Labour hate people like me

[Meadowtrees]

I feel sick at the thought of how much our lives are going to change.

This is not a thread to bash or criticise people nervous about Labour. It’s a place for those of us who are feeling very anxious to have a bit of space - it’s not something we are ‘allowed’ to say in public without being called ‘scum’ ‘selfish tories’ or similar. I’m not particularly linked to any party and not sure how to vote, I may spoil my ballot.

Labour have made it very clear that they intend to make us poorer and our lives harder.
I’m a woman - Labour intend to remove women’s rights
I’m rural - Labour aren’t interested in rural areas
I work in a private school - enough said
I have teens - I expect Labour to put vat on uni fees
We both work full time and have slogged our guts out to now be in a position where we have a comfortable (but not high) income - I expect to be taxed more heavily.
We have elderly parents - I expect the cost of care and inheritance tax to increase.

Maybe it’s selfish but we’re screwed and I don’t expect that what we lose will be put to efficient or good use. It feels like we will be punished for having worked hard and being ambitious.

@Meadowtrees yep you’re right. Rural here too hunting being banned again no drag hunts so a lot of jobs being lost vat on school fees a lot of schools closing Keir Starmer still not identifying women and protecting safe spaces it’s a total shit show. Oh yes I’m a landlord too so selling before CGT rockets. I want people to be supported but the country is bloody broke due to the tories and I don’t see labour being able to rectify this anytime soon

Midge - please reread my OP.

Hi OP, I don't know how old you are, but when Labour were in power last time (aging parents/young relations in education/professional career & self employed) I was in a similar position to you and life and the country around us generally felt much more positive and optimistic then. I keep posting this list, but will post it again as it shows just how Labour benefitted ordinary people of all types and the environment.

Having lived through 15ish years of Labour and 15 years of the Tories, the world certainly seems much worse now in terms of infrastructure, public services that we all use e.g. A&E, roads, the environment, employment rights, education, opportunity, crime.

1. Longest period of sustained low inflation since the 60s.
2. Low mortgage rates.
3. Introduced the National Minimum Wage and raised it to £5.52.
4. Over 14,000 more police in England and Wales.
5. Cut overall crime by 32 per cent.
6. Record levels of literacy and numeracy in schools.
7. Young people achieving some of the best ever results at 14, 16, and 18.
8. Funding for every pupil in England has doubled.
9. Employment is at its highest level ever.
10. Written off up to 100 per cent of debt owed by poorest countries.
11. 85,000 more nurses.
12. 32,000 more doctors.
13. Brought back matrons to hospital wards.
14. Devolved power to the Scottish Parliament.
15. Devolved power to the Welsh Assembly.
16. Dads now get paternity leave of 2 weeks for the first time.
17. NHS Direct offering free convenient patient advice.
18. Gift aid was worth £828 million to charities last year.
19. Restored city-wide government to London.
20. Record number of students in higher education.
21. Child benefit up 26 per cent since 1997.
22. Delivered 2,200 Sure Start Children’s Centres.
23. Introduced the Equality and Human Rights Commission.
24. £200 winter fuel payment to pensioners & up to £300 for over-80s.
25. On course to exceed our Kyoto target for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
26. Restored devolved government to Northern Ireland.
27. Over 36,000 more teachers in England and 274,000 more support staff and teaching assistants.
28. All full time workers now have a right to 24 days paid holiday.
29. A million pensioners lifted out of poverty.
30. 600,000 children lifted out of relative poverty.
31. Introduced child tax credit giving more money to parents.
32. Scrapped Section 28 and introduced Civil Partnerships.
33. Brought over 1 million social homes up to standard.
34. Inpatient waiting lists down by over half a million since 1997.
35. Banned fox hunting.
36. Cleanest rivers, beaches, drinking water and air since before the industrial revolution.
37. Free TV licences for over-75s.
38. Banned fur farming and the testing of cosmetics on animals.
39. Free breast cancer screening for all women aged between 50-70.
40. Free off peak local bus travel for over-60s.
41. New Deal – helped over 1.8 million people into work.
42. Over 3 million child trust funds have been started.
43. Free eye test for over 60s.
44. More than doubled the number of apprenticeships.
45. Free entry to national museums and galleries.
46. Overseas aid budget more than doubled.
47. Heart disease deaths down by 150,000 and cancer deaths down by 50,000.
48. Cut long-term youth unemployment by 75 per cent.
49. Free nursery places for every three and four-year-olds.
50. Free fruit for most four to six-year-olds at school.

I agree OP
I don't feel that Labour want or care about people like me and while I wouldn't dream of voting Conservative I can't bring myself to vote Labour either.
I quite like Starmer and think that whatever he does it will be better than the self serving idiots we have had for the last 14 years.
However, I do feel that Labour really isn't for people like us at all and the local candidate (who will probably get in) is a staunch Corbynite whose priorities are quite different to mine and from what I know of him he isn't a particularly pleasant man anyway
Having said that I do think Labour will be the best option for the country as a whole and i will celebrate The Tories getting a kicking next week.

Honestly I get the private school bit given you work in one and my impression is that there has been a lot of scaremongering on the impact it will make - school fees have gone up massively in the last years without any noted reduction in number of students - I know Labour cares about rural area though- many of the issues suggest as access to healthcare, transport affordable housing, addresskng climate change and of course a growing economy including agriculture are high on Labours list to take action on. I hope you will be pleasantly surprised how quickly a difference can be seen

See, I'm in the middle too. I don't believe I am going to lose out when labour get in, I think you've fallen for the rantings of the daily telegraph.

But you know what? I would rather not play lady bountiful with my regular food bank donation. I wish they didn't exist. I would rather be slightly worse off and have a more level playing field for everyone. I'll be glad when I can get a GP appointment and my state-educated kids' teachers can stop having to do impossible gymnastics with their budgets. I would rather everything worked.

Surely if you are giving charitably as much as you should be it won't make that much difference anyway?

I'm dreading a continuation of the a Conservative government. I have a mother with alzheimer's (and we've already been through that mill with dad and ILs) and a self employed husband with chronic health conditions. My son and his partner have to pay a huge rent and can't save for a house deposit. My rural roads are full of potholes. My other son will continue to live abroad as the visa fees to bring his wife back are ridiculous.

@Meadowtrees yes the do hate people like you and me and anyone who works hard. Plus Starmer is not who the Labour Party want in charge they want more left so watch out when they get in. It’s going to be a rocky few years it’s all politics of envy and dog whistle politics

There has been no talk of VAT on University fees. It's completely separate from private schools as there isn't a choice between private and state universities as there is with 5-18 education. (There are perhaps one or two private universities).

Of course people vote partly for their own interests, but a lot of comfortably off people still think the way the least wealthy in the country have been treated is despicable.

Also, we all use the roads, the criminal and justice system, some form of healthcare (no private A&E options), rubbish collection, maintenance of public highways. The Conservatives have slashed the local government funding that supplies these things to everyone. Also, you work in education and you're concerned for yourself and the tiny minority that might be affected by possible VAT but you couldn't care less about what the Conservatives have done to the education system as a whole?

Evidence for ‘they hate everyone that works hard’?

Church view - I remember it too! Golden days!! The current Labour party is nothing like blaires though. There was global prosperity then, so it was easy to spend all of money on all those lovely things (+ borrowing with pfi). Unfortunately there isn’t any money now and the world is a more dangerous place. All western countries are facing the same problems.

OP you will get slated, but you are talking sense. Small business owners also are very worried about what Labour will do. I'm worried about pension defined contribution getting messed with.

Also I agree with you about conservatives not being a good option either. I looked at my local lib dem candidate's pitch. I was not impressed.

What policies would you like? Personally I'd like all parties to stop meddling so much. The amount of money spent making changes needs to be worthwhile.

I am hoping that the view/lives of my disabled children will be better. The rhetoric around disability has been awful recently. We also work hard and pay loads of tax too so it is possible to be affected by more than one issue.

And yet we have the highest rate of taxation that we have had for over 70 years under the current government. Does that not worry you too?

I don't think any party is especially clear in their definitions at the moment, the Conservative party are jangling keys promising things that they could well have done over the last 14 years. Also, if you are worried about cost of living, the Conservative party took us out of the EU which by all the government's own statistics, has damaged the economy to the point where it will take decades to recover. Far more than the pandemic which didn't help and was also badly run by the current government.

As far as VAT on private school fees, there will inevitably be a segment who are on the edge, but the majority who can afford private school fees will still be able to afford private school fees. They aren't punishing education, as that is available through state schools. If you are saying that the standard in state schools is lower, (i.e. that the only good education is one you pay extra for), that is a different argument and should be taken up with your MP.

Having been through both Labour and Conservative governments several times, nothing changes by a massive amount. Under Blair, the cost of government rose to 300% of what it was under Major, and then under Cameron, we ended up with austerity to 'resolve' it and then they undid it all with Brexshit and the Trussterfuck.

Certain things need funding at the moment and our level of borrowing is very high. This will need to be controlled no matter who gets in, and the only place it will come from is our pockets. No matter who gets in.

About the only point I agree with you on is female spaces which the Labour Party have not been clear on. That will also sort itself out as time passes.

‘Is this usual for you’ 🥱 how condescending

I guess the Tories just hate the country then? My taxes have increased dramatically and the public services are shit. They raised taxes, gave lots of money to their mates (dodgy PPE contracts and non-doms) while running everything down.

Brexit has destroyed the economy and made us all poorer.

Boris dramaticatically loosened immigration controls, so that net immigration has trebled since Brexit and GDP per capita has fallen.

Why should anyone vote that lot back in?

Working class of today is the middle class of tomorrow and if there is nothing to aim for (other than not living in absolute poverty) where is the justice? Labour doesn't go far enough yet in its progressive policies of which there options that lead to a better wealth distribution.

Same here. I’m an ordinary person and I understand that Labour intend to take away my life’s savings and double VAT on food. I don’t know how I will cope. I would leave the country but I expect Labour to seal the borders.

Well no, you’re not are you? Most of your concerns are about having to pay more tax. So that’s bollocks. You’re worried about having to pay inheritance tax! 🙄

You put it in quotes but got the wording wrong 😄

You’ve just read the Tory smears and believed them.

What irritates me with people like you is that you think you are the only ones that work hard. That people vote Labour, because they are lazy. I have a well paid job and work very hard for it, as does my partner, but nothing on earth would make me vote Tory because I want to live in a society that supports the most vulnerable.

Even so @Meadowtrees , this is the list of things that Labour made happen during that time. They had the will to improve things for people across all of society. I haven't seen one hint of that from the Tories during the last 15 years.

They have spent billions on failed schemes HS2, Rwanda, PPE - money that could have been well spent on investing in public services. They have no 50 point list of things they've done for us whilst in power...if they did they'd be campaigning hard on it.

I know that was then and this is now - but the intention is there and the Tories haven't shown that.

Honestly, if the downward trajectory we see in society now is allowed to continue with no attempt to redress it, where will we be in 5 years? Surely something has to give and some change is worth trying.

Oh dear. I can't believe anyone seriously thinks this.