Brexit revisited

Pay up Supermarkets? With what?
Money has to come from somewhere.
That requires taxes.

Subsidies are not a long term answer.

We subsidised everything during the worst of the Covid crisis but taxes are required to pay back debts.

Yes Vinny. So does finding the money for £700 a month mortgage hikes

I say a tax increase would cost the poor less and the rich more and have the same effect in slowing spending.

Tell me why is it perfectly OK to slow spending by hitting the poor, but ridiculous to reduce spending by hitting the rich? 

In either case the ones in the middle would pay the same. 

Almost all of UK production including textiles, food and construction contains material produced outside the UK.

I would like to see a new monthly/yearly tax on second homes based on square footage.
That would also stop property portfolios, release more for sale and deter the wealthy buying up property for investment and leaving it empty.

I have argued before that since the purpose of interest rate increases is to reduce inflationary pressures by taking money out of peoples pockets, interest rate hikes are actually a very unfair way of doing it because it is so hit and miss and takes no account of who has the most money to spend. It falls exclusively on mortgage payers and holders of other debts, some of both groups struggling financially already. Buy to let landlords inevitably try to pass some of these increased costs onto tenants via big rent hikes, hitting some of the poorest. Whilst those with the most wealth are far more likely to remain untouched and indeed be net gainers from the rate rises. And the additional moneys extracted do little more socially constructive than increase the profits of banks and other lenders.

Raising taxes temporarily instead of interest rates would be far more effective and far fairer, exempting the poor entirely, whilst everyone else pays more or less according to their wealth levels or income streams. And the monies raised could be used for social good that would benefit us in the medium to long term, eg by building social housing. As opposed to merely boosting bankers' profits.

Instead of using interest rates to dampen demand, we could use an anti-inflation levy on incomes, applied when inflation is too high and set at the necessary level to be effective, then reduced, ideally back to zero when inflation is under control. Interest rates meanwhile can stay low with businesses still able to borrow cheaply for investment.

It actually makes far more economic sense to anyone not prone to kneejerk and/or ideologically driven responses.

In the mind of some, I suspect it will take sometime, if ever, before that becomes the norm.

Interest rate hikes encourage saving, therefore keeping money in people's pockets.

For too long the credit card has been forefront of public spending.
It is not a very good way of buying.

Living within your means is better.

I fully agree mate but they still want to be put up in the best hotels at the taxpayers expense.