Labour isn't working - Thread 24

[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/5454130-labour-isnt-working-thread-23?utm_campaign=thread&utm_medium=share

I've seen a comment that this is Iran's "Berlin Wall moment"; its people need all the help they can get to overthrow their dictators, yet this country hardly acknowledges their plight, let alone pledge help.

Defence budget: I imagine Starmer and Reeves's reaction to the £28m black hole was to stick their fingers in their ears and rapidly change the subject. As time goes on, it's becoming obvious they have a piggy bank approach to finance with little or no comprehension of how their puerile and spiteful decisions affect the nation. It's absolutely bl00dy frightening.

A graph of increasing despair. Not many people holding out much hope that Labour are capable of dealing with their manifesto promise of improving the cost of living.

Just catching up after the day got a bit full on yesterday

I've been worried about the electricity situation for a while

My feeling is that lack of leadership in many areas is a huge problem. No government ever seems to want to deal with the bread and butter stuff - like the infrastructure of a nation

In reality, I don't think anyone's been paying attention to that for an incredibly long time. As if they always think it's someone else's job and the lights are kept on by magic.

Agree on both points.

J K Rowling on X:-

"If you claim to support human rights yet can’t bring yourself to show solidarity with those fighting for their liberty in Iran, you’ve revealed yourself. You don’t give a damn about people being oppressed and brutalised so long as it’s being done by the enemies of your enemies (sic).”

I think she's spot on. The left are very quiet on this, but watch them blow if Trump gets involved.

I'm amazed that Labour have the gall to campaign on the CoL tbh. They're costing people their livelihoods and they doubled inflation.

DH has been on about spending the best part of £1k on a generator for a long while. I am beginning to come around to his way of thinking.

Nadhim Zahawi has defected to Reform.

Oh wow, really? I really like Zahawi. Off to see why he's leaving.

Strewth.

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15455831/Nadhim-Zahawi-defects-Reform-UK-Former-Chancellor-latest-highest-ranking-Tory-make-switch-Nigel-Farages-party.html

I like him too. That's a big scalp for Farage.

Well, I suppose if Reform will have hundreds and hundreds of seats to fill next election barring some great political drift then it's just as well if it has the benefit of politicians who have previously served in cabinets.

I think that you are being prudent.

We have been taking steps, too - we installed a domestic battery and bought a petrol generator, although I cannot imagine either would last long.

Doubtless Reeves will look to shoehorn this into the next set of tax rises ‘I am having to deal with the world as it is, not as I wish it to be’ etc etc.

Farmers have threatened to mount weekly blockades of supermarket depots if Sir Keir Starmer does not scrap his inheritance tax raid.

Dozens of tractors descended on three Tesco distribution centres across the country to stop loaded lorries leaving in the early hours of Monday morning.
Protesting farmers in Peterborough, Doncaster and Hinkley, told the Government that the taxation policy is “slowly but surely” killing their livelihoods.
In December, the Prime Minister watered down his inheritance tax raidafter a backlash from rural voters.

This increased the threshold for the amount of agricultural assets that can be handed down without paying inheritance tax from £1m to £2.5m.
However, farmers have said the changes have not gone far enough and warned that their direct action could continue “once a week” until spring drilling, when crops are sown, which starts in March.

I associate Zahawi too strongly with lockdowns to like him although I can't now remember exactly what he did that pissed me off so much. I do remember being shocked when he popped up in the Post Office drama! Was he in favour of compulsory vaccination or something? Actually, I won't look it up because it's too depressing to remember.

@ProfessorIDareSay @Hyperobject yeah if I lived in a house, I would have those things. I tried to persuade my parents to get them ages ago but they think/thought I worry about nothing. Which in fairness is true some of the time!

My previous block of flats had a generator and a water tank which was useful if mains water was a problem. We had quite a few issues one summer. Again it was a local infrastructure problem.

My current block doesn't have one -I think - but I've got one of those electrical things that jumpstarts a car. I think I could get a few hours of a lamp or charging the phone out of it. I did think about getting a second one for my mum but I suppose if there was an outage in the area, she could have mine and I'd have to stay with her anyway in that situation.

this thread actually reminded me to charge the jumpstart thingy - literally doing it now.

I'm not like a prepper or anything - I just think you become aware of a lot more stuff when you live on your own. Which I've done since I was about 26.

I was staying in San Francisco when they were hit by frequent blackouts. It is such a pain, though the hotel was obviously better set up than a home would be. I was just trying to remember when that was, Googled, and the first thing that came up was a major blackout they had just a couple of weeks ago.

Quite right @EmeraldRoulette

I think the distinction between the US and UK is - where they are prone to wild weather and natural disasters, we are exposed to government incompetence and lack of infrastructure funding etc. Either way, not keen to take my chances with this lot.

Zahawi was the vaccines minister, did a good job of getting them produced and disseminated but advocated for lighter restrictions. He was quite frustrated that there was such resistance to opening up, iirc.

I get an eye twitch every time I think of lockdowns though. It seems so weird looking back.

@Hyperobject I think the San Francisco problem was also to do with poor infrastructure - I don't think anywhere escapes government incompetence in these matters. I think a lot of people are just obsessed with high ideals and ignore the practicalities.

Yes, fair.

I have some insight into UK energy, so I do remain scornful of government’s short-sightedness when it comes to policy - for balance, the previous government, as well as this one.

Just home from walking the dogs to see a massive military plane banking over the trees near us! Really made me jump.
According to Flight Radar it was an RAF Airbus A400M Atlas and was at 900 feet, which is really low.

I think this government is making me so nervous now that even aeroplanes are giving me the heebie-jeebies, though to be fair we don’t get much air traffic over Dorset, usually only small aircraft and medical helicopters. We do get a few Chinooks flying along the coast; they really make your fillings rattle.

It’s heading towards Banbury now, still flying pretty low. A training flight I expect.

What's left to tax to raise 24 bn?

I dread to think.

I know somebody who pilots these for the RAF, so I'll ask if he's been out and about today.

I've seen it out and about on Flight Radar a fair bit recently.

I hear the business secretary is claiming that govt did not have access to full information about impact of increased rates on hospitality.

I don't believe anyone's hiding information from them! 🤷🏻‍♀️

Perhaps an App developer could create one for the UK called ‘Are you still a Labour voter?’….

FT
An app called “Are You Dead?” that checks up on people living alone has become the most popular paid Apple Store download in China, a sign of concerns created by the country’s rapidly changing demographics. The app, called Sile Me in Chinese, requires users to “check in” by pressing a button. If they fail to do so over two consecutive days, the app sends a message to an emergency contact nominated by the user.

Are You Dead? has gone viral as an increasing cohort of Chinese young people are choosing to live alone rather than get married and have a family. Meanwhile, a growing number of elderly people are being left isolated in their homes without relatives nearby to care for them.