To think incompetent hypocrite Starmer has lost the respect of the people and his own party in record time?

[TealTraybake]

An excoriating letter from Rosie Duffield who resigned today..

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/rosie-duffield-resignation-letter-starmer-labour-b2620603.html#comments-area

Been bad enough for her to resign, I wonder what will happen next. Does she know something we don’t?

I would be more inclined to hold the Tories to account for the ‘black hole’ if we had more tangible evidence that it actually exists. There’s a curious lack of detail around it apart from ‘uncosted plans’. It’s allowed Labour to row back on manifesto spending and I suspect, to bring forward many other measures they had always intended to introduce later on, with the perfect excuse. WFA cut ? Blame the Tories. Savage budget making us all poorer and cutting support to the sick and disabled ? Blame the Tories. And on and on

The WFA needed to be means tested out of the hands of people like your wealthy parents, but lazy means testing at pension credit level supporting those on the bones of their arses isn’t the way to do it.

Starmers’ clothing, and glasses, and private sports box, and Taylor Swift tickets and various gifts that Reeves didn’t declare, plus giving Lord Ali the run of Downing Street, etc, etc, may not be on the scale of Tory corruption but it’s definitely not a good look when you’re standing on a podium trying to rally the country into years of yet more austerity dressed up as ‘fixing the foundations’ and promising yet more ‘jam tomorrow’. If there’s one thing the people of this country have learned over the last 14 years is that tomorrow never comes.

And I’m astounded that you think Labours’ handling of the riots were anything even approaching effective. The undercurrent of unrest that currently exists won’t be addressed by labelling disenfranchised and disillusioned people as right wing thugs.

An incoming government needs to build goodwill. It is pretty impossible to do that from a negative base. Starmer will be gone within the next 2-3 years. Then Labour will infight and will lose the next general election.

Thank you, that thought will get me through the next 2-3 years 😀

But I'm still hoping Rosie Duffield is the first of many, many resignations. I hope more people say enough is enough, accept that true Labour no longer exists, that more comes out about KS not prosecuting certain people and that he ends up out of no. 10 long before 2028.

I would be more inclined to hold the tories to account for the ‘black hole’ if we had more tangible evidence that it actually exists.

This accounts for a fair bit of it.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx2npgpz048o

Anyone who doesn't believe the spending black hole exists is in cloud cuckoo land. We have plenty of evidence of the billions wasted during the pandemic and on ridiculous initiatives like the Rwanda plan, to say nothing of the billions lost because of Brexit and Truss. If you still doubt it, how do you account for all that underspending on health, education, the justice system, prisons, social care etc? If the Tories thought they had a healthy economy at the beginning of this year, do you seriously believe they wouldn't have been throwing money at all those problems to try to improve their electability?

It wasn't so long ago that the true believers were up and down mn with the shame stick demanding that people vote labour or else the vulnerable would perish.

Amazingly, the few who remain, now seem to think that poor pensioners not in receipt of pension credit had it coming and that the two child cap limit was always a good idea and they all have a neighbour on disability benefits who are doing cartwheels around the street while claiming for a bad back.

Would love to know which Politcal Blog @TealTraybake ... apols if it has already been mentioned and I missed it!

How much for ‘smash the gangs’ which has no hope of working?

You can’t claim PIP past retirement age but you can make a claim for attendance allowance - disability benefit for those over retirement age. It won’t automatically qualify you for a blue badge because there is no mobility component - it looks at how your disability affects everyday life, to assess your care needs. But if you get an award it will help significantly as supporting evidence for the blue badge application. I would still make a complaint to the LA - they really should have seen you face to face as the amount of pain you are in as well as the distance you can walk/any aids you use are all relevant to the application and can’t be quantified on paper. And asking you to provide a receipt for a walking stick is beyond ludicrous. All you need is for your GP or other healthcare professional involved with you, to confirm that you need to use a walking aid. Please feel free to PM me if you think l can help.

No, I’m saying the ones in most need will.

@justasking111 Have you looked into Attendance Allowance which is for retired people? There is a massive form for it too, but take it slowly and you'll get through it. Also, it needs to be you on your worst days. This should also help you with a blue badge.

i haven’t seen anyone posting anything close to that parody. I have seen lots of posts supporting means testing WFA at a higher threshold and opposing the two child benefit cap. Your disability example is the territory of benefit bashers who tend to be supporters of right wing parties.

The current Labour government has caused precisely none of these issues.

I' m genuinely mystified about the relationship between Lord Alli and Keir Starmer/ the Labour Party. Has he been giving this sort of support every year since his friend Tony Blair enabled him, or is it new? Does anyone actually know what's going on?

I'm afraid I don't believe the notion that he's just clothing and housing someone else's family in an excess of happy socialism.

Then you seem to be tactically myopic.

I can’t get worked up about the WFA. Should the threshold be higher - yes. Should they wait until next year once the pension goes up to cover it - also yes. But I can’t get overly bothered about it when the poor have got poorer for years under successive Tory governments, but now it’s hitting pensioners people are up in arms?

YABU to think that anyone has any respect for any politician.

Labour have a shit show to clean up with limited options. There seems to be very little difference between the parties these days. Only the asinine whining.

No they won’t. If you’re even 50p above the ludicrously low threshold you won’t qualify and will lose out on £200-£300 worth of support. £218.15 a week dosn’t make a wealthy pensioner. Reeves knew exactly what she was doing by tying WFP to pension credit. They were braced for a backlash from the start.

Of course you can’t it’s only pensioners

Read Age UK on this

No, you’re being tactically parodic.

As for the 2 child cap - do people honestly think Labour can instantly reverse in 3 months every measure brought in under 14 years of Tories?

That’s an issue with your local council – not central government.

Labour were under the impression that 4000 pensioners would die had the Tories implemented this policy in 2017 - back when gas didn't cost half of what it does per kwh now. But apparently labour posters aren't too bothered.

You’d think differently if it meant the difference between heating and eating. Don’t worry, l suspect that come October you’ll have plenty to get worked up about as the hits get closer to home.

The Tories handed out million pound contracts to their families, friends or donors. During Covid this happened often for no discernible return, for PPE etc. Hundreds of millions wasted on the Rwanda scheme. Rishi and his private helicopters. Boris and his decor. Zahawi and his stables. Partying in No. 10. Raab couldn’t leave his sun longer. This is just off the top of my head. Badly handled Brexit costing millions, and that’s on/going.

There’s sewage in our waterways. There’s families who’ve been living in mouldy houses. So much wrong with the country.

Whatever your view of Starmer, the Tories were awful.

Labour were under the impression that 4000 pensioners would die had the Tories implemented this policy in 2017

To be accurate, that estimate was from removing the WFA altogether. I assume labour would argue that those 4,000 deaths would come from the very poorest, and that as those people are still going to receive it, the estimate isn't applicable.