The EU - THEIR hands in YOUR pocket

Here we go. From the Telegraph. They've got their constitution so now comes the ideological taxation.

Proposals expected to be announced next month would give the EU its first funding which wouldn't come from national governments.

Algirdas Semeta, the new European commissioner for taxation, is planning a "minimum rate of tax on carbon" across the whole EU as a "priority".

I'll bet it's a "Priority". They can't get THEIR hands in YOUR pockets quick enough. And once they've done it once, they'll have you by the short and curlies forever.

Which is why the Jury Team proposal of a referendum on the future of the UK within Europe makes so much sense.

We need to get this sorted. We need to first ask the people of Britain whether they want to be IN or OUT. I know that's a novelty for our power and expenses-obsessed politicians but it's called democracy. They might want to try it some time. Once we have a decision, we can really get things sorted. If IN - let's send our best negotiators and lawyers and get the best deal possible for Britain, instead of the shower of deadbeats, has-beens and never-weres we send now. If it's OUT, let's negotiate the best trading terms and start looking to trade openly and freely with the rest of the world. This half-in, half-out will we or won't we shilly shallying is bad for Britain, bad for business and bad for our futures.

If we don't sort this, the EU will be the gift that keeps on taking from you, your kids and their kids.

No more safety hammocks

From the pages of Jury Team -

In 2010-11, the cost of central government social security and tax credits are forecast at £197.1 billion (bn), up 14% on 2008-9, plus a further £22.0 bn for other social spending. £153.9 bn of this is spent through the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP), of which £2.8 bn is directed at children, £98.9 bn at people above working age and £52.1 bn at people of working age. Of that £52.1 bn, £17.8 bn relates to unemployment, £16.6 bn to housing, £14.2 bn to invalidity/incapacity/sickness, £2.2 bn to maternity and £1.3 bn to other benefits.

The welfare state was implemented by the Labour government in 1946 based on the recommendations of the 1942 Beveridge Report. This cautioned: 'The state in organising security should not stifle incentive, opportunity, responsibility; in establishing a national minimum it should leave room and encouragement for voluntary action by each individual to provide more than that minimum for himself and his family.' and consequently: 'Social insurance should aim at guaranteeing the minimum income required for subsistence'. Weekly 1946 unemployment pay was set at £2, 50% of the minimum 48 hour wage for farm workers.

Over the last 65 years social security has vastly increased to be by far the largest part of government expenditure. However the decisions about how the money is spent are taken not by government but by individuals who choose to spend the received money on food, drink, clothes, entertainment or any other item.

For many of those of working age social security has become a trap. They are sensible if they decide not to work because the additional income from working is negligible, or even negative. They may even have to move house if they get a job. The Centre for Social Justice, set up by Iain Duncan Smith, has concluded: 'This emerging underclass lives in communities consistently defined by five characteristics, which become the pathways to poverty: family breakdown; educational failure; drug and alcohol addiction; severe personal indebtedness; and economic dependency – caused by intergenerational worklessness. The number of people of working age on out-of-work benefits remained stubbornly high at approximately 5.4 million.' The Centre concluded: 'The biggest barrier to those entering work for the first time was the benefit system itself.'

In Australia the rate of payment for a single unemployed adult (including Rent Assistance) is $284 per week, (£160). This is linked to the minimum wage and currently runs at about 75% of the Federal Minimum Wage after tax. In the UK, Jobseeker's Allowance is currently £64.30 for a single person over 25 but with housing benefit and other payments the total amount received can be substantially above the level of the minimum wage. The total cost this year of housing benefit (all ages) will be £19.6 bn (4.4 million recipients, average £86 per week) plus a further £4.6 bn on council tax benefit (5.4 million recipients, average £16 per week). A recent example of housing benefit is a family in Brent which receives £2,875 per week. These benefits are administered by local authorities who, as they are reimbursed by government, may not try to economise. Local authorities are currently required to house people in their own area but could be allowed to house people up to 5 miles from their boundary, a reasonable commute. In December 2008, James Purnell, then the Secretary of State for the DWP said: 'People on housing benefit should not be getting levels of support that will be out of reach of their working peers.' but they still do.

Benefits can therefore easily provide more than the income of someone on the minimum wage working for 40 hours per week. The Jury Team believes that there needs to be a total cap on payments to ensure that Beveridge's objective of 'incentive, opportunity, responsibility' is maintained. The current adult minimum wage is £5.80 per hour for workers aged 22 years and older (£5.81 for farm workers) which for 40 hours is £232 per week. After tax and social security payments this is reduced to a net income of £197.07. The Family Spending Report from the Office of National Statistics gives detailed information about the cost of living. This shows in Table 3.4E that the weekly expenditure of the lowest 20% of 'One adult non-retired households' is £150.30. This is 76% of the after tax minimum wage of £197.07. The Jury Team therefore proposes that the total of benefits for able-bodied adults should be capped at 80% of the after tax minimum wage. This will provide an incentive to work and will be phased in over three years. Other payments for children or for incapacity will then be added to this figure.

Well said Jury Team. A sensible policy at the very least to put to the British people.