Page 8 | Do you think some people didn't know what level of government they were voting for?

unn · 2025-05-03T06:33:56+00:00

Yesterday, at a café, I overheard two elderly ladies saying that they voted for Reform in the county council elections as they wanted their heating allowance back and want the Labour government out in Parliament. How bloody ignorant are these people? The county council has zero responsibility of your pensions and heating allowance. They deal with potholes and local education. Probably have forgotten that the general election was 10 months ago.

Genevieva · 10/05/2025 07:36

Absolutely45 · 10/05/2025 07:25

In what way?
Average wage increases above inflation.
NHS waiting lists down and this isn't BS, Fil has had cancer treatments and diags done with 3 weeks, he was initially tld 8 weeks min.
Fuel duty never changed.
Neither has employee NI or Income tax rates.
Interest rates are down as is inflation.

They have been in for 10 months, we had Tory Austerity for 14 years!! this cannot be undone in a few months & Reform have nothing more than hot air on offer...

Such as "Turn around boats and send back to France" errr France will not allow that, so we do what? go to war??? Trade embargoes? close their embassy? and what do you think France would do? Instantly stop patrolling the beaches... that'll help us.. not!!

Reform want to increase tax free threshold to £20k.. so where is the 10s of billions coming from to do that?
An insurance backed NHS? Good luck if you have a pre existing condition....

Labour have been a disappointment, no doubt but whatever the question, Reform is not the answer

Edited

Show quote history

My dad started cancer treatment pretty much immediately in 2021. I have twice had an appointment at a specialist unit for a breast lump within 3 weeks of seeing my GP. Cancer has its own fast track NHS pathway. Adenomyosis abd endometriosis don’t. That took years to diagnose.

Menopausalsourpuss · 10/05/2025 08:21

Absolutely45 · 10/05/2025 07:25

In what way?
Average wage increases above inflation.
NHS waiting lists down and this isn't BS, Fil has had cancer treatments and diags done with 3 weeks, he was initially tld 8 weeks min.
Fuel duty never changed.
Neither has employee NI or Income tax rates.
Interest rates are down as is inflation.

They have been in for 10 months, we had Tory Austerity for 14 years!! this cannot be undone in a few months & Reform have nothing more than hot air on offer...

Such as "Turn around boats and send back to France" errr France will not allow that, so we do what? go to war??? Trade embargoes? close their embassy? and what do you think France would do? Instantly stop patrolling the beaches... that'll help us.. not!!

Reform want to increase tax free threshold to £20k.. so where is the 10s of billions coming from to do that?
An insurance backed NHS? Good luck if you have a pre existing condition....

Labour have been a disappointment, no doubt but whatever the question, Reform is not the answer

Edited

Show quote history

Labour have put up employers ni and minimum wage which makes it more costly to employ someone - that won't increase growth as they say they want to - the reverse. If they really wanted to increase wages at no cost to employees they should raise the tax threshold which have stayed the same for years. Ditto going full tilt on net zero meaning we have the most costly industrial energy in the world while importing wood pellets and oil from norway even though we have our own oilfields next to them that we aren't allowed by Labour to exploit. We cannot be competitive or grow. Reform have a manifesto which says the savings will come from. And we need to copy successful health systems like France.

EasternStandard · 10/05/2025 08:22

Genevieva · 10/05/2025 07:31

Ah, but it might send a message to government that they need to reintroduce the WFA or face annihilation at the next general election. So they aren’t entirely stupid. I suspect they know exactly what they were voting for and why. They are cross and this was a big fat middle finger.

Voting in the local elections can have bigger impact than all the other ways opposition mounts.

Politicians care about votes and careers after all. You can see Reform impacting Labour’s policies already as they try to counter. Whether it’ll work we’ll see.

BIossomtoes · 10/05/2025 08:32

Genevieva · 10/05/2025 07:36

My dad started cancer treatment pretty much immediately in 2021. I have twice had an appointment at a specialist unit for a breast lump within 3 weeks of seeing my GP. Cancer has its own fast track NHS pathway. Adenomyosis abd endometriosis don’t. That took years to diagnose.

Show quote history

My bloke is currently on his way home from an MRI scan that took place at 7.20. It was ordered at an outpatient appointment on Tuesday. I don’t see how that could possibly be any better.

PlutoCat · 10/05/2025 09:47

Menopausalsourpuss · 10/05/2025 08:21

Labour have put up employers ni and minimum wage which makes it more costly to employ someone - that won't increase growth as they say they want to - the reverse. If they really wanted to increase wages at no cost to employees they should raise the tax threshold which have stayed the same for years. Ditto going full tilt on net zero meaning we have the most costly industrial energy in the world while importing wood pellets and oil from norway even though we have our own oilfields next to them that we aren't allowed by Labour to exploit. We cannot be competitive or grow. Reform have a manifesto which says the savings will come from. And we need to copy successful health systems like France.

Show quote history

Reform have a manifesto which says the savings will come from

Yes they have provided a really detailed and comprehensive breakdown of where the money will come from, haven't they? A whole page of it. With lots of white space.

Do you think some people didn't know what level of government they were voting for?

EasternStandard · 10/05/2025 09:55

PlutoCat · 10/05/2025 09:47

Reform have a manifesto which says the savings will come from

Yes they have provided a really detailed and comprehensive breakdown of where the money will come from, haven't they? A whole page of it. With lots of white space.

Show quote history

Maybe they’ll just say there was a black hole left by Labour.

Although looking at that some of those have happened with this gov, cutting foreign aid and benefits. I don’t think they were planned pre GE.

boys3 · 10/05/2025 10:09

https://ifs.org.uk/articles/reform-uk-manifesto-reaction

The IFS analysis of the Reform GE manifesto.

Raised more than a few questions (ditto for the Green’s effort)

TeenagersAngst · 10/05/2025 11:03

BIossomtoes · 10/05/2025 08:32

My bloke is currently on his way home from an MRI scan that took place at 7.20. It was ordered at an outpatient appointment on Tuesday. I don’t see how that could possibly be any better.

Show quote history

It’s a shame my daughter is still waiting after a year for an operation on her feet.

We can all cherrypick examples to suit different narratives.