As of tomorrow or a little later..

[pipme]

Butch Brown and Sunset Blair ... are riding the range, as predicted ..

Company vans
The chancellor is unlikely to stress changes to company van taxation as they will add significant costs for many drivers.
Employees provided with vans and some double-cab pick ups by their employers and employees who use work vehicles for private use, such as picking up their children from school, will see their tax bills increase dramatically from 2007.
The move was announced in Budget 2004.
Van owners that use their vehicles privately will be charged a flat rate of £3,000 from 2007 - a six-fold increase on the current rate of £500.
The changes do not apply to self-employed van drivers.
(The Government of step changes, never saw the like in my lifetime !! ... ridiculous increases .. even if they are a pain in the a#se ... I know which lot are next in the firing line .... )

The full basic state pension will rise from £79.60 a week to £82.05 a week for a single person and from £127.25 a week to £131.20 a week for a couple.
(Nice that , inflation rise of 3.1% whereas Offwat allowed 3.45% for the water companies. )

Liquid Petroleum Gas
The government has announced it is increasing the duty rate for Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG).
(That'll be an ouch ! or so for a few )

 

[david and julie]

My mothers a pensioner and that state pension rise is less than the council tax rise alone.

 

[pipme]

Tis criminal what they are doing. How many old people know that they can claim extra financial help ? Tis more than difficult to understand for the younger brain !!
The 'step' changes worry me, like the student's fees upping from a grand or so to three times that in one go .... Makes one wonder about the possiblity of a tax on selling one's home .. not such a non-starter as many would have us think !
The give with one hand and take with the other is now so obvious .. I am amazed that we put up with it, voting apathy'll keep 'em in, no doubt .. I just pray for the once historical Labour small majority .. keeps 'em in line.

 

[david and julie]

Tis criminal what they are doing. How many old people know that they can claim extra financial help ?

Yes but have you seen what they have to go through to get it? the savings threshold is a bit low too. I am not sure of the exact ammount but I think it is only around £6000 or so. So anyone who has saved that much (which is only enough for one decent holiday) doesn't get help. With the possible exception of attendance allowance which is not means tested, but you do have to be ill!

We have all seen the adverts on the telly for pensioner credits. What they don't tell is that if they give you anything the council takes that into account, calls it earnings and takes it off any other benefits you get. There are cases where people have got pensioner credits only to end up worse off because of it!

The only ones that get all the benefits are the ones who are in the system, have been a long time and live in rented accomodation, otherwise they can forget it.

When my mum sold her house last year the council even charged her council tax on both her own house whilst it was for sale, and the warden controlled flat she went into because of bad health.

 

[pipme]

Can anyone wonder why there is a groundswell against ASers, Geepos etc ??? Our Govn should look after our own first --- scandalous that civil servants and town hall workers will retire on more money than the modal wage .. funded by --- us !!
Why are they so expensive ? Who needs the 'so-called best', nah I'd settle for a keen up and coming but -CHEAP- person, not some £40k a year seat polisher .. big part of CTax increases is to pay their pensions