The United Kingdom, under the Tories in the 80s transformed into a "homeowning democracy" as Thatcher called it. Her economic success was through selling cheap council houses for a profit, which people enjoyed as it helped them enter the middle class. The issue we are now seeing is that not enough people are owning homes anymore and the wealth isn't trickling down like it used too, the wealthy have figured out how to stop the trickle. The middle class have also started using beneficial loans to buy up property for renting, they have little to no consideration for the average Joes who rent them. The gov likes renting cos it solves homelessness easier than building houses. The UK needs an ideological reset. But it won't happen, neither the Tories, Labour or Reform EVER adress the real problem..they only want to plug their byproducts. Eg - Tories hate people who rely on social programs, Labour want to focus on the now retired middle class from Thatchers days and Reform want to focus on migration. None of these things actually solves the problem.
I know a certain pensioner who bangs on about losing the allowance but the facts are they refuse to change and turn some rads off in Autumn and Spring and will have lights on all over the place every night. Prices went up you need to change your habits and there are a large group who are simply too stupid to understand this.
It's an emotive issue because it's pensioners. A bit like it was with farmers. There are certain strata of society that if Govt is perceived to be 'going after' them, it produces public outcry. Nurses, Teachers, Doctors, Farmers, Pensioners etc. I think the policy was sound, i.e. removing a blanket benefit for people who don't actually need it, but it was always going to be bad PR, especially with those who want to bash Labour as it's easy fodder to say Labour are punishing pensioners. It's the same with the farmers, there was outcry from some sections of society and the media, but the bottom line is that everybody else has to pay inheritance tax if you're over the threshold. The famers had zero liability, and Labour introduced some liability, that still wasn't anywhere near what everybody else pays, but it's perceived as punishing the people who produce our food and it will bankrupt farmers. Bottom line imo, is that both were sound policies, but both were PR disasters.
Got LEDs throughout and we've got lovely 'throws' that we have for sitting in the living room watching TV in the evening - cozy as **** and means that we now only put the heating on when it's an absolute necessity (been doing that for a few years now) ... I'm also a believer that central heating being on constantly isn't that great in regard to germs spread etc ...
The father in law made me laugh recently. He's a Tory boy and bangs on about it all the time, loves Trump and GB News. We watched Lockerbie on the TV which clearly depicts cover ups by Thatchers government and other Tory reigns and not a peep from him but once it got to Blair being part of the cover up off he went.
I was a student during the Falklands war and my initial reaction on hearing that Argentina had invaded 'sovereign British territory' was one of indignation and even anger ... We were down the pub discussing it and a 'mature student' from one of the adjacent student blocks, very calmly, suggested I look at where the Falklands was, how many Brits lived there (vs sheep) and whether the outcry in the tabloids and the jingoistic fervour and national outcry might just rescue the flagging popularity of the incumbent, first female, Prime Minister - he also said that everything published in the UK at the time (there was obviously no Internet) was ultimately under the control of 4 organisations whose owners all had links to the Government - have to admit, at first I was a little dismissive ... but I do have an enquiring mind and that was the catalyst for me very much starting to think for myself... and guess what - the bloke was very much on the money ...
Anyway get your money on Israel to win the Eurovision. This is how this thing has always worked. Yuval Raphael, who survived the 7 October attack in 2023, has been chosen to represent Israel at this year's Eurovision Song Contest. Raphael, 24, was at the Nova musical festival when Hamas attackers killed 360 young partygoers and took 40 more hostage. The amateur singer was attending with friends and says she survived by hiding under dead bodies inside a bomb shelter for eight hours.
Coincidence that some guy in a Liverpool top comes up first when you type in pulling at the heart strings on google images.
Anyway, do Palestine get an entry for Eurovision ? They could do a cover of Burt Bacharach’s Raindrops ‘Concrete blocks keep falling on my head’
Here's my take on this, so let's start with the social housing... People who had the right to buy, would generally not have gained much from it, keeping property developers and crooks out of this, those that would have benefited would have been a lot of the people now, complaining about pensioners. I can honestly say I'm in my 60's and have never inherited anything and I don't hold a grudge or bitterness towards our pensioners. My next take is on the winter fuel payment or whatever it's called... The government plan to save £1.3B by their meaures. However, that is not an entirely true figure and the real sum will be much lower. Which leads me nicely to furlough, that cost this country £68.9B....now just think about that for a minute, yet I don't see anyone slagging off the people that took it. Yes like the pensioners, some would have needed it, but many would not have! Chances are those pensioners would have worked all their lives to get where they wanted, there was no tourism and holidays abroad like you see today when they were growing up, there was no food banks to help them out when times was hard. Some would have been moved away from their familys as very young children during the war, some would have had to do compulsory military service...some will be in their final years.
At least brave Sir Kier is trying to reduce the budget black hole whilst gettting pensioners to sign up for pension credits so that they stay warm at home. Boris’ solution was to make vulnerable cold pensioners ride around on buses all day coz he introduced a free bus pass
