Labour isn't working - Thread 4

[TheNuthatch]

A chat thread for those who don't like this Labour government.

Previous thread:
www.mumsnet.com/talk/_chat/5333471-labour-isnt-working-thread-3

Employers’ appetite for hiring falls to a 13-year low

www.thetimes.com/article/7606f870-e617-4491-b25b-c6d817b952f6?shareToken=701c27af0cb2f72bb824a8d0ade7810f

😢

Yep, one of my dc in that cohort too. There is no work for them. Thanks Rachel.

Bloomberg have an article on their website saying the same. Testimony from loads of top CEOs not happy with this government. Those of us with smaller companies just cant afford the hire people.
Woe betide if Reeves goes after business in the budget.

Good job they had all those growth creating policies! And the surveys before Trump has another go on tariffs…if I was young I’d be voting for a new deal for young people, the opportunity there is wide open.

Labour is increasingly becoming the party of the public sector. I see doctors are asking for a bigger payrise. The smugness last year that Labour 'had sorted' the doctors' strike. As if they would not be back the next year threatening to strike again ...

@Katypp Alistair Campbell said at the time he thought they should’ve tied that pay rise deal to reform metrics and not just given it…this was all predicted, and of course they’ve set a bad precedent too.

competence?

I think the NI increase was the nail in the coffin of my DH's job tbh.
Yet the supporters always say 'if you can't afford a small NI hike/increase in NMW/enhanced workers' rights/green tariffs etc etc you should not be in business'
They haven't got a clue how small businesses work.

Yes, you're right, and sorry again about your DH.

Labour have made it both more expensive and heightened the risk of employing people. Of course this will cause businesses to react by reducing headcount. It's not rocket science.

I’ve had hours cut because of these NI rises and so have many others. The company made a profit last year , but clearly they found it easier to blame the NI increase. They just passed it on to their staff instead I suppose :( Those on benefits have found it hard as they have to adjust their claims and so on too.

Sorry to hear that @the80sweregreat - our possible salary increases are halved - there are plenty of effects of this awful NI policy. They knew too, it would have bad effects.

Anyone with young adult dc will be worried about the Labour effect on jobs. And just generally.

We’re seeing the real impacts on this thread and I’m so sorry people are feeling it 😢

Luckily I can absorb the cut back in wages ( I only work a few hours a day ) but many can’t and now looking for other positions. I’ll still be cutting back on things , but it’s worse for my colleagues with small children or those on UC and so on. It’s probably a situation that is across so many businesses at the moment though.

Good morning.

RIP Lord Tebbit who has died at the age of 94. We don't make them like that anymore.

State visit from Macron today. Let's hope his wife doesn't attack his face this time as he disembarks.
The Times reporting that Starmer wants a one in - one out deal on immigrants with the French. It doesn't sound like much of a deterrent.
'The boats' is not a big issue in France so Macron can politically afford to give concessions, but at what cost? We're already paying them a fortune.

Sky reporting that Rayner acted as a 'human shield' for Reeves at a meeting with the PLP yesterday. Reeves didn't speak, looked downbeat and also took her emotional support sister to the meeting with her. Rayner has become much more powerful after the rebellion.

I bet. She must have been a strong influence on what happened.

Absolutely - lurch to the left incoming…

This week's YouGov polling:

Reform - 26 (-)
Labour - 24 (-)
Tories - 16 (-1)
LD - 15 (-1)
Gr - 11 (+1)

More in Common polling for Wales:

Reform - 28
Plaid - 26
Labour - 23
Con - 10

Of those who voted labour at last year's GE, less than half would do so again.

.....and junior doctors have voted to go on strike....again.

Oof re strike that’ll dent Labour.

This is bad for them already. Latest approval rating.

YouGov found just 13 per cent approve of the administration's performance, the worst level yet detected by the polling firm.

Some 67 per cent had a negative view, with the net score of minus 54 equalling the previous nadir from March.

Mn still has pro Labour posters talking about how well it’s doing.

Emotional support sister - really?

Fiscal-risks-and-sustainability-report-July-2025.pdf https://share.google/6UVV1lAxKGpfoSca7

152 pages of how fucked our economic landscape is looking from the OBR. I haven't got the stomach for it and too lazy to read it so this is chatgpt's 100 word summary ...

The UK’s public finances face acute risks from soaring debt (94 % of GDP), costly pensions driven by the “triple‑lock,” climate change, and volatile bonds. A possible 3 °C global temperature rise could shrink GDP by ~8 % by the 2070s and increase debt by another 74 % of GDP . Fiscal headroom is minimal, with the Chancellor potentially needing over £20 bn in tax rises or spending cuts this autumn . Transitioning to net‑zero may cost ~£800 bn by 2050, whereas a warmer world could escalate public debt beyond 270 % of GDP . The report underscores the urgent need for structural fiscal reforms.

Tldr..
No money now, no money for later 😬

@Upstartledthis was brilliantly done. I just laughed in post office queue.

Sounds bleak but your post was top

@Upstartled
Thanks for the summary, I don't have time to read the full report.
That's quite terrifying. The £20bn plus black hole is a figure being put forward from many sources now.
I don't see any politicians (of any party) capable of addressing the problems we face. They just don't have the calibre anymore imo. Labour are quite clearly hell bent on making things worse. The tories are still off on their travels, and the lib dems? Enough said about them.
Reform? Let's see.

Yeah, I mean, it was always going to be bad to build headroom off the back of cuts that you couldn't put through, assumptions that businesses wouldn't cut staff numbers in the face of punitive policy and just hope that people would continue to work as hard when taxation would bite harder. It's like they have no idea about people.

Also, is it just me that reads 2050 like it's the fuuuttture, complete with flying skateboards and a Jetson's cleaning robot, forgetting that I'll have just made it to pensioner age should one still exist and this is the gloomy landscape of my late life?