Positive revised tax revenue estimates

In the light of positive revised tax revenue estimates from the Office for Budget Responsibility, the Chancellor found himself with more money than originally envisaged at this Autumn’s budget – implied tax rises to pay for the additional money promised for the NHS were not deemed to be required.

However, funding levels for key public services including the NHS remain as challenged as ever. Although the NHS was the main beneficiary, the budgets of almost all other departments will remain flat or reduce. The country’s challenges are daunting – schools, councils, social care, the police, prisons, housing all require significant investment. Moreover, the additional money committed to the NHS is lower than what’s been stated is required. The NHS Confederation comments that this will see the (National Health) service in “managed decline”.

The Economist (3 November) Leader concludes by saying “Britain’s long-term fiscal position is unsustainable. Within two decades the country will have 50% more over-65s than today…either taxes will have to go up, or spending spread so thinly that recent austerity will look like a picnic”. Voters have been left “unprepared for the hard choices that, sooner or later, Britain will have to confront”.

However, according to The Taxpayer’s Alliance (August 2018), the tax burden in Britain has reached a 49-year high.

How to square this circle? The world’s sixth richest economy can surely deliver better outcomes for its citizens. In respect of health we believe we’ve made a compelling case for a UK-style funding top-up that would be palatable, imaginative and pragmatic. Our Mission and Vision page describes a very achievable future position.

https://www.healthmutual.org/mission-and-vision/

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