Thread 16 Starmer - Mad World

[DuncinToffee]

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https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/_chat/5251589-thread-15-starmer-nolite-te-bastardes-carborundorum?page=40&reply=141533067

I agree. She’s laser focused on taking money from people she considers wealthy but aren’t really. So many petty swipes.

I suppose what I am getting at is a concern that Reeves having a low growth economy is now resorting to some pretty old ideas that have been in the Treasury for a while. Heathrow is one. The Oxford Cambridge corridor is another. These are the more simple things you can do and there will have been good reasons why the Tories did not do them. My point is they are not new.

My hope is that Reeves came into her role with some vision of her own which sits apart from HMT. The number of Chancellors who gave up and expected HMT to generate plans is legion. And they usually fail to change anything beyond fiddling with tax bands, making small changes to allowances for benefits and producing the obligatory "rabbit out of the hat" for the media each year.

PMQs

Badenoch just praised Trump and Argentinia's president Milei ( the chainsaw guy) for their approach towards regulations

She also got told off by the speaker Mr Speaker for false accusations and unparliamentary language.

You disagreeing with it doesn’t mean it’s scrabbling. It just means you disagree. I don’t think it’s a good idea either (though I don’t know much about it) but I don’t think means anything g other than I disagree.

I liked, not a lawyer, not a leader but a lettuce.

Someone in No 10 has a dry wit

None of it is petty. Characterising policy as ‘envious’ or ‘petty’ is a bit daft really. You disagree and I understand some of the reasons why you disagree. Fine. But don’t suggest it’s spiteful. It’s just stuff you disagree with.

Missed it again! (PMQs). I need to set myself an alarm.

@bombastix old ideas aren’t necessarily bad ones, and aren’t necessarily not part of a strategy.

I lurk on these threads and have been on MN for a looong time. Lately I’ve seen a change in the posters and can’t believe how right wing the website has become.

whereas this used to be my default for browsing/wasting time, I’m now on Threads or Bluesky. TBH, I’m thinking of coming off MN altogether.

But the incoming government made rather grand promises in this area. These are due about now but we could be looking at a revised budget in March?

I hope not. But Reeves announced three things today which are old thinking.

There is a lot of anticipation by UK business given the amount of engagement that was had.

It would not be a very good outcome if Reeves stated in another six months that she was engaging business further. She does not have as much time as she may think. I do feel for her because it is probably the worst job in Whitehall at the moment. And Starmer has defended her well. But people are waiting on her. Privately they probably expected more than this.

Chat with us on these threads @PawPrintsInMyPansies ! I love your name, btw.

Wrt Heathrow 3rd runway, Thomas Woldbye, chief executive of Heathrow in the FT states that the target is to have planning permission by the end of this parliament. That is ambitious, but not undoable,” he said.

I think it is a bad plan.

You're missing the point I'm trying to make. It doesn't have to be all healthy or all processed. Of course cheap sausages are not going to have a high meat content but if someone can only afford cheap sausages then they can add cheap veg to help make the meal healthier.

Chap on the radio just now is saying that the third runway at Heathrow will take 15 years to be operational. 3 villages will "disappear " and part of the motorway will have to be moved to a tunnel under the runway.

Good to see you again mibbelucieachwell

Hope you pop in for a chat PawPrints

The main problem is entrenched ideas that are close to religion.

You can bet there are hundreds of ideas that could grow the economy. Only they won't be ideologically sound.

Many years ago I was co-opted onto a board-employee forum. The one measure which would have immediately boosted productivity by at least 10% was flextime. The one thing the board had that was a red line was ... flextime.

I am reminded of the recurring drugs policy "revolutions" where nothing is off the table .... except anything that could make a difference.

This is when disruptors come into their own. I hate to come over all Cummings, but there is a grain of truth behind their mania.

Hiya!

I think this is a bad idea. It could turn into another money sucking white
elephant. There will be massive resistance and rightly so.

Our NHS is falling apart. As is social care. A third runway is just not a priority.

For God's sake Labour!

Improving the transport links between Oxford - Milton Keynes (logistics centre) - Cambridge makes complete sense to me - as it did when it was suggested years ago.

As we all know east-west connections in this country are shit. So more of this please. Investment in transport is key.

Rachel Reeves does not act in a vacuum.
Economic advisory council anyone?
I hate the misogynistic remarks about her.
@derxa I disagree with you that she deserves brickbats.
The whingeing from Businesses, Farmers, Billionaires who have been asked to cough up a wee bit more is pretty galling when people have been desperately trying to achieve a living wage.
Dale Vince suggests a 2% charge on the very wealthy would give billions back into the UK. Doubt if it would be even missed .
There is not a lot of incentive for young people to go out and work long hours to give it all back in massive rent or mortgage costs, nursery fees , inflated energy and food prices.

Dale Vince🤮 The Labour party donor who has just secured a very large contract from this government.

From the Guardian:

Alex Wickham from Bloomberg says Rachel Reeves’ speech has gone down well with centre-right thinktanks.
Centre-right think tanks are praising Reeves’ speech, while the main complaints come from climate groups on the left.

Perhaps suggests she has begun to make a successful move back to the middle ground of British politics after the budget. And presents a big problem for Kemi Badenoch?

CPS @rcolvile: “The vast bulk of the Chancellor’s speech was hugely welcome”

Britain Remade @samrichardswebb: “For too long, Britain has failed to build the new homes, clean energy infrastructure, and transport links we desperately need. Today’s speech contained concrete steps towards changing that”

IEA@TomClougherty: “The Chancellor is saying all the right things on growth and should be applauded for many of the decisions she has taken today”
^^
Conservative Environment Network @samuelhall0: “These are good market-friendly policies that Conservatives will regret not delivering in government”

Well the Times has had something of a meltdown - admittedly their coverage has been written by the political team rather than the journalists that cover business/economy. They even criticised Labour for not joining the single market which seems a tad hypocritical given their Brexit freedoms bollocks.

The Times are struggling for an angle. Who cares?

Telegraph is still just about supporting "Next Lettuce" as Badenoch shall now be known

@derxa Let's not do the whole Cons. party donors list shall we ? It won't be nice.
Dale Vince donates to other parties too and he believes that ideally, political parties should not be funded this way.

The Labour party and the Tories are just two cheeks on the same arse as far as I’m concerned. We’re just the little people who have to put up with their shit self interested decisions.