I really am starting to wonder whether Labour will announce a "one off national dividend" of some kind before this is all over. I was joking a few days ago, but it's becoming more of a realistic scenario as they clearly throw as much taxpayer money at voters (is that ironic, I'm not sure) as they can to win votes.
You'd never catch Boris Johnson throwing money at voters, would you?
Are you being purposefully cretinous or are just devoid of any kind of intelligence?
You'd never catch Boris Johnson throwing money at voters, would you?
Ah, a cretin. No surprise there then.
You'd never catch Boris Johnson throwing money at voters, would you?
Reading more it’s about 1.5 billion which is coming from something the Tories set up anyway which is called VED and is expected to bring in £6.5 billion pounds according to the Office of Budget Responsibility . The Tories were expected to use that for road maintenance etc .
I suppose the Labour argument would be that it will put more money into the economy and more rail use would lead to less needing to be spent on the roads .
Labour pissing more billions up the wall then? Is anyone still actually counting the cost of it all?
Hadn't you heard, though? Wild spending pledges are the new prudence. This bloke called Johnson started the trend, I gather. And when you're a trendsetter you can't really complain when others follow it ...
I retract my previous statement that I might vote Labour if it promises to refund my student loan. I now realise it’s in a negotiation with the electorate and all bets are off, so Labour needs to pay off my mortgage or it’s no deal from me.
I really am starting to wonder whether Labour will announce a "one off national dividend" of some kind before this is all over. I was joking a few days ago, but it's becoming more of a realistic scenario as they clearly throw as much taxpayer money at voters (is that ironic, I'm not sure) as they can to win votes.
A thousand each per year justified under 'modern monetary theory' / citizens income.
Helicopter money (don't tell them Milty was Jewish).
I'd say Jezza has played a blinder with his promise to slash rail fares. Commuters hate the privatized rail companies with a passion, so really won't give a flying fig if their profits have to take a hit. Moreover it will save me an absolute packet! Go Jezza go!
I'd say Jezza has played a blinder with his promise to slash rail fares. Commuters hate the privatized rail companies with a passion, so really won't give a flying fig if their profits have to take a hit. Moreover it will save me an absolute packet! Go Jezza go!
It is so cunning of the Tories to be keeping all their good policies under wraps until the last minute...... ?
No, one assumes that they simply have nothing that can possibly compete with a suitcase full of cash and a free pony for every voter.
Next to that, offering steady as she goes, with the odd new hospital and some police officers thrown in, is bound to look uninspiring. They're essentially betting the farm on the public looking at their offer and Labour's, concluding that Labour's is ridiculous and, therefore, cleaving to the Tories as the party of dull but competent (don't laugh - it's all relative) managerialism.
We'll soon find out whether or not this approach has been a success.
I predicted the broadband policy would backfire and the first weekend after that policy was announced the Tories increased their lead.
This is such an obviously stupid policy that it too will backfire on Labour. I now expect the Tory lead to increase by Saturday.
Prehaps even earlier.
The idea of free broadband was popular, it was putting 200 ISPs out of business to provide one standard nationalized service that wasn't. If they had announced the government would fund infrastructure and say a voucher for a basic tier access for everybody as a human right, loads of free public wifi etc, I think it would have worked. But policians don't understand technology, and clearly thought 30Mb for everybody for free sounds awesome right....and everybody who lives in a town went, you what, I have more than that already.
Reading more it’s about 1.5 billion which is coming from something the Tories set up anyway which is called VED and is expected to bring in £6.5 billion pounds according to the Office of Budget Responsibility . The Tories were expected to use that for road maintenance etc .
I suppose the Labour argument would be that it will put more money into the economy and more rail use would lead to less needing to be spent on the roads .
You're not going to get more rail use by massively cutting the amount of investment in the railways. And things don't always get used more when the price is lowered. The trains being actually a perfect example!
I really am starting to wonder whether Labour will announce a "one off national dividend" of some kind before this is all over. I was joking a few days ago, but it's becoming more of a realistic scenario as they clearly throw as much taxpayer money at voters (is that ironic, I'm not sure) as they can to win votes.
You'd never catch Boris Johnson throwing money at voters, would you?
Are you being purposefully cretinous or are just devoid of any kind of intelligence?
You'd never catch Boris Johnson throwing money at voters, would you?
Ah, a cretin. No surprise there then.
You'd never catch Boris Johnson throwing money at voters, would you?
You keep saying this, list some examples?
Just read what the IFS said about the feasibility of the Tory spending plans.
Wait, the railways are already running at coming up to capacity which is already causing huge issues. Labour want to get rid of HS2 IIRC, which was an attempt at a magic bullet to add capacity and instead invest in the current set up which is more costly per mile, reduces capacity in the medium term and takes longer. So that plan in full: Increase demand, reduce demand control, reduce capacity, increased delays and reduce income.
Is this ToryFibs twitter rail fares announcement official? Or is it a prank by fourth formers employed as Labour staffers?
Good question. They haven’t pre-briefed the Guardian as far as I can tell from the front page, and I see no announcement browsing twitter.
It is, it is on LabourList.....bit weird they didn't get it out earlier as it will miss the newspapers. I know the Labour Leadership don't like the fake news MSM, but still, it would have been free publicity.
I'll save some time and put a comment about how Tories' reaction to this policy shows they are panicking about how good an idea it is.
Everyone said the same about free broadband and it backfired. So will this. People already don't believe anything Labour say, this will make it worse.
Additionally, there's probably a pretty big crossover between the people being targeted for tax rises and those who would do well from this new freebie.
Rail fares in the UK are a joke . The public are being ripped off.
is
You are obviously too young to remember the rip off fares when the railways were nationalized, not to mention their pre- war rolling stock, complete absence of anything resembling customer service and of course their flagship service which was re-named by passengers as Inter-Shitty.
Another uncosted Labour policy is a dent to their already non existent credibility. Reeks of desperation to try and resurrect their ailing campaign in the operating theatre.
Still, £1k a year not to be sniffed at, eh?
If you commute by rail.
How many do?
About 1.5million in England and Wales (for work, more will travel by train for other reasons, evidently, though it feels like you'd have to be a commuter for the cost of tickets to outweigh the cost of subsidising other rail travellers through your taxes).
I'll save some time and put a comment about how Tories' reaction to this policy shows they are panicking about how good an idea it is.
Everyone said the same about free broadband and it backfired. So will this. People already don't believe anything Labour say, this will make it worse.
Additionally, there's probably a pretty big crossover between the people being targeted for tax rises and those who would do well from this new freebie.
Me for example. Why would I vote labour for this when they’re going to destroy me on the other side.
I'll save some time and put a comment about how Tories' reaction to this policy shows they are panicking about how good an idea it is.
Everyone said the same about free broadband and it backfired. So will this. People already don't believe anything Labour say, this will make it worse.
Additionally, there's probably a pretty big crossover between the people being targeted for tax rises and those who would do well from this new freebie.
You have more faith than me....especially as the Tories are doing such a piss poor job of actually highlighting why many of these ideas are terrible self defeating ideas e.g. rent caps.
I really am starting to wonder whether Labour will announce a "one off national dividend" of some kind before this is all over. I was joking a few days ago, but it's becoming more of a realistic scenario as they clearly throw as much taxpayer money at voters (is that ironic, I'm not sure) as they can to win votes.
You'd never catch Boris Johnson throwing money at voters, would you?
Are you being purposefully cretinous or are just devoid of any kind of intelligence?
You'd never catch Boris Johnson throwing money at voters, would you?
Ah, a cretin. No surprise there then.
You'd never catch Boris Johnson throwing money at voters, would you?
You keep saying this, list some examples?
Just read what the IFS said about the feasibility of the Tory spending plans.
Apols if this BBC news item appeared on PB.com earlier: "Bank of England governor Mark Carney has been appointed United Nations Special Envoy for Climate Action and Finance. Mr Carney will take up his new post once his term as governor ends on 31 January 2020."
All the commuters on South Western Railway can ponder these goodies at their pleasure as they shiver on the platforms and await non-running trains for the next 27 days, starting tomorrow, thanks to the comradely solidarity of the RMT union.
Amazing scenes in Malta tonight as the PM is forced to resign over the murder of brave journalist, Daphne Caruana Galizia. And Poland is giving a medal of courage to Lukasz, the man with the narwhal tusk. I hope Britain will also honour him.
Random question- does the exit poll take account of postal votes?
No, but that doesn't seem to matter very much, because they are comparing the responses at polling stations with the equivalent responses at the same polling stations last time. Clearly if postal vote patterns relative to voting in person changed a lot compared with last time, then that would introduce a significant error, but the assumption is that the changes from one election to the next don't differ much according to the method of voting.
The only electoral impact I can think this make is that Reading East is sured up for Labour, and err that's about it. Might help Peterborough ? Can't see them winning MK North this election (Though it will outperform for Labour I expect) Hastings and Rye perhaps ?
Amazing scenes in Malta tonight as the PM is forced to resign over the murder of brave journalist, Daphne Caruana Galizia. And Poland is giving a medal of courage to Lukasz, the man with the narwhal tusk. I hope Britain will also honour him.
Isn't he in danger of being sent back to prison for breaking his parole?
Anyone making the same journey 2 or 3 days each week should get some sort of discount - say buy 9 tickets get the 10th free.
Season tickets are massively cheaper than the cost of individual journeys though, aren't they? That's before all the money back for delayed trains!
A season ticket on my route was about equivalent to 3.5 days return, but I only had to be in the office 3 days a week. There was a carnet ticket of 10 for the price of less than 10 (9? 8?), but they were singles so it hardly worked out cheaper than the return tickets.
I retract my previous statement that I might vote Labour if it promises to refund my student loan. I now realise it’s in a negotiation with the electorate and all bets are off, so Labour needs to pay off my mortgage or it’s no deal from me.
And I won't settle for anything less than a solid gold casket containing a kilo of flawless blue and white diamonds, one of the Canalettos from the Royal Collection (I'm assuming we become a people's republic on day one) to hang on the living room wall in my flat, an estate consisting of a country house and 15,000 acres of prime arable land in Suffolk, a Bentley Flying Spur (in an attractive shade of sapphire blue and with a chauffeur employed by the state and offered free of charge, because I can't drive and I expect this to be regarded as a disability under a progressive administration,) a holiday villa on Mykonos with free flights and transfers to and from in perpetuity, and a billion Swiss francs deposited in my own private numbered account in Zurich where the Treasury can't confiscate it when things turn to shit, as they inevitably will.
What would this mean for TfL, they are already under severe financial strain. If they had to reduce annual tickets by a third they would probably go bankrupt.
You can already get one third off if you have a gold card (annual season ticket). The cheapest of these is about £170 and gets you 1/3 of tickets at any time. https://youtube.com/watch?v=DbrFze0XH5M
What would this mean for TfL, they are already under severe financial strain. If they had to reduce annual tickets by a third they would probably go bankrupt.
Is it Labour policy for no-driverless trains allowed again? Cos obviously that means drivers on the DLR and definitely no progress towards more efficient tube system.
I really am starting to wonder whether Labour will announce a "one off national dividend" of some kind before this is all over. I was joking a few days ago, but it's becoming more of a realistic scenario as they clearly throw as much taxpayer money at voters (is that ironic, I'm not sure) as they can to win votes.
You'd never catch Boris Johnson throwing money at voters, would you?
Are you being purposefully cretinous or are just devoid of any kind of intelligence?
You'd never catch Boris Johnson throwing money at voters, would you?
Ah, a cretin. No surprise there then.
You'd never catch Boris Johnson throwing money at voters, would you?
You keep saying this, list some examples?
Just read what the IFS said about the feasibility of the Tory spending plans.
You can already get one third off if you have a gold card (annual season ticket). The cheapest of these is about £170 and gets you 1/3 of tickets at any time. https://youtube.com/watch?v=DbrFze0XH5M
The Deltapoll / Mail on Sunday poll has still not been added to the Wikipedia polls list. This seems inexplicable given it came out on Saturday night at a similar time to all the other Saturday night polls. All the other polls were listed last night.
Not sure this policy is as described initially . The central booking office means fares would be reduced anyway as there would be no booking charge and it seems they’re connecting this with their nationalization plans so not sure it means an immediate big drop in prices .
There already is a "central booking system". It's called trainline.com. "Booking fees" are generally £1.
And zero booking fee on plenty of other sites. Anyone using trainline is a turnip.
Night all.
Indeed. Just buy train tickets off whichever operator's website you prefer the layout of, they all use the same timetabling and ticketing system. Or, if it's a long distance service, use the main intercity operator's website. No booking fees and some (LNER used to, probably still do) will let you pick specific seats.
The policy itself is a joke of course. Train operator's already make very little profit on franchises (hence why National Express pulled out of the UK market and now only run trains in Germany) so the money off will have to come from more subsidies.
Apols if this BBC news item appeared on PB.com earlier: "Bank of England governor Mark Carney has been appointed United Nations Special Envoy for Climate Action and Finance. Mr Carney will take up his new post once his term as governor ends on 31 January 2020."
Hmm. Not sure that is a good date for the BoE governor to be leaving.
I really am starting to wonder whether Labour will announce a "one off national dividend" of some kind before this is all over. I was joking a few days ago, but it's becoming more of a realistic scenario as they clearly throw as much taxpayer money at voters (is that ironic, I'm not sure) as they can to win votes.
You'd never catch Boris Johnson throwing money at voters, would you?
Are you being purposefully cretinous or are just devoid of any kind of intelligence?
You'd never catch Boris Johnson throwing money at voters, would you?
Ah, a cretin. No surprise there then.
You'd never catch Boris Johnson throwing money at voters, would you?
You keep saying this, list some examples?
Just read what the IFS said about the feasibility of the Tory spending plans.
So no specific examples then? Cretin.
Try Googling "Javid," "spending" and "spree" ...
Why? you made the claim and now you're providing no evidence for said claim.
As I said earlier, you're obviously being purposefully cretinous. It's fine, we all do it sometimes.
I predicted the broadband policy would backfire and the first weekend after that policy was announced the Tories increased their lead.
This is such an obviously stupid policy that it too will backfire on Labour. I now expect the Tory lead to increase by Saturday.
Prehaps even earlier.
The idea of free broadband was popular, it was putting 200 ISPs out of business to provide one standard nationalized service that wasn't. If they had announced the government would fund infrastructure and say a voucher for a basic tier access for everybody as a human right, loads of free public wifi etc, I think it would have worked. But policians don't understand technology, and clearly thought 30Mb for everybody for free sounds awesome right....and everybody who lives in a town went, you what, I have more than that already.
No. The average person did not see that much detail.
I'm afraid you are underestimating the average voter, they simply know these policies are not realistic. This is yet another unrealistic, uncosted policy, and people will look at it and laugh. They simply will laugh. The Tories will *increase* their lead. Mark my words.
Surely the Tories will be straight on this with a “fairness” narrative? Unless of course they’ve already established that nobody believes Labour waving its wallet about like a city trader in a strip club.
I'll save some time and put a comment about how Tories' reaction to this policy shows they are panicking about how good an idea it is.
Yes, the Tories need to counter this and fast. Jezza has turned himself into the patron saint of commuters with a single policy announcement. What with Brexit and soaring travel costs, many in the south east feel neglected by Boris, who seems preoccupied with the grotty oiks up north. Jezza, in contrast, is increasingly looking like their striding saviour, a veritable Christ-like figure.
Not sure this policy is as described initially . The central booking office means fares would be reduced anyway as there would be no booking charge and it seems they’re connecting this with their nationalization plans so not sure it means an immediate big drop in prices .
There already is a "central booking system". It's called trainline.com. "Booking fees" are generally £1.
And zero booking fee on plenty of other sites. Anyone using trainline is a turnip.
Night all.
Indeed. Just buy train tickets off whichever operator's website you prefer the layout of, they all use the same timetabling and ticketing system. Or, if it's a long distance service, use the main intercity operator's website. No booking fees and some (LNER used to, probably still do) will let you pick specific seats.
The policy itself is a joke of course. Train operator's already make very little profit on franchises (hence why National Express pulled out of the UK market and now only run trains in Germany) so the money off will have to come from more subsidies.
Unless the TOC's have awful contracts, the Government will have to find the money. The BBC have Labour saying it will only cost £1.5bn, but they are effectively cutting fare income by at least a third and that is a lot more than the figure stated.
I'll save some time and put a comment about how Tories' reaction to this policy shows they are panicking about how good an idea it is.
Yes, the Tories need to counter this and fast. Jezza has turned himself into the patron saint of commuters with a single policy announcement. What with Brexit and soaring travel costs, many in the south east feel neglected by Boris, who seems preoccupied with the grotty oiks up north. Jezza, in contrast, is increasingly looking like their striding saviour, a veritable Christ-like figure.
You have a little way to go before matching Adrian Harper.
It is often said that nationalising the railways is popular amongst the general public, in part because a large majority of the public rarely if ever use the train. I'm not so sure that this large majority would favour paying for lower fares out of their general taxation, however. Support for nationalisation assumes that any lower fares simply come from the "extortionate" profits of the Train Operating Companies. Labour have never suggested that the reduced fares will come by increasing taxpayer subsidy...
I retract my previous statement that I might vote Labour if it promises to refund my student loan. I now realise it’s in a negotiation with the electorate and all bets are off, so Labour needs to pay off my mortgage or it’s no deal from me.
If Labour promises to pay off my mortgage, buy me a second home in the south of France and pay my annual Oyster card bill, even I might be tempted to vote for them until I see the tax bill
Surely the Tories will be straight on this with a “fairness” narrative? Unless of course they’ve already established that nobody believes Labour waving its wallet about like a city trader in a strip club.
Random question- does the exit poll take account of postal votes?
People who vote by post are not included in exit polls. This is potentially a source of bias, if the pattern of vote-changing among postal voters differs appreciably from the vote-changing behaviour of those who use a polling station. This does not seem to have been a major problem yet for prediction from exit polls, but if registration to vote by post continues to increase it could become so.
That they are all Tories is an urban myth. Well a rural myth. Or something.
I'll save some time and put a comment about how Tories' reaction to this policy shows they are panicking about how good an idea it is.
Yes, the Tories need to counter this and fast. Jezza has turned himself into the patron saint of commuters with a single policy announcement. What with Brexit and soaring travel costs, many in the south east feel neglected by Boris, who seems preoccupied with the grotty oiks up north. Jezza, in contrast, is increasingly looking like their striding saviour, a veritable Christ-like figure.
How much do you want a bet that by come Saturday the YouGov will show a increased Tory lead from 9%?
I retract my previous statement that I might vote Labour if it promises to refund my student loan. I now realise it’s in a negotiation with the electorate and all bets are off, so Labour needs to pay off my mortgage or it’s no deal from me.
If Labour promises to pay off my mortgage, buy me a second home in the south of France and pay my annual Oyster card bill, even I might vote for them!
I'll save some time and put a comment about how Tories' reaction to this policy shows they are panicking about how good an idea it is.
Yes, the Tories need to counter this and fast. Jezza has turned himself into the patron saint of commuters with a single policy announcement. What with Brexit and soaring travel costs, many in the south east feel neglected by Boris, who seems preoccupied with the grotty oiks up north. Jezza, in contrast, is increasingly looking like their striding saviour, a veritable Christ-like figure.
Even as a Corbyn supporter you must realise this isn’t a policy that will have any interest for Labour leavers in the North and Midlands.
I really am starting to wonder whether Labour will announce a "one off national dividend" of some kind before this is all over. I was joking a few days ago, but it's becoming more of a realistic scenario as they clearly throw as much taxpayer money at voters (is that ironic, I'm not sure) as they can to win votes.
You'd never catch Boris Johnson throwing money at voters, would you?
Are you being purposefully cretinous or are just devoid of any kind of intelligence?
You'd never catch Boris Johnson throwing money at voters, would you?
Ah, a cretin. No surprise there then.
You'd never catch Boris Johnson throwing money at voters, would you?
You keep saying this, list some examples?
Just read what the IFS said about the feasibility of the Tory spending plans.
Technically the IFS criticised the Tory borrowing plans as not credible.
I really am starting to wonder whether Labour will announce a "one off national dividend" of some kind before this is all over. I was joking a few days ago, but it's becoming more of a realistic scenario as they clearly throw as much taxpayer money at voters (is that ironic, I'm not sure) as they can to win votes.
You'd never catch Boris Johnson throwing money at voters, would you?
Are you being purposefully cretinous or are just devoid of any kind of intelligence?
You'd never catch Boris Johnson throwing money at voters, would you?
Ah, a cretin. No surprise there then.
You'd never catch Boris Johnson throwing money at voters, would you?
You keep saying this, list some examples?
Just read what the IFS said about the feasibility of the Tory spending plans.
So no specific examples then? Cretin.
Try Googling "Javid," "spending" and "spree" ...
Why? you made the claim and now you're providing no evidence for said claim.
As I said earlier, you're obviously being purposefully cretinous. It's fine, we all do it sometimes.
OK - evidently you suffer from a cripplingly limited vocabulary (apparently consisting mostly of the word "cretin"), so I appreciate that you may have difficulties with tasks like using search engines and reading newspaper articles.
I suggest you ask a friend to Google "adaptive technology" for you. It may turn up something appropriate for your needs.
Not sure this policy is as described initially . The central booking office means fares would be reduced anyway as there would be no booking charge and it seems they’re connecting this with their nationalization plans so not sure it means an immediate big drop in prices .
They said down by 33% from January.
If their polling continues to flat-line then expect a 50% reduction next week.
I'd say Jezza has played a blinder with his promise to slash rail fares. Commuters hate the privatized rail companies with a passion, so really won't give a flying fig if their profits have to take a hit. Moreover it will save me an absolute packet! Go Jezza go!
I'd say Jezza has played a blinder with his promise to slash rail fares. Commuters hate the privatized rail companies with a passion, so really won't give a flying fig if their profits have to take a hit. Moreover it will save me an absolute packet! Go Jezza go!
And another gullible is taken for a ride.
The day and weekend belongs to Boris anyway, he politicised the terror incident, he went point scoring on terrorism and did it well, the soundbite of him bbc used was spot on. The optics of Boris clear crisp decision making to keep us safe and Jezzas waffle about the rights of terrorists should show sharp uptick to Tory in polls in coming days.
It is often said that nationalising the railways is popular amongst the general public, in part because a large majority of the public rarely if ever use the train. I'm not so sure that this large majority would favour paying for lower fares out of their general taxation, however. Support for nationalisation assumes that any lower fares simply come from the "extortionate" profits of the Train Operating Companies. Labour have never suggested that the reduced fares will come by increasing taxpayer subsidy...
The TOC's work on a margin of 3-4%, even if you take into consideration the costs saved from some of the higher paid managers (as their roles would be uneeded) that is only 2-3 years costs inflation before the buffer is gone. At best. And that is if you assume that they would be run at the same margins as a private company, which just doesn't happen in nationalised industries in this country.
I really am starting to wonder whether Labour will announce a "one off national dividend" of some kind before this is all over. I was joking a few days ago, but it's becoming more of a realistic scenario as they clearly throw as much taxpayer money at voters (is that ironic, I'm not sure) as they can to win votes.
You'd never catch Boris Johnson throwing money at voters, would you?
Are you being purposefully cretinous or are just devoid of any kind of intelligence?
You'd never catch Boris Johnson throwing money at voters, would you?
Ah, a cretin. No surprise there then.
You'd never catch Boris Johnson throwing money at voters, would you?
You keep saying this, list some examples?
Just read what the IFS said about the feasibility of the Tory spending plans.
So no specific examples then? Cretin.
Try Googling "Javid," "spending" and "spree" ...
Why? you made the claim and now you're providing no evidence for said claim.
As I said earlier, you're obviously being purposefully cretinous. It's fine, we all do it sometimes.
OK - evidently you suffer from a cripplingly limited vocabulary (apparently consisting mostly of the word "cretin"), so I appreciate that you may have difficulties with tasks like using search engines and reading newspaper articles.
I suggest you ask a friend to Google "adaptive technology" for you. It may turn up something appropriate for your needs.
I'd say Jezza has played a blinder with his promise to slash rail fares. Commuters hate the privatized rail companies with a passion, so really won't give a flying fig if their profits have to take a hit. Moreover it will save me an absolute packet! Go Jezza go!
I'd say Jezza has played a blinder with his promise to slash rail fares. Commuters hate the privatized rail companies with a passion, so really won't give a flying fig if their profits have to take a hit. Moreover it will save me an absolute packet! Go Jezza go!
And another gullible is taken for a ride.
The day and weekend belongs to Boris anyway, he politicised the terror incident, he went point scoring on terrorism and did it well, the soundbite of him bbc used was spot on. The optics of Boris clear crisp decision making to keep us safe and Jezzas waffle about the rights of terrorists should show sharp uptick to Tory in polls in coming days.
What about water? Free broadband, and we still have to pay for water. Where is the sense in that?
Got to leave something for the last week of the campaign.
I thought they were leaving nationalizing Sky sports & scrapping TV licenses for the last week.
Broadband is a big part of Sky's business, and critical to their future when everything is delivered OTT and the satellite dishes go away, so Labour's plans would likely cause Sky real trouble, and naturally Virgin Media as well. GPO Internet and TV will have to take up the slack.
You can already get one third off if you have a gold card (annual season ticket). The cheapest of these is about £170 and gets you 1/3 of tickets at any time. https://youtube.com/watch?v=DbrFze0XH5M
Only works in the South though in fairness.
True, although it is a definition of the South East that includes Exeter and Shrewsbury.
I'll save some time and put a comment about how Tories' reaction to this policy shows they are panicking about how good an idea it is.
Yes, the Tories need to counter this and fast. Jezza has turned himself into the patron saint of commuters with a single policy announcement. What with Brexit and soaring travel costs, many in the south east feel neglected by Boris, who seems preoccupied with the grotty oiks up north. Jezza, in contrast, is increasingly looking like their striding saviour, a veritable Christ-like figure.
Even as a Corbyn supporter you must realise this isn’t a policy that will have any interest for Labour leavers in the North and Midlands.
Actually that’s it. All the Tories and liberals have to do now is solidly make fun of Labour. We’ve got to that point. Then add in a bit of solemn “I wish I could promise this for you too but it’s just not possible without chronic tax rises on hard working blah blah blah”.
Amazing scenes in Malta tonight as the PM is forced to resign over the murder of brave journalist, Daphne Caruana Galizia. And Poland is giving a medal of courage to Lukasz, the man with the narwhal tusk. I hope Britain will also honour him.
Fun fact, the man with the narwhal tusk was the original title of the man with the golden gun. I think we all missed out on that one. But being serious, absolutely.
It is often said that nationalising the railways is popular amongst the general public, in part because a large majority of the public rarely if ever use the train. I'm not so sure that this large majority would favour paying for lower fares out of their general taxation, however. Support for nationalisation assumes that any lower fares simply come from the "extortionate" profits of the Train Operating Companies. Labour have never suggested that the reduced fares will come by increasing taxpayer subsidy...
The TOC's work on a margin of 3-4%, even if you take into consideration the costs saved from some of the higher paid managers (as their roles would be uneeded) that is only 2-3 years costs inflation before the buffer is gone. At best. And that is if you assume that they would be run at the same margins as a private company, which just doesn't happen in nationalised industries in this country.
Of course. The popularity of nationalisation won't last more than a few years when the large decline in investment begins to hit.
I'd say Jezza has played a blinder with his promise to slash rail fares. Commuters hate the privatized rail companies with a passion, so really won't give a flying fig if their profits have to take a hit. Moreover it will save me an absolute packet! Go Jezza go!
I'd say Jezza has played a blinder with his promise to slash rail fares. Commuters hate the privatized rail companies with a passion, so really won't give a flying fig if their profits have to take a hit. Moreover it will save me an absolute packet! Go Jezza go!
And another gullible is taken for a ride.
The day and weekend belongs to Boris anyway, he politicised the terror incident, he went point scoring on terrorism and did it well, the soundbite of him bbc used was spot on. The optics of Boris clear crisp decision making to keep us safe and Jezzas waffle about the rights of terrorists should show sharp uptick to Tory in polls in coming days.
More free cash for the South East. That's where all the marginals are, right? Great politics in that case.
I can't see flat cap Fred and the left behinds of Stoke being ecstatic to hear more money for rich southerns.
Looks like a very London/South East centric bung to me, way more car journeys to work up here.
It might boost Labour a bit in marginal commuter belt Tory seats like Wycombe, Chingford, Hastings, Uxbridge, Crawley, Chipping Barnet, Thurrock etc they are targeting in the commuter belt but probably not enough to win them.
It will do sod all for voters in Stoke, West Bromwich, Grimsby, Wrexham etc where Labour are trying to defend Leave seats and where voters rarely travel by train anyway and certainly not for work
More free cash for the South East. That's where all the marginals are, right? Great politics in that case.
I can't see flat cap Fred and the left behinds of Stoke being ecstatic to hear more money for rich southerns.
Ideally this policy activates the bullshit detectors of the pinstripe Peregrines whilst simultaneously pissing off the flat-cap Freds.
Alternatively, it could all get lost in the great sea of free everything that has already been announced. Or most voters aren't paying a great deal of attention and won't particularly have noticed it at all. Who can say?
At the end of the day, free this that and the other only works if (a) the intended recipients believe that someone else will pay for it and (b) there's not an equally large or larger group that believes that they'll be paying for someone else's freebies and raise Hell accordingly.
If the Peregrines think they'll simply end up paying for it through sky-high taxes and economic collapse, AND the Freds think that they'll end up paying for it in subsidy hikes funded through their taxes too, then the policy will backfire and Labour will go backwards. Just depends whether that's what happens or not.
Comments
I suppose the Labour argument would be that it will put more money into the economy and more rail use would lead to less needing to be spent on the roads .
This is such an obviously stupid policy that it too will backfire on Labour. I now expect the Tory lead to increase by Saturday.
Prehaps even earlier.
And another gullible is taken for a ride.
Next to that, offering steady as she goes, with the odd new hospital and some police officers thrown in, is bound to look uninspiring. They're essentially betting the farm on the public looking at their offer and Labour's, concluding that Labour's is ridiculous and, therefore, cleaving to the Tories as the party of dull but competent (don't laugh - it's all relative) managerialism.
We'll soon find out whether or not this approach has been a success.
If they had announced the government would fund infrastructure and say a voucher for a basic tier access for everybody as a human right, loads of free public wifi etc, I think it would have worked.
But policians don't understand technology, and clearly thought 30Mb for everybody for free sounds awesome right....and everybody who lives in a town went, you what, I have more than that already.
.
So that plan in full: Increase demand, reduce demand control, reduce capacity, increased delays and reduce income.
Amazing.
Save 33%? It’s tempting. Hang on. Thinking about it. Means Corbyn has to be PM.
Hmm. I would happily pay £200 a month for him not to be PM. Next bribe please.
Additionally, there's probably a pretty big crossover between the people being targeted for tax rises and those who would do well from this new freebie.
"Bank of England governor Mark Carney has been appointed United Nations Special Envoy for Climate Action and Finance.
Mr Carney will take up his new post once his term as governor ends on 31 January 2020."
And Poland is giving a medal of courage to Lukasz, the man with the narwhal tusk. I hope Britain will also honour him.
In the future will you get any benefits in reduced fares through advance booking?
So slashing fares by 33% and free travel for U16's. We are in pork barrel politics land.
Can't see them winning MK North this election (Though it will outperform for Labour I expect)
Hastings and Rye perhaps ?
Cars used to work way more in the north.
What do you think will happen when the msm get their hands on it?
Even the Corbynistas aren't particularly making a fight of defending the well off getting a huge tax break to commute to their well paid city jobs.
And the well paid aren't going to be grateful for their already overcrowded trains having an extra demand placed on them.
It is a Hail Mary that is going to look ludicrous by this time tomorrow.
All seems perfectly reasonable to me.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=DbrFze0XH5M
Great politics in that case.
This seems inexplicable given it came out on Saturday night at a similar time to all the other Saturday night polls.
All the other polls were listed last night.
The policy itself is a joke of course. Train operator's already make very little profit on franchises (hence why National Express pulled out of the UK market and now only run trains in Germany) so the money off will have to come from more subsidies.
As I said earlier, you're obviously being purposefully cretinous. It's fine, we all do it sometimes.
I'm afraid you are underestimating the average voter, they simply know these policies are not realistic.
This is yet another unrealistic, uncosted policy, and people will look at it and laugh.
They simply will laugh.
The Tories will *increase* their lead. Mark my words.
That they are all Tories is an urban myth. Well a rural myth. Or something.
One third off rail fares part of green deal. Makes perfect sense.
I suggest you ask a friend to Google "adaptive technology" for you. It may turn up something appropriate for your needs.
And that is if you assume that they would be run at the same margins as a private company, which just doesn't happen in nationalised industries in this country.
https://twitter.com/BBCNews/status/1201277961346924545?s=20
https://news.yahoo.com/former-clinton-adviser-says-pete-180127824.html
But watch Biden in first few seconds.
But being serious, absolutely.
It will do sod all for voters in Stoke, West Bromwich, Grimsby, Wrexham etc where Labour are trying to defend Leave seats and where voters rarely travel by train anyway and certainly not for work
Alternatively, it could all get lost in the great sea of free everything that has already been announced. Or most voters aren't paying a great deal of attention and won't particularly have noticed it at all. Who can say?
At the end of the day, free this that and the other only works if (a) the intended recipients believe that someone else will pay for it and (b) there's not an equally large or larger group that believes that they'll be paying for someone else's freebies and raise Hell accordingly.
If the Peregrines think they'll simply end up paying for it through sky-high taxes and economic collapse, AND the Freds think that they'll end up paying for it in subsidy hikes funded through their taxes too, then the policy will backfire and Labour will go backwards. Just depends whether that's what happens or not.