To be fair, I think that it is necessary to acknowledge the huge and unforeseen expenses brought about by Covid. With the amount of money that has been spent on supporting both individuals and the economy in general since 2019, it is reasonable to expect that savings and deferments have to be made in other areas.
On the other hand Robert, instead of writing off the fraudulent Covid loans etc they could go after the money and any proceeds given to the Shared Prosperity Fund to make up any expected shortfall.
whatever happened to the £350m/week promised by the government to fund the NHS?
Further, why is it that other economies have managed their finances concerning Covid so much better and can now manage to get on with life pretty much as it was before 
For example, France - overtime payments multiplied by 1.89 -
"Compensation and exceptional overtime increases shall be extended for hours worked between 1to March and 30 April 2022 for civil servants and contractual staff under public law in the hospital civil service working in establishments in the areas most affected by the health crisis. "
reference Servic-Public
I haven’t heard of EU regional development funds being cut though Robert despite the EU having suffered the same financial pressures. I think it shows all this “levelling up” stuff was twaddle. First the rail links, now this.
I wonder how Wales and NI will fare, I think Wales was one if not the biggest recipient of EU funding in the UK and maybe even EU wide.
and Cornwall…
I still remember during the Brexshit campaigns some dumb numskull in Wales standing in front of a massive hoarding advertising the millions spent by the EU on building a new motorway for Wales with him making the comment “What has the EU ever done for Wales?” unbelievable arrogance 
Have they ? National governments rely on taxation for their income where the amount is dependent upon the level of economic activity. Is it not the case that the income for the EU Commission is derived from fixed contributions from member states, and thus the EU is protected from the reduction of taxation totals.
At the end of the day there have been eye wateringly huge amounts of money borrowed by the UK government in relation to Covid, and therefore either taxes have to rise, spending has to be reduced or deferred, or indeed a combination of both.
The time has come for the bills to be paid, and unfortunately the government is in a bit of a pickle due to having previously undertaken not to raise Income Tax.
The economic cost of Covid has been both exceptional and unforeseeable, and exceptional measures should now be taken. What is needed is a rise in Income Tax, graduated in a sensible way, so that those who can more easily pay the increase actually do so.
We all want the government to solve problems; House the homeless, Care for the sick and the elderly, Protect the disabled, Control inflation, Assist the unemployed, the list is fairly endless.
Unfortunately money doesn’t grow on trees, and so if we want government to be able to do all these things on our behalf, then we have to pay for it, and those who can pay, should.
Yes, I am advocating a rise in UK Income Tax, and yes, I am a UK Income Tax payer.
Robert, with all due respect you are overthinking this. It’s nothing to do with "solve problems; House the homeless, Care for the sick and the elderly, Protect the disabled, Control inflation, Assist the unemployed, the list is fairly endless” These problems have existed forever and will exist forever. Johnson and his gang don’t give a damn about any of that.
The EU is funded by its members, all of which have suffered the same financial impact as the UK, yet it would seem the regional development payments will not be negatively impacted.
However, Johnson, Gove. Wooster Mogg et al claimed that Brexit would not reduce regional development funding but in fact facilitate levelling up, now they reduce payments?
The answer is simple, they lied and now they are screwing the poor saps that actually voted for Brexit.
The take back control mantra was a valid one, but it meant the ruling class taking back control. Johnson is sticking the two fingers up at the Nation.
Yes of course, like the 37 billion pounds wasted on test and trace.
But at least the NHS received the promissed 350 million a week.
Oh but it didnt but that amount would have paid for the test and trace but we borrowed and borrowed.
and the rest was spaffed up the wall on his mates
You’re falling into the classic error of trying to understand national finances by analogy with business or household budgets Robert - understandably, as it’s one of the UK media’s favourite Tory myths.
Instead of simply accepting this analogy, think about…
- the fact that when a business or household spends money it goes out of the business/household - but most money ‘spent’ by governments simply continues to circulate inside the country - and is taxed every time somebody earns it or spends it, over and over again
- there is in fact a sense in which for a whole economy money does grow on trees - money is in fact created out of nothing all the time, by both banks and governments
- unlike businesses/households, when governments ‘borrow’ money, it is, or can be from itself (since the central bank is actually nationalised)
- the old ‘monetarist’ idea that inflation is rooted in the money supply has been comprehensively ditched by later analysis (and real economics - ie. economic history) - what matters most is the relationship between the money supply and productive capacity - as long as this relationship is developed properly over the long term, how much governments spend is irrelevant.
But I agree that what the UK government should be doing is increasing tax on the rich (they are much more likely to export their wealth than poor people, who tend to spend most in local shops where the wealth circulates locally - this is the ‘leaky bucket’ effect) and increasing spending, as long as enough of it is in investment - in greening the economy obviously.