Low taxes does not bother countries like Switzerland, for example. People living in Switzerland shoulder one of the lowest income tax burdens in the world, according to the latest research from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
Single people have the sixth lowest tax burden of the 34 OECD countries, while families (defined as a couple with one income earner and two children) are the fourth best off in terms of state levies on income.
Perhaps introducing a 20% flat rate tax would work better?
The issue which gets overlooked (perhaps deliberately) by those on the Left is that with an ever increasing population and people living longer, of course there is going to be strain on the infrastructure of the country including the NHS. However (and controversial post/trigger warning) the NHS does not help itself and is recklessly unaccountable. Proof? What about the £14m paid out so that women from abroad could come to the UK and have their babies here? These women have all offered to pay the NHS for the great service which they provide, but the NHS does not seem willing to charge them. A friend of mine suffered a broken leg whilst on holiday in Australia, and he was treated in hospital there but had to pay for his treatment. So if Australia and other countries can charge people for operations then why can't we here? Also, an elderly neighbour of mine recently had to undergo hip surgery, and she reckons that the NHS paid over £500 for her taxi trips to and from Spire in Cardiff. She would have had to have waited a year extra on the NHS, but Spire could do both hips in two months (from initial consultancy to operation). Stop the waste and maybe the NHS can survive long term (and also invest more in nurses than in admin non-jobs - also nobody working for the NHS should be paid more than the PM.)
AI Working (I think that's what you meant instead of Ali's) - well, according to some reports a 'Westworld' type world is not that far off even nowadays:
https://insights.samsung.com/2016/1...ial-intelligence-may-be-closer-than-we-think/
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/digital-leaders/horizons/telegraph-horizons-future-is-close/
https://www.itproportal.com/2016/06...-intelligence-is-a-lot-closer-than-you-think/
Those are just three of many. Even new mobile phones are fitted with retina detecting technology, and contactless payment cards are pretty much standard these days whereas even a few years ago they were considered 'many many years away from reality.' The pace of the world is changing and AI development is bound to increase.
My thoughts on Home Schooling are that it should be for pupils who don't fit the schools they would otherwise have to go to. I may be in a minority, but I feel that it is wrong for a child to have to go to school if he/she feels threatened or intimidated there, if the teaching is not up to standard, if the child in question cannot understand what is being taught - or if the teacher will not explain in a way that he/she can better understand, or if the child in question feels bored and under-stimulated. I believe that the money should follow the child, not the child follow the money, and if that child could learn better outside of school then that's what should happen. Yes, most children will be fine attending school, but you have to allow and accept that certain children will never fit in within the classroom environment and it may even cause them harm being there.
Whilst I accept that you have a negative outlook on Brexit, which is your right, that is just your thoughts and feelings. It doesn't mean that they are de facto right and must not be questioned - there are many experts who are saying the opposite and can easily make as good a case for a prosperous future as you can make for a negative and horrible one. The fact is that we do not know for sure as we have not yet lived through the aftermath of Brexit.
Or else what - or else the Government of the day takes an absolute hiding for using excuses it can no longer make. If we are not in the EU then we cannot blame them for any failings and shortcomings on our behalf. We make our bed, we lie in it and do not blame anybody else.
Ah the IFS - Institute for Fiscal Studies? The same IFS which, according to the BBC's Reality Check:
'... is funded from a range of sources. The largest proportion of the IFS' income comes from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). The IFS also receives funding from the European Union, UK government departments and private corporations.
No wonder they are so for the pro-EU Liberal Democrats! I mean duh!
It's fine that you don't support Brexit, Ncurd, but not everybody thinks or believes the same way that you do. Remainers and Leavers (and those undecided) will never agree on Brexit, but maybe if both lots focused on saying 'what happens to the UK for the next 20/30 years is of more importance than our petty squabbles' then we might get somewhere.
Data and statistics can be used by either side to back up their argument, and it still doesn't mean that it's the 100% gospel truth. As Vic Reeves once said '88.2% of statistics are made up on the spot.'
