You know what I cant get out of my mind wrt coaltion policy on cuts?????......

[Becaroooo]

....particuarly the changes to the benefit system and NHS?

That speech by Neil Kinnock back in the 80s at a Labour Party conference....I cant remember the exact words (I was only about 12/13) but it has stayed with me all these years - it was along the lines of;

"Dont get old, dont get ill, dont be disabled, dont be young......."

It really resonates with me atm with all the cuts that will directly hurt the most vulnerable in our society, whilst at the same time they are planning on giving tax breaks to the middle classes.

Deeply, deeply depressing.

Yippee!!!!

Probably not the response you were expecting OP, but soon there'll be more threads about that speech that there were about Bob Holness death!

I can't remember the speech from that time, so I looked it up. Here is some of it

"I warn you not to go into the streets alone after dark or into the streets in large crowds of protest in the light.
I warn you that you will be quiet?when the curfew of fear and the gibbet of unemployment make you obedient.
I warn you that you will have defence of a sort?with a risk and at a price that passes all understanding.
I warn you that you will be home-bound?when fares and transport bills kill leisure and lock you up.
I warn you that you will borrow less?when credit, loans, mortgages and easy payments are refused to people on your melting income.
If Margaret Thatcher wins on Thursday?

• I warn you not to be ordinary
• I warn you not to be young
• I warn you not to fall ill
• I warn you not to get old."

Of course, Thatcher did win on Thursday and it was a landslide. The public didn't heed his warnings, they may not have understood his choice of the word "gibbet", but they knew how to spot gibber and jabber.

It's the usual tactic of gibberish, scaremongering and spin. If they are not calling the public bigots, they are trying to scare the living daylights out of them. It's the last resort when policy doesn't stand up to scrutiny.

I warn you not to fall for scaremongering and spin. The public didn't listen to Kinnock, the public was no pillock.

You are one confused populist right-winger, Claig.

Kinnock was talking about Thatcher in the 1987 election that was nearly 25 years ago and thatcher left power in 1990 so I don't think its particulary relevant to todays issues. In fact most of todays problems are linked to Kinnocks own party Labour and I take no pleasure in saying that, through a combination of arrogance and incompetance by the Labour Party a long period of Conservative Government looks likely.

I really don't think so. Labour and the Tories are neck to neck in the polls, with some giving Labour a slight lead.

When more of the sociopathic policies of the Tories are enacted and more lives are destroyed, they'll be a lot more unrest, and possibly rioting in the streets.

You'll see.

Also, the disaster they're causing with the NHS won't be popular with the public either:

www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/feb/19/nhs-gamble

Claig's right. The public didn't fall for Kinnock's scaremongering 25 years ago. What's depressing is that today's opposition is using exactly the same scaremongering tactics.... and making the same mistake of not having any viable alternative suggestions and not apologising for the mess they created in the first place.

It's not scaremongering. It's happening :-(

ttosca It's worth stating that the two parties are neck and neck in the polls despite the NHS reforms, spending cuts and (alleged) sociopathic policies of the Tories. At this stage in the electoral cycle Milliband and Labour should, by anyone?s logic, be wiping the floor with Cameron's coalition and there should be clear daylight between the two parties. The fact that there isn't, doesn't reflect too well on Milliband and Labour IMHO.

Claig's right. The public didn't fall for Kinnock's scaremongering 25 years ago. What's depressing is that today's opposition is using exactly the same scaremongering tactics....

He says, as wealth inequality has never been greater, the UK has the greatest number of children living in poverty in the EU, has hundreds of people dying every winter from the cold due to fuel poverty, and has the worst workers rights and longest workers hours in europe.

and making the same mistake of not having any viable alternative suggestions and not apologising for the mess they created in the first place.

New Labour didn't create this mess. Sorry. If that were true, they would also be responsible for the economic crises all over europe, Japan, and China.

Casino Capitalism caused the crisis, and the public are paying for it.

ttosca It's worth stating that the two parties are neck and neck in the polls despite the NHS reforms, spending cuts and (alleged) sociopathic policies of the Tories. At this stage in the electoral cycle Milliband and Labour should, by anyone?s logic, be wiping the floor with Cameron's coalition and there should be clear daylight between the two parties. The fact that there isn't, doesn't reflect too well on Milliband and Labour IMHO.

I entirely agree. However, it's always been a contest between who will shaft you the hardest. When the Tory cuts hit hard (only 8% have been implemented), the public will conclude that it is, indeed, the Tories who shaft the hardest.

The speech will always be relevant because the Tories today stand for the same things they did when Thatcher was PM. Nothing has changed. The tories don't believe in collective responsibility, even if it means that the sick and disabled suffer. That's their brand of politics and it always has been, always will be. Deficit or no deficit.........