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Good point, the Labour Party didn't target immigrants, asylum seekers, and those on benefits, in pursuit of grubby votes when we were in the EU.......I blame Brexit !
For one horrible moment I thought it might have something to do with Keir Starmer, so it's great to be reminded that he is in fact blameless and it's all Nigel Farage's fault.
Brexit Britain, huh.
Given Labour are in power maybe just maybe they could try really hard for it to not be Brexit Britain by trying really hard to not be both the Tory and now the Reformorons.
I mean, we have one of each of those.
And we do know this will benefit Reform not Labour in the polls. No one believes Labour because of this form of flattery.
I think Labour have really confused about everything.
https://twitter.com/Jonathan_Hinder/status/1887604345220243642
I suppose Labour could stick one finger up to UK voters, call them bigoted, spell out why immigration is a net good... and in some ways I wish they would... I'd cheer a switch to this approach personally... but hey, the lessons of 2016 & 2019 have been learnt by Labour. They got into power last year talking up reducing immigration, they have their dumb arse redline of not accepting freedom of movement in Europe and all the other benefits that could come with that. Why? Because of the Referendum and the "Get Brexit Done" election. Lesson learnt. Taught by all those that cheered on Brexit in 2016 & 2019 and beyond. And don't pretend that wasn't about immigration. It was. The people of England have spoken, and to ignore them is to accept a role where you may be right, but you're not in government. Fine for the rest of us, not a great plan for UK politicians (those seeking all UK level government anyway). The London Mayor can safely speak sense, The First Minister of Scotland can safely speak sense... lucky them.
I'd rather labour had a more intelligent, nuanced view on immigration, one that seeks to take advantage of the positive aspects of some forms of immigration, while acknowledging that concerns around impact on wages, jobs, inequality, access to services, infrastructure capacity and social cohesion all have some degree of legitimacy when it comes to other forms of immigration.
However, the reality is that having considered views and smart policies doesn't seem very important in modern politics, if it ever was.
They got into power last year talking up reducing immigration,
Are you actually arguing that the electorate went for Labour because of their anti immigration policies?
I live in a solid tory voting area populated by many right wing bigots and racists. Following Labour's election win all I seemed to hear from locals was that the country was now going to be flooded with immigrants that "we're all paying for."
Perhaps a message like the one above is needed to get the message across to certain sections of society that a properly funded processing system can be more effective at controlling immigration than hair brained schemes like shipping them all to Rwanda or bombing them in the chanel.
Perhaps a message like the one above is needed to get the message across to certain sections of society that a properly funded processing system
Maybe but why do you think it would get through to them and why would they vote for labour even if it sort of does when the tories and reform can always promise to be more bigoted.
So all you end up with is a)a massively shifted overton window and b)a bunch of people wondering why they should vote for this new bigoted labour
If they properly funded the state they would have less need to convince certain sections of society that migration is this huge problem needs to go away.
Almost all the opinion polls in the last week have given Reform UK a lead over all the other parties, they have very nearly doubled their support since the general election, if there a general election tomorrow Reform UK would more than likely be the largest party and the King would have to ask Nigel Farage to try to form a government.
The sudden change of fortune for Reform UK in the last six months has nothing to do with immigration. The issue of immigration is fundamentally exactly the same now as it was six months ago.
What has fundamentally changed in the last six months though is that we no longer have a Tory government. Reform UK has massively benefited from the fact that the majority of voters, including a huge chunk of Labour voters, do not approve of the direction which the Labour government is heading.
Now you might argue there is little that Labour can do tied as they are to failed neoliberal policies, the alternative would be social democratic policies which we know that Labour centrists firmly rejected during the 2015-19 period, so there is no chance of challenging the status quo and neoliberal orthodoxy.
Okay fair enough, but don't pretend that immigration, asylum seekers, and benefit claimants, are the problem. The problem is a Labour government which is offering people nothing more than, doom, gloom, the status quo, and some elusive growth/jam tomorrow.
It was clear from the general election result that voters were sick and tired of Tory policies, including austerity, so why offer more of the same and expect voters to back you?
The mega-poll commissioned by Hope Not Hate a few days ago identified that many of the voters who have switched to Reform UK in the last six months are actually left of centre and supportive of both immigration and multiculturalism (plus government intervention)
But I guess for centrists it is easier to blame immigration, Brexit, Nigel Farage, racism, anything, rather than the totally uninspiring leader of the Labour Party.
Growing support for Reform UK should be seen for what it actually is......an act of desperation on the part of voters.
I suppose Labour could stick one finger up to UK voters, call them bigoted, spell out why immigration is a net good... and in some ways I wish they would... I'd cheer a switch to this approach personally... but hey, the lessons of 2016 & 2019 have been learnt by Labour.
Well good for you for not denying that Labour has resorted to dog-whistling and trying to appeal to bigotry. It represents an uncommon and refreshing level of honesty.
Althoug we all know that the only person who will win at that game is Nigel Farage.
Oh how we ridiculed and berated Rishi Sunak and Suella Braverman for trying to out-bigot Reform UK/Nigel Farage, the consequences were of course totally predictable. Now it's Labour's turn. History repeats itself......
Maybe but why do you think it would get through to them and why would they vote for labour even if it sort of does when the tories and reform can always promise to be more bigoted.
Because they can take in simple facts and I don't think the pursuit of bigotry is their aim as most of them don't realise that they are bigoted.
And sorry, I don't know what an overton window is and cba to google it.
If they properly funded the state they would have less need to convince certain sections of society that migration is this huge problem needs to go away.
Most likely yes as many of them see immigration as the cause of most of the problems that are actually caused by underfunding the state. But I think even the most liberal minded amongst us would agree that uncontrolled immigration is not the answer?
Most likely yes as many of them see immigration as the cause of most of the problems that are actually caused by underfunding the state. But I think even the most liberal minded amongst us would agree that uncontrolled immigration is not the answer?
My take would be immigration has generally been allowed to overtake issues the current government could actually start to fix tomorrow.
It's mostly an angry distraction in my opinion - many liberals accept Tory framing of economic policy, (lack of money, BoE interest rate policy, money comes after growth) which is a much bigger problem for society.
Austerity has become an accepted norm to fix problem created by austerity.
For example Labour came to power moaning on about the the fiscal hole in finances (bullshit) rather than coming to power complaining about the state of public services (reality.)
Labour thought they could use the arguments the Tories use about finances - it backfired - people still think they're soft on immigration and are communists.
May as well have done radical stuff from the bottom up.
My take would be immigration has generally been allowed to overtake issues the current government could actually start to fix tomorrow.
Absolutely!
people still think they're soft on immigration and are communists
Hence the reason I accept them using posters like the above.
Would you accept the Tories using posters like the above to prove that they aren't soft on immigration too?
Should all political parties use racist dog-whistling? Just to gain votes of course.
If it wasn't so dangerous and tragic it could be useful material for a comedy script.....
"I hear that you are a racist now Father, should we all be racists?"
And by dangerous I mean it creates a highly toxic environment for immigrants, obviously.
Interesting few articles in the Indie today... One says Starmer is great for kicking out his health minister for being racist/sexist, and probably other 'isms'.
Great fine, crack on.
And another article on the same page asking...
Is Starmer an just an HR manager who’s squatting in Downing Street?
I mean... what is he suposed to do? allow a sexist and racist minister to remain on the job?
Thought he'd been kicked out for hoping a pensioner would die soon?
With some of Labour's policies that's probably a given
And that.
So yes.. Racist, sexist and wants pensioners to die.
Not exactly a vote winner... Or is it? He'll probably join reform I guess.
I Think that was just the 'straw that broke the Camels back' , so to speak.
Interesting view on Reform's growing success on the radio that I heard - I think R5 - which ties a bit into an earlier post about starting to attract support from all quarters. Because they don't yet have any policies that you can definitively point to, people are hoping they're a bit of a blank canvas and their policies will/can be moderated by the support that it would bring them. So supporting some more palatable version and holding their noses against the bad stuff for now.
I can't see it myself, while policy-lite they're pretty obviously racist, etc. and I can't see that being moderated given who owns and supports them and direction of travel in the past couple of years. So when that hope evaporates, so will their support from those that aren't Reform supporters really, but are pro-reform (small r) given that none of the parties are currently offering very much different.
Another interesting point made was that the tories had a 20+% poll lead at the equivalent into their last term. 4.5 years later that had turned into the election results. A week's a long time in politics, said the panellists, and reading current polls and thinking that had any prediction relevance to the next election in 2029 was only just filling time on Radio shows for now.
"Because they don't yet have any policies"
So they can sell whatever they like... Don't like this? we'll ban it!,
Want 'more of that' ? So do wee!
It's easy to manipulate 'the stupid', so look out for more cuts to education and social services!
Would you accept the Tories using posters like the above to prove that they aren't soft on immigration too?
If the tories achieved any success in controlling immigration I would expect them to be crowing it from the rooftops.
Should all political parties use racist dog-whistling?
So controlling immigration = racism?
Because they don't yet have any policies that you can definitively point to
So in a very very similar position that Labour were in two or three years ago then.
Labour's big selling point was "we're not Tories" and having very little in the way of policies helped them hugely because nonexistent policies cannot be dissected, criticised, and discredited.
All Starmer had to do was say very little, something which he particularly apt at, whilst watching the Tory government preform own goals and discredit themselves in the eyes of voters.
Today Reform UK's big selling point is "we are not Tories or Labour" and keeping mostly quiet beyond that will likely work for Nigel Farage as it did for Keir Starmer.
In the past the "we are not Tories or Labour" worked very effectively for the LibDems but luckily for Nigel Farage Nick Clegg's irresistible attraction to ministerial limousines appears to have permanently discredited them.
The Tories lost the 2024 general election but with Labour on only 2% more than in the 2019 general election Starmer became prime minister more through default than anything else. It looks increasingly likely that Nigel Farage might become PM in 2029 for similar reasons.
Which is why Labour appear to have started panicking in the last week or so..... most opinion polls of the last week show Reform in the lead.
So controlling immigration = racism?
No of course not. But don't tell me that you haven't heard of dog-whistling !
The message will be very audible to the targeted audience. And yes it will add poison to an already toxic environment.
I am sure that I wouldn't have to explain any of that if it was a poster campaign by a Tory government. And of course Tory supporters would also feign innocence.
In fact Nigel Farage himself would strongly deny that he is racist just because he believes in controlling immigration!
Who would have thought that centrists would make the same argument with regards to controlling immigration as Nigel Farage?
Or perhaps more importantly who is shocked?
Today Reform UK's big selling point is "we are not Tories or Labour" and keeping mostly quiet beyond that will likely work for Nigel Farage as it did for Keir Starmer.
Yep, if labour don’t start pulling rabbits out the hat like an octopus on speed to turn peoples opinion on them 🙁 .
Farage also has another 4 years he can drip feed lies and he’s on the TV every day 🙁
or bombing them in the chanel
Ah, the sweet smell of success...
Who would have thought that centrists would make the same argument with regards to controlling immigration as Nigel Farage?
Or perhaps more importantly who is shocked?
Centrists are deeply unaware that they themselves simply lag Tories in thinking by a few years.
Can you imagine Centrists talking up controlled immigration during the Brexit years?
Yeah right.
The trouble with not having a progressive position on something is someone else will enforce your position with their hateful arguments.
Also I still say move the debate away from Reform's anger with good progressive policies and not doing banners that resemble your hero team's thinking.
None of this will work of course as was pointed out during 2024 campaign you can't ape the right. But apparently it was time to get the gloves off.
Should we be done with it and combine all political threads now?
Can you imagine Centrists talking up controlled immigration during the Brexit years?
Hi! Filthy 'centrist' here! 🖐️
I'm no economic expert, But I am quite well travalled - Immigration is a good thing, we (UK) have always had the ability to accept or deny the problematic few %, but successive governments have done everything other than what they should be doing....god forbid they do some actual work!
Pay to process them correctly...swiftly and fairly. It's more humane and it's cheaper for the tax payer.
But instead, we had the 'Bibby barge', Rwanda and who knows what other hair brained schemes - anything but, it seems, to actually do anything tangible about the issue, whether that issue is real or a media perception, is pretty much a moot point.
How much money has the UK tax payer wasted on 'phantom deportations' and buying rusty old boats for well in excess of what they are worth?
Someone is making a lot of money, and it's to the detriment of the UK public, genuine economic working migrants, and genuine asylum seekers.
That just perfectly proves rones point
Rather than actually make a point about labour following reform and the tories path to scapegoat immigration as the cause of problems created by austerity, lack of investment in public services and economic inequality, all you can do is "look the tories". Not as bad as the poster above mind, who supports racist dog whistles "because other people are racist, its not me honest.
Tbh, I haven't read Rones point to know what your getting at, or the recent chat that informed your response. As the forum is almost unusable to me at the minute. So apologies, I've no idea what informed your response. I wasn't really making a point myself, it just popped up as something interesting I thought I'd share on, the source article is linked if you can access the post proper
My post was a response to mattyfez's above yours, your post wasn't visible when I posted mine.
The centrist modus operandi is obvious...... the clue is in name "centrist".
The entire centrist argument is based on the belief that the best way to effectively fight the Tories is to meet their voters halfway, ie the centre.
To convince them that you share many of their concerns and priorities. Which is of course exactly what Starmer has attempted to do during the entire period he has been Labour leader. He has even gone as far as describing himself as a "conservative".
So it is perfectly logical that centrists would use exactly the same tactic to fight Reform UK...... meet their voters halfway.
And the excuse they offer to those uncomfortable with the shift to the right and/or bigotry is exactly the same......"I would much rather we didn't have to do that but, you know, it's what the voters want' (a claim which is actually often untrue)
How about offering some leadership and using persuasive arguments instead of blindly following the agenda set by the Daily Mail?
Obviously that would require some sort of commitment to something so I can see a problem right there, especially for someone like Keir Starmer.
My post was a response to mattyfez's above yours, your post wasn't visible when I posted mine.
Then you need to learn how to read, I didn't mention the tories in my post, and I don't support labour following the tory/reform playbook when it comes to immigration at all.
In fact I don't even support labour at all, I only loaned them my vote in the last GE because it's better than another tory, or worse, reform, government.
What I do support, is immigrants being processed fairly instead of being left languishing in limbo. It's not fair on them, and it's not fair on society as a whole.
Process them correctly and grant asylum and/or working permits where appropriate... what's so hard to understand about that?
The centrist modus operandi is obvious...... the clue is in name "centrist".
The entire centrist argument is based on the belief that the best way to effectively fight the Tories is to meet their voters halfway, ie the centre.
To convince them that you share many of their concerns and priorities. Which is of course exactly what Starmer has attempted to do during the entire period he has been Labour leader. He has even gone as far as describing himself as a "conservative".
So it is perfectly logical that centrists would use exactly the same tactic to fight Reform UK...... meet their voters halfway.
And the excuse they offer to those uncomfortable with the shift to the right and/or bigotry is exactly the same......"I would much rather we didn't have to do that but, you know, it's what the voters want' (a claim which is actually often untrue)
How about offering some leadership and using persuasive arguments instead of blindly following the agenda set by the Daily Mail?
How about you and your ilk stop putting words into other peoples mouths to suit your agenda?
https://freeimage.host/i/2bR3EDN
Obviously that would require some sort of commitment to something so I can see a problem right there, especially for someone like Keir Starmer.
He's actively avoiding committing to anything, especially anything short-term. There's no easy wins, no quick fix, no "we can patch this up now and it'll be better for everyone" ideas.
It's all massively long-term (and very expensive) "solutions", mostly to non-problems, the sort of thing that can't possibly be done in this Parliament (and probably not even the one after) so effectively yes, he is just a squatter, a caretaker PM.
There's a complete lack of ambition other than copying the Tory/Reform agenda of choosing a weak target and punching down. As others have said ^^, you don't win votes from Reform by copying them; that more or less justifies their position. You explain why the Reform position is so terrible in the first place.
And I see that the general politician attitude of forever punching down is alive and well in the Labour Party anyway, the despicable comments from a ****ing HEALTH MINISTER wishing people were dead, wishing a cyclist would be crushed under a lorry. Such a caring attitude, serving the public and all that.
Whatever the solution to our ills is, Labour isn't it.
wishing a cyclist would be crushed under a lorry.
I knew about the other stuff but I was wondering what that ^^ was about, until I saw this
“I had positive visions of him getting mown down by an Elsa Waste HGV while he’s cycling to the Fallowfield Loop" [cycleway]
As the Greater Manchester campaign group Walk Ride GM remarked :
“That elected representatives would joke about such a traumatic incident speaks volumes about the contempt some politicians have for road violence,” said the group’s statement.
“Every year, more than 80 cyclists are killed on British roads, people who set out on their bikes and never return home due to the unacceptable dangers they face. Dismissing or mocking those affected by road violence undermines the urgent need for action to make our streets safer,”
It would be shocking if the comment had been made by a Tory on the far-right of the party let alone a Labour minister.
You might have been able to dismiss it as the obnoxious comments of just one individual but as the article notes :
Other members of the WhatsApp group will now be under scrutiny for why they did not report the various disparaging comments at the time or since.
To share multiple offensive comments on social media with other Labour Party members suggests that it is representative of a culture which exists within sections of the Labour Party.
And a contempt for ordinary people who turn to the local Labour Party for help with mundane issues such as bin collections and road safety for cyclists.
This Labour isn't it
I don't agree with everything Labour are doing . At best they've communicated badly , at worst they've made decisions that harm the type of people you would hope a Labour government would try and help .
But what's the alternative at the next election? The worst labour government would still be preferable to a Tory / reform alliance. Unfortunately I'm not sure how many people see that these days .
2029 is a long time away and I just hope that they've managed to turn the ship round far enough by then that people feel like things have got better.
This Labour isn't it
I don't agree with everything Labour are doing . At best they've communicated badly , at worst they've made decisions that harm the type of people you would hope a Labour government would try and help .
But what's the alternative at the next election? The worst labour government would still be preferable to a Tory / reform alliance. Unfortunately I'm not sure how many people see that these days .
2029 is a long time away and I just hope that they've managed to turn the ship round far enough by then that people feel like things have got better.
This Labour isn't it
I don't agree with everything Labour are doing . At best they've communicated badly , at worst they've made decisions that harm the type of people you would hope a Labour government would try and help .
But what's the alternative at the next election? The worst labour government would still be preferable to a Tory / reform alliance. Unfortunately I'm not sure how many people see that these days .
2029 is a long time away and I just hope that they've managed to turn the ship round far enough by then that people feel like things have got better.
This Labour isn't it
I don't agree with everything Labour are doing . At best they've communicated badly , at worst they've made decisions that harm the type of people you would hope a Labour government would try and help .
But what's the alternative at the next election? The worst labour government would still be preferable to a Tory / reform alliance. Unfortunately I'm not sure how many people see that these days .
2029 is a long time away and I just hope that they've managed to turn the ship round far enough by then that people feel like things have got better.
This Labour isn't it
I don't agree with everything Labour are doing . At best they've communicated badly , at worst they've made decisions that harm the type of people you would hope a Labour government would try and help .
But what's the alternative at the next election? The worst labour government would still be preferable to a Tory / reform alliance. Unfortunately I'm not sure how many people see that these days .
2029 is a long time away and I just hope that they've managed to turn the ship round far enough by then that people feel like things have got better.
Other members of the WhatsApp group will now be under scrutiny for why they did not report the various disparaging comments at the time or since.
And two have been relieved of their duties, it appears. Hopefully there might be more. Not that I’ve checked who were members, just glad to know they’re gone.
Two positive things, the last part of the rail link to Portishead has been finally given the money to finish it, and the last section of the A350 bypass around Chippenham has also been promised the money for it to be completed starting around April; it was started as a single carriageway fifteen-twenty years ago!
The tories never seemed to give a shit, despite Chippenham being a Tory stronghold for decades.
The Chancellor left the financial institution nine months earlier than she stated in her LinkedIn profile. This means she spent five and a half years working at the bank - including nearly a year studying - despite publicly claiming to have spent a decade there.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c77r05nx11po
Five and a half years or a decade, what's the problem? Some people just aren't very good with figures, you can't expect every Chancellor of Exchequer to be some sort of mathematical whizzkid.
"The prime minister is very clear that what is most important is having a chancellor who is able to balance the books and who is able to be straight with the public and restore the public finances,"
Quite, not understanding numbers and being dodgy on your CV doesn't come into it.
I don’t know what all the fuss is about. Everyone embellishes their CV. I’ve still not been pulled up for my 3 Olympic golds, Michelin star or Nobel Peace Prize
Years ago I worked with a Dutch guy who had a MSc on his CV when recruited. Many years later he studied an MSc part-time, passed it and then celebrated in the pub. When asked about the MSc on his CV when he was recruited years earlier he simply said I nearly finished it so that's virtually the same as having it.
More "surprise" economic growth.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c1jg4enkr3
Reeves did once put a trip in a taxi on expenses though, so I suggest we should ignore all the good news and focus on that.
0.1% rise in the 4thQ is not by any stretch of the imagination good news, and totally within the norms of a stagnating economy. Not particularly aimed at Labour - that has been the economy for yonks.
Are we really celebrating this?
In fact 0.1% wouldn't get them on a par with some of the worst quarters of the Tories. (Save the pandemic years.)
But that's not surprising as both parties have starved the economy of real cash.
It was only *good* because it was predicited to be flat or negative. It's really not far from either.
I don’t know what all the fuss is about. Everyone embellishes their CV. I’ve still not been pulled up for my 3 Olympic golds, Michelin star or Nobel Peace Prize
Here's the right link:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c1jg4enkr3lo
Not great news, but better than expected.
so I suggest we should ignore all the good news
Christ you seriously think this is 'good' news? Aside from the fact that voters don't GAS about GDP growth if they don't see any benefit from it, 0.1% is literally the least it could be and in any normal economy would be a cause of major worry in the markets and corridors of power. Last month's 0.1% rise is set to be downgraded and this probably will too (they usually are) which means we're probably in a technical recession. I forget though we have a Labour* govt and we're not allowed to be critical of them on here.
*In name only. This govt is far to the right of Sunak, May and all previous tory govts in the modern era, even Thatcher's.
I don’t know what all the fuss is about. Everyone embellishes their CV. I’ve still not been pulled up for my 3 Olympic golds, Michelin star or Nobel Peace Prize
Well it's a bit more than just embellishing her CV. She has publicly claimed to have worked for a decade, which I understand is 10 years, for the Bank of England, whilst missing out that the work involved making the tea or something.
Have you stood in front of an audience claiming to have won 3 olympic golds when in fact you have only won 1?
You can if, but and maybe all day long but the fact will remain, an economy which continues to confound expectations by delivering stronger than expected growth is good news.
Bit by bit the doom mongers are being proven wrong, wrong and wrong again.
Well it's a bit more than just embellishing her CV.
Definitely nothing to see here. Its amazing how quickly some people manage to switch from, rightly, holding Johnson and co accountable for their lies to going nahhh its all fine.
Although in fairness plenty of tories who have gone the other way and suddenly found a strong belief in ethical behaviour from MPs.
So under pressure from a hard-right Tory leader the PM has agreed that Palestinians refugees should be treated differently to European refugees :
But here's the problem :
Hugo Norton-Taylor, an upper tribunal judge, allowed the family to come to the UK on the basis of their right to a family life under article 8 of the European convention on human rights (ECHR).
Maybe time to pull out of the ECHR and all this "human rights" stuff ?
After all Starmer wants to style Labour as the "disruptors" to see off the Reform UK.
Worried about "human rights law" helping foreigners from ungrateful Muslim countries too much at the expense of those from Christian European countries? Labour will sort it out......no need to vote for Nigel Farage's party.
You can if, but and maybe all day long but the fact will remain, an economy which continues to confound expectations by delivering stronger than expected growth is good news.
It's flat. 0.1% is not anything really. A rounding error. And definitely not enough to put themselves even in Tory growth territory which was poor mostly.
I would have said exactly the same for the Tories if they'd gone on about growth.
There's about to be an uptick in water and energy cost. That's not a successful economy being delivered for public purposes.
There will not be significant growth. It's impossible because they're not spending/investing enough now for it to happen.
Labour aren't interested in material conditions. Let's see what they do in March shall we?
They're confounding nothing, other than being right wing which for some is a cause for celebration.
The interest rate cut might do a bit of something - probably push house prices up which Labour will then call growth. An increase of private debt. Thats the only thing I can see.
I like how Labour's economic plan being successful is now letting Reeves off for being creative on her CV and 0.1% growth.
Come on Centrists why are your standards so malleable? It's almost as if you didn't really have a position on anything.
(Crying out loud there's a pot hole as big as the channel in my road and my mum experienced 3 broken LINAC machines recently. Its not as if their aren't things that need fixing tha might need some ****ing money that fulfill public purpose.)
I run a small print-shop and I'm speaking to more and more customers who are worried what this year will bring - cafes and pubs especially. The print/marketing sector is often seen as a barometer for the economy as it's an easy thing to cut from companies budget, so I'm concerned too.
I voted Labor this time - I'm not sure what I expected but it wasn't what we are (not) getting. They are going to be mullered in Mays local elections.
The very latest opinion poll now gives Reform UK their biggest ever lead over Labour......6 points
https://twitter.com/FindoutnowUK/status/1890072413142212867
It puts Labour on 23% ! If Jeremy Corbyn was leader and Labour were polling in the low twenties Labour MPs would be queuing up to stand before TV cameras demanding that he resigned, there would be frantic attempts to stage a coup and replace him.
If the current Prime Minister was a Tory the letters to the Chairman of the 1922 Committee would be flooding in.
The fact that there isn't even the vaguest the whisper of revolt from within the PLP shows the iron grip control that the centrists have over the party - a combination of carefully selected candidates at the last general election and the constant fear of losing the Labour whip in the case of those who managed to avoid the vetting.
It also of course proves that centrist opposition to Corbyn was never about falling public support, as they always claimed, but an ideological commitment to neoliberalism and the complete rejection of any alternative.
After the chaos of the 2015-19 period the centrists will never ever release their grip on the Labour Party......if not now when? The party is beyond redemption, all the dog-whistling won't save it and electoral oblivion beckons.
Horrific as it will undoubtedly be a Farage premiership might just shake up British politics, and that I suspect is the thinking for a lot of people who now say they would vote Reform. Like a bucket of cold water on stagnant UK politics it might perhaps result in people getting their shit together and forming a party that actually serves the needs of ordinary people.
The US vice president is at the Munich security conference today telling Europe to work with the far right. It couldn't be any clearer that the US oligarchy is exporting their far right ideology.
IMO any government not acting now to stop this takeover is already in bed with the oligarchs.
The irony of the America First approach being that they want to step away from responsibilities in Europe whilst simultaneously attempting to control said European affairs. I don't think there's a safe path for the UK to navigate by the looks of it...
Oh, hang on, this is the Corbyn thread, my bad 🤐
It couldn't be any clearer that the US oligarchy is exporting their far right ideology.
Tbh the United States is a bit late to the party, the far-right have been making huge gains in Europe for years.Vladimir Putin mate, Viktor Orban, first became prime of Hungary decades ago.
Found this an interesting read earlier today:
https://theconversation.com/could-elon-musks-government-takeover-happen-in-the-uk-a-constitutional-law-experts-view-249544
I'm not well versed enough in politics to offer any thoughts beyond finding it mildly reassuring.
Some positive news to at least offer a little balance to the labour is completely shit narrative...
No doubt it'll be the lead story on the front of the Mail and Telegraph tomorrow.
offer a little balance to the labour is completely shit narrative...
Or a little balance to the "the Tories have been in government for 14 years it's going to take Labour a very long time to put things right you can't expect immediate results, these things take time" narrative.
According to the link :
"between July and November 2024, the health service delivered almost 2.2 million more elective care appointments"
The Labour Cabinet didn't meet for the first time until the second week of July and yet already there was substantial improvements in the level of NHS appointments delivered for July.
It would appear that Labour's NHS policies had an effect within weeks, if not days, of the new government being formed.
Wes Streeting seemed to think it would take a very long time. In fact at the end of October last year Wes Streeting announced that NHS reforms wouldn't even begin until April this year because that was the earliest that extra money would be available :
He is going to be very surprised to discover that just by winning the general election Labour have massively increased the number of appointments available.
The whole job is clearly going to be a lot easier than he's been making out.
While it is god news that extra appointments are being created, it is done so by extra shifts being worked by already overworked frontline staff, so it is only a temporary workaround rather than the fundamental issues being fixed.
Brilliant news on the extra appointments. Just another example of how things are and will continue to get slowly better under this Labour government. The country is gradually healing from 14 years of tory terror. Hopefully in four years time the cumulative positive effects will be impossible to ignore and we'll get another five years of this excellent progress.
They've had 6 months! Have they not managed to train up an army of new doctors and nurses in that time? What have they been doing, for gods sake?!
You just keep telling yourself that and you will be happy. In a years time it will be "they have only had 18 months" and in 5 years time it will be "they have only had 5 years" and then it is hello Reform.
This was inevitable after the budget and is basically what I'm hearing from my customers...
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ckg7gewqevqo#comments
What have they been doing, for gods sake?!
Providing 2 million extra NHS appointments in their first 5 months in government, that is what they have been doing!!
It just goes to show how easy it is to put things right after 14 years of Tory rule.... and the extra NHS spending won't even start until April, according to Wes Streeting. At this rate I reckon the NHS will be all sorted long before the next general election.
And with Labour, unlike the Tories, now getting to tough on immigration (have you heard of the increase already of illegals getting kicked out?) I reckon that the next general election is pretty much in the bag for Labour.
Don't forget that the economy grew 0.1% in the last quarter of 2024.
The good news keeps rolling in!
They've had 6 months! Have they not managed to train up an army of new doctors and nurses in that time? What have they been doing, for gods sake?!
It takes time to plan a worse job of austerity than the Tories who didn't have a previous government to show how bad austerity is, unlike Labour.
There is no way forward without Reeves and her fiscal rules getting the boot.
Fingers crossed.
However Starmer needs his Ukraine money so something has got to give.
This was inevitable after the budget and is basically what I'm hearing from my customers...
From the article:
"just over a third of the 2,000 firms it spoke to said they planned to reduce their headcount through redundancies or by recruiting fewer workers."
So in other words almost two thirds of firms are planning to maintain or increase headcount.
Alternative headline: "right wing fear mongering proven wrong again as clear majority of firms plan to maintain or increase headcount"
"just over a third of the 2,000 firms it spoke to said they planned to reduce their headcount through redundancies or by recruiting fewer workers."
So a third of businesses laying-off, not investing and not recruiting anyone is a good thing then?
But as with any statistic it can be read anyway the reader wants it to read.
Alternative headline: "right wing fear mongering proven wrong again as clear majority of firms plan to maintain or increase headcount"
Who are these "right-wing" fear mongers? It isn't obvious from the link which you refer to.
Do you mean the BBC, the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, the Federation of Small Business, the British Chambers of Commerce, or the Bank of England?
Or perhaps they are all right-wing fear mongers?