Postpone Tax Credit Cuts, Mps Tell George Osborne

[mikey4444]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-34780272

Even his own MPs are telling him he is wrong, but will he listen ?

[Sqad]

He will listen mikey ( good morning), but will he change his policy?
It is not a popular policy, but is it the right one_?

[mikey4444]

Morning to you as well Sqad...hope your Menorca weather is better than our Welsh monsoon.

He has backed himself up a blind alley here. It wasn't just the Lords that defeated him but members of his own Party, like David Davies and Boris for instance. Unless he gets this sorted out out in the next few days, he will be defeated again and that could provoke a vote of confidence. Remember...he only has a working majority if just 12.

Its not a popular policy because its a kick in the teeth for exactly the kind of voter that the Tories courted before the Election...working people. He has put the cart before the horse...raise the minimum wage properly, not by inventing a new version of it ( the "living" wage ) and raise it before these huge cuts in tax credits come in.

He has got his sums wrong.

[youngmafbog]

Total spending on benefits and tax credits is expected to come to about £217 billion in 2015/16. This is about 11.7% of GDP and about 29.2% of total public spending. Of this figure around 30 BILLION is tax credits. Something has to be wrong and questions need to be asked as to why this figure is so high. It has ballooned out of control since its inception.

I'm sure Mr Brown meant well with the idea but it is far too complicated and poorly implemented. People miss out n what they should get whilst others can find themselves with a big debt to pay back.

Tax credits needs to be abolished, but, to fully compensate the lower rate of tax threshold needs massively increasing(including NI contributions). This may mean the basic of higher rate of tax needs to increase to balance it for the better off but that should not be a problem.

All Osborne has done wrong is fail to show how he is not affecting working class families. This is what he must clearly do.

[mikey4444]

YMB...but its exactly these working class families that would have been affected, millions of them, if his original proposals had gone through unchanged. That is the dilemma that this Tory Chancellor is finding himself in.

But he has now left himself with very little room to maneuver. If he doesn't make cuts to tax credits, then money will have to come from somewhere else, or he will have to radically re-think his strategy to manage the countries finances until 2020. There are rumors circulating that he may have to break another pre-election promise, and pensioners benefits.

[youngmafbog]

I've shown one way he can 'wriggle' out of it.

The underlying issue is the huge Tax credits bill that has ballooned from 1 bn to 30 Bn. That has to be tackled and done much simpler.

[jackthehat]

There is no doubt that the Tax Credit system needs an overhaul, I think few would disagree with that.

However, the current proposals will cause distress to those least able to shoulder it some little while before the mitigating measures will be implemented.

It would be better to design a seamless transition and hopefully someone with a bit of clout will be able to make Osborne understand this PDQ.

[andy-hughes]

I think Mr Osborne has allowed his fiscal enthusiasm to run away with him, and thus he has fallen into the trap of the over-eager, he has chase his quary over the cliff.

He needs to admit he got it wrong, reassess, and move forward.

The electorate with have far more respect for a Chancellor who can admit he made a mistake, than a Chancellor who has made a mistake and is too proud to admit it, and push on with a dreadfully damaging policy simply to save face.