-
See also Labour Party governmental management 1945-2009
-
@Catogrande said in British Politics:
See also Labour Party governmental management 1945-2009
Both parties, TBF.
Lack of long-term ambition, defeatist attitudes, running away from tough decisions..... The list could go on.
-
@Victor-Meldrew said in British Politics:
@Catogrande said in British Politics:
I can’t remember if it was Beveridge or Bevan who’s last word’s reportedly, we’re “but the buggers won’t work”.
If you're referring to Nye Bevan - who founded the NHS - he was, in many way was a prototype of today's hate-filled, divisive, extremist politicians and had a visceral hatred of people who didn't share his political views. I read a fair bit about him a few years back and he came across as a really odious individual.
Like almost all good socialists who made a career of bashing the rich, he died a multi-millionaire land-owner
Different person
-
Beveridge, Bevan, Bevin. I can't tell these buggers apart - they all look the same to me.
-
Amazing budget from Kwasi today. Staying the course would guarantee defeat to Labour in 2yrs, at least he's having a swing for the fences.
For all the left wing bleating about tax cuts for the rich, primarily from those who don't pay any tax at all, this graph is extraordinary:
Astonishing the increase of the tax take since New Labour, and then continuing post the Cameron/Osborne austerity. Corresponds to a massively inefficient and bloated NHS and civil service, and a dire lack of productivity growth. Covid then reinforced this culture of "the government must fix my problems".
Massive radical change is needed, it'll all probably be undone by the 2024 general election, but good on them for having a crack.
If only they'd cut VAT to 10% and eliminate stamp duty altogether, and use that change to reform a council tax system that is laughably still based on 1991 property values.
-
@TeWaio Watching the Sterling today has been completely destructive, but I know that this is the right thing to get the country back on the right path. A growth strategy. A plan to make people get back to work and get above the 16 hour a week bullshit planted by Labour many moons ago. Better reward for the workers, fuck the rest of you. It's as simple as that.
Yes, the Yanks may not like it, but regardless of what is posted, there are still an awful lot of metrics which are much stronger in the UK than Europe / US. In my view it is being rather unfairly picked on, in some ways to deflect from own national issues, but at least by the EU, to keep the "Leaving the EU is bad" narrative afloat.
I acknowledge that some of these views are in a bit of hope, and perhaps the country is way more fucked than any other Western nation on the planet, but I struggle to comprehend that. I am also in hope, that the tax cuts are going to be offset in the near future by some serious NHS reform. It still fucks me off the way the Brits approach this piece of shit health system.
Actual conversation today with a British colleague who has moved to the Netherlands. He earns basically the same gross, pays more in tax but was raving about it. He said that in NL it's much better as he "only pays 120 a month" for health care, and for that he gets appointments quickly as well as referrals. Yes mate, that's called private health care. I have that as well, and unsurprisingly, I get the same service. Amazing how many of my colleagues rely on the NHS when we all have the same private health care which as 100 GBP per year excess.
Anyway, fingers crossed this works. Don't know if it will, but the left, and especially the far left seem to absolutely hate it. So it must be good.
-
Went up to the Yorkshire Dales for a week and based ourselves at Keighley (Bronte country). Bit of a revelation race-relations wise.
Unlike London or even Cornwall, there seemed almost zero cultural mingling between Muslim groups/people and others, and the divide seemed stark in dress, day-day interactions and conversations. Go into any shop in the South and you'll see all sorts working there - hijabs, scarves and all. In Keithley it seemed all Muslim (only male) or non-Muslim. The owner of the B&B mentioned it too, saying many Muslims, even those born in the UK, wanted to keep to themselves and didn't want their children to become too westernised.
I know it's only a microcosm but there really did seem to be two worlds. Still don't know quite what to make of it, but was quite taken aback
-
@Victor-Meldrew said in British Politics:
Went up to the Yorkshire Dales for a week and based ourselves at Keighley (Bronte country). Bit of a revelation race-relations wise.
Unlike London or even Cornwall, there seemed almost zero cultural mingling between Muslim groups/people and others, and the divide seemed stark in dress, day-day interactions and conversations. Go into any shop in the South and you'll see all sorts working there - hijabs, scarves and all. In Keithley it seemed all Muslim (only male) or non-Muslim. The owner of the B&B mentioned it too, saying many Muslims, even those born in the UK, wanted to keep to themselves and didn't want their children to become too westernised.
I know it's only a microcosm but there really did seem to be two worlds. Still don't know quite what to make of it, but was quite taken aback
That's been my experience living in W Yorkshire for 4 years back in the late 80s and holidaying around the UK
-
This is a good listen
-
@MiketheSnow said in British Politics:
That's been my experience living in W Yorkshire for 4 years back in the late 80s and holidaying around the UK
Says something if that hasn't changed in 40 years
-
Out of a white mouth and the cops would have been called in
If she doesn't get booted then Labour are toast
-
@TeWaio said in British Politics:
Hearing triple pension lock likely to go, HS2 scrapped, Bailey being made the fall guy for the utterly bonkers gilt/sterling volatility and Truss/Kwarteng staying the course. Good all around I reckon.
All irrelevant to British economics until NHS is put under real review.
REality is that GBP / USD rate is not as important as the GBP / EUR rate which has remained much less volatile. The Gilt market is another matter though, of course.
Not sure I agree Bailey is the right scape goat for the last few weeks, but he's certainly played his part over the last year.
Biggest thing for me which seemingly has gone un noticed, is that since Kwarteng met with the head of Investment banks, that GBP has been significantly calmer and has actually strengthened. It's now not far off where it was vs EUR a week ago. (1.13 vs 1.146).
Have the bankers started buying in?
-
@MajorRage said in British Politics:
@TeWaio said in British Politics:
Hearing triple pension lock likely to go, HS2 scrapped, Bailey being made the fall guy for the utterly bonkers gilt/sterling volatility and Truss/Kwarteng staying the course. Good all around I reckon.
All irrelevant to British economics until NHS is put under real review.
REality is that GBP / USD rate is not as important as the GBP / EUR rate which has remained much less volatile. The Gilt market is another matter though, of course.
Not sure I agree Bailey is the right scape goat for the last few weeks, but he's certainly played his part over the last year.
Biggest thing for me which seemingly has gone un noticed, is that since Kwarteng met with the head of Investment banks, that GBP has been significantly calmer and has actually strengthened. It's now not far off where it was vs EUR a week ago. (1.13 vs 1.146).
Have the bankers started buying in?
Well they've made their money
-
-
We've reached peak political hysteria -and I've been politics-watching in the UK since the Thatcher era. Parris is calling for Truss to be sacked and replaced by Sunak without a leadership contest - 4 weeks after he lost the leadership contest.
MATTHEW PARRIS This prime minister must be dispatched now It’ll take courage to end the Truss horror show but it is the only way to offer the Tory party — and the country — hope She’s finished. Risky (you may think) to say this so early? But she is. The parliamentary Conservative Party must urgently cut itself free of what will soon be the political corpse of its leadership. An almost unknown prime minister and her almost unknown chancellor have trashed a golden opportunity to reach out to all sides in their party and consult and reflect during weeks of national mourning — and instead blundered straight into a massively ill-considered move that has almost literally scared the country out of its wits. This prime minister must be dispatched. Sacking her chancellor (though she should) won’t save her now. Her own removal is not a matter of “if” but when, how and by whom. By whom? That’s entirely in the hands of her own MPs. They should ask themselves this: do they salvage their honour by moving swiftly to remove the horror their activists’ choice of leader has inflicted on them and their constituents? Or do they hang back, wringing their hands like helpless onlookers, until the inevitable accidents, reverses and obloquy destroy, perhaps for a generation, any Tory claim to responsible government? As a way of saving their seats, how does that sound? This column argues not just the necessity but the opportunity for Tory MPs to be seen to deal decisively, and at once, with the person their grassroots party forced upon them. But how? The body through which (at least nominally) they operate is the 1922 Committee of all backbench Conservative MPs. The ’22 makes the rules and the ’22 can change them almost overnight. Water will always find a way to run downhill, so forget anything you may have read about the rules. A vote will happen if the ’22 wants it; the ’22 will want it if backbenchers overwhelmingly demand it; and if a leader expects to lose such a vote, they’ll resign before it happens. As much a threat as a process, the mechanism may never need to be invoked. A leadership election is, equally, a process that can be used as a threat. In a crisis, and if a particular candidate emerges as the obvious favourite among Tory MPs, other candidates may be prevailed upon to withdraw. This is what happened when Theresa May was declared leader. There was no need to ballot the national membership because only one name remained. The leader must never again be imposed upon the parliamentary party by the grassroots Tory membership. I think there is now a substantial consensus among Tory MPs (and some support from the grassroots too) for such a proposition. Liz Truss was backed in the first parliamentary ballot by only 50 Tory MPs but because these ballots were designed to produce two names to put before members, there was never a final run-off among MPs between Truss and Rishi Sunak. It is certain, however, that Sunak would have been overwhelmingly the MPs’ favourite. Given (1) how close the result of the Conservative membership ballot turned out to be, (2) the absence of any indication to activists of how little support Truss truly commanded among her colleagues, and (3) the parade of senior and respected Conservative MPs recommending Truss to the grassroots (because they wanted jobs and misleading polls had predicted a big win for her) . . . given all this, it’s possible Sunak could have won, even among the grassroots. What has changed since then? Truss and her chancellor have imploded, her MPs have lost whatever faith some had in her, the government and the Bank of England are at war, the economy has moved close to a cliff’s edge, everything now depends on confidence, Sunak has been proved right in all his warnings and the country is now in desperate need of a prime minister and chancellor competent to win back financial trust. This is not the Westminster bubble, it’s the alarmed talk at every voter’s breakfast table. Truss should resign and withdraw, and the person Tory MPs wanted in the first place should replace her at once, with no more ballots, hustings or hoopla, and set about restoring order. Then sterling will rise, borrowing forecasts will fall, pressure on the Bank of England for breathtaking hikes in interest rates will abate, mortgage lenders will calm down and we’ll be able to breathe again. All this is within the grasp of the 1922 Committee, if it becomes clear the parliamentary party demands it. The components of such an operation are all there. But, with many ministers and backbenchers in a blind funk, who is to co-ordinate them? It cannot be Sunak. His instinct must surely be to wait quietly for the call. But somebody does need to provide a discreet conduit for that call. Tory backbenchers don’t all talk to each other and parliament isn’t even sitting. There will be more than 300 lonesome souls out there, sleepless in the small hours, wondering how many others are thinking what they’re thinking. A shadow whipping operation is needed to assemble a consensus and tell the chief whip and the chairman of the 1922 Committee. Both must learn that Kwasi Kwarteng and Truss will not get their mini-budget through parliament without amendments that kick away the foundations of their ideology; that ministers will not get away with cutting welfare benefits to fund tax cuts; and that any leadership bid by Boris Johnson, who has always favoured Truss because she would fail (and over whose head the verdict of the Commons privileges committee hangs) will never again be indulged by colleagues. And — lest Truss digs in — the nuclear option of an early general election must be on the table, but only as a backstop whose very threat should preclude its use. There must be people privately prepared to blow up their own government rather than let it disintegrate slowly and take the rest of the country with it. I know how wretched backbenchers will be feeling. “Please God, secure my salary at least for the next two years.” They should know that to dig in is to abandon hope. Yet there is still hope. A different Tory government could win — Keir Starmer may be riding high but Nick Clegg rode equally high. And even if (more likely) Sunak lost a 2024 election, he could avoid the almost unimaginable rout Trussonomics threatens, so more backbenchers would keep their seats. All is not yet lost for 2024 but if they can’t cut themselves free of Truss and Kwarteng, all soon will be. For once, self-interest, principle and the national interest all light a path ahead for government backbenchers. Otherwise, there is only darkness: for self, for party and for country. Courage is required.
-
@MiketheSnow said in British Politics:
Well they've made their money
Depends when they bought and sold. If they bet on Gilt yields rising or the Pound falling they'd have caught a bath.
-
That Parris is an irrelevant prick, desperately trying to remain relevant.
-
@antipodean said in British Politics:
Done to protect Pension funds with risky hedging strategies from what I've been told. Pension managers haven't factored in risks from anything but small rises in interest rates and gilt yields - despite being warned for some time.
-
@Catogrande said in British Politics:
That Parris is an irrelevant prick, desperately trying to remain relevant.
The Stephen Jones of political correspondents.
British Politics