Labour isn't working - Thread 15

[TheNuthatch]

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

The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.

Previous thread
https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/_chat/5430868-labour-isnt-working-thread-14?utm_campaign=thread&utm_medium=share

I fully accept that the Tories gave up - after the Brexit fiasco with both May and Johnson, as well as the handling of the pandemic (I shudder to think how a Corbyn-led government would have fared), but they had 14 years in, Labour have been mired in shit from Day One.

One gets the distinct sense that many of them know they are a one-term administration, and are simply determined to scorch earth.

To your final point, yes - agreed - too many ‘career’ politicians - not enough breadth and depth of experience outside of politics.

Labour had 14 years to sit and think up a plan. The only plan they devised was how to lie to obtain power.

I can understand why people wanted better services. They have been creaking for a long time. Ever since the global crash we've been in a tough economic landscape. I don't think we had enough room for Rishi to promise bold changes. His, it is what it is, let's nurture the small shoots of growth and not rock the boat manifesto didn't seem very inspiring - until you see it up close to this current outlook and then it seems infinitely better.

Good point.

Yes I agree.
Even I fell for some of it. I was genuinely looking forward to an improved NHS when Labour won, and a decent growth strategy as promised.

100%

I can barely rewatch the election debates, when Sunak called out Starmer, time after time.

Starmer is a fucking liar.

Ik it’s awful. So many complicit in those lies.

Prudent to call out everything that passes his lips as bullshit (some of which he probably believes).

Same for Reeves and the others.

It’s all bullshit.

Seconded: Starmer is a fucking liar

I’ve been reading along for months but this is my first post on this thread. I feel compelled by the simplicity and power of @Nolletimiere comment to agree with it.

I hope that Starmer is looking at Milei’s mid-term landslide with horror.

Thanks, apologies for the expletives.

Nice, welcome.

I mean nice, not ironically

Not sure why we’re sending Billions to other countries when we are massively in debt ourselves

i think we’ve recently Billions to :

• Pakistan to help with their birth control
• Gaza to help put the country back together

🤨

Oh definitely and I want to say thank you to all posters who kindly replied to me without criticising my past voting habits. I will be following closely to these threads as finding them highly informative.

Again - apologies for being ignorant - but economically are we in a worse position than the austerity years? To me that is when I felt my most “poor” since the days when I actually was poor!

Oh, for sure, in some ways. Debt is higher, inflation is higher, cost of living is higher. Productivity has remained on its arse so it has compounded with time. Our growth in 2010 was 2.1%...so far in 2025 it has been a net 0.

Hi Murphy 🙂

I think if the conservatives had gotten in, things would not have noticeably improved. Life would have been pretty much the same for you.

A lot of people voted Labour, feeling exhausted and hoping a change would be for the better surely. Unfortunately, I think our situation has been very bad for a long while. We have never recovered from the crash.

It takes real skill to deliver this mediocre economic performance while balancing so many political ideas without the place breaking. Labour completely underestimated how difficult it would be. So now, we have gone from managing to hold the line to a free fall.

The only way to improve opportunities and living standards is through growth. We do not have a pro growth consensus. There are a lot of forces who prefer stasis.

That is my penny’s worth.

Welcome to the thread!

economically are we in a worse position than the austerity years?

Yes, and I will happily detail it.

BTW, none of us will criticise you for your historical voting habits - we are not like some on other threads.

Yes if you look at the long run issues - our income per head hasn’t kept pace since 2008’s financial crash. We’ve got a layer effect of bad economic issues, labour’s latest policies are the icing on a very bad cake.

I voted Labour too - it was a straight fight between them and the SNP, policy wise the main difference for Scotland is SNP want Indy and I decided that was the worst outcome 😂

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2025/10/27/public-sector-pay-growing-30pc-faster-than-private/

‘Public sector pay growth is now outpacing the private sector by one-third as Rachel Reeves struggles to get spending under control ahead of the Budget.

Increased spending on doctors and teachers means pay in the public sector surged by 6pc in September, more than one-third faster than a 4.4pc increase in the private sector, according to figures from jobs site Adzuna.’

I think teachers, doctors, nurses etc pay should increase. These people are vital to pur society. And I value them very much.

What Shouldn’t happen is an attack on the private sector.

What alsoshouldn’t happen is paying fcking train drivers more, whilst they strike for the fact their mate got sacked, they don’t like working 5 days a week, and or the water cooler in the staff room stopped working.

Is there any single person in this gvt who understands economics? Rhetorical question.

https://archive.ph/dvAEq

Yes. I see it every day. It is maybe why I am becoming so disenfranchised, hit, sworn at, spat at, threatened with knives, being told they will ruin my life. Primary aged children. Yet we are expected fix it all. Free toast and it’s all our fault.

Some of these parents are clearing more than my salary in state support. How is that right? Go to uni, get a masters and for what? I do know this as there are open discussions on how much they get and the key words to use for DLA. Generations of people claiming. I am not a benefit hater or a bot, heck, I’ve claimed them in the past. However, there are people out there who don’t know any other way and absolutely know how to rinse the system. The DLA paperwork coming in frequently shows that. I don’t know why it’s so taboo to raise that. It’s why I’m against abolishing the two child cap. This money won’t go to the children. It will go on tattoos, booze and drugs. I see it all the time. If we are going to be a huge nanny state, why not give it to schools? We are now not only responsible for breakfast but also brushing teeth. Abolishing the two child cap will not help these children. It’s lazy parenting.

We are killing aspiration and the state is slowly taking over. Get people hooked. We will tell you how to feed your children and provide basic care like tooth brushing. It is so dystopian.

These families will vote for Labour because it’s all they know. They don’t care where the free money comes from. Many people in the welfare and public sector bubble vote Labour because they don’t care where the money comes from. As long as it keeps rolling in, no matter the cost. All the while, everyone is poorer in real terms.

Another thread. Wow! Blink and you miss it!😂

Honestly, I can comment about what I've seen in the decline in state education. My kids all went to the same school. My older two are now university age. The school was great when they went there. My youngest is in year 10 and it is declining. Most of his teachers are supply. The good ones have left. They have sent out letters literally begging for money. It is so sad to see. This has been a really good school for a while and now it is definitely going down hill.

Two of mine are architects. One self employed. Well paid above market rates. He and his partner put in 70 odd hour weeks. Evenings and weekends. Whereas the staff 9-5 Monday to Friday. Their hourly rate is actually higher with zero responsibility for the company.

The other one doing his masters worked for an employer last three years. His boss eventually agreed to a pay rise 7p an hour above minimum wage. Come April the minimum wage will be £12.70. no matter what you do. So my son will be back on minimum wage with anyone in the office.

He's very fond of his boss but we've said that he has to move on, that's if there's any vacancies elsewhere.

Thank god he's doing side jobs for his brother when he can.

Did anyone catch this? PJ may be on the money about RR doing a combo of gambling on improving circumstances with a future income tax rise in 2028, the ‘fair’ changes to partnerships, council tax
on higher bands. This is fairly scathing.

Rachel Reeves must choose between political or economic disaster

www.thetimes.com/article/62e00dec-e13f-4425-a308-c745058a2c5a?shareToken=e5f34ac80f927e8884a2d8d01455e500

Quick glance at social media at lunchtime

Labour have put out a video saying that breakfast club will save parents £450 a month. Sorry I can't link to it. It is on X.

Now I realised there's a couple of hours childcare factored into that - but £450 a month? I thought people were paying £2 a day for breakfast club?

If I'm right, then when they thought of doing a video, scripted it, filmed it and got it ready to distribute on social media - at no point did anyone ask if the figure was correct?

Ahead of his speech at 2pm, the Reform UK leader has said: “I will offer a solution to the failing grooming gangs inquiry.”

Last week, it emerged that the national inquiry into group-based child sexual exploitation is set to be delayed for months after the front-runner to be its chairman quit.

There were no candidates left in the running after Jim Gamble, a former police officer and the lead choice, and Annie Hudson, a former director of children’s services for Lambeth council, both withdrew.

Five grooming gang victims quit the advisory panel, all saying they wanted the inquiry to be led by a judge, something Downing Street has ruled out