The Conservative Party

[bluethrunthru]

any this guy is 30p Lee's boss? No hope.

 

[Bodicoteblue]

One definition came up with 14 defining characteristics of fascism. Have a read and see how many of them would apply to someone like Suella Braverman.

1. Powerful and continuing nationalism
2. Distain for the recognition of human rights
3. Identification of enemies/scapegoats as a unifying cause
4. Supremacy of the military
5. Rampant sexism (and homophobia)
6. Controlled mass media
7. Obsession with national security
8. Religion and government intertwined
9. Corporate power is protected
10. Labour power is suppressed
11. Distain for intellectuals and the arts
12. Obsession with crime and punishment
13. Rampant cronyism and corruption
14. Fraudulent elections

Now obviously some of those descriptors can only really apply to a government rather than an individual (it's hard for one person to rig an election), and obviously someone's instincts can still be suppressed by the institutions they're operating under (Trump is absolutely a fascist, for example, but one that was thwarted by the institutions of the USA, or has been so far, at least).

But for someone like Braverman, I'd say she definitely hits numbers 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13. There haven't succeeded in controlling the mass media, but there have been clear attempts to control both the BBC with their appointments and threats of removing the licence fee, as well as organisations like GB News literally operating as a government mouthpiece.

Isn’t that her list of hobbies and interests from her CV?

 

[johnnytapia]

Anyone earning less than 25k will still be a lot better off though due to the rise in the minimum wage, so some income groups will see a proper increase in take home pay.

Put up the bunting.

 

[johnnytapia]

any this guy is 30p Lee's boss? No hope.

The **** doesn’t know what an acronym is.

 

[Brewster's millions]

Put up the bunting.

Strange attitude.

 

[Millwallawayveteran1988]

Anyone earning less than 25k will still be a lot better off though due to the rise in the minimum wage, so some income groups will see a proper increase in take home pay.

This is good news.

It’s all smoke and mirrors though because it’s completely offset by the fact they’ve frozen the tax brackets - which would all have to be increasing at inflationary rates for it to be a real terms tax cut.

If the personal allowance went up 9% like the pensions (as it should), then that’d be £1,131 more you’d no longer pay tax on, saving £226. That’s basically the same as the NI cut for anybody earning <£25k.

The number of higher rate tax payers has more the doubled in the last few years and will continue to grow due to this.

Not to mention the lowering of dividend allowances and the reduction in CGT allowances in the law few years. Give with one hand, take with the other.

 

[I'm With Stupid]

Anyone earning less than 25k will still be a lot better off though due to the rise in the minimum wage, so some income groups will see a proper increase in take home pay.

Presumably only if they're currently earning the current minimum wage. If someone is currently on £12 an hour, there's no guarantee that they'll receive a wage anything like the 9% than the minimum wage is going up. And someone on £11 an hour might only see an extra 44p an hour. Not that raising the minimum wage is anything but a good thing though. But it is interesting that in an election year, suddenly all of those warnings that increasing wages will lead to huge inflation no longer seem to apply.

 

[I'm With Stupid]

any this guy is 30p Lee's boss? No hope.

I don't think he really brought Gordon Brown into it to be fair. But that's always been the Tories problem. If you spend a decade blaming Labour for the debt incurred from the global financial crisis, you can't then hide behind covid and the war in Ukraine for your own massive increases in debt. Either these are huge global issues that no-one could have foreseen and the government of the day isn't really responsible for, or they are examples of financial mismanagement that have bankrupted the country. But they can't be one for Labour and another for the Tories.

 

[Vic]

I don't think he really brought Gordon Brown into it to be fair. But that's always been the Tories problem. If you spend a decade blaming Labour for the debt incurred from the global financial crisis, you can't then hide behind covid and the war in Ukraine for your own massive increases in debt. Either these are huge global issues that no-one could have foreseen and the government of the day isn't really responsible for, or they are examples of financial mismanagement that have bankrupted the country. But they can't be one for Labour and another for the Tories.

Of course he did. "We’ve abolished boom and bust" (as a regular cycle) was Brown's claim, scuppered by the global crash.

 

[metalblue]

Of course he did. "We’ve abolished boom and bust" (as a regular cycle) was Brown's claim, scuppered by the global crash.

She was a fucking idiot. Anyone with ears and a brain can see it was a cheeky sly dig at Labour rather than blaming them.

Brown was a fucking idiot for saying he had abolished boom and bust at the time. The global crisis didn’t scupper anything, it was always a ridiculous claim. Anyone who believed it is an idiot and doesn’t understand economics.