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Re: Political authority is a lot like virginity, once it is gone it is very difficult to get back
Just catching up. For me there are two truths:I’m surprised you get sympathy ‘as a bloke’, in my experience it would be the woman who’d get get sympathy for crying. I’d expect a male CofE to get far more stick for crying at PMQs than Reeves got today; most people seem to be quite compassionate towards her.
1) The misogyny in British politics is appalling. They have attacked Reeves from day 1 as a woman - how dare she be appointed Chancellor! I have little doubt that politics at that level can be an emotional roller-coaster and some people are emotional beings.
I cried in a senior leadership meeting because the situation was that fraught. I can imagine me crying in a situation like that, or when Theresa May quit. As a bloke I get sympathy, but women get none. "too emotional" - how many times does that get added as a label to a colleague just because they are a woman?
That being said
2) Reeves is absolutely done. If she has something upsetting going on in her personal life then my sympathies - don't get her sat in the spotlight blubbing. A failing of the management team letting her sit there. If that's just cover then its my sexist patronising guff.
Problem is that she is Chancellor of the Exchequer and needs to be robust enough to face down critics and the markets and opposition idiots. Crying doesn't work. And she can't recover - even if she goes on in the role she will always be the chancellor reduced to tears as her boss fails to defend her position.
isam
5
Re: Political authority is a lot like virginity, once it is gone it is very difficult to get back
Just catching up. For me there are two truths:Sorry mysogyny is a feeble excuse, I would have said Reeves is crap if it was a man, a woman, black, white or even martian.
1) The misogyny in British politics is appalling. They have attacked Reeves from day 1 as a woman - how dare she be appointed Chancellor! I have little doubt that politics at that level can be an emotional roller-coaster and some people are emotional beings.
I cried in a senior leadership meeting because the situation was that fraught. I can imagine me crying in a situation like that, or when Theresa May quit. As a bloke I get sympathy, but women get none. "too emotional" - how many times does that get added as a label to a colleague just because they are a woman?
That being said
2) Reeves is absolutely done. If she has something upsetting going on in her personal life then my sympathies - don't get her sat in the spotlight blubbing. A failing of the management team letting her sit there. If that's just cover then its my sexist patronising guff.
Problem is that she is Chancellor of the Exchequer and needs to be robust enough to face down critics and the markets and opposition idiots. Crying doesn't work. And she can't recover - even if she goes on in the role she will always be the chancellor reduced to tears as her boss fails to defend her position.
Fed up with this bollocks "you only criticise because its "woman/man/black/white/trans". Most criticise politicians because of what they say and do not because of gender, creed or colour. Now if someone has made prior mysognist chitterings by all mean point them out and speculate maybe
Pagan2
5
Re: Political authority is a lot like virginity, once it is gone it is very difficult to get back
On a human level, I have a huge amount of persona sympathy for Rachel Reeves.Likewise. She has an extremely difficult job, she has a boss who is as reliable as a weathervane in a tornado, a party that lives in cloud cuckoo land and she knows enough to recognise the dangers here. Her attempts to at least ameliorate the situation, in WFA and benefits, have both collapsed due to political weakness and her options are extremely limited.
Chancellors need unequivocal backing when the sh*t starts to fly. Unequivocal is something Starmer wouldn't recognise if you hit him in the face with it.
DavidL
5
Re: Two NYC bets you should be making – politicalbetting.com
Ultimately, Starmer is paying the price for lying his way to the leadership of the Labour Party.Anyone who wanted the measure of Starmer only had to watch him sit beside Corbyn for years, during which antisemitism was rife, all the while saying nothing, certainly not resigning.
Re: Political authority is a lot like virginity, once it is gone it is very difficult to get back
To a certain extent you tax the things they you can tax. Most of the normal people in work have no option but to work to pay the bills.To me it makes no sense to tax (including NI) income from working more highly than income from anything else. Why disincentivise work?Knowledgeable investors will be able to find a safe investment for their stocks ISA that more or less replicates what they would have got from a cash ISA. It will be people nervous about going near the stock market who will lose out.Depends which equity markets. Doesn't help London much if people use world or US trackers.Equities will still have a £20k allowance so it's just useless cash ISAs that get gutted so pushing more money into equity markets will be the end result which is a net positive. Should have been done years ago.As a pensioner, we have more than enough help from the Government. If we have to pay some tax on our savings to help others, I don’t have a problem.I think the ISA policy is broadly OK, but it’s another one that’s going to get people grumpy. Particularly pensioners who use the allowance to build more “safe” savings pots.If Reeves is still in post then the assumption is on Cash Isas she will announce a cut to 5k a year limit in the Mansion House speech in 2 weeks time.They will freeze tax allowances, freeze the WFA threshold, and maybe row back the annual cash ISA limitDepends on which taxes are raised. IIRC Starmer and Reeves have always said that they wouldn't raise taxes of 'working people"! Hence, en passant, the inheritance tax on rural landlords.
Duncan Weldon
@duncanweldon.bsky.social
· 17m
The gilt move - especially at the long end - is big and bad.
No sugar coating it.
That said, the thing about the Truss debacle is that we saw these sort of moves day after day.
Too early to say if this is a wobble or a bigger problem.
Duncan Weldon
@duncanweldon.bsky.social
Worth noting: the gilt move really kicked off on speculation that Reeves could be replaced.
‘Reeves being replaced’ in this case meaning ‘a loosening of the fiscal rules’.
So there you have the first problem.
Cut spending - PLP won’t wear it.
Increase borrowing - the gilt market pushes back.
You’re left with, raise taxes - break a manifesto pledge.
Option 3 likely the least painful.
But what about people who don't work? As well the rural landlords the are other landlords, investors, speculators on the Stock Exchange and Metal (etc) Exchanges.
Inheritance tax might be a goer, too, although that doesn't bring in money quickly enough.
Freezing personal allowances almost certain and a big rise in fuel duty i think is likely
People who have spare capital around for investing have more options for what to do with it, and will thereby be able to avoid higher rates of tax.
This is why taxation of land has so much to recommend it.
Re: Political authority is a lot like virginity, once it is gone it is very difficult to get back
On a human level, I have a huge amount of persona sympathy for Rachel Reeves.But if you applied for a job - perhaps with a slightly juiced-up CV - which you got, but then found you weren't up to doing that job, should I have any personal sympathy if you have a meltdown?
Re: Political authority is a lot like virginity, once it is gone it is very difficult to get back
I've had burnout like that before, with sheer exhaustion and no sleep, and you cry for nothing- I can understand how she must be feeling.
What a horrid job.
What a horrid job.
Re: Political authority is a lot like virginity, once it is gone it is very difficult to get back
On a human level, I have a huge amount of persona sympathy for Rachel Reeves.
Re: Political authority is a lot like virginity, once it is gone it is very difficult to get back
Well then you're both very fortunate. Three of my very nearest and dearest have become very ill recently and getting any kind of state institution to help them is frankly driving me to the end of my tether. Sorry if this is overemotional but the consensus on here recently that anyone can walk into a vast wodge of cash from the state is so at odds with my current experience it makes me quite upset.To get motability as stated you need 12 points in mobility, meaning you need to demonstrateMrs U could get 12 points on that, despite being in perfect physical and mental shape.
1. Planning and following journeys.
Can plan and follow the route of a journey unaided. 0 points.
Needs prompting to be able to undertake any journey to avoid overwhelming psychological distress to the claimant. 4 points.
Cannot plan the route of a journey. 8 points.
Cannot follow the route of an unfamiliar journey without another person, assistance dog or orientation aid. 10 points.
Cannot undertake any journey because it would cause overwhelming psychological distress to the claimant. 10 points.
Cannot follow the route of a familiar journey without another person, an assistance dog or an orientation aid. 12 points.
2. Moving around.
Can stand and then move more than 200 metres, either aided or unaided. 0 points.
Can stand and then move more than 50 metres but no more than 200 metres, either aided or unaided. 4 points.
Can stand and then move unaided more than 20 metres but no more than 50 metres. 8 points.
Can stand and then move using an aid or appliance more than 20 metres but no more than 50 metres. 10 points.
Can stand and then move more than 1 metre but no more than 20 metres, either aided or unaided. 12 points.
Cannot, either aided or unaided, –
stand; or
move more than 1 metre. 12 points.
You can only score once from each section
Re: Political authority is a lot like virginity, once it is gone it is very difficult to get back
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Taz
12