Labour - death by a thousand cuts…

[MyNameIsX]

Labour - another day, another calamity…

Utter treachery and deceit from our illustrious government.

The Government’s own estimate of the cost of giving away the British Indian Ocean Territory to Mauritius is almost £35bn, according to documents released under the Freedom of Information Act – far higher than the £3.4bn figure Sir Keir has previously used in public.

Labour ministers now face claims that they misled Parliament and the press with an “accountancy trick” to hide the size of the bill from taxpayers.

Under the terms of Sir Keir’s deal, the UK will give up the Chagos Islands by the end of this year and lease back the Diego Garcia military base, a facility built there in the 1970s that has been used by UK and US forces.

The cost of the agreement has been fiercely disputed. Sir Keir claimed in May that it would be £3.4bn over 99 years, accounting for inflation and other discounts, but the Conservatives said it would total £30bn.

An official document produced by the Government Actuary’s Department shows the cost of the deal was first estimated at 10 times Sir Keir’s figure, at £34.7bn, in nominal terms.

It explains how the cost was lowered by the Government using inflation estimates, then reduced again under a controversial accounting method sometimes used for long-term projects.

The total cost, which ministers refused to release to Parliament, is equivalent to 10 Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers, or more than half the annual schools’ budget.

I'm sure The Charities Commission would love to see your evidence of that.

The 34B figure isn't from the Tories, it was released by the Government Actuary’s Department.

No it isn't. It has nothing to do with charitable status

It also isn't a tax on schools because independent schools have always paid VAT. It is a tax on education via the fees that parents pay.

This is the problem, any supporters of it do so because they don't even understand what it is

...which was then cut twice more by accounting for inflation & the Treasury’s Social Time Preference Rate accountancy method used for long-term projects.

Hence the 3.4bn figure....

What "should" the Govt have done? i'm not hearing of the alternatives?

Labour Delegates Call For HS2 To Be Built In Full

10th October 2023
Labour members have voted in favour of building HS2 in full after Sir Keir Starmer failed to commit to reversing the decision to scrap the northern leg of the high-speed line.

Organisations that support the HS2 project include:

• The two major UK political parties: Labour (albeit with some criticism of the proposed route)[1] and the Liberal Democrats.[2] In Labour's 2019 manifesto the party said it would extend the dedicated high-speed track to Scotland.

How much more can we take of this wretched government?

Never thought i'd see a worse PM and government than Boris Johnson.

Deflection.

First, the comms around this have been terrible, not least Starmer’s garbled explanation, undermining confidence in official statistics.

Second, the lack of consistency is staggering. Government ministers are quite happy to cite much higher undiscounted cash figures when it suits them, especially when talking up long-term spending plans.

Not be inconsistent in it's calculations? Other projects announced by Labour, eg Rayner's house building projetcs haven't used the same methodology. That's why it smacks of creative accountancy and therefore Starmer trying to hide the truth.

As always with Starmer, his optics are crap!

This is a good summary:
The UK has a flatlining economy, a lack of housing, is reliant on foreign energy suppliers, a shortage of teachers and an ageing infrastructure. How is it then that our current government can justify this unbelievable expenditure? A deal so expensive that it eclipses even our most ambitious and most needed major projects.

What's your point?

Labour didn't start he northern leg of HS2 nor did they cancel it.

Costs to re instate would be massive now, far more than the 29bn Sunak spaffed....

FGS, switch on, tune in and read the posts.

I bet you could start a fight in a room on your own.

All the problems you correctly identify are down to policies pre july 24... mostly Austerity

Chagos is over 100 years, hence the re calculations...... i'll try again, what was the alternative?

Do you want yet another deletion?

That sounds awfully like a threat?

Be very clear - is that a threat?

Jesus you are seriously deluded. Will you still be blaming Tories for Labour incompetence in a year's time when things are even worse?
Like Labour, you gaslight and refuse to accept the obvious.

Chagos happened under Labour
Economy happened under Labour
Teacher redundancies happening under Labour (strikes planned for Autumn)

They had the chance to make that list better, they are making it worse

Watch out. Starmers Elite Thought Police unit will be paying you a visit..

Why are you threatening OP for just having a different opinion to yourself? This isn't X you know.

Personal attacks which both you and the pp have engaged in, are against talk guide lines..... they are MN guide lines not mine, he attacked me, i reported, MN agreed, deal with it.

Bit hypocritical I'd say...

Ah like the personal attacks I've had?

This is part of robust debate, nothing I've read yet on either side warrants that level of reporting but I will go through the replies to me and get them all reported if that's the level we are at.

Have i sworn at you and called you Deluded?

Nope...

You think all was great in July 24? lots of teachers, NHS in rude health... debt to gdp at 50%..... roads billiard table smooth.

all trashed in 12 months.....

They've got to go.

The public won't take much more.

Sorry I have to report this comment as a personal attack as a PP is policing all comments

Robust debate Yes.... Pile on's & Name calling No....

Sorry I've had to report your personal attack on me when you said my username was a good description of me.

I mean saying this counts yes "you've a good user name for what you post"?