To be sick of people being so negative about the things Burnham is putting into place

[histrainersbythedoor]

Nobody thinks they’ll fix everything but he’s doing small things that can be actioned quickly and will drastically improve aspects of our lives that have got worse over the last two decades - parking fines, music on trains, vaping on public transport. They’re all small things, yes, but they will make things a little better.

He’s not said anywhere that he thinks that doing these things will save Britain. So why are people acting like he has said that?

Kids aren’t the main problem on my bus route either, but it does probably depend route to route.

My understanding of this policy though is that - like David Cameron’s nudge unit, which I think is deemed to have been fairly successful - it isn’t just about enforcement, it’s about setting the boundaries for social norms. I think it’s good policy.

My relative works in an nhs hospital and bemoans the fact that in their service many patients are seen by non-doctors when first referred by their GP, because they are cheaper and more available throughout the week (not doing surgery etc).
However, they end up requesting a lot more tests, because they can’t do much else and cannot discharge the patients from clinic. So that delays things further down the line - at one end waiting lists are reduced but the length of time for scans and other tests are going up.

Unemployment measures people actively looking for work. So it can go down and vacancies drop at the same time and it not mean what you’ve put here.

But when you look at the comparative benefits, assessed by the same metrics, PIP is by far the lowest. DWP over paid 70m in PIP in 2025, conversely they underpaid 120 million. The 0.2% in actual “fraud” came from people not reporting a stay in hospital or care homes.

They over paid pensions/pension credit to the tune of over £700m. When will we see that being targeted as a problem?

It makes sense to see a registrar before a consultant though. Last year I waited 72 weeks for an appointment with a consultant, just to be sent for scans. If I’d seen a ref in 20 weeks and been sent for the scans then, I’d have been treated within a year.

But the stats prove you wrong.

Boat crossings are down. GP appointments are up. He’s announced £440m to help rough sleeping.

What else is bothering you, because those are in hand.

No. That was Thatcher’s ruse in the 80s. There is no path to do that in the current benefits system.

Sure they can help but, it's the cost of the effective interventions which is the issue. Where are the money and resources coming from? This is not the first attempt at addressing antisocial behaviour on public transport. Other attempts have had mixed responses

Talk is cheap.

A registrar is a doctor.
I said non-doctor in my post - PAs, nurses etc.
There is a huge amount of waste and unnecessary tests being performed, so the delay is now further downstream.
However, the government can spin it to make stats look good and fool voters: oh look waiting times to be seen in hospital from referral have dropped. And how great it is to have a scan and test so quickly (never mind that they may have been pointless).

Problem is a lot of the time they don’t investigate claims of fraud above just checking the forms filled in and maybe a Google of that persons name.

They again don’t have the funds to be sending out private investigators to track claimants.

Unless your very obviously able to be caught out like those caught running marathons or an open Facebook profile display pictures and videos that catch them out it’s hard and time intensive.

I reported a family member who was out and out lying. But because their online presence was that of nothing basically the reports never went anywhere even when I could give exact time and locations of even future things because they are not hiding in bushes and tailing cars to catch people out. They died now so no longer claim yay but they also never got added to the statistics like they should have.

Apologies if I misread the tone of your post - the bus fare criticism is so often sneering and sarcastic, in a way which to me feels very classist and patronising, so I think I get a bit defensive about it.

I do agree the level of debt is worrying but at the moment, I don't see a more credible plan to get it down from any other political party, and so given that the Prime Minister has only been in office for a couple of months, the IMF saying we’re on the right track does feel like a positive to me.

Yes, economically inactive vs unemployed

Here’s a few but there are loads more….

NHS waiting lists and lengthy treatment
Homelessness and expensive alternative accommodation
Mental health services
Millions of pounds wasted in NHS and too many middle expensive managers
Cosr of living (energy, food, council tax)
lack of training and jobs
Welfare system needs a HUGE overhaul and people that can work, should
slow economic growth
Creating secure and well paid jobs
Education system - it’s not working in its current form
Crumbling infrastructure
Crime and public safety
protection of women and girls
milkions wasted by LA’s (respite care, expensive out of town taxis to school etc and more)
ambulance delays
Justice system - more prisons spaces needed
national debt
County Lines
Child assessment delays for ADHD Autism etc
Online grooming and exploitation
Restoring public services
Cottage hospitals
Poor quality rental properties
Rural crime
Climate change
Water companies need sorting
Employment support for those with disabilities
Tax avoidance

I’d much rather he cleaned up the bloody rubbish piling up everywhere in London.

Having a read on more generally falling vacancies is not a good thing, as put by op.

But as this thread does rather seem to prove, if he did that a million people would immediately jump in to say there were more important things he should be doing.

I think I fall into the group of people that can be negative about the announcements. it comes from being jaded about politicians in general rather than AB personally or left politicians en masse.

The headphone thing. Yes lovely. But it's a soundbyte really without substance behind it to be enforced. I use public transport often and rarely see any enforcement or policing of anything.

Petrol prices on Google Maps. That's not a PM announcement surely. Google have been able to do that for ages in other countries and as far as I can see the UK gov introduced mandatory reporting of forecourt prices in Feb (so before Burnham). That should be a tech or transport minister announcement.

Changing the pension triple lock makes sense. But the theatrical tears I'm more cynical about.

The parking fines I've not seen the announcement.

The big items are still being batted away (defence, border control, cost of living, strategy for Ukraine and Iran wars)

I'll spell out for you what many people believe. Burnham is taking credit for things that he isn't doing- i mean who gives a flying monkey that google will show me how much i am going to get shafted at the pump?? Anti-social behaviour by playing music loud - no where on my priority list when we are releasing violent prisoners early and judges are letting stabbers and rapists walk free (after being found guilty of the crime i might add).

What i want to see - real fuel duty cut that is passed on to the consumer.
An increase in public spending that isn't bloat to highly paid morons (like the cornwall council leader who is paid more than the PM)
Id like to see him stop sniffing Zelenskys ass like s rabid dog too - no you cant have another 20bn to launder - piss off.

I dont think we have a good viable alternative mind you.

And can you please what good is to ban loud music on busses if no one’s going to enforce it?

The board is crawling with right wing posters. Nothing other than licking Farage’s boots will satisfy them.

Definitely not a good thing

But isn’t the OP’s point that if and when these policies failed in their stated aims, people can complain then, instead of the constant nay-saying over every announcement?

It just feels quite at odds with the mood in the country, where I think the polls reflect the fact that a lot people do seem to like the Prime Minister personally and are at least willing to give the government a chance under him.

I live in London and don’t encounter any of the 3 things you’ve mentioned so I don’t see the point of any of these. Got a fine for overstaying my parking a few months ago but it was a fair cop, I had overstayed!

I don’t think this country feels awful tbh and this just seems to me like tinkering at edges to avoid dealing with any of the big questions.

I won’t vote Labour on the next election but I do think these new policies are a good idea as long as they can be carried through, e.g. there are conductors on trains to deal with antisocial behaviour.

I want to see the big issues also addressed (defence, economy, NHS) with not just the usual answer of putting taxes up again for the middle classes. Then, I might feel more optimistic about Burnham and this government.