For those who prefer numbers, here are the percentages I calculated from the numbers that HMRC provided.
Welfare | 24.30 |
Health | 20.30 |
State Pensions | 12.90 |
Education | 12.30 |
National debt interest | 5.50 |
Defence | 5.20 |
Public order and safety | 4.20 |
Transport | 4.20 |
Business and industry | 2.50 |
Government administration | 2.10 |
Culture eg sports, libraries, museums | 1.60 |
Environment | 1.60 |
Housing and utilities eg street lights | 1.50 |
Overseas aid | 1.10 |
UK contribution to the EU budget | 0.70 |
Total | 100.01 |
- We spend more servicing debt than we do on defense. This is a good reason to get the debt down so there is less interest to pay. Doing that would provide more (but only a little) for Health and Welfare.
- Overseas aid is trivial, so cancelling that, as so many would like to do doesn't really change anything for us, but leaves many of the least well-of in the world in and even worse position.
- Housing and utilities eg street lights: I thought that street lights were financed by County Councils, so I'm not sure what this is all about.
- The EU contribution is the lowest item. If this is meant to influence my thinking on #brexit, its too late.
Of course there are some questions that need to be answered, for example, is the VAT that I pay spent in the same proportions? I'm assuming that everything they get goes into a big pot and is spent as they wish. My wish is that were not the case, I'd like to see a line on my payslip that let me know how much I'm contributing to Health and Welfare, that would help in my understanding of how to fund the NHS.
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