Can someone explain to me why/how the Labour government has directly made them worse off in the last 15 months?

[MotherofAdults]

Can someone explain to me why/how the Labour government has directly made them worse off in the last 15 months? I see this claim a lot on these pages, but I don't understand why. Sorry if I sound stupid, I am just trying to get clear.

I totally understand that the cost of living keeps going up - that inflation keeps rising (3.5-3.8%?) and that mortgage interest remains relatively high, but I don't understand why or how this is the fault of the current government? What have/haven't they done? Are people angry that they haven't curbed inflation? What should they be doing?

If we could avoid mentioning the things that didn't actually happen (eg the Winter Fuel Allowence cuts) and speculation about what the next budget will do (doubling of council tax, rise in minimum wage etc), that would be really helpful. I am looking for actual changes made by this that have directly affected your financial situation since Labour got it.

Are you really? Then why repost that message?

Not if it was legislated properly at the outset.

PFI in and of itself is not a bad thing if it is managed properly and performance expectations are set correctly - there are absolutely some things that the private sector can do better than the public sector - they key is that the public sector retains the purse strings, the contracts and kpi requirements are robust and the consequences for not meeting standards are severe.

I say that as someone who has worked their whole adult life in the public sector!

Difference age and behaviour prolife to the UK.

How well did it work for their elderly?

When are you going to stop blaming the Tories. Labour have been in power for a year and frankly nothing has improved.

@FellowSuffereroftheAbsurd - no the below mid 40s do have a different experience due to generation rent, less stable job market, far less likely to have any hope of final salary pension schemes. It is quite a generational rift where the Gen X has straddled and sympathised with the Boomers. You will see soon enough. Things will change quite drastically in the next 10 years as they gain more power. Also, the active choice to not have children etc etc.

To quote Teresa May - there's no magic money trees.

By the way I don’t disagree - I have seen how it works elsewhere - I don’t however think that’s what Farage would go for - he will want a system that maximises backhanders, things that benefit the wealthy backers - happy to be proved wrong but I don’t see it - the fact that Tice is in Dubai tells me how their minds work

Under the current tax system someone on £150,000 pays £48,675 in tax. Someone on £200,000 pays £71,175.

Under my initial proposal of a 60% higher tax band and increased thresholds, the person on £150,000 would pay £41,000 tax and have £7675 more in their pocket. The person on £200,000 would pay around the same as they do now (would be £175 a year better off).

£200,000 and below covers more than 99% of the population (including a decent chunk of the 1%, the earnings threshold for which are £160,000).

So do I think over 99% of the population would be happy paying less tax - yes I do! And as for the ones who want to move, theu can fill their boots - but they would have to give up their British Citizenship if they dont want to pay tax.

I am on zero hours contracts. Since the change of NI payable by businesses came in my work has dried up. 4 hour shifts are now the norm and given it is anything between £8-£19.50 to get to places by public transport I can spend 4 hours+ commuting and 4 hours at work and come out with barely £30 at the most after tax and NI.

Before this shit show I was getting 7-15 hour days and had my choice of work
I could afford to take a couple days off each week.
Now the longest shifts are now 10 hours but they are only through one or two companies and only for certain days.
I would be booked for 2-3 days to do a certain job. Now I have to do the same work in one day as that is all the business now allocates
We can arrive at work expecting a 7 hour shift and then told to go home after 4 or 5 hours as management are always trying to save money.
The atmosphere at work is pretty toxic where ever you go now and tempers are running high when regularly now people are getting told that the shift they confirmed has been cut short. I arrived at work for a 7 hour shift and was told to go home after 3.5 hours. When you have turned down a 6 hour job in favour of this job, to get sent home after 3.5 hours and having spent money on transport I came out with £21.82 for 4 hours spent commuting and 3.5 hours of work

I notice that Labour are talking about bringing in new laws to protect zero hours workers

All I can ask is that they stop.

Labours policies of trying to help people by “punishing” the people providing the jobs, the roof over people’s heads etc is never going to end well if they can’t put themselves into the mind of an employer or landlord facing these policies and not understanding the options opened to them to avoid added expenses

Well that’s strange - the Tory’s managed to drag out the narrative of ‘mess of the last government’ for their first full 5 years - and did so very very frequently -

They’ve absolutely fucked farmers over a barrel. But most of the general public doesn’t care, because they are too stupid to have any comprehension of food security or standards.

Food production affects all of us. The awareness of this has been reduced because we don’t think beyond supermarket shelves, we look at a plastic wrapped box and forget it grew in a field.

This isn’t just about rich Land Rover driving families moaning about losing a field, or Jeremy clarkson not writing off tax. Farming affects everyone.

Anything can work well if done right, but the government's track record is poor.

The waste in the public sector is eye watering.

Better off not hampering growth via policies then as Labour have.

God no - Farage absolutely would bring in a US style system!

I think Labour should bring in the German / French style system (or a Labour / LibDem / Green alliance). Not only is it a good system, but it would take some of the wind out of Reform's sails!

If she wants to increase the tax I pay to support the NHS I’ll be fine with that.

What are you doing about productivity?

Increase in minimum wage impacted my previous company and I was made redundant along with a number of others. In another job now thank goodness but stressful times.

The way they’ve teased changes to stamp duty and house selling has stagnated the market, meaning we can’t sell our house as planned and like many people we’re waiting to see what the impact of that will be.

Then the general cost of living failure to improve etc. stuff. Also have friends who’ve been heavily impacted by the farming inheritance issues.

She and Starmer will be happy with that. They should reach out and do a campaign where you and others who want to pay more are targeted.

That is nothing to do with Employers NI though as I said below, employers NI us fully offset able to a business - it is everything to do with a crap barely functioning business model and there are lots of these kinds of businesses around- particularly in ‘middle men’ services -and I also suspect you are doing a job too that really doesn’t work for you in terms of travelling around etc - and yep I do fully get you need to work and the choice may not be there , so am genuinely sorry it’s not great -

Many people have a very short-sighted view of things. They welcome the restrictions placed on landlords but don't realise this will get many landlords to sell up reducing the supply of rental properties and therefore sending rents up.

They welcome increases in charges (taxes) on businesses not realising this will get them to increase their prices and therefore hitting customers. Same with increases in wages. Businesses will either pass these increases on customers, or go bust. The latter will mean people will lose their jobs and the money these businesses were making will not go back into the economy.

They welcome higher taxes for higher earners not realising these people will find other ways to reduce their future tax bills.

VAT on private school fees means the places freed up by students going to private schools will be taken by these students when their parents take them out of private schools.

And so on. Most people welcoming these changes have not looked into the ramifications of these measures.

I am glad you are in a position to be able to afford it. Many other peoples private pensions are more much modest.

Nothing as yet.

Things that have made me poorer,

The financial crash
Brexit
Freezing tax bands - fiscal drag
Removing the universal element of child benefit.

I don't understand how your comment relates to what I said?

I'm saying Labour need to be more radical - I am disappointed in them so far and I think RR is a terrible Chancellor.

But I'd still rather have Labour than the Tories or Reform because while their overarching policy message is muddled, they are, on the ground, starting to improve and invest in services - its just too damn slow!

Farage would struggle to do much. He will find himself limited by his own MPs - they won’t be a loyal bunch with a shared political ideology. They will be a bunch of individuals, which in many ways I think it a good thing, but when you want to get stuff done in government you will find it difficult.

The Attlee part at the end. The problem with that line is Labour are actively hammering growth. Tax and borrowing hikes that are this detrimental won’t relate to much other than more pain because it squeezes the economy.