Who was PM during the best of times for you?

[verdantverdure]

Me?

Blair. Brown, first bit of Cameron.

On paper I earn more money now but everything's tits up isn't it? From the economy to shit on beaches to being able to get access to the NHS when needed.

It's deliberately disingenuous - he isn't thick, he is pretty good at the mental gymnastics required to justify his massive and continued hypocrisy.

Rees Mogg also went after the Standards Committee & Kathryn Stone with regard to Paterson. I think its fair to say that he's not a huge fan of parliamentary oversight or sovereignty generally.

Well it was him who was sent to lie to the Queen in 2019 to prorogue parliament.

Wow I didn't realise MW was such a recent thing!

Not just MW (which Tories opposed and said would cost millions of jobs), but rights to paid holiday too. That "nice" Mr Major opposed limits to working hours too.

Cameron was in when I first became an adult/aware of politics. So. Him I guess. 🤷🏻‍♀️ not much to say really 😂

Blair and Brown. I earn 2-3 x as much now and feel 3 x as anxious

I might have missed it, but I don't think anyone on this thread claimed that Major was nice?

He was a really excellent constituency MP even when he was PM. He was my MP and I really couldn’t fault him. And I’ve never voted Tory in my life!

When I hear him interviewed nowadays about what is going on, I generally agree with every word. I don't know whether that is because former PMs are generally more palatable than current PMs with a few glaringly obvious exceptions. Similarly Theresa May - I think she has conducted herself very well since she was forced out, and it took a lot of character to go back to the back benches and continue to work hard for her constituents.

The thing that I’ve noticed is that Major and Blair seem to say pretty much the same things these days. I think 2010 was a real tipping point in British politics, it seems to have marked the end of old school politicians with integrity and conviction.

Mine would have been John Major, not that I think he did a good job or anything but I was young and seemed to have more money. I remember when Tony Blair got in, the cost of everything seemed to go up, council tax etc. However, after I had children, I'm not sure if Tony Blair was still in power or if it was Gordon Brown, but after really struggling for a while the tax credits were introduced which meant we were suddenly a lot better off.

I wonder if it coincides with the increasing dominance of social media as well?

Remember at the Queen's funeral when the former living PMs walked into the Abbey? The first three - great. Then Cameron and May - well, alright. Then Boris fucking Johnson. He looked like the disgrace he is.

In answer to this 49, 3 dc who actually were born under Labour government and recent one all same pretty good care especially improved ante natal as new swish centre for last, very good schools now.

Private sector so not paid by state, biggest impacts have been 30 free hours which were good and awful lockdowns which were not.

Blair. It felt like life was easier. Public services were adequately funded, no stress trying to access health care.

Blair/Brown (I'm 52) Worked in NHS then, proper funding finally. Tories had been trying to close all the community hospitals, got back in restarted their work. Work in social care now which is an utter shit show!

Were you living here at the end of the tory's period of power in 1997 ? If so you'll remember the state of the infrastructure then. The schools with roofs falling in and unfit for use ?
The northern town that I moved to in 1990 is an absolute dump now.
300,000 people and no shops apart from vape and charity shops, nail bars, beggars at every set of traffic lights, 1 in 4 (if not more) shops empty, big M and S shuts next week, no nicer home because I've not had a proper wage rise for years,
zilch career progression. Maybe things are fine if you're in Hampstead or wherever in a well paid industry. Sadly healthcare is a low priority for this government...

@MarshaBradyo are you in oldham ?

Yeah. Everything is so much more stressful these days. Can't get a dentist, can't get a GP appointment...

Don't fancy wiring in the non EU queue in the summer holidays but also don't fancy British beaches covered in raw sewage.

And I can't rely on being able to stay salad veg until at least May!

It's really sad looking at loads of provincial once-proud British towns. Everything has been centralised in bigger places, so there is no need for them as a local centre. Shopping is all online or out of town, though you can't specifically blame the Tories for that. No jobs, no hope, low aspiration, high levels of antisocial behaviour. They talk about funding and levelling up, but when you think about it, why should towns have to have millions poured into them just to make them not-shit? They still need to have a purpose.

We went to Hartlepool at the end of last summer. It’s heartbreaking. So run down and it’s got a Tory MP - in a place where voting Labour used to be like a religion. My cousin says there was an expectation that vast quantities of money would be poured in and it hasn’t happened. He reckons it’ll turn red again next time.

No not Hampstead, SE London, arrived at start of Blair years.

And no not Oldham not sure of the relevance of that!

We moved here when people didn’t really (accept more creative people maybe) but then an overground really changed the area, and new health centres and schools. All quite recently, eg last decade.

I’ve seen posts complaining re generification which I’ve always found a bit nuts. I feel for people who see their area decline. It was just pot luck really, we have jobs in London and SE suited us best.

I assume that if leafy constituency safe seats in Hampshire, Surrey and Dorset etc are noticeably run down lately with potholes agogo, "red wall" places that were run down pre 2019 must be even more run down now.

Surely they won't vote for more of the same?

Surely they won't vote for more of the same?

You’d hope not. It’s really bloody depressing. My cousin stays there because it’s home, his friends are there and he loves the sea but he actively avoids the town centre because it’s so run down and depressing.

There was an enquiry, Blair was found not to have lied, hence no consequence plus he was no longer an MP when Chilcot was published, so much like the Covid one wont be published until after the next GE, no one will be held to account for the mess that BJ caused the UK over Covid.

Do you think Cameron should be held to account for attacking Libya (for even more spurious reasons) which has led to a failed state just a few 10s of miles from Southern Europe and is directly related to the 100s of '000s of migrants coming into Europe and onto the UK ? not to mentions the 1000s who have drowned.

No you wont because Cameron is a Tory.