To think few lives have improved due to Labour’s policies

The huge energy and housing costs this country have are clearly the most urgent issue to sort out now.
As far as NHS is concerned, I think waiting lists are coming down but it is still a near third world experience having to use the NHS. Which it should not be. Having to suffer to use a service when you already feel ill is utterly demoralising both for the patients and the staff. It is not like this in most other European countries. Also state education, it should not be some miserable experience for children and a postcode lottery.

What is interesting about universities is that some students are bringing claims for failure to deliver during Covid. Same should apply during strikes. Unis have a responsibility to deliver, so does the NHS and state education. None of it is free, we are all paying dearly through our taxes.

NI increases, Pension schemes that employers now have to pay into for employees (which never gets mentioned), Min wage increases, reduction in capital gains tax, general tax increases, therefore every single supplier we deal with has to increase their prices, which means we also have to put our prices up.
Which means you the customer pays more.

They've also done fuck all about the energy companies absolutely fucking companies over. Our energy costs went from £13k a year to £33k a year.
We are a small business with 8 staff. We are in manufacturing and our energy use is exactly the same every day.

So no, not just one thing.

Yes - proven by the economy growing less than forecasted in the final quarter of 2025.

It’s ok @treeowlthe pp responded it didn’t need your ! addition.

More Labour bullsh*t.

Even Starmer and Labour have uttered you can’t get growth by increasing taxes so they should know it’s their policies, again, that are making things worse.

The one on the post I responded to. Clearly highlights just how little Labour has achieved to date but I think we were all aware of that anyway. 'On track' is meaningless. Cold hard data speak the truth - like todays data on rising unemployment for example. Truly woeful.

What happened to fully funded fully costed? That was a key campaigning promise.

People are stupid though, so here we are.

True, but those of us who can see that Farage has nothing but snake oil to offer are being even more stupid if we don't learn the lessons of recent (Brexit) history. People living in run-down areas who have few prospects, have not seen the sunlit uplands promised by trickle-down economics, cannot get a dentist or see a GP and perceive that their standards of living have eroded as a direct consequence of immigration, and that those same immigrants are unwilling to assimilate culturally whilst being given advantages, will not give a tinker's cuss if they cause untold damage to the UK's economy, electoral system, international standing, or anything else. They just want a "fuck you all" button to press at the GE, which tbf is the only credible thing that Reform has to offer.

There are no easy solutions to our complex problems, unfortunately. I would vote for any party that actually spoke the truth about this and came up with a credible plan, even an unpalatable one. I suspect I am very much in the minority, however!

The trouble is that they introduce a policy in what seems a very ill thought out way and very quickly decide to change their minds about it
Realistically speaking someone is going to have to be prepared to be unpopular and introduce policies that are not liked but may work to improve things in the long term and be prepared to stick at it

No it doesn't. It presents an excellent picture. Most promises are achieved or on track. What tracker did you view?!

EU students coming here though and staying here and working here is surely a good thing. Especially if their governments funded their education?

Well, I can’t find anyone who feels their life has improved, any more than I could have under the last Tory lot.

All hopeless in my view, but perhaps someone, somewhere feels their life is better.

Do you usually vote Labour

What a bizarre response to your posts@Bagsintheboot!

If anyone is expecting any party to sweep in and pave the streets with gold and turn Britain into a land of milk and honey, they are going to be severely disappointed.

People are stupid though, so here we are.

@GivingUpFinally unless it's tweaked it benefited young EU students more than ours though ?

Many more came here then went the other way

Veery true. But hopefully they will being money to spend on housing and everything that comes with international living. It does also open doors for UK students as well. I believe it brought in around £240m per year into the economy. Surely that is better than nothing or raising taxes?

Long term investment opportunities and hopefully the ability to retain the brighter minds that come over for study. We need immigrants especially skilled ones and ones who have been educated here and become assimilated early to our culture is surely a positive when looking at potential. It also gives the UK a better relationship with the EU which is needed long term.

Did you work at William Hill, the betting shop? Maybe you could explain a little more.

But not if employers decide to lay off, or simply not replace leavers.
Where's the good in having extra rights if it means there is no job?
The ONS reported this morning that unemployment has hit a 5-year high. Well done Starmer and Reeves.
Source.

No, I'm a floating voter. In my lifetime I have voted Tory, Lib Dem, Labour, and once for an independent candidate. I have no particular attachment to any political party.

The "actual policies impacting jobs" are implemented because the current govt is trying to a) raise taxes and b) boost productivity, in an environment that is entirely unconducive to the latter - see my previous posts.

It's like trying to turn the Titanic. It's not going to work.

Resident doctors have been on strike three times under Labour - to date, with further action planned. What we are awaiting is a detailed cost breakdown on exactly how much tax payers money has been frittered on private service providers to cover the periods of strike action.

We're all doooomed, Captain Mainwaring!

This is aside from actual policies impacting jobs. Do you usually vote Labour? There seems to be posts to on forgetting the impact of policy rn

Unfortunately yes. Telling people what they want to hear is much easier than admitting everything is shit and we're all going to have to tighten our belts and pull together for a while.

Reform (or any party) can't fix an ageing population. They can't fix a global economic growth paradigm that has expanded beyond the capability of the human population to sustain it. They can't fix the reliance we have on dwindling finite resources (fracking is a sticking plaster). They can't boost the NHS back to what it should be - the number of beds has more than halved since the 80s - at least not overnight and not at great expense.

If anyone is expecting any party to sweep in and pave the streets with gold and turn Britain into a land of milk and honey, they are going to be severely disappointed.

Well we’ve suddenly got lots of nhs dentists available (our local one is advertising every week) so I guess plenty of people with manky teeth might feel better soon.

Erasmus is a poisoned chalis coming at a time of huge financial stress on our students and on our universities

The reason it was scraped and not kept along with Brexit was because it was a poor scheme re our pov.

Our universities are far more desirable than those across Europe with exceptions

So far more students came to us from Europe and they pay their fees to their home country.

Maybe the new arrangement will be worked so we are better off ? 580 million is a lot of money for this when students on plan a2 loans are drowning in debt and misery though and uni staff are striking.