For the first time in more than 30 years I got what is apparently called a wage slip today. A deeply depressing document. A small number at the top from which numerous deductions are made leaving an even smaller number at the bottom.
I am seriously perplexed we don’t have more revolutions in this country.
I have always thought that PAYE is a con perpetrated on the population as a whole. If everyone had to write out a cheque or make an online payment for their tax out of their gross income they would probably get a bit more upset about how much they are taxed and what a very bad return they get on that money.
Exactly. Does no one read them beyond the bottom line? In some ways it is less painful than sending the price of a medium priced new car to HMRC twice a year but they are taking these sums you have earned off you every month, before you even see it.
It’s incredible what people can learn to put up with.
The explanation is the Tories are not very popular today, and why the hell should they be.
With Brexit and Johnson and Sunak ripping up the roots of a Tory tree that stood there for a hundred years - pro business replaced by fuck business, sensible with money replaced by wasteful “eat out to help out” gimmicky splurges, low tax low borrowing live within our means replaced by maxed out on borrowing and tax and still can’t afford the basic essentials, then what is keeping the Tory tree standing up right strong and proud?
As it’s own PMs have ripped out it’s roots, it’s no longer standing is it? The things fallen over.
But you have to take the polls as but one informer of what’s really going on with voters, and polls have closed and been wrong in the past, not just here but around the world, the last US and Brazil president elections for example. Whilst wordclouds and focus groups remain so awful for Labour, there’s no room for complacency in thinking we know exactly what the voters are going to do in two years time.
The polls were right on the winner in the US and Brazil, just not their margin. I expect it will be similar here
That’s the point I was making, with not long to go on both those elections the gaps looked big, tightened late on in the races and very tight in the actual votes.
Focus groups are different than polls, and whilst polling is good for Labour at the moment, focus groups currently awful results for Labour.
What focus groups and what were they trying to find out? Focus groups have a completely different function from opinion polls
Interesting interview with Kenneth Clarke on WATO. He believes Brexit is crucifying us and our trade and it is a matter of urgency that we do something about it.
And in other news the Pope still dislikes the Reformation...
Lol. Strong similarity to both events. Both unnecessarily turbulent and both an excuse to make a change that didn't benefit a single ordinary person.
I expect Starmer to become PM at GE24 and frankly Sunak is caught in the aftermath of the Johnson/Truss disaster, as is the party with its fractious groups, and changing Sunak would seal the conservatives fate for years to come as he is their best chance of mitigating the losses
Zahawi is causing serous damage and his determination to remain in office is disgraceful
I said a few days ago that for the first time I can recall there are more conservative mps I would celebrate losing their seats than labour
However, the problems the UK face are so complex and the solutions so unpalatable I have little confidence Starmer and labour have the answers either
Sunak -held hostage by treasury orthodoxy- is actively making things worse.
Time to replace him.
Not quite sure that 4 PMs inside 12 months is good, but yes Sunak needs to turn the Treasury and the No.10 operation upside-down and inside-out.
Replace it with a much smaller group of advisors, charged with maximising economic growth for the lowest cost. Talk to businesses and key public service managers on a daily basis.
We saw a great example on here yesterday, that there’s a shortage of radiographers, leading to expensive MRI machines being unstaffed and patients blocking beds waiting for scans. Get a worldwide campaign running to recruit radiographers, and have the NHS and Home Office work together to fast track visas and recognition of qualifications.
This is the sort of stuff the UK did really well during the pandemic, identifying roadblocks and moving them out of the way as quickly as possible. That same attitude needs to be bought back to government.
But we know what the roadblocks are.
They're about planning delays, building stuff on the cheap so we end up building twice, and (it has to be said) making it more bureaucratic for businesses to export to our near neighbours.
As that anonymous Belgian politician sort of said in 2008, We damn well know what to do. Just not how to get elected after doing it.
And a lot of the Conservative vote right now would rather keep things as they are than make their children and grandchildren richer.
That's not a list of actual roadblocks, it's a list of your personal hobby horses, none of which are key here.
OK, you say they aren't roadblocks. So how come in the real world they are roadblocks? Planning delays - we spend decades debating some projects without ever commissioning an agreed plan Building on the cheap. Ask any squaddie about the quality of MOD kit. Or Thameslink / GWR commuters about the expensive not fit for purpose trains bought by the DfT. Or anyone who has bought an executive style home from any of the national builders what the quality of the construction is. The volumous red tape.... Etc. Etc.
None of this is new, or entirely Brexit or even specifically about the Tories. Its what has happened to this country slowly over decades so that we now spend a fortune to get largely crappy things very very late.
Whatever else MOD kit is, it ain't cheap. But you do (rather incidentally) touch on the issue. Our burgeoning Government departments and their fleet of 'arms length' quangos are becoming progressively worse (to the point of borderline uselessness) at doing their actual job, progressively less inclined to be directed by the Government, and progressively more involved with matters of policy and agenda setting that should be the preserve of elected Ministers. That is the issue that Sandpit was alluding to in his recommendation of more taskforces like the vaccine taskforce, kept outside the civil service chain of command. That task force and its subsequent dissolution at the hands of the civil service, with the inevitable surrender of our lead on vaccines, is a textbook example. I took issue with Stuart's post because he politely avoided any mention of bureaucratic incompetence, preferring to lay everything on Brexit as per usual.
Must have been a different post to mine then. After all, the first two things I mentioned as problems had nothing to do with Brexit, being more about the penny wise, pound foolish instincts of the British psyche.
It's lovely to think that there are big improvements to be had for free by having more competent bureaucrats. And I'm not going to jusify every penny of public spending. But the simplest explanation of shoddy public services is that we get roughly what we pay for.
Then please explain how a small task force was able to make us a world leader in vaccines, and a huge civil service was able to fuck it up.
The head of northern powerhouse has just alleged the rumours on HS2 is coming from disgruntled Johnson supporters sowing discord and it should be disregarded and indeed Hunt has confirmed this morning HS2 will go to Euston
It is clear the conservative party is fighting amongst itself and if it continues there is only one outcome and not one for them to celebrate
I commented years ago that Bozo would be the last ever Tory PM - that bit is wrong but I suspect the rest is true - this will be the Tory party's last ever term as the Government.
Rubbish, you could have said the same about Balfour in 1906 or Churchill in 1945 or Major in 1997 but the Tories came back. You could equally have said the same of Labour under Callaghan in 1979 or Brown in 2010.
Unless another rightwing party overtakes the Tories there will be another Tory PM
Yes, but sadly thanks to your idol, the clown that is otherwise known to you and other sycophants as "Boris" that day is a lot further off than it should be. Johnson trashed the brand on the altar of his massively misplaced ego.
Johnson was the only Tory leader to have got a comfortable working majority since Thatcher
Who cares - he trashed his national, political party and personal brands. Your current leader should have thrown him out of the party on Day One.
For the first time in more than 30 years I got what is apparently called a wage slip today. A deeply depressing document. A small number at the top from which numerous deductions are made leaving an even smaller number at the bottom.
I am seriously perplexed we don’t have more revolutions in this country.
Have you been appointed a judge or have you changed profession?
The head of northern powerhouse has just alleged the rumours on HS2 is coming from disgruntled Johnson supporters sowing discord and it should be disregarded and indeed Hunt has confirmed this morning HS2 will go to Euston
It is clear the conservative party is fighting amongst itself and if it continues there is only one outcome and not one for them to celebrate
I commented years ago that Bozo would be the last ever Tory PM - that bit is wrong but I suspect the rest is true - this will be the Tory party's last ever term as the Government.
Rubbish, you could have said the same about Balfour in 1906 or Churchill in 1945 or Major in 1997 but the Tories came back. You could equally have said the same of Labour under Callaghan in 1979 or Brown in 2010.
Unless another rightwing party overtakes the Tories there will be another Tory PM
Yes, but sadly thanks to your idol, the clown that is otherwise known to you and other sycophants as "Boris" that day is a lot further off than it should be. Johnson trashed the brand on the altar of his massively misplaced ego.
Johnson was the only Tory leader to have got a comfortable working majority since Thatcher
Yes, but unlike Thatcher he had no fucking idea what to do with it. He was useless, and as I have said to you many times, winning a big majority and then being crap at the job is like being great at interviewing and then being fired for incompetence and malfeasance.
Mega rich fucks that dodge tax royally piss me off. Because I don’t. I minimise it legally - claim all my exes - but don’t go to any great lengths. No offshore bank accounts. I never even bothered with becoming a PLC when that would have helped
I live here. I pay my whack. Tho as the whack goes up I increasingly think hmmmmm
I have never sought to do anything to minimise my taxes, I pay shed loads of tax, and I don't mind doing it. It's the shoddiness of the public services I get in return that bothers me. Schools that can't afford to pay their staff. Infrastructure that is left half-built. Doctors I can't get an appointment for. I'd pay more to have public services that work. I get it why people want to pay less and get a minimalist state, although that's not my preference. Right now we seem stuck in the worst of all worlds - high taxes that still aren't high enough for anything to actually work.
Yup, if we had low taxes and half working stuff, I could kind of deal with that as they do in the US. We have high taxes and half working stuff which is just awful.
There's an internal research paper doing the rounds at the moment at work listing out reasons to not invest in the UK and it's very hard to disagree with it. Near the top of the list was 'unreformable public services that have a voracious appetite for taxpayer money'. Labour have got a real job on their hands to make the public sector work properly because the money is there.
One of the points I have made before is that many Tory voters are simply less reliant upon the state; they see taxes going up but are still forking out for private healthcare, private education, the benefits of others.
Any Tory govt should make both income tax deductible before the next election.
This is one of the problems with private schools - some of the people in the country most invested in having good quality schools voting to cut taxes rather than to fund schools properly. The broader point is that it is actually the rich who gain the most from having a functional state and society, as by definition they have most to lose if it breaks down. And so of course they should contribute most.
How justifiable is that teachers take 24% in employer pension contributions when the average person in the private sector gets 4%? Surely some of those vast sums that gold plate teachers early retirement/laziness fund could go into making schools a bit better?
Very justifible as it's part of their pay (and people really do strike when their pensions are changed to their detrement).
Now you could argue that teachers should hsve a choice of more pay and a worse pension or the same pay and their current pension but the savings you believe can be found here are, as I've pointed out everytime you mention this "solution" a figment of your imagination.
Interesting interview with Kenneth Clarke on WATO. He believes Brexit is crucifying us and our trade and it is a matter of urgency that we do something about it.
And in other news the Pope still dislikes the Reformation...
Lol. Strong similarity to both events. Both unnecessarily turbulent and both an excuse to make a change that didn't benefit a single ordinary person.
Agree on Brexit, but not necessarily on the Reformation. Essentially a self-indulgent accident with Sid James as Henry VIII on the throne, it then opened up Britain as a whole to all sorts of Protestant influences that, except the dire state of the culinary traditions on these islands, you could well argue helped it rather a lot..
The head of northern powerhouse has just alleged the rumours on HS2 is coming from disgruntled Johnson supporters sowing discord and it should be disregarded and indeed Hunt has confirmed this morning HS2 will go to Euston
It is clear the conservative party is fighting amongst itself and if it continues there is only one outcome and not one for them to celebrate
I have to say BigG, I can't see what else is going to change that outcome, and I think the various wings across the party are increasingly thinking that.
If that is the case, it might not make much difference on what date the election is finally decided on.
Certainly the idea of resurrecting Johnson or Truss is the way to electoral disaster
Both are totally discredited in the eyes of the vast majority of the nation
Interesting interview with Kenneth Clarke on WATO. He believes Brexit is crucifying us and our trade and it is a matter of urgency that we do something about it.
Just had to order something from Germany. Before it was simple -> send payment goods arrive a few days later.
Now the paperwork is such that they don't sell to the UK so we've had to use Etsy as a wrapper to handle everything and I'm paying something like 50% more than I would if I was in France, Italy or Denmark.
The head of northern powerhouse has just alleged the rumours on HS2 is coming from disgruntled Johnson supporters sowing discord and it should be disregarded and indeed Hunt has confirmed this morning HS2 will go to Euston
It is clear the conservative party is fighting amongst itself and if it continues there is only one outcome and not one for them to celebrate
Makes sense. Leon - probably PB's biggest Boris admirer - was up in arms about it last night and damning the Tories to oblivion. So whoever was behind it knows what buttons to press.
I should have known, since it was reported by the nation’s erstwhile favourite cuck, Harry Cole.
The head of northern powerhouse has just alleged the rumours on HS2 is coming from disgruntled Johnson supporters sowing discord and it should be disregarded and indeed Hunt has confirmed this morning HS2 will go to Euston
It is clear the conservative party is fighting amongst itself and if it continues there is only one outcome and not one for them to celebrate
Makes sense. Leon - probably PB's biggest Boris admirer - was up in arms about it last night and damning the Tories to oblivion. So whoever was behind it knows what buttons to press.
I should have known, since it was reported by the nation’s erstwhile favourite cuck, Harry Cole.
Oh it was obvious from the first second - the question is what other story did Harry's story remove from press coverage.
Mega rich fucks that dodge tax royally piss me off. Because I don’t. I minimise it legally - claim all my exes - but don’t go to any great lengths. No offshore bank accounts. I never even bothered with becoming a PLC when that would have helped
I live here. I pay my whack. Tho as the whack goes up I increasingly think hmmmmm
I have never sought to do anything to minimise my taxes, I pay shed loads of tax, and I don't mind doing it. It's the shoddiness of the public services I get in return that bothers me. Schools that can't afford to pay their staff. Infrastructure that is left half-built. Doctors I can't get an appointment for. I'd pay more to have public services that work. I get it why people want to pay less and get a minimalist state, although that's not my preference. Right now we seem stuck in the worst of all worlds - high taxes that still aren't high enough for anything to actually work.
Yup, if we had low taxes and half working stuff, I could kind of deal with that as they do in the US. We have high taxes and half working stuff which is just awful.
There's an internal research paper doing the rounds at the moment at work listing out reasons to not invest in the UK and it's very hard to disagree with it. Near the top of the list was 'unreformable public services that have a voracious appetite for taxpayer money'. Labour have got a real job on their hands to make the public sector work properly because the money is there.
One of the points I have made before is that many Tory voters are simply less reliant upon the state; they see taxes going up but are still forking out for private healthcare, private education, the benefits of others.
Any Tory govt should make both income tax deductible before the next election.
This is one of the problems with private schools - some of the people in the country most invested in having good quality schools voting to cut taxes rather than to fund schools properly. The broader point is that it is actually the rich who gain the most from having a functional state and society, as by definition they have most to lose if it breaks down. And so of course they should contribute most.
How justifiable is that teachers take 24% in employer pension contributions when the average person in the private sector gets 4%? Surely some of those vast sums that gold plate teachers early retirement/laziness fund could go into making schools a bit better?
Very justifible as it's part of their pay (and people really do strike when their pensions are changed to their detrement).
Now you could argue that teachers should hsve a choice of more pay and a worse pension or the same pay and their current pension but the savings you believe can be found here are, as I've pointed out everytime you mention this "solution" a figment of your imagination.
It is not a figment of my imagination it is a fact that underlines the unfairness of conditions offered to public sector workers who then complain and moan about their pay. The pension schemes have to be paid for. A graduate teacher is now being offered £30k. With pension that actually means over £37k, which is quite a lot more than many other grads get and considerably higher than the average wage. Add to this 40 days paid holiday. Public sector pensions are a scandal and no bleating or misplaced attempts at condescension from people like yourself who are apologists and probably recipients of this swindling of the taxpayer will discourage me from mentioning it.
Are you an early retiree by any chance? If you are get off your lazy arse and make a contribution to society.
Interesting interview with Kenneth Clarke on WATO. He believes Brexit is crucifying us and our trade and it is a matter of urgency that we do something about it.
Just had to order something from Germany. Before it was simple -> send payment goods arrive a few days later.
Now the paperwork is such that they don't sell to the UK so we've had to use Etsy as a wrapper to handle everything and I'm paying something like 50% more than I would if I was in France, Italy or Denmark.
We used to regularly send gifts by air mail to family in Spain. The parcel would be received within a week. Now, and it may a complete coincidence, parcels can take four, five, six, seven weeks to arrive, if at all, and significantly more expensive.
Interesting interview with Kenneth Clarke on WATO. He believes Brexit is crucifying us and our trade and it is a matter of urgency that we do something about it.
Just had to order something from Germany. Before it was simple -> send payment goods arrive a few days later.
Now the paperwork is such that they don't sell to the UK so we've had to use Etsy as a wrapper to handle everything and I'm paying something like 50% more than I would if I was in France, Italy or Denmark.
One of the additional pernicious outcomes here is fewer choices available for the British consumer. Fewer products, or SKUs, because it’s just not worth the harassment.
Fewer choices on inputs too, for British manufacturers. An insidious tax on productivity.
Britain has better demography than most, and some of the meanest pensions. I’m not sure in itself that the number of oldies is an inherent form of comparative disadvantage.
The head of northern powerhouse has just alleged the rumours on HS2 is coming from disgruntled Johnson supporters sowing discord and it should be disregarded and indeed Hunt has confirmed this morning HS2 will go to Euston
It is clear the conservative party is fighting amongst itself and if it continues there is only one outcome and not one for them to celebrate
It should be remembered that Johnson was rabidly against the HS2-HS1 link through London, because his poor little dad was against it.
Britain has better demography than most, and some of the meanest pensions. I’m not sure in itself that the number of oldies is an inherent form of comparative disadvantage.
State pensions, more have private workplace pensions in the UK than most
Mega rich fucks that dodge tax royally piss me off. Because I don’t. I minimise it legally - claim all my exes - but don’t go to any great lengths. No offshore bank accounts. I never even bothered with becoming a PLC when that would have helped
I live here. I pay my whack. Tho as the whack goes up I increasingly think hmmmmm
I have never sought to do anything to minimise my taxes, I pay shed loads of tax, and I don't mind doing it. It's the shoddiness of the public services I get in return that bothers me. Schools that can't afford to pay their staff. Infrastructure that is left half-built. Doctors I can't get an appointment for. I'd pay more to have public services that work. I get it why people want to pay less and get a minimalist state, although that's not my preference. Right now we seem stuck in the worst of all worlds - high taxes that still aren't high enough for anything to actually work.
Yup, if we had low taxes and half working stuff, I could kind of deal with that as they do in the US. We have high taxes and half working stuff which is just awful.
There's an internal research paper doing the rounds at the moment at work listing out reasons to not invest in the UK and it's very hard to disagree with it. Near the top of the list was 'unreformable public services that have a voracious appetite for taxpayer money'. Labour have got a real job on their hands to make the public sector work properly because the money is there.
One of the points I have made before is that many Tory voters are simply less reliant upon the state; they see taxes going up but are still forking out for private healthcare, private education, the benefits of others.
Any Tory govt should make both income tax deductible before the next election.
This is one of the problems with private schools - some of the people in the country most invested in having good quality schools voting to cut taxes rather than to fund schools properly. The broader point is that it is actually the rich who gain the most from having a functional state and society, as by definition they have most to lose if it breaks down. And so of course they should contribute most.
How justifiable is that teachers take 24% in employer pension contributions when the average person in the private sector gets 4%? Surely some of those vast sums that gold plate teachers early retirement/laziness fund could go into making schools a bit better?
Very justifible as it's part of their pay (and people really do strike when their pensions are changed to their detrement).
Now you could argue that teachers should hsve a choice of more pay and a worse pension or the same pay and their current pension but the savings you believe can be found here are, as I've pointed out everytime you mention this "solution" a figment of your imagination.
It is not a figment of my imagination it is a fact that underlines the unfairness of conditions offered to public sector workers who then complain and moan about their pay. The pension schemes have to be paid for. A graduate teacher is now being offered £30k. With pension that actually means over £37k, which is quite a lot more than many other grads get and considerably higher than the average wage. Add to this 40 days paid holiday. Public sector pensions are a scandal and no bleating or misplaced attempts at condescension from people like yourself who are apologists and probably recipients of this swindling of the taxpayer will discourage me from mentioning it.
Are you an early retiree by any chance? If you are get off your lazy arse and make a contribution to society.
Nope - contractor being paid shit loads on PAYE because the consultancy firm this bank brought in has completely f**ked up the project so far.
Oh and if teachers are so well paid why do whole parts of the country have continually job vacancies for qualified teachers - could it be that they aren't paid enough for the work they have to do so often change careers to something less stressful.
Interesting interview with Kenneth Clarke on WATO. He believes Brexit is crucifying us and our trade and it is a matter of urgency that we do something about it.
And in other news the Pope still dislikes the Reformation...
Lol. Strong similarity to both events. Both unnecessarily turbulent and both an excuse to make a change that didn't benefit a single ordinary person.
I believe one enabled Henry VIII to get a divorce and other enabled Boris to become PM!
Note too of the western European nations outside the Eurozone ie Switzerland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland and the UK, all are Protestant not Roman Catholic heritage
Very poor result for the Cons in last night's by-election in Rotherham: went from touching distance of winning a seat in 2021 to fifth of six. LibDems on the opposite trajectory: suggests some former Con voters still can't quite bring themselves to vote Labour, and will look for a reasonable alternative. Maybe the Blue Wall won't hold up any better than the Red Wall for Rishi.
If you’re a vaguely liberal, Cameron-era Tory why would you vote for this lot? They literally stand for everything you hate.
I warned about this post 2019. The coalition Johnson built was incredibly weak, the voters in the Blue Wall utterly hated him, they just hated Corbyn more.
Just as strong rises in the red wall pre Boris (which he did indeed then take to the next level) will be forgotten, so too will his negative ratings which were pretty high but better than Corbyn, when the Johnson myth that he would have won easily but for traitors forcing him out is pushed.
For the first time in more than 30 years I got what is apparently called a wage slip today. A deeply depressing document. A small number at the top from which numerous deductions are made leaving an even smaller number at the bottom.
I am seriously perplexed we don’t have more revolutions in this country.
I have always thought that PAYE is a con perpetrated on the population as a whole. If everyone had to write out a cheque or make an online payment for their tax out of their gross income they would probably get a bit more upset about how much they are taxed and what a very bad return they get on that money.
One of the few good things about the American tax system - almost everyone has to write a cheque every year to Uncle Sam. Yes, it’s mostly online these days, but the concept that the people should have a much better idea of how much the State confiscates, is a good one.
I expect Starmer to become PM at GE24 and frankly Sunak is caught in the aftermath of the Johnson/Truss disaster, as is the party with its fractious groups, and changing Sunak would seal the conservatives fate for years to come as he is their best chance of mitigating the losses
Zahawi is causing serous damage and his determination to remain in office is disgraceful
I said a few days ago that for the first time I can recall there are more conservative mps I would celebrate losing their seats than labour
However, the problems the UK face are so complex and the solutions so unpalatable I have little confidence Starmer and labour have the answers either
Sunak -held hostage by treasury orthodoxy- is actively making things worse.
Time to replace him.
Not quite sure that 4 PMs inside 12 months is good, but yes Sunak needs to turn the Treasury and the No.10 operation upside-down and inside-out.
Replace it with a much smaller group of advisors, charged with maximising economic growth for the lowest cost. Talk to businesses and key public service managers on a daily basis.
We saw a great example on here yesterday, that there’s a shortage of radiographers, leading to expensive MRI machines being unstaffed and patients blocking beds waiting for scans. Get a worldwide campaign running to recruit radiographers, and have the NHS and Home Office work together to fast track visas and recognition of qualifications.
This is the sort of stuff the UK did really well during the pandemic, identifying roadblocks and moving them out of the way as quickly as possible. That same attitude needs to be bought back to government.
But we know what the roadblocks are.
They're about planning delays, building stuff on the cheap so we end up building twice, and (it has to be said) making it more bureaucratic for businesses to export to our near neighbours.
As that anonymous Belgian politician sort of said in 2008, We damn well know what to do. Just not how to get elected after doing it.
And a lot of the Conservative vote right now would rather keep things as they are than make their children and grandchildren richer.
That's not a list of actual roadblocks, it's a list of your personal hobby horses, none of which are key here.
OK, you say they aren't roadblocks. So how come in the real world they are roadblocks? Planning delays - we spend decades debating some projects without ever commissioning an agreed plan Building on the cheap. Ask any squaddie about the quality of MOD kit. Or Thameslink / GWR commuters about the expensive not fit for purpose trains bought by the DfT. Or anyone who has bought an executive style home from any of the national builders what the quality of the construction is. The volumous red tape.... Etc. Etc.
None of this is new, or entirely Brexit or even specifically about the Tories. Its what has happened to this country slowly over decades so that we now spend a fortune to get largely crappy things very very late.
Whatever else MOD kit is, it ain't cheap. But you do (rather incidentally) touch on the issue. Our burgeoning Government departments and their fleet of 'arms length' quangos are becoming progressively worse (to the point of borderline uselessness) at doing their actual job, progressively less inclined to be directed by the Government, and progressively more involved with matters of policy and agenda setting that should be the preserve of elected Ministers. That is the issue that Sandpit was alluding to in his recommendation of more taskforces like the vaccine taskforce, kept outside the civil service chain of command. That task force and its subsequent dissolution at the hands of the civil service, with the inevitable surrender of our lead on vaccines, is a textbook example. I took issue with Stuart's post because he politely avoided any mention of bureaucratic incompetence, preferring to lay everything on Brexit as per usual.
Must have been a different post to mine then. After all, the first two things I mentioned as problems had nothing to do with Brexit, being more about the penny wise, pound foolish instincts of the British psyche.
It's lovely to think that there are big improvements to be had for free by having more competent bureaucrats. And I'm not going to jusify every penny of public spending. But the simplest explanation of shoddy public services is that we get roughly what we pay for.
Then please explain how a small task force was able to make us a world leader in vaccines, and a huge civil service was able to fuck it up.
I'm not an expert on vaccines- maybe you are. But a couple of thoughts;
The task of the task force was in the category of "not easy, but simple". I'm not minimsing their achievement, which required serious feats of science and financial and chemical engineering. But the task was simple- get as many doses of good vaccine as quickly as possible- no tradeoffs. And the benefit of doing that even a week faster was so huge that pretty much any expense was going to be worth it.
We were also lucky, the whole world was lucky, that there were two promising vaccine technologies pretty much waiting to be used. Both the Oxford vaccine and the mRNA vaccine were essentially sitting there ready to go.
That's all great, and to be celebrated. But most of life isn't like that. Elsewhere there are tradeoffs and a ultimately finite pot of money. It's how you handle those tradeoffs that matters.
As for why the UK dismantled what it had created, heaven only knows. Probably Treasury Brain being penny wise. But that's government policy, because otherwise they can't fund the tax cuts they want.
Interesting interview with Kenneth Clarke on WATO. He believes Brexit is crucifying us and our trade and it is a matter of urgency that we do something about it.
Just had to order something from Germany. Before it was simple -> send payment goods arrive a few days later.
Now the paperwork is such that they don't sell to the UK so we've had to use Etsy as a wrapper to handle everything and I'm paying something like 50% more than I would if I was in France, Italy or Denmark.
One of the additional pernicious outcomes here is fewer choices available for the British consumer. Fewer products, or SKUs, because it’s just not worth the harassment.
Fewer choices on inputs too, for British manufacturers. An insidious tax on productivity.
There are ways round it for everyday stuff. I wanted a phone cover only available in Germany. Delivery cost within Germany nil... but to UK 25 quid. Get stepson who lives in Germany to get it 4 me and bring on next visit. Simples.
For the first time in more than 30 years I got what is apparently called a wage slip today. A deeply depressing document. A small number at the top from which numerous deductions are made leaving an even smaller number at the bottom.
I am seriously perplexed we don’t have more revolutions in this country.
As someone once remarked, the French Revolution didn’t happen because peasants were starving (they were used to it) but because lawyers and teachers were starving….
If Boris is back this year, I think Tory support will stay in the low twenties. They'll avoid election all they can, but I don't think that will change the result.
That's the thing, the Boris and then Truss actions broke the back of the party, it has probably irrevocably left an impression on the public.
Sunak is weak but probably couldn't reverse that impact, and nor would Boris - they would still be divided, skint, out of ideas, and even their good actions overlooked by a public pushed beyond limit.
For the first time in more than 30 years I got what is apparently called a wage slip today. A deeply depressing document. A small number at the top from which numerous deductions are made leaving an even smaller number at the bottom.
I am seriously perplexed we don’t have more revolutions in this country.
As someone once remarked, the French Revolution didn’t happen because peasants were starving (they were used to it) but because lawyers and teachers were starving….
Lawyers are awesome, lawyers change the world for the better.
For the first time in more than 30 years I got what is apparently called a wage slip today. A deeply depressing document. A small number at the top from which numerous deductions are made leaving an even smaller number at the bottom.
I am seriously perplexed we don’t have more revolutions in this country.
Worse still is realising how little we get for it. The UK is a classic example of the state doing too much and doing it badly, the last few years of big government conservatism should become a learning experience for all other countries to avoid going down the same path that Theresa May set us on.
And it’s getting worse. Yesterday my M-in-L had an online appointment for old age psychiatry. This is not a joke. She does not have internet or a computer so she had to be brought to our house to do the call.
After this travesty, which inevitably concluded that a face to face meeting was required, in 3 months time, my wife gets a form to complete confirming how wonderful this service was. Negative answers were not allowed. So, for example, you could record how many miles you had saved. A negative number, as in our case, was not permitted. Every question was slanted this way but no doubt this will be “evidence” in due course of how wonderful this is.
My MiL is suffering delusions which are scaring her to the point she doesn’t feel safe in her own home. A crap meeting like this, where she struggled to hear, and a 3 month wait. These are what these deductions from my pay slip are for?
If they don't win most seats from here, Starmer should commit a ritual eating of a pineapple pizza declaring his undying love for Max Verstappen while @TheScreamingEagles watches.
Interesting interview with Kenneth Clarke on WATO. He believes Brexit is crucifying us and our trade and it is a matter of urgency that we do something about it.
Just had to order something from Germany. Before it was simple -> send payment goods arrive a few days later.
Now the paperwork is such that they don't sell to the UK so we've had to use Etsy as a wrapper to handle everything and I'm paying something like 50% more than I would if I was in France, Italy or Denmark.
One of the additional pernicious outcomes here is fewer choices available for the British consumer. Fewer products, or SKUs, because it’s just not worth the harassment.
Fewer choices on inputs too, for British manufacturers. An insidious tax on productivity.
There are ways round it for everyday stuff. I wanted a phone cover only available in Germany. Delivery cost within Germany nil... but to UK 25 quid. Get stepson who lives in Germany to get it 4 me and bring on next visit. Simples.
Far be it for me to rain on your parade, but that isn't a universal resolution to that particular problem.
Interesting interview with Kenneth Clarke on WATO. He believes Brexit is crucifying us and our trade and it is a matter of urgency that we do something about it.
Just had to order something from Germany. Before it was simple -> send payment goods arrive a few days later.
Now the paperwork is such that they don't sell to the UK so we've had to use Etsy as a wrapper to handle everything and I'm paying something like 50% more than I would if I was in France, Italy or Denmark.
One of the additional pernicious outcomes here is fewer choices available for the British consumer. Fewer products, or SKUs, because it’s just not worth the harassment.
Fewer choices on inputs too, for British manufacturers. An insidious tax on productivity.
There are ways round it for everyday stuff. I wanted a phone cover only available in Germany. Delivery cost within Germany nil... but to UK 25 quid. Get stepson who lives in Germany to get it 4 me and bring on next visit. Simples.
I'm taking about six seperate bike parts over for a German friend next time I go to Frankfurt. Most German's who don't have British friends won't be using the British firm anymore. It's all so stupid.
Interesting interview with Kenneth Clarke on WATO. He believes Brexit is crucifying us and our trade and it is a matter of urgency that we do something about it.
Just had to order something from Germany. Before it was simple -> send payment goods arrive a few days later.
Now the paperwork is such that they don't sell to the UK so we've had to use Etsy as a wrapper to handle everything and I'm paying something like 50% more than I would if I was in France, Italy or Denmark.
One of the additional pernicious outcomes here is fewer choices available for the British consumer. Fewer products, or SKUs, because it’s just not worth the harassment.
Fewer choices on inputs too, for British manufacturers. An insidious tax on productivity.
There are ways round it for everyday stuff. I wanted a phone cover only available in Germany. Delivery cost within Germany nil... but to UK 25 quid. Get stepson who lives in Germany to get it 4 me and bring on next visit. Simples.
Excellent, thanks. Now I just have to acquire a stepson in Germany. Simples.
For the first time in more than 30 years I got what is apparently called a wage slip today. A deeply depressing document. A small number at the top from which numerous deductions are made leaving an even smaller number at the bottom.
I am seriously perplexed we don’t have more revolutions in this country.
I have always thought that PAYE is a con perpetrated on the population as a whole. If everyone had to write out a cheque or make an online payment for their tax out of their gross income they would probably get a bit more upset about how much they are taxed and what a very bad return they get on that money.
Exactly. Does no one read them beyond the bottom line? In some ways it is less painful than sending the price of a medium priced new car to HMRC twice a year but they are taking these sums you have earned off you every month, before you even see it.
It’s incredible what people can learn to put up with.
I'd love to explain modern taxation to early modern or medieval Brits.
For the first time in more than 30 years I got what is apparently called a wage slip today. A deeply depressing document. A small number at the top from which numerous deductions are made leaving an even smaller number at the bottom.
I am seriously perplexed we don’t have more revolutions in this country.
Worse still is realising how little we get for it. The UK is a classic example of the state doing too much and doing it badly, the last few years of big government conservatism should become a learning experience for all other countries to avoid going down the same path that Theresa May set us on.
And it’s getting worse. Yesterday my M-in-L had an online appointment for old age psychiatry. This is not a joke. She does not have internet or a computer so she had to be brought to our house to do the call.
After this travesty, which inevitably concluded that a face to face meeting was required, in 3 months time, my wife gets a form to complete confirming how wonderful this service was. Negative answers were not allowed. So, for example, you could record how many miles you had saved. A negative number, as in our case, was not permitted. Every question was slanted this way but no doubt this will be “evidence” in due course of how wonderful this is.
My MiL is suffering delusions which are scaring her to the point she doesn’t feel safe in her own home. A crap meeting like this, where she struggled to hear, and a 3 month wait. These are what these deductions from my pay slip are for?
You’ve continually voted for this, though. Austerity, then Brexit, then Johnson.
Edit: this sound like a personal attack, not especially. “You” is the general public.
Thank goodness for that, the idea of stopping 5 miles short was bonkers.
What was incredible was the amount of faith people on here gave to that made up story.
I doubt it was a made up story.
Inside government, someone has asked for a paper setting out the options for saving money, and the idea of abandoning Euston made it onto the agenda. Someone else leaked this, knowing that the backlash would force the government to recommit to the project. As it has.
Whilst we dismiss the ‘made up story’, somewhere, probably in parliament or on Friday lunchtime possibly in a Westminster pub or London club, someone is raising a glass to ‘job done’….
The task was straightforward but only if you knew what you were doing. The Civil Service isn't happy with experts, they don't always follow house rules.
Most tasks are much easier if you avoid asking politicians.
For the first time in more than 30 years I got what is apparently called a wage slip today. A deeply depressing document. A small number at the top from which numerous deductions are made leaving an even smaller number at the bottom.
I am seriously perplexed we don’t have more revolutions in this country.
As someone once remarked, the French Revolution didn’t happen because peasants were starving (they were used to it) but because lawyers and teachers were starving….
Lawyers are awesome, lawyers change the world for the better.
Can I amend that counsellor? Just one word.
Lawyers change the world. Sometimes for the better.
Mega rich fucks that dodge tax royally piss me off. Because I don’t. I minimise it legally - claim all my exes - but don’t go to any great lengths. No offshore bank accounts. I never even bothered with becoming a PLC when that would have helped
I live here. I pay my whack. Tho as the whack goes up I increasingly think hmmmmm
I have never sought to do anything to minimise my taxes, I pay shed loads of tax, and I don't mind doing it. It's the shoddiness of the public services I get in return that bothers me. Schools that can't afford to pay their staff. Infrastructure that is left half-built. Doctors I can't get an appointment for. I'd pay more to have public services that work. I get it why people want to pay less and get a minimalist state, although that's not my preference. Right now we seem stuck in the worst of all worlds - high taxes that still aren't high enough for anything to actually work.
Yup, if we had low taxes and half working stuff, I could kind of deal with that as they do in the US. We have high taxes and half working stuff which is just awful.
There's an internal research paper doing the rounds at the moment at work listing out reasons to not invest in the UK and it's very hard to disagree with it. Near the top of the list was 'unreformable public services that have a voracious appetite for taxpayer money'. Labour have got a real job on their hands to make the public sector work properly because the money is there.
One of the points I have made before is that many Tory voters are simply less reliant upon the state; they see taxes going up but are still forking out for private healthcare, private education, the benefits of others.
Any Tory govt should make both income tax deductible before the next election.
For the first time in more than 30 years I got what is apparently called a wage slip today. A deeply depressing document. A small number at the top from which numerous deductions are made leaving an even smaller number at the bottom.
I am seriously perplexed we don’t have more revolutions in this country.
As someone once remarked, the French Revolution didn’t happen because peasants were starving (they were used to it) but because lawyers and teachers were starving….
Then peasants didn't get a vote in France, nor even most of the Middle classes.
Now every adult in the UK can vote so we get the government we deserve
For the first time in more than 30 years I got what is apparently called a wage slip today. A deeply depressing document. A small number at the top from which numerous deductions are made leaving an even smaller number at the bottom.
I am seriously perplexed we don’t have more revolutions in this country.
Have you been appointed a judge or have you changed profession?
Now a full time prosecutor/ historian of archaic and non functional 1990’s computer systems!
Clever. They're going to move London Euston station to Hounslow. Promise kept.
Even better. They're curtailing Old Oak Common and the Euston tunnel. Revised plan surfaces the HS" line a little west of North Acton station, then a simple curve to connect to the existing line towards Willesden Junction and onwards to Euston.
Doesn't that mean the journey will also be slower ?
Thus removing some of the whole justification for HS2, in the first place..
My post was satire. Though entirely believable as would be Bloody Stupid - like ending at OOC...
Silly question no doubt but why didn't they bring it into Paddington from OOC?
Space, probably? Expanding PAD to the east wipes out St Mary's Hospital, and Paddington Basin probably gets in the way anyway; expanding it to the west from memory would have topographical problems, I think Eastbourne Terrace is elevated?
Also they wanted proximity to St Pancras and HS1. I believe an elevated pedestrian link between the two is in the offing.
There's a design for such a link, but they've chosen to spend less money on a few pot plants to make the open-air walk between the two stations more pleasant.
The garden bridge is a perfect emblem for modern Britain. Some sad pot plants in a privatised pseudo-public space that we spent millions of pounds on not building.
Mega rich fucks that dodge tax royally piss me off. Because I don’t. I minimise it legally - claim all my exes - but don’t go to any great lengths. No offshore bank accounts. I never even bothered with becoming a PLC when that would have helped
I live here. I pay my whack. Tho as the whack goes up I increasingly think hmmmmm
I have never sought to do anything to minimise my taxes, I pay shed loads of tax, and I don't mind doing it. It's the shoddiness of the public services I get in return that bothers me. Schools that can't afford to pay their staff. Infrastructure that is left half-built. Doctors I can't get an appointment for. I'd pay more to have public services that work. I get it why people want to pay less and get a minimalist state, although that's not my preference. Right now we seem stuck in the worst of all worlds - high taxes that still aren't high enough for anything to actually work.
Yup, if we had low taxes and half working stuff, I could kind of deal with that as they do in the US. We have high taxes and half working stuff which is just awful.
There's an internal research paper doing the rounds at the moment at work listing out reasons to not invest in the UK and it's very hard to disagree with it. Near the top of the list was 'unreformable public services that have a voracious appetite for taxpayer money'. Labour have got a real job on their hands to make the public sector work properly because the money is there.
One of the points I have made before is that many Tory voters are simply less reliant upon the state; they see taxes going up but are still forking out for private healthcare, private education, the benefits of others.
Any Tory govt should make both income tax deductible before the next election.
This is one of the problems with private schools - some of the people in the country most invested in having good quality schools voting to cut taxes rather than to fund schools properly. The broader point is that it is actually the rich who gain the most from having a functional state and society, as by definition they have most to lose if it breaks down. And so of course they should contribute most.
How justifiable is that teachers take 24% in employer pension contributions when the average person in the private sector gets 4%? Surely some of those vast sums that gold plate teachers early retirement/laziness fund could go into making schools a bit better?
Except the main problem schools have is they can't recruit at current remuneration levels, which doesn't really suggest that teachers are getting paid too much. Maybe they should get more basic pay and less in pension contributions, but I don't know the numbers and that's a conversation for workers and employers to have together.
Savings in this country are at a very low rate. Scrapping ISAs would not necessarily improve the situation.
But for modest savers - which, together with the many who have no savings, accounts for almost everyone - the tax free savings allowance means they won’t pay tax. Cash and investment ISAs benefit a better off, typically older, small minority only.
Interesting interview with Kenneth Clarke on WATO. He believes Brexit is crucifying us and our trade and it is a matter of urgency that we do something about it.
And in other news the Pope still dislikes the Reformation...
Remainer though I remain, I had to laugh at that. True though.
For the first time in more than 30 years I got what is apparently called a wage slip today. A deeply depressing document. A small number at the top from which numerous deductions are made leaving an even smaller number at the bottom.
I am seriously perplexed we don’t have more revolutions in this country.
Worse still is realising how little we get for it. The UK is a classic example of the state doing too much and doing it badly, the last few years of big government conservatism should become a learning experience for all other countries to avoid going down the same path that Theresa May set us on.
And it’s getting worse. Yesterday my M-in-L had an online appointment for old age psychiatry. This is not a joke. She does not have internet or a computer so she had to be brought to our house to do the call.
After this travesty, which inevitably concluded that a face to face meeting was required, in 3 months time, my wife gets a form to complete confirming how wonderful this service was. Negative answers were not allowed. So, for example, you could record how many miles you had saved. A negative number, as in our case, was not permitted. Every question was slanted this way but no doubt this will be “evidence” in due course of how wonderful this is.
My MiL is suffering delusions which are scaring her to the point she doesn’t feel safe in her own home. A crap meeting like this, where she struggled to hear, and a 3 month wait. These are what these deductions from my pay slip are for?
You’ve continually voted for this, though. Austerity, then Brexit, then Johnson.
Edit: this sound like a personal attack, not especially. “You” is the general public.
And it's a tradition going back a lot further than that.
No politician has ever lost votes by delivering Something For Nothing. Unfortunately, that is often followed by Nothing for Something, and the UK has basically run out of road.
The head of northern powerhouse has just alleged the rumours on HS2 is coming from disgruntled Johnson supporters sowing discord and it should be disregarded and indeed Hunt has confirmed this morning HS2 will go to Euston
It is clear the conservative party is fighting amongst itself and if it continues there is only one outcome and not one for them to celebrate
I commented years ago that Bozo would be the last ever Tory PM - that bit is wrong but I suspect the rest is true - this will be the Tory party's last ever term as the Government.
Rubbish, you could have said the same about Balfour in 1906 or Churchill in 1945 or Major in 1997 but the Tories came back. You could equally have said the same of Labour under Callaghan in 1979 or Brown in 2010.
Unless another rightwing party overtakes the Tories there will be another Tory PM
Yes, but sadly thanks to your idol, the clown that is otherwise known to you and other sycophants as "Boris" that day is a lot further off than it should be. Johnson trashed the brand on the altar of his massively misplaced ego.
Johnson was the only Tory leader to have got a comfortable working majority since Thatcher
Johnson was fortunate in his opponent. The Magic Grandpa of 2017 was a distant memory.
Our current situation can be traced back to austerity, it has permanently destroyed this country.
Just don’t forget that all three parties had signed up to it, in their 2010 manifestos. Despite Labour’s criticism, at the time and subsequently, the effect of the coalition was broadly to trim back the Conservative plans for spending cuts into what Labour back then was itself proposing.
Interesting interview with Kenneth Clarke on WATO. He believes Brexit is crucifying us and our trade and it is a matter of urgency that we do something about it.
Just had to order something from Germany. Before it was simple -> send payment goods arrive a few days later.
Now the paperwork is such that they don't sell to the UK so we've had to use Etsy as a wrapper to handle everything and I'm paying something like 50% more than I would if I was in France, Italy or Denmark.
One of the additional pernicious outcomes here is fewer choices available for the British consumer. Fewer products, or SKUs, because it’s just not worth the harassment.
Fewer choices on inputs too, for British manufacturers. An insidious tax on productivity.
There are ways round it for everyday stuff. I wanted a phone cover only available in Germany. Delivery cost within Germany nil... but to UK 25 quid. Get stepson who lives in Germany to get it 4 me and bring on next visit. Simples.
I'm taking about six seperate bike parts over for a German friend next time I go to Frankfurt. Most German's who don't have British friends won't be using the British firm anymore. It's all so stupid.
Simply reality is we used to have a market of 520 million people and all the buinesses within the EU that we could sell to and buy from. Now we have a market of 70 million because the paperwork involved makes selling to and buying from the other 450 million too much extra work...
The explanation is the Tories are not very popular today, and why the hell should they be.
With Brexit and Johnson and Sunak ripping up the roots of a Tory tree that stood there for a hundred years - pro business replaced by fuck business, sensible with money replaced by wasteful “eat out to help out” gimmicky splurges, low tax low borrowing live within our means replaced by maxed out on borrowing and tax and still can’t afford the basic essentials, then what is keeping the Tory tree standing up right strong and proud?
As it’s own PMs have ripped out it’s roots, it’s no longer standing is it? The things fallen over.
But you have to take the polls as but one informer of what’s really going on with voters, and polls have closed and been wrong in the past, not just here but around the world, the last US and Brazil president elections for example. Whilst wordclouds and focus groups remain so awful for Labour, there’s no room for complacency in thinking we know exactly what the voters are going to do in two years time.
US and Brazil were on the nail. Other than up to the minute Diana and Elvis news the Daily Express is best avoided
Our current situation can be traced back to austerity, it has permanently destroyed this country.
Just don’t forget that all three parties had signed up to it, in their 2010 manifestos. Despite Labour’s criticism, at the time and subsequently, the effect of the coalition was broadly to trim back the Conservative plans for spending cuts into what Labour back then was itself proposing.
Labour was promising a few spending cuts but what we ended up was
Austerity
with random cuts that amongst many things completely destroyed any incentive for people to invest.
Despite the claim at the bottom about incoime equivalised, etc digging nearly always shows it's not that accurate. Does it for example take account of healthcafre charges? It may well cover income tax rates but how about inheritance tax or vat. I live in Spain and have friends in other EU countries who all moan with a similarity which makes me think they all post on here!
For the first time in more than 30 years I got what is apparently called a wage slip today. A deeply depressing document. A small number at the top from which numerous deductions are made leaving an even smaller number at the bottom.
I am seriously perplexed we don’t have more revolutions in this country.
Worse still is realising how little we get for it. The UK is a classic example of the state doing too much and doing it badly, the last few years of big government conservatism should become a learning experience for all other countries to avoid going down the same path that Theresa May set us on.
And it’s getting worse. Yesterday my M-in-L had an online appointment for old age psychiatry. This is not a joke. She does not have internet or a computer so she had to be brought to our house to do the call.
After this travesty, which inevitably concluded that a face to face meeting was required, in 3 months time, my wife gets a form to complete confirming how wonderful this service was. Negative answers were not allowed. So, for example, you could record how many miles you had saved. A negative number, as in our case, was not permitted. Every question was slanted this way but no doubt this will be “evidence” in due course of how wonderful this is.
My MiL is suffering delusions which are scaring her to the point she doesn’t feel safe in her own home. A crap meeting like this, where she struggled to hear, and a 3 month wait. These are what these deductions from my pay slip are for?
I am very sorry to hear about your MiL, it sounds like a truly horrible situation.
But you're moaning about your taxes, you are justifiably complaining about poor public services, you've had a government you've voted for in power for the past 13 years. What do you want to happen?
What's your proposed solution?
(Mine, before you ask is: people like you and me, who can clearly afford to, should pay more tax for better public services.)
The head of northern powerhouse has just alleged the rumours on HS2 is coming from disgruntled Johnson supporters sowing discord and it should be disregarded and indeed Hunt has confirmed this morning HS2 will go to Euston
It is clear the conservative party is fighting amongst itself and if it continues there is only one outcome and not one for them to celebrate
I commented years ago that Bozo would be the last ever Tory PM - that bit is wrong but I suspect the rest is true - this will be the Tory party's last ever term as the Government.
Rubbish, you could have said the same about Balfour in 1906 or Churchill in 1945 or Major in 1997 but the Tories came back. You could equally have said the same of Labour under Callaghan in 1979 or Brown in 2010.
Unless another rightwing party overtakes the Tories there will be another Tory PM
Yes, but sadly thanks to your idol, the clown that is otherwise known to you and other sycophants as "Boris" that day is a lot further off than it should be. Johnson trashed the brand on the altar of his massively misplaced ego.
Johnson was the only Tory leader to have got a comfortable working majority since Thatcher
For the first time in more than 30 years I got what is apparently called a wage slip today. A deeply depressing document. A small number at the top from which numerous deductions are made leaving an even smaller number at the bottom.
I am seriously perplexed we don’t have more revolutions in this country.
Worse still is realising how little we get for it. The UK is a classic example of the state doing too much and doing it badly, the last few years of big government conservatism should become a learning experience for all other countries to avoid going down the same path that Theresa May set us on.
And it’s getting worse. Yesterday my M-in-L had an online appointment for old age psychiatry. This is not a joke. She does not have internet or a computer so she had to be brought to our house to do the call.
After this travesty, which inevitably concluded that a face to face meeting was required, in 3 months time, my wife gets a form to complete confirming how wonderful this service was. Negative answers were not allowed. So, for example, you could record how many miles you had saved. A negative number, as in our case, was not permitted. Every question was slanted this way but no doubt this will be “evidence” in due course of how wonderful this is.
My MiL is suffering delusions which are scaring her to the point she doesn’t feel safe in her own home. A crap meeting like this, where she struggled to hear, and a 3 month wait. These are what these deductions from my pay slip are for?
You’ve continually voted for this, though. Austerity, then Brexit, then Johnson.
Edit: this sound like a personal attack, not especially. “You” is the general public.
You forget that I live in Scotland and live under the glory of the Scottish government which has never had a Tory element. The fact that it provides services which are at least as bad despite spending more per capita should really get a lot more thought by those deluding themselves that a Labour government is going to make it better.
For the first time in more than 30 years I got what is apparently called a wage slip today. A deeply depressing document. A small number at the top from which numerous deductions are made leaving an even smaller number at the bottom.
I am seriously perplexed we don’t have more revolutions in this country.
As someone once remarked, the French Revolution didn’t happen because peasants were starving (they were used to it) but because lawyers and teachers were starving….
Lawyers are awesome, lawyers change the world for the better.
Suicide rates among lawyers can’t be that high, surely?
Our current situation can be traced back to austerity, it has permanently destroyed this country.
Just don’t forget that all three parties had signed up to it, in their 2010 manifestos. Despite Labour’s criticism, at the time and subsequently, the effect of the coalition was broadly to trim back the Conservative plans for spending cuts into what Labour back then was itself proposing.
Interesting interview with Kenneth Clarke on WATO. He believes Brexit is crucifying us and our trade and it is a matter of urgency that we do something about it.
Just had to order something from Germany. Before it was simple -> send payment goods arrive a few days later.
Now the paperwork is such that they don't sell to the UK so we've had to use Etsy as a wrapper to handle everything and I'm paying something like 50% more than I would if I was in France, Italy or Denmark.
One of the additional pernicious outcomes here is fewer choices available for the British consumer. Fewer products, or SKUs, because it’s just not worth the harassment.
Fewer choices on inputs too, for British manufacturers. An insidious tax on productivity.
There are ways round it for everyday stuff. I wanted a phone cover only available in Germany. Delivery cost within Germany nil... but to UK 25 quid. Get stepson who lives in Germany to get it 4 me and bring on next visit. Simples.
I'm taking about six seperate bike parts over for a German friend next time I go to Frankfurt. Most German's who don't have British friends won't be using the British firm anymore. It's all so stupid.
Simply reality is we used to have a market of 520 million people and all the buinesses within the EU that we could sell to and buy from. Now we have a market of 70 million because the paperwork involved makes selling to and buying from the other 450 million too much extra work...
For the first time in more than 30 years I got what is apparently called a wage slip today. A deeply depressing document. A small number at the top from which numerous deductions are made leaving an even smaller number at the bottom.
I am seriously perplexed we don’t have more revolutions in this country.
As someone once remarked, the French Revolution didn’t happen because peasants were starving (they were used to it) but because lawyers and teachers were starving….
Then peasants didn't get a vote in France, nor even most of the Middle classes.
Now every adult in the UK can vote so we get the government we deserve
Louis was also effectively trying to be an absolute monarch unlike Charles.
Not hard to tell the difference between Camilla and Marie Antoinette either
Our current situation can be traced back to austerity, it has permanently destroyed this country.
Just don’t forget that all three parties had signed up to it, in their 2010 manifestos. Despite Labour’s criticism, at the time and subsequently, the effect of the coalition was broadly to trim back the Conservative plans for spending cuts into what Labour back then was itself proposing.
Not true.
Yes, it broadly is.
If you look at Labour’s spending plans as set out by Balls in 2010, there is no way that they could have been implemented without swinging cuts - especially to local government, which Labour had hardly favoured with cash prior to losing power.
For the first time in more than 30 years I got what is apparently called a wage slip today. A deeply depressing document. A small number at the top from which numerous deductions are made leaving an even smaller number at the bottom.
I am seriously perplexed we don’t have more revolutions in this country.
Worse still is realising how little we get for it. The UK is a classic example of the state doing too much and doing it badly, the last few years of big government conservatism should become a learning experience for all other countries to avoid going down the same path that Theresa May set us on.
And it’s getting worse. Yesterday my M-in-L had an online appointment for old age psychiatry. This is not a joke. She does not have internet or a computer so she had to be brought to our house to do the call.
After this travesty, which inevitably concluded that a face to face meeting was required, in 3 months time, my wife gets a form to complete confirming how wonderful this service was. Negative answers were not allowed. So, for example, you could record how many miles you had saved. A negative number, as in our case, was not permitted. Every question was slanted this way but no doubt this will be “evidence” in due course of how wonderful this is.
My MiL is suffering delusions which are scaring her to the point she doesn’t feel safe in her own home. A crap meeting like this, where she struggled to hear, and a 3 month wait. These are what these deductions from my pay slip are for?
I am very sorry to hear about your MiL, it sounds like a truly horrible situation.
But you're moaning about your taxes, you are justifiably complaining about poor public services, you've had a government you've voted for in power for the past 13 years. What do you want to happen?
What's your proposed solution?
(Mine, before you ask is: people like you and me, who can clearly afford to, should pay more tax for better public services.)
May I refer you to my previous answer to @gardenwalker ?
The “irony” is that our current PM is ideologically more austerian than Osborne, and certainly more Brexit than May.
I’ll grant he is not more Johnsonian than Johnson.
The world is moving on from neo-liberalism, though. Britain is now a country out of time. (And certainly nobody has been daft enough to try a kind of neo-liberal autarchism).
Interesting interview with Kenneth Clarke on WATO. He believes Brexit is crucifying us and our trade and it is a matter of urgency that we do something about it.
Just had to order something from Germany. Before it was simple -> send payment goods arrive a few days later.
Now the paperwork is such that they don't sell to the UK so we've had to use Etsy as a wrapper to handle everything and I'm paying something like 50% more than I would if I was in France, Italy or Denmark.
One of the additional pernicious outcomes here is fewer choices available for the British consumer. Fewer products, or SKUs, because it’s just not worth the harassment.
Fewer choices on inputs too, for British manufacturers. An insidious tax on productivity.
There are ways round it for everyday stuff. I wanted a phone cover only available in Germany. Delivery cost within Germany nil... but to UK 25 quid. Get stepson who lives in Germany to get it 4 me and bring on next visit. Simples.
I'm taking about six seperate bike parts over for a German friend next time I go to Frankfurt. Most German's who don't have British friends won't be using the British firm anymore. It's all so stupid.
Simply reality is we used to have a market of 520 million people and all the buinesses within the EU that we could sell to and buy from. Now we have a market of 70 million because the paperwork involved makes selling to and buying from the other 450 million too much extra work...
Equally simple was the fact that we sold much less to the EU than they bought from us....
British Airways has recorded a “progressive” new safety video for passengers featuring tennis ace Emma Raducanu, rapper Little Simz, designer Oswald Boateng and TV presenter Robert Peston.
So basically you want to live in Switzerland or Luxembourg
I’m not sure that’s the obvious inference. But I’d certainly argue that Britain’s position is not ideal, and the “US model”, powered by cheap energy, a vast market, and unacceptable levels of despair and distress, is neither available nor desirable.
Mega rich fucks that dodge tax royally piss me off. Because I don’t. I minimise it legally - claim all my exes - but don’t go to any great lengths. No offshore bank accounts. I never even bothered with becoming a PLC when that would have helped
I live here. I pay my whack. Tho as the whack goes up I increasingly think hmmmmm
I have never sought to do anything to minimise my taxes, I pay shed loads of tax, and I don't mind doing it. It's the shoddiness of the public services I get in return that bothers me. Schools that can't afford to pay their staff. Infrastructure that is left half-built. Doctors I can't get an appointment for. I'd pay more to have public services that work. I get it why people want to pay less and get a minimalist state, although that's not my preference. Right now we seem stuck in the worst of all worlds - high taxes that still aren't high enough for anything to actually work.
Yup, if we had low taxes and half working stuff, I could kind of deal with that as they do in the US. We have high taxes and half working stuff which is just awful.
There's an internal research paper doing the rounds at the moment at work listing out reasons to not invest in the UK and it's very hard to disagree with it. Near the top of the list was 'unreformable public services that have a voracious appetite for taxpayer money'. Labour have got a real job on their hands to make the public sector work properly because the money is there.
One of the points I have made before is that many Tory voters are simply less reliant upon the state; they see taxes going up but are still forking out for private healthcare, private education, the benefits of others.
Any Tory govt should make both income tax deductible before the next election.
This is one of the problems with private schools - some of the people in the country most invested in having good quality schools voting to cut taxes rather than to fund schools properly. The broader point is that it is actually the rich who gain the most from having a functional state and society, as by definition they have most to lose if it breaks down. And so of course they should contribute most.
How justifiable is that teachers take 24% in employer pension contributions when the average person in the private sector gets 4%? Surely some of those vast sums that gold plate teachers early retirement/laziness fund could go into making schools a bit better?
Lets widen the question - is the 4% the average person gets as their employer pension contribution enough? We have a huuuuuge demographic problem in this country. Too many people getting old with not enough pension and decreasing numbers in work to pay for their keep.
If people had more private pensions then the need for the state to provide huge cost care and support towards the end of life would be far less. So "lets cut people's pension contributions" sounds like a fantastic way of costing the country far more down the line.
The “irony” is that our current PM is ideologically more austerian than Osborne, and certainly more Brexit than May.
I’ll grant he is not more Johnsonian than Johnson.
The world is moving on from neo-liberalism, though. Britain is now a country out of time. (And certainly nobody has been daft enough to try a kind of neo-liberal autarchism).
Not sure about that, Sunak voted for May's Deal 3 times unlike Boris and Hunt has increased the state pension, minimum wage and benefits in percentage terms more than Osborne ever did
Interesting interview with Kenneth Clarke on WATO. He believes Brexit is crucifying us and our trade and it is a matter of urgency that we do something about it.
Just had to order something from Germany. Before it was simple -> send payment goods arrive a few days later.
Now the paperwork is such that they don't sell to the UK so we've had to use Etsy as a wrapper to handle everything and I'm paying something like 50% more than I would if I was in France, Italy or Denmark.
One of the additional pernicious outcomes here is fewer choices available for the British consumer. Fewer products, or SKUs, because it’s just not worth the harassment.
Fewer choices on inputs too, for British manufacturers. An insidious tax on productivity.
There are ways round it for everyday stuff. I wanted a phone cover only available in Germany. Delivery cost within Germany nil... but to UK 25 quid. Get stepson who lives in Germany to get it 4 me and bring on next visit. Simples.
I'm taking about six seperate bike parts over for a German friend next time I go to Frankfurt. Most German's who don't have British friends won't be using the British firm anymore. It's all so stupid.
Simply reality is we used to have a market of 520 million people and all the buinesses within the EU that we could sell to and buy from. Now we have a market of 70 million because the paperwork involved makes selling to and buying from the other 450 million too much extra work...
Equally simple was the fact that we sold much less to the EU than they bought from us....
You may want to rephrase that as both sides of that sentence makes zero sense - we sold and their bought are two sides of the same transaction.
Thank goodness for that, the idea of stopping 5 miles short was bonkers.
What was incredible was the amount of faith people on here gave to that made up story.
Most of us believe - with plentiful supporting evidence - that this government has largely ceased to function. So making a catastrophic horlicks of this infrastructure plan to place its remaining mouth-foaming supporters was entirely believable.
Like the Sunak may have paid a fine to the HMRC, there was a 2 hour discussion on here of how Sunak was now toast, until he confirmed that he had in fact never paid such a fine.
The amount of work that is currently ongoing around Euston, this story was always going to be nonsense, which it has turned out to be.
Great! So they're building to Euston as planned. How does that in any way take away from my premise that the government has largely ceased to function and that the UK makes a massive arse up of infrastructure?
HS2 is very late. Massively over-budget thanks in significant part to the stupid contingencies the government added to contractor liabilities. Not running remotely to the places it needs to go to justify its existence. And under continual threat of being further paired back so that its pointless.
And that is just HS2. I can give you a long long list of built, part-built and not even started projects that UK PLC has fucked up.
For the first time in more than 30 years I got what is apparently called a wage slip today. A deeply depressing document. A small number at the top from which numerous deductions are made leaving an even smaller number at the bottom.
I am seriously perplexed we don’t have more revolutions in this country.
Worse still is realising how little we get for it. The UK is a classic example of the state doing too much and doing it badly, the last few years of big government conservatism should become a learning experience for all other countries to avoid going down the same path that Theresa May set us on.
And it’s getting worse. Yesterday my M-in-L had an online appointment for old age psychiatry. This is not a joke. She does not have internet or a computer so she had to be brought to our house to do the call.
After this travesty, which inevitably concluded that a face to face meeting was required, in 3 months time, my wife gets a form to complete confirming how wonderful this service was. Negative answers were not allowed. So, for example, you could record how many miles you had saved. A negative number, as in our case, was not permitted. Every question was slanted this way but no doubt this will be “evidence” in due course of how wonderful this is.
My MiL is suffering delusions which are scaring her to the point she doesn’t feel safe in her own home. A crap meeting like this, where she struggled to hear, and a 3 month wait. These are what these deductions from my pay slip are for?
I am very sorry to hear about your MiL, it sounds like a truly horrible situation.
But you're moaning about your taxes, you are justifiably complaining about poor public services, you've had a government you've voted for in power for the past 13 years. What do you want to happen?
What's your proposed solution?
(Mine, before you ask is: people like you and me, who can clearly afford to, should pay more tax for better public services.)
May I refer you to my previous answer to @gardenwalker ?
With respect, your previous answer to Gardenwalker is not a proposed solution.
For the first time in more than 30 years I got what is apparently called a wage slip today. A deeply depressing document. A small number at the top from which numerous deductions are made leaving an even smaller number at the bottom.
I am seriously perplexed we don’t have more revolutions in this country.
Worse still is realising how little we get for it. The UK is a classic example of the state doing too much and doing it badly, the last few years of big government conservatism should become a learning experience for all other countries to avoid going down the same path that Theresa May set us on.
And it’s getting worse. Yesterday my M-in-L had an online appointment for old age psychiatry. This is not a joke. She does not have internet or a computer so she had to be brought to our house to do the call.
After this travesty, which inevitably concluded that a face to face meeting was required, in 3 months time, my wife gets a form to complete confirming how wonderful this service was. Negative answers were not allowed. So, for example, you could record how many miles you had saved. A negative number, as in our case, was not permitted. Every question was slanted this way but no doubt this will be “evidence” in due course of how wonderful this is.
My MiL is suffering delusions which are scaring her to the point she doesn’t feel safe in her own home. A crap meeting like this, where she struggled to hear, and a 3 month wait. These are what these deductions from my pay slip are for?
Online medicine works for some follow ups, giving results etc, but most of the time is just bad medical care.
Though mental health services have been underfunded for years. Not high profile enough.
The head of northern powerhouse has just alleged the rumours on HS2 is coming from disgruntled Johnson supporters sowing discord and it should be disregarded and indeed Hunt has confirmed this morning HS2 will go to Euston
It is clear the conservative party is fighting amongst itself and if it continues there is only one outcome and not one for them to celebrate
I have to say BigG, I can't see what else is going to change that outcome, and I think the various wings across the party are increasingly thinking that.
If that is the case, it might not make much difference on what date the election is finally decided on.
Certainly the idea of resurrecting Johnson or Truss is the way to electoral disaster
Both are totally discredited in the eyes of the vast majority of the nation
The Truss bit here, which you don’t even notice at first, looks like a lemming going over a cliff. 🫣
British Airways has recorded a “progressive” new safety video for passengers featuring tennis ace Emma Raducanu, rapper Little Simz, designer Oswald Boateng and TV presenter Robert Peston.
Oh great, so the pax will be saying “do you recognise that guy?” to each other, instead of paying attention to what’s being said about critical safety?
Thank goodness for that, the idea of stopping 5 miles short was bonkers.
What was incredible was the amount of faith people on here gave to that made up story.
Most of us believe - with plentiful supporting evidence - that this government has largely ceased to function. So making a catastrophic horlicks of this infrastructure plan to place its remaining mouth-foaming supporters was entirely believable.
Like the Sunak may have paid a fine to the HMRC, there was a 2 hour discussion on here of how Sunak was now toast, until he confirmed that he had in fact never paid such a fine.
The amount of work that is currently ongoing around Euston, this story was always going to be nonsense, which it has turned out to be.
Great! So they're building to Euston as planned. How does that in any way take away from my premise that the government has largely ceased to function and that the UK makes a massive arse up of infrastructure?
HS2 is very late. Massively over-budget thanks in significant part to the stupid contingencies the government added to contractor liabilities. Not running remotely to the places it needs to go to justify its existence. And under continual threat of being further paired back so that its pointless.
And that is just HS2. I can give you a long long list of built, part-built and not even started projects that UK PLC has fucked up.
They aren't building Euston as planned - last year they removed a platform to supposedly save some money.
Reality is it's going to delay things a bit and probably result in the new less functional station costing more than it was previously going to.
So: in @NicolaSturgeon’s Scotland, trans women AREN’T women if they’re convicted double rapists, like Adam ‘Isla Bryson’ Graham. 1/4
However, trans woman and paedophile Katie Dolatowski, who covertly filmed a 12-year-old and attempted to rape a 10-year-old, both offences committed in women’s public bathrooms, IS a woman and remains in the women’s prison from which Adam Graham is to be removed. 2/4
Never forget, Sturgeon, her government and supporters have insisted that it is ludicrous to imagine anyone would dress in women’s clothes to get access to vulnerable women and girls. Wouldn’t happen. Everyone is who they say they are. To question this is hate. 3/4
“The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.” George Orwell, 1984 4/X
Interesting interview with Kenneth Clarke on WATO. He believes Brexit is crucifying us and our trade and it is a matter of urgency that we do something about it.
Just had to order something from Germany. Before it was simple -> send payment goods arrive a few days later.
Now the paperwork is such that they don't sell to the UK so we've had to use Etsy as a wrapper to handle everything and I'm paying something like 50% more than I would if I was in France, Italy or Denmark.
One of the additional pernicious outcomes here is fewer choices available for the British consumer. Fewer products, or SKUs, because it’s just not worth the harassment.
Fewer choices on inputs too, for British manufacturers. An insidious tax on productivity.
There are ways round it for everyday stuff. I wanted a phone cover only available in Germany. Delivery cost within Germany nil... but to UK 25 quid. Get stepson who lives in Germany to get it 4 me and bring on next visit. Simples.
I'm taking about six seperate bike parts over for a German friend next time I go to Frankfurt. Most German's who don't have British friends won't be using the British firm anymore. It's all so stupid.
Simply reality is we used to have a market of 520 million people and all the buinesses within the EU that we could sell to and buy from. Now we have a market of 70 million because the paperwork involved makes selling to and buying from the other 450 million too much extra work...
Equally simple was the fact that we sold much less to the EU than they bought from us....
Tryng to parse this … is it something to do with cif/fob?
The “irony” is that our current PM is ideologically more austerian than Osborne, and certainly more Brexit than May.
I’ll grant he is not more Johnsonian than Johnson.
The world is moving on from neo-liberalism, though. Britain is now a country out of time. (And certainly nobody has been daft enough to try a kind of neo-liberal autarchism).
Britain isn't just out of time. Britain is out of money.
How do you improve public services and infrastructure, encourage business to invest to improve productivity, reduce public sector debt and win re-election?
One of the things that Cameron and Osborne did well in the run-up to 2010 was that they made the argument that the country was in a hole, and it was going to be a difficult job to put things right. That's how they managed to implement austerity and win re-election.
One of the problems with Starmer's current approach is that he prefers to give the impression that there's an easy answer to the situation that the government is willfully refusing to implement. This failure to prepare the ground is going to be problematic when Starmer is in Number 10 and has to start explaining that there are no easy answers or quick fixes.
The head of northern powerhouse has just alleged the rumours on HS2 is coming from disgruntled Johnson supporters sowing discord and it should be disregarded and indeed Hunt has confirmed this morning HS2 will go to Euston
It is clear the conservative party is fighting amongst itself and if it continues there is only one outcome and not one for them to celebrate
I have to say BigG, I can't see what else is going to change that outcome, and I think the various wings across the party are increasingly thinking that.
If that is the case, it might not make much difference on what date the election is finally decided on.
Certainly the idea of resurrecting Johnson or Truss is the way to electoral disaster
Both are totally discredited in the eyes of the vast majority of the nation
The Truss bit here, which you don’t even notice at first, looks like a lemming going over a cliff. 🫣
Thinking about this, it'd be interesting to see a chart with the values of the two main party leaders together, stacked on top of each other. (the values, that is, not the leaders. I don't want an image of Sunak on top of Starmer, or vice versa..)
Rest of South Lab 51% Con 28% LD 10% Grn 5% Ref 4%
Midlands and Wales Lab 48% Con 25% LD 10% Ref 7% Grn 5% PC 2%
North Lab 55% Con 18% Ref 10% Grn 6% LD 4%
Scotland SNP 57% Lab 21% Con 13% LD 4% Grn 2% Ref 2%
(PeoplePolling/GB News; 1,270; 24 January)
Awful results for the Tories in the north. I more and more think they should split, and join the advocates for PR, with future coalitions in mind . It would benefit them more than Labour in the near future.
Undemocratic Starmer trying to take us back into the single market ! Give us our vote on a new voting system to stop this travesty !
Starmer pro-single market? Huh? Gotta link?
Regarding the North of England, these findings - Lab 55% Con 18% Ref 10% Grn 6% LD 4% - are fairly consistent across pollsters, and for a long time now. They ain’t gonna suddenly change. Although it would be lovely with some proper English regional polling, especially for the South West. We haven’t even had a proper England poll for over a year.
The “irony” is that our current PM is ideologically more austerian than Osborne, and certainly more Brexit than May.
I’ll grant he is not more Johnsonian than Johnson.
The world is moving on from neo-liberalism, though. Britain is now a country out of time. (And certainly nobody has been daft enough to try a kind of neo-liberal autarchism).
Britain isn't just out of time. Britain is out of money.
How do you improve public services and infrastructure, encourage business to invest to improve productivity, reduce public sector debt and win re-election?
One of the things that Cameron and Osborne did well in the run-up to 2010 was that they made the argument that the country was in a hole, and it was going to be a difficult job to put things right. That's how they managed to implement austerity and win re-election.
One of the problems with Starmer's current approach is that he prefers to give the impression that there's an easy answer to the situation that the government is willfully refusing to implement. This failure to prepare the ground is going to be problematic when Starmer is in Number 10 and has to start explaining that there are no easy answers or quick fixes.
If I understand correctly, Jeremy Hunt mentioned Brexit opportunities this morning.
Anyone who thinks there are Brexit opportunities, but refuses to name any, should be disqualified from public office. At this stage it’s a profound deceit to keep uttering such crap.
I agree on Starmer, although it’s hard to win on a negative ticket. Osborne had the sheer shock of the GFC.
The head of northern powerhouse has just alleged the rumours on HS2 is coming from disgruntled Johnson supporters sowing discord and it should be disregarded and indeed Hunt has confirmed this morning HS2 will go to Euston
It is clear the conservative party is fighting amongst itself and if it continues there is only one outcome and not one for them to celebrate
I have to say BigG, I can't see what else is going to change that outcome, and I think the various wings across the party are increasingly thinking that.
If that is the case, it might not make much difference on what date the election is finally decided on.
Certainly the idea of resurrecting Johnson or Truss is the way to electoral disaster
Both are totally discredited in the eyes of the vast majority of the nation
The Truss bit here, which you don’t even notice at first, looks like a lemming going over a cliff. 🫣
Thinking about this, it'd be interesting to see a chart with the values of the two main party leaders together, stacked on top of each other. (the values, that is, not the leaders. I don't want an image of Sunak on top of Starmer, or vice versa..)
Rest of South Lab 51% Con 28% LD 10% Grn 5% Ref 4%
Midlands and Wales Lab 48% Con 25% LD 10% Ref 7% Grn 5% PC 2%
North Lab 55% Con 18% Ref 10% Grn 6% LD 4%
Scotland SNP 57% Lab 21% Con 13% LD 4% Grn 2% Ref 2%
(PeoplePolling/GB News; 1,270; 24 January)
Awful results for the Tories in the north. I more and more think they should split, and join the advocates for PR, with future coalitions in mind . It would benefit them more than Labour in the near future.
Undemocratic Starmer trying to take us back into the single market ! Give us our vote on a new voting system to stop this travesty !
Starmer pro-single market? Huh? Gotta link?
Regarding the North of England, these findings - Lab 55% Con 18% Ref 10% Grn 6% LD 4% - are fairly consistent across pollsters, and for a long time now. They ain’t gonna suddenly change. Although it would be lovely with some proper English regional polling, especially for the South West. We haven’t even had a proper England poll for over a year.
I can’t understand why there isn’t more regional (or national, if you want to be knicker-knotty about it) polling.
For the first time in more than 30 years I got what is apparently called a wage slip today. A deeply depressing document. A small number at the top from which numerous deductions are made leaving an even smaller number at the bottom.
I am seriously perplexed we don’t have more revolutions in this country.
Worse still is realising how little we get for it. The UK is a classic example of the state doing too much and doing it badly, the last few years of big government conservatism should become a learning experience for all other countries to avoid going down the same path that Theresa May set us on.
And it’s getting worse. Yesterday my M-in-L had an online appointment for old age psychiatry. This is not a joke. She does not have internet or a computer so she had to be brought to our house to do the call.
After this travesty, which inevitably concluded that a face to face meeting was required, in 3 months time, my wife gets a form to complete confirming how wonderful this service was. Negative answers were not allowed. So, for example, you could record how many miles you had saved. A negative number, as in our case, was not permitted. Every question was slanted this way but no doubt this will be “evidence” in due course of how wonderful this is.
My MiL is suffering delusions which are scaring her to the point she doesn’t feel safe in her own home. A crap meeting like this, where she struggled to hear, and a 3 month wait. These are what these deductions from my pay slip are for?
You’ve continually voted for this, though. Austerity, then Brexit, then Johnson.
Edit: this sound like a personal attack, not especially. “You” is the general public.
You forget that I live in Scotland and live under the glory of the Scottish government which has never had a Tory element. The fact that it provides services which are at least as bad despite spending more per capita should really get a lot more thought by those deluding themselves that a Labour government is going to make it better.
That's the point. The Government is tired and ready for the chop, but will Labour tackle poor public sector productivity? Record levels of taxation? Boats? Northern Ireland? Reduce energy costs? I cannot see any big question we face to which Labour is the answer.
The head of northern powerhouse has just alleged the rumours on HS2 is coming from disgruntled Johnson supporters sowing discord and it should be disregarded and indeed Hunt has confirmed this morning HS2 will go to Euston
It is clear the conservative party is fighting amongst itself and if it continues there is only one outcome and not one for them to celebrate
I have to say BigG, I can't see what else is going to change that outcome, and I think the various wings across the party are increasingly thinking that.
If that is the case, it might not make much difference on what date the election is finally decided on.
Certainly the idea of resurrecting Johnson or Truss is the way to electoral disaster
Both are totally discredited in the eyes of the vast majority of the nation
The Truss bit here, which you don’t even notice at first, looks like a lemming going over a cliff. 🫣
Impressive really for Starmer to buck the trend. Exclude Truss and everyone else deteriorates pretty quickly.
For the first time in more than 30 years I got what is apparently called a wage slip today. A deeply depressing document. A small number at the top from which numerous deductions are made leaving an even smaller number at the bottom.
I am seriously perplexed we don’t have more revolutions in this country.
Worse still is realising how little we get for it. The UK is a classic example of the state doing too much and doing it badly, the last few years of big government conservatism should become a learning experience for all other countries to avoid going down the same path that Theresa May set us on.
And it’s getting worse. Yesterday my M-in-L had an online appointment for old age psychiatry. This is not a joke. She does not have internet or a computer so she had to be brought to our house to do the call.
After this travesty, which inevitably concluded that a face to face meeting was required, in 3 months time, my wife gets a form to complete confirming how wonderful this service was. Negative answers were not allowed. So, for example, you could record how many miles you had saved. A negative number, as in our case, was not permitted. Every question was slanted this way but no doubt this will be “evidence” in due course of how wonderful this is.
My MiL is suffering delusions which are scaring her to the point she doesn’t feel safe in her own home. A crap meeting like this, where she struggled to hear, and a 3 month wait. These are what these deductions from my pay slip are for?
You’ve continually voted for this, though. Austerity, then Brexit, then Johnson.
Edit: this sound like a personal attack, not especially. “You” is the general public.
You forget that I live in Scotland and live under the glory of the Scottish government which has never had a Tory element. The fact that it provides services which are at least as bad despite spending more per capita should really get a lot more thought by those deluding themselves that a Labour government is going to make it better.
That's the point. The Government is tired and ready for the chop, but will Labour tackle poor public sector productivity? Record levels of taxation? Boats? Northern Ireland? Reduce energy costs? I cannot see any big question we face to which Labour is the answer.
Interesting interview with Kenneth Clarke on WATO. He believes Brexit is crucifying us and our trade and it is a matter of urgency that we do something about it.
Just had to order something from Germany. Before it was simple -> send payment goods arrive a few days later.
Now the paperwork is such that they don't sell to the UK so we've had to use Etsy as a wrapper to handle everything and I'm paying something like 50% more than I would if I was in France, Italy or Denmark.
One of the additional pernicious outcomes here is fewer choices available for the British consumer. Fewer products, or SKUs, because it’s just not worth the harassment.
Fewer choices on inputs too, for British manufacturers. An insidious tax on productivity.
There are ways round it for everyday stuff. I wanted a phone cover only available in Germany. Delivery cost within Germany nil... but to UK 25 quid. Get stepson who lives in Germany to get it 4 me and bring on next visit. Simples.
I'm taking about six seperate bike parts over for a German friend next time I go to Frankfurt. Most German's who don't have British friends won't be using the British firm anymore. It's all so stupid.
Simply reality is we used to have a market of 520 million people and all the buinesses within the EU that we could sell to and buy from. Now we have a market of 70 million because the paperwork involved makes selling to and buying from the other 450 million too much extra work...
Equally simple was the fact that we sold much less to the EU than they bought from us....
You may want to rephrase that as both sides of that sentence makes zero sense - we sold and their bought are two sides of the same transaction.
I suspect you mean we sold and we bought ...
Yes apologies. The massive imbalance was there though and twas a lousy deal for us. Not to mention the huge contributions we paid for this 'privilege'.
For the first time in more than 30 years I got what is apparently called a wage slip today. A deeply depressing document. A small number at the top from which numerous deductions are made leaving an even smaller number at the bottom.
I am seriously perplexed we don’t have more revolutions in this country.
Worse still is realising how little we get for it. The UK is a classic example of the state doing too much and doing it badly, the last few years of big government conservatism should become a learning experience for all other countries to avoid going down the same path that Theresa May set us on.
And it’s getting worse. Yesterday my M-in-L had an online appointment for old age psychiatry. This is not a joke. She does not have internet or a computer so she had to be brought to our house to do the call.
After this travesty, which inevitably concluded that a face to face meeting was required, in 3 months time, my wife gets a form to complete confirming how wonderful this service was. Negative answers were not allowed. So, for example, you could record how many miles you had saved. A negative number, as in our case, was not permitted. Every question was slanted this way but no doubt this will be “evidence” in due course of how wonderful this is.
My MiL is suffering delusions which are scaring her to the point she doesn’t feel safe in her own home. A crap meeting like this, where she struggled to hear, and a 3 month wait. These are what these deductions from my pay slip are for?
You’ve continually voted for this, though. Austerity, then Brexit, then Johnson.
Edit: this sound like a personal attack, not especially. “You” is the general public.
You forget that I live in Scotland and live under the glory of the Scottish government which has never had a Tory element. The fact that it provides services which are at least as bad despite spending more per capita should really get a lot more thought by those deluding themselves that a Labour government is going to make it better.
The SNP must be the most effective political party ever, the situation with public servies in Scotland seems to be worse than in England, yet they, as the governing party, never get the blame for it. A remarkable feat.
The head of northern powerhouse has just alleged the rumours on HS2 is coming from disgruntled Johnson supporters sowing discord and it should be disregarded and indeed Hunt has confirmed this morning HS2 will go to Euston
It is clear the conservative party is fighting amongst itself and if it continues there is only one outcome and not one for them to celebrate
I commented years ago that Bozo would be the last ever Tory PM - that bit is wrong but I suspect the rest is true - this will be the Tory party's last ever term as the Government.
Rubbish, you could have said the same about Balfour in 1906 or Churchill in 1945 or Major in 1997 but the Tories came back. You could equally have said the same of Labour under Callaghan in 1979 or Brown in 2010.
Unless another rightwing party overtakes the Tories there will be another Tory PM
Yes, but sadly thanks to your idol, the clown that is otherwise known to you and other sycophants as "Boris" that day is a lot further off than it should be. Johnson trashed the brand on the altar of his massively misplaced ego.
Johnson was the only Tory leader to have got a comfortable working majority since Thatcher
Johnson was fortunate in his opponent. The Magic Grandpa of 2017 was a distant memory.
Even with that his achievement was real and he has to have some credit for that. But he was the right man for that moment, not other moments.
The head of northern powerhouse has just alleged the rumours on HS2 is coming from disgruntled Johnson supporters sowing discord and it should be disregarded and indeed Hunt has confirmed this morning HS2 will go to Euston
It is clear the conservative party is fighting amongst itself and if it continues there is only one outcome and not one for them to celebrate
I have to say BigG, I can't see what else is going to change that outcome, and I think the various wings across the party are increasingly thinking that.
If that is the case, it might not make much difference on what date the election is finally decided on.
Certainly the idea of resurrecting Johnson or Truss is the way to electoral disaster
Both are totally discredited in the eyes of the vast majority of the nation
The Truss bit here, which you don’t even notice at first, looks like a lemming going over a cliff. 🫣
It does underline how unprecedentedly she bombed, and why there was such an unprecedented reaction.
It wasnt a conspiracy because people hate the idea of growth.
The head of northern powerhouse has just alleged the rumours on HS2 is coming from disgruntled Johnson supporters sowing discord and it should be disregarded and indeed Hunt has confirmed this morning HS2 will go to Euston
It is clear the conservative party is fighting amongst itself and if it continues there is only one outcome and not one for them to celebrate
I have to say BigG, I can't see what else is going to change that outcome, and I think the various wings across the party are increasingly thinking that.
If that is the case, it might not make much difference on what date the election is finally decided on.
Certainly the idea of resurrecting Johnson or Truss is the way to electoral disaster
Both are totally discredited in the eyes of the vast majority of the nation
The Truss bit here, which you don’t even notice at first, looks like a lemming going over a cliff. 🫣
Is there a companion graph showing actual approval rather than net? One without the other doesn't give an accurate picture.
For the first time in more than 30 years I got what is apparently called a wage slip today. A deeply depressing document. A small number at the top from which numerous deductions are made leaving an even smaller number at the bottom.
I am seriously perplexed we don’t have more revolutions in this country.
Worse still is realising how little we get for it. The UK is a classic example of the state doing too much and doing it badly, the last few years of big government conservatism should become a learning experience for all other countries to avoid going down the same path that Theresa May set us on.
And it’s getting worse. Yesterday my M-in-L had an online appointment for old age psychiatry. This is not a joke. She does not have internet or a computer so she had to be brought to our house to do the call.
After this travesty, which inevitably concluded that a face to face meeting was required, in 3 months time, my wife gets a form to complete confirming how wonderful this service was. Negative answers were not allowed. So, for example, you could record how many miles you had saved. A negative number, as in our case, was not permitted. Every question was slanted this way but no doubt this will be “evidence” in due course of how wonderful this is.
My MiL is suffering delusions which are scaring her to the point she doesn’t feel safe in her own home. A crap meeting like this, where she struggled to hear, and a 3 month wait. These are what these deductions from my pay slip are for?
You’ve continually voted for this, though. Austerity, then Brexit, then Johnson.
Edit: this sound like a personal attack, not especially. “You” is the general public.
You forget that I live in Scotland and live under the glory of the Scottish government which has never had a Tory element. The fact that it provides services which are at least as bad despite spending more per capita should really get a lot more thought by those deluding themselves that a Labour government is going to make it better.
That's the point. The Government is tired and ready for the chop, but will Labour tackle poor public sector productivity? Record levels of taxation? Boats? Northern Ireland? Reduce energy costs? I cannot see any big question we face to which Labour is the answer.
I thought the SNP were in power in Scotland?
Four out of those five are reserved issues, and public sector productivity is probably something the UK Government would take the lead on too.
For the first time in more than 30 years I got what is apparently called a wage slip today. A deeply depressing document. A small number at the top from which numerous deductions are made leaving an even smaller number at the bottom.
I am seriously perplexed we don’t have more revolutions in this country.
Worse still is realising how little we get for it. The UK is a classic example of the state doing too much and doing it badly, the last few years of big government conservatism should become a learning experience for all other countries to avoid going down the same path that Theresa May set us on.
And it’s getting worse. Yesterday my M-in-L had an online appointment for old age psychiatry. This is not a joke. She does not have internet or a computer so she had to be brought to our house to do the call.
After this travesty, which inevitably concluded that a face to face meeting was required, in 3 months time, my wife gets a form to complete confirming how wonderful this service was. Negative answers were not allowed. So, for example, you could record how many miles you had saved. A negative number, as in our case, was not permitted. Every question was slanted this way but no doubt this will be “evidence” in due course of how wonderful this is.
My MiL is suffering delusions which are scaring her to the point she doesn’t feel safe in her own home. A crap meeting like this, where she struggled to hear, and a 3 month wait. These are what these deductions from my pay slip are for?
You’ve continually voted for this, though. Austerity, then Brexit, then Johnson.
Edit: this sound like a personal attack, not especially. “You” is the general public.
You forget that I live in Scotland and live under the glory of the Scottish government which has never had a Tory element. The fact that it provides services which are at least as bad despite spending more per capita should really get a lot more thought by those deluding themselves that a Labour government is going to make it better.
The SNP must be the most effective political party ever, the situation with public servies in Scotland seems to be worse than in England, yet they, as the governing party, never get the blame for it. A remarkable feat.
I'm curious if they deny it is as bad (obviously I've no idea if it is), or acknowledge it is but blame Westminster for that.
For the first time in more than 30 years I got what is apparently called a wage slip today. A deeply depressing document. A small number at the top from which numerous deductions are made leaving an even smaller number at the bottom.
I am seriously perplexed we don’t have more revolutions in this country.
Worse still is realising how little we get for it. The UK is a classic example of the state doing too much and doing it badly, the last few years of big government conservatism should become a learning experience for all other countries to avoid going down the same path that Theresa May set us on.
And it’s getting worse. Yesterday my M-in-L had an online appointment for old age psychiatry. This is not a joke. She does not have internet or a computer so she had to be brought to our house to do the call.
After this travesty, which inevitably concluded that a face to face meeting was required, in 3 months time, my wife gets a form to complete confirming how wonderful this service was. Negative answers were not allowed. So, for example, you could record how many miles you had saved. A negative number, as in our case, was not permitted. Every question was slanted this way but no doubt this will be “evidence” in due course of how wonderful this is.
My MiL is suffering delusions which are scaring her to the point she doesn’t feel safe in her own home. A crap meeting like this, where she struggled to hear, and a 3 month wait. These are what these deductions from my pay slip are for?
You’ve continually voted for this, though. Austerity, then Brexit, then Johnson.
Edit: this sound like a personal attack, not especially. “You” is the general public.
You forget that I live in Scotland and live under the glory of the Scottish government which has never had a Tory element. The fact that it provides services which are at least as bad despite spending more per capita should really get a lot more thought by those deluding themselves that a Labour government is going to make it better.
That's the point. The Government is tired and ready for the chop, but will Labour tackle poor public sector productivity? Record levels of taxation? Boats? Northern Ireland? Reduce energy costs? I cannot see any big question we face to which Labour is the answer.
I thought the SNP were in power in Scotland?
Four out of those five are reserved issues, and public sector productivity is probably something the UK Government would take the lead on too.
Well it makes no sense to me, then, to grizzle about Labour when the Tories control the key levers and the rest are SNP.
For the first time in more than 30 years I got what is apparently called a wage slip today. A deeply depressing document. A small number at the top from which numerous deductions are made leaving an even smaller number at the bottom.
I am seriously perplexed we don’t have more revolutions in this country.
Worse still is realising how little we get for it. The UK is a classic example of the state doing too much and doing it badly, the last few years of big government conservatism should become a learning experience for all other countries to avoid going down the same path that Theresa May set us on.
And it’s getting worse. Yesterday my M-in-L had an online appointment for old age psychiatry. This is not a joke. She does not have internet or a computer so she had to be brought to our house to do the call.
After this travesty, which inevitably concluded that a face to face meeting was required, in 3 months time, my wife gets a form to complete confirming how wonderful this service was. Negative answers were not allowed. So, for example, you could record how many miles you had saved. A negative number, as in our case, was not permitted. Every question was slanted this way but no doubt this will be “evidence” in due course of how wonderful this is.
My MiL is suffering delusions which are scaring her to the point she doesn’t feel safe in her own home. A crap meeting like this, where she struggled to hear, and a 3 month wait. These are what these deductions from my pay slip are for?
You’ve continually voted for this, though. Austerity, then Brexit, then Johnson.
Edit: this sound like a personal attack, not especially. “You” is the general public.
You forget that I live in Scotland and live under the glory of the Scottish government which has never had a Tory element. The fact that it provides services which are at least as bad despite spending more per capita should really get a lot more thought by those deluding themselves that a Labour government is going to make it better.
That's the point. The Government is tired and ready for the chop, but will Labour tackle poor public sector productivity? Record levels of taxation? Boats? Northern Ireland? Reduce energy costs? I cannot see any big question we face to which Labour is the answer.
I thought the SNP were in power in Scotland?
Four out of those five are reserved issues, and public sector productivity is probably something the UK Government would take the lead on too.
Well it makes no sense to me, then, to grizzle about Labour when the Tories control the key levers and the rest are SNP.
I reserve 99.99% of my grizzling for the current bunch of chumps; on occasion I merely observe the distinct lack of solutions to the current issues emerging from the opposition.
Comments
It’s incredible what people can learn to put up with.
Now you could argue that teachers should hsve a choice of more pay and a worse pension or the same pay and their current pension but the savings you believe can be found here are, as I've pointed out everytime you mention this "solution" a figment of your imagination.
Now the paperwork is such that they don't sell to the UK so we've had to use Etsy as a wrapper to handle everything and I'm paying something like 50% more than I would if I was in France, Italy or Denmark.
Are you an early retiree by any chance? If you are get off your lazy arse and make a contribution to society.
Fewer choices on inputs too, for British manufacturers. An insidious tax on productivity.
Oh and if teachers are so well paid why do whole parts of the country have continually job vacancies for qualified teachers - could it be that they aren't paid enough for the work they have to do so often change careers to something less stressful.
Note too of the western European nations outside the Eurozone ie Switzerland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland and the UK, all are Protestant not Roman Catholic heritage
The Reformation still influences politics today
The task of the task force was in the category of "not easy, but simple". I'm not minimsing their achievement, which required serious feats of science and financial and chemical engineering. But the task was simple- get as many doses of good vaccine as quickly as possible- no tradeoffs. And the benefit of doing that even a week faster was so huge that pretty much any expense was going to be worth it.
We were also lucky, the whole world was lucky, that there were two promising vaccine technologies pretty much waiting to be used. Both the Oxford vaccine and the mRNA vaccine were essentially sitting there ready to go.
That's all great, and to be celebrated. But most of life isn't like that. Elsewhere there are tradeoffs and a ultimately finite pot of money. It's how you handle those tradeoffs that matters.
As for why the UK dismantled what it had created, heaven only knows. Probably Treasury Brain being penny wise. But that's government policy, because otherwise they can't fund the tax cuts they want.
Sunak is weak but probably couldn't reverse that impact, and nor would Boris - they would still be divided, skint, out of ideas, and even their good actions overlooked by a public pushed beyond limit.
After this travesty, which inevitably concluded that a face to face meeting was required, in 3 months time, my wife gets a form to complete confirming how wonderful this service was. Negative answers were not allowed. So, for example, you could record how many miles you had saved. A negative number, as in our case, was not permitted. Every question was slanted this way but no doubt this will be “evidence” in due course of how wonderful this is.
My MiL is suffering delusions which are scaring her to the point she doesn’t feel safe in her own home. A crap meeting like this, where she struggled to hear, and a 3 month wait. These are what these deductions from my pay slip are for?
Of course, we expect a lot more.
Austerity, then Brexit, then Johnson.
Edit: this sound like a personal attack, not especially. “You” is the general public.
Inside government, someone has asked for a paper setting out the options for saving money, and the idea of abandoning Euston made it onto the agenda. Someone else leaked this, knowing that the backlash would force the government to recommit to the project. As it has.
Whilst we dismiss the ‘made up story’, somewhere, probably in parliament or on Friday lunchtime possibly in a Westminster pub or London club, someone is raising a glass to ‘job done’….
The task was straightforward but only if you knew what you were doing. The Civil Service isn't happy with experts, they don't always follow house rules.
Most tasks are much easier if you avoid asking politicians.
Lawyers change the world. Sometimes for the better.
Now every adult in the UK can vote so we get the government we deserve
The garden bridge is a perfect emblem for modern Britain. Some sad pot plants in a privatised pseudo-public space that we spent millions of pounds on not building.
No politician has ever lost votes by delivering Something For Nothing. Unfortunately, that is often followed by Nothing for Something, and the UK has basically run out of road.
Austerity
with random cuts that amongst many things completely destroyed any incentive for people to invest.But you're moaning about your taxes, you are justifiably complaining about poor public services, you've had a government you've voted for in power for the past 13 years. What do you want to happen?
What's your proposed solution?
(Mine, before you ask is: people like you and me, who can clearly afford to, should pay more tax for better public services.)
Not hard to tell the difference between Camilla and Marie Antoinette either
If you look at Labour’s spending plans as set out by Balls in 2010, there is no way that they could have been implemented without swinging cuts - especially to local government, which Labour had hardly favoured with cash prior to losing power.
I’ll grant he is not more Johnsonian than Johnson.
The world is moving on from neo-liberalism, though. Britain is now a country out of time. (And certainly nobody has been daft enough to try a kind of neo-liberal autarchism).
British Airways has recorded a “progressive” new safety video for passengers featuring tennis ace Emma Raducanu, rapper Little Simz, designer Oswald Boateng and TV presenter Robert Peston.
https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/british-airways-safety-video-emma-raducanu-b2270454.html
But I’d certainly argue that Britain’s position is not ideal, and the “US model”, powered by cheap energy, a vast market, and unacceptable levels of despair and distress, is neither available nor desirable.
If people had more private pensions then the need for the state to provide huge cost care and support towards the end of life would be far less. So "lets cut people's pension contributions" sounds like a fantastic way of costing the country far more down the line.
I suspect you mean we sold and we bought ...
HS2 is very late. Massively over-budget thanks in significant part to the stupid contingencies the government added to contractor liabilities. Not running remotely to the places it needs to go to justify its existence. And under continual threat of being further paired back so that its pointless.
And that is just HS2. I can give you a long long list of built, part-built and not even started projects that UK PLC has fucked up.
Though mental health services have been underfunded for years. Not high profile enough.
My favourite video, is an airplane full of kids asking for your attention.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=gjlaH6oSMCU
Reality is it's going to delay things a bit and probably result in the new less functional station costing more than it was previously going to.
However, trans woman and paedophile Katie Dolatowski, who covertly filmed a 12-year-old and attempted to rape a 10-year-old, both offences committed in women’s public bathrooms, IS a woman and remains in the women’s prison from which Adam Graham is to be removed. 2/4
Never forget, Sturgeon, her government and supporters have insisted that it is ludicrous to imagine anyone would dress in women’s clothes to get access to vulnerable women and girls. Wouldn’t happen. Everyone is who they say they are. To question this is hate. 3/4
“The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.”
George Orwell, 1984 4/X
https://twitter.com/jk_rowling/status/1618978858992271360
eta - I see eek was just as puzzled.
How do you improve public services and infrastructure, encourage business to invest to improve productivity, reduce public sector debt and win re-election?
One of the things that Cameron and Osborne did well in the run-up to 2010 was that they made the argument that the country was in a hole, and it was going to be a difficult job to put things right. That's how they managed to implement austerity and win re-election.
One of the problems with Starmer's current approach is that he prefers to give the impression that there's an easy answer to the situation that the government is willfully refusing to implement. This failure to prepare the ground is going to be problematic when Starmer is in Number 10 and has to start explaining that there are no easy answers or quick fixes.
Regarding the North of England, these findings - Lab 55% Con 18% Ref 10% Grn 6% LD 4% - are fairly consistent across pollsters, and for a long time now. They ain’t gonna suddenly change. Although it would be lovely with some proper English regional polling, especially for the South West. We haven’t even had a proper England poll for over a year.
Anyone who thinks there are Brexit opportunities, but refuses to name any, should be disqualified from public office. At this stage it’s a profound deceit to keep uttering such crap.
I agree on Starmer, although it’s hard to win on a negative ticket. Osborne had the sheer shock of the GFC.
When was the last Welsh poll, for example?
Nice!
It wasnt a conspiracy because people hate the idea of growth.