To find Rachel Reeves an irritating pain in the neck

[Viviennemary]

Just been listening to this Spring Statement. What a load of total waffle. About how great things are going to be. Absolute and utter nonsense.

imagine What a shit show it would have been if this bunch of amateurs had been in charge 5 years ago. If you think she looks like a
rsbbit in the headlights now, what would she be like trying to pull off what Rishi managed. Even if you don’t agree with his actions, his demeanor was at least calm and measured.

I don't think the Rachel from Accounts phrase is considerate to those who work in Accounts.

As for women in public life, Yvette Cooper is much better. Margaret Thatcher's policies I almost all objected to, but acknowledge her ability to get them done.

I know that, logically. But given she’s never there, she’s shelved another local school expansion, and now this much loved one is shutting very suddenly, you can’t blame people for feeling pissed off with her. She is, by all accounts (pardon the pun) extremely unpopular with her supposed constituents.

on the one hand I feel she has been dealt a difficult hand.

on the other I find her very odd for some reason I can’t out my finger on. I also don’t feel she is in any way qualified for the role so she’s just faffing around in the dark hoping something will work.

What Rishi did in the pandemic is partly why we're in a financial mess. Billions in schemes like eat out to help out, business loans given to fake businesses seeking COVID support, furlough and the PPE fiasco. Rishi did not do well, he came up with a very expensive package.

She should have done what Gordon Brown did when he became chancellor - didn't spend any money for 2 or 3 years and built up a bit of a pot and then spent it just in time for it to make a difference before the next election. (I'm not a Labour or Conservative voter by the way.) He did things in the way that we run our household - save for what you want (or need) and make sure there's a bit of a 'rainy day fund' for unforseen circumstances. She's doing things the 'modern' way - buy what you want when you see it and build yourself a nice big credit card bill to complain about and of course don't have anything in reserve....

How are people going to be better off when jobs are being shed left, right and centre due to the hike in NI, minimum wage increase, the civil service being slimmed down etc and household bills are still rising? It's almost impossible to get a GP appointment here so NHS waiting lists are falling because people have given up waiting and found the money to go private.

I just watched Darren Jones on BBC try and explain someone losing £4K PIP and being given assistance to find work by equating it with taking his kids £10 pocket money away and asking them to get a Saturday job - I can’t quite believe what I just heard - it isn’t just Rachel Reeves

@WitchesCauldron Please dont use the word “cretin” as a form of abuse. This hasn’t been acceptable for a long time.

Has anyone come across a detailed summary of the new plans regarding the cut to the disability element of UC as I have read they are cutting it by 50% but I'm not clear if this is immediate for new claimants and by 2029 for current claimants? It seems really extreme.

3 million excluded from covid support suggests otherwise!

Thank you, but I don't need you to tell me what I may think.

Brown had no choice. It was a 1997 manifesto commitment to stick with existing spending plans which was creating growth and we actually managed to record a surplus for a couple of years (on the back of Tory plans). It all went to rat shit when they won the second term and Brown went wild.

With annual fees of £40k, I don’t think that many electors in the constituency will care.

Into foster care out of childrens’ homes? She’s not ‘eager’ for more children to be removed from parents, just for better care for those who have already had to be (and those that have to be in the future).

He HAD to keep the economy afloat somehow? All the "scientists" were advocating for more and more and more lockdown. It was the mistake of Boris of listening to them.

‘The locals’? Really? And what percentage of the electorate in that community have children 8n private school at all, or that one in particular? It amazes me when private school parents think they have massive influence. 7% of children are in private ed. I know it’s higher in some areas, but it’s never approaching 50%, or even 25%.

You know what I meant. I couldn't care less what you think. And I don't need you to tell me what I meant to say either.

Well, you’d be wrong about that. And it’s £4k a term for day kids, with excellent SEN provision. Dozens of local kids who don’t fit mainstream schools go there instead.

Or warmth for that matter …? Would you demand more warmth from a male politician ?

And it's been struggling for years - since 2012 - and it wasn't even in her constituency then.

That will be dozens of people annoyed with her then. Literally dozens. Perhaps even 50.
Remind me again what her majority was? Oh yes, she has been an MP since 2010 with a current majority of 12,000. She’ll be quaking in her boots.

There are many able and competent people working in accounts, but most do not have and do not claim to have the necessary skills to be a competent Chancellor of the Exchequer.

In fact some notable holders of that office have failed to do so competently, including Rachel Reeves.

Yvette Cooper is a poor home secretary although she is likely to hold onto her job longer than Rachel Reeves. However, she is not likely to make any long-term positive impact, unlike Margaret Thatcher who, whether you like her or not, will never be forgotten by history.

She came into this government and parliament promising growth and the fact that labour would deliver the growth.

Her policies are the exact opposite of growth. The increase in NI, plus the reduction in the band level that it is paid, is going to hit many many companies very hard. It's economic illiteracy at its finest. She needs the private sector to create growth but has just hampered them to do so.

It's the private sector that creates and drives the growth that stimulates the economy. Always has been and always will be.

She keeps backing herself into corners and I can't see her lasting the course. But who on earth is capable of replacing her is another matter. To just replace her with another incompetent chancellor wouldn't help the matter either unless they dismantled her previous Autumn budget and started again.

It’s been failing since 2012 apparently.

Exactly this. Growth halved. Starmer and Reeves will prop each other up even if it gets worse.