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This has absolute no potential to go wrong. š
I think this may be a bad one for drivers. Ā Fuel duty goes up, pay per mile for those unaffected by fuel duty, frozen allowances could well remain for an extended period. Ā The pension triple lock is at risk, I suspect that if itās not broken this year, its limited future will be announced, with an end date stated.
I wonder if thereās a freeze in all benefits this year alongside scrapping the 2 child cap. Ā For those with one or less children at home, theyāll find the money goes less far whilst those with more than 2 might find themselves celebrating.
I wonder if thereās some tax twist to support growth, hitting bigger businesses and reducing the burden on smaller ones? Ā There needs to be a reversal of the unforeseen consequences of previous budgets this government inflicted on growth but reversing employers NI isnāt happening.
There will be some big spending, probably infrastructure or green energy, something they can claim as boosting both employment and growth.
I'm Autistic, if I say something you find offensive, please let me know, I can guarantee it was unintentional.
I'll try to give my honest opinion but am always open to learning.Mark
Fuel duty goes up, people won’t be able to afford to work. Companies will see costs rise and will make redundancies. Ev’s like diesels, were seen as the promised land, the foothold started and it’s tax tax tax of some form and that my friend, is a Labour budget!
Ed the raging green machine is costing the tax payer, whils’t energy prices continue to rise is affecting all, little britain won’t save the world, but it’s we who continue to suffer at the realms of mad Ed!
Scrapping 2 child cap, will almost be a certain.
OBR has robbed peter to pay Paul to find another Ā£17m for Rach from accounts and her budget.
Were doomed!!
Will we lose all the posh vehicles like BMW etc and high end Ā£4000 AP
Unfortunately I have suffered a brain injury and occasionally I get confused and often say the wrong thing.
Will we lose all the posh vehicles like BMW etc and high end Ā£4000 AP
Ā£4k would seee alot of non premium cars removed and we’ll be driving around in Dacia’sš
If the government came clean on how Motability works as government backed, but not owned and explained the governments involvement of a claimant surrendering the mobility component if they chose the car option, we probably wouldn’t be here.
If the government goes after Motability like that then Iāll go on a massive publicity campaign around Salary Sacrifice. Ā If disabled people who would otherwise have been unable to have reliable transport arenāt supposed to have even the slightest government support, Iād love to see the justification for CEOs of major companies getting 45% off the new 7Series.
I'm Autistic, if I say something you find offensive, please let me know, I can guarantee it was unintentional.
I'll try to give my honest opinion but am always open to learning.Mark
Last time around to keep the public quiet they capped the AP
Unfortunately I have suffered a brain injury and occasionally I get confused and often say the wrong thing.
There was a post on Facebook (I know not known to be the most reliable source) quoting a Hansard entry that the motorist was said to be safe from additional costs, with the pay per mile scheme not even on the horizon.Ā It does seem that the government are aware that adding costs to the ‘average’ person won’t win them popularity and they’re beginning to have rather a long journey back to even being in contention of popular with an ever reducing period of time.Ā I think the threats of back bench revolts and leadership contenders, even if not materialising has pointed out that maybe, just maybe they need to focus a little more on polls and popularity or they’ll become back benchers before the next election.
I'm Autistic, if I say something you find offensive, please let me know, I can guarantee it was unintentional.
I'll try to give my honest opinion but am always open to learning.Mark
Ford motor cars have said “Now is not a good time to tax EV’s”
Joss
Current car: BMW X2 sDrive 20i M Sport 5dr Step Auto In metallic PortimĆ£o Blue. 04:10:2025
Previous car:Peugeot 308 GT Premium 1.2 Pure tech Petrol.I am still not sure what going as regards Vat Exception our little friend Racheal in Account is a bit unpredictable anything is on the table.
Unfortunately I have suffered a brain injury and occasionally I get confused and often say the wrong thing.
I have taken a great deal of interest in politics for almost 50 years, but Iām really struggling now. Iām old enough to remember the economic damage that some previous Labour governments have inflicted, but this lot could take the prize. What makes it even worse is that, IMHO, there isnāt a viable opposition party in waiting. The Tories under Badenoch are a spent force, the Lib Demās and Greens will never gain power under our first past the post system (even if they worked together) and whilst Reform currently stand the most chance of forming our next government, they donāt have enough talented people within their ranks to form a credible cabinet, let alone a government. Never before have I felt so worried about our countries future.
As for the budget, my worry is that the things that they should do they seem to have back peddled on. Even though I am retired, I firmly believe that the focus should be on encouraging work. The idea to up the basic rate of tax, whilst reducing NI by the same amount, was an innovative approach that would make a lot of sense (even though I would be adversely affected by it), but Reeves seems to have backed away from it. The pensions triple lock has done its work and now needs to go, as it is unaffordable and arguably unfair, but no party will have the balls to scrap it as the cohort affected by it are those most likely to vote!
Whilst never a popular view on this forum, the U.K.s benefits system needs radical overhaul. Most parties seem to agree on this, including the current government but, like the triple lock, itās such a hot potato it keeps getting dodged. Sadly, Motability could be a soft target and even though itās not within the governmentās direct control, some harsh words about it on Wednesday could satisfy the public who are calling for change to our benefits culture and it wouldnāt be reliant on the support of Labour back benchers. Obviously the problem with that is that it wonāt make a blind bit of difference to the nations finances! However, I think Iāve read that this might be wrapped into a review of PIP due for the end of next year, which would spare Motability this time.
Unfortunately, it looks like the freeze on personal allowances might get extended beyond 2028, as not enough people fully understand the impact of it to make it as electorally unpopular as many other policies. This policy of āfiscal dragā will drag even the poorest pensioners (who rely solely on the state pension) and very low paid workers into taxation plus millions more workers on middle incomes (and retirees with decent private pensions) will become higher rate tax payers.
The only thing that I know for certain is that, in spite of me finding Rachel Reeves style of speech to be every bit as irritating as Keir Starmers, I shall be glued to the budget on Wednesday to see what happens. She seems to have been partly saved by some slightly better than expected forecasts, so it may end up being a lot less dramatic than has been predicted.
@Glos_Guy I canāt find much there to disagree with.
The options for the next government are poor, oh no, God No and Iām leaving!! Ā If anybody wanted an advert for Proportional Representation itās this bunch. Ā Youād end up with a coalition and I canāt see any group of parties having enough freedom to do the more extreme end of their prospectii would offer. Ā Itād probably be a reform/conservative group which would still end up leaving ECHR and the disabled should look worried but thatās a small price to pay to prevent privatisation of the NHS and DOGE ruining the country.
As for the budget, thereās a vast amount of talk about so many things, some of which might reverse current fortunes. Ā Whether anything positive comes to fruition is to be seen. Ā I might just put the budget on subtitles so I can turn the sound off when her voice gets too much (which wonāt take long).
Either way, thereās critical test for this parliament was whether we feel better off and Iām pretty confident the answer to that will be in the negative.
So who Iāll vote for remains to be seen but our new Labour MP is actually working hard for his constituents, which might just save him.
I'm Autistic, if I say something you find offensive, please let me know, I can guarantee it was unintentional.
I'll try to give my honest opinion but am always open to learning.Mark
I had this from Reform through the post today (name & address removed), with a questionair of whats important on the reverse, along with a prepaid envelope. They go on about doing well in Caerphilly, as it’s been a Labour stronghold for 100 years however, when push came to shove they didn’t win, it went to Plaid Cymru.
I guess alot of people talk well about Reform, especially on issues surrounding migrants who just float on in illegally, but when it comes to voting, people find they have far more pressing issues on a daily basis, that are far more important. The there’s the fact, surrounding experience @Glos-Guy pointed out and to having a business minded aproach, not acting like reckless lunatics.
Soley from my daughters POV, Ed Davy would be good contender, as he cares about disabled and is often heard saying he’s scared what will happen to his son, when he is gone however, knowing there are far more issues away from the disabled, the idea of Lib Dems might not be a good idea. Compared with the toolmakers son, Starmer had both a disabled mother and son, so one would think he would have been more compationate about stirring the can, but didn’t really give a sh!t when it came to it, perhaps because they are no longer with us!
The Tories, I hope have been punished and condemned to history much longer than the next election, Bad Enoch certainly wont last long.Ā A Tory Reform coalation would be treacherous and would soon leave people moaning. Labour I’ve spoke about before, but need to be confined to the history books.
So that leave’s me next to no choice, who to put in number 10, but of course, I also being an englishman in Wales, I get to also vote gere to and like Scotland etc, we get alot more free than you do in England, such as prescriptions, though I conditions warrants that anyway and bus pass at 60, to name a few. That would be lost if the Tories, Reform got in, so an equally difficult but easier decision might be Plaid and we all share toilets so the ladies can look at whats dangling from withinš, however, the SNP is perhaps a good reason not to vote for a national party.
What a mess.
The one thing that I can predict with some certainty is that Rachel Reeves will appear on the media round tomorrow morning, will be questioned about the budget and will give responses like āwell, Iām not going to write the budget in this interviewā and āyou will find out when I announce the budget on Wednesdayā.
I have never understood what the point is of politicians giving interviews before big announcements. They should be interviewed after the announcements, so that they can be held to account for their decisions. To be fair to Rachel Reeves, this has always happened under all governments and I donāt understand why media organisations play along with it. They should refuse to interview them and say āwe will interview you next week when we can have a more meaningful discussionā!
The latest round of the āLiveā media sites is that Reeves will either close or reduce the Salary Sacrifice scheme. Ā Whether thatās true or utter bs will be seen later this week but it makes more sense.
I'm Autistic, if I say something you find offensive, please let me know, I can guarantee it was unintentional.
I'll try to give my honest opinion but am always open to learning.Mark
EV grant scheme boost worth Ā£1.3bn expected in Budget.
From the BBC this morning. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c39pk873wlwo
22 November 2025
The government is expected to announce an extra Ā£1.3bn in funding for a scheme encouraging the use of electric vehicles (EVs) at next week’s Budget.The Electric Car Grant scheme started in July as part of the move to zero emission vehicles. The government says it has helped 35,000 switch to EVs.
However, early research suggests there is little indication the scheme has attracted entirely new buyers.
There will also be money to create more charging points, and a consultation on helping people without driveways to charge their cars.
It is also possible EV owners could face a new tax elsewhere in Wednesday’s Budget in the form of a pay-per-mile charge in future.
All new cars will have to be electric or hybrid from 2030, when a ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars comes into force.The Electric Car Grant scheme, which provides a discount of up to Ā£3,750 on eligible vehicles, was launched with an initial fund of Ā£650m.
New AutoMotive, a non-profit organisation supporting the UK’s transition to electric vehicles, found in a recent study, external that the scheme had yet to expand the market for EVs.
EVs covered by the scheme made up 23.8% of new registrations in September, the same as their share before the Electric Car Grant was announced, New Automotive said.
“It isn’t yet clear that it’s prompting consumers to consider buying cars that they wouldn’t have gone ahead and bought anyway,” David Farrar, policy manager for New AutoMotive, said at the time.
The Budget is also expected to announce a further Ā£200m for speeding up the rollout of chargepoints across the UK.
Data from Zapmap, external shows almost 87,000 points across the UK, in about 44,000 locations. Those include places like supermarket car parks and lamppost chargers.
“The proposed funding will support the creation of thousands of chargepoints and provide extra resources for local authorities to ramp up charging infrastructure on local streets – making it easier for everyone to access reliable charging, including those without off-street parking,” the government said.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves, it added, was “expected to publish a consultation on Permitted Development Rights to make it easier and cheaper for people without a driveway to charge”.
However, it is also possible that EV owners could face a new tax in the Budget in the form of a pay-per-mile charge from 2028.
A government spokesperson told the BBC earlier this month: “Fuel duty covers petrol and diesel, but there’s no equivalent for electric vehicles. We want a fairer system for all drivers.”
Reeves is being urged not to raise taxes on drivers overall, with campaigners preparing to deliver a petition to Downing Street early next week which calls for fuel duty, long frozen, not to be increased.
Joss
Current car: BMW X2 sDrive 20i M Sport 5dr Step Auto In metallic PortimĆ£o Blue. 04:10:2025
Previous car:Peugeot 308 GT Premium 1.2 Pure tech Petrol.I have never felt comfortable with grants and subsidies and the above article demonstrates why. All that has happened is that all tax payers have funded the purchase of EVs for those who were going to buy them anyway. Yet another (of many) example of a complete lack of joined up thinking.
Edit – As I am typing this, Laura Kuensberg has just made this exact point to the Transport Secretary, adding that EVs are generally purchased by more wealthy consumers who donāt need the help!
Why throw more money in the ring, hoping it will attract new buyers, when there’s little evidence that the recent grant scheme as attracted new buyers?
Surely the best way to go, is by natural migration and allowing the network to grow around that, as it expands. I find people dig their heels in if pushed to often and it backfires.
I’d be surprised to see pay per mile in this budget as it would be counter productive alongside ploughing more money into the ecosystem. Mind you, I thought the same when VED was mentined.
I often find when it comes to reporting EV sales, its nearly always based on monthly sales as a percentage percentage. I’ve never understood why they do this and not quote the overall market share percent, which isn’t a secret and easily got from the SMMT.
The other thing that annoys me, is with Zapmap and the quoting of total charging points available, rather than a breakdown of the number of 7, 22. 50, 100-200, 200-300 chargers available.
It comes across as hiding something!
Although I welcome more charging point, people like myself just cannot afford to use them
Unfortunately I have suffered a brain injury and occasionally I get confused and often say the wrong thing.
For EVs to be successful a number of things need to happen together.
1Ā The Energy prices and their ties to foreign markets needs to be stopped, allowing those charging using renewable resources to under cut their opposition and for the government to ensure prices are dramatically reduced.Ā Taxing the windfall isn’t enough to make every single person feel better off, the actual price of electricity needs to be reduced.
2 A solution where people in flats with dedicated parking can charge in that parking spot on whatever tariff their home is charged.Ā This allows flat/apartment dwellers in cities to buy an EV and share the cost savings of the rest of us.
3Ā An information war needs to be won against those intent on passing on nonsense.Ā People need to hear and believe the good stories and the real considerations EV drivers are aware of not some populist nonsense with no grounding in any sort of reality.Ā This will encourage the used markets to enjoy the advantages that buyers of new EVs are enjoying.Ā Currently you’ll lost between 50% and 70% of the value of an EV over 3 years, the former number isn’t far off the standard for ICE but there’s no reason a Ā£100k car needs to cost less than Ā£40k after 3 years just because those who would have bought a used A6 won’t touch an A6 eTron.
4 EV manufacturers need to change their standards.Ā Currently when looking at the engine of an ICE vehicle you’ll want to know power and mpg, for some daft reason some idiot sold BEVs on range.Ā In terms of power, it’s clear that there’s plenty enough in most cars but until m/kWh becomes a standard, efficiency will be a secondary importance over battery capacity.Ā The reality of a more efficient motor means, simply more miles per Ā£1 which has to be better for everyone.Ā If you want a sub 3 second power monster, they’re around and you’ll not car about the 2 miles per kWh but for family crossovers and SUVs, why do we suddenly need 3.7s 0-62 when most drivers are stuck in the school run congestion?Ā A family SUV that can perform at 7-10s acceleration would be more than enough for most uses and would mean a return of 4-7 miles per kWh, which in a 80 kWh battery solves the range over 300 miles problem as well.
However, the government are funding those who can afford it to swap cars every 3 year without giving support to those vehicles once they’ve gone through that first ownership.Ā The warranty is there, pretty much in all cars, the finance companies would love a queue of buyers for these EVs that still have 3-4 warranted years running.
I'm Autistic, if I say something you find offensive, please let me know, I can guarantee it was unintentional.
I'll try to give my honest opinion but am always open to learning.Mark
Manufacturers also need to come away from the 12V battery mindset. They aren’t ICE and don’t need one, when they could easily get 12V from the battery lump in the floor and would dee a common issue sorted.
Manufacturers also need to come away from the 12V battery mindset. They arenāt ICE and donāt need one, when they could easily get 12V from the battery lump in the floor and would dee a common issue sorted.
The only problem doing that is that using auxiliary items then drains the main battery, even if only by a little bit.Ā Ā I bet the 12v battery is much cheaper than the gubbins required to get 12v from the big’un.
I'm Autistic, if I say something you find offensive, please let me know, I can guarantee it was unintentional.
I'll try to give my honest opinion but am always open to learning.Mark
Iām keeping it civil, but some people on this thread seem to have very short memories. It was only 18 months ago that we had the daily turmoil of incompetence and sleaze during 14 years of Tory government headed by worst run of Prime Ministers in recent memory (May, Johnson, Truss, Sunak). Letās not forget dishonourable mentions to Kwarteng, Rees-Mogg, Zahawi, Dorries, Hancock, Williamson, Gove, Mercer etc – the list is almost endless! Letās also not forget the Covid mismanagement, eat out to help out (increasing the pandemic), party-gate, Tory fast-track lane, the Truss/Kwarteng budget, inflation, highest tax burden since WW2, stagnant growth, decline in public services, longest NHS wait times and to top it all Brexit.š”
We just had a local election and thankfully we voted the Lib-Dem back in. I like Ed Davey, but fear there are not enough of us in the centre to make a real difference in a first past the post system.
Iām no Labour voter, but look at what they inherited when Sunak gave up and called the election. The country needs to get behind the government, as they’re in for 5 years and thereās a lot to fix.
Oh to get back on theme – this budget will increase duty on alcohol, tobacco and fossil fuel and do nothing to stop the soaring price of energyā¦š¤¦š»āāļøš”
Kind regards
Andy======================
Motability cars:
Now - Not on the scheme.
2021 - Volvo XC40 T5 PHEV.
2020 - VW Golf TDi SE Match.
2017 - VW Golf TDi SE Match.@AndyDStone have a big like.
@AndyDStone I agree with much (but not all) of what you say, but I think that most peopleās disappointment is that Labour inherited a bad situation and, over a year later, have made it far worse!
The two big areas where we differ are Brexit (the Tory PM of the time campaigned against it, but the electorate voted for it). OK, it was him who authorised the referendum, and many wish that he hadnāt, but there was so much noise about it at the time and we do live in a democracy, so whether we agree with the outcome or not, it had to be put to the vote. It was the same with the Scottish independence referendum and many arenāt happy with the result of that either, but thatās democracy in action
Secondly Covid. Leaving aside the peripheral issues of daft behaviour by those who should have known better (whilst imposing questionable restrictions on the rest of us), the main financial issues that the last government left, and this one inherited, were as a result of the support measures put in place to keep people in employment (furlough etc). We could have done nothing and let millions become unemployed, but a different decision was taken.
Then we have this farcical ānoiseā about a supposed Ā£22bn āblack holeā. Even the left leaning BBC (through itās fact check service) has stated that 50% of this was created due to the policies of the incoming Labour government! Also, in the scale of a national economy the size of ours, Ā£22bn is almost an irrelevance. In one year alone, as a country we spend Ā£1,050 bn, so the Ā£22bn equates to just 2% of one year or, more relevantly, 0.4% a year over a parliament. Any of us who have run businesses know that a cost saving task of this scale is just par for the course and doesnāt result in a major change in strategic direction.
My biggest worry though is the economic illiteracy of this government. It would be funny, if it wasnāt so serious, that as a sole private individual, I have more business experience than the whole cabinet combined! It was obvious to anyone who understands business that the last budgets hike to employer NI would result in a rise in unemployment and, lo and behold, it has. The same applies to todayās 4.1% hike in living / minimum wage, which costs the exchequer nothing (even though she will take the credit for it as if itās the government being generous and āgivingā something) but forces cost increases on the sectors that are struggling the most (hospitality etc). The landlord of our local pub told me how much the last budgets hike added to his cost base and he confided in me that it had made his business perilous. Todayās announcement could be the final nail in the coffin, and I have a horrible feeling that it might be the tipping point for many small businesses, so those who today celebrate their pay increase may find their jubilation short lived when they end up unemployed.
As I said in my earlier post, I have never felt so despondent about the state of our country. We have a car crash government and no viable or credible opposition party ready to save us. I agree with you about the Lib Demās, as being the best of a bad bunch but, as you say, our first past the post system will prevent them from ever taking power – and they didnāt like being in coalition, even though I thought that government did some good work (pension freedoms etc). Itās all very depressing.
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