Is Britain too expensive?

YES YES YES! Britain is far too expensive to live in, that is why me and my partner are retiring abroad. Let's look at the facts. Whenever we...
Get into the car to...
buy a loaf of bread...
to keep us alive so that we can work..
to plan for our retirement by...
saving and investing our money...
to buy a house...
to raise a family...
before we die
And what do all of the above have in common?
TAX TAX TAX
I swear the government would tax fresh air if it could! I'm sick and tired of this cold wet miserable country where the people who are sensible with their money are punished in favour of those who aren't. I understand part of living in a free society is to pay for it, but to see billions squandered is simply an insult.

Too Expensive? Too Highly Taxed ?.. and..
Not only does the working population, particularly the self-employed, small business owner, feel burdened by taxation at every turn, the level of bureaucracy has become so heavy that the economy is being totally undermined.
This government, together with our European dictators have yet to appreciate (..or perhaps they do!) that it was the endeavours of the 'small man' who created the employment, the goods, the exports and the thriving economy that once was Great Britain and at this rate, never will be again.

I agree, this country is a terrible place to live, if i were younger i wouldn't stay a second longer than i needed too. all i can say to the young is never go to work live off the state that is the only way you can survive in this corrupt God forsaken place.

Too expensive - how can it be any other way when its TAX, more TAX and even more TAX from a communist government who don't even comprehend how they've wreaked the UK economy through their Tax and spend initiatives. New Labour - what a joke - and now we (the hardworking people who have been fleeced) are paying the price.

I have just come back from France.

The coffee was Euros 3.60 at Pau Pyranees Airport.
Petrol (unleaded) was Euros 1.32

At the hotel, Hot Chocolate, Coffee etc was Euros 2.
A meal per person is about Euros 16.00
Coke is Euro 2.60 for a bottle\ can

I think I can source better food at cheaper prices here in the UK.
Dont know about bills etc in Europe, but with the pound down to the same level as the Euro, Europe is expensive.

Holidays in India, Sri Lanka where the £ is still mighty good value are better options.

As for all the complaints above, I'd agree, but lets appreciate the little we have, unite and get back to having some pride.

A GOOD WAY TO START - WE NEED CHANGE (ALL PARTIES ARE ALIKE - HOWEVER I THINK ITS TIME FOR DC TO BE IN)

I agree, I don’t mind being taxed more as long as I see positive improvements in Public services and effective social re-distribution. I am French and have been living in the UK for 14 years, although individual tax is often greater than in the UK, at least in France, we are a less pragmatic, we tend to value “quality” more over “money” and there is somehow an effective return on investments in public services (take the train for example), pensions, social services (although, we French moan a lot too and may not have been as competitive…)…not here it seems that whatever amount we pay in taxes, this vanishes in the pockets of hedge fund managers or fat cat private consulting companies who are incapable of completing projects on time. The UK culture has grown into a lot of individualistic behaviours fuelled by sky-rocketing housing market and other cheap ways of making/spending money, which is partly to blame now for the state of the economy.

Yes, Britain is more expensive to live in. Ever since we were in the common market we have been ripped off for everything. We are paying for such countries as Turky Poland and, every other foreign hangers on have joined. Its time to get out we don't need them. I don't think any other european member is in the same recession as we are.Get out Now.We Pay more taxes than them.

If the writer has expensive public transport that does not function well, then he/she lives in the wrong part of the country.

Here, on the borders of North Yorkshire and Co durham, public transport is reasonably priced, has a frequent timetable and adheres to it. If I plan ahead it costs me less to get to London (240 miles) from here than it did from the London suburbs (30 miles) some 8 years ago - and look how prices have gone up in the meantime.

How can one disagree with the general thrust of the comments above?
Remember that there is more to tax than income tax, that should really be the sum of Income tax and NationalInsuranceTax + VATax + CouncilTax + every other stealthTax + ExcisedutyTax + ImportDutyTax + LAndfillTax + InsurancePolicyPremiumTax + RoadTax + etc etc. Plus all the PointlessJobCreationSchemeTaxes like PATtestingTax and HomeInformationPackTax. We even pay tax on tax, for example VAT on top of FuelExciseDutyTax! However to focus only on Tax is misleading, there is far more to the destructive leadership of this morally, and now even financially, bankrupt country.

I don't recognise the country I grew up in anymore. Why did people tolerate the United Kingdom being called UK Plc by idiots such as Gordon Brown? Need I remind these morons that the U.K. is a Democracy, the mandate comes from it's citizens, it's not a Public Limited Company owned by shareholders!

When I was a young man 25 years ago I could open a bank account by telling the clerk my name and address, now I am treated worse than a criminal with the myriad of pointless ID checks. I say pointless as all the measures introduced have been followed by increases in crime not reductions, one can only conclude the measures are totally useless. Although they are very successful at obstructing me and curtailing my freedom. Likewise surveillance and security cameras. Similarly with the anti drugs policy, subsequent to which there is more drug addiction than ever. But hold on, maybe there is a hidden agenda, not to fight crime but introduce totalitarianism via stealth.

I am now little more than a puppet of the State. A State that can bail out the banks, who have had 15 years of massive profits, with billions of pounds, but not be able to spend 60 pence per drain to clean any of the thousands of blocked drains that line our often flooded streets.

It is so depressing that all the legal and democratic checks and balances created over many centuries have been torn up by the pseudo educated riff raff who populate all tiers of government. Whatever happened to the legacy of Magna Carta? Trial by jury, The right to silence, Habeus corpus; detention without trial, the independence of the judiciary etc etc all have fallen or are seriously under threat. Courts seem to conduct many affairs incognito for all manner of spurious and deceptive reasons. Justice must not only be done but be seen to be done.

Anyway you haven't seen anything yet, while everyone's talking of deflation the evil of hyperinflation is being created by governments. When the biggest debtor is actually the government watch out! Those printing presses are going to roll so they can pay back the debt with paper. This will cause inflation, the government wants that to happen as it reduces the real value of the debt... oh oh... looks like a double whammy haha. Yes the Sex Pistols were right, "...no future, no future, no future for you!"

My son recently asked me if I intended to start a new business with a radical new manufacturing process we were discussing. I told him I can't do it here it is simply not worth it. Although I didn't want to be negative I told him the plain truth; get out of this country like I should have done. Only come back when it has a functioning Democracy with reasonable people in government who know the difference between telling a lie and telling the truth.

An orang-utang could have done a better job than Gordon Brown. I do not understand how we Brits have allowed this idiot to carry on and ruin our country. The country has had it and most of it's people ashamed to be British. My father, a WWII veteran died asking why he gave up his life for this country and that it would have been better if Germany had won the war. Our pensions and savings have been robbed and the real winners in this society are those that rely on the state for everything. Those that pay in get less, just look at how Pension Credit works. Park a car on yellow lines and you are punished. Rob a house and you can do it many times before you are punished. We have a society that has lost the plot but then perhaps so have I. I cannot express how p***** off I am with successive Governments and complete incompetent idiots such as Gordon Brown. I would class myself as a rational man but the amount of provocation that I have received for doing things right over the years could tip me over the line to actually contribute to the end of Gordon Brown myself, in protest.

Too expensive? Definitely. And its nearly all down to the government

The problem is that all parties and politicians are the same. Time was, politicians had a sense of honour and of service to the population. Nowadays they are in it for everything they can get out of it - look at the latest Jacqui Smith fiasco, or the fortune that Blair has made on the back of being prime minister before disappearing and leaving us to it. Party doesnt matter, their heads are so deep in the trough that they cant see over the sides.

What is REALLY needed is a completely new party made up of honest Joes. Taxes and regulation could be halved or even threequartered.

Will it ever happen? No.

It's a common reaction to say it's too expensive here, and that we're over-taxed. It often comes from people with little experience of living abroad long-term (by which I mean more than a year, without coming back to visit the dentist or to get a free prescription). No, it's not perfect here, and there are always things to improve on, but actually it's a pretty good place to live overall. Having a health care system free at the point of use is excellent, and while there are things wrong with the NHS, that basic principle is viewed jealously from abroad. And yes, our taxes pay for it.

We're turning into a nation of grumblers and complainers. Stand for election to change something yourself, or opt for an alternative use a local LETS scheme or equivalent, or use your shareholder's voice in a company to make a change there... rather than perpetuating the blame culture without any accountability ourselves. We have seen that the level of confidence in the equity markets has a direct effect on our lives; why not be a little positive for once?

As the article points out, some things are cheaper here too.

They do try and rip me off, but I can get very reasonably priced rail travel in this country, ie 4 quid london to weymouth, if Im unlucky, often the journeys free, but find the amount of time having to sit in the toilet playing with my cock and no window to look out of a bit distressing, I find the price of beer reasonable, but resent it when I go in late at night and the bouncer insists I cant bring me own beer in and get ripped off at the bar, then it starts getting dear.

you forgot to mentioned how crap our public transport is, im sure developed country have a better public transport than here