Heartbreaking comments from the head of WaterAid regarding the cut to foreign aid .
Those who voted like lapdogs in the Tory party for this cut are beneath contempt . And I don’t give a flying fuck if polls show the public support this .
Most have no idea of what these cuts mean and have been fed garbage by the right wing press .
And yet WaterAid have plenty of money to spunk of advertising on Sky all the time.
Almost like this has now become a money making industry and like all such money making industry it can and should raise its funds from the private sector.
If there's a good program worth paying for, let the Bill Gates Foundation pay for it. Or anyone who wants to pay £5 per month or whatever it is they're begging for on Sky all the time. No need to come from taxes.
Is this the best you can do to defend these cuts . Children are going to die , does it bother you ?
No need to be emotive with fake language like that.
The cuts are absolutely the right thing to do. No it doesn't bother me. It bothers me that my taxes are going on an industry that thinks its appropriate to pay millions to David Miliband in order for the UK to fund aid at a level the EU and USA don't.
IF anyone wants something off-topic for a debate, this is the development I was talking about.
IN many ways a good plan, with lots of open space against the country park with lake (LHS), and up against the school (top). But they have really upped the density, and taken it from 84 to 110 houses in the latest application which has lost all the detached houses. Steepish site, with several retaining walls - sloping down to the Lake. 4 hectares.
Heartbreaking comments from the head of WaterAid regarding the cut to foreign aid .
Those who voted like lapdogs in the Tory party for this cut are beneath contempt . And I don’t give a flying fuck if polls show the public support this .
Most have no idea of what these cuts mean and have been fed garbage by the right wing press .
And yet WaterAid have plenty of money to spunk of advertising on Sky all the time.
Almost like this has now become a money making industry and like all such money making industry it can and should raise its funds from the private sector.
If there's a good program worth paying for, let the Bill Gates Foundation pay for it. Or anyone who wants to pay £5 per month or whatever it is they're begging for on Sky all the time. No need to come from taxes.
Is this the best you can do to defend these cuts . Children are going to die , does it bother you ?
No need to be emotive with fake language like that.
The cuts are absolutely the right thing to do. No it doesn't bother me. It bothers me that my taxes are going on an industry that thinks its appropriate to pay millions to David Miliband in order for the UK to fund aid at a level the EU and USA don't.
Before you edited this, your first sentence was “Children die.”
No surprise. Britons are curtain-twitching, Mail-reading, spite-mongers. Who hate freedom (especially other people’s).
Do you not concede that this poll supports the reduction in foreign aid across all political groups and ages
I don’t believe in running the country according to whatever lowest-denominator impulses can be discerned from polling.
Sad that this is another example of your piously refusing to part with a smidgeon of your triple-locked wealth.
A bit ad hom. , but agreed.
I am still awaiting an apology as I have always supported cancelling the triple lock, though both my wife and I are pensioners
I have said so on here on many occasions
In addition I support the following in case there is any doubt
The £20 Universal credit uplift made permanent
100% behind Marcus Rashford's campaign for free school meals
And I am not alone with conservative mps also supporting these three issues
I wasn't agreeing with the ad hominem, Big_G. But the cut it aid is simply wrong, IMO.
I don't think there is anything magical about 0.5 vs 0.7, but I think it is a small amount in the big picture and the main professed reasoning behind cutting it doesn't stack up so it should be maintained given whilst things are not spent perfectly we can be pretty sure there will be some quite serious netagative effects..
The fact that the Covid response has blown out budget wide open and left a massive deficit that needs closing back down doesn't stack up?
There are many other ways they could close the deficit, ways which would close it much more significantly.
The level of focus on international aid to help close the deficit as opposed to anything else is what does not stack up for me. That some people have wanted to reduce it for a long time adds to that suspicion.
Yes, every little helps, but on so many other areas it's magically not an issue but it is for this one? I don't buy that
That's why while I'm not opposed to the principle the way some others are, it seems like the wrong move for the wrong reasons when we can be sure of pretty immediate effect.
Since 2010 every area of government expenditure bar two has been subject to rigorous spending reviews and austerity. The only exceptions are the Health and International Aid.
Healthy for obvious reasons can't be cut. Everything else has already been subject to austerity. By series of elimination that leaves one issue alone where the fat has not been trimmed.
So if you think there's another area whereby £4bn in expenditure cuts can be made almost overnight then I'd love to hear what it is as an alternative and why it's not been done yet.
Specifically which anything else are you thinking of instead?
Big G’s triple lock and all those other pensioner goodies.
Slash them to the bone; they’re sucking the country dry.
I think @rcs1000 has pointed out that democracies where the retired can dictate terms at the ballot box tend to end up in a bad way, citing Japan and Italy as examples. (Apologies if I've got this wrong- please send me my infinite Radiohead CD as penance.)
Whilst the UK isn't fully there yet in theory, it's getting alarmingly close in practice. We have a government elected on the votes of the 60+ that believes in superserving its core vote.
We already have a Brexit, and a type of Brexit mandated by the retired whilst leaving those of working age to make it work. The popularity of the aid cuts is, like everything else, age-driven.
This is from a Redfield & Wilton poll last year;
Within the poll, we further provided the UK public with a list of regions and asked which they would most support the UK providing development funding being direct towards, providing a ‘none of these’ option at the end of the list. Given this list, a significant minority of respondents (35%) stated that they would not support the foreign aid budget being spent at all. This figure included over half of respondents aged 55. Moreover, just 15% of 2019 Labour voters hold the view that the foreign aid budget being spent at all, in stark contrast to the 57% of Conservatives who would support not spending the foreign aid budget at all.
Call me a grumpy middle-aged cynic, but this looks like a generation that have spent their working life not really paying enough down towards their retirement who are now frantically looking for things that can be cut from government spending so they can be funded better.
Excellent pragmatic politics, and most of the West is going to end up dealing with this. But that doesn't stop it sucking.
Wasn't the age crossover much lower than 60? Around 40 if I remember rightly.
True, but there's also been a massive shift in the age/voting gradient. I've posted this link before, but until quite recently, the "you get more Conservative as you age" thing was a fairly mild process- now it's massive.
No surprise. Britons are curtain-twitching, Mail-reading, spite-mongers. Who hate freedom (especially other people’s).
Do you not concede that this poll supports the reduction in foreign aid across all political groups and ages
I don’t believe in running the country according to whatever lowest-denominator impulses can be discerned from polling.
Sad that this is another example of your piously refusing to part with a smidgeon of your triple-locked wealth.
A bit ad hom. , but agreed.
I am still awaiting an apology as I have always supported cancelling the triple lock, though both my wife and I are pensioners
I have said so on here on many occasions
In addition I support the following in case there is any doubt
The £20 Universal credit uplift made permanent
100% behind Marcus Rashford's campaign for free school meals
And I am not alone with conservative mps also supporting these three issues
I wasn't agreeing with the ad hominem, Big_G. But the cut it aid is simply wrong, IMO.
I don't think there is anything magical about 0.5 vs 0.7, but I think it is a small amount in the big picture and the main professed reasoning behind cutting it doesn't stack up so it should be maintained given whilst things are not spent perfectly we can be pretty sure there will be some quite serious netagative effects..
The fact that the Covid response has blown out budget wide open and left a massive deficit that needs closing back down doesn't stack up?
There are many other ways they could close the deficit, ways which would close it much more significantly.
The level of focus on international aid to help close the deficit as opposed to anything else is what does not stack up for me. That some people have wanted to reduce it for a long time adds to that suspicion.
Yes, every little helps, but on so many other areas it's magically not an issue but it is for this one? I don't buy that
That's why while I'm not opposed to the principle the way some others are, it seems like the wrong move for the wrong reasons when we can be sure of pretty immediate effect.
Since 2010 every area of government expenditure bar two has been subject to rigorous spending reviews and austerity. The only exceptions are the Health and International Aid.
Healthy for obvious reasons can't be cut. Everything else has already been subject to austerity. By series of elimination that leaves one issue alone where the fat has not been trimmed.
So if you think there's another area whereby £4bn in expenditure cuts can be made almost overnight then I'd love to hear what it is as an alternative and why it's not been done yet.
Specifically which anything else are you thinking of instead?
Ah hem... pensions, health and international aid.
The amount the UK Government spends on pensions and health is set by the triple lock and by an ageing population. This means that it's increased from the high 30s as a percent of spending in the 1980s, to over 50% now. Every year it increases, and that means that there will be continued (and permanent) pressure on other parts of the budget.
No surprise. Britons are curtain-twitching, Mail-reading, spite-mongers. Who hate freedom (especially other people’s).
Do you not concede that this poll supports the reduction in foreign aid across all political groups and ages
I don’t believe in running the country according to whatever lowest-denominator impulses can be discerned from polling.
Sad that this is another example of your piously refusing to part with a smidgeon of your triple-locked wealth.
A bit ad hom. , but agreed.
I am still awaiting an apology as I have always supported cancelling the triple lock, though both my wife and I are pensioners
I have said so on here on many occasions
In addition I support the following in case there is any doubt
The £20 Universal credit uplift made permanent
100% behind Marcus Rashford's campaign for free school meals
And I am not alone with conservative mps also supporting these three issues
I wasn't agreeing with the ad hominem, Big_G. But the cut it aid is simply wrong, IMO.
I don't think there is anything magical about 0.5 vs 0.7, but I think it is a small amount in the big picture and the main professed reasoning behind cutting it doesn't stack up so it should be maintained given whilst things are not spent perfectly we can be pretty sure there will be some quite serious netagative effects..
The fact that the Covid response has blown out budget wide open and left a massive deficit that needs closing back down doesn't stack up?
There are many other ways they could close the deficit, ways which would close it much more significantly.
The level of focus on international aid to help close the deficit as opposed to anything else is what does not stack up for me. That some people have wanted to reduce it for a long time adds to that suspicion.
Yes, every little helps, but on so many other areas it's magically not an issue but it is for this one? I don't buy that
That's why while I'm not opposed to the principle the way some others are, it seems like the wrong move for the wrong reasons when we can be sure of pretty immediate effect.
Since 2010 every area of government expenditure bar two has been subject to rigorous spending reviews and austerity. The only exceptions are the Health and International Aid.
Healthy for obvious reasons can't be cut. Everything else has already been subject to austerity. By series of elimination that leaves one issue alone where the fat has not been trimmed.
So if you think there's another area whereby £4bn in expenditure cuts can be made almost overnight then I'd love to hear what it is as an alternative and why it's not been done yet.
Specifically which anything else are you thinking of instead?
Ah hem... pensions, health and international aid.
The amount the UK Government spends on pensions and health is set by the triple lock and by an ageing population. This means that it's increased from the high 30s as a percent of spending in the 1980s, to over 50% now. Every year it increases, and that means that there will be continued (and permanent) pressure on other parts of the budget.
Not only that but the govt faces a corona-shaped black hole in the budget; not quite as bad as was feared last year but still horribly, horribly bad.
Sunak is a strict fiscal conservative and is busy planning for austerity 2.0 (or is it 3.0) to balance the books.
No surprise. Britons are curtain-twitching, Mail-reading, spite-mongers. Who hate freedom (especially other people’s).
Do you not concede that this poll supports the reduction in foreign aid across all political groups and ages
I don’t believe in running the country according to whatever lowest-denominator impulses can be discerned from polling.
Sad that this is another example of your piously refusing to part with a smidgeon of your triple-locked wealth.
A bit ad hom. , but agreed.
I am still awaiting an apology as I have always supported cancelling the triple lock, though both my wife and I are pensioners
I have said so on here on many occasions
In addition I support the following in case there is any doubt
The £20 Universal credit uplift made permanent
100% behind Marcus Rashford's campaign for free school meals
And I am not alone with conservative mps also supporting these three issues
I wasn't agreeing with the ad hominem, Big_G. But the cut it aid is simply wrong, IMO.
I don't think there is anything magical about 0.5 vs 0.7, but I think it is a small amount in the big picture and the main professed reasoning behind cutting it doesn't stack up so it should be maintained given whilst things are not spent perfectly we can be pretty sure there will be some quite serious netagative effects..
The fact that the Covid response has blown out budget wide open and left a massive deficit that needs closing back down doesn't stack up?
There are many other ways they could close the deficit, ways which would close it much more significantly.
The level of focus on international aid to help close the deficit as opposed to anything else is what does not stack up for me. That some people have wanted to reduce it for a long time adds to that suspicion.
Yes, every little helps, but on so many other areas it's magically not an issue but it is for this one? I don't buy that
That's why while I'm not opposed to the principle the way some others are, it seems like the wrong move for the wrong reasons when we can be sure of pretty immediate effect.
Since 2010 every area of government expenditure bar two has been subject to rigorous spending reviews and austerity. The only exceptions are the Health and International Aid.
Healthy for obvious reasons can't be cut. Everything else has already been subject to austerity. By series of elimination that leaves one issue alone where the fat has not been trimmed.
So if you think there's another area whereby £4bn in expenditure cuts can be made almost overnight then I'd love to hear what it is as an alternative and why it's not been done yet.
Specifically which anything else are you thinking of instead?
Big G’s triple lock and all those other pensioner goodies.
Slash them to the bone; they’re sucking the country dry.
Why do you hate pensioners
What have they done to you
I definitely think age is right up there with class and race as drivers of British politics nowadays which feels unusual. The debate on here this evening feels way too personal against BigG though.
I agree that the cohort of older people have put their own interests ahead of those younger than them, but think a lot of that is down to them misunderstanding the challenges the young face rather than selfishness. (To be clear, that is not directed at you BigG, its a generalisation which will be true of some, and not others.)
Not necessarily consciously. There have been two colossal changes that have differentially affected generations and geographical areas. First a huge ratchet in house prices due to several factors (increased mortgage multiples particularly for couples, immigration, planning restrictions, foreign investment, BTL) at its most extreme in the SE. Second the decline of private sector pensions accelerated by the effects of the 2008 crisis. Things weren't a bed of roses though when I started out with much higher levels of unemployment. Pensioners are not homogenous and neither are the young so twitter style sniping is not going to get us very far.
Comments
The cuts are absolutely the right thing to do. No it doesn't bother me. It bothers me that my taxes are going on an industry that thinks its appropriate to pay millions to David Miliband in order for the UK to fund aid at a level the EU and USA don't.
IN many ways a good plan, with lots of open space against the country park with lake (LHS), and up against the school (top). But they have really upped the density, and taken it from 84 to 110 houses in the latest application which has lost all the detached houses. Steepish site, with several retaining walls - sloping down to the Lake. 4 hectares.
https://timothylikeszebras.wordpress.com/2019/11/26/the-old-people-are-coming/
Thread closed; go home.
The amount the UK Government spends on pensions and health is set by the triple lock and by an ageing population. This means that it's increased from the high 30s as a percent of spending in the 1980s, to over 50% now. Every year it increases, and that means that there will be continued (and permanent) pressure on other parts of the budget.
Sunak is a strict fiscal conservative and is busy planning for austerity 2.0 (or is it 3.0) to balance the books.
Or not.
https://twitter.com/ruthdavidsonpc/status/1414972022577324036?s=21