Is the Chancellor about to crash the economy?

[Startingagainandagain]

I will start by saying I voted Labour, but I am increasingly concerned about what the government has done so far.

Today there are warning that food prices could shoot up, the pound is going down, there were big jitters on the bonds market and government borrowing is higher than planned.

More generally Reeves seems to have spooked businesses and they have no will to expand or employ more people.

I agreed that the Tories left a total mess.

But Labour seems to just go from bad to worse and I am really starting to wish she could be replaced by someone more competent to restore some confidence.

I’m a Northerner but we need those well paid City jobs. Think of all the tax paid on the bonuses! Apart from that we led in financial services. I think that’s probably going/gone now.

Article in the Times the other day saying recruitment/vacancies in the City now at lowest level since 2020 - just before COVID.

Also reported in the news during this cold spell, Centrica said gas storage levels were “worrying low”.

London and the S/E hoards all the investment and nowhere else gets a look-in.

Do you really think that it is healthy to have such an unbalanced economy? It doesn't even help Londoners: you see it on here where people are earning six figures and yet saying they are struggling to make ends meet. It's ridiculous.

I agree with a fair bit but not all. Although by the time Labour are out it may well be all.

And the best way to deal with it is to add more pollution?

Also, it’s not going to save Labour, if that’s your hope.

Leveling up!
But HS2 North was cancelled. Labour could reinstate it, but they won’t.
This government could allow the less prosperous counties to set their own lower levels of commercial, or even income, tax.
That would stimulate companies to move there and boost the economy. This is how Switzerland does it, and USA.

What are Labour doing to boost investment outside the SE?

No one is interested in saving Labour at the next election.
Eveyone is interested in them actually improving the country, irrespective of their election hopes next time.
’We are the party of change’, yet we have Austerity 2.

I don’t know enough about impact of runways but I agree it’s nothing to do with Labour saving themselves

There’s a staunch lot who will back them regardless, you see it on here (oddly still blind to Labour’s issues), but their failings will drive people to other parties - that looks like it might be Reform votes

This is more about Labour’s real
impact on the economy and livelihoods

The runways are not the answer.

Environmental damage aside, huge numbers of workers will be needed. There are not enough construction workers for the housing plants. Where are they going to come from
and at what cost, financially and politically?

And the infrastructure will need to be upgraded at huge costs to the taxpayer.

They will lose the constituencies under the new paths, and that’s mostly Labour constituencies.

That’s not how infrastructure investment works. If you don’t build it, you never attract users, and never grow inward investment. Heathrow used to be the busiest airport in the world. Then then busiest in Europe. And now not even that.

Do you think people stopped flying just because Little Britain decided the terminal decline was preferable in order to follow the climate cult.

Who will be building it?

The government tells us we need hundreds of thousands foreign workers fur their housing program?

Who will pay for it? Heathrow will get theirs and we will be paying. Their dividends don’t stay here. All we get is transit traffic and cheap tourists.

If they pay the salaries they will get the workers. Foreign workers also. There are temporary visas available. Temporary housing.
There are answers to everything.
Airports generate tax revenue, create thousands of jobs, and that’s what the country needs now.

How much revenue does Heathrow generate?

How much tax do they pay?

What happens to the dividends?

The job they generate, are they actually needed in that part of the country?

Where is the temporary housing you are talking about? What happens to the families of the so called temporary workers?

None of this adds up, it’s all wishful thinking.

Temporary accommodation as in on-site container homes. Also spare rooms and hotels for miles around. Jobs are needed across the country.
Somehow we managed to build the super sewer under London, and the Elisabeth line, without having the workers sleeping in tents. HS2, the opposition wasn’t where will the workers come from.

Sounds like you are just opposed to the runways.
NIMBYs are everywhere with every excuse.

I am opposed to it.

I have also given my reasons.

You, on the other hand, seem to think that resorting to insults to people who disagree with you is going to shut a discussion.

Somehow we managed to build the super sewer under London
and the Elisabeth [sic] line in London
HS2. The London end; the northern bit got scrapped.

See what I mean about hoarding investment?

Going back to Reeves the cycle of doom seems slow enough to keep her in post at this point, although maybe she’ll go idk

Like the economy is slow enough at bleeding out Starmer and Reeves will keep releasing ‘growth’ statements eg China and AI and ignore the massive problem they’ve created

What insults?

No one insulted you. Just pointing out that the limitations you have called out are very basic planning, architectural and engineering run the mill processes.

Your kind would be blown by the true feats of engineering happening around the world at the moment.

A third runway at Heathrow wouldn’t be mission to Mars.

Starmer didn't actually say this - he declined to say whether Reeves would remain chancellor for the whole of the Parliament. A spokesperson later said that:

When asked at a press conference earlier whether Reeves would remain chancellor for the whole of the Parliament, the prime minister declined to answer, but did then say she had his "full confidence" and was doing a "fantastic job".

Starmer confirming yesterday that the government will "absolutely" stick to its fiscal rules could be the final nail in her coffin - there's no way out of that without complete humiliation, which would no doubt force her resignation unless she can magically produce some seeds of growth. It looks like a demand for her resignation is gaining wider traction though, so possibly time has already run out.

@HellsBalls it's farcical isn't it, after all the kick back from Osborne austerity budget. The difference is you don't have the far right part kicking off outside downing Street like we had the far left doing.

The North needs to be raised up. What good is squashing the South.
Tax receipts from the South should be directed at building a high speed rail line to connect the major northern cities to get things moving. This infrastructure is needed to make enterprise zones, STEM investment in Northern research universities and start up capital stick.
Killing the golden goose, the city, makes it all so much harder.

AI won’t work without changing GDPR. Now that we are out if the EU. We could do that.

However, looking at the updated public procurement regulations after Brexit, I’m not sure we have the skills to do it.

The problem is that Westminster thinks The North ends at Manchester 🙄

Heathrow used to be the busiest airport in the world. Then then busiest in Europe. And now not even that

Depends what metric you use TBH, Heathrow has been pretty high in international passenger numbers per annum for a long time, not so much in terms of aircraft movements (which is where having more runways helps).

Heathrow was certainly well placed as a gateway into/out of Europe in the days when the bulk of trans Atlantic traffic went by wide body aircraft, major centre to major centre (e.g. New York- London) then dispersed to other countries or regions on shorthaul flights.

These days there’s an increasing fashion for some foreign carriers to feed the UK regions direct (e.g. Emirates) and an increasing amount of longhaul flying done regional centre to regional centre on smaller aircraft (lots of interest in aircraft like the extended range A320 series as a result)…..

It’ll need more than a new runway at LHR to stop any perceived decline.

All the more reason to go ahead and do it.