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?

And incorrect. £218.15 pw is the threshold for PC for a single pensioner. If they can claim attendance allowance this can significantly raise the income guarantee element of pension credit by way of disability so they would qualify for pension credit and WFP.

Only 37 million are taxpayers. But yeh I get the point however it is just another of Labour's policies to appease the hard left which won't actually achieve anything. Same as VAT on education etc.
Policies that they can say "see we are taxing the wealthy" to then excuse stuff like WFA. They already know the soundbite policies won't bring much in.

Well no, we all pay tax.

No there are 37.4 million people paying tax in UK

"I notice your rant didn’t include the billions paid in UC support for low wages."

The first item I mentioned was 'benefits'. 🙄

You can winge and moan as much as you like, but the financial reality is that Labour's pay rises have already resulted in UK government debt increasing to more than 100% of GDP. We're very close to the tipping point where it becomes completely unsustainable.

We must either make drastic cuts or have the entire system collapse - perhaps that's what we need for the British people to wake up to basic economic realities?

Income tax. There are others.

Every single person pays tax of some kind. There are more taxes than income tax.

Can you explain how the UK would go bankrupt and what that would look like?

Printing money to pay bill, eventually currency collapse due to inflation, houses not selling, job losses…

Oh ok. Is there historical precedent?

Some of us are old enough to have seen all that.

The BBC and Guardian never mention Britain's IMF bailout in 1976, so most people under 50 will never heard of it (unlike Black Wednesday, which we never hear the end of).

https://www.chathamhouse.org/publications/the-world-today/2016-12/britains-big-bailout-december-15-1976

I don’t indulge in scaremongering. I’m basing my predictions on a few things. Experience as a disability outreach worker, with first hand experience as to the effects of previous rounds of cuts to disability benefits - some of them too subtle to be in the public consciousness, but no less devastating to those they affected. At every round of welfare reform disability benefits have been the low hanging fruit and the rhetoric used by the government in that respect is little different from that of the Tories.

The government has been vocal in signalling they will change sickness and disability benefits but tight lipped on the detail, save to say that everything will be geared to getting the sick and disabled back to work. They also talk about PIP - a universal benefit designed to contribute to the cost of living with a disability - in the same terms as ESA - a means tested out of work sickness benefit. If they don’t know what the various benefits actually do, how are they going to target them properly ?

And the consultation on PIP launched by the Tories, and proposing much of what l said in my post, is under scrutiny by Labour and they haven’t yet confirmed or denied whether they will be taking up any of the measures it proposes. So, l’d say there’s plenty to suggest that any, or indeed all of it, could come to pass. Or it could all be a ruse to make us fear the worst and be eternally grateful when it doesn’t happen. I know what my money’s on.

This is my point. The government is tight lipped and hasn’t indicated any intention to do the things you outline. I also have significant experience, personal and professional.

Probably worth reminding yourself of what happens under the Labour government in 1976 when it ran out of money and no one would lend it any more. The IMF stepped in, and that paved the way for the following prolonged conservative period in power.

Some would say that the ‘72 conservative government had a part to play with its ‘spend for growth’ budget, and that could well have some truth in it. But as the next budget, presented by our economist chancellor, is being pitched as budget for growth, with the rules around public sector debt conveniently being changed to allow more borrowing… it might be worth a few more people reminding themselves of how that last panned out ;)

How many pay more in tax than they receive in benefits??

I agree. He’s a Tory in a red tie. There’s virtually no difference.
He’s kept all of their policies.
I thought a new party came with change
If anything he’s worse at least the Tories with all their faults didn’t abolish the WFA. We might as well have kept Rishi Sunak. We'd have been no worse off would we and we’re sure no better off under Kier Sausage Starmer.

@Tryingtokeepgoing

Maybe we'll end up with another Thatcherite government to sort the whole mess out?

There's a reason she won three elections in a row - hard-nosed but sound budgets, economic growth, falling taxes and a fear of Labour bankrupting the country again.

The Great Depression of 1929; Zimbabwe; Equador… quite a lot. Countries don’t cease to exist when they are bankrupt. You can’t dissolve a country like you can a company. Thus, the debt remains unless the creditor writes it off. You can’t declare your way out of a debt when you are a country. It just sits for future generations to clear, holding back economic growth and opportunities for the majority of ordinary people to have a comfortable and prosperous life.

I agree that the bailout weakened the Labour government at the time and paved the way for regime change, I wouldn’t say it was the sole factor though.
My argument is that the UK wouldn’t go bankrupt; the repercussions would be unthinkable. Drastic action may have to be taken in the event that catastrophe looked likely but I don’t believe we’re currently at that point. And the provision of a robust welfare state (by which I mean a state that provides healthcare, education and so on rather than just benefits) is not going to cause national bankruptcy as was previous implied.

Please can I be one of the 20 million exempt from VAT and duty? No one's told me how you do that.

This.
I don’t doubt his credentials but he has to stop the greedy freebies grabbing. It’s not making him look
good (despite the new £30k for clothing)

In comparable nations to the UK?

Personally, I think the 'gcse revision accommodation' could be his undoing. It looks like he's broken Electoral Commission rules regarding a false declaration as to where he was living during the election campaign.

That's pretty serious and could end up with a resignation, if the Electoral Commission determine that he's lied.

The UK has been here before in 1976. The IMF insisted upon drastic cuts as a condition for the bailout. They always do.

Do you think they'll just give the UK money without the books being balanced? We'd just need another bailout the following year and the year after that.