To wonder if Labour actually will be any better?

[Baabaagreysheep]

I think like most people I am keen to see the back of the current bunch, but I am not confident that anything will massively change for the better. Maybe that’s a bit pessimistic, but I feel that while some things will improve some will get worse - and some sort of at the same time, so I’m expecting my salary to go up but also my workload to go up!

Thinking back to when Labour were last in power it was another world, really. Interested in views.

I posted yesterday that it feels like nobody outside of the ‘middle class’ (I prefer middle earner, but you know what I mean) understands just what life is like for us at the moment.

The very rich will never understand what it’s like to struggle. They’ve lost touch with how much things cost relative to what comes in and how you can’t ‘personal finance’ your way out of the crisis by selling things on Vinted.

People on very low salaries or benefits are also out of touch in many cases. When you have not been paying the full market rate for things for years (mortgages, rent, childcare) and everything is topped up or subsidised, it’s easy to look at 50k as being a huge sum of money and anyone who struggles when earning it as ‘privileged’. But that is because they imagine their own much much lower expenses.

As I said before when I inform people my childcare bill is in excess of 1,000 per month they give me a kind of odd look, as if they think I’m exaggerating or omitting to mention some kind of magic money fairy that means I don’t really have to pay that much. But I do. My mortgage has gone from 800, to 1200, and will rise again to 1400 when the fixed term ends shortly. This is my life. The money has to be paid, and there is no magic top up, no hardship payments. I just have to go further into the red until my house sells which I’m praying will be soon.

Neither party is interested in helping people like me, both will just want to raise my taxes while telling me I’m in a place of privilege.

I doubt I will even bother to vote, it feels futile.

Sorry I didn’t mean for this to end up one long moan about me.

Investment is necessary to get us out of this mess. Once before when the country was facing massive inflation and was in a right state, Labour got in and invested hugely in the NHS and housing and benefits, vastly improving people's lives. Before that is was the workhouse if you got ill and had no family to help.

The problem in this country is huge inequality between rich and poor. During austerity and then covid, most people got poorer while a tiny minority got richer.

It is not about taxing the middle class. It is about making things fairer across the board so that we don't have water companies borrowing to pay dividends to shareholders while everyone pays more for their water. So that mates of those in government aren't handed lucrative contracts for things they can't even provide.

It's about spending on things like drug services, sure start centres, preventative health care, adult social care, so that the NHS doesn't end up over burderned with avoidable cases or things that can be dealt with more cheaply elsewhere.

Lots of people work full time and still need to claim benefits to support their family. That isn't right.

The vast majority are reliant on the state. Most people use state schools and the NHS. Many use public transport. We all rely on decent policing and justice services and roads and rubbish collection and all the other services. Good luck calling out a private fire engine if your house sets on fire. A country where people pay their own way is not a nice place to live - it results in extreme poverty, crime and corruption.

Labour are not perfect but things are always better under Labour

It's the rich that employ people in general terms.

But they will come in and raise tax on the middle class to pay public servants like teachers, nurses, doctors etc a little better.

Wealth tax on super rich would be my choice. Their wealth increased hugely post 2008 and covid.

Labour will hammer private landlords and there will be a disaster in the private rented sector.

Labour are not perfect but things are always better under Labour

You didn't grow up here in the 70s, then.

but what about things that aren't about your own personal finances? Don't you want a better NHS, schools that aren't falling down, a functioning justice system, etc?

I don't think either party can make every individual better off - but there's a choice between things continuing to crumble away while the super rich siphon off the money into their offshore accounts, and making improvements to our society that benefit us all.

In any case the interest rates will fall again at some point and you won't be paying for child care for very long either. It's a short term squeeze for a few years at most.

Well, it will take them a good few years to sort out the mess that the Tories have left us in, same as last time. But schools and hospitals were so much better under the last Labour administration, I would be hopeful that things can (eventually) get better.

The problem is that when this happens, the super-rich leave. And the top 1% pay 30% of all taxes. It's never straightforward.

You’re acting like I begrudge spending some of my money. I don’t have any money, not any more, so your question is pointless. This is what I mean - you tell people you literally have no money and their eyes glaze over and they nod before saying ‘but if you paid higher taxes things would be better for everyone’. I give up, honestly. I don’t have anything left to give, so no, before those things happen I want to get myself out of the red and get myself to the point where ‘contributing to society’ doesn’t mean I can’t afford to feed my family or heat my home.

No, not "better" at all, different maybe, but not universally better. The reality is that the West generally is in managed decline and realistically, whatever we do, whoever is in power, we, in the West are going to be worse off over time.

It's basically rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic now, and has been for 20+ years. The 2008 crash was the start of it.

I had a long conversion with a Labour candidate a few years ago. She was all for increasing benefits, improving public services, etc., but had no answers at all when I asked her what were her plans for improving the local economy, increasing employment opportunities locally, etc - she hadn't a clue, and just bluffed her way talking about more teachers and nurses (which is great for local unemployed who aren't teachers nor nurses). She had nothing at all in her plans to get larger employers to relocate to our area, support new business start ups, etc. Absolutely zilch! It was all "spending other people's money" on benefits and public services and nothing at all about how to actually generate wealth in the first place.

The UK cannot survive another 5 years of the Tories. What on earth do you think they’re suddenly going to do that they couldn’t have done in the last 13 years?

Getting the Tories out is the first priority, however much your nose may wrinkle at the other candidates. I have never in my 60 years seen this country so thoroughly debased and degraded by one political party and their mad backers in Tufton Street. Corrupt to the core.

This is not a drill. This is the fire.

I think like most people I am keen to see the back of the current bunch, but I am not confident that anything will massively change for the better.

Pretty much where I am but I am in Wales and do see issues with Labour governance so perhaps inclines me to cynicism.

I hope UK labour government would turn spending taps on but suspect even raising taxes the amount they can spend won't be enough even if they do get the time - ie couple of governments to make changes in.

It reminds me of when I was a broke admin assistant renting a room and one of my siblings kept texting to ask to borrow some cash. I told them I had no money, as in, £1.82 left until pay day. They would just reply ‘okay, just a tenner then’. If people don’t understand what ‘no money’ means it is they who is privileged. I’m not ‘squeezed’; I am broke.

This. I had a lot of high hopes initially, but this is no Blair revolution when he kick started the country post John Major.

As soon as I learned of Kier’s grand plan to add VAT to private schools I realised many things. Firstly, his plan is to just tax the living shit out of the middle classes. Once Labour realise school VAT won’t generate much, they’ll target private healthcare.

Secondly, they have no real great ideas to kick start the economy, drive growth or fix state services. The plan seems to be throw more money (taken from the middle class), rather than structural reform.

Labour will be the usual disaster, if they get a majority. More rubbish, like net zero and the insane trans evil. The real rich are leaving, assets in offshore trusts, so untouchable, off on their private jets to Switzerland, Dubai etc.

They won’t. And they will advance attacks on women’s rights via trans policy madness.

it’s so depressing.

so I’m expecting my salary to go up but also my workload to go up!
Why would the government (of any colour) have this effect?
Are you a SPAD?

The shadow health sectary did mention reform for NHS - as he said they were aware it couldn't just be more money - which I'd agree with and sounds great but strongly suspect this is code for won't have the cash needed.

Moan away; it was a very interesting post.

I hope things improve for you soon.

Same shit, more taxation and with a side salad of gender faith bollocks.

Good riddance to any scum dodging taxes offshore

So what are all you never-Labour posters going to do? Vote Conservative again? Like a battered wife returning to her abuser time and time again? This time it will be different, I know it? Sweet zombie Jesus. Time to LTB. They’ve had 13 years with up to another 18 months of their term left, WTF do you think they’re going to suddenly do to make this shitfest better?

It will just be more of the same, or worse. Don’t forget Labour more or less bankrupted the country last time, took us to war on false Information they knew was false but did it(how can TB sleep at night with all those he killed) Helped in the decline if the nhs and currently have a leader who can define what a woman is

look at Wales, that’s what will happen

@MavisMcMinty Why would a battered wife want to vote for a party that doesn't know what a woman is?