Jeremy Corbyn - PM by default?

[Considermesometimes]

I am not a 'woke' labour supporter. I come from a long line of many generations of stout labour supporters. It would be unthinkable up to now in my family for anyone to vote for any other party. I would be shown the door at my gp's house for even having this conversation.

However, I am seriously seriously worried, I would go as far as to say terrified of the prospect of voting for Labour this time, and Jeremy Corbyn actually becoming Prime Minister.
I am interested to know how others are dealing with this problem.

I am worried that some of the policies such as seizing assets and homes from people, massive taxes etc. We are home owners and work very hard, it could all be jeopardised.

Forced closure of private schools in this area would be a complete and utter disaster. As it is we have to finish early on Friday afternoons, and do not have funds for every day stationary much less hundreds of extra children. What would happen to our already very full classes of 33-38 with all the extra children from the private schools? How is this even possible? And yet it seems Labour are fully committed to it when pressed on the issue.

The huge privatisation plan of utilities looks to cost around 200 billion pounds. I don't want our money spent this way! I would much prefer better schools and hospitals, and crime to be under control in this part of the country. I can't even get a GP app for my asthmatic dd at the moment. I could not care less about the Utilities or the railways etc. The LP just do not seem to understand at the moment what matters to most people.

The whole defence and nuclear issue. I don't feel we live in a particularly safe world. I like the fact we have some defences against the nut jobs in the Middle East or North Korea. The fact that other countries would not trust the UK under Corbyn to share intelligence with us, and his lack of decision making in a crisis, or even his basic understanding of deterrents is deeply disturbing.

I just don't think Corbyn is up to the job in any shape or form. Nor do most of the party.

I have thought about voting Lib Dems, but looking at the numbers that will almost certainly result in Corbyn being PM. There is almost no chance at all of Lib Dems getting 326 seats. A vote for Lib Dems is a vote for a Labour government probably propped up by the SNP who will demand another independence referendum in six months.

I am livid with the party for allowing this to happen, how is Corbyn still the leader of the party it is beyond me. How has this been allowed to happen? Chuka Umunna would have made an excellent PM, but all the best candidates are leaving the Labour party.

I don't think I can vote for anyone. That is my final conclusion, for the first time in thirty years I will not vote. What are you planning to do?

So tell me again why this is a disaster waiting to happen?

Because under the current, reasonably moderate tax structure it's often the huge corporations who aim to pay as little as they can get away with; many smaller ones moan a bit, but largely suck it up

However, if Labour were to go for a large tax grab I suspect that idea would spread to just about anyone who could get their hands on a decent accountant ... and there go the tax revenues

I’m not sure Corbyn matters much. If they got in it would be all Brexit and as many quick fixes as possible before another vote over leaving.

If we do leave there will be far too much going on to worry about thrir other plans.
If we stay in he’ll be in charge a year tops before he gives it someone else. No way will he want to deal with the problems of disgruntled Leavers and the reality of a massive spending plan that’s not really been thought through with the relentless backdrop of personal criticism.

@user1483208776, the debate has intermittently been interesting and informative. OP, however, shouldn’t be taken at face value.

I will take that as a thank you for starting the thread alsohuman and indeed you can doubt my voting history if you like, but I can assure you I have always voted for the LP up until now, and I would never would have considered voting for anyone else.

The point is that putting JC in charge of the whole country really does worry me. This is no longer a labour party that speaks for me, or for anyone that is reasonably okay with a job, life, house and investments of any kind.

I am only have one life, if Jeremy's policies wreck the economy and assets etc, we will never recover as a family. We simply do not have time to recover. We are too old and too invested to 'start again'. Students may think it is fun to vote for a four day week and debt levels of the 1970s as a social experiment, but I have a small pension that could massively impacted, I have children that could massively impacted, I have a house and a job that I could lose. My life could easily be ruined by some of his predicted policies. So no, I don't feel I need to justify (again) why I won't be voting for Labour this year for the first time ever. It must be pretty obvious to anyone other than an absolute Jeremy diehard that this is very far from ideal.

Unless you are on benefits and live in a council house or in a care home you would be mad to do for the Labour Party. Corbyn is being used to lure the votes, but Momentum will push him to one side once the job is done and install their own agenda, mark my words.

It is absolutely extraordinary to insist that someone who has voted Labour in the past would always vote Labour.

Labour isn't a football team, you are allowed to grow up and move on!

This is no longer a labour party that speaks for me, or for anyone that is reasonably okay with a job, life, house and investments of any kind.

Why? For what possible reason are you making this statement? Everyone will benefit from improved and better funded public services. They speak for me, and I have all those things.

I am only have one life, if Jeremy's policies wreck the economy and assets etc, we will never recover as a family.

What do you think a no deal Tory Brexit would do to the economy? Do you think the entire country as a whole will ever recover, let alone your family?

Unless you are on benefits and live in a council house or in a care home you would be mad to do for the Labour Party.

Again, why? You need to back up statements like this with facts, this is meaningless, and patently untrue.

This has been mostly an interesting thread-but I am afraid I still don’t see which stated Labour Party policies would have such a devastating effect on people like you, @considermesometimes, and why you might lose your house.

I have a house, a business and privately educate and even I could cope with a Labour govt. I'd rather not for selfish reasons, but if it happens, meh, we'll live.

If these beliefs are based in actual policy, it should simply be a matter of pointing to the policy that backs up that belief, and yet it doesn’t happen.

In all the hours I spent posting yesterday - I saw two posters who specified policies they were concerned about with reasons. One of them mentioned that their small business would suffer if JC introduces business rates increases (which he won’t do for small business) and one took issue with part of their education policy, but even they tried to misrepresent what’s actually been said.

So OP - which policies are going to scupper anyone with a house, job, or “life”?

If you have specifics, share them. What is actually the point in having a discussion if you put nothing forward?

I’m not even being goady, I’m genuinely trying to understand why you believe that because it’s so far removed from what I believe.

There are many families who have jobs and no homes - as I linked to above, 55% of homeless families have jobs. So what makes you think that we are all at more risk under Corbyn than we are right now?

I should add - we have a limited company. We would be worse off in terms of corporation tax if Corbyn gets in, but the benefits to society as a whole and therefore to us would be far greater. I have no problem paying more tax - I have a problem paying it to a government inflicting ideological austerity on the country.

Presumably what affects your company shouldn't necessarily affect your day to day life though deathgrip unless you can't afford to pay your salary any more.

"CBI admits error in £196bn price tag for Labour plans

www.theguardian.com/business/2019/oct/16/cbi-admits-error-in-196bn-price-tag-for-labour-plans"

how much do labour say privatisation of all those industries will cost?

This is no longer a labour party that speaks for me, or for anyone that is reasonably okay with a job, life, house and investments of any kind.

Why? For what possible reason are you making this statement? Everyone will benefit from improved and better funded public services. They speak for me, and I have all those things.

The capital investment flight would happen overnight. We work in the City, and it is a very well known fact. Many/most investors would pull out of the UK due to the tax hikes that Corbyn would bring, and also a complete lack of confidence in him as a leader. I genuinely believe we would see this on day one. If you work in any industry related to investment, I can assure they all believe this to be the case. Multinationals would not thrive and would ultimately relocate. Jeremy's very hard left policies will prevent the UK from attracting more investment. This would be very bad for the economy, and you will not be able to pay for those public services

I am only have one life, if Jeremy's policies wreck the economy and assets etc, we will never recover as a family.

What do you think a no deal Tory Brexit would do to the economy? Do you think the entire country as a whole will ever recover, let alone your family?

It is my understanding that the conservatives are advocating a deal, the only party to advocate no deal is the brexit party. It is interesting that you are comparing Corbyn to a worst case scenario, no deal, so therefore it does not say very much about your own confidence as you compare him to the lesser evil of the two! Hardly a resounding vote in him!

Unless you are on benefits and live in a council house or in a care home you would be mad to do for the Labour Party.

Again, why?

The four day week will mean that many small to medium business will simply close down, they will not be able to fund this. I work for a small company that will not be able to afford it. I will lose my house if I don't pay my mortgage*

bert I work for a young start up, we could not afford for our team to take a day off each week! If I lose my job, I will lose my house. Simple as that. Many companies I know are really worried about:

The tax hikes
The four day week
The extended maternity leave (I support this, but we will see job losses)

Many companies will not survive this combination, you can not pretend otherwise.

The four day week would hit us hard as we need some positions to be open five days a week (call handling, internet queries, warehouse booking in and out) so would then need to employ extra staff which we really can't afford. We'd have to try and retrain existing staff if they were willing.

"Consider the possibilities. Labour would embark on an aggressive programme of nationalisation, taking much more of the economy under state control. Margaret Thatcher’s reforms (not least of the unions) gave us faster growth than our continental rivals. Labour would make us the sick man of Europe again. Private companies would be forced to transfer 10% of their shares — worth £300bn — to workers, in what would, in effect, be a huge wealth grab. Every business could expect a degree of political interference not seen in recent times.

Labour, if reliant on Scottish National Party support, would set in train the process of an independence referendum, with a better chance of a yes vote than in 2014.

One of the first acts of a Labour government would be to appoint a Bank of England governor to its taste, who would be in office for the next eight years. The reaction of international businesses would be to regard Britain as a no-go area for investment. Those who could would shift headquarters and operations elsewhere. Once lost, they would not come back. We would all suffer for years to come. We have been warned"

I read this in the Times and could not disagree with the sentiment.

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/the-man-paving-the-way-for-a-hard-left-labour-government-mgshqdk6r

I think the last few posts are missing the point... just because you might feel you have done ok in life with a house, job, investments etc. It doesn't mean that you don't believe that our society should be more compassionate towards those who are disadvantaged.

You can't apply a conservative mindset to try and understand labour policies. It is not only people 'in council houses' that vote for labour.

You can't apply a conservative mindset to try and understand labour policies

Well you could if you were a One Nation tory and a moderate Labour party

Times have moved on from Blair...
I'm talking about the parties as they stand now.

even they tried to misrepresent what’s actually been said.

I did what? I think you’ll find that I backed up what has been said with links to news articles where Labour announced their policies.
I haven’t tried to misrepresent anything and I’d really rather you take that back because I thought you were a serious poster.

Consider me- outlines my concerns in voting labour very well, much better than I could. Those points are exactly why I am unsure about voting labour.

I think their policies could seriously effect businesses and the economy. Don't agree with handing so much power to the trade unions. I think businesses could be driven away BUT if they don't raise the tax over what it is in other European countries- my understanding is Uk companies pay much less than European countries then I think this wouldn't happen. Do we know how much they will raise it by?

My DH has his own small/medium sized business. He can't afford to fund a longer maternity leave, a four day week. We rely on his business as our only income. This alone would make me not vote labour. These policies would send small businesses down.

But my understanding of the increased corporation tax was it's only for big businesses- is that right?

I am also concerned about labours policy with private schools. My children go to private school. I don't want them shut down.

I don't understand the potential affects of nationalising Royal Mail etc. I would need to read up on it.

But- on the overhand. I feel large corporations should pay more tax, high earners should pay more tax.

I hate what conservatives are doing with their cuts. As a teacher, i especially hate what they are doing to schools.

I hate what they might do to the NHS.

We are ok under a conservative government we haven't seen much change, except rising cost of living. But- I do care about the overall picture, I want to vote against them but worry about how labour policies will effect DH business. That is my moral dilemma

I think the last few posts are missing the point... just because you might feel you have done ok in life with a house, job, investments etc. It doesn't mean that you don't believe that our society should be more compassionate towards those who are disadvantaged

I currently support the foodbank in my area. I do around 6 hours a week, as well as donations, I also do collections. I sponsor many charities, and support whole heartedly further investment into those with disabilities, mental health services and children's services. The issue is that I can not continue support if my company goes under. All the people that rely on my support will not be able to.

The system of helping those that are disadvantaged depend on those that can work work. You can't do one thing without the other.

The four day week will mean that many small to medium business will simply close down, they will not be able to fund this. I work for a small company that will not be able to afford it. I will lose my house if I don't pay my mortgage

Labour are not advocating a four day week. They’re advocating a 32 hour working week as standard, and working towards that over a decade. That doesn’t mean no one will work more than 32 hours, just as not everyone works 35 hours a week now (which is what a standard full time contract is now, so it’s not losing a full day at all).

Again, how can you speak with such certainty about the plans and the impact of them when the manifesto hasn’t yet been released?

Op I agree with your last posts.

I did what? I think you’ll find that I backed up what has been said with links to news articles where Labour announced their policies.
I haven’t tried to misrepresent anything and I’d really rather you take that back because I thought you were a serious poster.

So the link you shared stated that the only checks on schools were to be a done “by a man with a clipboard by the local authority” as you specifically stated, did it?

You know it doesn’t say that, assuming you read the link you shared. That’s misrepresentation, and it impacts the views of people reading who aren’t clicking through and reading the actual links.