he is attempting to offer himself as the man to deliver change.
So, my money's on a Spring election then, because if you're setting yourself up as a change candidate, that's going to be pretty much past it's sell by date in a year's time when nothing has happened.
Apparently he has been reported to the police, regarding his remarks about Nicola Sturgeon.
They've just said on the news that average rents have gone up by 12% in the last 12 months. Thats no doubt caused by the huge rises in mortgage payments being passed on to tenants. Liz and Kwasi's comedically stupid mini-budget carries on echoing through the real economy a year later, yet she's still the golden girl with the Tory faithful
I don't know about anyone else but I worryingly have every faith that the general public will swallow the Tory lies and bullshit and vote them back in. It all hinges on the Labour conference and which way the press swing in the weeks leading up to the vote.
Apparently he has been reported to the police, regarding his remarks about Nicola Sturgeon.
Excellent, although it'll just be an investigation followed by no action.
Do I have any hope that Labour would improve the situation ? None whatsoever. In fact if Starmer set out a plan to resolve these issues, I’d fully expect him to reverse ferret on it eventually anyway
Then you're ignoring the historical fact that the NHS has always been better under Labour.
They’ve just said on the news that average rents have gone up by 12% in the last 12 months. Thats no doubt caused by the huge rises in mortgage payments being passed on to tenants.
That's the average, city rents are well above that. Over the summer rents in Bristol and Cardiff were going up 5% every month at minimum with most places going for more than advertised thanks to bidding wars. It is so bad I had to give up my job as I couldn't move close enough to not have a massive commute, I'm not the only one.
@reluctantjumper - its just another sign of a totally dysfunctional housing market that neither Rishi or any other Tory even mentioned at conference this week. And we all know why... because most Tory MPs are landlords themselves, sat on nice property portfolios and represent only the interests of property owners and landlords
I just find it unfathomable that anyone can look at these increases in mortgages and rents, as well as other cost of living increases and even consider voting for these sharks
See landlords just pass the cost on to renters. What about home owners? Have to swallow the extra cost. along with being told pay rises are inflationary.
I hope Labour have a plan to get us out of this hole
rent rises capped in Scotland. 3% but you can apply for up to 6% in case of financial hardship.
Then you’re ignoring the historical fact that the NHS has always been better under Labour.
No, I'm just aware that historically, Labour was a left leaning party that would prioritise public services and nothing that they say now makes me think that they still are.
Or, for that matter that they are any more trustworthy than the Tories, given Starmer's own history of abandoning promises and pledges.
Absolutely broken system.
Do I have any hope that Labour would improve the situation ? None whatsoever. In fact if Starmer set out a plan to resolve these issues, I’d fully expect him to reverse ferret on it eventually anyway
It's broken because of 13 years of Tory rule - austerity, Brexit, general politics and the desire to see most of the NHS sold off to private healthcare - to achieve that you defund it until it falls to bits, claim you have the ideal way of fixing it and then sell it to your mate who just happens to be in private health...
Same across a lot of areas - education, defence, transport, health... Underpay / undervalue the workers, blame them when it all breaks, carve it up and sell it off in order to "inject the necessary funding". Funding that you took away from them in the first place.
There is no easy fix. It takes a decade of hard work to get back to where you were at which point the public get bored of a Labour Government, bored of waiting for this promised land and vote the Tories back in who then go about systematically dismantling it all again. Every bloody time.
Some examples (NHS being one) are so complicated and have so many facets elsewhere that they can basically never be fixed. You don't necessarily need to throw money into the black hole of NHS to "fix" it - if you build better active travel infrastructure, more people walk and cycle and are generally healthier plus there are fewer crashes (because you've separated out the cyclists and the cars) so - long term - it saves the NHS a lot of money in terms of better overall health and fewer traumatic injuries to mend.
Funding community schemes and social care means fewer mental health and palliative care issues being referred into the NHS so again, a cost saving there.
But none of that really comes across well in election pledges. "We'll send the NHS £350 a week" is a nice easy one - you can paint that on the side of a bus...
Apparently he has been reported to the police, regarding his remarks about Nicola Sturgeon.
It's a nonsense complaint by a member of a fringe political party. A total waste of Police Scotland’s time.
rent rises capped in Scotland. 3% but you can apply for up to 6% in case of financial hardship.
That only applies to existing Tenants.We’ve just got a rented hoose, the old Tenants paid £500 a month, we have to pay £600, and 3 months upfront (+ deposit) . the 3 months upfront was to stop us walking out after a month (no minimum term here).
"Or, for that matter that they are any more trustworthy than the Tories, given Starmer’s own history of abandoning promises and pledges."
Hook, line and sinker...
Which bit of they're not in Govt and until they get the keys (Sunak calling a GE and then they're briefed by the Civil Service) they'll not know the actually state of either the economy or country are you missing?
It’s a nonsense complaint by a member of a fringe political party. A total waste of Police Scotland’s time.
Or a slanderous statement made by the political leader of a country who should know better
44 seats is not fringe
Is it me, or does everyone at the Tory conference, including Mr Sunak, seem to be very angry about the way the country has been run for the past 13 years?
“Or, for that matter that they are any more trustworthy than the Tories, given Starmer’s own history of abandoning promises and pledges.”
Hook, line and sinker…
Which bit of they’re not in Govt and until they get the keys (Sunak calling a GE and then they’re briefed by the Civil Service) they’ll not know the actually state of either the economy or country are you missing?
So why are they abandoning promises and pledges without even knowing the actually state of either the economy or country?
It seems a strange thing to do.
Politicians usually wait until they have actually won an election before carrying out U-turns.
Perhaps he feels he doesn't need to wait because he is so confident that he will win?
Politicians usually wait until they have actually won an election before carrying out U-turns
Less than 24hrs after Sunak declared a load of extra investment in the North including reopening the Leamside Line (rail line in County Durham) there was a small U-turn to them announcing that they wouldn't be reopening the Leamside Line.
Even a Boris Promise lasted longer than 24hrs!
He's not waiting because he's making it very clear he's following a conservative agenda. At the beginning of lockdown in response to pleas for rent and mortgage holidays he came out in support of the banks and landlords, and that was in opposition. Getting the money in before spending it is a euphemism for neoliberal trickle down, despite it never working, anywhere.
that they wouldn’t be reopening the Leamside Line.
That would of made a massive difference to public transport in the NE. Commuter trains on the ECML don't really work.
The A1 and A19 are always congested and the bus services are painfully slow.
For those asking what Labour would do differently...well Labour have to be very careful about stating policies.
Case in point, the graduated smoking ban announced yesterday - announced by Labour in January of this year. (Labour stole it from the NZ gov no doubt.)
predictably
https://twitter.com/danhollandnews/status/1709908649177461048?t=w5k9pqbK4TpxdzV33Tq62w&s=19
Polite camera action
Scots law is different. Sunank has technically broken the law
But yes it is grandstanding by an irrelevant noise from a fringe oarty that has never won a seat Alba
Entertainingly, they promised an extension to the Manchester tram network to serve Manchester Airport. Manchester Evening News have taken great delight in pointing out that it already exists and opened in 2014.
They did the same with Nottingham, suggesting that the ££££ they were going to throw at the region could be used to extend the tram to Clifton South - an extension which has been in full service for 8 years already.
Someone at DfT hasn't been doing their homework, they've simply put together a list of things that £1bn could buy.
And then the ones they've discovered are valid (like reopening Leamside which the region has been begging for for a decade), they've U-turned on.
Zombie Government. No-one has a clue.
BBC website reporting that HS2 will not extend from Old Oak Common to Euston without private sector investment.
I must have missed that caveat when sunak said ...HS2 will go to Euston.
If the reporting is correct that, after reducing the number of platforms from 11 to 6 and announcing intentions to 'simplify the design', will reinforce the view that sunak and his goverment are duplicitous, untrustworthy, don't have a shred of
credibility and have no concept of honesty.
In fact, none of them could even spell honesty let alone practice it.
No wonder sunak has scuttled off to some conference in the Caribbean Spain.
Is it me, or does everyone at the Tory conference, including Mr Sunak, seem to be very angry about the way the country has been run for the past 13 years?
Which is reasonable. As the self professed party of personal responsibility it must be really aggravating for them to have to deal not only with the mess whoever has been running it for 13 years has caused but also how they avoid taking responsibility.
BBC website reporting that HS2 will not extend from Old Oak Common to Euston without private sector investment.
So they are actually going to spend all those billions on a complete white elephant then
So they are actually going to spend all those billions on a complete white elephant then
They spent billions on substandard PPE during Covid then billions more to store it then dispose of it later... 🤷🏻♂️
What'll happen here is they'll eventually decide to grub up the bits of HS2 that they've built and convert it all to a big motorway.
For all the very important drivers because everyone knows we're a nation of drivers.
Entertainingly, they promised an extension to the Manchester tram network to serve Manchester Airport. Manchester Evening News have taken great delight in pointing out that it already exists and opened in 2014.
Bloody hell that's insane.
If it only gets as far as old oak common it will be utterly pointless
Faisal Islam has just been on R4 pulling sunak's proposals to bits.
I hope he's on Newsnight later to expand on the 'inconsistencies' in Network North which, as he rightly pointed out, isn't a network.
One of his comments, repeating what he heard from a source, was along the lines of...it's as if a civil servant had been given a map and a box of crayons; a reasonable summary, I think.
This is falling apart as it doesn't stand up to any meaningful scrutiny.
It’s clear that whichever civil servant they gave the crayons to isn’t too hot on the geography of the north
https://twitter.com/miss_mcinerney/status/1709627679912206762?s=46&t=1lK7Dw1b6RqGJyvufO-trQ
It’s almost as if somebody just chucked something together in 5 minutes on the back of a fag packet
trailmonkey
Full Member
Then you’re ignoring the historical fact that the NHS has always been better under Labour.No, I’m just aware that historically, Labour was a left leaning party that would prioritise public services and nothing that they say now makes me think that they still are.
Or, for that matter that they are any more trustworthy than the Tories, given Starmer’s own history of abandoning promises and pledges.
First and foremost let me say I'm sorry to hear you are struggling. It's not a good time to be in need of help, particularly with mental health issues. Many of the safety nets that were once there are gone.
I can empathise, genuinely. I definitely have skin in this game.
However, i have absolutely no doubt in my mind what Labour will attempt to "fix" the massive problems within the NHS and social care. Will it be a quick fix, will they even succeed? To the former, no, to the latter, I can only hope so.
What i am absolutely positive about is that another term of a Tory government threatens the very existence of the NHS as there is no will at all from the Tories to improve matters. If anything its a potential huge money maker to let it fail.
Let's not forget that Sunak wasnt even registered with an NHS GP till it came out in the papers. The NHS is for little people, not a Tory PM it seems.
How HS2 is being reported by CNN; the author is international managing editor for CNN Business.
https://edition.cnn.com/2023/10/05/economy/hs2-railway-uk-economy/index.html
Footage of the HS2 replacement has surfaced.
(just north of) Wormwood Scrubs to Birmingham it is then :/ nice for brummies with family doing stir 🙂
frankconwayFull Member<br />How HS2 is being reported by CNN; the author is international managing editor for CNN Business.
https://edition.cnn.com/2023/10/05/economy/hs2-railway-uk-economy/index.html/blockquote >
Wow. We know it's bad, but to hear it from someone well outside the westminster bubble makes for difficult, if frank reading.
And now this?...
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/leamside-line-hs2-government-dropped-b2424862.html
I mean, it's just word salad now, really, isn't it.
They are literally just making it up as they go along and blurting out any old shite just to try and make it to the end of the week
Absolute ****ing clowns!
https://twitter.com/bethrigby/status/1709947021157933227?s=46&t=1lK7Dw1b6RqGJyvufO-trQ
So let me get this straight:
Despite it being undecided until the day before they managed to produce a 40 page report into the new plan.
The announcement of alternative improvements includes stuff that's already been built.
They have already cancelled one announced project, within 24 hours.
They have included a map that gets the geographical placement of a major city completely wrong and with no connections to it.
They promise to fix potholes but nowhere near the North.
The bit to Euston is now to be privately funded.
Is this them answering the question: How low can they go? We all know the answer is that there is no limit but even for that answer this is mind-bogglingly crazy.
Whichever junior mug of a Tory MP is on Question Time* (I’ve never seen him before and have no idea who he is) is presently getting torn a new one by pretty much everybody about HS2. He looks like a rabbit in the headlights
* now available on iplayer from 8pm onwards on a Thursday
Despite it being undecided until the day before they managed to produce a 40 page report into the new plan.
Originally I did think it was all written up well in advance alongside his video but given the state of the report it is believable that was produced the day before after a boozy dinner.
I live right on the border of Durham and Sunderland and have often wondered about the leamside line, it pretty much just needs tracks putting back down, we talked about it last week ,it woud be fantastic to link that back up, into Newcastle.
It really highlights the staggerring hoarded wealth of the country, The line would revolutionise the north east rail and metro for 745million...sunak has 730million himself....he could pay the 700million and still have 30million left ffs...granted that only gets you a very average footballer which again shows the ludicris world which we live....ararrrgghhhhhh
Whichever junior mug of a Tory MP is on Question Time
Richard Holden, who is able to display all the knowledge you'd expect for a Transport Minister.
Andy Burnham has accused them of knocking it up in a Manchester hotel room the night before
It looks like he was right. I’m picturing the episode of Peep Show where Johnson leaves Mark and Gerrard in a hotel room overnight to come up with ‘Project Zeus’
Rishi is actually quite Johnson-esque
Or a slanderous statement made by the political leader of a country who should know better
It's not slanderous. It's perfectly accurate. Sturgeon might go down. The courts have to decide. It could happen. It might not.
44 seats is not fringe
Doh! Alba has two seats in the Commons and has never won an election. Its leader is a man eho has spent most of the last decade on Putin's payroll. Maybe you should read up more on Scotch politics 😉
Scots law is different. Sunank has technically broken the law
He hasn't. It's not illegal to comment on ongoing proceedings. It has never been. Neither is it illegal to take the piss out of former First Ministers - although with the SNP being so keen on criminalising different types of speech, maybe it will be soon in Scotland.
What’s the betting that one of his donors has the contract for that part of the build and if he cancels it before a certain date they don’t get paid? Once that date passes and it triggers a cancellation fee, most likely in the multiple millions, then he will confirm it with some half-assed excuse about why he couldn’t make the decision earlier.
Not how any of this works. (Also, he’s not organised enough to pull it off).
I hate being right when it costs us multiple millions...
(From the link above)
Mark Harper, the transport secretary, also conceded on Thursday that paying off contracts previously awarded for the cancelled HS2 sections would cost hundreds of millions of pounds.
He told BBC Breakfast that the cost of pulling out of the agreements would “broadly balance out” with money recovered from selling land and property acquired for the high-speed railway.
I can't say it enough: Bunch of absolute ****s.
The Iceland boss on Question Time tonight - who would clearly know a thing or two about this kind of thing - made the point that any company entering into any future government contracts will now be demanding clauses of massive sums of money in compensation if the government suddenly decides to pull the plug
Or maybe they just won’t bother as it’s more trouble than it’s worth
Anyway we got 40 hospitals didn't we.
Bloody fake homeless organised begging gangs everywhere. They don't know what poor is in this country. They wouldn't need to use food banks if they didn't spend all their money on iphones, drugs, booze and fags, or heaven forbid just got a job.
They're all liars anyway. Imagine if that Russian commie sympathiser got in it would av bin worse. Open door to any immigrants, Snow Black Trans you name it, moped knife gangs in every town!
Bloody single mothers, don't know how to do shopping or cooking right. Out of control youths with aggressive music am I right eh, weeding whiting and aromatherapy am I white!
Chester - you are lee anderson and I claim my £5; now, truck right off back to ****in mansfield which is the arsehole of the western world.
I think Chester was taking the piss
Yes I know he was - as was I.
crazy-legs
Full MemberEntertainingly, they promised an extension to the Manchester tram network to serve Manchester Airport. Manchester Evening News have taken great delight in pointing out that it already exists and opened in 2014.
They did the same with Nottingham, suggesting that the ££££ they were going to throw at the region could be used to extend the tram to Clifton South – an extension which has been in full service for 8 years already.
I mean this is really funny but when they inevitably uturn and cancel these plans it's going to be messier than usual
It'll be great when they build the undersea connection to France to ease continental freight and tourism.
Ooh, that's a good Idea!
Maybe they could pop a railway line through it and then build other rail lines in this country to connect to it?
So let me get this straight:
I get the feeling HS2 was essentially canned a while ago, but the important bit, the justifications and the pretend alternative spending and re-announced stuff really wasn't thought of untill the very last minute.
Makes you wonder about the return of Dom...
A government that commits to a bipartisan, decades long, 90bn project, enact multiple pieces of legislation for it, then has its unelected prime minister shitcan it without even seeking cabinet, let alone Parliamentary approval. Why should any citizen, business or international ally trust a word we say?
politecameraaction - are they a plant?
Anyway back to the news, looks like Sunak is definitely going for a crash & burn exit but he'll be flogging off everything he can to pals & backers AKA out to **** the next Govt, whoever they are.
#NeroDecree
Sunak’s ‘spiteful’ sale of land intended for HS2 dashes hopes of revival | HS2 | The Guardian
Yes I know he was – as was I.
Hard to tell, you were right about Mansfield!
The Clifton tram extension announcement was a shock. Either they were lying again or the "artists impression" that i travelled on was bloody realistic.
A government that commits to a bipartisan, decades long, 90bn project, enact multiple pieces of legislation for it, then has its unelected prime minister shitcan it without even seeking cabinet, let alone Parliamentary approval
It wouldn't surprise me in the slightest if it was actually found to be unlawful or at the very least in breach of multiple contracts.
The contractors will be after hundreds of millions in compensation.
A government that commits to a bipartisan, decades long, 90bn project, enact multiple pieces of legislation for it, then has its unelected prime minister shitcan it without even seeking cabinet, let alone Parliamentary approval. Why should any citizen, business or international ally trust a word we say?
Its kind of symbolic of the now complete process, going on since the Brexit vote, of completely shredding the UK's international reputation and turning us into a total laughing stock of a banana republic
They must be laughing their tits off at us all over Europe as they get around on their high speed rail networks
Question Time said something like £2bn in costs to cancel ( if i heard correctly)
anyway I know there's a lot of other things going on in Scotland regards the byelection last night, but Tories losing their deposit a day after the conference finished is pretty funny!
Makes you wonder about the return of Dom…
It's not the first time I've heard his name being mentioned as some-one advising Sunak. But this also has the fingerprints of Lynton Crosby's mob all over as well, so it's hard to tell which bunch of charlatans had this stunningly short sighted idea
Either they were lying again or the “artists impression” that i travelled on was bloody realistic.
Which just goes to show how dumping HS2 was the right move. That was dragging on vs Sunak being able to deliver the Clifton tram and several other pieces of infrastructure overnight.
He should be being praised for this lightning fast delivery.
Its kind of symbolic of the now complete process, going on since the Brexit vote, of completely shredding the UK’s international reputation and turning us into a total laughing stock of a banana republic
As if Brexit hadn't made it difficult enough to invest in the UK, this has completely turned off any future investment. Who would want to take on any Government project now, knowing that they'll be screwed around with contract changes, at constant risk of cancellation and with inflation running as high as it is?!
Never mind stopping the boats, he's single handedly stopped all future foreign investment.
Except the Russians I imagine. Maybe the Chinese too...
I hate being right when it costs us multiple millions…
You're not right, tho. Obviously cancellation is going to cost squillions.
That's not what you said - you said Sunak was pretending to dither on cancellation because it would earn Tory donors more money. That's not true. And cancellation isn't lucrative for consultants and contractors: they don't get the full amount, it costs them money to wind down and stop work (from making sites safe to making people redundant), and on these projects the margins are so fine that you only make a profit at the end of the project. Cancellation is not as profitable as doing the current work - let alone doing the future work that hasn't even been contracted yet.
You can't simultaneously believe HS2 was initiated as a corrupt conspiracy by Tory donors AND that binning HS2 was a corrupt conspiracy by Tory donors!
I never said it was initiated as a corrupt conspiracy, for a start it was originally a project of Labour under Gordon Brown.
This is what I think happened - he has planned this for a while but wanted to make it his big gammon-pleasing announcement at conference.
Some total bastard/Russian spy/plucky reporter/disgruntled staff member/his wife leaked it, and even with all the negative reactions he decided to stick with it.
It’s not the first time I’ve heard his name being mentioned as some-one advising Sunak. But this also has the fingerprints of Lynton Crosby’s mob all over as well, so it’s hard to tell which bunch of charlatans had this stunningly short sighted idea<br /><br />
I thought it was common knowledge that the tories are using the same folk who worked for Lyndon Crosby as chief advisors along with Cummings, do a search for who is involved and what other foreign counties elections in which they’ve been involved, you’ll be ****ing apoplectic with rage. I’m on phone at hospital otherwise I’d link to the bastards
disgruntled staff member/his wife leaked it
Behind his back?
Cheeky!
I remember a time when Tory politician's wives were loyal partners.
It'll be interesting to see if there were any sales of the previously compulsory purchased land/properties in the last month or so...
There are rumblings some stuff has already been flogged ahead of the announcement.
If that is indeed the case it should be remarkably easy to establish, public bodies are publicly accountable, and not least to parliament.
There are rumblings some stuff has already been flogged ahead of the announcement.
Would anyone be remotely surprised if that was the case? Or that the company buying up the property had links to his wife?
That should be fairly easy to establish too
There are rumblings some stuff has already been flogged ahead of the announcement.
It would be surprising given they were still buying this week or maybe end of last week.
It would be surprising given they were still buying this week or maybe end of last week.
Not sure one would preclude the other!
they were still buying this week or maybe end of last week.
In fact less than 24 before the announcement.
https://inews.co.uk/news/government-bought-house-hs2-line-rishi-sunak-cancelled-2667199
Government has failed to tell HS2 manager to stop buying properties under compulsory purchase orders despite cancellation of northern leg of the line between Birmingham and Manchester
You have to assume that if they weren't told to stop buying they also weren't told to start selling.
You have to assume that if they weren’t told to stop buying they also weren’t told to start selling.
You're assuming the person doing the buying would be doing the selling too... You're also assuming that the selling is all above board!
You're assuming the left hand knows what the right hand is doing!
Complete lack of joined up thinking throughout.