To despair at this government??

[IllTakeACheapSeatPlease]

This shambolic government - its utter chaos, the Tories were bad but Christ this lot are on another level.
Im really worried about where we’re heading, riots breaking out everywhere, the armed forces imploding, the police untrustworthy, we’re a laughing stock on the international stage.
Id say to call an early GE but I’m not a fan or reform either. At this point - I’d take the Tories back.
WTF is going on? I’m approaching 50 and I’ve never known the country in such a state.

AIBU to think we’re literally on the edge now? And what can actually be done to save it??

I am prone to anxiety so feel free to tell me on catastrophising

Are labour really doing worse than the tories? Or is it we are judging them more harshly because our tolerance for poor governance has run out and so much hope was placed on them to improve things? Genuine question

Tbh that bit I don’t see! She is the same place in the polls as six months ago. Question is why, and it’s not about her as a person. You can say sensible things but get nowhere

I think it is complacent to assume that we are getting the mainstream political party system back. That is not happening. Reform eat the Tories, Labour being eaten by the Greens and Reform!

People are shutting off thinking about central politics. The UK is febrile. Some of what Badenoch says is interesting, but it’s almost too late. People’s emotions are being captured by more extreme ideas.

There was an article about Starmer being the last of the British PM’s who could expect a large majority and a central electorate. That was two years ago. So it has come to pass

Singapore - High incomes, strong financial sector, low corruption, major trade hub.
Switzerland - Stable currency, low unemployment, high wages, advanced industries.
Qatar - Very high GDP per capita and substantial energy revenues.
Denmark - Strong productivity, healthy public finances, high quality of life.
Norway - Massive sovereign wealth fund and robust social and economic systems.
Luxembourg - One of the world’s highest GDPs per capita and a large financial sector.
Ireland - Strong technology and pharmaceutical sectors, rapid growth.
United Arab Emirates - Diversified economy, major investment and logistics hub.
Netherlands - Strong trade, agriculture, technology, and infrastructure.
United States - largest economy with leadership in technology and innovation.

Thats what ChatGPT has just farmed out to me.

'Other people are worse' is not a defence.

You've made me remember all those PPE contracts. worth millions, awarded to mates like Michelle Mone by Matt Hancock et al. I suppose it costs too much to recover it - Johnson's government again.

It may be too late. She is the best option, but it could be Reform / Restore because enough people are angry.

The last government were awful - at the time the worst in my lifetime.

But there was still the odd adult in it.

This one is even worse.

There are no adults left.

And no, I don't think Reform will be any better.

(Actually I think they'll be slightly better but still abysmal, but accept they could be even worse).

I'd quite like the very few competent MPs from all parties to form a government together.

It depends who you ask. As a middle England household I can tell you that we are much, much poorer under this government. I’ve also recently lost my job because of their policies so they no longer get any tax from me.

If we were a household who relied on UC I’m sure I’d be telling you I was delighted.

I'm in Ireland and everyone here can't believe what a basket case the UK has become.

Thats not to say Ireland is perfect. Very far from it. But comparatively.

My point being that it is hilarious to claim this government is the worst in living memory when it was only 4 years ago Liz Tuss blew up the economy in a few weeks of becoming PM .
Have we also forgotten Boris and his endless lies and shit hard Brexit deal that we are still suffering the consequences of?

Well Ireland has the advantage of still being in the EU so the comparison isn’t valid.

Fair enough. Although you have low CT and we have an electorate that prefers to keep taxing more to get anti-growth.

If that ever changes then great.

The scrapping of Rwanda also reversed the flow back to NI from ROI. NI will struggle more now they’re the end of the line.

Why would that make it not valid? Brexit is of course having an impact, but there's plenty more to it than that.

Our growth was the highest of any G7 nation last quarter. Immigration down.

I agree that this shouldn’t be forgotten, but the basic issue is the UK economy which is shrinking, at a time when our debt is at a record high. Yes Truss was incompetent, and it’s frightening that the Conservatives chose her at all (degraded membership) but the point is that Labour have positioned themselves as the competent alternative. There is quite a lot to say that on the economy, they are not. Where is this growth that was coming?

And this quarter? Flat or shrinking I think. Some related to Iran of course

We’re paying more for debt now.

the UK is paying more to borrow money now than it did during Liz Truss's premiership, with long-term borrowing costs hitting their highest levels in nearly 30 years

Of course, all choices made have consequences:

Ireland's low CT was a strategic decision to drive a certain type of economic growth. It was a gamble, it has paid off so far, that could change of course.

But what I don't get, looking at the UK, is where is the growth supposed to come from? What's the plan?

I thought Ireland had a huge problem with housing due to the influx of workers when the American tech bros used it for tax avoidance. I might be remembering wrong though.

Economists generally agree that UK GDP is around 8% smaller than if we were still in the EU. Higher GDP means more money to spend on public services and greater economic credibility with the markets. Another 8% on GDP would have huge impact.

The plan is a race to the bottom. Unfettered migration, high cost of living. High taxes, huge welfare burden, mass unemployment.

Absolutely staggered that 42% of voters actually think this Labour government is doing a good job! 😂

Well I don’t actually think it’s a plan. But it is what we have.

Growth agenda is??

Kemi could do it better but people are still annoyed at the last gov so we’ll probably get someone else. Maybe Reform / Restore.

But yes Ireland made a good decision and it paid off. I rarely get economic envy for other major policies but ROI’s CT decision is one of them. We just don’t have an electorate who will listen re tax cuts, so far anyway.

Being fair to Labour on the economy, they have the same problems as the Conservatives did, re welfare, which was not cut then. You might say the Tories would cut - but they never made a dent in their last five years in governing, expanded migration considerably and spent sums during COVID that a Soviet Commissar would have noted favourably. There is a reasonable point that the Tory party is the architect of the UK’s problems, and the reason that they are not more popular is that people do remember.