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You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2013/mar/21/budget-hurt-most-vulnerable
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| A budget to hurt the most vulnerable | A budget to hurt the most vulnerable |
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| Your editorial on the budget (21 March) refers to "obscure changes to pensions, which abolish so-called 'contracting out'". The simple measure of abolishing Serps, the state earnings-related pension, not only condemns our children and grandchildren to penury in old age, it saves the chancellor somewhere between £6bn and £9bn a year and realises the dream of Margaret Thatcher and Norman Fowler of ending state involvement in second pensions for lower earners. It will also instantly seriously reduce the net take-home pay of all public-sector workers by ending contracting out. It is the single biggest fiscal change in the 2013 budget. And you term it "obscure"! | Your editorial on the budget (21 March) refers to "obscure changes to pensions, which abolish so-called 'contracting out'". The simple measure of abolishing Serps, the state earnings-related pension, not only condemns our children and grandchildren to penury in old age, it saves the chancellor somewhere between £6bn and £9bn a year and realises the dream of Margaret Thatcher and Norman Fowler of ending state involvement in second pensions for lower earners. It will also instantly seriously reduce the net take-home pay of all public-sector workers by ending contracting out. It is the single biggest fiscal change in the 2013 budget. And you term it "obscure"! |
| Serps is the ultimate legacy of Barbara Castle and, although downgraded over the years, remains the best pension provision for low-paid earners and especially women who take time out to bring up children. Its abolition is a disgrace. All women should rise up and protest against its abolition – and be supported by all men who care about the future. Tony Tuck London | Serps is the ultimate legacy of Barbara Castle and, although downgraded over the years, remains the best pension provision for low-paid earners and especially women who take time out to bring up children. Its abolition is a disgrace. All women should rise up and protest against its abolition – and be supported by all men who care about the future. Tony Tuck London |
| • An accurate prediction from Phillip Inman (Making the cut: 10 changes that might be in the red box, 20 March): the personal income tax threshold has been "brought forward to next year". But if the purpose of doing this is to benefit low-paid workers, which is what the coalition always claims, why extend this allowance to include the rich earning up to £100,000? A more sensible idea would be to increase it to £15,000 for basic-tax payers – who are more likely to spend and therefore benefit the economy; maintain it at the present level for those earners in the 40% tax band who earn up to £60,000; drop it to £5,000 for those earning up between £60,000 and £80,000; and then stop it altogether. People earning over £80,000 need no tax allowance, nor help with childcare costs. Bernie Evans Liverpool | • An accurate prediction from Phillip Inman (Making the cut: 10 changes that might be in the red box, 20 March): the personal income tax threshold has been "brought forward to next year". But if the purpose of doing this is to benefit low-paid workers, which is what the coalition always claims, why extend this allowance to include the rich earning up to £100,000? A more sensible idea would be to increase it to £15,000 for basic-tax payers – who are more likely to spend and therefore benefit the economy; maintain it at the present level for those earners in the 40% tax band who earn up to £60,000; drop it to £5,000 for those earning up between £60,000 and £80,000; and then stop it altogether. People earning over £80,000 need no tax allowance, nor help with childcare costs. Bernie Evans Liverpool |
| • How do Professor Ha-Joon Chang and others propose to tackle the budget deficit (Letters, 21 March)? The figures show in 2014-2015 HMG will overspend by £12.3m per hour, or £108bn over the year. Even the most ardent socialist knows that if you go to the pub with £10 in your pocket, you cannot spend £15. Mark Chaplin Tonbridge, Kent | • How do Professor Ha-Joon Chang and others propose to tackle the budget deficit (Letters, 21 March)? The figures show in 2014-2015 HMG will overspend by £12.3m per hour, or £108bn over the year. Even the most ardent socialist knows that if you go to the pub with £10 in your pocket, you cannot spend £15. Mark Chaplin Tonbridge, Kent |
| • Have I got this correct? Not long ago George Osborne took away child benefit from higher-rate taxpayers – that was £20 a week, or £1,000+ a year per child. Now he's giving up to £1,200 back in childcare vouchers. Shall we call it "babyshambles"? Dick Page Brighton | • Have I got this correct? Not long ago George Osborne took away child benefit from higher-rate taxpayers – that was £20 a week, or £1,000+ a year per child. Now he's giving up to £1,200 back in childcare vouchers. Shall we call it "babyshambles"? Dick Page Brighton |
| • Your budget calculator tells me I'll be £450 per year better off. I am well-paid and have money left at the end of each month. If this is the worst financial crisis since the 30s, what the hell is the chancellor playing at, not asking me to pay a single penny towards solving our crisis, while stripping ever more out of the pockets of those who can't make it from one pay cheque to the next as it is? Richard Miller Whitstable, Kent | • Your budget calculator tells me I'll be £450 per year better off. I am well-paid and have money left at the end of each month. If this is the worst financial crisis since the 30s, what the hell is the chancellor playing at, not asking me to pay a single penny towards solving our crisis, while stripping ever more out of the pockets of those who can't make it from one pay cheque to the next as it is? Richard Miller Whitstable, Kent |
| • It's all very well for Osborne to say that the forecast growth is halved to 0.6% in 2013 when we're already £7bn over the predicted forecast for borrowing, then to say borrowing is expected to fall in subsequent years. The sums simply don't add up. Essentially this budget was a propaganda tool for the next election, promising changes and investment in 2015 to urge people to vote Tory again. As Osborne hasn't bothered to explain how he worked out his figures, it's pretty hard to get excited about any positive changes when we have to live with the British economy on its knees until 2015. Daniel Todaro Managing director, Gekko | • It's all very well for Osborne to say that the forecast growth is halved to 0.6% in 2013 when we're already £7bn over the predicted forecast for borrowing, then to say borrowing is expected to fall in subsequent years. The sums simply don't add up. Essentially this budget was a propaganda tool for the next election, promising changes and investment in 2015 to urge people to vote Tory again. As Osborne hasn't bothered to explain how he worked out his figures, it's pretty hard to get excited about any positive changes when we have to live with the British economy on its knees until 2015. Daniel Todaro Managing director, Gekko |
| • It is fitting that train robber Bruce Reynolds should be buried on the day of George Osborne's banker-friendly budget. As Woody Guthrie put it: As through this world you wander / You meet all kinds of men / Some will rob you with a shotgun / and some with a fountain pen. Jeremy Knight Caerphilly, Glamorgan | • It is fitting that train robber Bruce Reynolds should be buried on the day of George Osborne's banker-friendly budget. As Woody Guthrie put it: As through this world you wander / You meet all kinds of men / Some will rob you with a shotgun / and some with a fountain pen. Jeremy Knight Caerphilly, Glamorgan |
| • That'll be 25 gallons to drink to save the price of a pint. Let the good times roll … Kevin McGrath Harlow, Essex | • That'll be 25 gallons to drink to save the price of a pint. Let the good times roll … Kevin McGrath Harlow, Essex |
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