gold stocks when the price was at a five year low what do you expect.

atticusuk wrote:

To be honest given the rate of inflation at the moment of petrol and food the budget is the least of my financial worries $111 a barrel the other day so delaying the 2p rise on petrol means nothing as it has risen by that amount in the last three weeks alone where I live.

Some serious mismanagement of the economy is coming to light at the moment then again with a PM who sold half our gold stocks when the price was at a five year low what do you expect.

The price of petrol is getting to me too.

I am Diesel...but driving 85 miles to work each way... Feel like my wages go in my fuel tank!

Petrol doesn't really affect me as from my current flat I get the tube to work, and will walk from the new one. Think I spend about £40 a month on it tops. Though I can imagine it really making things difficult if you need to do a lot of driving.

Think I spend £25 a week on petrol and its all for getting to work/childminder etc

The new Car Tax linked to emissions is one big fiddle. Mine is nearly trebling. The government is milking climate change for all its worth.

blimey, what do you drive!!!

I don't think it's a fiddle, personally, we need to cut emissions out of the air somehow, and it might encourage people to buy cleaner cars/hybrids etc and we all might be able to breathe again.

helencbradshaw wrote:

blimey, what do you drive!!!

I don't think it's a fiddle, personally, we need to cut emissions out of the air somehow, and it might encourage people to buy cleaner cars/hybrids etc and we all might be able to breathe again.

The problem is with such a policy is that it only has an impact at the margins, for the person paying £3k on a Range Rover another grand in the first year to cover car tax will not prevent the purchase. If the Gov were serious about reducing road emmissions then they would introduce road pricing but that would b pretty much political suicide.

This is more of a "lets look like we are doing something" policy than a truly effective means of reducing emmissions.

Why would road pricing be any different? The people in the Range Rovers could still afford it, while the people in the Daewoo Matiz's would suffer.

(disclaimer - one of my mates dives a matiz through choice, am sure they are not THAT bad!)

Road pricing would have a greater effect as the payment is ongoing rather than a one off and would have a greater effect on more people, true those who are rich would be able to absorb the cost more easily but that is the same with any tax based policy, the only truly effective way that is not linked to ability to pay is an outright ban or rationing.