So, you have only what you believe will happen, nothing concreteThey are addicted to spending money. They will do so persistently throughout their time in office, repeatedly increasing taxes and increasing borrowing to pay for yet more government spending. It's what Labour always do. It's what Blair and Brown did and Callaghan and Wilson before them.
They will increase worker's rights and employment regulations to the point that employers can't grow so fast and don't want to employ so many people, so they will push up unemployment, reducing tax receipts and increasing benefits costs further. More people will be unemployed when they leave office than when they came in. As has always been the case with every Labour government in the past 100 years.
The budget in a couple of weeks time will be just the first step. I fully expect Reeves to announce that she's changing the fiscal rules to allow more borrowing, so it will be interesting to see the market's reaction to that.
That's because they haven't.How are they doing that exactly?
You talk about me being desperate. That's a joke. What's desperate is you hanging on to the idea that the past 100 days have not been a complete cluster fuck.
How are they doing that exactly?
You talk about me being desperate. That's a joke. What's desperate is you hanging on to the idea that the past 100 days have not been a complete cluster fuck.
That's a fair point. We can both agree the country is in a right old mess.If we accept all that as true, how will it make this country any worse than it has been for the last 13 years?
QEDThat's because they haven't.
All valid points and I'm not actually a massive fan of Starmer or his version of labour, but to imply it's all gone to the dogs in the last 100 days is nonsense.That's a fair point. We can both agree the country is in a right old mess.
We will disagree about how and why, with me attributing much of the blame to the state of the economy in 2010 necessitating reduction in government spending, and then some really bad macroeconomic impacts of Brexit, COVID and the war in Ukraine. And some added Tory cock ups thrown in for good measure.
But what's the answer? How do we get out of this hole? Labour's vision is for a larger, more interventionist (more expensive) state, with the belief that the state knows best, and the state can run things best. That growth will best come from the state taking more money off people, and spending it better than those they have taken it from can.
I fundamentally disagree with that. IMO sustainable long term growth, which is essential for the long term funding of our public services, can only come from a healthy and vibrant private sector, and that is enabled through a small state, low taxation and low regulation. A pro-business agenda. IMO the failing of the previous 14 years were that the Tories were not Tory enough. The levels of taxation have strangled our economy. We will not unstrangle it by putting taxes up and increasing regulation.
You said <Labour are> "tackling the economic damage the Tories left us."well the previous 100 days before Labour won a landslide we had strikes in the NHS - staff in there droves leaving the sector, Junior Doctors and Train services all grinding to a halt - Labour have come in and sorted pay disputes and got the health and travel industry back on its feet - how has that been a complete cluster fuck? quite the opposite don't you think? or is it the Taylor Swift concert he went too which means he has destroyed the country?
QEDYou said <Labour are> "tackling the economic damage the Tories left us."
So I say again, how are they doing that exactly.
Spending money Labour say we don't have (£22bn etc), is not tackling economic damage, it's worsening it. How are they tackling the economic damage?
Fair point. I should have been more clear that's it's been a political disaster, if not yet an economic one. Although I think some of the decisions - like the WFA debacle, paying over-the-odds to train drivers, paying public sector workers with no concessions on working practices or productivity etc - have been pretty dreadful.All valid points and I'm not actually a massive fan of Starmer or his version of labour, but to imply it's all gone to the dogs in the last 100 days is nonsense.
Again, while there have certainly been 'bumps in the road' I don't think the political disasters are particularly notable in comparison to the last decade. Still early days, I think we'll be able to judge more fully after a few years.Fair point. I should have been more clear that's it's been a political disaster, if not yet an economic one. Although I think some of the decisions - like the WFA debacle, paying over-the-odds to train drivers, paying public sector workers with no concessions on working practices or productivity etc - have been pretty dreadful.