Results like these at a general election would mean Tory annihilation

[noblegiraffe]

Says a BBC headline this morning.

Anyone else stockpiling popcorn?

Whoever gets into power is facing major issues.
Labour traditionally does improve public services but this time there is no money. Workers have been squeezed for so long there is no way they could put up tax, with 50% dependent on the state, it would be extremely unpopular to makes any changes to Universal credit/lha rates.
My issue with Labour is they are not being realistic when stating where the money is coming from to put their policies in place.
The UK has been in decline for years. It will take a major shake up to change this and I am not sure if any party is innovative enough to handle this situation.

@JaneyGee Last year net migration was 600,000....you do know who's been in power for the last 13 years right? The Tories have failed to control anything and somehow they've managed to convince everyone that Labour will be worse.
No serious people? Have you met Yvette Cooper? She makes Cruella look like the vacuum that she is.

Yes @OnlyTheBravest you are right. The only major policy I've seen is vat on school fees which is likely to cost MORE as private pupils will be forced into the state sector. There needs to be abit more honesty there is no money.

You're making the mistake of thinking I prefer the Tories. I don't. I hate both parties equally as they're both in it for themselves rather than the general public and both are generally incompetent. My point is that people expecting some kind of magic wand from a Labour government that will improve everything are sadly going to be very disappointed, when, in 5 or 10 years' time, things aren't actually better at all. We need to recognise that the UK, like many other Western economies are now in a period of decline, which was inevitable as we've spent decades dismantling our industries and virtually handing them on a plate to China and other countries, thinking that we'll be OK because of our service industries. We need to wake up and smell the coffee. We need the service industries AND manufactuing/agricultural industries unless we're going to be far too dependant on the goodwill of other countries to provide us with the goods and utilities we need! All Starmer/Labour will do is to re-arrange the deckchairs on the Titanic, move things around a little, but ultimately, we're still on course for continual decline without really big decisions and changes. Unfortunately neither party will do that, so the next decade will be much of the same, just being done by people wearing red instead of blue!

The IFS says it will raise £1.3 billion even accounting for some movement to state.

I think the final straw was the massive amount spent on Covid lockdowns etc. and Starmer wanted to spend even more!

Because they didn't want Corbyn. Let's be realistic, Labour would be in power today had they put in a moderate/sensible leader. Instead they committed electoral suicide by appointing Corbyn.

That's what? 2% of the education budget?

Did the IFS take into account all those schools suddenly being able to recoup all the VAT they've paid out on new science blocks and theatre blocks?

It'll be tied up in the courts for years.

@Startingagainandagain

...The Johnson/Truss/Sunak governments are far right...

Far right? Lol.

The Tories doped the population on furlough to the tune of £1bn a day. The NHS chomps through a £1bn every two days. I daren't look up how much UC costs the taxpayer. This would have been the stuff of Corbyn's dreams 4 years ago.

There's also the matter of 600,000 net migration to the UK every year.

The Tories are nowhere near right wing, nevermind "far"

Yes their prediction may be right (or wrong) but that is a drop in the ocean when the govt is due to spend £1109 billion this year!

Is this the same IFS that released a report this week? The same IFS which stated that our tax system is breaking the economy as those most productive to society are pissing off. Yeah, Labour have thought that one out well, as well as making the childcare cliff edge worse.

I'm assuming the state of everything after 14 years of the Tories crumbling concrete above our children's heads, shit on beaches, pesticides killing off the birds and bees, can't rely on getting an ambulance or the police or tomatoes when you need one, etc will mean that rational folk won't want to vote for more of the same.

The state of the economy especially.

We're paying a Tory Tax on everything from energy to food to our mortgages as the price of their poor governance and corruption.

There's "no money" because they've spent it, put our country on record debt, and don't even a) service the debt properly (As chancellor Sunak cost the country £4billion and then didn't bother to investigate the billions wasted in covid fraud or on useless PPE from companies that didn't exist 3 weeks ago.

@JaneyGee Someone gets it

This. Highest tax on record. Another report has come out this week - taxing the workers so much. Robbing left, right and centre from those who work - this is now breaking our economy. People are leaving, people are changing economic behaviour. Multiple reports out on this issue now - the most recent this week. They are more socialist than Blair ever was.

I suspect the same here although at the last local elections we had something of a Greenwash which is interesting!

@Passepartoute Clearly Sunak's tactic of pandering to the right is putting off his own voters.
I think this is the wrong way round. How about: Hunt & Sunak trying to be prudent because we are broke but the nutters Kwarteng, Truss, Boris &Co have blocking sensible policies and campaign for tax cuts. Andrew Mitchell wants to send our money to countries around the world as if we are rich with no poor of our own to look after.

Be prepared for the posters who claim they'll be glad to see the back of those "rich" people if they're not prepared to pay more tax!

Talk about cutting off your nose to spite your face!

The UK, as a whole, is worse off when rich people leave the UK and move abroad in many ways, not just lost tax revenue, but lost spending power (and vat thereon), lost employment (most rich people employ others), lost revenue from appearances/performances from sportspersons, musical/theatre artists etc.

It's exactly why tax haven countries become tax havens - they want to attract the rich people to spend their money and employ people in their countries!

Hey ho - our loss will be their gain!

@Coveescapee your argument was it would cost more.

Yes I think it will. The IFS are not infallible!

I assume you are watching the government getting trashed for their crap behaviour during the pandemic at the moment?

See my earlier post about sensible stuff being argued against. Braveman understands about the costs of immigration. She and Sunak want to take action. but Labour, some Tories and ECHR prevent her policies.
We are eating our own limbs whilst we are still alive.

The politics of envy has dumbed down this country so much. The Tories have continued to make it that work doesn’t pay - highest state dependency on record. Far right they ain’t. However, the multiple reports on this have said - it’s putting our economy into terminal decline - less for everyone.

Labour will make those little quirks of our tax system worse. Childcare and school fees but to name 2. I’d love to know how Labour will fix this. No-one can answer it. Financial institutions have been saying this for a long time, we are damaging tax take and productivity. Without that, who is paying for over half of adults to take out? Where is the money coming from.

Anyone with an ounce of economic education or remembers the 90% of the past. There is a tipping point of how much you can take from working people. We are there.

I agree with you, but the point is you have to vote for someone and a change of government is certainly needed. Things may not get better overnight with Labour, it didn't last time, but the fact is that things can and will get much much worse with the Tories.

Housing is a very important issue. All this building that you talk about does rather beg the question why the government permits by some estimates over a million homes in England to sit empty.

Locking down sooner as Starmer advocated would have caused fewer deaths and cost less.