The Labour Government

Don Karleone said:


Somebody wants him gone.
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Potential can of worms opening. Croydon home of Steve Reed and David Evans and the infamous Anonyvoter system.

Remember both Sam Tarry and Beth Winter made allegations of malpractice in the selection process.

Plenty in this thread.

 
Postman Pep said:
Potential can of worms opening. Croydon home of Steve Reed and David Evans and the infamous Anonyvoter system.

Remember both Sam Tarry and Beth Winter made allegations of malpractice in the selection process.

Plenty in this thread.

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Well fuck....

I thought the Starmtroopers were cleverer than that in making sure no one with actual labour values was selected to run as an MP.
 
On a side note does anyone know why our national day is not a bank holiday?
We must be one of the few countries that has to work on it's national day.
How are we meant to be patriotic if we have to work?
Never understood this.
 
SMB75 said:
On a side note does anyone know why our national day is not a bank holiday?
We must be one of the few countries that has to work on it's national day.
How are we meant to be patriotic if we have to work?
Never understood this.
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Careful now.....You'll be getting called names ! ;-)
 
SMB75 said:
On a side note does anyone know why our national day is not a bank holiday?
We must be one of the few countries that has to work on it's national day.
How are we meant to be patriotic if we have to work?
Never understood this.
Click to expand...
Maybe we get the same number of days off that St.George set foot on these shores, = 0. ;-)
 
Labour mid term report.
NHS waiting list times down.
Better relationship with euro for the economy and security.
Didn’t join Trumps disastrous war.

In the debit column poor politics around winter fuels and farmers inheritance tax.
Appointing a dodgy sleaze bag to deal with a president who’s a dodgy sleaze bag.
 
Norbert D said:
Labour mid term report.
NHS waiting list times down.
Better relationship with euro for the economy and security.
Didn’t join Trumps disastrous war.

In the debit column poor politics around winter fuels and farmers inheritance tax.
Appointing a dodgy sleaze bag to deal with a president who’s a dodgy sleaze bag.
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True but I still maintain that they are not treating workers very well and Starmer is a very weak prime minister who doesn't concentrate on our domestic issues enough.
They will be toast at the next election and good riddance to them as far as I am concerned.
 
SMB75 said:
True but I still maintain that they are not treating workers very well and Starmer is a very weak prime minister who doesn't concentrate on our domestic issues enough.
They will be toast at the next election and good riddance to them as far as I am concerned.
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How are they not treating workers well? Employers complain they are being treated badly, so at the expense of who? If it good riddance, who are you preferring becasue certainly Reform and Conservatives won't be looking after workers?
 
hampshireblue said:
How are they not treating workers well? Employers complain they are being treated badly, so at the expense of who? If it good riddance, who are you preferring becasue certainly Reform and Conservatives won't be looking after workers?
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Oh come on we are taxed to the bloody hilt and the more you earn the more they want to punish you for it.
Everyone I know agrees with this and we still have a system where in certain circumstances not working is a better proposition. This should NOT be the case but it is.

As regards to my preference? no idea I gave up voting years ago. Tories needed to go is Reform the solution I've no idea but it's the likely outcome. Hopefully by then I will be out of here and living abroad.
 
Norbert D said:
Labour mid term report.
NHS waiting list times down.
Better relationship with euro for the economy and security.
Didn’t join Trumps disastrous war.

In the debit column poor politics around winter fuels and farmers inheritance tax.
Appointing a dodgy sleaze bag to deal with a president who’s a dodgy sleaze bag.
Click to expand...

All true but I think if your ambition is simply to slow the rate of decline then you are on a hiding to nothing. The bigger underlying issue is that nothing Labour is doing gets close to reversing the underlying problem in the country which is continued rising inequality and concentration of wealth by a very small proportion resulting in declining living standards for too many.

'Managed decline' is an emotive phrase but unless policies can be seen to outpace things like returns on capital, intergenerational wealth transfers and other structural advantages then you can only slow the trajectory not halt and reverse the decline in quality of life for the majority of people. There are no signs that Labour are either capable or more to the point willing to try and address this. Instead they mostly pay lip service to the fanciful 'we'll grow our way out of the shit' delusion, and also enact a few policies to show they are not as mendacious as the Tories or Reform would be.

I'm not suggesting any of this is easy and to be blunt we're now getting to the point where we need the type of policies you get in post-war economic reset scenarios. Even dealing with the bond markets is complex and after the 2022 Conservative farrago it's understandable any government would be twitchy. But Labour seem to show no vision or interest in recognising the problems. For example we fanny around failing to court US AI firms when the bigger issue is that successive governments have collectively failed to understand that information is infrastructure and we increasingly no longer have a public-interest information layer. When you cannot recognise and deal with the dangers of working with a company such as Palantir you are either so far out your depth its terrifying or more plausibly you are complicit.

I'm not talking about waving a magic wand to fix things overnight but there needs to be at least one or two policies or even just signs that look like they want to over time: something more meaningful to break the asset inflation cycle in the housing market or to dampen speculation; or something that shifts the taxation policy balance from work to wealth; some subtle signalling that we might look to be more creative in how we engage the bond markets etc etc. But I see no ministers where I think, this one gets it and hasn't just resigned themselves to rearranging deck chairs on the titanic. To be fair I think there are plenty of labour politicians who understand the problem but who ameliorate their consciences by saying I am trying to do what is practical within the constraints I have. I get that, who wants to put their head on the pillow at night acknowledging they are part of the problem.

The types of policies required will probably take at least a generation to reverse the current trajectory which in itself clashes with the political cycle; that's before you even take into account the number of forces ranged against anyone who is serious about addressing the issues. Add to that a globalised system meaning you also need like minded governments in other countries to act in concert and it all sounds too overwhelming. This is why we need some exceptional leaders who can cut through and create a sustainable movement to carry people with them. Alternatively I can see one potential scenario where PR saves us too.

So assuming Starmer goes at some point, I think Labour probably has one chance to reset and prove it's relevance, otherwise it's clear that some other form of movement or party is required to replace it.

I've voted Labour all my life until my last local election, but I think in it's current form it's getting close to outliving it's usefulness.
 
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SMB75 said:
Oh come on we are taxed to the bloody hilt and the more you earn the more they want to punish you for it.
Everyone I know agrees with this and we still have a system where in certain circumstances not working is a better proposition. This should NOT be the case but it is.

As regards to my preference? no idea I gave up voting years ago. Tories needed to go is Reform the solution I've no idea but it's the likely outcome. Hopefully by then I will be out of here and living abroad.
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So until April 5th 2026, the income tax burden on a worker was exactly the same as it was under the Tories. It is only now that the continuing freeze on thresholds has kicked in. The UK tax burden whilst feeling high is pretty much average for developed nations.

Certainly the welfare and benefit system needs reforming but there will always be winners and losers Look at the uproar over the WFA as an example. Working should pay and generally does compared to benefits, but there will alwys be cases that the media jump on to make it sound as if it a regular occurrence. Don't forget the "system" pays significantly more to pensioners and those in work than it does to those not.

If you choose not to vote, then in my eyes that almost removes your right to complain about what is subsequently done to you. Can't be arsed to vote helps lead to the situation we have now with a massive majority on the back of a small share of those that could be bothered to vote.

I wish you luck as an immigrant wherever you choose to help "invade" ;-)
 
hampshireblue said:
So until April 5th 2026, the income tax burden on a worker was exactly the same as it was under the Tories. It is only now that the continuing freeze on thresholds has kicked in. The UK tax burden whilst feeling high is pretty much average for developed nations.

Certainly the welfare and benefit system needs reforming but there will always be winners and losers Look at the uproar over the WFA as an example. Working should pay and generally does compared to benefits, but there will alwys be cases that the media jump on to make it sound as if it a regular occurrence. Don't forget the "system" pays significantly more to pensioners and those in work than it does to those not.

If you choose not to vote, then in my eyes that almost removes your right to complain about what is subsequently done to you. Can't be arsed to vote helps lead to the situation we have now with a massive majority on the back of a small share of those that could be bothered to vote.

I wish you luck as an immigrant wherever you choose to help "invade" ;-)
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I don't think it's a case of not being arsed to vote.
It's probably more complete exhaustion of all the regular 2 - the tories needed to go, but labour (in my eyes) have not performed well and Starmer is a weak PM. I thought Sunak was a lot better to be honest, a sensible head, but the tories were already toast by that stage. This leads to Reform being the next party in power over here.
Can't see it going any other way.

The last budget was poor and created a lot more frustration in this country. We know where Labour's priorities are.
My main gripe is what do they do for single people, especially men? Bar a 25% CT discount, NOTHING.
You could argue (like people getting help for having children) - that there should also be some incentives / help for being on your own instead of being penalised.

And there is a darker issue here that most do not see. The male suicide rate in this country is very high - I do think there is some correlation in what's happening with our country and some people saying fuck it what's the point.
 
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