One of the problems, in getting ambulances unloaded into A & E, is there are no beds on wards for A & E patients to go to. The biggest 'bed-blockers' are the elderly cos although they do not necessarily need hospital care... they need care homes or carers to visit them at home. The govt just kicked off funding care homes etc further down the road again... The UK (NHS), compared to most other Western health services spends less per capita has fewer, beds, nurses and doctors per 1,000 of population.
Robert Peston has a special programme on tonight after the late news Clocky, I guess it will be pretty interesting
Interestingly here in Scotland there's been a flurry of activity from developers. Some of whom have had projects sitting stationary for over a year, all of a sudden they're very keen to resolve issues.
I can see that being a key battle at the next GE. It is the one area currently I think Labour are presenting a decent plan on. I must admit though I am all for nuclear power as well, so pleased to see Sizewell C going ahead.
I am with you on that. I would like to hear more of what we are doing, and less of why we have to do it. The conservatives have scored a huge own goal with Truss and Kwarteng, and it looks like the media arent ready to let that go yet. The other major events though have been a challenge any govt would have racked up huge economic challenges with. I dont believe in Labour's economic narrative at all I am afraid, but there is time yet for me to be won over. Today feels like a solid step, but with a lot more yet needed.
I have never understood why new house are not built with heat pumps and solar panels, yes the cost of the house will rise but benefits are good. Here to have solar panel fitted you require planning permission. That is garbage
Now seems the perfect time to go for it, its an opportunity to become world leaders in a new technology, and a lot more exciting than the Sunak and Hunt high speed austerity trail.
I believe we can have both tbh. There needs to be a balancing somewhere and austerity to some point is necessary. It doesnt look as bad as it was in 2010, thankfully. There is enough on offer though for the sort of infrastructure and technology investments to create a much faster bounce back. Lots of people outside of govt can help with that. Here is hoping.
I think that Hunt and Sunak have done a decent job in the circumstances, they look as though they understand the markets and have done what needs to be done without spooking them like Truss and Kwarteng did. I just don't get taken in by the "all in it together" mantra.
Same here, as an interim measure nuclear is fine by me, long term tho; it has to be the green alternative, Its not the answer to everything but its a start.
That is fair. There are people who will continue to have wealth beyond reasonableness, who get away without paying a fair share. I was hoping to see something on second homes, following up on what the govt did in Jan. I think we can further there, for example, as a means to tax wealth fairly, as well as income.
I expected to see something on Corporation Tax, Inheritance Tax and the non-dom status Scrapping non-dom status would raise £3.2bn according to the London School of Economics In 2017 the Duke of Westminster inherited £8.3bn and paid no tax on it. In 2016 the annual handout to business from the taxpayer was £93bn, presumably we are paying a similar amount today. I'm no financial expert but something in those numbers smacks a bit of wealth inequality to me FellTop
Looking at the size of those figures and given that the "black hole" is estimated to be £50bn by the Conservatives, it's not hard to see how we could make a much speedier exit from austerity 2.0 if they actually wanted to.
I don't have enough knowledge to say that a definitive answer is in those figures Flash, but I have read enough on the subject to see that wealth tax could be used along with income tax to help our economy. I can't understand why both the Conservatives and Labour are reluctant to address the issue of a wealth tax.
Because they're all very wealthy. Even holier than thou Labour. They bang on about it because they know neither side will do it, then when they change places with the Tories the roles will be reversed.
17th November 2022 Security minister Tom Tugendhat has been banned from driving for six months after he was caught using his phone behind the wheel. 17th NOV 2022 The security minister has issued a warning to MPs to improve their mobile phone security amid reports of hacking.
Might be that most if not all of them are wealthy or in the pockets of the wealthy, so how can we expect anything more than platitudes, those that do are either deluded or sycophantic.
