Labour government

I think the only hope for us is if things like Education and the National Health Service have guaranteed Ring fenced budgets and Central Government Politicians cannot interfere in the same way as they have to date. I think it is completely unacceptable that they can use Education and Health for political football in the way that they do. That is probably the most urgent thing to sort out. Let them focus on taxation and foreign affairs primarily but essential services need to be separated out as much as possible.

See ‘smash the gangs’

I think the genie is well and truly out of the bottle with this one but a large part of our problem is that politicians promise simple solutions to complex problems...flog them with simple slogans ( bloody Boris and his three| words..Get Brexit Done. Oven Ready Deal etc) and there's no attempt to explain things properly or in depth. The media/press encourage this.

I didn't vote for him because, having observed his behaviour on women's rights, I didn't think he could be trusted. I so wish we had a better calibre of politicians.

@dubsie

"It's correct but it's not, the problem is populism, the promise of everything for nothing. Labour never promised that...they promised to rebuild social services like the NHS.... unfortunately that costs money and so do roads and adult social care and education. Labour did say that certain groups would be taxed more however, due to the mess the last lot left the pledge has unfortunately been broken and we are all facing some cuts and some tax increases. "

I'm sorry but all the political parties are the same - if they were honest with the voters then the voters would never vote for them. I'm not saying Labour are worse than the others but they are certainly no different.

Labour certainly did promise not to raise taxes on ordinary people. Instead they raised NI taxes on companies which as another poster described is a tax on employability rather than profitability.

Labour certainly has increased Government debt which in turn leads to higher interest payments and less money for Government services. The Government now spends as much on interest as it does on education.

Blaming teachers n the last lot is what every new Government does often with justification but it doesn't change where we are.

Populism is simply dumbed down democracy focusing on meaningless sound bites "let's take back control " make America great again" or "for the many not the few", "workers of the world unite".

Sounds great but doesn't really mean anything and both left and right are guilty of it.

It is clear what policies are needed to reverse the managed economic decline. It's just no one would ever vote for a party with those policies.

It's correct but it's not, the problem is populism, the promise of everything for nothing. Labour never promised that...they promised to rebuild social services like the NHS.... unfortunately that costs money and so do roads and adult social care and education. Labour did say that certain groups would be taxed more however, due to the mess the last lot left the pledge has unfortunately been broken and we are all facing some cuts and some tax increases.

It's people like Trump and Farage that make huge promises of tax cuts without saying what the costs will be. Those are the ones you need to be weary of ... because you can't have good public services and low taxes ... America is a good example of this ...no healthcare and poor education for those that can't afford the fees....if that's how you want to go then fair enough vote for him but the vast majority value our NHS, our schools and libraries...

There is no magic wand...it will take time, money and patience. The right wingers were calling for Starmer to resign from day one....give Labour 10 years then decide ... don't be e foolish and vote something that will mean a continuous decline and growing wealth gap.

@Araminta1003

"The question for me is how do we maintain democracy whilst at the same time having Governments who actually do think long term."

The answer is inherently you can't. Democracy in the UK is an election every 5 years so political parties only think in 5 year timespans - of course they can try and think longer term it's just that they won't elected for a second term.

Equally most voters are only interested in what policies benefit them (or don't harm them) in the short term,not what is in their and the country's long term interests.

I keep coming back to the quote from Alexander Tytler (Lord Woodhouselee) in the early 1800s:

"A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government. A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover that they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy, which is always followed by a dictatorship."

We are currently close to fiscal collapse.

@Araminta1003

"At the end of the day, those in charge need to understand the global financial markets and not make rash decisions. The market is not the electorate - you can’t spin stuff, it’s always priced in."

You especially can't ignore the markets when the UK debt is £2.8 trillion or roughly 100% of GDP.

Somehow I don't think the voters fully understand this.

Same

I do find it interesting how many suggest we shouldn't be demonising the Right but are happy to do that when they are talking about the left... just an observation and not saying that you do that by the way.

Tommy Robinson - for example - isn't right, he's far right and people like him and the party in Germany DO deserve to be derided. There are plenty of examples (particularly in Germany) demonstrating what can happen when you just accept some of their dangerous rhetoric. Even if people try and claim it's just free speech.

I also really do not think demonising the Right whether here or in Germany helps at all. They just have a difference of opinion as to how to protect the country as opposed to the left way of thinking. I am not sure there is any right or wrong, it is just a different approach to things. As a liberal centrist, I find both approaches quite frightening. I do acknowledge though that climate change will inevitably lead to a huge movement of people across the globe and scarcity of resources so either way, there has to be a long term plan for that. The question for me is how do we maintain democracy whilst at the same time having Governments who actually do think long term.

“I can’t see how any political party solving the issues we have.
Over 2 trillion in debt? Public services have already been massively cut so how can austerity realistically be imposed? There’s nothing to cut back .
How can any party fix the issues we have ?”

I am not sure long term, but I think the Western model of welfare state is collapsing all around us now and it is becoming more like Asia/US etc, where you eat what you earn, with less fall back on the state. Because it is such a global world now the countries attracting the young and economically efficient will win out either way. So the weak will have to be supported by those in their own families and communities, rather than the state. Because the more support the state attempts to give, the less they end up having because of attrition of capital and people. So the big state is becoming smaller. And it ties in with politics as well - the right is also trying to restrict movement of people and their capital, at the same time as contracting the state. Really all Western Governments should get together and come up with a joint plan. The power of the trilionaires like Musk is really quite worrying for all of us, regardless of where we sit on the political spectrum.

That only 10 are prepared to resign doesn't mean there aren't more in the party.

“It's clear from the fact 10 of Reform'm councillors intend to resign because Farage doesn't support Tommy Robinson where the UKIP / BNP / EDL support went.
Imagine wanting to be part of a party whose councillors and members are Tommy Robinson fans.”

Is that not a good thing for Reform? They want that lot out anyway and establish themselves as a main stream party. It is exactly what is happening?

It's clear from the fact 10 of Reform'm councillors intend to resign because Farage doesn't support Tommy Robinson where the UKIP / BNP / EDL support went.

Imagine wanting to be part of a party whose councillors and members are Tommy Robinson fans.

Yes, I voted for him and would again, but I’m not a populist and wouldn’t really put any merit on things like popularity polls or TikTok followers for something as serious of governing the country.

@Paul2023

"How can any party fix the issues we have ?"

The solutions are clear enough (see Argentina) but no party is ever going to get elected by promising to tax more and spend less.

I can’t see how any political party solving the issues we have.

Over 2 trillion in debt? Public services have already been massively cut so how can austerity realistically be imposed? There’s nothing to cut back .

How can any party fix the issues we have ?

Liz Truss didn’t win an election, she came in after Boris Johnson had to resign. Remember? Less of a mandate, arguably, less patience from the electorate. Starmer has a big majority- it’s different in terms of optics. He can of course reshuffle his Cabinet, if he wants to.

But Liz Truss was learning on the job too and I don't remember such largesse extended to her.
In fact, most ministers, of both parties, were all learning on the job at some point.

I mean one can try and spin it as evil capitalist interference, foreign malign influencers and capitalist spread betters - but not sure who exactly is going to believe that? At the end of the day, those in charge need to understand the global financial markets and not make rash decisions. The market is not the electorate - you can’t spin stuff, it’s always priced in.

“And guess who sold of most of our gas storage. Clue, it wasn't Keir Starmer.”

Reeves will have to do austerity 2 -aka welfare cuts - or sell off assets too somehow. Government borrowing costs are too high. They got it wrong too. Taxation is a further disincentive on growth so they can’t do much more of that.

The news just keeps coming:

www.theguardian.com/money/2025/jan/10/uk-debt-market-sell-off-threatens-to-push-up-mortgage-costs