|
Post by dsjr on May 8, 2024 16:35:13 GMT
Can I ask a perhaps silly question? Back in 2019, I read the Labour manifesto and it was wonderful and I agreed with a lot of it. However, my beef with it was the availability of the money to do it all, as it's been usual for former Labour governments to spend spend spend and who cares 'cos the next government will pick up the pieces somehow. Got to say I benefitted from the Labour government in readily available courses and training just before the 2008 crash put paid to it all. of course the pendulum swung totally the other way after 2010 with the over-severe austerity measures put in place with no allowances or much if any flexibility it seems. My question is, what the eff can Starmer's lot DO in the next government? We've been taken so bloody far down the road we're on I'm not sure there's much wiggle room, no matter how they go at it in PMQ's. This 'defection' today hasn't gone well with Dover constituents by all accounts, but she appears to be as useless as our incumbent MP here (I can't call her a landed whale as it's an insult to the cetacean species ).
|
|
|
Post by Westie on May 8, 2024 17:53:42 GMT
I wrote a big long answer but my bleedin iPad ran out of juice just before I posted it. It’s hard to summarise (which is why it was long). but public spending isn’t just about throwing money around. It can (and often does) generate wealth because it puts money in th hands of many people. It’s also not as Simple as Labour being tax and spend. If you look at this link, you will see the Labour government of 1945 spent heavily to rebuild Britain and invest in the public services and welfare state which led to our post-war growth. You will also see Thatcher’s public spending cuts, largely based on her belief in a small state and private provision. The rest isn’t so clear-cut. www.ukpublicspending.co.uk/past_spendingAll I’d ask is that you contemplate what happens when you invest in roads, schools, hospitals and pensions? Doesn’t that money often go around and around, and stimulate more growth as it does? When people are better off, more healthy, more secure, better educated and able to travel more easily, don’t they spend more? Don’t they also earn and contribute more? This is the engine of growth. Is it really more plausible that the ever greater concentration of wealth amongst the tiny few is likely to trickle down to stimulate growth? Especially when the “few” take the money out of the country? How will it circulate then? Just look at the massive energy company profits, or the private water companies failure to invest which will likely end up being landed on the taxpayer and increasing our debt. Then look at the billions we paid to bale out the banks rather than ask the shareholders to cough up. Those same banks are now profiting massively due to higher interest rates. Will we see any of that wealth? Not a chance. The taxpayer retained most of the bad debts when Lloyds was returned to full private ownership and sold for a fraction of its worth. Labour won’t be able to do a lot to strait with because of the high debts and no means of generating wealth, thanks to the Tories selling off our national assets for peanuts. This is why Labour is promoting things like GB energy and re-nationalising the railways. The former will cost almost nothing compared to re-nationalisation, but it will allow people to vote with their feet and create a publicly owned energy company. As for rail, we spend far more money subsidising private companies (who take a profit and pay dividends) to run the railways than it would to have them in public hands, so again this makes sense. It’s also why Labour is looking to strengthen workers rights. People need security to build their lives upon. Otherwise they don’t invest and never progress. All I’d say is that the ideological shift away from the free market poison of Hayek, Friedman and their acolytes such as Thatcher is more important than the pace of change. Turning the ship round means it’s headed in the right direction. The speed will eventually follow.
|
|
|
Post by Westie on May 10, 2024 8:15:39 GMT
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on May 10, 2024 9:30:01 GMT
What i was saying last week. The Tories cause situations yet moan when they want sorting out. I find it extremely hard to carry on my everyday life compared to when i was a bit younger. which is amazing i noticed the difference not being wired up right anyway
|
|
|
Post by Westie on May 10, 2024 12:22:42 GMT
That always bugs me too. I just think it’s everyone else who’s not wired right lol.
The Tories actually need to sustain the issues that they appeal to voters on. If they solve them, they have nothing to campaign on. They’ve shot themselves on the foot with hard Brexit because blaming everything on the EU and waving the Union Jack was a big win with the Sun-reading thickos. Now they have what they wanted and everything is worse, including immigration.
Brexit has removed the excuse if not being able to do what they want. They’ve been in power for 14 years and have enjoyed a massive majority since the last election. They’ve had power for most of the past 55 years too. And now all they can offer is a more extreme version of the nonsense that’s sank Britain deeper and deeper.
Seriously, anyone who votes for them, or worse Reform UK, is either wired wrong, or has nothing there to wire.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on May 10, 2024 21:06:32 GMT
Looks like Eurovision has turned into a nightmare lol
|
|
|
Post by Westie on May 14, 2024 11:44:22 GMT
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on May 14, 2024 12:44:49 GMT
They are off again moaning about record number of Sick & out of Work
Let me guess They are the ones that cause people to get sick. People have to work every hour god sends to make a living because the Taxes are so high, the wages are shit & the cost of living is too much leading to mental illness. Even the employers are taking the piss with Hours & Silly Rota's that causes the Employee to basically have no life..The ones that are smart think well its not worth going to work which it isnt unless you have a very well paid job
Regarding obesity why not ban Junk food, why allow manufacturers to manufacture Processed food with High Calorie & salt content. Nah that would be a massive Tax sacrifice. lets skirt around the problem shall we?
Now they are a max of 2 year trial for these weight loss injections to try & see if they are Financially valid to cut down on death & NHS pressure, yeah they want it all way masking problems once again
The thing is the NHS has got to the stage where sick people are now exposing how the service cannot provide.
|
|
|
Post by Westie on May 14, 2024 20:58:46 GMT
|
|
|
Post by Westie on May 14, 2024 21:19:35 GMT
Still, at least they are focusing on the big issues that will put the country right. Everybody’s least favourite scouser, Esther McVey has decided to ban coloured lanyards across the civil service! Imagine devoting time and public money to ensuring all civil servants have their passes dangling from a lanyard in a single corporate colour. Mind you, she ran for Tory leadership alongside Hunt on a platform that placed bringing back fox hunting at the top of the list of priorities. Why the sudden desire to have uniform-coloured lanyards? Well apparently some civil servants had rainbow coloured ones, and that could be construed as supporting LGBT+ causes. Imagine how outraged the Telegraph readers and blue-rinse octogenarian Tory members must’ve been? Well done Esther. Even at a pound a pop, the lanyards themselves will cost half a million quid squeezed from taxpayers to buy. Money well spent, obviously. www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/culture-war-rainbow-lanyard-ban-estger-mcvey-b2544061.html
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on May 14, 2024 21:49:29 GMT
You know what bugs me, different NHS hospital trusts have different uniforms/colours, once upon a time nurses wore light blue with white bibs, sisters Dark Blue apart from student nurses. Their positions were shown by the coloured belts they used to wear now its all sorts.
|
|
|
Post by Westie on May 15, 2024 7:00:03 GMT
They will have lost the economies of scale that came with the old uniform too. Old unarmed would’ve been made in huge quantities.
|
|
|
Post by Westie on May 15, 2024 7:02:32 GMT
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on May 15, 2024 18:50:10 GMT
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on May 15, 2024 21:37:33 GMT
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico been shot numerous times in assassination attempt
|
|