| Just the 27 point lead for Labour 22:59 - Jan 17 with 10347 views | ElderGrizzly |
Tories back to Liz Truss levels of support.
But Starmer once wrote a textbook or something..
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| Just the 27 point lead for Labour on 23:14 - Jan 18 with 1476 views | NthQldITFC |
| Just the 27 point lead for Labour on 22:42 - Jan 18 by Clapham_Junction |
Rather than reducing taxes, one thing that I think the government can do to put more money in people's pockets is to reduce the cost of living, some of which it can do for free (and save money itself). Things like:
- Rent controls will reduce rents and cut the government's housing benefit bill
- Tighter regulation of utility markets (lowering price caps) with the eventual view to renationalisation. The privatised energy system is very cost inefficient as you have several layers taking profit out of the system (National Grid, the district network operators, generators and suppliers), some of which are monopolies
- Subsiding public transport at similar levels to European countries
- Take back direct control of the Bank of England and reduce interest rates. Using interest rates - by forcing people's mortgage repayment costs up - to control inflation is a blunt and cruel tool (and is ineffective when inflation is being driven by external factors like the energy crisis) |
Now that's a manifesto I can get behind. |  |
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| Just the 27 point lead for Labour on 04:39 - Jan 19 with 1415 views | BlueBadger |
| Just the 27 point lead for Labour on 13:23 - Jan 18 by blueasfook |
yeah, it was the terrorist supporting and huge risk to our national security I didn't agree with sadly. |
Boris Johnson was openly taking money from Russia and colluding with criminals mate. |  |
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| Just the 27 point lead for Labour on 07:41 - Jan 19 with 1373 views | SuperKieranMcKenna |
| Just the 27 point lead for Labour on 22:42 - Jan 18 by Clapham_Junction |
Rather than reducing taxes, one thing that I think the government can do to put more money in people's pockets is to reduce the cost of living, some of which it can do for free (and save money itself). Things like:
- Rent controls will reduce rents and cut the government's housing benefit bill
- Tighter regulation of utility markets (lowering price caps) with the eventual view to renationalisation. The privatised energy system is very cost inefficient as you have several layers taking profit out of the system (National Grid, the district network operators, generators and suppliers), some of which are monopolies
- Subsiding public transport at similar levels to European countries
- Take back direct control of the Bank of England and reduce interest rates. Using interest rates - by forcing people's mortgage repayment costs up - to control inflation is a blunt and cruel tool (and is ineffective when inflation is being driven by external factors like the energy crisis) |
“Take back direct control of the Bank of England and reduce interest rates. Using interest rates - by forcing people's mortgage repayment costs up - to control inflation is a blunt and cruel tool (and is ineffective when inflation is being driven by external factors like the energy crisis)”
Absolutely not, that would be nothing short of a disaster. Whilst it’s painful for many (myself included) there are other mechanisms the a competent government could help people out -
1) the BoE ans monetary policy should be independent, not a political football. Politicians have at best a tenuous understanding of economics. Look at the damage Kwazi and Truss did with their reckless fiscal policies.
2) interest rates do not only impact consumer spending. The BoE also use this to protect the value of Sterling. Had the BOE done what you suggest and reduce interest rates at the time the Federal Reserve and ECB were raising rates/holding them,it would have done the opposite of what you say, and made us poorer. The value of sterling would have fallen against the dollar, and all the energy we buy in USD would have become even more expensive. As well as all the food we import from Europe. [Post edited 19 Jan 7:46]
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| Just the 27 point lead for Labour on 07:53 - Jan 19 with 1354 views | DJR |
| Just the 27 point lead for Labour on 22:54 - Jan 18 by positivity |
that is an odd stat, what's going on at cambridge?! |
Oxford appears to have more of a reputation for politics than Cambridge, maybe because of its PPE course, although most PMs (I believe) didn't actually study it. |  | | |
| Just the 27 point lead for Labour on 08:22 - Jan 19 with 1324 views | DJR |
| Just the 27 point lead for Labour on 07:41 - Jan 19 by SuperKieranMcKenna |
“Take back direct control of the Bank of England and reduce interest rates. Using interest rates - by forcing people's mortgage repayment costs up - to control inflation is a blunt and cruel tool (and is ineffective when inflation is being driven by external factors like the energy crisis)”
Absolutely not, that would be nothing short of a disaster. Whilst it’s painful for many (myself included) there are other mechanisms the a competent government could help people out -
1) the BoE ans monetary policy should be independent, not a political football. Politicians have at best a tenuous understanding of economics. Look at the damage Kwazi and Truss did with their reckless fiscal policies.
2) interest rates do not only impact consumer spending. The BoE also use this to protect the value of Sterling. Had the BOE done what you suggest and reduce interest rates at the time the Federal Reserve and ECB were raising rates/holding them,it would have done the opposite of what you say, and made us poorer. The value of sterling would have fallen against the dollar, and all the energy we buy in USD would have become even more expensive. As well as all the food we import from Europe. [Post edited 19 Jan 7:46]
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Interesting to note when it comes to the value of sterling against the Euro, that there was what seems to me a structural deterioration in that value beginning with the financial crash and continuing since the Brexit vote.
https://www.poundsterlinglive.com/bank-of-england-spot/historical-spot-exchange-
I am no economist, but this seems to me to be a reflection of the view of the financial markets these last 16 years about the state of the UK economy. [Post edited 19 Jan 8:23]
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| Just the 27 point lead for Labour on 08:25 - Jan 19 with 1308 views | chicoazul |
Can they cock it up from here? We will soon find out. |  |
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| Just the 27 point lead for Labour on 08:29 - Jan 19 with 1296 views | itfcjoe |
| Just the 27 point lead for Labour on 18:09 - Jan 18 by MattinLondon |
Boris and his chums have unfortunately been responsible for a lot of the cynicism which now envelops British politics.
At the beginning he was never a believer in Brexit but through clever foresight was able to effectively become the poster-boy for it. I actually think that he knows that he has limits and plays the old bumbling public schoolboy so well that a lot of people think he’s that clever erratic fella who is always game for a laugh. I do think that he knows that Brexit is a disaster but doesn’t really care - he knows that he only cares about his wallet and power. I’m pretty sure that he knows that he’ll go down as a really bad PM but is content with the fact that he’s made a mark on history albeit a bad mark.
He was well out of his depth during Covid but unfortunately the yes-people he surrounded himself with were either corrupt, morally bankrupt or intelligently challenged. And so didn’t offer any real help and tried to undermine mainstream scientific thought on the virus.
I do think that at heart he tries to do the right thing but he simply cannot help himself in being the selfish fella who always thinks that he can act his way out of a fix. Fortunately (for him that is) the Labour Party as well as the ‘remain’ campaign we’re both awful and led by idiots. Corbyn being one of the biggest hindrances.
In truth from Corbyn becoming leader to the referendum to Covid and to now, have all been terrible for the UK. I know that Sir Keir isn’t everyone’s cup-of-tea but he seems to be a decent middle grounder who might bring in some sensible policies not based on demonising minorities or xenophobia. Sir Keir is by far the best option currently. [Post edited 18 Jan 18:11]
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There is only one party that benefits from the overriding narrative that they try with their friends in the media to push of "they are all as bad as each other, all have snouts in the trough, all out of touch" - the Conservatives want apathy towards politicians as then there is less scrutiny |  |
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| Just the 27 point lead for Labour on 08:32 - Jan 19 with 1283 views | itfcjoe |
| Just the 27 point lead for Labour on 20:31 - Jan 18 by DJR |
Absolutely.
In addition, Oxford has produced 13 of the 16 prime ministers since the Second World War, and look where that has got us.
They are Clement Attlee, Harold Wilson and Tony Blair for Labour; Anthony Eden, Harold Macmillan, Alec Douglas-Home, Edward Heath, Margaret Thatcher, David Cameron, Therese May, Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak for the Conservatives. James Callaghan and John Major did not go to university, and Gordon Brown went to Edinburgh.
A true meritocracy! [Post edited 18 Jan 20:32]
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Mentioned on another thread that I'd read George Orwell's Lion and the Unicorn over the Christmas break - in this he talks about Old Etonians (and obviously he was one) but he talks about how that the boys from this school are making a terrible job at running the country/world because they were good at it 150 years previously there is a believe that they still know what to do and are trusted to do so - nothing has changed 80 years later
EDIT - But with regards to Oxford, at what point does the meritocracy start - because many of those PMs have come from different backgrounds to then get to Oxford. If the Oxbridge colleges push for more diversity with regards to background then surely the meritocracy exists in getting into it now so this won't change going forwards if they are doing their job and talent ID well [Post edited 19 Jan 8:35]
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| Just the 27 point lead for Labour on 08:34 - Jan 19 with 1277 views | SuperKieranMcKenna |
| Just the 27 point lead for Labour on 08:22 - Jan 19 by DJR |
Interesting to note when it comes to the value of sterling against the Euro, that there was what seems to me a structural deterioration in that value beginning with the financial crash and continuing since the Brexit vote.
https://www.poundsterlinglive.com/bank-of-england-spot/historical-spot-exchange-
I am no economist, but this seems to me to be a reflection of the view of the financial markets these last 16 years about the state of the UK economy. [Post edited 19 Jan 8:23]
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Of course Sterling is in a long-term decline versus the EURO but you can of course have some impact - the BoE pulled sterling back from parity to a peak of around USD 1.29 after Truss’ mini-crash. Virtually every major economy raised interest rates following the energy crisis as the Fed’s bullish approach to rate rises strengthened the Dollar considerably.
I would caveat though that the lower interest rates in the Eurozone aren’t due to ‘easing rates’ for consumers, but from starting from a lower base. And that not a good thing, rather it was a reflection of the underlying structural weakness of the Eurozone (significantly due to the immense debt of some of the economies). | | | |
| Just the 27 point lead for Labour on 08:41 - Jan 19 with 1255 views | DJR |
| Just the 27 point lead for Labour on 08:34 - Jan 19 by SuperKieranMcKenna |
Of course Sterling is in a long-term decline versus the EURO but you can of course have some impact - the BoE pulled sterling back from parity to a peak of around USD 1.29 after Truss’ mini-crash. Virtually every major economy raised interest rates following the energy crisis as the Fed’s bullish approach to rate rises strengthened the Dollar considerably.
I would caveat though that the lower interest rates in the Eurozone aren’t due to ‘easing rates’ for consumers, but from starting from a lower base. And that not a good thing, rather it was a reflection of the underlying structural weakness of the Eurozone (significantly due to the immense debt of some of the economies). |
Sorry, I wasn't challenging what you said on a more short-term basis, just observing what seemed to me a long-term structural change when it came to the Euro. [Post edited 19 Jan 8:42]
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| Just the 27 point lead for Labour on 08:46 - Jan 19 with 1231 views | SuperKieranMcKenna |
| Just the 27 point lead for Labour on 08:41 - Jan 19 by DJR |
Sorry, I wasn't challenging what you said on a more short-term basis, just observing what seemed to me a long-term structural change when it came to the Euro. [Post edited 19 Jan 8:42]
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No worries- sorry for sending the thread off-piste! | | | |
| Just the 27 point lead for Labour on 08:51 - Jan 19 with 1217 views | DJR |
| Just the 27 point lead for Labour on 08:46 - Jan 19 by SuperKieranMcKenna |
No worries- sorry for sending the thread off-piste! |
If threads didn't go off-piste, they wouldn't be so much fun, apart from when being off-piste means getting side-tracked on to old battles (Corbyn springs to mind, including on this thread). [Post edited 19 Jan 9:41]
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| Just the 27 point lead for Labour on 09:10 - Jan 19 with 1188 views | Swansea_Blue |
| Just the 27 point lead for Labour on 15:04 - Jan 18 by GlasgowBlue |
We already know his views on helping Ukraine.
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Er, he seems to be focussing on the victims of the conflict, saying there needs to be a negotiated solution by people with no vested economic interests. Otherwise the war will drag on and result in more deaths and economic impacts on the region. Also that refugees should enjoy the protection of their status wherever they come from.
JC often comes out with some strange stuff, but that interview seems entirely sensible. I’m not sure that the damning testimony you think it is. |  |
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| Just the 27 point lead for Labour on 09:44 - Jan 19 with 1147 views | chicoazul |
| Just the 27 point lead for Labour on 08:32 - Jan 19 by itfcjoe |
Mentioned on another thread that I'd read George Orwell's Lion and the Unicorn over the Christmas break - in this he talks about Old Etonians (and obviously he was one) but he talks about how that the boys from this school are making a terrible job at running the country/world because they were good at it 150 years previously there is a believe that they still know what to do and are trusted to do so - nothing has changed 80 years later
EDIT - But with regards to Oxford, at what point does the meritocracy start - because many of those PMs have come from different backgrounds to then get to Oxford. If the Oxbridge colleges push for more diversity with regards to background then surely the meritocracy exists in getting into it now so this won't change going forwards if they are doing their job and talent ID well [Post edited 19 Jan 8:35]
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“A family with the wrong members in control”. | |
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| Just the 27 point lead for Labour on 09:51 - Jan 19 with 1121 views | DJR |
| Just the 27 point lead for Labour on 08:32 - Jan 19 by itfcjoe |
Mentioned on another thread that I'd read George Orwell's Lion and the Unicorn over the Christmas break - in this he talks about Old Etonians (and obviously he was one) but he talks about how that the boys from this school are making a terrible job at running the country/world because they were good at it 150 years previously there is a believe that they still know what to do and are trusted to do so - nothing has changed 80 years later
EDIT - But with regards to Oxford, at what point does the meritocracy start - because many of those PMs have come from different backgrounds to then get to Oxford. If the Oxbridge colleges push for more diversity with regards to background then surely the meritocracy exists in getting into it now so this won't change going forwards if they are doing their job and talent ID well [Post edited 19 Jan 8:35]
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Everything by George Orwell is worth reading. I have several of the later non-fiction volumes in the following complete set, and it doesn't matter what he discusses, or how old it is, he writes so well and so simply, it is a delight to read.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Complete-Orwell-Boxed-complete-George/dp/0436203774
And these rules from his essay "Politics and the English Language" are are must for any writer.
(i) Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.
(ii) Never use a long word where a short one will do.
(iii) If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.
(iv) Never use the passive where you can use the active.
(v) Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.
(vi) Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous. [Post edited 19 Jan 10:37]
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| Just the 27 point lead for Labour on 11:12 - Jan 19 with 1016 views | Bluespeed225 |
| Just the 27 point lead for Labour on 09:17 - Jan 18 by DJR |
The gradual abandonment of everything that Starmer stood for made me resign a couple of months ago from a party that bears no resemblance to the party it once was, even under Brown or Miliband (who was seen as a dangerous lefty by the Blairites).
I also resigned in 2003, not because of Iraq but because of the direction that Blair was taking the party in, but re-joined when Brown took over. [Post edited 18 Jan 9:18]
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As an aside, what are the benefits of being, of any party, a member? I've never really got it, as a vote is a vote. Donations, you do the graft on the streets campaigning, get to attend the conference? Discounts, newsletters? | | | |
| Just the 27 point lead for Labour on 11:20 - Jan 19 with 994 views | leitrimblue |
| Just the 27 point lead for Labour on 11:12 - Jan 19 by Bluespeed225 |
As an aside, what are the benefits of being, of any party, a member? I've never really got it, as a vote is a vote. Donations, you do the graft on the streets campaigning, get to attend the conference? Discounts, newsletters? |
Free subscription for the Socialist Worker and Morning Star,
Militant wolly hat and an invite to one of Jezzas champagne and debauchery parties. |  | | |
| Just the 27 point lead for Labour on 11:33 - Jan 19 with 963 views | lowhouseblue |
| Just the 27 point lead for Labour on 11:20 - Jan 19 by leitrimblue |
Free subscription for the Socialist Worker and Morning Star,
Militant wolly hat and an invite to one of Jezzas champagne and debauchery parties. |
i think you'll find that corbyn's 'parties' are largely beetroot based. |  |
| And so as the loose-bowelled pigeon of time swoops low over the unsuspecting tourist of destiny, and the flatulent skunk of fate wanders into the air-conditioning system of eternity, I notice it's the end of the show |
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| Just the 27 point lead for Labour on 11:54 - Jan 19 with 923 views | leitrimblue |
| Just the 27 point lead for Labour on 11:33 - Jan 19 by lowhouseblue |
i think you'll find that corbyn's 'parties' are largely beetroot based. |
Oi, don't ruin my Jezza fantasies. Perhaps he could turn his beetroots into some kinda homemade prison style hooch?
I actually believe that with 7 beetroots and a few fish he could have fed the world  | | | |
| Just the 27 point lead for Labour on 12:40 - Jan 19 with 872 views | DJR |
| Just the 27 point lead for Labour on 11:12 - Jan 19 by Bluespeed225 |
As an aside, what are the benefits of being, of any party, a member? I've never really got it, as a vote is a vote. Donations, you do the graft on the streets campaigning, get to attend the conference? Discounts, newsletters? |
For my own part, the reasons are/were, a strong interest in politics, an emotional attachment to Labour and its aims and values, a desire to do something on the ground to increase its vote or get a councillor elected (even in a constituency without any chance of an MP), and a chance to influence policy or choose the leader.
The emotional attachment for me has gradually diminished over the years since Starmer became leader because of the move closer and closer to the Tories, so it was only the last reason which was keeping me hanging on. But with total control over the NEC, and total control over selections so as to avoid even centre left candidates being elected, I finally came to the conclusion that any influence I had was meaningless because things will never change. [Post edited 19 Jan 13:51]
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| Just the 27 point lead for Labour on 12:49 - Jan 19 with 831 views | itfcjoe |
| Just the 27 point lead for Labour on 09:51 - Jan 19 by DJR |
Everything by George Orwell is worth reading. I have several of the later non-fiction volumes in the following complete set, and it doesn't matter what he discusses, or how old it is, he writes so well and so simply, it is a delight to read.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Complete-Orwell-Boxed-complete-George/dp/0436203774
And these rules from his essay "Politics and the English Language" are are must for any writer.
(i) Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.
(ii) Never use a long word where a short one will do.
(iii) If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.
(iv) Never use the passive where you can use the active.
(v) Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.
(vi) Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous. [Post edited 19 Jan 10:37]
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49p on Kindle, very nice | |
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| Just the 27 point lead for Labour on 12:50 - Jan 19 with 831 views | positivity |
| Just the 27 point lead for Labour on 11:12 - Jan 19 by Bluespeed225 |
As an aside, what are the benefits of being, of any party, a member? I've never really got it, as a vote is a vote. Donations, you do the graft on the streets campaigning, get to attend the conference? Discounts, newsletters? |
benefits are fairly minimal at the basic level, you get to vote for the leader and the local candidate.
obviously you can choose to be more involved as well, which gives you more chance of affecting policy, but no signed beetroots from jezza i'm afraid! | |
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| Just the 27 point lead for Labour on 13:31 - Jan 19 with 781 views | You_Bloo_Right |
| Just the 27 point lead for Labour on 07:53 - Jan 19 by DJR |
Oxford appears to have more of a reputation for politics than Cambridge, maybe because of its PPE course, although most PMs (I believe) didn't actually study it. |
"Oxford appears to have more of a reputation for politics than Cambridge".
The NKVD beg to differ of course. |  |
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| Just the 27 point lead for Labour on 14:06 - Jan 19 with 741 views | DJR |
| Just the 27 point lead for Labour on 20:31 - Jan 18 by DJR |
Absolutely.
In addition, Oxford has produced 13 of the 16 prime ministers since the Second World War, and look where that has got us.
They are Clement Attlee, Harold Wilson and Tony Blair for Labour; Anthony Eden, Harold Macmillan, Alec Douglas-Home, Edward Heath, Margaret Thatcher, David Cameron, Therese May, Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak for the Conservatives. James Callaghan and John Major did not go to university, and Gordon Brown went to Edinburgh.
A true meritocracy! [Post edited 18 Jan 20:32]
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Digging a bit further, astonishing to note that, whilst 6 of the 57 Prime Ministers have attended Scottish universities, only 3 have attended English universities that are not Oxford or Cambridge.
So the good thing, if Keir Starmer becomes PM, is that he will join a very select band, having attended Leeds University to study law a year after I graduated from there in law. [Post edited 19 Jan 15:56]
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| Just the 27 point lead for Labour on 14:19 - Jan 19 with 700 views | positivity |
| Just the 27 point lead for Labour on 14:06 - Jan 19 by DJR |
Digging a bit further, astonishing to note that, whilst 6 of the 57 Prime Ministers have attended Scottish universities, only 3 have attended English universities that are not Oxford or Cambridge.
So the good thing, if Keir Starmer becomes PM, is that he will join a very select band, having attended Leeds University to study law a year after I graduated from there in law. [Post edited 19 Jan 15:56]
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the leeds uni alumni magazine was claiming him as leeds' first pm (if he gets in), which is a bit of a stretch! however, it's a bit more notable now knowing the rarity | |
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