to wonder if people expect the government to solve all their problems?

[LadyHarmby]

Just listening to the news, interviewing people in the street.

No government can change the fact that some people are rich and some are not. Or that wars in other countries and/or pandemics will affect the price of things.

Inappropriate content on social media. Unsafe cladding on blocks of flats put there by private developers. Being housed outside of your area by the council. Zero hours contracts. All issues that the government seem to be expected to sort out? Is it reasonable?

BTW I’m a Labour voter so this is not about the Tories, more government in general.

No government can change the fact that some people are rich and some are not.
Or that wars in other countries and/
or pandemics will affect the price of thing
yes but if people are starving. That’s a government issue. It’s not that people can’t rent the latest Range Rover.

Inappropriate content on social media.
should have been legislated as it developed to ensure it’s a safe place

Unsafe cladding on blocks of flats put there by private developers.
building regs should have prevented it. Developers are there to make profit not to make sure it’s a happy healthy place to live. That’s councils and government to push for decent homes.

Being housed outside of your area by the council.
not enough council homes affects communities, it affects the entire housing market from the bottom to the top. Moving people to another area just pushes the problem elsewhere until the entire country is unaffordable. It’s a massive government issue

Zero hours contracts.
no workers rights, how can you get a mortgage or pass affordability on a rental contract if you don’t have set hours? Of course it’s a government issue that employers are using tax and employment loop holes.

Expecting there to be laws that make you landlord keep a building safe and not putting cladding that can turn a fire into an inferno is NOT asking the government to do everything.

It should be a human right in this country that your home is safe.

Government role should be to look after the poorest and give everyone a decent standard of living. An education and job opportunities.

However I do think people think that the government should dole out money to sort all their problems or that they shouldn't have any problems and no one should have to cut their cloths accordingly.

Giving money at some people doesn't help them - I know many people who have spent the £400 energy help on trivial things and so when the bill comes they won't be able to pay it but will also moan and know they won't cut us off as we have children! Worked in debt management and friends in charity who give debt advice - many of the people didn't want to know how to save money/ or spend appropriately they just wanted extra or a food bank referral.

I think a good example of this, though not government related, is Bristol uni saying student who may be struggling with fuel poverty they can have the library, common rooms and the student Union as a place to keep warm with free tea and coffee and the student have mocked this as not doing enough!

No. I do expect the Government not to directly cause me additional problems, though.

This the sure start centres would have saved money in the long term. Families and children who needed support were highlighted earlier. Closure of the sure start centres have had an added impact onto schools who are now doing the early diagnosis of children.
This seems very much like robbing Peter to pay Paul, but shafting everyone in return.

Government make a massive deal out of benefit fraud which is minute to tax avoidance and tax evasion. But the latter two are used and done by the rich!

To be fair it has mainly been the government themselves acting like angry teens, rebelling, arguing and complaining non stop.

Well the government are the only ones who can make laws, set taxes and decide how taxes should be spent. So they are the ones we rely upon to make changes to legislation and to fund public services.

Not sure who else you think is going to sort all this out?

This.

People are allowed to expect the government to fix problems that are a result of poor policy and governing.

Wealth inequality is a result of poor policy and legislation. Employment contracts are exactly something the government should sort, same for building regulations.

We pay taxes and risk going to prison if we don't respect legislation. The government owns us this way. Our freedom and finances.

Therefore it's their responsibility to make sure the world they make for us is good and they fix shitty problems that shouldn't exist in the first place.

I expect the government to provide

Healthcare free at point of access and save, clean efficient hospitals
Good state schools everywhere not just in leafy suburbs
Efficient and affordable public transport

If those things are not the responsibility of the government, whose responsibility are they?

I think this is one of the fundamental questions we were asking ourselves when we were having the Brexit debate,

”how much state intervention do you want in your life?”

And people sadly voted to have less, whether they knew it or not.

I absolutely believe that people should look after themselves when they are physically and mentally able, and I believe most people want to do that too. More than that, where able, I think they should try and contribute to others in society too. But I also want to live in a country that has good state welfare for those who are desperately ill, frail or elderly, disabled or impoverished. And if that means higher (means tested) taxes then so be it.

I want to live in a country where capitalism is regulated sensibly and fair work standards prevail. Also where products like toys and food are safe. And where it is against the law to use dodgy flammable tiles to clad a residential building. Where the environment is protected. Where public transport is efficient, accessible and affordable. Where national manufacturing industries are supported.

Unfortunately, when the 52% voted for Brexit, they voted for the opposite of all of these things.

If you move away from the broadly Christian-democrat centrist values of the EU, it’s pretty obvious where you are heading, and that’s towards a free market low regulation economy. It’s a scary time for the uk and I am far from convinced that those in charge are there for wholly altruistic reasons.

Where did people who voted Brexit think their employment rights came from? Not the Tory government that’s for bloody sure.

Poverty is a choice governments make.

I agree. It's unfortunate that people buy into this narrative that nothing can be done and there is a finite amount of money. Today Barclays announced a huge profit surpassing all expectations. Windfall taxes properly distributed can help prevent more and more millions of people slipping into poverty. It is a choice that a Government makes.

I thinkuchnof that is government responsibility Governments are eletrd to serve their citizens, to keep them safe (in the widest sense) and to support them throughout life. They are not there to line their own pockets and do dodgy deals.

They can't change the fact wealth isn't fairly distributed but they can ensure the cost of public services isn't unfairly burdensome on the poorest and those in the middle. They can stop profiteering from basic utilities and hold companies accountable for ensuring safe services before shareholder profits.
The current price increases in UK are shocking in that they affect the poorest most and are not entirely down to extraneous factors. Look to profits on utility companies. Other governments have capped fuel prices.

I blame the media for asking the silly, and always leading questions, in the first place.

Unsafe cladding on blocks of flats put there by private developers. Being housed outside of your area by the council. Zero hours contracts. All issues that the government seem to be expected to sort out

in the case of unsafe cladding the govt are at fault here as they should have tight enforced legislation in place. In Ireland the houses are falling down because of mica and the govt are responsible as they didn't have enforced legislation in.

Zero hour contracts are also the fault of the govt because they control the legislation. I think with the ''being housed outside of your area by the council'', it's a mixed one because they shouldn't have sold off all the council houses. But at the same time when I hear people moaning about they can't feed their kids on benefits I wonder then why did you have them if you can't afford them-it's their own fault.

@voiceofmarion but the whole 'don't have kids if you can't afford them' doesn't take into account the fact that we are in a low pay, high cost (housing) economy, therefore it is very difficult for many people to save. It's extremely easy to fall into a situation where you need benefits when previously you haven't - all it takes is one accident, one cancer diagnosis and you're there. It's perfectly possible to do everything right and still get bitten on the arse by fate.

From what I heard during the enquiry, the cladding wasn't legal, so there was already laws/regulations in place to stop that type being used on tall buildings. Trouble was that no one enforced the laws/regulations in place, so it's building control/building inspection where the fault seems to lie. Yes, of course, the contractors shouldn't have installed it, the architects shouldn't have specified it, but ultimately, building control/inspection is there to police the laws/regulations and they havn't, and not just one group either, as we've since found that same cladding was put on numerous high rise buildings, so there was an endemic lack of oversight of the laws/regulations in place.

But it's the arguably the employment rights that have led to zero hours contracts, freelancers, casual workers, fake self employment etc., as employers have defaulted away from "normal" contracts to avoid what many perceive to be onerous employment rights!

Not at all but I’d expect them not to add to them.

@Badbadbunny onerous' employment rights = employment rights that stop me from squeezing every drop of profit from my workforce. I have zero sympathy for these employers. If they can't run their business without exploiting their staff, they do not deserve to be in business at all.

@TooBigForMyBoots Totally agree. I think it is unrealistic to expect a government to solve every problem but every government since Tony Blair took the UK into a war we had no business being involved with has created further divisions/problems for UK citizens.

We really need to start with the basics. Make sure they are working well before commencing with anymore vanity projects.

I would like to see more affordable housing made available for rent, reduction of NHS waiting times for priority services e.g. A & E, ensure utility costs are not pushing average earners into poverty, limit zero hour contracts and remove average earners dependence on UC by increasing wages, so company profits not tax payers fund their staff and an education system, which is fit for 21st century.

My point was that increased employment rights had the adverse effect in some cases, with the result that the workers end up worse off, rather than better off, which was the purpose of the changes.

☝️☝️ a government can't solve everything but they can not make things worse. Like not prioritising corporate profits and allowing energy prices to rise, with the knock on effect that everything else increases.

In some ways yes, but there needs to be more emphasis on people having more responsibility for their own health etc, and it should be that the harder you work the better off you are, but it isn't.