To worry I'm going to get seriously depressed as the night goes on

[Seeingthebeautyineveryminute]

I have a sicky feeling in the pit of my stomach that we are going to be lumbered with 5 more years of Tory rule. Please let it not be so.

I think Labours No 1 problem is that people do not see them as altruistic or caring anymore.

I think this is true. People don't see them like they used to. People don't trust them and don't trust them to care for anyone apart from themselves. A lot of people feel there isn't much between Labour and conservatives. So they chose not to vote or vote for someone else. Its a shame.

Can't believe anyone think quoting Niel Kinnock is a good idea.

Seeing housing benefit will be abolished for the under 25's
Lets see how that pans out.

I think labour need a female leader

I think Labour need a leader who has done a real job. How about Dan Jarvis?

cactusannie

You are aware that a significant proportion of that 34bn relates to the VAT increase and VAT and PAYE deferral arrangements where HMRC, at the behest of the government, are being comparatively (vs its historic approach) lenient to small and medium sized businesses with arrears, which is a major reason why we did not see the wide scale administrations and liquidations from business failure that were predicted after the banking crash. If you think you are seeing job cuts now, it could have been a lot worse.

It's easier for the scaremongers to say it's all offshore billionaires though isn't it.

Yes bettycatkitten why set the age at 25. Surely grown adults in need of housing support should be entitled to access it? Many of them at this age could have been working and paying taxes for 9 years. Ridiculous. What are people supposed to do until they are 25?

Live on the streets by the sound of it

I saw a light hearted documentary just before all of this kicked off last night. Best election moments going back to days of Wilson.

Really funny, Wilson was much more articulate then I expected when he was heckled. Callaghan was heckled by a nurse who wanted more money. He had a real go at her, told her it was all being referred to a independent commission and then at the end said 'is that OK with you love, because it is for me'.

Never would anyone be allowed to say that these days

There was the miners demanding 35% pay increase, there was Thacther after the Brighton Bomb and answering someone who questioned her about the Falklands.

There is also Neil Kinnock almost celebrating and rubbing his hands at a large Labour conference. He clearly thought he was going to win. He lost 5 days later....

I would be grateful for that retraction and apology sometime soon, please.

That was to MNpostingbot.

Hakluyt

Pot/kettle?

You are not one to be demanding apologies, I have born witness to many un pleasant comments from you to other posters.

There will be a labour majority before you get a retraction from me yakult

Ooooooooohhhgirly twee voice hides

Today has been the darkest day since the early 90s

I don't remember the early 90s as being particularly dark.

Fragolino, I'd hardly expect you to like the things Chucka says if you vote Tory! I'd like someone young, who went to a state school (and yes then went private), but has some idea of the real world, not like your bloke.

Hmm I don't remember any of my extended family feeling the early 90s were the dark days.

Could someone remind me what was dark about the early 1990s? I mean, I was only thirty, so perhaps I didn't understand what was actually happening, but my memory is euphoria following the end of the cold war, euphoria following the end of Thatcher, a return to some semblance of economic coherence (and lower interest rates) after the exit from the ERM, at least investment in the NHS and schools and a prime minister who was a bit meh at the time but seems rather good in hindsight. What was the darkness (the darkness!) that I'm forgetting? The end of worrying about being nuked in our beds was rather nice, as I recall.

I think maybe it was the newfangled energy saving lightbulbs.

Lol indosasamosa. Just meant in the early 90's we were deep into Tory rule and had a few more years left to go. In my view, politically things were still bleak.

Just meant in the early 90's we were deep into Tory rule

Oh I see. "Darkness" = "Conservative government". "Light" = "Labour government". It's good to see dualist Manichaeism is alive and well, isn't it?

Dark as in bleak. Years and years of many of our communities being decimated under a conservative government.

Community in many areas was blown away by a nuclear attack from Labour. They couldn't be more blown away.

I was a single parent with two very young dc's in the 1990's. My life was shit. I had to live off toast as I couldn't afford to eat properly. My lot improved greatly after 1997 with labour, I managed to study for a BA and improve my job chances drastically.