The UK national debt stands at nearly £3tn, with public spending above pre-pandemic levels and the tax burden forecast to reach historic highs. Prime Minister Andy Burnham and Chancellor John Healey face pressure ahead of the October 2026 Budget to meet fiscal rules without raising income tax, National Insurance or VAT, amid commitments on defence, social care and debt interest costs exceeding £100bn annually.
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Should the UK introduce stricter rules to prevent large political donations from giving wealthy individuals influence over government policy?
Governance · 815 votes · 1h 0m left
Should the UK voting age be lowered to 16 for general elections?
Elections · 816 votes · 1h 0m left
Should the total amount graduates repay be limited relative to the initial sum borrowed?
Education · 795 votes · 1h 0m left
Has King Charles granted corporate elites undue access by hosting AI bosses at Dumfries House?
Governance · 764 votes · 1h 0m left
Do domestic cats kill enough wildlife to justify UK legislation requiring them to be kept indoors?
Environment · 804 votes · 1h 0m left
Should dental services remain separate from GP practices?
Health · 770 votes · 1h 0m left
Should only British citizens be allowed to vote in UK general elections?
Constitution · 823 votes · 1h 0m left
30 Opinions
Absolutely 100% We need to stop talking about “investment” as a synonym of spending, it isn’t; stop treating increasing spending as some sort of achievement; and focus more on the outcomes achieved by the spending. Spending needs to come down, substantially, and front line services need not be impacted.
The word 'services' needs defining. If spending for 'services' included inflated salaries and bonuses for MPs. Definitely. If benefits on non British citizens is 'services'. Definitely. If 'services' is PIP for able bodies people who are 'anxious'. Definitely.
There is a psychotic obsession in UK assuming everything can be solved by raising existing taxes & finding additional ways of fleecing us. Looking at those who lean left, there is never even a hint of self awareness that Public Sector is broken, bloated, corrupt, inefficient,over remunerated, lazy & wastes £Billions & cannot ever get Department accounts signed off because of waste & corruption. Why are the Permanent Secretaries not sacked & prosecuted - Directors would be.
Our problem is a bloated state that does too much and spends too much. Taxes are already sky high, and probably can’t be raised any higher in a revenue positive way - many taxes are higher than their revenue maximising point on the laffer curve. Many opportunities exist to cut spending: - reuse the civil service to its pre Covid size - abolish foreign aid - abolish various quangos - cut welfare spending
The government is running out of people to tax and is spending more than it is earning, making the bond markets worried about our inability to pay back our debts.
Public services are already in a truly dire state - anyone can look around their local area to see potholes, reduced bin collections, extortionate train fares, horrendous hospital waiting lists etc. etc. There just simply is no more to cut from public spending.
Cost of living is hard but then things in life dont come free, if we want services to be a better quality then taxes must be raised but I think its more than fair to ask less of people who work and struggling and people on benefits and ask more of the richest 1% who aren't ever likely to struggle. So if done fairly and reasonably raise taxes and increase spending where essential.
When you are borrowing money to pay teh interest you owe on existing debt you are spending too much!
Britain is already at the Laffer Curve tipping point, and we cannot continue to have a european style welfare state with an american style tax system. The govt needs to cut taxes to stimulate the economy and to create more jobs If not, the increased taxes will have to be on everyone, because trying to load the costs on an increasingly small 'rich' sector will deliver negative returns
You can’t keep taxing those who have so little.