Labour isn't working - Thread 23

[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.

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Yes, that's her; I couldn't recall her name. Thank you.

Same.

I was just reading about that. Reform saying they now have more members.
Labour are despised by everybody I know, even those who traditionally vote Labour. Starmer and co are in a league of their own.

Important voices in the violence against women and girls (VAWG) sector have privately accused ministers of sidelining first-hand expertise and expressed concern that the strategy will not be sufficiently radical to achieve the government’s flagship manifesto promise to halve the rate of VAWG in the UK in a decade.One figure in the sector, comparing the past 18 months with the process before the strategy produced in 2019 by the Conservative government, said: “It is worse than under the Tories. In fact, we were so much better off under the Tories, you could get a meeting, they engaged with you. This whole process has been incredibly haphazard.”Another figure in the sector noted that after the murder of Sarah Everard, the Conservative government reopened a public consultation. “We saw more senior ministers and had more contact with the secretary of state under the last government,” they said.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/dec/12/labour-strategy-tackling-violence-against-women-tories

This is just awful. Why are they failing in the most basic task to make themselves available to these groups? That's beyond the usual Labour incompetence and smacks of being deliberately obstructive.

Has anyone mentioned the R.word yet ?
Recession ?

Yes, and it will be interesting to see who/what Reeves seeks to blame for it.

It’s a nailed on cert that Bailey will cut on the 18th - which Reeves will take credit for, of course, but the negative economic data will really begin to pile up in the new year, so let her credit for that, too.

The thing is, BP is the Minister for Women and Equalities - not that you’d know it.

George Osborne has interviewed our friend Bridget for a Christmas Special of Political Currency, which could be interesting.

Ed has interviewed Ed Davey too.

Can only hope Osborne asked her a few tricky questions!

I don’t see how they can crow about a rate cut due to recession fears - of course they will though!

Having done its best to hobble private schools by slapping VAT on fees, the Government has now turned its attention to free schools, the very institutions created to inject innovation, achievement and parental choice into the education system.

Labour has never been fond of free schools; their strong performance makes the state schools it oversees look poor by comparison. Ofqual’s A-level data underlines this: 31.3 per cent of results at free schools were graded A or above, compared with a state-funded average of 25.2 per cent. More than 80 per cent of grades at free schools were C or above, outperforming the 76 per cent figure across all state-funded centres. Their success has consistently shown what school autonomy and high expectations can achieve, which has long irritated those ideologically wedded to uniformity.

The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill marked Labour’s opening salvo. It sought to strip free schools of autonomy over uniform, curriculum and staffing. Headteachers have warned that imposing such a “one-size-fits-all” approach risks dragging high-performing schools down to the lowest common denominator, with predictable consequences for standards and outcomes.
Now Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson has gone further by blocking their expansion altogether. She has announced a £3bn investment to create specialist places within existing state schools for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities - funded, remarkably, by suspending dozens of planned free schools. Critics point out that this is not a new investment at all but a reallocation that weakens choice while providing no guarantee that councils can deliver better alternatives.

Jeremy Clarkson has become the latest landlord to bar all Labour MPs from entering his pub as part of a backlash against high taxes.

The veteran television presenter had initially banned just Sir Keir Starmer from The Farmer’s Dog when it opened last year.

But now he has decided to add all 404 Labour MPs to the list of those barred from the pub near Burford in the Cotswolds.

However, Clarkson said that Markus Campbell-Savours, the former Labour MP who lost the whip last week after voting against the Government’s plans to tax inherited agricultural land, would still be able to visit his establishment.

@Prometheus78 everything Labour does is reducing choice - especially in education. Choice seems to equal privilege in their minds. Three more years…

I’m almost beginning to feel sorry for this government. The Home Office pushes out a news story about the longest period of no small boat landings for 7 years, Labour supporters duly parrot the story…and a few hours later 160 asylum seekers come to shore in a dinghy. It’s a comedy government.

A former Border Force head said on Sky that the absence of boats was basically because of the weather. And that French interception of dinghies heading for the UK has reduced in the last year.

I actually don’t care very much about small boats as an issue. But I do like a good laugh at this hapless government.

They are truly hopeless but I can’t feel sorry for them, it’s all their own doing.

@DenizenOfAisleOfShame i'm one of those people for whom this is an issue

It's not the first time the government have tried that. I remember an MP talking proudly about it after a period of prolonged wind and rain. I remember thinking of that scene in The Crown - the episode about London smog - initially when Churchill hears about fog, the queen raises her concerns and he says "it is weather, madam" somewhat incredulously. Obviously, in that presumably fictional scene, he was wrong in his lack of concern

But every time an MP makes that kind of comment about boat crossings, I think of that 😂

they cannot genuinely think they will get away with that kind of comment so it's deliberate gaslighting. In a very sinister way.

Crewkerne Gazette attempt at Christmas No 1 - I have mixed feelings about this for a number of reasons and it's certainly not their best

But having released it yesterday, they're already at number four? I don't know how charts work because I only do streaming but apparently they need to get to number one by close of play today or it doesn't count or something.

I think it's 79p to buy on iTunes or Amazon

I'm really impressed, sometimes I can't tell if it's just my online echo chamber that picks up stuff, but they're obviously doing really well!

Oh, it's just awful. The music is just horrendous and the whole -Farage firing snowballs out of his arse is super grim.

You can only assume that anyone who put their hand in their pocket to support that is really dedicated to putting Labour's nose out of joint.

For 79p you could download and just never listen to it as a protest!

I thought it was catchy enough to have you tapping along absentmindedly, but I agree that the snowballs being fired out of the arse are grim!

I agree, it's utterly grim
I'm not sure what the fundraising aspect is about either

I just thought I'd mention it on here because they have done some really good stuff

I'm genuinely befuddled that they released it yesterday and got to number four already.

Some of their stuff has been really good, not sure what they were thinking with this one. But it seems to be popular. Kemi arriving at the end was the only saving grace.

I'm genuinely befuddled that they released it yesterday and got to number four already.

That's the joy of streaming for you! Instant chart success!

Angela Rayner is backing a growing rebellion against Labour’s court reforms after MPs claimed they would play into the hands of Nigel Farage.

The former deputy prime minister is understood to have grave concerns about No 10’s plans to halve the number of jury trials.

Allies said she was worried that Reform UK would be able to weaponise the changes to further a narrative of the government versus the people.

Sir Keir Starmer is facing the biggest rebellion of his premiership over the plans, with around 50 Labour MPs having privately stated their opposition.

Sorry for the blanket posting, but its all positive!

Yeah, but on this occasion, they're not streaming to get to that position

(you've hit one of my favourite topics that I really want to learn more about, music licensing and revenue, yes I really am dull 😂)

people are actually having to download & pay for this

When you consider that they have actually overtaken major artists, it means they have a much bigger following than maybe even they imagined? I'd be interested to know what they were expecting.

You only need to sell about 5 copies to do well these days!