Rachel Reeves - potential successor?

Exactly. No one in the Labour Party seems to have any clue about consequences, never mind unintended consequences of their policies. It's quite staggering actually

So What! She and others like her in the Labour Party take such a narrow view when confronted by a problem. They cannot imagine how other people live who are not in that world.
She and PM may be clever but they are not wise.

My cat would be a better option
Or Diane Abbot that would be hilarious

I wish I was young enough to emigrate!

There's an article in the Telegraph today which says that the Budget provides. ..

"There is an extra £675bn bill to cover the cost of renewing existing borrowing in the form of government loans, known as gilts.

This is on top of £628bn increased government spending over the next five years.

Together, these two bills amount to a “debt mountain” of £1.3tn. The extra borrowing will take the national debt to £3.53tn – which equates to £50,840 for every man, woman and child in the country."

So RR has lied again when she says she is reducing debt?

and now the obr is saying due to the huge increase in welfare, which is going to grow enormously she may need to come back for more taxes.

Where and when did the OBR say that? I don’t suppose there’s any chance of a link?

So she’s surprised? I don’t think any of them thought it as they never thought the obr would whistle blow.

and now the obr is saying due to the huge increase in welfare, which is going to grow enormously she may need to come back for more taxes.

becaude once you offer folks this kind of money to not work and have babies, you’re going to find a shit ton of people taking the offer up.

I have just watched Lisa Nandy saying she didn't think people would think they were misled...

I'm now thinking rather wistfully about the Conservatives. Out of the frying pan into the fire. We thought we had escaped Corbyn but forgot Keir Starmer was always Corbyn's man.

It's only going to get worse when RR and KS go, too. Plenty more Labour nutters waiting in the wings.

I really do not engage in the “Tories were worse” narrative. I care about where we are today and how we are going to improve growth and productivity in this country in order provide better living standards.

This x 1000000000

@dwordle, I have nothing but patience. I know and understand that any recovery is going to be slow and hard.

I really do not engage in the “Tories were worse” narrative. I care about where we are today and how we are going to improve growth and productivity in this country in order provide better living standards.

Unfortunately, I do not have faith in this government. I believe in its desire to be a successful government but I do not see any plans for reform of the NHS, in Education, the welfare system is growing unsustainably and we are not building at the rate we need to.

The OBR, giving evidence before today’s Treasury Select Committee said nothing in the budget will provide significant growth and that raising taxes by way of threshold freezes does not increase national wealth and that pro growth measures were to small to be significant also.

The only thing we can have is patience, because there is not much real evidence of anything else.

Exactly, and the billionaires are mobile. They can and do leave. And critically the billionaires are the growth and wealth creators. They create the jobs. That we all rely on. We need them to stay. Because when they go, so do people’s livelyhoods.

So my heart bleeds for the billionaires
Billionnaires don't live in £5m homes. They live in £100m homes and can find £7.5k down the back of the sofa. They have taxed middle income people and people who can't afford a hike in the CoL and made it more difficult of people who need entry level jobs but can't find them.

Oh give over, the economy has basically tanked since Labour took over, yes it will take many years to improve, as we’ve 4 more years of Labour before someone else can take over and start to fix the shit show. Unemployment is rising, businesses can’t afford all the taxes, jobs are being lost in swathes, the increases to min wage is making it worse, the cost passed on to the consumers, who are being taxed to the hilt. And no one is denying we need a welfare state, but we are saying there needs to be an incentive to work, not giving unemployed people tens of thousands of pounds.

the way starmer and reeves are talking you’d think we had kids begging on the streets, and it’s Dickensian out there, it’s not, sure it exists but not to the level they are trying to portray to justify their actions.

and they lied. She had 4 billion of head room, she lied, he lied, so they could raise more taxes and give it to welfare recipients, not taxing rhe rich, they compounded the col crisis, compounded the unemployment issue, and they’ve done fuck all to sort the nhs out.

so yes it will take time, but for the simple reason we need to wait for someone else to come in and fix the damage they are inflicting on us.

Maybe you should have some patience because things take many years to improve. The country has returned to industrial growth with manufacturing output increasing for the first time in 10 years.

It's been a rough year for many but look at things like Jaguar Land Rover and the cyber attack that halted production...that's not the governments fault. Look at what Trump has done to world trade....it's caused a complete global shift and put a lot of pressure on prices.

We have family in America and right now things are tough. The cost of living, which traditionally was low, is now higher than Europe. So despite all the low taxes your food shop will be higher across the pond than it is here.

I'm a heating engineer and it's brisk and no shortage of work. I've always paid my apprentices well above the minimum wage. My year three apprentices typically earn £43,000 a year....they earn there money and it's only right that's paid to them. So this idea we should pay young people less boils my piss, because it sounds like an excuse to exploit.

Despite all the doom and gloom this country should hold it's head up high and be proud of it's welfare system, the fact it's changed from the dark years of Thatcher where young people were exploited and forced onto YTS for 27 quid a week. We voted a government in that promised to make the country fairer and this is what they are doing.

So my heart bleeds for the billionaires, property tycoons turning homes into HMOs, the final salary pension brigade who do nothing but moan about how bad things are when in fact they have had the skin off the rice pudding for decades. People need to accept that the services we receive cost pounds and pennies and they ain't free. So the choice is have a welfare system that is fit for purpose or end up like America or India where the poorest are destitute.

We need ten years of stability now not chaos that will come from Farage. Look Brexit, David Cameron, George Osborne, Tony Blair, Gordon Brown....all the heavy weights warned of falling living standards.....Hesaltine warned of catastrophic consequences. Yet people honestly think Farage hold the answers. Even a dog can link pain with the abuser....come on people wake up.

I didn’t actually say that, I quoted you!

My point was that the Labour Party did not win
the general election with a super massive turnout, which challenges the idea that Labour are the party of the masses, in
contrast to - quote @Annettebee “the
conservative party is for a small percentage of people in this country”.

Call it semantics!

MNLurker1345 You say that the “Conservative Party is for a small percentage of people in this country” but Labour got a huge majority on one of the lowest turnouts in decades.

Sorry I don't understand your point.
I think that the Tories and their policies only benefit a minority of people in the UK.

It’s not really about who reads what paper — it’s about the fact that Britain has been in decline for a long time.

Austerity didn’t fix things and neither will this Labour government.

All they have put forward so far, are stealth taxes and welfare expansion.

You say that the “Conservative Party is for a small percentage of people in this country” but Labour got a huge majority on one of the lowest turnouts in decades.

The Tories have put the country in the state it's it. Austerity is their favourite thing to use to cut public spending.
But people read The Daily mail, The Sun, The Telegraph etc and lap up their propaganda. The Conservative Party is for a small percentage of people in this country but with the use of the media they convince you to work against your best interests.

I don’t think small businesses would share their view. Particularly hospitality.

Well at least someone is having a good day - I
admire your optimism, even if the rest of us are living in an very different country right now.

I think RR is a compulsory liar. She lied on her CV, lied in the November 4th speak and lied to her own cabinet. Her own cabinet are briefing against her and Starmer. He is as bad as she is because he knew there was no black hole but signed off her speech saying there was one. They both have to go. They have deliberately misled the money markets. People have drawn down their pensions, some even left the country because of her lies. The pair have to go so Labour can rebuild.

I don't care how much they pay people on welfare as long as they can afford to live. Why are people so upset about welfare increases when we've all had inflation busting pay rises over the last 5 years.

Industry has returned to growth despite all the doom mongers. Labour policy is working and key manifesto policy to reduce child poverty.... again another step closer.

Farage on the other hand would see children destitute, educational outcomes reduced, reduced min wage, reduced holidays, reduced workers rights.....

I'll vote Labour next time

They aren’t with the Tories, either, given they are more unpopular than they have ever been!

Which page is that on?