To ask what you expect from Labour when/if they win the election?

[Welovecrumpets]

Just curious. I’ll be voting for them reluctantly but I’m not really sure what can or will be done about the state of the country. It seems we’re skint so they’ll just have to tinker around the edges.

What specifically is "dreadful" about Angela Rayner?

I don’t have anything to worry about, because I’m not the one making evidence-free defamatory allegations.
I wouldn’t run MN for all the tea in china though

It’s just realism which you’ll see more if soon I expect if Labour get in

This

I couldn't agree more. Unless Starmer gets ousted fairly early on by someone with fresh ideas and the charisma to get people behind her or him, it creates a void that troubling ideologies will fill. At the moment the country is only somewhat united behind the idea of giving the tories a good stuffing.

I do think the Tories need to go but I worry that Labour as it is isn't the answer.

They weren't identifiable though! You only know who could well be described in that way because of the ridiculous amount of scandals and corruption that this government has been involved in. It's hilarious, really.

I criticised the spending during Covid and energy support I remember this site being very pro the spending

So did I, @EasternStandard; obviously some of it had to be spent, but not at the insensate levels of waste and corruption we saw, though you wouldn't be thanked for saying so at the time

£840 million on eat out to help out, £12 billion on energy support, £37 billion to Dido for her failed test and trace, £97 billion on furlough - it just went on and on

I mean, it very clearly isn’t.
We are not in a very good place.

how much better do you think the economy would have fared if we hadn’t done any of that?

What would the outcome would have been of not paying the people on furlough or not helping people with their energy bills? And before somebody suggests it just carrying on as normal and not telling people to stay at home was not an option how ever much some conspiracy theorists will tell you it is. Any healthcare system in the world would have collapsed due to demand on a novel disease which we had no immunity to and was highly contagious without some interventions to stop the spread.

You might not be able to identify who is in the current government but I think quite a lot of other people probably can …

I have, elsewhere on the thread, but I added some silly and intemperate (but not libelous) comments too as I enjoy it. I see (as I mentioned above) that your reaching for the smelling salts didn't apparently extend to a specifc and as yet unproven allegation made against an actual named individual relating to a matter that may even be sub-judice - but I assume that's due to it being a Labour politician.

So you ask people what the alternative was, then call anyone who thinks of an alternative a "conspiracy theorist". All I will say to you is "boring." Oh, and "Sweden".

So MNHQ can expect a few dozen/hundred libel writs? As the other poster said, you need to go an have a lie down.

Another bloody thread about the same thing god there all over MN.

1. Economic decline. Centre-left governments wreck the economy. It's like a law of nature. They borrow too much and spend too much. Then businesses fold, and people emigrate to more tax friendly nations, taking their skills and money with them. I have no problem with taxation. The more money you earn the more tax you should pay. And I have no problem with public spending, so long as the money is spent wisely. If you repair the roads, invest in public transport, fund apprenticeships schemes, ensure more STEM graduates, etc, the economy benefits. Even funding the armed forces benefits society, since those who serve tend to emerge more confident, hard-working and self-disciplined. But Labour will blow the money on 'diversity and inclusion' drives, new asylum centres and welfare cheats.

2. An even worse migration crisis. Whatever drivel they come out with, we all know Labour are pro-immigration, and that some of its supporters even want open borders. The rules will be relaxed, student visas will be easier to exploit, deportations will become harder to secure, and illegal immigration will increase.

3. The destruction of the British countryside. Whatever is left of the countryside will be covered in disgusting new housing estates, with horrible rabbit hutch houses jammed on top of one another. No doubt the traffic will get even worse as well. The population will certainly increase. That will be partly down to immigration, partly down to more generous welfare payments, which will encourage those on benefits to have more kids. More houses, more cars, more people, more noise...

4. The end of any national pride or self-respect. Not that there is much left. Both Englishness and Britishness are now toxic, and the young are generally either indifferent to this country or ashamed. It will be like kicking a corpse. Still, I'm sure Labour will do their best. It's staggering just how much the left hate their own country.

God help you if you are on a middle to low income, work hard, don't claim benefits, don't fiddle the system, have an affection for your country and just want a quiet life.

Someone doesn’t know what sub judice means … there’s a surprise 🤦‍♀️

It was the whole lot, it was endless always more and more

The messaging was all on Covid not the economic hit and other stuff

Of course we’d see it in taxes later on. People on here were keen, most anyway.

I'm not sure why you'd consider it unrealistic for a party to oust their leader and substitute one they prefer?

That's one of the reasons the Tory party are failing so miserably. The country wants stability and everyone knows Sunak will resign the day after the GE.🤷‍♀️ Who do you think will replace him @Puzzledandpissedoff?

You don’t think it’s possible to defame more than one person in the same statement? Again 🤦‍♀️

I dont think there will be many changes, to be honest. I am just hoping for less corruption, at least for the first couple of years.

What is the alternative, surely you can’t want more of the same from the Tories?

I am hoping that they manage to make the country and politics less divisive. I am very tired of everything turning into a slagging match with name-calling whilst the actual problem isn't discussed and zero solutions are considered. You may have a view on Gaza, Trans issues, the climate, Ukraine, immigration, taxes etc etc etc but unless we come together and discuss it rationally, we can't help anybody or solve anything. Brexit really messed up this country by leaving us divided and angry at each other, I don't think we have recovered.

Whoever gets into government will be limited with what they will be able to do within the 1st term.

I foresee anyone who is not receiving benefits paying more tax and being branded a bigot for challenging how that money is being spent.

I have to say, we as a family took full advantage of Eat Out to Help Out, partly because we had been unable to do bugger all for months, and partly because I knew we would be paying it back in taxes anyway. However, I balanced it out by never taking a useless test or having a useless vaccine. Even Stevens I would say.

Great point, thanks.