Political discussions can only go one place :evil so I'm here to say my piece and then I'm out before it becomes a flame war.
I tend to agree with OP, I love this land - there are obvious reasons why many people try to immigrate here - and I'm thrilled at the fact that I can pay my 2 pennies (or whatever in tax) to make it what it is. Yeah, I mightn't have used 'my fair share' of systems (NHS, schools and so on) yet but who knows what tomorrow brings. The very fact that I can wake up tomorrow with a medical ailment, and have as much chance of survival as the next guy is a marvellous system.
It's important not to loop everyone in to the 'dole scroungers' bracket - there are many out there who can't work but still want to. If I lost my job tomorrow, having such a well set up system to fall back on is unbelievable security. But yes, it perhaps needs managing to stop abuse.
I disagree with smoking comments - the government is quite clearly working to stop smoking (and many people have quit or made the move to e-cigs because of this), but they can't just roll out of bed in the morning and say "that's it, no more smoking for anyone, put them all in jail if caught". It takes time, and planning. Yes, we might rely on the tax of cigs for now (hence you can't just stop it in a crack - it's going to sting to have zero tax from cigs but still have to fork out to pay for treatments that ex smokers need) but there will come a day when smoking is banned, and my bet is the government saves more on NHS treatment for smokers than it will gain in tax.
As for 'vehicle excise duty' - it's a tax, plain and simple. How can you tax the poor? You can't. So you tax the rich (or not quite as poor), and the way to do this is with vehicles - people who have a car are generally a lot better off than those with no access to a car.
There's a lot wrong with this country, and the government we live under. But there's also a great deal that's right with it. Long live Britannia.
I tend to agree with OP, I love this land - there are obvious reasons why many people try to immigrate here - and I'm thrilled at the fact that I can pay my 2 pennies (or whatever in tax) to make it what it is. Yeah, I mightn't have used 'my fair share' of systems (NHS, schools and so on) yet but who knows what tomorrow brings. The very fact that I can wake up tomorrow with a medical ailment, and have as much chance of survival as the next guy is a marvellous system.
It's important not to loop everyone in to the 'dole scroungers' bracket - there are many out there who can't work but still want to. If I lost my job tomorrow, having such a well set up system to fall back on is unbelievable security. But yes, it perhaps needs managing to stop abuse.
I disagree with smoking comments - the government is quite clearly working to stop smoking (and many people have quit or made the move to e-cigs because of this), but they can't just roll out of bed in the morning and say "that's it, no more smoking for anyone, put them all in jail if caught". It takes time, and planning. Yes, we might rely on the tax of cigs for now (hence you can't just stop it in a crack - it's going to sting to have zero tax from cigs but still have to fork out to pay for treatments that ex smokers need) but there will come a day when smoking is banned, and my bet is the government saves more on NHS treatment for smokers than it will gain in tax.
As for 'vehicle excise duty' - it's a tax, plain and simple. How can you tax the poor? You can't. So you tax the rich (or not quite as poor), and the way to do this is with vehicles - people who have a car are generally a lot better off than those with no access to a car.
There's a lot wrong with this country, and the government we live under. But there's also a great deal that's right with it. Long live Britannia.