If Labour came into power

Tax tax and tax. Still after the fiasco of the Tories writing off billions of pounds of Covid fraud and billions spent on unusable protection equipment I dont think Labour could waste any more than the Tories have.

....wouldn't say.......

I read them @lumpofcomfort. But I would say that I thought much thought had been expended writing them.

Not be Boris

I'd like to think that any government would rework and simplify the tax system so thoroughly that it became almost impossible (and not advantageous) to play the system at all.

In reality, unless most of the world's 190 nations are fully committed to the idea, then someone, somewhere is going to whisper, Psst, there's a better option this way.

If

Of you genuinely want to know what they stand for, I put some policy links upthread.

Which will be a good outcome, surely. Not many of us middle class folk have many billionaire friends. I may be the exception, but I don't have any. So I wear several layers of clothing and rant at DH when he leaves doors and windows open unnecessarily.

All I know is they don't know what a woman is. And for that I won't trust them with anything.

I hope they would
-tax the right people (ie not increase NI which disproportionately impacts poor people)

• fund education to a manageable level

-improve the treatment of disabled children and adults

I’m realistic about where I’m at, for now. Doesn’t mean I don’t want to change it once my son is in education and I can get out to work/pursue further education myself.

I've given this some thought and the only clearly stated Labour policy I can remember I'd get rid of student loans and tbh I'm not sure that was Labour. It's shocking that all Labour seems to stand for us name calling and virtue signalling I genuinely don't know what they would do.

@XingMing

No offence taken.

My thermostat is at 15, and me and my son are wearing our jumpers inside already. We’re coping well for now, who knows what will happen when the energy prices go up.

Circling back to the topic I think the Tory government and the media have been too happy to blame the supposed “lazy poor” while turning a blind eye to corruption and millionaires/billionaires getting away with murder. My hope is that now the middle classes are feeling more of the pinch, they won’t be putting up with it much longer.

I suppose I am saying I can't imagine defining myself as the "lower" classes. I have hope and optimism that work and education would be a path to middle class. Although most of MN seems to think that's a dire fate.

@Mumoblue, I wasn't offering sympathy, I was trying to be realistic. And I have no wish to treat you or anyone else as less important. If my post sounded like that I apologise wholeheartedly. If you can't work, then I think your basic human needs should be met, respectfully and politely. But if you want the thermostat set at 27C rather than 19, I might quibble that you should buy a warm jumper and wear it.

@XingMing I think very few of us want to stay where we are, and -now I don’t mean this unkindly- I don’t want your sympathy, or anyone else’s. I just don’t want to be treated like scum of the earth because circumstances have meant I can’t work right now.

But I agree, education is important.

@Mumoblue, If the lower classes want to continue to be the lower classes, then I can't find a great deal of sympathy.

However, if there's some ambition to do a little or a lot better than the parents generation, then the best advice is still to force your children through the educational mill... because only after coming out the other side will your children have choices available. Do not tell DD that she can be a Disney princess by doing dance and drama A levels, or DS that a sport science GCSE is going to turn him into Mo Salah. Teach them about the work and effort that goes into success. Old chestnut from an old teacher, possibly from Bill Gates: the only place that success comes before work is in a dictionary.

Which has b-all to do with Labour policy.

Frankly it's hard to imagine worse than the current shower.

BBC News - New income tax powers for Wales to come into force
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-politics-47787228

Can the Labour government in Wales raise taxes to spend more on Health or Education?

Yes, they now have tax raising powers.

Well they tend to be less openly hostile towards the lower classes.

Honestly at this point I’d vote for a llama in a fez over the Tories.
They’ve been in power for a long long time and they have completely and utterly shit the bed. Poverty, food banks, “jobs for mates”, the Prime Ministers ridiculous comments on everything, corruption and coronavirus parties- do any of you SERIOUSLY think they’re doing a good job??!

I've not seen anything in their recent manifestos that was any different, so I honestly don't know.

I'd like to see better support for the NHS, a period of stability for education, a shortened but wholly committed-to list of levelling up measures related to education & early years. A limited rise in corporation tax - probably 1%.

Removal of VAT from domestic heating bills up to a max of £1500 p.a. I don't see the 'value-add' in preventing your granny from freezing.

Safe spaces for women re-established everywhere immediately, and scrapping all the ridiculous when-is-a-woman-not-a-woman crap.

Only have to look at London with labour mayor to see how bad it'll be. Pay per mile charging for drivers, mismanging funds, bad at crime. .with knife crime on the rise. Money spent on pointless vanity projects.

Well, for a start, I think they would focus on the business of actually governing the country rather than trying to defend the indefensible. That would be a good start.

Then I think that they would implement policies that would benefit the most vulnerable in our society rather than lining the pockets of their rich friends. That would also be progress.

I think they would invest in public services rather than just talking about vague notions of "levelling up" that don't appear to have any substance behind them.

I am not particularly enthused by the current state of the labour party, and I am not happy with their stance on women/trans issues, but I do think that they would be a million times better than the shit show that we have in government right now.

And yes, Keir Starmer lacks charisma but at least he has integrity. That counts for a lot in my book.