So frustrated and desperate for Labour to be bold and give the country something to believe in.

[youlookradishing]

This is my take on what is happening today.

I really do believe that the last decade and a half has left the country (Western world, actually) in a terrible situation and that any government with any moral values are in a totally impossible situation.

The economy needs fixing before the lasting change can happen and the public can reap any rewards, but the people are too desperate and cynical to wait. The vultures are circling and we are turning to populist voices who are looking to take advantage of our desperation by promising the impossible and delivering only for themselves to the detriment of us all.

Labour have actually tried to put the very limited public money in the right places (eg tightening up winter fuel allowance) but caved in and U-turned any time they face opposition. Policies like scrapping the two child benefit cap brought them negative press rather than positive, because of the fannying around.

Likewise they are actually bringing NHS waiting lists down and getting more houses built, but their messaging around this is utterly woeful and nobody seems to notice it’s happening.

Kier is FAR too bothered about being popular and trying to please everybody. He won the mandate in 2024 and he should have built a narrative of ‘this is gonna be shit for a while, but this is WHY, and this is why it will be WORTH it. He is trying to deliver but any positives are being utterly drowned out because there is no vision for us to believe in! At the end of the day, nothing he can deliver will ever be enough in the short term, when we’re starting from such a low baseline. This is about vision and messaging. Look at Trump, the guy is a complete lunatic, but he has charisma and tells a good story and THAT is what gets people on board long enough to actually have an impact.

I honestly believe that this Labour government are the best hope this country have got - come on Kier, time to turn it around and give us something to believe in, because we have everything to lose if you don’t!

So when another migrant has been granted leave to remain can they ask the local authority to house them immediately?

They can join the housing waiting list, but rarely does this lead to being housed immediately

Well I'd vote for you!

I like this idea 👍

I think Shamama Mahmood is making changes to immigration - not sure if it was her or perhaps Sunak but right to remain is tested every 2.5 years I think and they can be sent back if considered safe -though not easy to get them out.

And today - UK and other European countries have signed a landmark declaration pushing courts to rethink how they decide on migration cases, in a bid to make it easier to deport illegal migrants.
I know of local students who have left once their visas ran out and they did t have a job.

Numbers seem to be reducing slightly.

So where do they go?

They shouldn’t have given in on the winter fuel allowance -I’m sure it was brought in by Gordon Brown to try to win votes in an election - this is what’s pathetic about them -just stand firm you wimps

What happened to 'smash the gangs'. 😆😆😆

What I would like to know is that when Keir and his colleagues came up with this soundbite, did they know perfectly well there was nothing they could do, or had some think tank persuaded them that it was possible?

But, ...what about the elite border force? 😁

Where does anyone go who needs housing? They have to find it in the private rental sector like anyone else.

The pernicious effects of stamp duty, and the threat that it might get higher, is stalling the housing market that currently exists, and that doesn't help. Before you even lay a brick, you could create more capacity by encouraging people out of ill-suited housing.

I think people are totally unrealistic about what running and leading a country actually entails.

Labour have been in power for 2 years. That’s it. And for some reason it appears that almost the whole country has decided that because they have not fixed the country’s many many problems that have built up over years in an environment that is actively hostile to any attempt at bringing moderate change (ie cuts to benefits) alongside huge global challenges , Labour has failed and Keir Starmer needs to be put out to pasture. Oh and he’s too wishy washy. No doubt levelled at him by people who (very vocally) pushed back at any attempts he made to cut the welfare budget. No, they want Reform instead. The ones who make no attempt to hide their desire to slash benefits even further.

Honestly I feel like people are either incredibly naive and think some hero politician or party is going to come in and save the UK and make everything wonderful again or they just seem to enjoy hating labour.

I despair. I’m not a huge fan of Keir. But I can almost guarantee that in a few years people will be mumbling about oh, maybe he wasn’t that bad…

Things can definitely get worse than what we are experiencing right now and yet this whole country seems intent on believing absolute lies and misinformation, as if they enjoy being hoodwinked.

I think they probably thought it would be possible to stop at least some of them but eventually realised how difficult it is, hence quietly dropping the line. Funny how the rest of the population weren't fooled for one minute though.

Starmer won less votes than Corbyn did during both his GEs. He only got in because Reform split the right vote. He’s the most unpopular PM perhaps of all time and very few people actually wanted him.

The recent elections have only further exposed this. Let me be clear, he has no authority and is now on borrowed time.

Starmer wasn’t voted in because he was believed in, he was voted in by a messy voting system in a shambles because Farage was starting the dismantling of the two party system. And he’s disliked enormously, for good reason. He’s the end of the Labour Party. What a note to go out on.

Now we wait to see what happens with Rupert Lowe and Farage, and if Reform and Restore can come together. I saw a Women for Reform group, who want to lobby to pick up more women’s votes to prioritise women’s safety and to fight mysogyny.

It's very fashionable on MN to state that pensioners would not tolerate changes to the triple lock and/of WFP, but I honestly think if it was explained properly - rather than announced with barely-concealed glee by RR - pensioners might be more accepting than MNetters think.
The problem with Labour, as others have said, is the lack of vision and A Plan. The policies they have managed to implement are not thought-through and Labour - the people in actual charge - seem unable to see the consequences that many 'normal' people could see coming a mile off, eg private schools would close and put more strain on state schools, landlords would sell up, causing a housing crisis, employers would rather take someone experienced on than pay the same NMW for someone with no experience. Most of their policies are based on idealogy (or spite) with no thought to the obvious consequences.
They should have - as a PP said - told people things would get worse before they got better, but there should have emphasised that things will get better.
It seems to me that they thought they were so popular that they would wing it on a wave of goodwill.
Not being the Tories might be good enough for some MNetters but it's not enough for the whole UK, as is becoming aparent.
Being so vocal and superior in opposition about everything the Tories did - freebies, lies, chaos - then being caught out doing the same things themselves is not a good look either.

Having lived there, I can only say that you view them through rose tinted glasses.

There are levels of racism in Sweden that I found quite frightening.

@Katypp I disagree, I think any party that pauses the triple lock won’t get voted in. There was uproar over means testing winter fuel and Teresa Mays (fairly sensible I thought) idea re care costs made her very unpopular. So many people refuse to acknowledge the state pension is even a benefit.

but I honestly think if it was explained properly

How would you explain it properly? Many people don’t even read past the headline

The whole boats issue has arisen because of Brexit.

When you say the country OP you mean socialists because the rest of us are fed up having our taxes go up and up paying for socialist ideologies because the government has no idea how to create growth .

These grandiose posts declaring statements like this are so annoying.

I hope that Starmer just stays put and serves his entire term.

You might have had a point until his recent second attack on British patriots. Game over now.

in a terrible situation

My theory is that that picture ("the country is going to the dogs" etc) is being talked up by nefarious forces because ultimately it alienates centrist voters into apathy while it drives the low propensity voters to support extremes, sometimes to a cult-like extent. The strategy arises because fringe forces and corrupt parties have the most opportunities in unstable political times, so a lot of effort goes into generating as much churn & unhappiness as possible in people's perceptions of how good is their life or the world.

it intrigues me that Reform have not delivered on promises (or they moved goalposts on those promises) when they run councils, yet they did well in recent local elections. Because what they promise in words doesn't matter, they aren't held accountable for their words. They get voted in because they appeal to angry people & they deliver on a "mood" not the details. There are a lot of ways of trying to get people angry about social "things" being used right now. Anger has been monetised.

They may be annoying to you but they’re facts. Starmer is a despised PM who only won a GE due to an artefact. He was never wanted in the first place by the electorate.

If you are going to believe the message it is necessary that you believe the person that is delivering the message.