U.K. Politics: Boris Johnson referred to police (AGAIN) over potential Covid rule breaches

[Artoo]

Re: UK Politics - tax increase to hep fund NHS money

So will May be at this rate

[Rihab]

Telegraph reports:
EU diplomats shocked by Boris's 'four-letter reply' to business concerns about Brexit
Boris, behave!

Boris is out.

[heppolo]

Re: UK Politics - tax increase to hep fund NHS money

Dominic Raab is the new Brexit secretary after David Davis resigns

[heppolo]

Telegraph reports:
EU diplomats shocked by Boris's 'four-letter reply' to business concerns about Brexit
Boris, behave!

[heppolo]

Not only looks, but also sounds like Trump
[tweet:1lura92t]https://twitter.com/itvnews/status/1010414850470825985[/tweet:1lura92t]

[Artoo]

Re: UK Politics - tax increase to hep fund NHS money

No, not happy with that until they do a comprehensive review. I’d rather they just stopped increasing the personal allowance than increase the tax.

[Wayne]

Tax rise need to help pay for £20bn NHS boost, says PM

Tax rises will be needed to pay for the boost in NHS funding announced by the government, the prime minister says.

Theresa May conceded the public would pay more, but promised this would be done in a "fair and balanced" way.

The government also says economic growth and a "Brexit dividend" will help cover the costs of the increased spending, which will see NHS England's budget increase by £20bn by 2023.

Labour's John McDonnell called the funding model "not credible".

He - and others - have been critical about whether there will be the savings from Brexit that ministers are claiming.

But in a speech in London, Mrs May insisted it would free up money.

"Some of the extra funding I am promising will come from using the money we will no longer spend on our annual membership subscription to the European Union after we have left."

However, she added that "taxpayers will have to contribute a bit more in a fair and balanced way to support the NHS we all use".

In return, Mrs May said the NHS had to play its part to ensure "every penny is well spent".

She has asked NHS England boss Simon Stevens to work with senior doctors to come up with a 10-year plan, looking at productivity, staffing and key areas such as mental health and cancer survival.

"It must be a plan that tackles waste, reduces bureaucracy and eliminates unacceptable variation," Mrs May said.

What is the funding plan?

At the weekend, the government announced the NHS England budget would increase by 3.4% a year on average over the next five years.

That means by 2023 the budget will be £20bn higher than it is now, once inflation is taken into account.

Currently, NHS England spends £114bn a year.

But the plan does not include other parts of the wider health budget, such as training, stop-smoking clinics and other preventative services, so the overall "health" increase might be lower than 3.4%.

The average annual rise since the foundation of the NHS in 1948 is 3.7%.

More: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-44516123

The IFS says adding a penny to the basic rate of income tax would raise £4bn, while 1p on all the main rates of NI would bring in nearly £10bn.

I'm happy to pay more tax if it helps stabilise the NHS - a 1p increase on the basic rate of tax would equate to every tax payer paying around £125 per year more (there's 32.2 million people in employment) - this will obviously fluctuate with lower paid tax payers paying less and higher rate tax payers contributing more.

[Artoo]

Re: UK Politics - NHS funding after Brexit will be +£20 bill

I think when the Brexit mess gets sorted, that the NHS is absolutely going to be the next big thing that will need sorting - and most likely the prevailing issue at the next election.

It’s disgusting really that an organisation spending £124 billion a year has been allowed to get so messy. We should be scrutinising every penny spent to ensure it’s well spent.

[Wayne]

£112m being spent on pills that can be bought for less than 50p a pack in supermarkets?! What the f...?!

It's quite a bit less than that now (£70 million in 2016/2017) but the 5 year bill up until that point stood at £398,875,111 - yes, that's right: almost £400 million on bloody paracetamol.

For what it's worth, Asda charge 25p for paracetamol (I read you can buy a standard 16 tablets packet for 19p in some discount chains).

Absolutely shameful.

[Thriller]

Re: UK Politics - NHS funding after Brexit will be +£20 bill

Yeah it's very promising but it's not going to solve that much, I agree there needs to be a complete overhaul.

£112m being spent on pills that can be bought for less than 50p a pack in supermarkets?! What the f...?!

[Wayne]

Re: UK Politics - NHS funding after Brexit will be +£20 bill

Social care is the area most in need of a review - it’s been gutted and needs a complete overhaul.

Historically, the NHS had been funded to the tune of +4% each year prior to the recession - since the recession, the average increase has been less than 1.5% per year, every year; this funding increase will simply put right some of that, it will not move the NHS forward in the way it needs to. It needs more than money being thrown at it, it needs a complete overhaul.

[Artoo]

No politician is willing to admit it publicly, but the NHS just isn't sustainable without some form of major taxation or move to more personal responsibility .

I disagree. What no one is willing to do imo is redesigned the NHS from the ground up, tackle pharmaceutical prices or incorporate personal health care into the education system.

I mean I’m no expert - and don’t claim to be - but a quick google tells me they spend £26 million on gardening a year, and doctors prescribe £112 million on paracetamol and aspirin. I mean it’s rediculous and whilst I know steps have been taken against such wasteful spending, it just shows a redesigned is needed imo.

Every service should be reviewed and judged on whether the NHS should fund it imo, and basic medical skills should be incorporated into the curriculum: from learning how to clean and dress wounds, understanding the difference between over the counter medications, basic skin rashes etc... all year 11s should be leaving school with first aid training (CPR etc) and knowledge on how to use defibrillators and EpiPens etc.

[Kaloki]

No politician is willing to admit it publicly, but the NHS just isn't sustainable without some form of major taxation or move to more personal responsibility.

It's £20 billion now, in 2023 will be another £20 billion and we'll have the same big debate again.

[Wayne]

Re: UK Politics - NHS funding after Brexit will be +£20 bill

Teresa gave an interview on The Andrew Marr Show today and stated that by 2023/2024, the NHS swill have access to around £600m per week more than it currently does in cash.

That is an incredible amount of money - I can’t help but feel that’s beyond our reach, she needs to be more open about how exactly she intends to fund it.

The terms of the divorce bill will mean we continue to pay into the EU for another decade-ish once we’re out, which is a cost to the economy - I loathe the term “brexit dividend” already.

[Wayne]

So May has announced a £20 Billion increase in NHS funding.

About bloody time.

I’m seeing conflicting reports over what this means - is it £4 billion per year over 5 years or £20 billion per year?

If it’s £4 billion per year, it likely won’t have much of an impact beyond addressing the immediate issues (with A&E and waiting times).

[heppolo]

So May has announced a £20 Billion increase in NHS funding.

About bloody time.

finally something sensible from Tories

[Artoo]

So May has announced a £20 Billion increase in NHS funding.

About bloody time.

[Artoo]

Do you think the UK would vote FOR Brexit again if they had a chance to a second referendum now?.

If anything, I think the vote would be even closer. I genuinely think more people would turn out to vote too, but at this stage I don’t know if I could call the outcome in a re-vote right now.

I think most people thought Brexit would be messy - they just never expected the government to be so incompetent. That last general election - ‘for a clear mandate’ - was a political disaster.

Whilst I don’t necessarily believe in British supremacy, I do expect us to rise to the occasion when out there on the global stage and not to let the side down. But these negotiations have been farcical.

I’m totally pro EU membership, but I am excited (as you can be) about seeing what comes next. We will get through it and I don’t expect us to be in any sort of worse position than we were - just in a different one.

Change can be a good thing though - unless it’s an EU directive it would seem

[stevyy]

Re: UK Politics - unemployment at lowest levels since 1975

Do you think the UK would vote FOR Brexit again if they had a chance to a second referendum now?

Everything that leaked about the negotiations is so off-putting and blah and Trump seems to be a very unreliable partner in global affairs too.

Then we have the Iran crisis and China which is buying every company everywhere in Europe.

Are people even aware of it?

Ultimately, it would be better if the UK would stay and Italy would Itexit.

[heppolo]

Not all bad, and we'll certainly be worse off without it - but the future of the EU is far from assured.

more assured than that of the UK tho

As I said, we'll be worse off, but we'll ultimately be fine - our future is certain: the UK will be leaving the EU and we know when (within reason), it's just a case of negotiating how we do it and working out how much it'll cost us.

SNP is plotting the new IndyRef on the basis of Brexit, so nothing is certain for the UK either.

[Artoo]

Not all bad, and we'll certainly be worse off without it - but the future of the EU is far from assured.

more assured than that of the UK tho

As I said, we'll be worse off, but we'll ultimately be fine - our future is certain: the UK will be leaving the EU and we know when (within reason), it's just a case of negotiating how we do it and working out how much it'll cost us.

That’s the bit that makes my tax code nervous

[Wayne]

Not all bad, and we'll certainly be worse off without it - but the future of the EU is far from assured.

more assured than that of the UK tho

As I said, we'll be worse off, but we'll ultimately be fine - our future is certain: the UK will be leaving the EU and we know when (within reason), it's just a case of negotiating how we do it and working out how much it'll cost us.

[Rihab]

Not all bad, and we'll certainly be worse off without it - but the future of the EU is far from assured.

more assured than that of the UK tho

[Artoo]

Too much regulation, too expensive = the EU.

Not all bad, and we'll certainly be worse off without it - but the future of the EU is far from assured.

We’ll be fine. Soon as we’re out Labour will be put back in power. It’s always the way - Labour progress and spend, Tories sort the finances and then when they are, we vote Labour back in to spend it again

[heppolo]

Too much regulation, too expensive = the EU.

Not all bad, and we'll certainly be worse off without it - but the future of the EU is far from assured.

Instead of EU there will probably be Russia instead.