Labour remain the least worst option. The Tories are as incompetent as they are venal, and Lib Dem means Tories. That said, I voted LD tactically in the last election because they generally come 2nd in my ward and even won a few decades ago, but labour do very poorly.
😂
thought it was a parody account at first
https://twitter.com/hmtreasury/status/1615610241361534977
It’s lib dem or get in the sea…
Be careful not to get in the sea, or promote getting in the sea online.
https://twitter.com/davidleighx/status/1615424550019207191
We are really at the 'last spasms' stage of this government, aren't we?
mattyfez Full Member
The Labour party is pointless.It’s lib dem or get in the sea… or Tory if that’s what you want.
Well it's been a while since you have shown your hand mattyfez. It was 5 months ago when you described Labour as "unelectable" :
mattyfez Full Member
Lol, this thread is nothing more than a circle jerk amongst the same people.And those people don’t get why Labour are unelectable. And so continues the circle
Which in light of your latest post is particularly weird as all the polls consistently show Labour's share of the vote at more than 4 times the size of the LibDem vote.
Be careful not to get in the sea, or promote getting in the sea online.
https://twitter.com/Feargal_Sharkey/status/1561268615600562177?s=20&t=s4evRuxZM7gwKQARdUX2ww
https://twitter.com/sascampaigns/status/1595814759168987139?s=20&t=PiTZPliB8X4xOwbf7qgppw
Sorry, Tory MSP… Rachael Hamilton
Another fine upstanding Tory….
My youngest worked in the hotel when he was younger, they'd try anything to under-pay staff.
mattyfez Full Member
Lol, this thread is nothing more than a circle jerk amongst the same people.And those people don’t get why Labour are unelectable. And so continues the circle
If Labour are "unelectable", how do you refer to the Tories?
https://twitter.com/hmtreasury/status/1615610241361534977?s=20&t=9pAKJUqnFhFFIlN4mYlzww
(as above)
"Listen up you ****s - I'm going to talk to you like economic babies."
Markets don't 'punish us' - the BoE controls the markets you refer too (Bonds/Interest rates) you imbecile. The UK currency floats that is what its designed to do. (Pension funds running things like Lehman is okay apparently.)
Some of the UK’s biggest asset managers have rejected claims by the Bank of England that “poorly managed” leverage was the root cause of September’s gilt market crisis. F.T Dec 7 2022
This whole arms length control is a myth - I mean they let the BoE go in the opposite direction of what is good for the economy with interest rate cuts at the expense of livelihoods.
And now they claim to be able to half inflation? (When it was naturally going to regress.)
People project their own politics on to the markets and that is exactly what Hunt with a big C is doing here along with every other weak at the knees Liberal economist.
These neoliberal morons are going to make sure a large chunk of the UK stays poor forever with their lies about wages driving inflation. Any mention of balance the books or control the UK finances (6 surpluses in the last 40 years tells you how useful that target is) is code for keeping you poor at the expense of the big asset class.
Don't let them get away with this drivel.
are going to make sure a large chunk of the UK stays poor forever with their lies about wages driving inflation
That's the plan. And it's obvious. Using a period of high inflation to make a large chunk of the workforce significantly poorer long term. On top of all the other decisions they've made over the last decade that make most people in the UK poorer.
On top of all the other decisions they’ve made that make most people in the UK poorer over the last decade.
You see this on private debt balance sheets.
Food inflation @ 16.8% in December. Those higher prices won't be dropping. We know who that hits hardest, and they are very few of them that won't be asked to just suck that up.
EDIT: yes, a lot of that "sucking up" will mean taking on debt.
Food inflation @ 16.8% in December. Those higher prices won’t be dropping. We know who that hits hardest, and they are very few of them that won’t be asked to just suck that up.
it's also worth rembering that everyone's 'personal' inflation is different. And that inflation has already elevated prices so when they say half inflation - it's only slowing current prices. Previous inflation is now baked in.
It's not that clear a metric say if you're a low income family actual inflation will be sky high, especially if you've not had a wage rise in years.
I do wonder where this will all end.
Looks like the Tories might scrape through on fundamentals to me.
Does Rishi Sunak not realise that the more he bangs on about Labour not supporting minimum service levels during strikes, the more it highlights the fact that his government can't even deliver minimum service levels when there isn't a strike?
the more it highlights the fact that his government can’t even deliver minimum service levels when there isn’t a strike?
I expect thats part of why they left the definition up to the whims of the minister on the day.
Could be fun though as soon as it passed.
Call a strike just to see what the alleged minimum service level is and how it compares to normal before cancelling it.
And this. Who would have ever thought that Sunak would be thicker than Truss? Gone by the summer.
https://twitter.com/PippaCrerar/status/1615686283669475331?s=20&t=MJxOE5TTPgZWS2c2R-PJDQ
This whole arms length control is a myth – I mean they let the BoE go in the opposite direction of what is good for the economy with interest rate RISES at the expense of livelihoods.
Edit from my rant above should be INTEREST RATE RISES
And this. Who would have ever thought that Sunak would be thicker than Truss? Gone by the summer.
Oh yeah I've always thought so - Just Sunak looked like one of these 'Adults' that people keep harping on about.
There's nothing competent about him. In fact he lacks the total confidence any leader ought to have - and I don't think he will stick around. He's rubbish but the centre establishement got behind him for some unknown secret skill-set attached to offering furlough. PMSL.
Did this do the rounds on here:
https://twitter.com/dinosofos/status/1614190496775012352?s=20&t=WfBNdE-S5g9RGIM--JIGgw
This shows his media training falling apart, and he simply doesn't look like a PM.
Oh yeah I’ve always thought so – Just Sunak looked like one of these ‘Adults’ that people keep harping on about.
It's all relative, compared to the last 2 incumbents he's a grown up, but they were spectacularly awful
Did this do the rounds on here
Yeah, I posted it in this thread. Some proper "just answer the question" interview techniques. More of that please.
the centre establishement got behind him
Strange way to spell "Conservative MPs", but hey. No one else has made him PM. Lost a leadership contest to Liz Truss when put to party members. Hasn't run as leader at any election involving the public. Had to put Braverman back in charge of the Home Office to stop the most right wing of his MPs blocking his "loser wins it all" rise to the top job.
Strange way to spell “Conservative MPs”, but hey. No one else has made him PM
Well to support him or get behind him - I don't mean vote for him. The commentary was out there at the time.
It’s all relative, compared to the last 2 incumbents he’s a grown up, but they were spectacularly awful
Well not to split hairs but to mean 'grown-up' can still allow for someone who's totally out of his depth, Brexiteer, economically illiterate "The government doesn't have money of its own", Neoliberal policy architect - all the things you might associate with a bog-standard Tory despite grown-up credentials. But still devastatingly bad.
It's not a term I would use really.
Grown up? At 5'7'' he's got some way to go but he's getting there, you can tell by his trousers.
Well to support him or get behind him – I don’t mean vote for him. The commentary was out there at the time.
Was that when the alternative was Liz Truss? If so, yeah, apart from a few "you all underestimate her" head wobblers, yes, the "centre establishement", and everyone else, thought it was an easy choice between two poor options. I'm glad it was Truss... Sunak might have papered over the cracks in government for a few years if it wasn't for her getting her turn to play at being PM... but in the "who'd make the better PM" stakes... Truss... really?
Or do you mean when the alternative was the come back of he who would be "World King"? Again... low threshold.
And that inflation has already elevated prices so when they say half inflation – it’s only slowing current prices. Previous inflation is now baked in.
TBH I had a discussion with my Manager, he tried the same approach on me when I suggested the offered payrise was way under inflation - "but inflation is coming down!"
On top of all the other decisions they’ve made that make most people in the UK poorer over the last decade.
I'll drop my usual comment in, slightly amended, "Brexit isn't the destination, it's one of the vehicles"
Kate Andrews (spectator) on LBC this morning driving me to an early grave with her inflation is driven by monetary policy Friedman-bullshit during COVID.
Completely cock-eyed logic. The Private sector contracts; government spends to help effectively keep the economy alive. Otherwise it was dust.
Basically these right-wingers want you to be poor by blaming government intervention.
Any inflation that is made up of money supply would only ever be the super-wealthy buying up very limited resources. I think maybe 2% of CPI figures (in the States) is attributed to money supply during COVID. Money supply alone doesn't tell you where the money is going so it's a ridiculous metric to use as an inflation driver. If we call kept the money in the bank then there is no net money being spent for an extreme example.
This is all totally counter-intuitive as wages are chasing inflation by every metric.
These people want you to be poorer. Because according to them private wealth never causes inflation.
This is all as consequence of Hunt's Coffee film. And let's face it a decent coffee was already approaching £3 anyway.
Also the government talking up 0.1% growth PMSL - that will get quietly revised down in due course.
How we got such high CPI and such low growth then Kate?
Was that when the alternative was Liz Truss
No that's not my point - the point is centre commentators saw Sunak as some sort of solution to Truss.
All that's happening is that he's no fireball - he's just on the same path of destruction as Truss. In fact worse because the currency issue was totally misunderstood. The real drivers are still all on (austerity,).
He's no safe pair of hands. Dunt had to back track within hours of Sunak appointing his cabinet with his crappy Liberal commentary.
I'm not interested in who is a better option. It's all the same trajectory.
This is all totally counter-intuitive as wages are chasing inflation by every metric.
Absolutely.
Suppressing wages now is just about shifting even more of the burden onto those on lower incomes. There's a bit of "shrinking the state" going on with suppressing public sector pay as well. Ideological.
the point is centre commentators saw Sunak as some sort of solution to Truss
Err... the other options were... considering this was Conservative MPs choosing a Conservative MP?
I’m not interested in who is a better option.
Ok. But that's what "commentators" were talking about when they "got behind" Sunak, as you put it.
TBH I had a discussion with my Manager
I was chatting to one of my directors before xmas about the economy and I was pretty shocked at his lack of knowledge on economic stuff. He was basically parotting the sort of shite you hear on the news (national credit card, inflation fuelled by covid spending, no money left etc). He said he didn't understand how Japan has a massive national debt as a share of GDP without it's economy collapsing, my simple answer of 'that's because they've decided to not worry about it' just didn't compute. He's a very intelligent and insightful bloke so was a bit of a shock.
The lack of basic economic literacy in the population is to be expected, and I'm sure it is welcomed by politicians because it makes their messaging easier. 'National economy is like household economy' is a convenient motif.
The parallels with the economic inputs of the 1970s are so interesting. 'Spend for Growth' plus external energy price shock leading to currency crisis and raging inflation (mid 20s %).
If anything, the inputs seem more severe now - the covid spend to protect the economy was vast, the Ukraine war appears to be a deeper and more prolonged shock, plus we have artificially suppressed growth via Brexit.
I can only assume that the UK economy was generally more febrile in the mid 70s and more vulnerable structurally to this type of inflationary shock.
Contraction in UK manufacturing employment was huge in the 70s. That's the big difference. Lots of people were impacted directly. Yes, things are getting worse in those sectors again this time [ despite higher demand across Europe... thanks Brexit ], but from a lower base.
An interesting stat this morning that the rail strikes have already cost more than it would cost to have just settled the original pay claim
If any further proof were needed that this is purely idealogical and the government actively want a confrontation with the unions for political reasons
If you watched the Channel 4 news NHS debate last night (which was excellent and featured the spectacularly dim Helen Whately as Rishi's human shield) then all the polling shows that support for the striking nurses and ambulance staff isn't dropping with the public at all. Its still about two thirds of people questioned
Contraction in UK manufacturing employment was huge in the 70s.
That makes sense. Fortunately we now have a workforce which enjoys the flexibility of zero hour contracts and reduced pensions to help our economy weather these storms. 🙂
the spectacularly dim Helen Whately as Rishi’s human shield
Anyone know why Whately couldn't get to Leeds? Just added to the "not our problem mate" nature of her contributions.
She probably set off there but got lost
Anyway... Rishi has lowered himself for another flying (no doubt literally) visit to 'The North (there be dragons) to announce his 'levelling up' funds, most of which seems to be going to places that don't really need it, but happen to have Tory MP's
https://twitter.com/Parody_PM/status/1616012905287131136?s=20&t=KQepAxrC04wvQ3-i6QiFBA
The RAF are flying him about apparently, because he's so "busy"... I mean, one day of having to use the train lines deemed good enough for us (when the Conservatives cancelled all the new lines planned for up here) would mean he couldn't get on with... er... not talking to the unions about the 22/23 pay year settlement.
There are no words...
https://twitter.com/BBCFrediani/status/1616053347168968704?s=20&t=KQepAxrC04wvQ3-i6QiFBA
Good news! Rishi's constituency (Richmond (North Yorks)) is getting some funding, but neighbouring Darlington, or indeed County Durham in general, which includes some seriously deprived boroughs, appears to get nowt. Levelling up indeed.
https://twitter.com/JerryHicksUnite/status/1616060046013505539
Watching Rishi on the news doing his ‘Levelling Up’ press conference, he has the air of a CBeebies presenter. It’s like he’s talking to a class of primary school children
The more detail I see the winners and losers of the funding, the more farcical it seems.
Get the deprived areas who’ve had their local council budgets decimated over 12 years to beg for scraps. Then toss a few crumbs to a couple of them and pat yourself on the back for a job well done
At least we (the denizens of Workington) got rewarded for voting in an ex-kipper 🤣
think the Chief Constable of Lancashire is getting the "don't be expecting any gongs any time soon" phone call.
Malvern theatres has received nearly £20 million to become a ‘world class cultural centre’
https://www.malvernhills.gov.uk/news-alerts/malvern-theatres-to-receive-levelling-up-funding
Harriet Baldwin is the local Tory MP.
Some parts of Malvern do have a high deprivation index but will this help reduce this and level up locally? The argument is that it will bring more people and therefore income to the town boosting the economy locally, but is this what people understood the concept of levelling up to mean?
Sunak on film with no seatbelt in the back of a car filming a piece. Apparatly he took his seat belt off just for a minute to film the piece
Sod the seatbelt, where's the booster seat?
It's perfect timing.
Get the red tops frothing about not being buckled up, and there's no sign of any mention of Nadhim Zahawi's extremely dodgy tax and legal antics.
If only there was a way we could see clearly why the NHS is struggling compared with over a decade ago
https://twitter.com/Alewin7/status/1616206875330023426
at 16 she was telling me in some detail that sexuality and gender are not things that they particularly obsess about, and it’s all very fluid. They be who they want to be, and they have relationships with people who they’re attracted to, irrespective of gender or sexuality. It’s really quite radical, and difficult for us old fogies to get our heads around.
Nah,I’m old and it makes a lot more sense,the more you question why you question this stuff,you realise it’s just the same old tripe that you grow up ingrained with and when you shine the light on it none of it makes any real sense other than a set of puriratanical rules that seem to linger around over what’s deemed ‘right’.
