"DWP benefits like Universal Credit and JSA could be cut in Autumn Budget"

"DWP benefits like Universal Credit and JSA could be cut in Autumn Budget"

https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-news/dwp-benefits-like-universal-credit-33823194


"Chancellor Rachel Reeves is set to unveil her inaugural Budget later this month, a move that could spell significant shifts for those on benefits.

Those most likely to be worried are benefits recipients, amid rumours that some DWP payouts may be under threat.

Scheduled to detail the Government's financial strategy on October 30, the Chancellor has already indicated that difficult decisions may be looming regarding taxes, expenditure, and potentially benefits.

In early September, Ms Reeves alluded to a tough Budget in the pipeline, referencing "difficult decisions" that could affect tax, spending, and benefits.

She has also highlighted a staggering £22billion hole in the country's finances, blaming it on the previous Tory leadership, a disclosure that has many bracing for potential difficulties for those in financial straits.

Rumours have surfaced that the Chancellor might seek to pare down the welfare budget, an idea seemingly backed up by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer's recent comments.

Addressing the Labour Party conference in Liverpool, the PM underscored the necessity for "trade-offs" to balance welfare provision with support for those in need, recognising the inevitability of "hard cases" but advocating for a joint effort between the Government and businesses to stimulate employment, reports Birmingham Live.

The number of long-term sick folks has rocketed to an eye-watering 2.8 million post-pandemic, leading to head-scratching about the fate of working-age benefits. Health Secretary Wes Streeting hinted at some grim possibilities with potential chops and changes in taxes on the horizon.

Speaking to the New Statesman, Mr Streeting suggested that the Chancellor might slash these benefits in an attempt to fill the £22 billion deficit in government finances. This follows the Labour administration's decision to scrap the £300 Winter Fuel Payment for pensioners not receiving means-tested benefits.

Mr Streeting said: "There are other choices to come and these aren't just Rachel's choices to face up to, these are the choices of the whole government.""

Only time will tell Archangel. One point thou.
"DWP benefits like Universal Credit and JSA could be cut in Autumn Budget"

Isn't this part of JSA, being cut . Isn't this an oxymoron, as I thought this benefit was being phased out.

The Lettuce thing was awesome, but not sure I'm going to start having sleepless nights over what The Daily Star thinks might happen.

Where the big savings in welfare spending will come are already widely known. Going forward, fewer people will be awarded LCWRA and PIP. Don't forget, a decision is due on whether to bring forward the increase in State Pension Age. If housing supply is improved then there should be concomitant savings on Housing Benefit - obviously building more houses is a big if.

Cuts to UC would be with freezing rates, work allowance, reducing capital thresholds, that sort of thing.

Anyway, given the lethal combination of a new government, party conferences, "journalists" desperate for a headline, think tanks with their big ideas, I'm surprised people aren't dropping dead of fear left right and centre. Or maybe that's the cunning plan. Reduce the pensioner population and thus the pension bill by filling the Daily Telegraph, Daily Mail with terrifying stories about how the government are planning on cutting all your benefits and taxing to the high heavens everything you own.

Their actions likely will be directed towards the 2.8 million people who are on long-term sickness. Cameron and Osborne's method of freezing benefits at the current rate wouldn't surprise me either.
Labour says there is a £22 billion black hole in the nations finances, they could easily claw back nearly all of that by doing something they said they wouldn't do, but I believe it is in the interest of the country to do so. The tories decreased the amount of national insurance contributions by £20 billion. Labour's choice is either to increase national insurance contributions back to the level before the tories reduced them or to slightly increase them above that amount.

Or, they could make the tough decision  of taxing the stinking rich.

As for housing supply being improved, dont think there is a flying pig of a chance that will ever happen, but dare not say as to why that maybe.

You mentioned the housing supply.

As somebody who has worked alongside bricklayers undertaking house building I can tell you with no uncertainty that Labour's pledge to build 1.5 million houses over 5 years will not happen.

What I am going to say was about 6 years ago, but things haven't changed since then.

I worked as part of a gang of four bricklayers, the fastest and best gang on the site we were working on. They got 0 RI’s on their plots (RI's = reportable items., defects found during any type of inspection as per NHBC key stage inspections) The brickwork was jointed nicely, topped, tailed, and brushed, the blockwork was jointed both sides, the trays rip free and clean, cavities clear of snots, scaffold was cleaned off every lift, inside of the plots were kept clean at all times, the outsides of the plots were kept clean and they tried not to waste materials.

The bricklayers did not receive any extra payment for doing any of that stuff. It is just the standard required to be allowed to build on site. Their payment is based solely on what they lay. The amount of money they earn is not amazing. Especially when you include rain days and standing around time (they only earn when they have their trowel in hand).

The prices being offered for being a bricklayer do not match up to the amount of work that is expected of them, so it is not hard to see why the refreshment rate in bricklaying is so bad. It’s a mugs game. Then you have younger bricklayer improvers, probably 6 months since completing their apprenticeship chasing the money, thinking they rightly deserve the same money as the brickies who have been doing it for decades. This is why there are so many badly built new builds, many of these improvers start their own bricklaying gangs without knowing all aspets of the trade and fall flat on their faces when asked to set out something and they have know knowledge of it. Additionally, I have lost count of how many walls I have observed being taken down and rebuilt because of this over the years.

Self-employed sub contractors who work on new build housing are subject to tax overcharges and must claim it back at the end of the tax year. A stringent set of health and safety regulations. Cheap materials. Poor prices. No pension. No sick days. No safety net. Guaranteed damage to your body.

Subbies frequently put pressure on their brickies to produce on large sites. Slower ones will sometimes last less than an hour on site, even if their work is okay. Unfortunately on larges sites the same bricklayers that did a really good job on someone's extension will probably not produce quite the same quality on a large site.

Wow, this Labour government seem to want Conservative's reputation of being the nasty party.

Rather than go gunning for the poorest, like pensioners and those on means tested benefits, why not ask the rich to chip in? Or would putting their noses out of joint be too much to ask?

I can remember when Osborne froze the benefits in 2015's budget for about 4-5 years and that really stung those claiming means tested benefits such as JSA.  I wouldn't be at all surprised if they freeze our benefits for years again.

To me, it looks like Starmer is trying to turn the Labour party into the small - C conservative party by hugging Tory dogma tightly. He keeps saying they are now the party of wealth and growth, not redistribution or equality, meaning us people at the bottom will only get more if the size of the cake increases, but they will keep the same share of the cake as before. One thing that would not suprise me is, if he does not deliver the change many voters are expecting, in 5 years he will be replaced in office by a party even further to the right than the one he displaced. This is far from implausable, given the realignment involving hard right tories and Nigel Farage, and the political energy and money available to them.

Agree, people are sick to the back teeth of what's been going on and how things are proceeding now. Average Jo knows what's needed, secure, well paid, skilled jobs in the millions.That's not going to happen for many reasons. Meantime, everyone has to suck up what's being delivered and pay the price for it.

I am tired of Labour MP's talking about this £22 billion fiscal black hole. Can £9.4 billion not be accounted for from the big pay rises given to the public sector? Can £8.6 billion not be accounted for from the reserve requirements? Has Labour had everyones's pants down, and using this as an excuse to abandon it's election promises not to raise taxes, and to provide a retext for cutting welfare payments.

Labour has not once mentioned the £19 billion of cuts to unprotected public services the tories had penciled in to cover all the cuts to national insurance they made. Labour knew about these cuts before the election, as they were talked about after the tories spring budget in March. These cuts will be the equivalent to three-quarters the size of those cuts delivered in the early 2010s, which devastated public services.

Xennial wrote:I am tired of Labour MP's talking about this £22 billion fiscal black hole.  Can £9.4 billion not be accounted for from the big pay rises given to the public sector? Can £8.6 billion not be accounted for from the reserve requirements?  Has Labour had everyones's pants down, and using this as an excuse to abandon it's election promises  not to raise taxes, and to provide a retext for cutting welfare payments.

Labour has not once mentioned the £19 billion of cuts to unprotected public services the tories had penciled in to cover all the cuts to national insurance they made. Labour knew about these cuts before the election, as they were talked about after the tories spring budget  in March. These cuts will be the equivalent to three-quarters the size of those cuts delivered in the early 2010s, which devastated public services.

What election promises from Labour? The election was never about who won it, It was about getting the Tories out. Look at the amount of votes. Labour did not win they were the only option given and most people did not vore for them.
As for cost. nearly £300 million just for planning.
https://inews.co.uk/news/politics/thames-tunnel-trapped-300m-planning-limbo-15-years-not-started-2892850.

What the fuck is going on with photo insertion and where is support?

I was refering to what went on pre election and Sunak getting Starmer to pledge he wouldn't raise taxes.

https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/ruling-out-tax-rises-undermines-credibility

oneman wrote:What the fuck is going on with photo insertion and where is support?

Remove the three pictures, then use the below code (without clicking the "host an image" button in the toolbar when posting) to insert your image:

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Multi-millionaires and billionaires are putting their taxes in the Cayman Islands, and they tell us that the money is irretrievable. Then you get the people who say they have worked all their life and sick of the unemployed sat on their fat arses, spending their dole money on booze and smokes. Can you tell me what the problem is? Both goods are highly taxable. The country is getting the money back because these individuals are reinvesting. These are the heroes. It is not poor people who are spending that is the problem, it is rich people who are saving. The money is there, it just needs to be given to the right people to spend it. To boost the economy, I would increase the benefits to £1,000 per week, and every penny would be spent. No penny would be transferred offshore or into a savings account.

See they had the calculator out changed the batteries and now make the black hole to be £44bn. I wonder what it will be this week ? Didn't see the other missing £22 Bn gov, sorry. Would that be the PPE contracts not being factored in

Based on my understanding, the £40bn is intended for a different purpose. We have a £22 billion 'black hole' and a £40 billion funding gap. I believe the £44 billion must be referring to the funding gap.

The £22 bn is the expected overspend in government finances above the limits put in place by the tresasury.his This £40bn figure is the ongoing annual funding gap for day-to-day funding. If I have read correctly in an article in the Guardian, the £22 billion is for 2024/25 and the £40 billion is for the next few years.

The FT, described it as “the funding that Reeves needs to protect key government departments from real-terms spending cuts, cover the enduring impact of an annual £22bn overspend and build up a fiscal buffer for the remainder of the parliament”.

We will need an increased budget every day looking at this.
https://commodity.com/data/uk/debt-clock/

Over £2 Trillion, unsustainable & rising fast. If you earn or save money in British Pounds £ this will directly impact you in one of 2 inevitable outcomes:

UK Government and The Bank of England continues to ‘print money’ to pay for the debt – this makes everything continually more expensive (inflation), or
UK Government refuses to pay their interest payments or repay the debt they owe – resulting in a catastophic economic recession.

if they have a shortfall of £22Bn for funding, then Id say that's still another a big hole.

while the £22 billion reflects the immediate fiscal gap Labour has identified for the current year, the £40 billion refers to a broader estimate of future challenges and necessary reforms to stabilize the economy.