Local elections…

[CurlewKate]

There are lots of people getting excited about the prospect of a Labour wipe-out on Thursday. I can see why people might feel this way. If you do, what do you think/hope will happen next?

I hope that Labour's economic policy will change - it's totally unsustainable. We're spending too much on welfare and too much on Net Zero, and we're being taxed too much. And this of course is contributing to the cost of living crisis.

I hope if they can't improve their handling of the economy then a new government will come in who will.

Fair enough. So you’re assuming that the results will trigger a General Election? How do you think welfare spending can be reduced?

I don't think they will trigger a general election but it's very likely they will trigger a Labour leadership contest.

Welfare spending is completely out of control now. The Tories in the last parliament ramped it up and Labour have taken it even further.

I know some on here won't like it but I'd like ie a stop to giving people with mild anxiety money so they don't have to work.

What do you think will happen / want to happen?

Even the BBC were saying this morning that although these are local elections and "should" be fought on the basis of who will do the best for your local area, so many voters are saying that they are intending to vote based on national issues to send a clear message to this Labour government. I'm one of them. And I hope that many of the councils up for grabs in this election come under No Overall Control. I would hope that this would make whoever takes the reigns within Labour after Starmer is booted out think very seriously about bringing in a genuine proportional representation system of voting (as opposed to the crappy offer we were given years ago in a Referendum on it). I would also like to see (but don't have much hope in it) that the national government revisits how it is funding local government. As that's why most of us are dissatisfied with our local councils: they don't have enough money to do all the statutory things they have to do, much less any to carry out improvements to our local environment.

Have you looked at the credentials of the people lining up to take over?

Reductions in welfare spending are certainly not on the cards.

Do you actually believe people with mild anxiety are given money so the don't need to work?

I think our politicians are being dishonest in promoting tht idea. The Work Capability Assessment is pretty rigorous and the extra money for those unable to work or do work related activity was cut for new applicants after December last year.

What we do need is some proper assessment of how we get to the position where so many 18-25 year olds are not in work, education or training. That needs to be done at pace and with a clear commitment to act on what's found.

What I want to happen is fewer Reform councillors because they have shown themselves to be shit at it. Enough Labour wins to restore some sort of stability and to let things carry on as they are to the next election. Because I think that many of the things people are furious with Labour about are not actually Labour’s fault. And for the people talking about proportional representation- I honestly don’t think we need more instability-the consultation and implementation would take ages.

I honestly don't think that a new Labour leader who might consider PR would bother going through another sham referendum "consultation" tbh. We've enough European or Scottish models for them to adopt one. Anyway, it's all wishful thinking on my part. But I do think that the amount of NOC in local councils will undoubtedly result in lots of unforeseen coalitions going on around the country that may affect the next GE.

Ultimately I would like to see a General Election, and one day PR.

KS will be blamed for Labour's poor performance in the local elections followed by a shift to the left of the party and spending will go out of control and be lightyears away from the manifesto that they were elected by.

When a government owes 3 trillion, they aren't in control and nor is the electorate, the financial markets will force a GE, which will result in a Reform or a Conservative / Reform coalition.

I am hoping (hoping not expecting) we eventually end up with a Labour government that remembers it was once on the leftwing side of the political spectrum.

Failing that and limiting my hopes to those that actually have a chance of being realised, I'm hoping that if the Green candidate who is soon to be a parent at my children's school gets elected, she succeeds in getting a School Street implemented.

Local elections = vote for who you think will benefit your local area. Its not a general election.

Except that this time for a plethora of reasons people are making it about national politics. And no matter how many times we're told that we're electing local councillors, not MPs, it isn't changing that dynamic. Our Council Taxes across the country are extortionate, but that's because the funding local authorities receive from the government has been slashed and slashed while the LA has been burdened with taking on responsibility for more and more. It's no wonder that people are dissatisfied with their status quo. And because unless you're involved in delivering these local authority services you don't realise how impossible the task it with the resources available. So, for that reason, I don't think it's unreasonable for people to use this local election as a vehicle for sending a message to our Labour government, especially as a GE is years away.

I do accept the party political economic alternatives are not exactly phenomenal:

Labour - the fact that Rachel Reeves is still the chancellor, and that they want Burnham as leader because the 400+ MPs they have are so useless, tells us that they have nobody who could do better than the current PM / chancellor, which is terrible

Green Party - economic armageddon

Lib Dems - very similar to Reeves but probably slightly more incompetent

Reform - I like their analysis and their limited policy announcements but they strike me as a bunch of incompetent ex Tories. And even if they're not as bad as that, the civil service won't let them do anything that needs to be done. And even if they do, the financial institutions might not - see Liz Truss

Tories - I'd love to see Kemi as PM, I think she's fantastic. But I do not trust her party. My worry would be they would mimic what Reeves has done the moment things started getting tough, which would probably be day one

Realise I’m not who you were asking but the results absolutely won’t trigger a general election.

Most that may happen is Starmer stands down/someone launches an official leadership contest.

I think what will happen is that Labour will do badly, to the point that combined with the recent Mandelson situation and ongoing dissatisfaction Starmer will be challenged for his leadership.

He may stand down, but I’m unconvinced who else would be any better right now especially on the world diplomacy stage.

If the rumblings of Burnhams Westminster plans come to anything I’d like to see him as leader but I don’t see how that could happen in a short timeframe, despite some media reports to the contrary.

Didn't everyone say they'd find the stolen phone after the local elections?

Guess the breaking news this afternoon..

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cpvp48x2d70o

Welfare spending is completely out of control now

This is complete and utter tripe, and nothing more than a bit of right-wing populist jingoism.

The UK still spends a lower proportion of its GDP on Welfare than most European countries, and the actual payments themselves also lag badly behind in terms of generosity.

"Welfare spend is larger than I consider appropriate" is a perfectly reasonable comment, because that's personal opinion, but this latest schtick that the UK's Welfare spend is "unaffordable" or "out of control" is complete and utter nonsense.

If the people spouting this garbage were in any way honest they'd simply admit the truth, which is that they are ideologically wedded to the notion of slashing Welfare for the sake of it.

The UK now spends more on welfare than it receives in income tax.

That threshold was passed for the first time ever..

This year.

It's totally unsustainable.

It's economic armageddon.

Yes,, because famously Income Tax is the only source of UK Government income.

Our current Welfare spend is perfectly sustainable, unless you are ideologically opposed to the notion of Welfare State in the first place, in which case any spend will always be portrayed as "too much", "unsustainable", and other bare-faced lies.

No, the phone has not been found.

From the BBC coverage linked to - my bolding. The man arrested "..is suspected of receiving the phone after it was stolen and then selling it on. He is not suspected of any involvement in the original theft. The phone has not been recovered."

The markets watch spending and we pay more on debt servicing because a large part of the electorate demand ever more, and some politicians think yeh let’s do that.