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First off, I'm incredibly angry with the current government and think they're a complete shower of shizzle. [b]HOWEVER[/b] the idea of this is not that it becomes another Tory-slating thread, we have plenty of those.
But, in the spirit of objectivity and fairness, does anyone work in any industries/sectors/whatever where Tory policies have had a positive effect or have been successful? I'm genuinely interested because "they've ruined everything" just feels too simplistic.
they've worked perfectly in that they have transferred more and more wealth to the rich.
What do you mean by success?
Selling off council housing stock could be viewed as massively successful or an utter catastrophe.
Privatising the utilities? The same.
I think Johnson ushered in the era of politics as journalism, where you just anounce things virtualy on the hoof, with no planning or consultation, these make the headlines, then you quietly row back from it then just drop them completely.
See 40 new hospitals, nuclear reactors, Northern Powerhouse Rail etc, etc, etc
They're essentially a sort of mix of low quality journo's and a ropey PR firm, rather than a political party nowadays.
The trouble is that we could do with a government instead
As for whats positive, Rees-Mogg was asked this question recently and he couldn't actually come up with anything, so good luck with that
£9k fees was a shitstorm but did do exactly what was intended in: (a) increasing funding for universities, which was perilously low in the late 00s; and (b) allowing student number caps to be lifted and many more people to access HE, especially from disadvantaged backgrounds.
However, freezing fees for basically 14 years thereafter is now undermining all that.
And that was the Coalition too. I'm struggling to think of anything post-2015.
[i]What do you mean by success?[/i]
Well yeah, true. Let's go with an incredibly subjective definition of "generally accepted as a good thing", which probably excludes the housing stock and utilities sell-offs.
increasing funding for universities, which was perilously low in the late 00s
Aren't a lot of UK universities in the brink of bankruptcy?
Aren’t a lot of UK universities in the brink of bankruptcy?
Yeah, see the next part of my response....
Selling off council housing stock could be viewed as massively successful or an utter catastrophe
Definitely the latter https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/mar/26/councils-sell-off-more-houses-right-to-buy-failure
On the more general question, it's a matter of perspective. I don't know of anything that could be said to be a net benefit to the country as a whole, but their deliberate attack on the NHS has clearly achieved what they wanted now that Labour are arguing for more privatisation of healthcare.
They've revised the rules about LTN so that Councils now have to ask residents who'll be effected about it first, which at least more representatively democratic rather than imposing them from 'on high' which is what councils could have done before...
...Errr, struggling now.
In all reality, can anyone remember all the policies, were they tory policies, or cross party, did they work, did they fail, etc, etc, etc.
I think the older i get, the more i just tend to see one government fall into another, and where there's a complete failure (Truss), it seems to fail fast. I just think we just forget that government is predominantly permanent civil servants, with policies forming over years in the main, and when a change of party occurs, they get tweaked slightly, as i don't see parliament having the ability to make huge changes quickly, either due to being voted down via the lords, or having to jump through more hoops, if that wasn't the case the tories would have done a lot more in the last 14 years than they have!
if that wasn’t the case the tories would have done a lot more damage in the last 14 years than they have!
FTFY
OK, in the last budget:
Business full expensing continues which is a properly good investment tool. There was pretty good tax breaks for the Arts and TV/film industry, a £60M boost for apprenticeships, and another bunch of cash spent to send munitions to Ukraine.
OK, in the last budget:
But have they actually worked? Because there have been quite a lot of policies that sound sensible that they have announced, but which have never been implemented.
I just think we just forget that government is predominantly permanent civil servants, with policies forming over years in the main, and when a change of party occurs, they get tweaked slightly, as i don’t see parliament having the ability to make huge changes quickly
There's some truth in that, but at the end of the day, Civil Servants' job is to advise and assist ministers.
If the CS had its way, I'm sure, for example, Rwanda* or the practically unworkable Freedom of Speech bill, wouldn't be implemented policy.
(*Obviously not implemented, but it's not the CS blocking it)
Furlough during covid - good idea, poorly implemented but if it had put in place properly it wouldn't have been rolled out so quickly.
Same for the 10k COVID grants for businesses on business rates. Fast rollout poor implementation.
Both policies worked - but we're too easy to take advantage of, a down side to the quick roll out imo. I also don't personally see them as typical Tory policy.
Other than that I can't think of anything.
But have they actually worked?
From early March? I duuno. They were the announcements that I thought were most sensible and could've got some traction for them, but then Rishi shot himself in the foot by doing the whole "extremists in our midst" podium piece the Friday after...He really is Labour's best weapon to defeat the Tories.
They did give us the energy rebates, but then let the companies make record profits.
I can't for the life of me remember what the actual policy was, but I remember reading an article about a Tory policy that they were quietly expanding because it has been successful, but that their voters wouldn't approve of. It was something to do with actually helping less fortunate people.
I think that “generally accepted as a good thing” is still quite a high bar to aim for. In the real world there are always drawbacks to any course of action.
Anyway I'd suggest the 2015 Pension 'freedom' changes were generally a good thing - even if it could have been done better.
From Tory funders’ point of view, have any policies failed? The cynic’s take on this is that the Tories have actually been wildly successful, isn’t it? The rich have got so much richer in the last 45 years, and that’s probably what matters to them.
It was a while ago, but they did make same sex marriage a thing.
It's all relative but they also now have a stronger environmental agricultural payment policy than the EU or Scotland, which sounds mad when you think about what the Torys are (land owning capitalists that don't care about the environment).
Anyway I’d suggest the 2015 Pension ‘freedom’ changes were generally a good thing – even if it could have been done better.
Came to suggest the same. Buying an annuity with a pot of money, when the lifetime annuity returns were 1) fixed for the rest of your life and 2) historically low, was not a good option for many. And of course, being able to leave the fund to you family if you have no dependents (so don't need the annuity in the first place) is another good policy. Surprisingly, people are (reasonably) responsible.
Triple Lock - shoot me down - but pensioner polity was a serious problem for those not in the above category. It should have used median not max of the three measures.
The French system of a state pension seems more equitable. But simply put, people do not want to save for their retirement. Full stop. They should be forced to do so - perhaps via an appropriate National Insurance scheme rather than a stealth taxation. Son2, at 23, is now saving 8% of his salary from his first job. You don't miss it if it's taken away at the beginning.
Large, continued and genuine support for Ukraine (whatever Johnson's personal motivations).
Triple Lock
I'm surprised Labour haven't proposed this as a solution to public sector pay. There may be affordability issues with giving large pay rises immediately, but it would be a decent commitment to sorting out pay over the next couple of parliaments.
The cap on bus fares (to a max of £2) has been really good. There are more bus companies signed up to it than not, it's driven increased bus patronage and been a genuinely good use of public subsidy.
Also, even though it's been extended, it's still costing way less than a single motorway junction expansion.
The formation of Active Travel England has been pretty positive to date as well although I'll reserve judgement on that cos they could easily de-fund it again.
If he sees it through, Sunak’s smoking ban will be one of the most significant public health measures taken for a long time.
No doubt they’ll screw it up in some way under lobbying pressure and the lily-livered Labour Party will dutifully follow suit.
Thatcher listened to health experts on HIV and got the messages out. that is the only thing I will ever say about Torys doing the right thing
Anyway I’d suggest the 2015 Pension ‘freedom’ changes were generally a good thing – even if it could have been done better.
Some folk end up blowing all their pension pots and end up on benefits. Its not been problem free.
Tory policies work for the better off who are common on here
Ban private car clamping 2012
They did draw down the British involvement in utterly fruitless military operations. Although the last one was a ****ing car crash of human carnage.
In terms of defence they've been as much use as tits on a fish like most governments have in recent times. Even with more former military holding political portfolios. Ideology trumps common sense and experience I guess.
FTSE 100 FTSE overview | London Stock Exchange
nov23 to mar24 ftse100 up from 7300 to 7900, clearly the latest policies are working
AI answer microsoft copilot on bing
The FTSE 100, London’s blue-chip share index, has experienced a remarkable increase of 600 points since November 2023. Let’s delve into the factors contributing to this surge:
-
Energy Boom: The rise in oil and gas prices following Putin’s invasion of Ukraine about a year ago has significantly boosted the profits and share prices of the FTSE 100’s two oil giants. Notably:
<ul style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; gap: 4px; margin: 12px 0px 0px; padding-inline-start: 24px;">
- Shell reported record net profits of nearly $42.3 billion last year, the highest in its 115-year history.
- BP more than doubled its earnings to $28 billion.
- Both companies have seen substantial share price gains, with Shell’s shares rising by almost <strong style="pointer-events: none;">60% and BP’s climbing by nearly two-thirds since the start of 20221.
-
Global Economy: The FTSE 100 comprises multinational companies whose revenues and profits come from around the world. Approximately 75% of their revenues are derived from overseas markets. Factors influencing this include:
<ul style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; gap: 4px; margin: 12px 0px 0px; padding-inline-start: 24px;">
- Hopes for Global Recovery: As wholesale energy prices have fallen back, hopes for a global economic recovery have risen. Inflation in major economies, including the US, may have peaked, suggesting central banks might ease the pace of rapid rate hikes.
- The International Monetary Fund (IMF) predicts that while the UK’s GDP may shrink by 0.6%, global growth is forecast to be 2.9% in 2023.
- Changes in the foreign exchange market, where the pound has depreciated against the euro and US dollar, also impact FTSE earnings1.
In summary, a combination of energy sector gains, global economic prospects, and currency dynamics has contributed to the FTSE 100’s impressive performance despite the challenging economic climate1. 📈🌍💼
Lol - not one of those 8 points is anything to do with UK Government policy. In fact points 7 and 8 imply the FTSE has gone up despite govt's woeful interventions on the economy.
They've made a great contributiion to the eBike industry.
Probably about the same as any government. Some things work, some don't, some get screwed by the populace who generally only care about what affects them and to be honest who cares? It is all a matter of perspective. And of course here, hypocrisy.
Well now this is an interesting topic. You can point to something a government did that had a positive, but you can't say wether or not a different Government would have done better. For example - a govt might work to bring down energy prices - yay! - but would it not be better to roll out a huge free insulation plan to reduce people's bills by reducing their consumption? Yes, it would.
£9k fees was a shitstorm but did do exactly what was intended in: (a) increasing funding for universities, which was perilously low in the late 00s; and (b) allowing student number caps to be lifted and many more people to access HE, especially from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Like this - yes, great, but would it not be better to make higher education free for everyone and properly fund universities? Funding needed to increase, but was this the best way to do it? Not in my view.
Thatcher listened to health experts on HIV and got the messages out
Was that an actual good policy, or just baseline competence?
Another example would be something like the M4 relief road in South Wales. The traffic situation is absolutely diabolical there every day. The WG were poised to build a new motorway, then they decided not to, but they started a huge PT investment instead. That's a hard decision to make, and I think most people just want the damn road built. Building it would have been a popular move and would have made most people's list of 'good policies' but it's not really, in the long run.
"You can point to something a government did that had a positive"
Yes, you can. That's what the OP asked.
"but you can’t say wether or not a different Government would have done better. "
Well, you can. But that's not what the OP asked.
The policy of wrecking the railways properly this time after they failed to kill it off in the 1990s is going very well.