I think the danger is that a high percentage of people would think that taxes are being raised to pay for people on benefits, which would obviously be a vote loser. A lot of people don't realise that they get a good deal for the tax they pay.
Also, if taxes were raised it probably wouldn't go to the area where people want it to, i.e. NHS.
I'm of the opinion that the NHS shouldn't have a budget as such and any charges throughout the year should be wiped off at year end. Obviously, it would need very tight controls to make sure nothing fraudulent is happening.
Current health expenditure in the UK was 9.78 per cent of GDP in 2015. This compares to 16.91 per cent in the USA, 11.08 per cent in Germany, 11.01 per cent in France, 10.76 per cent in the Netherlands, 10.59 per cent in Denmark, 10.16 per cent in Canada, 9.05 per cent in Italy and 9.00 per cent in Spain.
Current expenditure per capita (using the purchasing power parity) for the UK was $4,015 in 2015. This can be compared to $9,451 in the USA, $5,343 in the Netherlands, $5,267 in Germany, $4,943 in Denmark, $4,614 in Canada, $4,415 in France, $3,272 in Italy and $3,153 in Spain.
The UK had 2.8 physicians per 1,000 people in 2015, compared to 4.1 in Germany (2014), 3.9 in Italy (2014), 3.8 in Spain (2014), 3.5 in Australia (2014), 3.4 in France, 3.0 in New Zealand and 2.6 in Canada (2014).
The UK had 2.7 hospital beds per 1,000 people in 2014, compared to 8.2 in Germany, 6.2 in France, 3.0 in Spain, 2.8 in New Zealand and 2.7 in Denmark.
Terrible idea. The whole point of universal services is that they're universal. Typically people between 20 and 40 use the NHS less than others - so it would be good for them to opt out of funding it. But then there wouldnt be enough money for treating everyone else.
Can I opt out of paying for the fire service if I rent my home? After all if it burns down its not my problem, I'll just move elsewhere. But then I probably wouldnt be able to get contents insurance....
What would happen to the numbers of homeless ex forces when the army has to slash its numbers because everyone opts out of paying for them?
actually it was cyber's point in post #4957 about the "spineless lack of tax increases" that I was responding to, and in a similar vein to your comments. he seemed to be suggesting it was down to politicians being nervous about championing tax increases. like you, I see it as an absolute intent to reduce taxes and services accordingly. he seems to be taking his recent discovery as left leaning to heart, despite having outed himself as centre right only a couple of months back.
If I keep going I will meet Stalin soon! See social democrat. Then youll get it!
you only actually need to want british infrastructure, or even a proportion of it, to be owned by Britain to be accused of being a Leninist on here
I don't think that's true Nimrod, I'm centre right and don't agree with Liam Fox at all. I would say he's right wing not even close to the centre (that article is 3 years old too). I would also say that he is very much in the minority if he thinks the health service should not be protected and if that was a Tory pledge in their next manifesto they would almost certainly lose the election.
Lefties attacking lefties? Don't think I've ever seen that on here....
well i wouldn't presume he'd speak for his whole party and of course at the time cameron would claim to be more supportive of the nhs. however i also don't think his longstanding views on the nhs or on tax cuts would change in 3 years. of course he's back in gvt now, with those views. you tend to find the words change when they're in gvt, even when, deep down, the sentiment hasn't.
Who knows what D-Cam personally believes in, he didn't give us many clues over six years.
One of his biggest errors (that he repeated time and time again) was handing full departmental control to awful people and just letting them get on with it.
It was more your assertion that everybody that was centre right is aligned with Liam Fox's thinking of 3 years ago. This isn't true and as you point out even Cameron didn't agree with him (and still doesn't according to his wife).
Who knows what D-Cam personally believes in, he didn't give us many clues over six years.
One of his biggest errors (that he repeated time and time again) was handing full departmental control to awful people and just letting them get on with it.
He also fought the Remain campaign on a Lie. It was always implied that we would be stronger in the EU and this was used to imply that we could negotiate changes to the rules surrounding Freedom Of Movement. We now know of course that there was never a possibility of that being on the table, so why did the Remain camp tell us that it would be ?
A report in The Guardian and The Times suggested that a couple of weeks before the Referendum, Cameron had discussed an eleventh hour concession on Freedom of Movement, with Merkel, which would give him something to come back with just before the Referendum. Something that may have just swung it for the Remain camp ? The fact that he came back with nothing, twice, but still said we could negotiate change from within, was a disgrace and complete fabrication. But I don't think anyone has said that Remainers were thick and stupid for believing that we would get concessions if we stayed in, or that they didn't know what they were voting for ? I wonder how many of them felt betrayed and were annoyed about this and how many of them would have voted to Leave, had they known the truth ?