Westminstenders: Manifesto or Bust?

[RedToothBrush]

The Brexit Party aren't doing one.

The Labour Party apparently can't afford theirs.

The Conservatives will just lie anyway.

And the LDs got upstaged by Prince Andrew's resignation from royal duties for being a fuckwit.

3 weeks to go...

Thank you @Hasenstein, I missed you guys.

@Somerville I'm so sorry to hear you're going through such an ordeal. Best wishes to your family.

I think you could absolutely guarantee with renationalisation more strike action and increased employment costs.

FWIW I have supported the public ownership of national rail, energy generation and energy supply for years. The questions for me are about how this is done? and crucially whether the service will be better as a result?

Comparing an investment starved British Rail of the 80s and 90s with private operators who've received vast levels of public subsidy isn't a fair test IMO.

I actually do think public ownership of such services is a desirable thing but they'd have to deliver better outcomes for users i.e. higher standards and/or lower prices. Nationalisation for the sake of nationalisation is just silly.

It's not been presented as Privatisation but look at the Academisation of schools. It's presented as giving Head teachers the Freedom from Local Authority Control. Now they already had a lot of autonomy under the previously Tory introduced Local Management of Schools. What has happened now is that Multi Academy Trusts have taken over blocks of schools, with Chief Executives paying themselves salaries like £350k per annum and looking after maybe 10 schools whereas a Local Authority Head of Education would be paid about £150,000 and look after 150 schools or more. So where does the extra £200k come from? Or put it another way, this is money not going into the classrooms. Furthermore, some Academy Chains are well run, others aren't - there is no evidence to show, despite what successive Tory Education secretaries have declared, that Academy schools perform better than LA ones. It's just pure political Govian dogma. Then you get 'orphaned' Academies - the current MAT washes its hands of them, a new one can't be found to take them on, the LA isn't allowed to.
Don't get me started on what is happening in Special Needs education.

It's that sort of mess which needs to be sorted out and fast.

Welcome back @TheMShip and I'm so sorry you're going through this enormous stress @Somerville . I hope your little wean will be ok.

We just have to keep hoping that people will do the right and best thing.

Just chatting to mums window cleaner.
He's a fireman who needs a 2nd income just to be able to live.
Welcome to 21st century Britain.

mrsl - the train line I use, South Western is striking for 27 days in December. And they don't work on Xmas day and boxing day, so only 2 days of operations.

To you and I, a train is a way of getting from A to B

To a Tory it's merely an investment to deliver a return.

There may be a middle ground. But Tories won't find it because they aren't looking.

It is amazing what you can't see when you aren't looking for it.

We return to the hammer/nail paucity of thinking that is very much trickle-down in the UK.

@peregrina - you don't need to talk to me about Sen provision I have first hand experience of this.
But the whole education system needs to be funded better, as does the nhs......

Have you been paying attention?

www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/nov/22/quiz-the-guardian-general-election-memory-test

(I was on track for a clear round but fell at the final hurdle. 13/14).

Somerville Best wishes to you and your family.

I don't get the scaremongering about the rail nationalisations - or rather, bringing them back into public ownership and stopping subsidising private companies

The East Coast Main Line has twice been brought back into public ownership because the franchisee couldn't make a profit/meet its franchise requirements (iirc, once it was "given back" and the other time because it was in flagrant breach) and twice returned to profitability and twice then returned to the private sector

I don't get the scaremongering about the rail nationalisations - or rather, bringing them back into public ownership and stopping subsidising private companies confused

This. we are taking our infrastructure back its ours now the treasury can get the proceeds and not private bank accounts

And, as a user of the East Coast line, I can personally vouch for its performance being substantially better in public ownership.

I use SWR very often. I was actually flabbergasted yesterday that my trains were on time in both directions and nothing got cancelled.

I have no idea how I'm going to get to various appointments and things over the next month when they go on strike. It's very shit.

12/14. Need to brush up on Scottish politicians.

somerville

The EU - Singapore trade agreement is in force from today. The EU now has the largest trade network in the world.

Wouldn’t it be good to be part of that?

Farage, of all people confirming in his 'contract with the British people' 🤮 launch confirming the Tory manifesto launch is on Sunday, but I think we'd probably guessed that despite Rishi Sunak's best efforts!

for @Somerville

That quiz! What was up with the toy parrot and the Scottish Lib Dem guy, anyone know?

Somerville

I see Farage is going to make judges subject to political scrutiny. Won't that be fun.

And his suggestion that cvi servants must be 'neutarl' would effectively stop them doing their job assisting govt in implimenting its programme. Maybe he knows that. Maybe he doesn't give a toss.

I'm not an economist but I believe nationalizations are not included in running costs because they are income generating asset purchases and will eventually pay for themselves in both income and reduced costs due to economies of scale.

Nationalising the broadband companies and providing their service for free is an “income generating asset purchase”, really? No, it’s a colossal upfront capital expense, and a huge permanent annual liability. So Labour should indeed have to account for where it’s going to find the vast sums necessary for both parts of their crackpot scheme.

🎶🎵🎵🎶

Farage says "We are the New Radicals"

(a bid for the millennial vote?)

Am a mostly lurker here , but just wanted to say I am thinking of you Somerville -
sorry to derail .
I was discussing with my son in aw yesterday . Intelligent , high education , high earner . He regrets voting Brexit now , but still supports the Tories . In some respects it balances out - he is in a strong Labour constituency , so his vote won't count and I am in a very safe Tory constituency , where the horrid Brexit MP is called Silent -(Silent Knight ...) as in nobody ever sees or hears from him . I don't, and will not vote for him
. So I guess we cancel each other out .
We have had a good Labour leaflet , and a Yorkshire Party flyer . thats it - no Conservative or Lib Dem , or Green.

You can keep scrolling on by for another 20 days as much as you like

You will scroll past this post too as you're too frit to answer.

@CendrillonSings why would I vote for a party whose policies made me homeless, whose policies removed DLA from my wheelchair bound friend who was told her Spina Bifida had been cured, or whose policies cured an ex gf of the heart condition that killed her?