General Election 4th July ...

The whole thing is a sh!tshow. I sympathise with people voting Labour, I really do, I imagine most who do it are just pleased to be shot of the Tories which is completely understandable, but there will be no meaningful change and two years into their run the penny will drop for some. The biggest problem is no nobody else can realistically win an election in this country.

 

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So you don’t believe they should start by saving the billions they waste? They will never have to when there’s people like you willing to give them more money to piss up the wall.

 

Of course they should be saving the billions they waste, they can do more than one thing at a time.

 

Now I know you are having a laugh. They can’t even do one thing at a time or they wouldn’t have given away all those millions. Bent as nine Bob notes, all of them.

 

I often wonder how much a government waste? Some of the vanity projects are ludicrous. Original estimates were around £38bn, for the Birminham leg of HS2. Likely more like £65bn now. Is the waste £65bn, or £27bn? £65bn in my book. Stupid project.

That said, what real difference would it make. £65bn over how long? 2009 was when the first projections were made by Gordon Brown. We are 15 years on. So that is £4 and a bit billion per year wasted? Wouldnt mind it back, but I wonder how much difference we would see each year?

We spend c£1200 billion each year on the core services, like NHS, social security, education etc. Half of the total spent on those 3 things alone. As a % of GDP that has remained broadly static, exceptions being WW2, Spanish Flu, Covid, where reasonably spending had to increase. This relationship with GDP is where economy becomes tricky, in my opinion anyway. In the last 70 years or so spending on social security has doubled as a % of total budget. Our biggest spend item is health and is growing. Partly this has been offset by a reduction in defence spending over those 70 years. Now of course govts are in need of increasing spending commitments on defence such as via the NATO commitments, or simply down to what happens globally (yep, those silly global factors again) with Russia etc. If we spend such big numbers on our core spend, would savings of the HS2 type make a step difference? I dont know, but it seems improbable. Now I of course want the money better spent but I doubt savings like that are enough.

Raising tax receipt income appears necessary and inevtible to me. We raise c£1100 billion in tax income. Half of that is via income tax, NI and VAT. I find it hard to see how we dont ask folk to pay more, as costs on health and social security will continue to rise.

Ramble over.

 

Exactly. We get runs of one party or another until people are fed up of the current brand of toxic ****e then we swap over.

At this stage, the election will be won BT the least unpopular party rather than the party with the most popular policies.

The only positive about the election is that first past the post does at least give us governments that don't have to bend over backwards to please minor parties that form part of the latest power sharing coalition.

 

I've read that three times and still can't make head nor tails of it.

If people want the Tories out, and nobody else can realistically win an election, why would they need a penny to drop. The meaningful change, for me, is that after 14 years of lying and cheating, the Tories have been dropped on their arse.

Anything else is a bonus and none of us actually know things won't be better ...

... it can hardly be any worse.

Don't feel sorry for me, I want the snide grin wiping off the faces of those who've patronised us.

I'll watch the election results come in just to see that, not to celebrate Labour winning.

 

Unless you are from the future there is absolutely no way of knowing that. I'm voting labour, they might be better they might not be but bloody hell it would take something special to be anyway near as bad and it's time this bunch of self entitled bastards were knocked off their pedestal.

Things will not change quickly simply because of the absolute state the current government has left the country in. People are saying Labour are playing it safe and that's 100% the right thing to do, I bet the books are way worse than people have been led to believe also so grand spending plans are definitely not what this country needs currently.

 

Apparently Mike Ashley's first three words ...


... when he first saw the NUFC books after buying them, were "WTF!!!"

 

Did labour not do the same though?

As I’ve already stated I don’t really think it matters, they’re all bullshitters out to line their own pockets in my eyes. I just worry about how labour are going to fund their ideas and their lack of backing from a single FTSE100 brand whilst economists from major banks are coming out slating their plans also worries me. I’d like to see someone different in but I just don’t see any of the others fit to look after the economy, which is in a good position now.

Labour have loads of brilliant plans but it’s almost like when everyone’s sat in someone’s kitchen at 5am putting the world to rights saying what they’d do without a real plan of how you’re going to do it. We’ll soon see and I hope I’m wrong but my gut feeling is we’re going to go backwards.

 

It's the idea that as they were just as bad 14 years ago so they must be going to be bad if they get in again. It makes absolutely no sense at all.

So let's stick with someone who have proven to be incompetent, lied, and unbelievably corrupt for 14 years. A party that are now basing their whole campaign lying about labours tax plans to try and win votes even though numerous experts have rubbished the claims.

Like I said it's hard to come out with proper plans when the economy is on its knees and I don't for one second believe the conservatives have been telling the whole truth about the state we are really in. Labour no doubt feel that way too.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion of course, I just hope there is a decent turn out on election day.

 

I'll be glad when this is all over though, work in an office with a couple of people who are voting conservatives, two reform and about 6 labour.

 

As I say I’m hoping I’m wrong, think we could all do with something changing and positives to look forward to because they’ve been few and far between. I just hope it’s not going to hurt us financially.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68989270.amp

 

There's a precedent for the Reform Party which you should show to your colleagues mate, the PFJ.

It's a direct comparison ... two weird blokes earnestly making up policies, as they go along, knowing they'll never take power or have to implement any of their insane plans.

In the meantime they insist they hate the ruling party as well as the JPF/BNP and are completely different

 

That we need a real change, something bigger than anything that has happened in the last 75 years. A real fundamental change in direction.

 

Yes but that's said before every election and we all know it won't happen.

People always talk about 'first past the post' and 'electoral reform' but then we revert to reality.

Not saying it's right/wrong. just how it actually is.

 

Interesting to see Sunak call out Labour on rural areas. I live in one and Labour are not even remotely interested in us. Shame, because we are all up for getting rid of the tories. No doubt they will become very interested once in power as they seek to build all over the green belts (that are actually brown if you believe Starmer).