Here’s a socialist idea

M

Matesrates

Well-known member
From a centre right conservative.

Tax the very rich to top up everyone’s wages to a minimum of £25k a year. Those people would then have extra disposable income to spend, thereby boosting the economy and extra taxes.
 
It will never be enough no matter how much you make it.
 
Shandypants said:
Do you think the minimum wage was a good idea
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I do. Economic modelling shows it to be just so. Incentive to work; mental health benefits, increased propensity to consume on local goods and services.
Reduction in crime and social disorder.

Only issue is at what level should it be set and who is paying for it. However, as Lytham suggests - no need to increase current higher rate tax levels, just get the corporations to pay what they should do and not leave the burden on SMEs and individuals.

You could probably reduce current tax rates and increased the min wage levels if the big US firms alone based here paid the same rate as SMEs.
 
Matesrates said:
From a centre right conservative.

Tax the very rich to top up everyone’s wages to a minimum of £25k a year. Those people would then have extra disposable income to spend, thereby boosting the economy and extra taxes.
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Source?

I can see obvious problems immediately.
 
Scaramanga said:
I have no problem with the minimum wage, as long as Labour don’t get in and make it £15 an hour.
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Some benefits are too high or too easily to qualify for and this can sometimes lead to people choosing not to bother with grafting.

I don't have an ideal solution but maybe a review of welfare benefits and the minimum wage would lead to one ?

Not that there will ever be a solution that everybody is happy with.
 
Matesrates said:
From a centre right conservative.

Tax the very rich to top up everyone’s wages to a minimum of £25k a year. Those people would then have extra disposable income to spend, thereby boosting the economy and extra taxes.
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Yup, several countries, including (I think ) Finland are trying similar.

You Tories are nicking all the Socialist ideas, nationalising railways, top up wage benefits, public capital projects.

Get rid of the Eton lot and I might even vote for you.
 
If I were working - and did do this when I was but pro-rata - Iceland concluded that an experiment to drop the working week to 4 days from 5 with no loss in pay led to productivity improvements and general health and mental well being of those in experiment.

If you make people feel valued then they are going to be a happier workforce, minimum wage guarantees some dignity for low paid workers and gives companies the “opportunity” to pay “above the minimum wage” thus creating more spending power to those employees, which surely can only be good for an economy which is increasingly reliant on UK Made Goods and Services.
 
There’s a lot to consider of course.
Will hIgh earners up sticks?
Would those on benefits get the uplift?
If not then you would suppose they would be keen to get jobs.
Some on benefits are there because of disabilities of some sort.
Tbh, I can’t see a downside.
 
Matesrates said:
There’s a lot to consider of course.
Will hIgh earners up sticks?
Would those on benefits get the uplift?
If not then you would suppose they would be keen to get jobs.
Some on benefits are there because of disabilities of some sort.
Tbh, I can’t see a downside.
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Good thread Mates. It needs more nuance - of course, this is a message board, not a Govt think tank so your opening gambit is a fair starter for 10.
 
Scaramanga said:
I have no problem with the minimum wage, as long as Labour don’t get in and make it £15 an hour.
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A. Quick dig. Would you be happy if the Tories made it £15 pet hour?

B. Non-dig question. What is it for you that makes £15 no go? Are you an employer, is that it?
 
1966_and_all_that said:
A. Quick dig. Would you be happy if the Tories made it £15 pet hour?

B. Non-dig question. What is it for you that makes £15 no go? Are you an employer, is that it?
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No problem with the minimum wage being £15 but not in one go from the near £9 it is now, everyone else also would want a pay rise say your on 15 or under now which covers a lot of council and NHS workers for example your just going to cause massive wage inflation.

Another problem is unless you increase the state pension to boot the elderly won't be able to afford to go out as a pint isn't going to be under 4 quid if the staff are on 15.
 
poolseasider said:
No problem with the minimum wage being £15 but not in one go from the near £9 it is now, everyone else also would want a pay rise say your on 15 or under now which covers a lot of council and NHS workers for example your just going to cause massive wage inflation.

Another problem is unless you increase the state pension to boot the elderly won't be able to afford to go out as a pint isn't going to be under 4 quid if the staff are on 15.
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I wasn't looking at a rise right now, just looking for Scara's view.
As it happens, a little inflation, with interest rates at around 2% might be beneficial. There needs to be a brake on property inflation and an alternative form of low level investment to the buy-to-rent market.
 
poolseasider said:
No problem with the minimum wage being £15 but not in one go from the near £9 it is now, everyone else also would want a pay rise say your on 15 or under now which covers a lot of council and NHS workers for example your just going to cause massive wage inflation.

Another problem is unless you increase the state pension to boot the elderly won't be able to afford to go out as a pint isn't going to be under 4 quid if the staff are on 15.
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Have you done the maths?

£15 p/h works out at about £31,000 p/a full time, that's going to have some fairly significant implications for employment.
 
1966_and_all_that said:
A. Quick dig. Would you be happy if the Tories made it £15 pet hour?

B. Non-dig question. What is it for you that makes £15 no go? Are you an employer, is that it?
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A. I doubt the Tories would raise it that high anytime soon.

B. We could argue all night about the where’s and what nots about the fair minimum wage payment.
 
I
Lost Seasider said:
Have you done the maths?

£15 p/h works out at about £31,000 p/a full time, that's going to have some fairly significant implications for employment.
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I totally agree that's what I said in my post eventually getting to 15 but not in one hit like some politicians want.
 
But while I don't earn a fortune, I want some differential between me, with my qualifications, {hard work @ uni, self learning etc} & experience, over someone who hasn't applied themselves..
Sadly my union seems to want the lower wage unskilled with little responsibility on more money than me? 😱😢
 
Limechase said:
But while I don't earn a fortune, I want some differential between me, with my qualifications, {hard work @ uni, self learning etc} & experience, over someone who hasn't applied themselves..
Sadly my union seems to want the lower wage unskilled with little responsibility on more money than me? 😱😢
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Hang on, there are people who might not have applied themselves at school, and therefore not gone to university, who have subsequently worked extremely hard with little reward. Imo, they deserve to be paid just as well as you.
 
lower retirement age and pay a proper pension then that would free up jobs for the younger generation who are on benefits as younger people with families and mortgages need more benefits than most over 60s as they have paid off their mortgages and their children have grown up and flown the nest
 
Matesrates said:
Hang on, there are people who might not have applied themselves at school, and therefore not gone to university, who have subsequently worked extremely hard with little reward. Imo, they deserve to be paid just as well as you.
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Not sure about that it's called working your way up.
For example my son dropped out of Uni started at a pub glass collecting then on to bar, bar manager, assistant manager and now manager should he be on the same money as when he started out?
 
poolseasider said:
Not sure about that it's called working your way up.
For example my son dropped out of Uni started at a pub glass collecting then on to bar, bar manager, assistant manager and now manager should he be on the same money as when he started out?
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That’s what I’m talking about, well done to your son, but there are plenty of people who work just as hard and don’t get the breaks. As someone who worked their way up in that industry, I know full well that it’s the luck of the draw, someone likes you/sees something in you, or doesn’t.
 
Matesrates said:
That’s what I’m talking about, well done to your son, but there are plenty of people who work just as hard and don’t get the breaks. As someone who worked their way up in that industry, I know full well that it’s the luck of the draw, someone likes you/sees something in you, or doesn’t.
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That’s very true.

Aptitude and hard work should be givens. But more often than not the secret of success is blind luck.
 
Matesrates said:
That’s what I’m talking about, well done to your son, but there are plenty of people who work just as hard and don’t get the breaks. As someone who worked their way up in that industry, I know full well that it’s the luck of the draw, someone likes you/sees something in you, or doesn’t.
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I agree but we're talking about pay and let's be honest I used to work in hospitality and for every hard working person you'd equally get some lazy get or those who'd steal off you and they'd have to be on the same pay as the hard worker or do you have a better solution?

Just hiking pay up to the poorly paid is a novele idea but unless you expect everyone to earn the same as the head chef expects more in his pay packet than the pot washer and if you increase his salary he'll want more.
 
Jesus....You've got a thing called Google and you still cant take 2mins to look it up

£15ph is £29k gross, £23.5k a year take home or £1,900 a month.
NLW is £8.91; which is £17,3 gross, £15,4k a year take home or £1,280 a month

And which particular benefits are you talking about when you say "Some benefits are too high or too easily to qualify for and this can sometimes lead to people choosing not to bother with grafting".....

Are these the benefits your claiming now or claimed in the past as you must have first hand knowledge to make that blanket statement?
Unless your a civil servant working for the DWP?

You should also check out Indeed.com or CV library and you will see a large number of jobs with a £10 - £11 hourly rate working in warehouses, pubs, cleaners and labours...so unless your only looking at fast food outlets, the average wage is £10 or £11.
 
The idea of a redistribution of tax paid is a good one. Obviously you'd ensure large co's paid their proper share and that tax evasion and avoidance were minimised. Then you'd step up higher rate thresholds and use the total gained to cut tax rates of the lower earners thereby giving them more disposable income.

I mean which is best for the economy, some rich top end co owner buying an island in the Carib, or 100000 lower income earners buying British made goods they now can afford/afford to replace?
 
We have a minimum wage here in Oz too (last figure was $20.33 per hour or around $40k a year) BUT there are still millions of work-shy Aussies due to the fact that welfare payments are so high!
 
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