If Starmer and Reeves fuck this budget, Labour will be out of power for ANOTHER generation.

[Ozgirl76]

I was hopeful when Labour came into power - I hoped a calm sensible bunch of economic policies that would help to level things out a bit was on the cards and given that they had so long to prepare, I assumed they would spring into action and at least have some plans.

But now I’m just reading more articles about the huge swing towards Reform and I can’t believe it’s coming to this.

I actually live in Australia but I run a business in the U.K. and we have just had a second term of a very boring and sensible labour government over here who aren’t fixing things yet but they aren’t actively making things worse and I just think, it is possible to have a Labour government who don’t actively hate the richer people, but also are trying to work towards a more equal society.

What do you think is causing the main swing towards the right? Is it all the immigration stuff? Surely that can’t be everything?

I find it all very scary actually. I detest this awful government and Starmer is just an embarrassment.

I'm scared because I don't know what the alterative is.

I'm scared that Reform will get in and it looks more and more likely.
On the one hand I'd like another election soon, but on the other if an election was called now racist Reform would get in.

the only thing I am in awe of is the THICK SKIN this lot have.

Imagine going to work everyday and doing literally everything wrong, having most of your team / company telling you are insanely incompetent, making a fool of yourself constantly, failing on every target you’ve ever been set, changing your mind constantly on things that just yesterday you pronounced yourself as being confident on (Mandelson) and then….gettting up the next day to continue.

It’s pretty impressive tbh

NI increase in UK doesn’t explain why Youth employment is high in parts of the EU though? it’s more nuanced and complex than that.

Denmark 10-11%
Norway 4-5%
Finland 20.7%
Sweden 23.6%
Spain 20-25%
France 16-17%
Germany 6.5%
UK 13.8%
EU - 14.5%

Norway, Germany and Denmark have policies that help young people get training, apprenticeships, and transition support into work.

Because a large component of left-wing politics in the UK is dishonesty and hypocrisy.

Labour didn’t care, and doesn’t care, about the truth, or about keeping to promises. It lives on sloganeering, mood music and falsehoods.

🎯

From the perspective of someone who engages with government regularly in an organisation representing mostly small manufacturing and construction businesses, there is a positive sea change in dealing with the current administration v the old one.

The Conservatives were not interested in business unless it was a FTSE 100 company, finance or accounting or other services based. Boris Johnson said "Fuck business." They tried to smash the industrial sector and as far as they were concerned, we don't make or build anything in the UK any more. If we did, it just went to the lowest bidder and they didn't care even after Brexit whether public money and government contracts went to an overseas company.

This government has already hugely invested in industry and infrastructure and at last we have an industrial strategy and political stability. Yes, they are inexperienced and have made mistakes but more of it is optics rather than substance.

Whereas David Cameron had six years in office before he led us into the most disastrous decision for our country this century by some way: to hold a referendum on leaving the EU based on a simple majority.

It was always going to be a rough ride after 14 years of mismanagement, incompetence, corruption, ideological running down of public services, smashing the state secondary school system with Academies, massively increased national debt, huge political instability, being made a laughing stock of Europe and the world and hugely increased legal and illegal immigration.

And now journalists and self-appointed windbags are bored with stability and five minutes into office the mostly right wing media are gunning for general elections, reshuffles, riots on the streets, and drama that they have had for the last ten years or more and are giving so much airtime to fascist, racist arseholes who would ruin this country completely and depart for another one without so much as a by your leave.

Don't be fooled by the easy words and glib solutions of fascists. We've been here before in Europe: learn from history. And if you want people who are either totally inexperienced, incompetent, narcissistic, wholly unfit for political office or all of the above, look no further than Reform.

I think there’s still some who tell them they’re doing well and buy into the lies and gaslighting. It’s bizarre but you can see with some posts on here how they can get into a place with people telling them it’s ok.

This govt is awful.

Sneaky, inciting division and incompetent. Country on its knees.

People will vote Reform out of sheer frustration.

If I had a choice of Reform coming into office right away, I’d say yes to it. Starmer and Reeves absolutely and openly hate the bulk of the net contributors.

People are emigrating. Not just rich people, but more kind of solid/dependable people who are fed up of being taken for a ride. And young people who might not yet have got money/property etc, but are highly skilled, fresh out of medical school or similar.

every day Starmer and Reeves are in office, we become worse off. And if they go and are replaced by left extremists from their party, things will be even worse.

All of this voukd apply to Labour except exchange smashing the independent school sector:

" mismanagement, incompetence, corruption, ideological running down of public services, smashing the state secondary school system with Academies, massively increased national debt, huge political instability, being made a laughing stock of Europe and the world and hugely increased legal and illegal immigration"

Well said.

Which Reform policies do you like, are basing your vote on?

That’s my whole point. People will vote reform without knowing a single policy. Because this govt is so awful.

NI doesn’t help employment here, can you see that?

Out of interest, which countries are solid/dependable people who are fed up of being taken for a ride going to not be taken for a ride? As far as I can tell, all similar countries to us in terms of development are facing very similar issues. And some of them I might consider such as France and Italy already have their own version of far right fuckwits in charge or threatening to be.

Just making a plan to make sure I'm gone by 2029 if the fascists take over. I will not be paying for one single iota of their policies nor for the benefits of all the people voting for them. All the even ever so slightly left leaning or centrist even slightly right wing higher earners will clear out if Farage gets in or anyone similar. If it looks like Labour are on the way out, please let their last act be to rejoin the EU or join the EEA and reinstate freedom of movement so we can all fuck off much more easily. Hope Reform find a magic money tree, good luck otherwise.

Could Jimmy Carr spell Keir though?

Ok

No I haven’t as mentioned in other posts

I like Zia Yusuf

and reform do have some good ideas like raising the threshold at which income tax is payable, raising the VAT threshold for smaller businesses, increasing policing and being much tougher on crime - which has essentially become an everyday part of life.

Youth unemployment rates in Uk
2014 17.1 % Employer NI rate 13.8%
2015 14.9 %
2016 13.3%
2017 12.3 %
2018 11.6%
2019 11.4 %
2020 13.9%
2021 12.4%
2022 10.7 % Employer NI rate 15%
2023 12.0%
2024 14.0 %
2025 13.8%

NI rate was mostly the same at 13.8% apart from 2022 when it rose to 15%

HoC briefing says:
In June to August 2025 the unemployment rate for young people was 14.5%, up from 13.7% from the year before.

So they disagree with your 13.8% figure

Labour just do t have the skillset to govern. They let their liking for spending run riot whilst bringing in spiteful policies against people we hp are better off. E.g. VAT on private education has meant so many DC with SEND are taxied miles to mainstream schools costing the tax payer so much money and their education is poorer too as exhausted from travelling by the time they reach school.

@BurntBroccolidid you see that graph @twistyizzyposted? It’s clear on the drop

😂

If Reform got in yes I think things would look very different. Farage is a businessman first and foremost and would be ruthless about cutting costs and balancing the books as it’s in our economic interests (and that’s putting it lightly) to do this in the long run.

I welcome that.

Headlines For Young People Aged 16-24The ONS have released the latest Labour Market Overview covering the months of April 2025 – June 2025.
Unemployment: Unemployment levels have decreased by 13,000 in the last quarter but increased by 3,000 compared to the same time last year; there are currently 621,000 unemployed young people. The unemployment rate has decreased by 0.3% in the last quarter, bringing it to 13.8%.
Employment: Employment levels have increased by 16,000 in the last quarter but increased and by 161,000 compared to the same time last year; there are currently 3,866,000 employed young people. The employment rate has increased by 0.2% in the last quarter, bringing it to 52%