To reckon that Reform will win the next election, and to be utterly terrified about it? 😪

[mumofoneAloneandwell]

i am a leftie

I think they’ll win

If don’t, they’ll have the majority in a hung parliament and govern as a minority party before joining with the Tories.

i’m going to tighten my belt re running my home and prepare for onslaught as the country becomes unrecognisable

In regards to your last paragraph, will you be as equally disgruntled when the ' old, indigenous white folk' are replaced by elderly, Brown immigrant folk? Young, healthy immigrants don't stay that way forever you know. Aging catches up with us all eventually, regardless of nationality or ethnicity.

Agree with everything you have said. Refreshing to hear your very rational viewpoints.

Third is Single Use and they give the example of baby feeding bottles, yes i m very sure new mums would be happy with that, same with gowns, what next re use masks

Are these fabric gowns? If so surely they can be laundered? I wouldn’t have a problem wearing a gown provided it was clean.
Presumably bed linen isn’t thrown away every time the bed is changed?

Your choice of words say more about you than him.

Of course the excess figures are theoretical, that's how you work out what to save on. Saying it won't work doesn't make it go away. Finding ways to save money on a large scale isn't easy but for too long the NHS has just taken public money (like many other public facing organisations) and not been accountable for how that money is spent. NHS needs to come into the real world where people are getting ill through lack of care. Friend of mine is dying of lung cancer, her husband has had a stroke. Not one medical professional has been to see her since she was diagnosed six months ago and he has not had any physio or assessment. They are elderly but their lives should still matter but it seems they don't. Go to A & E near me and you'll wait for hours (10 is not unusual) while people of other cultures take up all the seats having brought their entire family with them, ignoring the sign that says only one person to accompany patients all the while nurses, doctors and porters mill around waiting for results and doing nothing. Is this the NHS you experience? I would say not but for many people this is the reality of accessing medical treatment. Do you really think this state of affairs should be allowed to go on because I don't. Will the Conservatives/Labour sort this out? Of course they won't, they've never managed it before what makes anyone think they can improve it now? I'm voting for Reform because I want better services for all UK citizens regardless of age or the colour of their skin, I want an NHS that treats people with dignity and respect and is accountable for the money they spend and I want an NHS that can support people in their final days. Current NHS services are a country mile away from what I want. This can't continue, the culture in NHS has to change or it will stop existing regardless who you vote for.

I agree with some of what you until i get to the Reform bit...

NHS change is very difficult, we need a working NHS 364/24/7 service but at the same time introduce change, which is always highly unsettling.

On AE waits, yep terrible in my local Hospital and yes sometime family do take up seats but this state of affairs has only happened in recent years, in 2014, 15 patients waited more than 12 hours in AE, now its over 40,000, ambulances queuing outside AE wasn't normal at all, now i see 20 or 30 vehicles treating people in a car parks now set up for this, same with corridor care.

Now all this happened under the Tories, the same Tories who now populate Reform..... and you think they'll fix the NHS?

Which can only be done by far more funding... an insurance based model is basically an extra tax on us all and on business too, will be hugely wasteful too.

If you vote Reform for that reason, you will be bitterly disappointed. The only plan for the NHS is to end its domination over meds buying. The NHS regulates pricing in a way that big US pharma resents. Farage will not be interested in fixing the service, he couldn't care less about the service, he's really interested in making sure his mates in the US can extract extortionate fees from us for access to their drugs. I'll let you guess where that leads us. The wealthy may still gain access to cutting edge treatment but the rest us will be treated worse than in developing countries. It's quite literally your funeral mate.

Labour = we're feeling a bit shit because we have a bad cold
Reform = let's try catching the black death and see if that sorts it...

I don’t think reform can actually win the way our electoral system is set up. So they are just a complete pain taking votes away from other parties. I expect we will just end up with Labour if anyone votes reform. Pointless

Yes, but in the meantime, they're poisoning the political debate. Populists are really like bad magicians: they hypnotise you with a big flag as they take everything else from you.
Ask recovering MAGA voters, or Russians...

Agree. I just don’t want more of this current government. Everyone will be fired or completely broke by the end of it. Watch for the bloodbath this year as employers face the reality of the rising costs and new employment laws. Be nice to your managers.

Thats simply not true.

Business profits across most sectors are up, substantially & growth is higher over the last 18months, than the 18months prior to the last GE, under the Tories.

Unemployment is up but still below historic long term levels and much is because of AI.

I think Labour have made some big screw ups but to say they have or will wreck the economy is untrue.

If people vote Reform, we will get a Reform Govt, its complacent to say otherwise BUT their popularity is falling and polling yesterday showed Starmer is 2nd behind Farage (by 4%) on trust issues and doing what is best for the UK, Badenoch was nowhere.

I’m afraid when it comes to being being fired this year it is true. I work in an area where I see this and advise on this on a daily basis. It is very worrying.

So no one will be fired under Reform, none under the Tories... only happens under Labour.
People lose their jobs constantly, even in boom times, unemployment stabilised last quarter at 5.1%

Some industries are recruiting like there is no tomorrow, Babcock near me, need 4000 extra staff, in Plymouth, Bristol and Rosyth.

900 of them are graduate/apprentice rolls.

Never mind facts and statistics then.

To explain - the increasing employment costs for employers together with uncapped damages for unfair dismissal and reduced qualifying period for unfair dismissal (coming in 2027) mean a lot of pressure. They would have been better to bring in the unfair dismissal changes this year so that employers do not seek to fire this year before the changes come in. That would be worth raising with an MP. Unfair dismissal case law will be helpful to employers so they shouldn’t panic but I know many are.

I think its more the ‘everyone’ will be fired or broke comment

obviously thats not the case

Yes I think it’s pretty clear - obviously not ‘everyone’ and obviously there will not be an actual bloodbath. I am just genuinely concerned for people this year and do hope they are able to bring the changes forward.

It's a shitshow, partly because of the takeover of billionaire tech bros and MAGA.

But if you vote Reform you'll get the UK version of Davos. Based on the fact that Brexit was an isolationist strategy that we are now all paying for, because Farage has the same views on race as Elon and Trump, uses the same race baiting, and because he's a Trump admirer who wants what Trump has. And where they have beem voted in, its been a disaster.

I don't know who I'll vote for yet but its not going to be Elon/Trump supporters Reform thats for sure as I don't want to see a Minneapolis here, and you'llalways get that kind of situation if your image relies on dividing people and making people fear eachother.

Its 6 months instead of 2 years, bringing fwd isn't going to help? & it will only affect hose employers who sack unfairly, not for properly done redundancies.

On NI, yes will have an effect but whats the alternative? you'd need to raise income tax by about 5% to get the same money and we have huge financial commitments... PO and Blood Scandals, NHS, Defence, SENDs and an unfunded NI cut by the Tories, thats £11billion alone.

UK companies are doing very well, record profitability, but a 5% rise in income tax would have destroyed consumer confidence and led to many more claiming in work benefits,

So your dream is to replicate some ICE style force here in the UK, I can't believe you're British to think that such a violent direction is wanted or needed.

Absolute nonsense, where's your proof? Just spouting propaganda that suits your narrative. You haven't addressed any of the points I've made just general rhetoric without facts. Try reading what I've written and form a logical fact based argument to support your view of what you want to believe. People who adopt the approach you've demonstrated above are the reason this country is a mess, too many people are jumping on a bandwagon without understanding the implications of what they are saying/doing. Fed up of listening to Reform is this or that, supply some facts to support your claims.

Throwing more money at NHS will not fix it. It needs a culture change and let's be honest, Labour are doing exactly the same as the Tories did. Voting for the same thing over and over again and expecting radical change is madness.

Point me to where I said that.

If we actually try funding the NHS to same per capita level as France, the Netherlands or Germany and its performance doesn't significantly improve, then fair enough, start looking at alternative systems.

But at the moment we're comparing apples and oranges.