Non-motoring > How would you save 81 billion?	Miscellaneous
Thread Author: Crankcase	Replies: 33

New Fri 12 Aug 11 11:20   How would you save 81 billion? - Crankcase

We had a thread recently about how you might spend 161 million. Apparently the UK now have to now save 81 billion. What would you cut? Police? Skoolznospitals? MPs salaries? Or be perverse and spend spend spend instead? Last edited by: Crankcase on Fri 12 Aug 11 at 11:21 Reply to this message | Report message

New Fri 12 Aug 11 11:30   How would you save 81 billion? - zippy

Its an unimaginably large figure. I would suggest the best way is by using inflation to make it the equivalent of saving £1.50 ;-) Reply to this message | Report message

New Fri 12 Aug 11 11:36   How would you save 81 billion? - Mike Hannon

Take the NHS budget and blow it on Euromillions tickets. Reply to this message | Report message

New Fri 12 Aug 11 11:42   How would you save 81 billion? - sherlock47

I take it that you are resident and have a Carte Vitale :) Reply to this message | Report message

New Fri 12 Aug 11 11:43   How would you save 81 billion? - CGNorwich

Not a good idea to gamble £124 billion to win around £161 million! Reply to this message | Report message

New Fri 12 Aug 11 11:41   How would you save 81 billion? - -

Stop subsidizing other countries with handouts. Recall our forces from America's latest regime change expeditions. Make benefit claimants do some community work, eg clearing waste ground of rubbish...no workee no payee. Reply to this message | Report message       2

New Fri 12 Aug 11 11:48   How would you save 81 billion? - Crankcase

>> Stop subsidizing other countries with handouts. UK Foreign aid budget about 8 billion. 73 billion to go. >> Recall our forces from America's latest regime change expeditions. Cost of Afghanistan so far about 25 billion. 48 billion to go >> Make benefit claimants do some community work, eg clearing waste ground of rubbish...no workee no >> payee. >> Benefit fraud about 1 billion. 47 billion to go... :) Reply to this message | Report message

New Fri 12 Aug 11 11:59   How would you save 81 billion? - -

>> Cost of Afghanistan so far about 25 billion. 48 billion to go >> Libya free is it? >> Benefit fraud about 1 billion. >> The savings on contractors (councillors mates etc) having to do such work will add up. Permanent scroungers might just manage to find a job if benefits included a bit of getting their hands dirty...it all adds up, they might even end up as net contributors to society...breath not held....some of the regular idle i see round here could do with the exercise anyway. Anyway i don't see any other suggestions forthcoming. Last edited by: gordonbennet on Fri 12 Aug 11 at 12:01 Reply to this message | Report message

New Fri 12 Aug 11 12:05   How would you save 81 billion? - Crankcase

>> Libya free is it? True. MOD June figures have it at 120m, so that's another 0.12 billion. Not necessarily saying your ideas are wrong (or right!), GB,just making the point that 81 billion is a serious serious wodge, and it's really hard to see how it's possible to save that much. Reply to this message | Report message

New Fri 12 Aug 11 17:08   How would you save 81 billion? - Robin O'Reliant

>> >> Cost of Afghanistan so far about 25 billion. 48 billion to go >> I doubt if Afghanistan costs very much at all. In peacetime troops still have to be paid, planes still fly and ships still sail. Ammo is used in training sessions and bombs and missiles probably need to be periodically replaced as they degrade. It is definately cheaper not to have a war than to have one, but like the quoted cost of road accidents fixed costs which would encur anyway are never discounted. Reply to this message | Report message

New Fri 12 Aug 11 11:48   How would you save 81 billion? - CGNorwich

'Stop subsidizing other countries with handouts. Recall our forces from America's latest regime change expeditions. Make benefit claimants do some community work, eg clearing waste ground of rubbish...no workee no payee." They may or may not be good ideas but the savings would be nowhere near £81 billion Reply to this message | Report message

New Fri 12 Aug 11 12:03   How would you save 81 billion? - Meldrew

Get out of as many of the many PFI contracts as possible. Reply to this message | Report message       1

New Fri 12 Aug 11 12:09   How would you save 81 billion? - CGNorwich

How? Reply to this message | Report message

New Fri 12 Aug 11 12:10   How would you save 81 billion? - Stuu

Whoever it was that reckoned £300 a light bulb was any kind of good value for this country, the person that signed that contract should be tried for treason along with the muffin who bought those aircraft carriers. Reply to this message | Report message

New Fri 12 Aug 11 12:19   How would you save 81 billion? - zippy

Madness. I will sell them one for £299. Local nick could not buy loo paper, they had to call in the PFI people. Actually, PFI is not the problem per-se its wrapping everything up in one contract thats the problem, so split out contracts to building, security, services and get quotes for each independently. Reply to this message | Report message

New Fri 12 Aug 11 12:15   How would you save 81 billion? - zippy

Get all the rich and companies that pay minimal tax to pay what they actually owe. Close tax loopholes. Fix civil servants pay so it is less than the private sector as it once was (because the low pay was offset by job security and great pensions). Make benefits work. I know people who want to work, but would be penalized if they do as they are on benefits the take home after working 48 hours would be less than benefits and the food and motoring bills would also rise! (They volunteer instead, but it still isn't right.) Make drunks pay for A&E visits. Stop MPs getting pay rises. Stop building academies. Reply to this message | Report message       1

New Fri 12 Aug 11 12:09   How would you save 81 billion? - SteelSpark

Hard to say without knowing where it is currently spent. Have they ever published some kind of high level snapshot of government spending? Reply to this message | Report message

New Fri 12 Aug 11 12:15   How would you save 81 billion? - SteelSpark

Oh, here we go www.ukpublicspending.co.uk/classic#ukgs30200 Reply to this message | Report message

New Fri 12 Aug 11 12:16   How would you save 81 billion? - CGNorwich

THis is a useful site www.ukpublicspending.co.uk/government_expenditure.html Reply to this message | Report message

New Fri 12 Aug 11 12:28   How would you save 81 billion? - Crankcase

You got a touch of the Oreads today, CG? :) Reply to this message | Report message

New Fri 12 Aug 11 13:34   How would you save 81 billion? - CGNorwich

>> You got a touch of the Oreads today, CG? :) >> >> >> Que? Reply to this message | Report message

New Fri 12 Aug 11 13:54   How would you save 81 billion? - Crankcase

>> Que? Sorry. Greek nymphs, one of them being poor old Echo. It's just you posted twice and got pipped by the same point, which is dashed unlucky. Reply to this message | Report message

New Fri 12 Aug 11 14:05   How would you save 81 billion? - CGNorwich

Ahh, Echo - The nymph who liked the sound of her own voice. Could suggest another candidate but best not :-) Reply to this message | Report message

New Fri 12 Aug 11 12:30   How would you save 81 billion? - Mapmaker

Start with abolishing all public sector advertising in the Grauniad. Then freeze all public sector pay. And when I say freeze, I mean it - not putting people up a payscale instead of giving them a payrise. And make all future recruits come in capped at 50k. Abolish council-funded pressure groups etc etc. The Olympics to be (would have been) held in existing venues - that would have saved 10-12bn. Reply to this message | Report message

New Fri 12 Aug 11 12:35   How would you save 81 billion? - movilogo

From the chart, it is seen that following expenses are biggest chunks Welfare, pension, healthcare - all 16-18% each Education - 13% We should immediately address welfare first. Let's stop the benefits. Reply to this message | Report message

New Fri 12 Aug 11 13:10   How would you save 81 billion? - madf

Easy: Stop all Cold winter payments/bus passes etc to OAPS whose income is greater than the state pension plus £1,000. (Not a lot of money but makes a point). Leave the EC... serious money saved - then have to subsidise farmers etc so much less saved than first glance says). ALL motorways toll roads. Insurance tax = VAT. VAT on clothing and food.. Would make current riots look like a picnic... Reply to this message | Report message

New Fri 12 Aug 11 13:15   How would you save 81 billion? - Alanovich

>> Leave the EC... serious money saved - Ah ha. Ah ha ha ha. Ha ha ha ha hahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!!!!! Funny. Reply to this message | Report message

New Fri 12 Aug 11 13:11   How would you save 81 billion? - zippy

You cant just stop benefits, you would have people starving, stealing and rioting for food and housing and do we really want that? What you can do is make work pay, but no one has seemed to make the policy work. It is crazy when you get the situation of people being better off on benefits then working. Either the benefits are too high, or work doesn't pay enough? Reply to this message | Report message

New Fri 12 Aug 11 13:29   How would you save 81 billion? - movilogo

>> You cant just stop benefits, you would have people starving, stealing and rioting for food and housing and do we really want that? They are still rioting - isn't it? None of the countries in developing world have social welfare system. Do they all do riot all the time? Based on their population and land mass, their riot incidents are not worse than ours. If we can implement common sense law and order (not the present soft soft approach), those idiots will be forced to work rather than having an easy time on benefits system! Reply to this message | Report message

New Fri 12 Aug 11 14:13   How would you save 81 billion? - Alanovich

In developing countries, there isn't much looting becasue there isn't much to loot. A bit like here in the 1950s - there was less burglary, because people had lessin their houses worth nicking. Eeeee, we used to leave the door open all day............. Aye, because you didn't have a 50" plasma behind it. Reply to this message | Report message

New Fri 12 Aug 11 15:17   How would you save 81 billion? - madf

>> In developing countries, there isn't much looting becasue there isn't much to loot. A bit >> like here in the 1950s - there was less burglary, because people had lessin their >> houses worth nicking. >> >> Eeeee, we used to leave the door open all day............. Aye, because you didn't have >> a 50" plasma behind it. >> We still don't have a 50" plasma... we must be deprived! :-) Edit: The US does not have a social security system much better than a third workl country, nor does China ... Where are their riots? Last edited by: madf on Fri 12 Aug 11 at 15:21 Reply to this message | Report message

New Fri 12 Aug 11 16:29   How would you save 81 billion? - Clk Sec

>>We still don't have a 50" plasma... we must be deprived! :-) You'll jolly well have to make do with a 42" like the rest of us. :) Reply to this message | Report message

New Fri 12 Aug 11 16:38   How would you save 81 billion? - Bromptonaut

>> Edit: The US does not have a social security system much better than a third >> workl country, nor does China ... Where are their riots? The US has its fair share of inner city riots over the last few decades; from Watts to LA. China is a different case politically and economically. Reply to this message | Report message

New Fri 12 Aug 11 16:45   How would you save 81 billion? - Zero

>> China is a different case politically and economically. And has its fair amount of civil disorder, you just don't hear about it. Not from those who indulge in civil disorder anyway, a bullet shuts them up. Last edited by: Zero on Fri 12 Aug 11 at 16:45 Reply to this message | Report message