If you suddenly became the leader of the country, what’s the one thing you would change?

[bluescreens]

As the child of an elderly parent, I’m frustrated by what appears to be pointless bureaucracy when dealing with local councils. When anything goes wrong with my dad’s care, I spend the equivalent of hours (sometimes days) being passed from team to team, trying to get someone to take ownership of the issue and work with me to resolve it. If I were PM, as this is so personal, I’d tackle this straight away. I’d also do a proper, comprehensive review of the NHS and ask the tough questions, with the goal of reforming it while (at the same time) keeping it free or at least very low cost at the point of use. Obviously I’d use my magic money tree to fund all of this! 🤓

This is a semi lighthearted thread - but if you were leading the country, what would you tackle first?

The other thing I see a lot of is cars parking on a road and then emptying their car rubbish even when there are bins nearby. Some people are so lazy and disgusting!

£100K is not an enormous salary by any stretch, what a small world you must live in. Presumably you don't have the skillset to earn this yourself which is why you have no clue why, for some people, in some parts of the country this does not go as far as you think.

I would cap private rents at 10% above the cost of maintaining and managing them, with heavy fines for LLs who do not keep their properties in good condition. - how are landlords supposed to cover their costs and taxation if rents are so low?

Oh and before announcing that thousands of new houses will be built, try announcing that they will be built in a couple of years and that a lot of funding is going into apprenticeships and colleges to actually train people up for the relevant jobs, now that we don't have resources from the EU.

If rents are capped at 10% above the cost of managing and maintaining the home, they will be able to cover their costs and keep 10% profit. If they've been exploiting the needs of those less advantaged than themselves to live, and 10% is not enough for them to live off, they can sell up and get a job like the rest of us have to.

How are you accounting for tax here? Most landlords have had jobs to raise the money they need to buy the properties, this government have driven up rental prices by making buy to let a really bad business model. Do you think Tesco etc should be capped at 10% profit to avoid exploiting the less advantaged?

Why stop at extreme sports?

what about smokers? or the obese? alcoholics and drug users?

I’d tax the super rich and use the proceeds to start nationalising utilities and transport. Also get rid of this stupid idea that graduate training, which is now basic training for most jobs should be paid for by the student in horrendous amounts because ‘they’re the only people who benefit’. Not true when you’re talking about health staff who are wanted by and benefit everyone. I really don’t believe the costs for training either: our economy is totally broken.

I’d fine littering!!! Hate it so much! If you don’t respect or care about your local environment then you don’t care about anything!!!

Zero tolerance on petty crime and drug use of any kind

i think if we focus and start small the big rush will follow

“Big fish”..

Rejoin the EU
More money into public services particularly SEND and mental health support
Teachers ,carers ,social workers earn more.
Recruit from abroad to fill the massive gaps in our public services

Reform maternity pay packages so many women go into debt to have a baby.
Nationalise nurseries

I'd limit the size of any new housing estate and make it compulsory for the development to have a certain number of hedges and trees around the outside and within the estate.
I would make a law restricting the number of outside lights which any buildings can have on them, and make them all temporary - no burning all night.

I got a bus pass at 60. I live in an Englush city. It depends on your local authority.

Compulsory teaching of Latin to half of the pupils in the country. Compulsory teaching of the conjugation of all tenses of verbs, in English, to all pupils.

Run a mile & instantly resign. I'd be no matter than mediocre at the job and everyone would soon hate me.

We can't afford to rejoin the EU, we are still recovering from the stupid idea that was Brexit.

Why should the government or your employer pay for you to have a baby? If you can't afford it then you have to save until you can.

I would give myself the powers to have anyone who annoyed me, thrown into a rat-infested dungeon for a fortnight. That’d larn ‘em!

Something hopefully achievable. Dog licences and dog wardens. Fines go directly to warden budget. Sick of dog shit spread over the whole pavement. Sick of dog bites killing kids. Probably shit lives for dogs and unsuitable breeders. And shitty dog owners who give the good ones a bad name.

There are so many things that need doing. Probably a lot more important things.

I thought the three child limit could have been a good compromise for Labour. (I only have two) Child poverty is shit but reckon a lot of it is caused by housing costs.

Stop this ridiculous new house building fanaticism now ruining everywhere.

Therefore of course we shouldn't attempt to help anyone 🙄

Definitely reform the NHS which is no longer fit for purpose. It's now self serving rather than serving the population and is an out of control behemoth. Like the OP, my DH has cancer and can spend hours every week on the phone trying to organise all the necessary appointments, treatments, consultant appointments, blood tests, prescriptions, etc. None of the NHS depts/staff seem able nor willing to actually communicate with each other. If he wasn't good at organisation and wasn't on top of his own diary/calendar, I doubt he'd be alive as he's had to push every single step of the way.

He learned early on during covid when he first started chemotherapy and one morning they phoned to cancel his infusion schedule for later that morning - they told him they'd phone him back when they knew when they'd be able to reschedule his treatment. He believed them. He waited and waited but heard nothing back. Days turned into weeks. He phoned the oncology dept but no one answered and he had to leave a message, then the same again a few days later, then he left phone messages with the "emergency" cancer nurse phone numbers. After a couple of months, he started to panic and went to the oncology dept in person, only to find it was closed down and had been moved to a hospital in the next county! Nice for them to bother telling him! When he finally got phone numbers for the other hospital, it was all "ha ha we must have forgotten about you ha ha! He was livid! Due to the time delay, none of his test results, x-rays, MRI scans etc were up to date enough, so he had to go through all that again before they'd re-schedule his chemotherapy - it took best part of six months before they started it again, as, of course, it was a fiasco trying to get the x-rays and MRI scans and then the fools lost the MRI results!

Root and branch reform is essential. In fact, scrap it and go back to basics.

I would reform the benefit system. I think it's actually in a shocking state right now.

I agree. Not fit for purpose. It needs to be a stop gap, not a lifestyle choice. (except for genuinely disabled who can't work).

I’d have some actual bollocks to make real change and stop appeasing the woke and the left.
This county is a joke.

Focus spending on prevention, which will drastically reduce spending long term. e.g. spend on preventative medicine/screenings to reduce NHS costs long term. Spend on education to reduce unemployment/poverty long term.