To think Labour is not the party of the working people.

[pinkpalmleaves]

I voted for Labour as I believed their election pledge of being a party for the working people but genuinely I can’t think of one thing, since they’ve been in power, that they’ve done to help me (a single working mother on around £42k a year)! I get zero help from UC, these mystical breakfast clubs don’t exist, people aren’t employing people due to their ridiculous NI implications, they aren’t building affordable housing, energy prices are insanely high and all they talk about is grants (which won’t affect me as I live in a flat)! Genuinely I can’t think of one thing that they’ve done to help working people in the middle. Why are Labour sticking their heads in the sand? Why do they refuse to help the squeezed working class? They are stopping this economy from thriving - as
nobody can afford to spend anything extra (treats, holidays, meals out etc etc)!

Oh yes it’s a start, then move on to disability payments for mild adhd / asd etc, and job seekers for those living at home with their parents with the bare minimum of expenses.

I would say YABU because Labour stopped being a party for working class people a really long time ago!

No you still pay the same amount of tax on the same money. It doesn’t increase your tax at all.

Depends on your perspective. From an environmental point of view, nobody should be having more than two kids. The planet is overpopulated. Call me cynical, but I don’t think that the children of benefits claimants are tomorrow’s net contributors. More likely they will have kids young and repeat the cycle.

I’d agree with that it must be some of it but the disability benefits paid to 18-25 year olds and under 18s is soaring. Things are getting worse at an astonishing rate. It’s frightening for those who want an improvement in public services at some point.

The disability reforms would have been watered down regardless of who was in government just for different reasons that's just how our politics works and it's a detriment sometimes because it makes it very hard to get anything done.

Unless you're a net taxpayer then you're taking out more than you put in which will be the vast majority of us so I think it's somewhat dangerous to go down the route of "my taxes shouldn't pay for x" as eventually that leads to someone shining the light on you too.

I've voted for both parties for different reasons at different times and come to learn they aren't much different unfortunately

Labour continued it though. Although I have little sympathy for those living in England. Those of us in Scotland start paying 42% when we reach the lofty heights of £43k!

How many of the people in this government have actually been employed in working class jobs?

Anybody know?

The UK actually has a niggardly state pension: about half of minimum wage.

And vast, unfunded public sector pension liabilities, even if one only counts civil servants (vastly overstaffed, often incompetent and low productivity), the NHS and education.

It may be true that some pensioners are among the wealthiest in society but look around you; that's not a very high bar is it?

But current pensioners have far more wealth than future pensioners.

The problem is demographics, we have 5 workers to 1 penshioner in the 60s, we are not far off 2:1. It’s why successive governments have favoured immigration as they are generally cheaper eg not having to pay for their education and they often return home in old age.

@Riapia, no one in the Cabinet has EVER had responsibility for making the profit to meet a payroll.

Why doesn’t this government incentivise people to work? Incentivise small
business to flourish and thrive! Honestly their policies are - do less and be rewarded and do more and survive by the skin of your teeth!

But wages are increasing due to inflation and income tax bands - which used to rise with inflation too - are frozen so we are all paying an increased proportion of income tax on our salaries.

The same can be said of any government going back to the Civil War. The same will be true of all future governments. Attlee’s government was probably the one that contained the most former workers from low paid occupations.

The quarterly accounting for sole traders is a good example of people not understanding the real world of a working person.

They lack the insight and understanding to do that.

They said they would scrap it I think but have extended it by 3 years. Many do seem to not realise that it started 5 years ago though.

The UK has become a welfare state which punishes anyone who dares to work hard or aspire to get on in life

The current rules on welfare benefits were all put in place by the Tories when they reformed the benefit system. The only changes Labour have made are to ESA (to the detriment of claimants). The raising of the two child cap hasn't come into force yet.

Because working people are no longer their voting base. They are there to be milked for the benefits class.

Thats not true. Labour are the first front bench without a single person with experience of business. (Remember ...we disagree about the definition of working class these days).

How wpuld you define the "benefits class"?

Do you know the UK birth rate & how many families have more than 2 dc?

Also no one country has managed to reverse birth rates once they are below replacement rate despite some using big incentives. The west isn’t overpopulated because people are having loads of babies….

People of working age who dont work and who claim benefits.