David Craig, on March 24th, 2013…and it will have gone up by over �3m by the time I finish writing this blog. We are in a hopeless situation, with our debt shooting up by �3,800 per second, �228,000 per minute, �14m per hour, �329m per day.�This, of course means ever-increasing interest charges and ever less money for public spending. So, if we had politicians with just the slightest interest in what was good for the country, rather than their own lousy careers, what would they do?
There is only one answer -�completely eliminate the deficit and start paying down debt within one year. This would mean finding about �130bn through cutting spending and raising taxes. Can this be done? The answer is “yes” and here’s how:
Declare a state of “National Economic Emergency” and do the following:
1. Implement a 4-day week for all public-sector managers and bureaucrats. After all, who would notice if the DoH or the Equality and Human Rights Commission (�70m a year!) only worked Monday to Thursday? This would save around �100m a week (�5bn a year). But it would also change the mentality of our wasteful, incompetent public sector and make them realise they can no longer go on squandering our money on non-jobs and stupid projects. After 3 months, many of these�people could go to a 3-day week. Total savings could be��15bn a year
2. Pay all public-sector pensions of over �50,000 a year with government bonds redeemable only when government debt goes down to 20% of GDP (about �220bn). I haven’t done the numbers, but this might save another �5bn.
3. Abolish Corporation Tax and replace it with retention of part of VAT charged by companies. This would mean that companies operating in Britain would pay tax whether they claim to be based in Jersey, Cayman Islands or on the Moon. This would also make it less attractive for venture capitalists to buy up successful, cash-producing companies, load them with massive debts while paying themselves hundreds of millions in special dividends and then using the interest payments to reduce their tax liabilities. I would think this would increase tax revenue from the �40bn currently raised by Corporation Tax to maybe �60bn
4. Reduce the maximum housing benefit ceiling by 20% – this would force down rents. Also, no housing benefit should be payable to anyone under 25 if they have a living parent they can stay with.�This would make it less attractive for young girls with no career prospects producing children to get a council home and maybe save us about �5bn
5. Only pay child credits for the first two children. If people want more than children then they should think about whether they can afford it. I haven’t done the numbers, but savings might be around �2bn
6. Extend the restriction on Romania and Bulgaria for another 7 years. This would not save us any money immediately. But by my calculations, 1 to 2 million Romanians and Bulgarians coming to Britain would cost us about �30bn a year in housing, policing, education, healthcare and benefits. We can’t afford this.
7. Impose a “one-off” tax of 5% on the �550bn we have in bank accounts. This would raise �27.5bn
7. Impose a “one-off” tax of 3% on the �850bn we have in pension funds. Another �25.5bn
8. Declare all energy, water and airports as being “Strategic National Assets” (permissible under EU rules) that can only be owned by companies based in Britain for tax purposes. Allow their current foreign owners 3 years to sell them. This won’t produce any immediate revenue, but will start to bring in money within a few years.
8. Impose a “one-off” tax of 0.3% on all land (I don’t know the value)�and property (value �5.69trn)�- I imagine this would raise another �30bn
9. Put large electronic screens up in major city centres and outside the offices of the BBC, Guardian and TUC showing our national debt increasing by �3,800 per second, �228,000 per minute, �14m per hour, �329m per day. This would make it more difficult for people, particularly BBC�supposed “journalists”,�to claim that we didn’t face serious economic problems.
All this would give the needed �130bn to eliminate the deficit and start paying down debt.
But, as you’ve probably noticed, �83bn of my �130bn come from punitive�”one-off” taxes. Whoops! I think we’re well and truly scr***d
Category: 
You need to add:-
10. A 5% of purchase price levy on top of usual stamp duty for properties (residential and all land) for purchases by non uk residents within all of last five years. That will stop Johnny Foreigner pushing up our property prices.
11. Reduction in number of MP’s and members of the Lords. Call it redundancy and remind them that we are “all in this together”. Incidentally if ordinary firms are making people redundant because they can’t afford them why should UK not get rid of MP’s as its financial position is a lot worse. No firm is in debt to the tune of �30bn.
12. Take housing benefit out of the hands of councils. They either can’t cope with the ludicrous claims or their staff are getting backhanders. Indeed when you look at the people who pay out benefits are they really the sort of people who should be in charge of “our” money and who gets it? I mean they do seem to be somewhat gullible. If it was my money I would want the benefit seekers to stand before a tribunal before they got 1p.I would also change benefits from an “entitlement” to a temporary last resort.
13. National Service for all unemployed 17-24 year olds regardless of origin, colour and creed.
14. A student loan now needs to be repaid. Why do benefits not need to be repaid? There is money here.
15. Internet. Needs to be taxed bigtime.I pay AOL �15 and look what I get (no, I don’t mean their crappy service!). I get a whole new world. It seems so cheap and surely some more tax could be extracted in time of need. Tax on advertising, websites whatever.It seems obvious o me and would also nicely get some money from the likes of Amazon. Call it a UK operating tax?
16 101 additional ways.
Abolish Trident. The Astute class submarines carry 36 Tomahawk missiles.
Abolish the House of Lords. It is unelected anyway.
Cut the number of M.P’s to 200.
Let the ruling monarch pay for the hangers on.
Leave the E.U. It has become a farce.
Write in the Constitution that the U.K. will never enter into a major conflict.
Some sensible ideas here, but you’ve succumbed to one common folly – the idea that reducing the birth rate might be good for the economy. Maintaining the birth rate is essential to long term economic health. The UK’s relatively high fertility rate is one of the few (rational) reasons for anyone to have confidence in our future.
Of course we should adjust various policies so that it is the more responsible members of society who have the most children, but that is a separate issue.