How should the Budget Deficit be tackled ?

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To start the ball rolling some ideas below:-

Let the USA fight its own oil wars (how many billions let alone lives have been wasted) - bring back all our troops within 6 months

Quangos - get rid of unnecessary Quangos, surveys/ reseach and inquiries

VAT remain unchanged up to items costing £10k - but go up should go up to 25% on items over £10k ,

Income Tax should increase to 22% and 45% respectively.

Low earners should be protected from the worst of these rises by the rise in the tax threshold to £10,000.

Tax bonuses at 50% to £25000 and 75% above that.

Corporation tax should go up by 3%

Bring back betting tax

Scrap,put on hold or slow down expensive public sector projects - Future projects to be scaled down more affordable achievable, and also be contracted to UK contractors.

Across the board pay cuts - for all public sector workers, including MPs,Police, BBC etc - those earning over £20,000 should have a pay cut, ranging from 1% for the lowest, to 10% for the highest earners (eg those earning over £100,000).

Cut all public sector budgets by 5%

Cut EU payments

Scrap Trident

Scrap ID cards

Tax lorries from abroad an entry tax

Cut immigration costs - tackle illegal immigration costs - no benefits

Health tourism to be stopped - visitors to pay the going rate

Cut pointless university courses


Desperate times call for desperate measures - the above ideas could do with improving - how would you tackle cuts and tax increases ?

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Geezer - although BBC is tv licence funded - would include BBC for public sector treatment - obscene salaries

Good one Woody esp where countries like India are concerned

Boxtops - I feel sorry for ordinary workers, like nurses - but everybody - with the exception of the very low paid (as defined above) - will of necessity have to contribute to correct the sorry mess were in - thanks to greedy global banking executives and poor fiscal management by the UK Government particularly over the last 6/7 years - when “prudence” went out of the window.

JJ thanks for your tit bit take on austerity budgeting - but wouldn’t we have PAY somebody to take Mandy and Gordons and Ed Balls bits ?