UK Rail network to be nationalised

[Vic]

I think that’s a fair comment, but only up to a point. There is no doubt that Johnson is far more statist than May ever was. There has definitely been a shift to the left economically, if not politically, since he became PM; even before the pandemic it seemed clear that public spending was set to discernibly increase; significantly, no doubt, for reasons of political expediency.

I expect May is quite troubled by the size of the state atm.

Austerity is alive and well in local government where cuts can be blamed on (Labour) councils.

 

[gordondaviesmoustache]

Austerity is alive and well in local government where cuts can be blamed on (Labour) councils.

I’ve seen no discernible sign of cuts in local government. Local government has been given tremendous support from the central state in the last twelve months. I've seen it with my own eyes. And quite right too, btw - but to say there have been cuts in local government, where not a single employee has been on furlough, for obvious reasons btw, is plainly wrong.

 

[Mazzarelli's Swiss Cheese]

I’ve seen no discernible sign of cuts in local government. Local government has been given tremendous support from the central state in the last twelve months. I've seen it with my own eyes. And quite right too, btw - but to say there have been cuts in local government, where not a single employee has been on furlough, for obvious reasons btw, is plainly wrong.

Covid has probably rewritten the rule book on public spending in the short term so you are correct. What @Vic is saying is also true, but in fairness it's pretty standard practice for any sitting govt to 'punnish' opposition held councils and reward those that support them. The difference now is that the tory majority relied on unnatural allies in local politics so it's probably more complicated - especially once you chuck covid into the equation.

 

[BlueHammer85]

I think remote working has absolutely hampered the train service funding

 

[Vic]

I’ve seen no discernible sign of cuts in local government. Local government has been given tremendous support from the central state in the last twelve months. I've seen it with my own eyes. And quite right too, btw - but to say there have been cuts in local government, where not a single employee has been on furlough, for obvious reasons btw, is plainly wrong.

Nothing like sharing your ignorance. How can you "see" a shortfall in funding?

Budget cuts planned for social care as councils count cost of pandemic, public spending watchdog finds - Community Care

Almost all English councils are planning to slash budgets this year in the wake of Covid-19, including through reviewing adult care packages and increasing service user charges, the public spending watchdog has found.

www.communitycare.co.uk

English councils battling financial ruin - BBC News

BBC correspondents look at why their local authorities are in trouble - and it isn't just Covid...

www.bbc.co.uk

"It is good that the Chancellor has provided further funding for councils to manage the cost pressures they face as a result of the pandemic. New funding for adult and children’s social care will also help address some - but not all - of the pressures these services face next year. Councils will still have to find savings to already stretched budgets in order to plug funding gaps and meet their legal duty to set a balanced budget next year." (Tory leader of the Local Government Association.)

 

[gordondaviesmoustache]

Nothing like sharing your ignorance. How can you "see" a shortfall in funding?

Budget cuts planned for social care as councils count cost of pandemic, public spending watchdog finds - Community Care

Almost all English councils are planning to slash budgets this year in the wake of Covid-19, including through reviewing adult care packages and increasing service user charges, the public spending watchdog has found.

www.communitycare.co.uk

English councils battling financial ruin - BBC News

BBC correspondents look at why their local authorities are in trouble - and it isn't just Covid...

www.bbc.co.uk

"It is good that the Chancellor has provided further funding for councils to manage the cost pressures they face as a result of the pandemic. New funding for adult and children’s social care will also help address some - but not all - of the pressures these services face next year. Councils will still have to find savings to already stretched budgets in order to plug funding gaps and meet their legal duty to set a balanced budget next year." (Tory leader of the Local Government Association.)

Your deployment of the word ‘ignorance’ merely serves to reveal your own. I’d be absolutely staggered if you had as much oversight of local government as me, and if you do, then you are truly exceptional. I’m am very well rewarded to advise people on the subject. Are you?

Rude ****.

 

[Vic]

Your deployment of the word ‘ignorance’ merely serves to reveal your own. I’d be absolutely staggered if you had as much oversight of local government as me, and if you do, then you are truly exceptional. I’m am very well rewarded to advise people on the subject. Are you?

Rude ****.

"I am very well rewarded to advise people on the subject".

That sounds just a tad reminiscent of the bloviator.

How do you explain councils going bust? Have there or have there not been massive cuts in central government grants to local councils?

Where are the youth services?

Youth services suffer 70% funding cut in less than a decade

Parts of England and Wales receive nothing from local government, YMCA reveals

www.theguardian.com

Can you see a rural bus?

Buses in 'crisis' as 3,000 routes reduced or scrapped - BBC News

More than 3,000 services have been cut back or withdrawn, the Campaign for Better Transport says.

www.bbc.co.uk

Libraries?

Britain has closed almost 800 libraries since 2010, figures show

Annual survey shows sharp cuts to local authority funding have led to the loss of 17% of branches, alongside sharp staff and funding shortfalls

www.theguardian.com

I really don't know what you've been watching, or what "oversight" means in this context, but you're not presumably in the national audit office which records cuts of over 50% in central grants, with the effect that there was a "32.6% real-terms reduction in local authority spending on non-social-care services, 2010-11 to 2016-17".

You'll have to explain your "I see no cuts" claim.

 

[gordondaviesmoustache]

"I am very well rewarded to advise people on the subject".

That sounds just a tad reminiscent of the bloviator.

How do you explain councils going bust? Have there or have there not been massive cuts in central government grants to local councils?

Where are the youth services?

Youth services suffer 70% funding cut in less than a decade

Parts of England and Wales receive nothing from local government, YMCA reveals

www.theguardian.com

Can you see a rural bus?

Buses in 'crisis' as 3,000 routes reduced or scrapped - BBC News

More than 3,000 services have been cut back or withdrawn, the Campaign for Better Transport says.

www.bbc.co.uk

Libraries?

Britain has closed almost 800 libraries since 2010, figures show

Annual survey shows sharp cuts to local authority funding have led to the loss of 17% of branches, alongside sharp staff and funding shortfalls

www.theguardian.com

I really don't know what you've been watching, or what "oversight" means in this context, but you're not presumably in the national audit office which records cuts of over 50% in central grants, with the effect that there was a "32.6% real-terms reduction in local authority spending on non-social-care services, 2010-11 to 2016-17".

You'll have to explain your "I see no cuts" claim.

I’m talking about the here and now, not based on figures from a decade ago. You were talking like the cuts of the previous 12 years were enduring; they are manifestly not. Funding for local government has gone up in the last twelve months. So as things stand, the ‘cuts’ don’t exist. Your post was therefore intellectually dishonest.

 

[Alan Harper's Tash]

I’m talking about the here and now, not based on figures from a decade ago. You were talking like the cuts of the previous 12 years were enduring; they are manifestly not. Funding for local government has gone up in the last twelve months. So as things stand, the ‘cuts’ don’t exist. Your post was therefore intellectually dishonest.

It’s a bit disingenuous to suggest that a global pandemic has allowed funding increases in local governments to disbar Vic’s comment.

The past 15 months or so has had to be done to prevent a lot of people dying. Covid and non Covid.

Councils had been struggling hugely before the pandemic.

This pandemic has been a godsend for this government. Forced into giving away free money whilst not giving a fuck about them. They had the fortune of gambling lots of money on buying vaccines they had no clue would work and now come up smelling of roses, despite being responsible for killing 50-125k more people than was necessary.

 

[gordondaviesmoustache]

It’s a bit disingenuous to suggest that a global pandemic has allowed funding increases in local governments to disbar Vic’s comment.

The past 15 months or so has had to be done to prevent a lot of people dying. Covid and non Covid.

Councils had been struggling hugely before the pandemic.

This pandemic has been a godsend for this government. Forced into giving away free money whilst not giving a fuck about them. They had the fortune of gambling lots of money on buying vaccines they had no clue would work and now come up smelling of roses, despite being responsible for killing 50-125k more people than was necessary.

If Vic’s comment had been more truthfully worded, then I wouldn't have said a word. Not trying to disbar any ****.

All governments gamble and hope for the best. How else would you describe our initial involvement in WW2?