Chancellor's Funding Review

[User47585335]

So, first insight into the next 5 years of a Labour government (after less than a month in office):

1. Transport projects scrapped
2. Education sector initiatives scrapped
3. Plan to build 40 new hospitals as promised will be 'reviewed'.
4. Disconcertingly vague 'reforms to the health care sector have been cut to save £1bn by the end of next year'.
5. Winter fuel payments scrapped for some pensioners
6. 22% pay increase for junior doctors approved (costing £9bn a year)

This is ahead of the budget on 30th October.

Interested in how Labour voters feel about the above? (In the interest of transparency, I voted Labour).

We live near Stonehenge and glad the ridiculous tunnel has been scrapped. Also pleased the Dr’s dispute has been settled. It’s the first step in sorting out the disaster that is the NHS.

I feel bloody delighted about it- except number 4 which I obviously can't judge until we know what it entails.

Not a Labour voter, but no arguments with anything so far

Thank you, it's good to hear a point of view from someone who is directly affected by the transport policies, I'm pleased it's a positive 😊

I have a lot of family members who are doctors so am sympathetic to the junior doctors and their situation. But I also have friends who are medical negligence lawyers and think the NHS's issues go a lot deeper than pay. It's a big amount to promise when the NHS is in desperate need of funds / management.

Hallelujah for number 4. My MIL who has never worked a day in over fifty years is bordering on being a millionaire. She doesn't need this money.
She doesn't need the £400 non means tested attendance allowance she pockets (and doesn't spend) either. That next please!

#3 - well given that it was Johnson who promised these and managed a grand total of zero it's unlikely that anybody could come up with 40 hospitals any time soon. So basically they're just being honest.

Good
good
what plan, those were always Tory fictional hospurals
lets see
good
good

So only Labour voters can reply, then.

Just above you someone said they're not a labour voter and yet they replied! Perhaps many non labour voters are happy with it all too.

@User47585335 There is no nhs without doctors. We train them up at huge expense to the state and send them all to NZ at the moment, because they are paid barely minimum wage after 5 years. That is stupidity-economics. Better to pay people a fair wage for their skills and responsibility and grow an excellent reliable cohorts of doctors for the future.

Labour suggested before the election that they would cut waiting lists by asking staff to work overtime. And you can't cut waiting lists if you haven't got any staff.

So yes, it's a no brainer to prioritise pay. As someone whose local hospital building is in a terminal state, I am very much hoping that our new build does go ahead.

How would you arrange the AA, then? Would you means test everyone who applied for it? Would you pay it on a sliding scale? Would you need more civil servants to administer it?

Surely if you want AA means tested then child benefit should be too?

Although child benefit isn't means tested the 'high income Child Benefit tax charge' means that anyone earning over £60k starts to repay some of the benefit they've received. For individuals earning over £80k the amount of charge will equal the amount of benefit received.

I 100% agree, however there is also no NHS without nurses, midwives, PTs, OTs, consultants etc etc but we couldn't award them all 22% pay increases. Maybe not such a concern for senior level staff but pretty sure the nurses are on appalling wages. And the reason we're losing doctors isn't purely due to pay either, it's a lot more complex than that.

There is also no NHS without decent and functioning hospitals or proper equipment. Again, lots of money needed to be spent in these and other areas.

And whilst we're on the subject of the NHS, it needs to adapt and evolve to survive. My son was on the waiting list to have his tonsils removed however we took him privately given the huge waiting lists. We were recently contacted by our local hospital to book him in (he should have been removed from the waiting list by our GP), who during our conversation admitted that the reason that she had 600+ children (for one hospital) waiting for treatment was because the rules stipulated that all children need to be kept in for 12 hours following their operation. My son stayed for two hours after his meaning they could fit in many more operations that day. The lady I spoke to was almost in tears saying the NHS were in the dark ages and nothing could be done to modernise it, so they simply carry on failing.

Good point.

This

Overall, I'm pretty happy with the decisions so far. Surprised but very pleased about the deal for junior doctors.

My biggest concern at the moment is with where they have set the threshold for the winter fuel payment. I'm perfectly happy with the idea of means testing as a lot of pensioners are very rich, but I am worried about those just above the threshold that are likely to struggle - I'd have liked to have seen the bar set a bit higher here, and hope that they might find a way of helping this group.

You’ve not mentioned them scrapping the cap on social care. I’m pretty sure I heard that’s a plan but I missed any detail. That doesn’t sound great.

I agree. I also think that the difference in overall temperature across needs to be considered for those who don’t qualify for pension credit, though I have no expectation that this will happen. It is noticeably colder even between, say, north west England and northern Scotland.

No problems with it so far. Voted Labour.

Happy so far!

I’m very pleased.

What I want to see is a government with a plan and action. I’m happy to have leadership where even if I don’t agree 100% with everything they do, I am glad to see a strategy and change. Better than inertia and faffing at the edges of policy making little or no impact.

Happy with all of it.

The hospitals were a fantasy of johnsons, maybe he meant to use the £300 odd millions on the side of the brexit bus to pay for them.

Yes this, was total bullshit from the start