Britain poorer than Mississippi

[BritishMississippi]

Our GDP per capita has now dipped to the level of America’s poorest state. It’s not dipped below due solely to London. We’ve been on a spiral for the last twenty years that means our children are facing not being able to find jobs and even the jobs they can find have miserable wages attached to them. AIBU that we need to engage quite seriously with how to bring the country out of this spiral in a meaningful way?

It's simple. Stop following right wing policies and invest in people, not billionaires and uncaring corporations. It will be a whole lot worse under reform.
People are so ignorant when it comes to politics and reality.

Here come the mugs blaming labour. They are crap but not the greatest offenders.

That's the least of it. Idiots just blame the weakest in society.

@NotAnotherScarfwhere is the data to back up that those policies are just as harmful as the nearly 15 years of Tory policy where we all became poorer by every measure going?

@Persephonia1966This is exactly the point. We need to focus on policies that regardless of political party have at least the promise of growth. We need jobs and investment in the right places. The best part is that it’s measurable if people can step outside being whipped up into a frenzy by their pet hates. We need to do a far better job at teaching economics at secondary. We teach a load of math most kids will never touch again and very little to help them critically think about the policies that will shape their chances in life.

"Thatcher instigated a load of reforms that were necessary because the country was in a shit state (maybe 10 years more of what we are doing at the moment will lead to the same).
Blair rode the back of that and rather than moderating the Thatcher reforms where necessary instead rode off the back of them. This helped contribute to the credit boom and the GFC in 2008.
The Tories were pretty much forced to implement austerity after 2008 to deal with the consequences of the credit boom."

There is so much wrong with this analysis. Like to day the Wilson Government came in to power inheriting a messed up economy. The Thatcher reforms caused the mess we are in today. Cast your eyes around. Are the water, electricity, gas, industries in a better condition than when they were under state control? Are the Royal Mail, the railways, or the NHS offering better services? Are any of the previous cheaper?

The big problem is privatisation which while there might be less official taxation but have resulted in a hypothecation of tax earmarked for private investors. So the real tax burden has increased and mainly upon the majority who do not have large savings.

Part of the problem is London. Our whole economy is set up to privilege London and our financial sector. It acts like a cancer on the UK. Growing bigger and stronger while sucking the life out of the rest of the UK.

@MyRubyPandaIn what way!? This is a truly astounding comment when by a large margin London pays the most bills for the rest of the country.

It's not good for London and it's not good for the rest of the UK either.
London and the South East have all the investment/money and absurdly high house prices. Other areas suffer the effects of deindustrialization and resentment. I don't think the argument is that London should be subsidising the rest of the UK in the form of handouts. Rather that the rest of the UK want jobs, growth, the things you mentioned.

The UK is much more imbalanced than other countries in terms of it's economic geography.

I agree with @Persephonia1966 . I’ve not been ‘up North’ for a very long time, but I’ve seen documentaries which provide stark images of the divide. It must be utterly bleak and hopeless to live in some of the communities that have been left behind. Regenerating them and giving those populations a purpose and a way of contributing should be as important a part of the political agenda as ‘saving the NHS’.

Oh look another UK bashing thread.

Illegal immigrants.
You can dance around it all you like, but we can't support all these extra people who have no real need to be here.

Apparently France is the same so not Brexit!

Mississippi overtook the UK in 2023, towards the end of the Tory's 13 years in power and before Labour were elected...