Quote of the Day

"The age in which you want Scandinavian levels of welfare but you're only prepared to pay American tax rate is over."

Frank Field MP  "The Week at Westminster" 15 June 2013 (see yesterday's article for link)

Comments

Jim said…
Questions:

1, I don't recall ever asking for "Scandinavian welfare", in fact I wonder, where did the Idea of high levels of welfare come from, was it asked for by the people, or was it offered in return for election by a certain government party?

2, Who endorsed those high levels of welfare? - was there a national referendum to see if people paying taxes were willing to pay for it, and if there was, when was it held and what was the exact question?

3, Since National insurance payments are ringfemced and invested in order to fund peoples, national pension, then there is only the pension of government employees and state workers to worry about, but who offered them a pension that was unaffordable in the first place?

4, for the tax rate its ok, all I ask is you tell me how much you would like and tell me exactly to the penny, what you want it for. Then I will tell you if that's OK or not.

(demand 5)

5. no taxes or spending without consent: no tax, charge or levy shall be imposed, nor any public spending authorised, nor any sum borrowed by any national or local government except with the express permission of the majority of the people, renewed annually on presentation of a properly authenticated budget which shall first have been approved by their respective legislatures;
Chris Whiteside said…
You know what they say - everyone likes the idea of saving money in general, and everyone likes the idea of paying less tax, but whenever you propose a specific economy or saving an awful lot of people start having second thoughts.

Frank's basic point, that there had grown up a serious mismatch between the levels of tax people were willing to pay and what level of government provision they expected for it, is undoubtedly right as regards the attitudes of many people. If not yourself Jim.

And he's equally right that we are even less able to afford it now than we were at the time.
Jim said…
My basic point is people should have a choice. Now i know that individuals cant exactly "choose your own tax system" however the people in collective form can be asked.

Are you willing to pay 10% income tax for a national health service?

Are you willing to pay 8% income tax for police and fire services?

Are you willing to pay 12% income tax to fund welfare?

etc. lets say the majority of the people vote YES / YES / NO

Then we would have an 18% tax rate, police, fire and a national health service. We would not have welfare.
Chris Whiteside said…
That sort of thing has occasionally be tried at local budget setting time by some councils.

I think there is a lot to be said for it.

Don't think you would very often get a "NO" vote in any category but the mere possibility of such a thing might make those who were running such services look much more carefully at the value for money they were offering the taxpayer.

Popular posts from this blog

Nick Herbert on his visit to flood hit areas of Cumbria

Quotes of the day 19th August 2020

Quote of the day 24th July 2020