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

Why not? What’s so special about a press release it’s just Labour lines regurgitated in text. SM is the same with images and words.

Another thread like this, wildly overstating the apparently uniquely terrible state of our country.

Stop reading the internet and look out the window.

Things are not great. There are lots of big issues. But is this a uniquely terrible time for us, or are we a uniquely incompetent nation? Or course not. God, look around. Every western nation is struggling in various ways. To suggest that we are aj international laughing stock is absurd. Not only are we not anywhere near bad enough for that, but nobody else cares because they have their own problems.

The problems are easy to point out. Easy solutions are not, and we should be very wary of those who suggest differently. It's dead easy for any politician to just point to problems. But am legitimate complaint about labour is that they came in by doing that and without having done the hard work to come up with a workable alternative. Yet they are making slow progress in many places. People calling for them to go need to point to a better alternative. Depressingly I don't think there is an obvious one.

And that might be true, we'll have to wait and see. But currently, it's untrue to say that the economy is broken when it's outperforming predictions.

Immigration it is then.

PR isn't a press release either.

No it’s not outperforming predictions. They were just revised downwards enough. The rest of the year won’t be as the first half.

What is it that you believe in that would fix stuff for Labour and make more like him as you do? Can you be specific.

More tv, radio, what?

It’s two things:

immigration of working people who contribute back to the country tax wise

more children from those that can afford to pay for them by working

Immigration is needed in some cases. But we also need to get British people into work by managing benefits so that people feel incentivised to work and need to do so.

A points based system, similar to Australia, Canada and elsewhere, would have been the answer.

Not the uncontrolled, by-the-back-door variety we have currently.

Or get more people here working. There’s Labour’s problem with youth unemployment.

Because of cheap immigration labour being promoted over employing British young people.

27 non eu migrants employed for every young brit.

And its NOT because young brits are lazy and not applying!

https://www.centreforsocialjustice.org.uk/newsroom/27-young-non-eu-migrants-hired-for-every-young-brit-since-2020-analysis-reveals

It's not outperforming if you compare expectations at the time of the last election against expectations today.

I am not sure this table will post very well but this shows how the rate of growth in the UK economy expected this year is a full 1pc below what was expected at the time of the election.

When Keir Starmer was elected in July 2024, the baseline economic outlook was guided by the OBR's March 2024 projections. Following the implementation of Labour's major tax-and-spend policy changes (the Autumn Budget) and subsequent global developments, the OBR drastically lowered near-term growth expectations.

Forecast PeriodPre-Election Baseline
(OBR March 2024 Projections)Post-Election & Budget Realities
(OBR Revised Projections)Resulting Shift
2025 GDP Growth1.9% to 2.0%Under 1.0% (0.9% - 1.1% consensus)Severe Downgrade (-1.0%)
2026 GDP Growth2.0%1.1% to 1.4%

It’s interesting that you think this is a ‘gotcha’.

Just because I believe that it’s irresponsible
to encourage families who are already claiming benefits for 2 children to incentivise them into having more (by lifting the 2 child cap) does NOT make me anti immigration.

That’s a very one dimensional and divisive way to look at people’s political stances and a bit basic IMO.

Completely agree it’s not due to their laziness. This is on Labour, they’ve fucked up the labour market for them.

You intrinsically misunderstand PR. PR is building strong relationships with the press to help shape public perception, create and maintain a positive reputation, and build trust. It's about shaping outcomes (relationships), not increasing output (tweets, posts, press releases). It's what Bernard Ingham, and Alistair Campbell, did exceptionally well and it's what all PMs who occupied office for longer than one term have understood is crucial from the outset. It's what the world's biggest, most profitable and successful company brands invest heavily in and do better than their competitors.

why do you feel unsafe? Whats changed?

Nhs funding (once you factor in cost of pay rises) is actually lower under labour than previous government.

Ik what it is. They do try to use the press. It’s bad no matter what medium, you can see that in feedback instantly.

If your main gripe is Starmer and co can’t even build a relationship with press then yes he’s shit at that too. He briefs and overturns what was said, uses them to fly kites and blames the media for his failings. Labour generally do that last part.

So all round they struggle, it’s another of their failings.

Great, so we agree their PR is bad now we agree on what PR actually is.

I don’t think it’s just a relationship no. It includes what the output actually is. And that includes SM these days.

And Labour are bad at both. Starmer can’t get press to like him, no one does.

I’m 33 and remember it too, in Bradford in the 00s for one…

I don’t think the incidents are anything to do with Labour. I can think of plenty of terrorist incidents and hideous attacks that happened under the Tories. Let’s not forget Nottingham, Sarah Everard, Manchester… Not the Tories fault either. These things sadly happen.

No, the biggest problem with KS is that promises are not being delivered on, real term (once pay rises and increased costs are factored in) funding for health and education is down rather than up.

There was so much hope amongst my nhs team, and amongst the staff at the school I am a governor for, that labour would bring positive change, but in both it feels even worse, and a huge let down.

They can 'spin' all they like with numbers and press releases. But if people are feeling their services are worse, that they are poorer, then it won't acheive much.

Which I think is reflective of the Covid crisis. But that funding stopped when Covid stopped because of short termism. Nobody had considered the backlog of operations and appointments, for example. Pay increases rightly acknowledge that the success of the NHS rests on its workforce, a workforce that is under more pressure than any other.

Yes spin isn’t going to do it. God they try enough already.