To feel utterly miserable about a future with Andy Burnham as PM?

[OneWarmHazelQuail]

I feel like I'm being stung in every possible way at the moment- £15 a day on tube to work, high mortgage costs, high energy costs, private schooling for SEN child (I was told state wouldn't be unlikely to assist him as he isn't mute or violent). My parents have had to help fund schooling it felt like my only hope as son has behavioural issues.

I also have an unsold old home that I have to rent out as it wouldn't sell. Buy-to-let mortgage costs, agent fees, maintenance and tax put me in a loss position.

I can't bear what the future holds with Andy Burnham. I have no doubt that he will find new and imaginative ways to keep me in this financial nightmare. I'm literally struggling from food poverty but regarded as rich by policy.

YABU- Andy Burnham is actually going to make things better

YANBU- I'm screwed

In about 4-8 Weeks we will be asking can we have the previous worst 'Prime Minister' back. Please.... Yet we still have posters on here singing the praises of a Government and Labour Party that have moved the Overton Window and the Country more Left wing then in the previous 50 years ! The 'Blob' which started the cultural Economic and the Societal erosion of the UK with the near destruction of Grammar Schools are nearing their complete victory !

More left wing damage done in 2 years than the previous 50 years..

Don't worry he won't last long.

I agree. But, FFS, I'm not looking forward to another parade of incompetents swinging in and out of Downing Street. They should install revolving doors.

It seems to be what we, the people, want. I actually think Starmer's done okay, but we apparently prefer technicolour drama to a conscientious adult.

I’m very happy to give him a chance. We need a fresh face in politics. Thank fuck we haven’t got a Conservative government. I was just reading about the fiasco surrounding PPE and all our money they wasted.

I like Burnham. He’s been amazing as mayor of Manchester. He might just be ok as PM.

Personally I think the entire problem is that the issues in the U.K. are far more structural and deep than a prime minister. (which is partly why we have entered this cycle of quickly changing leaders, because none of them can actually solve the fundamental issues we face, yet are blamed for not magically turning the country around).

Of course in certain specific cases you might be unlucky and one of his policies may hit you in a bad way, but in general on average, The biggest problems facing people in the U.K. over the next 5 years, will barely be scratched by any new leader.

They can solve the issues we have in the country - they just cannot get reelected afterwards and that’s all they care about.

The problem is we the public would rather keep our heads in the sand than face the fact that the country is skint, and so anyone who actually tries to address the issues is universally loathed and booted out.

Take Keir. Yesterday there was a disability campaigner saying how terrible he was threatening to take her pip away. Absolutely no clue about how much damage borrowing more to fund her PIP is doing to the country. See also pensions triple lock. Totally unaffordable but everyone is just pretending it is affordable because no one has the balls yo tell the public the truth.

See also the thread whinging about the proposed land value tax - “I might have to pay more for my £2m house and I might have to move. It’s not fair!” It’s so pathetic. You have big assets. It’s fair you’re being taxed on them instead of yet more hikes to income tax. Grow up.

Exactly - it’s a poisoned chalice and I’m not sure why anyone would want it. In the age of instant gratification he’ll be given 5 mins by the media and ergo the public, before he’s driven out. And Reform will lap it up because of course their harebrained ideas are actually what we need, and it will just add fuel to their fire, for the knuckle dragging roundabout painters anyway.

The reality is the country is screwed, and it will take generations to sort out. A different PM every season isn’t going to help that. I feel sorry for Starmer, he certainly wasn’t the worst PM we’ve had and he didn’t deserve what happened to him.

The entire country is fucked. But mainly in the south or if you are not in benefits which is most the country. No issue for genuine benefit claimants but there’s too many who use it as a lifestyle choice.

We need to focus on issues and not expect one man (in the case of Labour) to fix everything.

Genuinely interested to understand what damage you're talking about?

I'm not Starmer's biggest fan but I don't see that much damage. Not compared with Brexit, mistakes made during COVID, Iraq war etc.

i don’t mind politicians doing things I disagree with because they think it’s best. I do mind when it’s driven by spite, envy or chippiness. That’s what I hate about Burnham. I don’t think his policies are costed or thought through- I think they are revenge on the south.

What policies are you on about? @Credittocress

Where's the violin? 'I send my son to private school and own a second home', hardly counts as being on poverty line, which is clearly what no one should aspire or compare their situation to. Deeply routed structural issues driven by years of austerity measures shaped by conservative dogma is hardly a future to aspire too. Mortgage increases driven by conservative 'strategy' (remember Liz Truss?), buy to let tax landscape changes tanking landlord profitability (conservative policy)..... The list goes on. You're worried about the wrong things. There is no magic wand to reverse in a short period of time policies that brought us where we are today through many cycles of conservative governance. Personal responsibility has to come into this - there is no world in which a property in the UK that's in a position to rent out can't be sold, the price is too high for the market. Take ownership of your own life and what's in your control and take personal responsibility.All government policy, of any political colour takes years to trickle through and improve embedded structural issues and economic outcomes. Tackle what you can in your own life and don't wait for the 'man in shining armour' who will sweep in and fix everything overnight, that simply won't to happen. The issue is historic conservative government policy and macro economics. Previous conservative policy and the lunacy of countries like America who have chosen to unilaterally war monger have negatively impacted world stability and the economic landscape and there is no quick fix.

Such as?

This. Any damage is minimal compared to what happened before Starmer.

Not sure who you are comparing yourself to here. Most people do not have a second home or parental money to pay for schooling. Yes the circumstances sound sad and not ideal. But on a factual basis you have more than most.

It's just going to more and more taxes on the middle class.

You had me until you talked about your buy to let mortgage putting you at a loss.

Unless you are renting your primary home, you have two places and are in a position to eventually own two properties. That's not a loss. Even if you are paying more now, that's going towards your own property.

I can't feel sorry for someone who stands to eventually own two houses.

"Such as?"

Let's not be dense. The two biggest errors made in recent times was austerity followed by Brexit. Both have damaged the economy and Brexit provides ongoing economic damage to the UK.

The UK used to the poor man of Europe. Now that we have left to compensate for the economic drag it created we have the highest overall tax burden ( including indirect taxes) since ww2 and are still skint.

We all blame the various PM's or political parties who can talk all they like about unleashing the economy. Productivity and real terms wages have been largely stagnant since 2010 and the overall UK standard of living will continue to decline while politicians argue about where to pinch pennies spending wise and what new stealth taxes they can come up with

I agree with this but there is one exception- Boris Johnson. He made structural problems of UK far worse.

Ignoring the rage bait poor little rich girl/guy.

I don't want Burnham in at number 10 but that's because
a) he was doing a great job here in Manchester and
b) Starmer was a good PM and should have been allowed to finish his project for which 5 years wasn't really long enough. We need to stop changing PM so often.
c) the Tories fucked the country so badly with austerity and Brexit that it was always going to be hard for Labour to improve our lives against a stagnating global economy and febrile geopolitical environment. There's no chance now.

I keep checking when the next election is. I don’t understand why he can’t just answer questions properly, he’s about to be crowned, we are stuck with him whatever happens, he may as well tell us what stupid shite he’s going to do.

There are structural problems, but we absolutely do not need to be expanding welfare or making energy costs more expensive, everything they do is and will make things worse.

There is no magic wand to reverse in a short period of time policies that brought us where we are today through many cycles of conservative governance.

Okay, so why Starmer needed to be replaced by Andy Burnham?

You have a job.
You own two properties.
You have a child in a private school.

And you think you are in a financial nightmare?