I regret voting Labour - they've let women down

Did they include halving growth in that? OBR taking it from 2% to 1%

Magic wand or not it can’t be what they were after when they pledged ‘fastest growth in G7’.

They're doing the opposite.

user6209817643 said "I’m old enough to remember previous labour governments and they’ve always made a hash of the economy " - not true.

PFI originated with the tories although labour were daft enough to continue it.

We'll have to wait and see how Starmer's government works out. They havent even had a year yet and dont have a magic wand to reverse years of decline.

The Blair Labour government's first few term saw debt fall and they actually had a surplus on tax for a few years.

They were very enthusiastic about PFI which avoided using taxes and debt to pay for projects in the public sector. How's that working out?
https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/insight-and-analysis/blogs/unhealthy-end-looms-private-finance-initiative

Blair was a while back. We have Starmer’s gov now with his and Reeves’ decisions. Which seem to be stalling growth and ending in more cuts.

The Blair Labour government's first few term saw debt fall and they actually had a surplus on tax for a few years. Bailing out the banks put debt up again and if the Tories hadnt sold the government share to their mates at bargain prices that debt could have been reduced.

People seem to be ok with debt but it costs. Debt servicing is more than the defence budget.

It’s a shitshow. I’m old enough to remember previous labour governments and they’ve always made a hash of the economy but this feels a different level of incompetence. I’m starting to wonder if the conspiracy theories that the WEF are in charge and they are selling all our assets to Blackrock and the like are true! Interesting times indeed…

As for the pensioner bashing, most pensioners pay tax and are not solely reliant on the state pension which is one of the lowest in Europe. A pensioner in Spain gets double. Most of the pensioners are hanging onto their homes in case they need them to fund a care home which is thousands of pounds.

The debt is not sustainable though. Are people agreed on that. Unfortunately taxing the rich doesn't work. They just hide their money or take off to places like Dubai. They're leaving in droves apparently. Labour had just collided with reality.

25% of pensioners are millionaires.
That’s a meaningless claim in this context. It’s based on the value of pension pots and on the ludicrously bloated price of housing in this country.

Today’s pensioners had a chance to buy before property prices started spiralling upwards. If they sold up they, like everyone else, would have to pay an equally inflated price to live somewhere else.

The pension pots they paid into during their working lives aren’t exactly disposable income either, as people who have them rely on the pension pot for their regular income. UK state pensions are among the lowest in Europe, compared with cost of living.

fullfact.org/online/pensioner-millionaire-households/

Maybe, but people have been saying that for as long as I can remember, and it hasn't happened yet.

UK debt.
https://www.itv.com/news/2025-03-21/uk-facing-hike-in-debt-costs-oecd-says-in-headache-for-reeves
One of these days, a UK Government will default on the debt. In practical terms, that means the banks close and the Government steals everyone's savings, public servants do not get paid and there is hyper inflation with people preferring to use the dollar to buy goods.

Take stress off the school system by making Flexi and home schooling easier for families that are able to provide it.

Clarify that the female sex exists as it's own class in law, and single sex exemptions are still enforceable.

Two very easy things right there.

Not crashed the economy, raised costs for employers and lie about absolutely everything! Those 3 things would have been a start.

Not tried to wipe out growth and all the cuts that come with that

Whereas of course, what they should have done was...

Pensioners are accused of being Tory voters. It's because they don't easily forget the dire state of the country in the mid to late seventies under Labour which had energy blackouts owing to miners strikes, endless strikes by other unions and the IMF being called in to bail the country out. The unions were controlled by Moscow to bring the country down. No sooner than being voted in, this Labour Government gave above inflation pay rises to the unions- train drivers etc. That was 10 billion in one go. Borrowing currently on £130 billion a year. Mr Brown introduced tax credits and housing benefit. No doubt this was well intentioned but it just encourages landlords to jack up prices and employers to keep wages low.

The Labour Party have been able to con voters for years that they're the champions of the working class. They were able to set up the post war welfare state after their election with borrowed money from the US. That's right, the "evil imperialist Yanks" funded it with money we only recently paid off. At one moment, the loan was imperilled as the FBI and CIA thought the Labour Party and Unions were thoroughly infiltrated by Stalinists - true. In 1976 the Labour Chancellor Healey had to call in the IMF for an emergency loan. I shudder to think what would have happened if Corbyn had won the election. They are morons when it comes to managing finances.

Mention that on MN at one point and you'd get shouted down or called a Tory bot.

<a class="break-all" href="https://www.google.com/url?q=www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/comment/article-14237235/Labours-stagnant-economics-looks-set-send-bond-yields-higher-Liz-Truss-ALEX-BRUMMER.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/comment/article-14237235/amp/Labours-stagnant-economics-looks-set-send-bond-yields-higher-Liz-Truss-ALEX-BRUMMER.html

www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-01-09/uk-bond-turmoil-gives-labour-nightmare-of-britain-s-1976-debt-crisis

https://www.economist.com/britain/2025/01/09/why-have-britains-bond-yields-jumped-sharply

They been letting everyone down when it comes to the health service for years in Wales.

https://on.ft.com/4kMH9WT

I don't think the Bond Markets have moved against RR as drastically as they did against Truss. But as she’s borrowing more she’s breaking her own fiscal rules that she set. She will have to make spending cuts and raise taxes.

They also did that with RR fyi. By the measures that Labour accused Truss of crashing the economy, they also did!

The Government don't give you anything. They borrow money from the Bond Markets who decide if you have a favourable interest rate or not. If they don't like a Governments policies they'll bring them down like they did with Liz Truss. How long did that take? A couple of weeks at the most. Obviously Reeves has seen numbers that have spooked her which is why she's looking to make cuts in public spending.