To think joke Chancellor Joke Budget joke Government

[Viviennemary]

Its absolutely scarey that this incompetent lot are running the country. Not as bad as Liz Truss but that's hardly a yardstick . Some old Labour. Squeeze the money out of the workers and give it away. They had a real chance to reform benefits they didn't. Now more handouts for folk with large families. While the rest of us pay.

Wow Blair brought matrons back? Didn't he get rid of them and introduce a layer of middle.management ? He also scrapped on site washing of clothes in hospital so staff have to be trusted to wash at 60 degrees to kill bugs ?

He also had a massive midwife crisis which was all over the news and women giving birth on road sides becsuee they could not access their chosen hospital ?
He also tinkered with legal aid and opened the door for charging for unis !
Capped at one grand now 9500.

Etc etc etc .

Spin

Yes a cold collation I suppose. Not very appetising really.

Other than illegal wars Blair was really strong leader - he had direction and conviction. I'm not sure what that list of stuff a different labour government did has any bearing on this one though. New Labour were in theory more centrist that this government, they oversaw massive regulation etc.

Starmer/Reeves are no Blair/Brown, and they already have a welfare state with over twice the cost of what Blair left. Lets if you did a side by side comparision Blairs government would be pretty small state compared to Starmers.

I'd probably take Blair/Brown combo over any of todays options.

I assume someone else in this long thread has corrected this misunderstanding already but just in case. It's universal credit child element not child benefit. It's worth £293 a month for each extra child. And yes some people do indeed pop out more kids when it looks like their money may decrease or they may need to work. And yes obviously these are not representative of most UC claimants before everyone starts with the what abouts.

I dispute your claim that you think.

Same, that list is for the previous Labour gov not this one. They’re fundamentally different on growth. Hence Blair talking about tax cuts and the workers’ bill recently.

I think they’ve already brought Surestart back now called Best Start!
https://educationhub.blog.gov.uk/2025/07/best-start-family-hubs-what-parents-need-to-know/

but you won’t have heard about it because nothing good they do is discussed anywhere at all!

I disagree that state pension is a “benefit” I paid into it for over 50 years, yes half a century, paid tax on it and paying tax again now that I get it . Had 2 Children, as was all of could afford. Never, ever received any other benefits. Wish I’d have played the system. Would have been quids in .

Would you really, though? Would an extra £5k a year (or less if you're not working), no homeownership, and no private pensions really have made your life better?

You are envious of people living on the breadline whilst struggling in essential, usually manual roles like care work or cleaning. It's not a good look.

Yes, I’m living the high life in my dotage, just around 12k a year is wonderful after half a century of working in near minimum wage to help others. Thanks for your kind and helpful input.

Didn’t your employer put into a pension?

Sadly not

@Catarinabella Then how are you negatively affected? The state pension is rising. It is workplace pensions that are being targeted via salary sacrifice.

You can’t predict the future. One parent could die or have a serious illness. Lose their job, have an affair etc.

Life happens.

OK, have a choice, tonight, heat or eat. PS using free community internet in case you’re wondering. Best wishes

@rockstarshoes That looks brilliant. I agree with you about any good they do being buried. They badly need to sort out their publicity and PR.

yes and we don’t want to be taxed for our privilege and use of more resources!

it’s mind blowing!

Hence why you take out life insurance. This provides cover in case a disaster happens.

You presumably realise that stakeholder pensions were only compulsory for employers to provide sometime around 2014 Ish? Most of my working life, like the previous posters, involved low wages and no pension.

How can they PR £30bn more taxes? After lying

They're doing pretty well to get so many on here saying it’s great.

Hence life and income protection insurance exist. If you don’t have the common sense to
insure yourself and therefore provide your child(ren) with a secure future should the worst happen then quite frankly you shouldn’t be having kids full stop. Re: divorce - child maintenance exists for a reason. Been there done that!

Even as a struggling single mum I paid into a life insurance policy for the benefit of my DD.

Serious illness cover, which I had, gives you about 12 months coverage. It's a rip off. (And "hence why" is grammatically incorrect).

I've read some hard-hearted, repugnant posts in the last couple of days but this truly takes the biscuit.

Where are you getting that? Nearly £300 a month per child

No need for grammar tips. This is an online forum, I'm not aiming for Booker Prize.