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.

Well OP did ask how Labour had made us poorer and that would be the main thing

I value people being productive and happy.

Yes, you have responded. Apologies. But, you didn't actually acknowledge that the things I and many others have pointed out - the tax on employment, energy price cap, increased taxes - have demonstrably made people worse off.

@MotherofAdults Who do you think is better off as a result of Labour being in power?

Not really. Slightly baffled by this response. I can't respond to every post, nor was I thinking about me particularly.

There are clear posts of similarity, which I am trying to think about - VAT on private Schools, business costs and NI (this is a complex one but seems to have reall impact), some inheritance issues. I am not looking for consensus or a ruck.

Good question and I don't know, but the starting point for me is what is worse about Labour than previous governments. Is it actually worse or just more of the same with a differnt party in post. Maybe I should start a thread with that question?

Sorry, I am taking these things on, but just wanting to check which happend since Labour got in or simply haven't changed, and were the same under the last government.

Yes! As markets and businesses are also feeling this way there is no growth which further adds to individuals stress.

So both these points are about how this govenment has presented things and how they feel?

People are also mentioning growth a lot too.

The Labour government changed the rules to dramatically speed up when prisoners can apply to move from closed prisons to open prisons. This means the person who killed my brother will move to an open prison around 3 years earlier than under the previous government. That makes me feel worse off.

Family farm tax has caused massive anxiety and upset where I live to many of my friends and community. I rely on local farmers for jobs to be done/ essential supplies and we are all very worried about what the new regime will mean for our community as the small family farms will not survive it. The increased cost of employment in tax hikes mean my hairdresser is leas viable and more expensive as they don't have a self employed pattern. Tax increases in general and relief removal have had an impact. By far the worst community impact on our young farming community is the farm tax. It is catastrophic for them and very unfair. I don't trust the government to run the country and uncertainty about the autumn budget is affecting a lot of family decisions especially in housing. I also massively resent having a Reform local authority which was a protest vote locally on the farm tax. Hard to explain outside of a rural community how much impact that has had. People feel betrayed and humilitated by it and it has created the mosy political upset I have ever felt in a community.

When the markets feel this way investment drops and cost of borrowing rises. That makes things worse for all of us as lack of investment means less jobs and less taxes and tax rises have to pay for borrowing so not available for spending.

The manifesto was all about growth but so many of their policies have been anti growth. Then they gaslight us all and tell us they are bringing growth.

Second year of pre budget doom and gloom and speculation. That massively affects market and growth as investors trade out of the UK/£.

I think they are all horrible hypocrites with no knowledge of economics.

Brexit destroyed farming. As a country we rely heavily on food imports and have done for centuries.

You sound jealous. Did you want to send your children to a private school but couldn't afford to, so now hate anyone else who does?

Liz Truss springs to mind on the economically illiterate.

That lifestyle was always a choice though. If it’s taken the Labour government implementing some policies you don’t like to make you realise there’s more to life than work that’s quite sad.

"Them vs Us"?

What does that even mean?

I believe that people who are better off in our society (including me and people like me) need to pay more tax in order to improve our public services and support for those who are most vulnerable.

Does that make me them or us from your perspective?

Yes, of course. Is that really the bar though?!

Direct impacts:
no payrise or bonus due to employer NI hike
Hiring freeze across (pretty much) entire industry due to companies not knowing what is coming
VAT on school fees

Which particular policy of hers had an impact do you think? As opposed to the LDI crisis and the reaction of the bank of England to that?

I’m curious about how people think things would have been different if the Tories had got in again. What policies would they have put in place to get the economy growing and mitigate the effects of Brexit?

The cost of living hasn't just gone up in the UK. The UK economy is faring better than our neighbours'.

Don't blame Brexit. Blame the people who brought us it. David Cameron's government was disastrous for the UK.

There is a graph upthread that says that might not be true.