To think no one can SERIOUSLY want Starmer to go now, it’s media created instability designed to damage the UK.

What starter has done is far worse than Boris party gate. Yet all Labour supporters now don’t like to enforce their own rules in their leader and expect the press to give an easy time ! The media give Labour much less pressure than tories ! Mainstream media is left wing biased so they’ve given him nothing like what they do more right wing parties

yet another example of the total shambles of two tier treatment this country has

@Papyrophile

Our sub-contractors, like the welders and the specialist machinists we depend on - because we can't afford to have them all on our payroll - are also ageing out of employment. The loss of technical skill should be scaring politicians into sleepless nights

I have several clients who are in a similar position. Some doing niche/unique work who are wanting to retire but there is no one able to take over or sell their business to. I agree that politicians should be having sleepless nights about this. But, of course, they don't care about small business and self employed. Neither the Tories nor Labour care about small businesses even though they employ a huge proportion of the country's workforce. Politicians just prefer to "offshore" everything to the Far East and hope that the shit won't hit the fan on their watch when the supply chains are ruined by wars, shipping blockages, pipeline cuts, etc.

She didn’t exactly keep quiet about it.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ce3gd22x3xgo?app-referrer=deep-link

To bore on, my DH has a tiny engineering company. We clean, repair, service and remanufacture heat transfer equipment, mostly in the marine industry. We don't have a production line. There isn't a product in a box on a shelf waiting for a customer to buy it. Our customers find us, and bring their problem item to us. What we offer is 35 years of experience and knowledge, and the skills and tooling to fix their problems, quickly. So their brewing becomes more efficient, or their bio-power gen plant works at 100% again. But we are all getting old, and the skills and knowledge will be lost unless there's some political commitment to saving little businesses.

Our sub-contractors, like the welders and the specialist machinists we depend on - because we can't afford to have them all on our payroll - are also ageing out of employment. The loss of technical skill should be scaring politicians into sleepless nights. I edited this post to add the second paragraph.

Small businesses make quick decisions. They don't affect government policy or influence it. If there is work they can do profitably, they take it; if there's a decent amount, they consider taking on extra hands, possibly, or they pay overtime. But this Government is terrifying the living daylights out of small businesses.

I am glad that Starmer didn't commit us to Trump's idiotic escapade against Iran. Internationally I think he is doing well. But his Chancellor and his back benches, and there are lots of them, most with threadbare support which is why they are cacking themselves ahead of May 7.... I have no time for them at all.

It is all very lovely to say you want the best for everyone. Given that 60% or thereabouts of the population work for small businesses, surely it is a no brainer that you make life a little easier for small companies with a bit of compliance easing on H&S or compliance regulations. Otherwise, the person who does the work all day on the tools gets in, eats, and then starts completing government paperwork. Reasonable to expect this of a decent sized company that can afford to pay an admin pro but to demand the same level of detail from a company that employs five or 10 people and the occasional subbie is overkill.

A little lighter on the cost of employing people would boost the economy quickly. RR's first budget was an absolute hammer blow to SMEs and to part time jobs.

Maybe, maybe not.

You don’t know that, despite your Blair whataboutery.

Badenoch was all in favour of UK involvement. And remained so until it became obvious just how unpopular that would be.

I loathe people who fail to understand how miraculously lucky they are in global terms to have been born in the UK. It's the most tone deaf privileged position to call the UK a "shit country". Try living in DRC, or Afghanistan, or North Korea or one of the countries where infant mortality is 70 times our rate, or where there's no functioning education system, or where there is war.

This is not "a shit country". You have no freaking idea.

I also remember the IMF fiasco. Too many labour voters don't look back through their party records.

So?

Just because Blair did does not mean every other PM will.

But why not? It’s not like people are holding back, you sound interested enough to want to know, it’s in so many places.

Tony Blair had access to all the information and went in regardless, in order to suck up to Bush.

Badenoch was all for deploying our armed forces until it became clear just how unpopular the move would be.

Maybe, maybe not.

i suppose she would have had access to more classified information if she’d been PM and she might have come to a different conclusion in that case.

I think that's one of the few things he actually did well.

Though he could perhaps have been even clearer from start.

Badenoch or Farage we'd be up to our necks in it and US wouldn't thank us.

If Badenoch had been the PM we'd have been dragged into Trump's stupid war.

Read my posts again. Who in particular have i moaned about? I have moaned about the process. I have moaned about the corruption. I have moaned about the sleeze.

I dont like any of the politicians which i why i dont vote. I dont like the system which is why i dont vote. Any vote i would give would end up being a tactical vote and i absolutely 100% disagree with doing that.

It’s not. He’ll only go if Labour MPs think they’re more likely to win the next GE with someone else.

I agree with this view.

It’s more to do with Labour wanting to survive. If the local elections are very bad for them due to Starmer they might consider him going.

Sir Kier is beginning to align more closely with our European neighbours. Hence, the panic to try and get rid of him. Trust me.

If you don’t vote you lose the right to moan about the elected politicians.