Labour manifesto launch

I'm so cynical about the Labour party manifesto

We all KNOW they will junk half of their manifesto commitments as soon as possible. Does anyone remember the golden rule? Does anyone remember the referendum on voting?

And the commitments they don't just abandon, they twist and distort. Gordon Brown pledged not to increase taxes. So he didn't actually increase income taxes, he just removed credits (from pension funds, approximate cost to workers around 2% of their income) or increased NIC (that's not a tax doncha know).

So why would I bother to read something that is full of lies and distortions then, policy? Tell me that.

of course, they haven't put in their bright idea about making patients re-register with their GP every five years. Because it'll be a right royal pain in the bum. But the government - and I'm ruddy sure the Tories, too - think it will be a way of shaking up the primary care market, so GP practices can't just sit there with their registered populations. Typical bloody policy wonk bollocks that will waste lots of time and money but hey, it'll introduce a market for patients, and obviously that'll be A Good Thing for McKinsey's and all their friends who want to get into providing primary care...

It's all stuff that's already going on. But with no extra money to spend on the NHS, what else could they say? Apart from 'oh gosh, we've realised there's no need to spend billions on expensive management consultants' perhaps... (Actually it'd be nice if they would publish that top secret report from McKinsey's.)

actually the manifesto is VERY careful not to talk about spending any money that isn't already in the budget - so no election give-away like governments of all colours usually announce.

A lot of the health stuff is already going on, a bit firmed up maybe. 'Successful' foundation trusts are already taking over 'poorly performing' trusts, for instance.

You say all that like you haven't noticed that Labour led us into and not out of this recession. Gordon could not have stopped the global meltdown. But he could have (and should have!) better prepared us for it.

This recession is not over. No one has yet led us out. Labour handed incredible amounts of money over to the banks... and got virtually nothing in return. Gordon has not once taken responsibility for his actions. And he wants to keep on spending.

Labour is lying to us. They are planning cuts and they won't tell us what they are because we won't vote for them if they do.

If you want more debt, vote for Labour. I you want to get this problem under control before it gets worse, vote Conservative.

Strix reason to vote for them is that they are doing a reasonable job at getting us out of the worst economic crisis this country has faced in my lifetime and I for one believe they can continue to do that if we support them on May 6th. I can't support a Cameron/Osborne team with the same measure of confidence. I think they are playing games in this election and I dread them playing fast and loose with our economy.

Our banking system nearly collapsed and the seeds of a recovery are planted. Why jeapardise that because people fancy a change? I know it always happens after one or two terms of a government. It's like a new outfit for spring, very tempting but when you think about it, you don't really need anything new at all, it's all there in the wardrobe (if it still fits of course). Now there's a new thread...

Seems to me that manifesto talks about how they are going to spend money. But, really, we all know they are planning to cut it. So, obviously, they think we are too stupid to read between the line... no surprise there.

What the working people of this country need are lower taxes so we can still afford to go to work and pay our taxes.

I think they better offer the people who are supporting the country a reason to vote for them. But, it looks unlikely. SO everyone repeat after me... "Good morning Prime Minister Cameron"

I swear if you asked 10 people about the lisbon treaty (except rabid Eurosceptics)they'd wonder what you were on about. Everyone accepted that Lisbon merely amended previous treaties and that a referendum was not needed, only the Irish Republic held one in the whole of Europe. Can we talk about what really matters to people?

GeorginaWorsley they're not Labour MPs anymore, so they're on their own. It is absolutely baffling though (a) why they would apply and (b) why they would get it, and Alistair Darling has said as much.

Could he tell us what Labour will do about their MP's claiming legal aid to fight expenses charges?

Yeah, weve seen browns performance when it comes to honoring his election promises. All talk, no action. He'll tell you what ever you want to hear then as soon as hes in power it'll all be scrapped.

Remember the promise of a refendum on the Lisbon Treaty?

Browns election manifesto isnt worth the paper its printed on, just like all his other broken election promises and lies.

Sorry too much swearing, can you tell it made me cross?

Think NI been done to death? All the retailers (and the rest) should not have signed the bloody letter because most of their staff not on over 20k. They're just so well paid they forgot anyone gets paid less than 20k. James Caan off Dragon's Den said they were all making a fuss over nothing (on Newsnight, whilst all the signatories were keeping their heads down). Bloody brilliant PR by the Tories and their business friends, bloody rubbish tax rise by them.

And those people will never earn more than 20k because there won't be any jobs for them. Let's keep them in the gutter.

There's lots of promises and not much explaination of how it's all paid for isn't there?

Lots beneath the headlines that I like here. Spose the reason they haven't done everything in 12-13 yrs is that you can't as a government achieve everything in a 4 year term, it's impossible. There have to be priorities. Plus, things change. Wars and terrorism happen. Big financial crises happen. Political crises happen. Some people thought the time spent on banning fox hunting was a waste, personally I don't. But if the Government hadn't been doing that, they could have done something else instead. It's a question of priorities and promises, to the public and to their Party.

Loads in the personal finance arena that I agree with, support for credit unions, limits on loan sharks etc. High speed rail link to the north west - yee ha! The Tories promised this as part of Eurotunnel and then it just disappeared. Free vote for 16 yrs olds to get the vote is popular with my DD (she could vote at the next election if this went through, asked if she would get a day off school to vote, ha!) Right to recall MPs naughty with money. Right for crime victims to choose restorative justice and get an apology. More free nursery places for 2 yrs olds (remember when we didn't get free nursery for anyone? I do when my DD was born Labour wasn't in power). Not sure about parents changing management of schools, my kids in good schools so never wanted to change it. Like pledges in health service for people seeking treatment.

Sorry if anyone caught me being grouchy last night on the "what public services to cut" thread, am better with specifics. Thanks Policywonk but did actually have a look at the quick crammer on the BBC website, much simpler for the simpletons amongst us

Its the Mumsnet manifesto

The thing that really scares me is the time target for cancer results.

When they introduced a 4 hour maximum waiting time for A&E, hospitals kept people waiting in ambulances because that delayed the clock starting. When they set targets for hospital finances we got scandals like Stafford hospital where the books balanced but the death rates soared.

Now deadlines for cancer tests. It's just too dangerous an area to have idiot politicians of any party scoring political points. I've had one of those waits and frankly I'd rather it was two days late but accurate, rather than within the deadline but wrong.

They should focus on the quality of doctors and keep out of the diagnosis.