Public reaction to Alistair Darling’s first budget has been largely negative. Clare Francis looks at why consumers are feeling so let down…

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The best description I can have for this country right now is, "Closing Down Sale - Everything must go!"

Labour has bankrupted this country. It inherited a very stable and healthy economy ten years ago and anyone with half a brain knows that you cannot destroy something very big very quickly. Instead, Gordon Brown basked in the glory of other people's work (no change there since) and during his tenure did nothing to 'save for a rainy day' with the result that we are facing a non-trivial likelihood of either a recession or at the very least a long-term period of virtually no growth.

Labour lies to us by calling new taxes "Green Taxes" in the hope of disguising blatant theft from our earnings in the name of saving the planet.

The reality is that virtually no MP in power has actually had to work in the real world at all so they have no idea what it is like to face real hardship and drive a real business under punitive and ever rising costs. People voted Labour in because they had no faith in the Conservative party and let's face it, no-one has any real faith in any of them now. So what do we do?

Nothing. It's what the great British public is known for and it is what Darling and the other liar in power are counting on. if everyone stopped paying tax and refused to work - ie: a National Strike of ALL workers - it would shake these complacent Westminster swine out of their do-nothing torpor and we may actually see some leadership.

Maybe that is what is needed now.

SHARK!

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For every positive action, there's an equal and opposite government plan.

Oh, I dunno. With the 10% tax rate gone and now the 20% rate, I'm now better off. The biggest gripe I have is with the Council Tax increases. Often way above inflating and doubled in the last 10 years. That's hard to stomach.

well nice to see you are better off WHAT ABOUT ALL THE POOR EARNERS WHO ARE NOT!!

Agree with you on council tax,id advocate national pay no council tax month in protest

SEE WHAT THE GOVERMENTS SAY TO THAT!!

That's life. Everyone wants to see benefits for themselves in the budget and I'm no exception. Because I earn more it's not necessarily fair that I have to subsidise others. While I'm happy to pay those tax levels, I'm not always happy with how it's spent. I shouldn't have to pay more so that someone on 14k a year can pay less. If you were to ask me to pay more so that pensioners pay half council tax, I happily would.

what a mug you are then!!

Pensioners get more free or discounted things nowadays then in the last 50 years ,free bus pass which i have to pay more for , discounts on leccy and increased winter fuel payment which i have to pay more for,chippy supper which i pay more for,car insurance which everyone pays more for,

so to half their council tax and get us to pay more is just a joke that no one in their right mind that pays tax would vote for,those who are on basic pensions already get discounts on council tax so to give them more would be another slap in the face of all those who go out to work and pay towards their tidy retirement,

The more you earn the more tax you pay its simple and to compare someone earning 14k to someone earning 25k is un relasitic and morally wrong ,the tax system is the only financial thing ive ever agreed with labour on.

Id go further and place a 50% rate on those earning 100k or more and then 60% on those earning 500k and then 70% on those earning 2million or more.

Hi,

Well since Labour just increased tax for people on less than 18k a year and reduced for people on more than 18k, your agreeing with them is strange. I'm happy I'm paying less but that extra £12 a month is not exactly money vital to me. I couldn't care less if they hadn't of given it. I believe supporting pensioners as they helped to make the country what it is today. They may have never had all these fuel allowances but that doesn't mean much if your council tax doubles in 10 years and your basic pension has struggled to keep up with basic inflation. If they said, will you pay an extra £50 a month to give pensioners a 50% reductions, I'd go for it. If they said to me will you pay £50 a month more so that someone who is not as intelligent as you can pay less, I'd say no.

Also, I do a high pressure job and if I don't perform well I will be replaced. That's why I earn what I do and also the fact that it's in an industry where it's hard to find skilled workers. Basic supply and demand. If you put 50% rate, 60% rate, 70% rate, you are simply taking away peoples incentives for doing those highly skilled and stressful jobs.

im not saying i dont agree with some of the free or discounted things pensioners get,but come on!!

Most have got tidy nest eggs tucked away in savings accounts that they dont touch,a lot of them own houses outright worth thousands most being to big for 76 yr old joe bloggs who could well have outlived his wife,im sick of hearing pensioners forever pleading poverty,

i dont agree with your idea of paying more councill tax to make their lives a little easier,they have got life very cushdy indeed under labour ,thus guarnteeing labour will win every election for the next 20 years untill that generation die out and labour are then swept from power by the younger generation who are over taxed on everything from a bottle of wine to driving about in their landrover.

Most pensioners still smoke so could save a bit of cash by cutting down or quitting altogether thus freeing up more money for paying councill tax and other things they dont already get for free.

Another freebie they get is a tv licence if they are over 80,that for me is biggest most slap in face thing the labour government has ever done and its the main reason we are paying more because more over 80s are suddenly getting it for free.

I suggest you spend some time with some pensioners and then comments. Most are not laughing to the bank.

I became a pensioner last year and would like to point out that although some pensioners may be comfortable, most of them have worked hard all the lives so that they can have a good standard of living. Most of which is being eaten up by the ever increasing cost of just living. Not all of us get free this that and the other, and for those that do good luck!. What you all want to remember is, old age comes to most of us if we are lucky, and you will have to face the hard reality of paying ever increasing bills on a fixed income.

That would depend on the individual,and how much they themselves have bothered to save aswell as how much they get on the basic state pension.

I reealise geographical restrictions and income based benefits apply,but winterfuel payment isnt as far im led to believe means tested(scandalous) and neither is tv licence for the over 80s or discounted ones for the over 65's.

Pensioners of this generation are the most ungratefull lot ever,in the words of one Harold Macmillan(think thats him)

YOU HAVE NEVER HAD IT SO GOOD!!

you ought to be gratefull you dont live in zimbabwe living under a dictatorship where the economy is ruined beyond repair,or somewhere else liek darfur where you are lucky to remain alive each day.

Old age comes to the people who are not lucky,it comes to the people who look after their own health and happiness!!

Not the ones how drink 20 pints a night or smoke 60 a day,not the ones who batter their income by gambling beyonD their means,if i had a £1 for everytime ive seen a pensioner spend at least £5 a time in bookies ,ID BE BRITAINS RICHEST MAN.

Those same pensioners then turn round and moan that they cant afford to live a decent life!!

hehe, your perspective is a bit warped. I could say that because I see middle aged people in the bookies, ALL middle aged people should get no tax credits.

i dont believe in the tax credit system,it doesnt help the right people and it actively encourages people to work for less money knowing tax credits will keep them going or to not work at all and live on the state for life.