To feel completely disillusioned with the Labour Party?

[user6776]

I've voted Labour since I've been able to vote. Come from a working class family of Labour voters also and I'd never vote Tory, but I'm feeling so disillusioned by Labour at the minute.

Wasn't really a fan of Starmer to begin with, but even less so after his comments about Margaret Thatcher. I really don't want to vote for them at the next GE.

AIBU to just not vote at all?

That's the scaremongering from the Telegraph and the Daily Mail, yes.

Thing is, all this fear they're creating about Labour coming for everyone for an arm and a leg is going to end up leaving most people relieved when Labour only take the arm. Silly sods will end up making Labour's tax increases look reasonable and modest.

Gotta laugh.

BIossomtoes
It wasn’t in the manifesto because they had no intention of doing it until they were faced with a £22 billion overspend.

There were no references to winter fuel payments in Labour’s recent election manifesto for the first time in 14 years, suggesting the party always planned to target pensioners, shadow energy secretary Claire Coutinho said.

Writing on X, formerly Twitter, Ms Coutinho last week told followers to “look at past Labour manifestos: in 2010, 2015, 2017 and 2019 they mention the [winter fuel payment]. In 2024 they were silent. They planned this before the election”.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/timeline-hypocrisy-labour-warning-tory-winter-fuel-raid/

Dearest Clav, even if it comes from a member of the former government backed by the Torygraph, that statement is still no more than speculation.

https://news.sky.com/story/carol-vorderman-calls-for-apology-from-pm-over-winter-fuel-cut-13212459

But they are not decent alternatives either.

i would never vote Conservative, especially after the last 14 years that included the Johnson era, but I have no illusions about Labour any more. Women are always Labour's lowest priority.

And? So? Vorders doesn't agree. Nobody expects everyone who voted Labour to agree with everything they do. FWIW I would like to see this policy tweaked so that more people are protected. But I don't want a full U turn - it's time older people stopped being shielded from tough times at the expense of working age and disabled people, who have had 14 years of being hammered and reviled.

Completely agree. In principle there’s nothing wrong with it. It would be fairer if the cut off point was higher - in line with liability for income tax, perhaps.

it's time older people stopped being shielded from tough times at the expense of working age and disabled people

And, arguably, the effects of their decisions ...

I feel totally let down by this new Labour Government, for one thing they politisize everything.
Well, it's politics, isn't it?!

But their Winter fuel tactics beggar belief, they have removed this from almost all the people who have worked hard, paid all their dues and demands etc.
No they haven't. It's going to be means tested, so that those who don't need it, don't get it. I can assure you that I, and my DH, have worked very hard all our working lives, paid all our dues and demands etc (whatever the fuck they are!) which means that we don't actually need the WFA. It would have been a lovely nice, extra sum of money to have, which would probably have spent on nice food or a meal out or wine. But we don't need it to pay our fuel bills.

At the same time offering a free cheque to a great many people who have put very little back, some who have lived on benefits for ever??
I have no idea what you mean by this. If people have lived on benefits, then they probably need the WFA.

Encouraging people not to bother working, what's the point, we don't get any better thought of, may as well live on benefits?? what a shambles.
Ah, so you're a benefits frother!

And we can't even die without every greedy government demanding nearly half our savings
Pray tell how the government will remove half of your savings?

we can't even help our children or grandchildren
Why is this? What is the government doing to stop you doing this?

and IHT hits people at their most vulnerable time when they have lost a family member.
Very few people in the UK will pay IHT. Do you actually understand how it works?

Is it any wonder this country does not prosper.
It's a great wonder that so many in this country have so little idea of what is actually going on

Everybody thought that when Labour were talking about taxing rich people more and giving it to poor people they were talking about taxing people richer than them.

Now they are finding out they are the people who are going to get taxed.

Well they can't say they weren't warned.

Lots of Tory press scaremongering. Diverts attention from the mess they made over 14 years. All governments make mistakes. It's too early to judge Labour in power.

And we can't even die without every greedy government demanding nearly half our savings

Pedant note. If you are dead, they aren't your savings. They were your savings.

Someone from a working class family who has always voted Labour is a fan of Thatcher? 🤔

One post only from @RosieQDS Not coming back to argue their case, clearly.

I think the winter fuel payment cut was a mistake. Personally I think they could have carried on paying it but introduced a national insurance payment of 1-2% on those who get it with income between say £20-50,000 to claw it back rather than piss about means testing it.

Grantanow
Lots of Tory press scaremongering

The Guardian's economics editor described the decision as 'mean and stupid'.

we can't even help our children or grandchildren

That's a good point actually - Bridget Phillipson and Wes Streeting both said they experienced poverty as children but their grandparents treated them to things they would otherwise have missed out on. There must be tens of thousands of pensioners (of modest means) who use the winter fuel allowance to help out their struggling children and grandchildren.

Then surely they didn't need it. It's for keeping the house warm.

The previous poster said 'it's time older people stopped being shielded from tough times at the expense of working age [people]' but in some cases it will be the younger generation who miss out.

I see.

Meh. Let's see some more proper wage rises for working age people - so they can treat their own kids. The 'granny can't buy her grandbaby an ice cream any more' argument is probably the weakest argument against this policy I've seen so far.

In a democracy it is your right to vote meaningfully or waste your vote. It’s also your right to make your choice for whatever reason you want. There is no hierarchy of reasons when it comes to voting. The whole point of the system is that your choice is as valid as everyone else’s.

I always vote. I have voted for several parties over the years for a variety of reasons. Sometimes I have voted she isn’t the party I don’t want to win. At other times I have voted for a local candidate I respect, even if the party they are a member of isn’t my favourite.

There is nothing working class about voting Labour though. Labour was a Northern working class voting preference because the heavy industries were unionised. By contrast, in southern counties like Essex, the working classes were more Lily to vote Tory.

£300 buys a lot of 'ice cream' - I expect train drivers earning £67,000 can afford to buy their own 'ice cream' anyway.

But it isn't just the train drivers, is it? It's nurses, it's junior doctors, it's everyone whose pay review body recommendations have been completely ignored by the previous government at a time when inflation was in double digits. Overall, priccate sector pay has grown faster under the Tories than public sector pay: https://ifs.org.uk/publications/recent-trends-public-sector-pay

Redress is needed, times are tough.

I note you have completely ignored my point about the disabled. I am not surprised.

pointythings
it's junior doctors

According to the Nuffield Trust - the estimated average earnings for a first year junior doctor (including top-ups) was £41,300 (2023/2024) - year 3 it was £62,300. Are they getting a 22% pay rise on top?

I note you have completely ignored my point about the disabled

Disability Rights UK has said that 45% of all pensioners are disabled, with this figure rising to almost 80% of those aged 85 or over. The charity said the changes would “leave millions of older disabled people without any financial assistance with the extra costs of heating, required to stay safe and healthy”.

https://lordslibrary.parliament.uk/changes-to-winter-fuel-payments-the-social-fund-winter-fuel-payment-regulations-2024/