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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/nov/23/austerity-brexit-and-jams-readers-react-to-the-autumn-statement
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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
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| Austerity, Brexit and 'Jams': readers react to the autumn statement | Austerity, Brexit and 'Jams': readers react to the autumn statement |
| (about 17 hours later) | |
| Philip Hammond’s autumn statement has given us a look into government’s post-Brexit plans for the economy. | Philip Hammond’s autumn statement has given us a look into government’s post-Brexit plans for the economy. |
| We hear from readers - including those “just about managing” - on how the announced policies will impact their lives, alongside arguments on Brexit, austerity and whether Hammond’s plans mark a genuine departure from the Osborne era. | We hear from readers - including those “just about managing” - on how the announced policies will impact their lives, alongside arguments on Brexit, austerity and whether Hammond’s plans mark a genuine departure from the Osborne era. |
| Banning upfront letting agency fees | Banning upfront letting agency fees |
| Widely trailed as a plan to help “just about managing’ familes, the government’s plan to ban spiralling letting agency fees will benefit renters if it is introduced as planned. But some readers were unconvinced that this would make much of a difference - echoing the view shared by housing minister Gavin Barwell just two months ago. | Widely trailed as a plan to help “just about managing’ familes, the government’s plan to ban spiralling letting agency fees will benefit renters if it is introduced as planned. But some readers were unconvinced that this would make much of a difference - echoing the view shared by housing minister Gavin Barwell just two months ago. |
| Whilst Hammond’s planned intervention regarding estate agent fees is welcome, it will only offer short term relief in this unregulated sector. Estate agents will employ teams of lawyers to re-brand these fees and/or rise rents to plug the ‘shortfall’ they will incur. But more importantly, tenants will continue to be treated in a patronizing, heartless, and nakedly manipulative manner until the government learn that property exists to act as a home first and an asset second | Whilst Hammond’s planned intervention regarding estate agent fees is welcome, it will only offer short term relief in this unregulated sector. Estate agents will employ teams of lawyers to re-brand these fees and/or rise rents to plug the ‘shortfall’ they will incur. But more importantly, tenants will continue to be treated in a patronizing, heartless, and nakedly manipulative manner until the government learn that property exists to act as a home first and an asset second |
| Joseph Dunne, 31, Walthamstow, London | Joseph Dunne, 31, Walthamstow, London |
| A rise in the national living wage from £7.20 an hour to £7.50 | A rise in the national living wage from £7.20 an hour to £7.50 |
| George Osborne’s ‘National Living Wage’ - not to be confused with what campaigners consider to be a genuine living wage - will be raised from £7.20 to £7.50 an hour in April. | George Osborne’s ‘National Living Wage’ - not to be confused with what campaigners consider to be a genuine living wage - will be raised from £7.20 to £7.50 an hour in April. |
| Although I have a degree and other professional qualifications, I am reduced to a minimum wage Saturday job as I have to care for my autistic 25-year-old son. My husband, who is a social care support worker, has no contract and works 30 hours a week which aren’t guaranteed. | Although I have a degree and other professional qualifications, I am reduced to a minimum wage Saturday job as I have to care for my autistic 25-year-old son. My husband, who is a social care support worker, has no contract and works 30 hours a week which aren’t guaranteed. |
| We struggle as we also support a son on an apprenticeship and a daughter who’s just graduated but can’t find work other than in Tescos - which again only provides the minimum wage and offers under 20 hours of work. | We struggle as we also support a son on an apprenticeship and a daughter who’s just graduated but can’t find work other than in Tescos - which again only provides the minimum wage and offers under 20 hours of work. |
| Kate Lowe, 45, Winterton | |
| An increase in the income tax threshold from £11,000 to £11,5000 | An increase in the income tax threshold from £11,000 to £11,5000 |
| Not a new announcement as such, Hammond confirmed a rise in the income tax threshold to £11,500 by April and £12,500 by 2020. Some readers were happy with the [re] announcement - others, echoing Polly Toynbee, were less so. | Not a new announcement as such, Hammond confirmed a rise in the income tax threshold to £11,500 by April and £12,500 by 2020. Some readers were happy with the [re] announcement - others, echoing Polly Toynbee, were less so. |
| My wife is self-employed (much encouraged by the Tories), but her work is now very precarious as it often relies on EU companies as clients. If the income tax threshold goes up, watch out for a change in national insurance. Filling out your own returns is a sobering reminder of just how much of that “tax-free” allowance is taken by HMRC. | My wife is self-employed (much encouraged by the Tories), but her work is now very precarious as it often relies on EU companies as clients. If the income tax threshold goes up, watch out for a change in national insurance. Filling out your own returns is a sobering reminder of just how much of that “tax-free” allowance is taken by HMRC. |
| Mike Pratt, 38, Norfolk | Mike Pratt, 38, Norfolk |
| The UK economy has been swamped with low wages and I see it very difficult for this ever to be resolved without joe public yet again having to take a bullet for the rich. It is not sustainable to have low wages - increasing the personal tax allowance which means less tax take. Add to this Brexit and the possible decline in immigration numbers and public services will start to take more of a cut. Appalling way to run an economy no wonder many top EU countries laugh at our so called economic "prudence". | The UK economy has been swamped with low wages and I see it very difficult for this ever to be resolved without joe public yet again having to take a bullet for the rich. It is not sustainable to have low wages - increasing the personal tax allowance which means less tax take. Add to this Brexit and the possible decline in immigration numbers and public services will start to take more of a cut. Appalling way to run an economy no wonder many top EU countries laugh at our so called economic "prudence". |
| #AutumnStatement measures reverse only 7% of losses for poorest half of hhlds from policies already in train this parliament @resfoundation pic.twitter.com/4smDxwxW9D | #AutumnStatement measures reverse only 7% of losses for poorest half of hhlds from policies already in train this parliament @resfoundation pic.twitter.com/4smDxwxW9D |
| Balancing the books? | Balancing the books? |
| The government no longer expects to balance the budget by 2020 - that particular Osborne pledge has already been shelved - but Hammond introduced three new fiscal rules. If he is serious about being in surplus at some point in the next parliament, austerity measures introduced sine 2010 are likely to continue. | The government no longer expects to balance the budget by 2020 - that particular Osborne pledge has already been shelved - but Hammond introduced three new fiscal rules. If he is serious about being in surplus at some point in the next parliament, austerity measures introduced sine 2010 are likely to continue. |
| “Austerity was originally meant to be over within a single parliament of five years,” writes Aditya Chakrabortty in our panel, but “it will now last for up to 15 years. It will certainly carry on into a third parliament. | “Austerity was originally meant to be over within a single parliament of five years,” writes Aditya Chakrabortty in our panel, but “it will now last for up to 15 years. It will certainly carry on into a third parliament. |
| "Austerity may have been ditched, with the increasingly mythical goal of a budget surplus booted into the distant future, but the pain associated with it may simply be moving elsewhere." | "Austerity may have been ditched, with the increasingly mythical goal of a budget surplus booted into the distant future, but the pain associated with it may simply be moving elsewhere." |
| Austerity has not been ditched, it will continue as cuts to public services under other name. What has been ditched id the objective of achieving balanced budget. Brexit makes it impossible in the same way as it makes cuts inevitable. Brexit just wasted nearly a decade of Tory attempts to balance the budget, regardless whether you think this was a good idea or not. | Austerity has not been ditched, it will continue as cuts to public services under other name. What has been ditched id the objective of achieving balanced budget. Brexit makes it impossible in the same way as it makes cuts inevitable. Brexit just wasted nearly a decade of Tory attempts to balance the budget, regardless whether you think this was a good idea or not. |
| So basically after all this austerity, we are now worse off? | So basically after all this austerity, we are now worse off? |
| The impact of Brexit | The impact of Brexit |
| Finally, the elephant in the room - how Britain’s Leave vote will impact the UK’s economy in the months and years to come. | Finally, the elephant in the room - how Britain’s Leave vote will impact the UK’s economy in the months and years to come. |
| The OBR forecasts aren’t pretty. Ed Miliband called the OBR figures a “salutary warning” against the kind of “hard Brexit” wished for by some Tory figures. It’s a theme that was picked up in the comments. | The OBR forecasts aren’t pretty. Ed Miliband called the OBR figures a “salutary warning” against the kind of “hard Brexit” wished for by some Tory figures. It’s a theme that was picked up in the comments. |
| As a Euro-sceptical sort of person who has nevertheless been ultimately agonistic about Brexit, I am coming around to the view that the economic consequences of the UK leaving the EU are going to be catastrophic. I am still at a loss to understand how the circle of political legitimacy is going to be squared to halt the Brexit, as given that the referendum has taken place with its fateful result, and without exacerbating the dire political and constitutional crisis in which the UK is now mired. However, I am filled with great foreboding when I reflect that the said political-constitutional crisis is going to run concurrent with the sharp deterioration in economic conditions as foreshadowed in this not exactly morale-boosting effort from Mr Hammond. | As a Euro-sceptical sort of person who has nevertheless been ultimately agonistic about Brexit, I am coming around to the view that the economic consequences of the UK leaving the EU are going to be catastrophic. I am still at a loss to understand how the circle of political legitimacy is going to be squared to halt the Brexit, as given that the referendum has taken place with its fateful result, and without exacerbating the dire political and constitutional crisis in which the UK is now mired. However, I am filled with great foreboding when I reflect that the said political-constitutional crisis is going to run concurrent with the sharp deterioration in economic conditions as foreshadowed in this not exactly morale-boosting effort from Mr Hammond. |
| Some names have been changed for anonymity purposes | Some names have been changed for anonymity purposes |