It seems “of the moment” to speak of one’s parents working class background and how hard they worked, but my Mom had three jobs (factory worker, waitress and cleaner) and needed them to earn enough money to feed us and keep us clothed after my Dad left.
So whilst it might be a bit of a hot potato to bring up here, am I the only one who thinks that whilst budget cuts are essential; managing income over expenses, if we cut too deep will it not cause other problems?
A Case of ‘Catch 22’
I think as a country we should be rightly proud of our welfare state and our drive to look after those who’ve fallen on difficult times, the elderly, the disabled and unemployed, but if less people are in gainful employment, where does the tax income come from to pay for the welfare state?
The fact is that small business is the backbone of the British economy; of course we need big business, but those big businesses started small.
If Government cuts too deep, making or causing swaths of people to be out of work, how do they feed themselves and their families? The welfare state of course! And how is the welfare state funded? By taxes paid by employed people… oh, hang on, that doesn’t stack up somehow…
How many among us were surprised to hear back in July (I think) that Government tax revenues were lower than expected and payments to the unemployed higher than expected – I for one was not.
So what’s the point I’m trying to make? It’s this; the Government needs to ensure that tax rates, both corporate and personal are low enough to bring good companies with money to invest in Britan and encourage entrepreneurs to set up their own businesses, not least because they can then employ people, who in turn pay taxes!
Cut back, but not too deep!
Image courtsesy of Selina Sheridan
