| All you Labour voters, how's it feel so far. 22:58 - Mar 14 with 11417 views | BanksterDebtSlave |
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/mar/14/blockers-checkers-bats-and-chai
'Starmer’s language has been praised by the rightwing Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), a thinktank that was closely associated with Liz Truss.
Tom Clougherty, the executive director of the IEA, said: “Increasingly, the government is getting its rhetoric right. But its actions haven’t quite caught up. The British state is overloaded and that hurts both public services and the private sector. Changing structures might help, but ultimately government just needs to stop doing some things altogether.”
Starmer’s shift to using more robust language has increased in his eight months as prime minister. He said he would “build, baby, build” to meet his pledge on more housing, channelling Trump’s mantra of “drill, baby, drill”.'
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| All you Labour voters, how's it feel so far. on 23:13 - Mar 14 with 4870 views | J2BLUE |
It feels fine, thanks for asking. |  |
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| All you Labour voters, how's it feel so far. on 23:32 - Mar 14 with 4834 views | BanksterDebtSlave |
| All you Labour voters, how's it feel so far. on 23:13 - Mar 14 by J2BLUE |
It feels fine, thanks for asking. |
Well it's why I asked. Glad they are meeting your expectations J2. | |
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| All you Labour voters, how's it feel so far. on 00:41 - Mar 15 with 4762 views | J2BLUE |
| All you Labour voters, how's it feel so far. on 23:32 - Mar 14 by BanksterDebtSlave |
Well it's why I asked. Glad they are meeting your expectations J2. |
Thanks mate. | |
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| All you Labour voters, how's it feel so far. on 06:36 - Mar 15 with 4677 views | LegendofthePhoenix |
not sure what you expect after the total sh1tshow they have inherited. |  |
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| All you Labour voters, how's it feel so far. on 06:46 - Mar 15 with 4659 views | The_Flashing_Smile |
I'm quite happy. Lots of good things are getting swept under the carpet while the press just focus on things that aren't working so well. The idea that Starmer's sounding a bit like Musk is just clickbaity nonsense.
I don't think there's anyone who could've done any better with what they inherited. |  |
| Trust the process. Trust Phil. |
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| All you Labour voters, how's it feel so far. on 06:58 - Mar 15 with 4629 views | nodge_blue |
The uncomfortable truth is we have state institutions that are inefficient and expensive. We do have a spiralling welfare bill. We do have stagnant economic growth. We do have the highest overall level of personal taxation in decades already. We do have a huge public debt with little room to increase it without the markets tilting and not allowing more borrowing without higher interest rates. We do have an unstable world with trading partners putting tariffs on us. We do have a brexit that some here voted for that has reduced our economic growth.
So all in all, about as expected. [Post edited 15 Mar 6:59]
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| All you Labour voters, how's it feel so far. on 07:05 - Mar 15 with 4585 views | nrb1985 |
| All you Labour voters, how's it feel so far. on 06:46 - Mar 15 by The_Flashing_Smile |
I'm quite happy. Lots of good things are getting swept under the carpet while the press just focus on things that aren't working so well. The idea that Starmer's sounding a bit like Musk is just clickbaity nonsense.
I don't think there's anyone who could've done any better with what they inherited. |
Spot on.
Tentative signs also that we will be back at the fore of a newer, more united and stronger Europe potentially. |  | | |
| All you Labour voters, how's it feel so far. on 07:17 - Mar 15 with 4510 views | gtsb1966 |
Guardian cut & paste. Rinse & repeat  |  | | |
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| All you Labour voters, how's it feel so far. on 07:17 - Mar 15 with 4505 views | Lord_Lucan |
I'm just pleased we haven't got a Labour government. [Post edited 15 Mar 7:17]
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| All you Labour voters, how's it feel so far. on 07:26 - Mar 15 with 4461 views | BanksterDebtSlave |
| All you Labour voters, how's it feel so far. on 07:17 - Mar 15 by gtsb1966 |
Guardian cut & paste. Rinse & repeat |
They were discussing it on newsnight too. Here's a link in case you missed it. It features a crest fallen Steve Baker looking a little embarrassed that Labour are implementing so much that he longed for.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0028w3w
....you're welcome. | |
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| All you Labour voters, how's it feel so far. on 07:32 - Mar 15 with 4435 views | BanksterDebtSlave |
| All you Labour voters, how's it feel so far. on 06:58 - Mar 15 by nodge_blue |
The uncomfortable truth is we have state institutions that are inefficient and expensive. We do have a spiralling welfare bill. We do have stagnant economic growth. We do have the highest overall level of personal taxation in decades already. We do have a huge public debt with little room to increase it without the markets tilting and not allowing more borrowing without higher interest rates. We do have an unstable world with trading partners putting tariffs on us. We do have a brexit that some here voted for that has reduced our economic growth.
So all in all, about as expected. [Post edited 15 Mar 6:59]
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I agree with a lot of your analysis of how things are. The fact that team red are responding pretty much as team blue would is what interests me and how people end up seeing things as 'good' or 'bad' purely depending on which Tweedle dum or Tweedle dee party they voted for. Depressingly it would appear we are all stuck in a sh1t show as an economic/social model collapses around us and our 'leaders' desperately try to play the same old tune. | |
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| All you Labour voters, how's it feel so far. on 07:35 - Mar 15 with 4429 views | BanksterDebtSlave |
| All you Labour voters, how's it feel so far. on 06:46 - Mar 15 by The_Flashing_Smile |
I'm quite happy. Lots of good things are getting swept under the carpet while the press just focus on things that aren't working so well. The idea that Starmer's sounding a bit like Musk is just clickbaity nonsense.
I don't think there's anyone who could've done any better with what they inherited. |
Remind me of some of that stuff under the carpet. Is one of them unfunded breakfast clubs?
https://schoolsweek.co.uk/we-cant-run-at-a-loss-heads-snub-flagship-breakfast-cl | |
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| All you Labour voters, how's it feel so far. on 07:42 - Mar 15 with 4408 views | DJR |
| All you Labour voters, how's it feel so far. on 06:58 - Mar 15 by nodge_blue |
The uncomfortable truth is we have state institutions that are inefficient and expensive. We do have a spiralling welfare bill. We do have stagnant economic growth. We do have the highest overall level of personal taxation in decades already. We do have a huge public debt with little room to increase it without the markets tilting and not allowing more borrowing without higher interest rates. We do have an unstable world with trading partners putting tariffs on us. We do have a brexit that some here voted for that has reduced our economic growth.
So all in all, about as expected. [Post edited 15 Mar 6:59]
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By a spiralling welfare bill, do you mean the state pension (with its triple lock) which currently makes up 44% of the welfare budget?
Disability benefits (which some pensioners will also get) make up 12%
As it is, they have upped the rhetoric on the sick and disabled, many of whom I imagine can't get better because of the state of the NHS.
I sense the hands of Morgan McSweeney, but the following which I posted on another thread seems rather appalling, and is the sort of thing that clearly sets the narrative (a narrative which currently has them behind Reform in the upcoming by-election).
"DWP accused by expert of making false claims about rise in claims for top rate of universal credit for sick/disabled
Yesterday the Department for Work and Pensions put out press notice about the large rise in the number of claiming the top rate of universal credit for people with sickness or a disability. I covered it on the blog here and here is the full press release is here. It included the claim:
The number [of people in this category] has almost quadrupled since the start of the pandemic when 360,000 people were considered too sick to look for work – a 383% rise in less than five years. In the last year alone, the number has risen by from 1.4 million people to 1.8 million.
Iain Porter, a senior policy adviser at the Joseph Rowntree Foundation thinktank, calims this is highly misleading. He has explained why in a thread on social media.
Yesterday, a Government press release claimed the number of people “considered too sick to work” had “quadrupled” since the pandemic (a “383% rise”). This is incorrect. In fact, it’s not even close. It’s more like 40%. This thread explains why
The press release ignores that Universal Credit was still early in rollout pre-pandemic, so starts from a very low number. It ignores equivalent group in the legacy ESA benefit that UC is replacing. You can’t compare UC LCWRA over time without including the equivalent ESA. 2/7
This same DWP statistical analysis also shows that the unexplained rise over this period is actually nearer 30% after accounting for rise in State Pension Age, demographic changes and structural differences between UC and ESA: 4/7
Disabled people are really worried about how these proposed changes will affect them. We know half of people receiving these benefits are unable to afford enough food, to heat home, or pay bills. That’s why it’s so important Govt sticks to the facts and avoids misleading. 6/7
We will have to wait to see the Green Paper to see what exactly happens. But what we know for certain now is that people should take what they’re reading with a pinch of salt. 7/7" [Post edited 15 Mar 7:48]
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| All you Labour voters, how's it feel so far. on 07:43 - Mar 15 with 4405 views | BlueBoots |
| All you Labour voters, how's it feel so far. on 06:36 - Mar 15 by LegendofthePhoenix |
not sure what you expect after the total sh1tshow they have inherited. |
Regarding the previous sh1tshow, if anyone has been watching footage from the Covid inquiry, they'll have a feel for how the finances for public services have got in such a state.
So yes, feels great so far that we have a government now that are trying to sort out that mess, rather than one that borrowed money just to stick half of it in their mates' back pockets. [Post edited 15 Mar 7:54]
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| All you Labour voters, how's it feel so far. on 07:46 - Mar 15 with 4382 views | BanksterDebtSlave |
| All you Labour voters, how's it feel so far. on 07:42 - Mar 15 by DJR |
By a spiralling welfare bill, do you mean the state pension (with its triple lock) which currently makes up 44% of the welfare budget?
Disability benefits (which some pensioners will also get) make up 12%
As it is, they have upped the rhetoric on the sick and disabled, many of whom I imagine can't get better because of the state of the NHS.
I sense the hands of Morgan McSweeney, but the following which I posted on another thread seems rather appalling, and is the sort of thing that clearly sets the narrative (a narrative which currently has them behind Reform in the upcoming by-election).
"DWP accused by expert of making false claims about rise in claims for top rate of universal credit for sick/disabled
Yesterday the Department for Work and Pensions put out press notice about the large rise in the number of claiming the top rate of universal credit for people with sickness or a disability. I covered it on the blog here and here is the full press release is here. It included the claim:
The number [of people in this category] has almost quadrupled since the start of the pandemic when 360,000 people were considered too sick to look for work – a 383% rise in less than five years. In the last year alone, the number has risen by from 1.4 million people to 1.8 million.
Iain Porter, a senior policy adviser at the Joseph Rowntree Foundation thinktank, calims this is highly misleading. He has explained why in a thread on social media.
Yesterday, a Government press release claimed the number of people “considered too sick to work” had “quadrupled” since the pandemic (a “383% rise”). This is incorrect. In fact, it’s not even close. It’s more like 40%. This thread explains why
The press release ignores that Universal Credit was still early in rollout pre-pandemic, so starts from a very low number. It ignores equivalent group in the legacy ESA benefit that UC is replacing. You can’t compare UC LCWRA over time without including the equivalent ESA. 2/7
This same DWP statistical analysis also shows that the unexplained rise over this period is actually nearer 30% after accounting for rise in State Pension Age, demographic changes and structural differences between UC and ESA: 4/7
Disabled people are really worried about how these proposed changes will affect them. We know half of people receiving these benefits are unable to afford enough food, to heat home, or pay bills. That’s why it’s so important Govt sticks to the facts and avoids misleading. 6/7
We will have to wait to see the Green Paper to see what exactly happens. But what we know for certain now is that people should take what they’re reading with a pinch of salt. 7/7" [Post edited 15 Mar 7:48]
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This is it isn't it, they are totally pandering to and hence feeding right wing tropes and narratives to their shame. | |
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| All you Labour voters, how's it feel so far. on 07:48 - Mar 15 with 4367 views | Lord_Lucan |
| All you Labour voters, how's it feel so far. on 07:32 - Mar 15 by BanksterDebtSlave |
I agree with a lot of your analysis of how things are. The fact that team red are responding pretty much as team blue would is what interests me and how people end up seeing things as 'good' or 'bad' purely depending on which Tweedle dum or Tweedle dee party they voted for. Depressingly it would appear we are all stuck in a sh1t show as an economic/social model collapses around us and our 'leaders' desperately try to play the same old tune. |
What I find most interesting is that a lot of people on here cheer him purely because he is a labour party man, even though he isn't doing Labour party things.
I find this a bit nauseating, but typical of people who look at politics purely on the basis of the colour of their rosette.
For all my faults, and I have blooming loads, I like to think I look at things a bit more objectively.
It reminds me of the poster (was it Badger?) who constantly says that anyone who voted Brexit is a thick as mince but also says that Tony Benn is / was his hero.
It kind of says a lot about people don't you think? [Post edited 15 Mar 7:50]
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| All you Labour voters, how's it feel so far. on 07:53 - Mar 15 with 4334 views | DJR |
| All you Labour voters, how's it feel so far. on 07:46 - Mar 15 by BanksterDebtSlave |
This is it isn't it, they are totally pandering to and hence feeding right wing tropes and narratives to their shame. |
And it isn't working because they are behind in the polls in the forthcoming by-election.
You can't out-Reform Reform. | | | |
| All you Labour voters, how's it feel so far. on 08:00 - Mar 15 with 4292 views | DJR |
| All you Labour voters, how's it feel so far. on 07:48 - Mar 15 by Lord_Lucan |
What I find most interesting is that a lot of people on here cheer him purely because he is a labour party man, even though he isn't doing Labour party things.
I find this a bit nauseating, but typical of people who look at politics purely on the basis of the colour of their rosette.
For all my faults, and I have blooming loads, I like to think I look at things a bit more objectively.
It reminds me of the poster (was it Badger?) who constantly says that anyone who voted Brexit is a thick as mince but also says that Tony Benn is / was his hero.
It kind of says a lot about people don't you think? [Post edited 15 Mar 7:50]
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I am still a Labour party man but am no longer a Labour party member because the Labour party isn't the Labour party anymore.
The fact is that the Labour government is doing things that many would absolutely condemn the Tories for.
And there are alternatives given the changed World situation. Indeed, Germany is going down this route.
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/mar/15/economists-urge-rachel-reeves-t
PPE at Oxford has a lot to answer for because they all end up thinking the same, and that thinking has led to little in the way of real growth since the great recession. [Post edited 15 Mar 8:10]
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| All you Labour voters, how's it feel so far. on 08:07 - Mar 15 with 4243 views | The_Flashing_Smile |
That's a trial... which is a good idea in principle and could be made to work.
Other things that have gone well;
Pay increases ending the long-running strikes on the railways and in the NHS.
Improvement of employment rights, such as protection against unfair dismissal from day one and expanded flexible working arrangements.
The International Investment Summit, which has lead to substantial investments in AI and life sciences.
£5 billion for housing investment, aiming to increase affordable housing.
£6.7 billion to rebuild over 500 schools.
Renters' Rights Bill banning no-fault evictions and extending building safety requirements.
Tax-dodging land owners like Clarkson seeing that particular loophole closed.
There's probably more I've forgotten, one or two smaller things that are just better/more sensible ways of doing things, but that's not bad for a start after 8 months. I'm sure you'll find a way of belittling all of those, or ignoring them, though. | |
| Trust the process. Trust Phil. |
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| All you Labour voters, how's it feel so far. on 08:16 - Mar 15 with 4197 views | DJR |
When it comes to the Civil Service, I would be very concerned by the criticism by Gus O'Donnell who is normally much more measured.
This from the article.
"Gus O’Donnell, the former cabinet secretary, was one of those urging the prime minister to “get a grip” on his messaging, telling the Institute for Government podcast: “My God, he has mishandled the communications on this terribly.”
O’Donnell cited the Guardian’s report that Downing Street was interested in proposals drawn up by Labour Together, a thinktank with close links to the government, to reshape the state under plans dubbed “project chainsaw”.
The nickname is a reference to Musk’s stunt wielding a chainsaw to symbolise government cuts for Donald Trump’s administration."
The problem with Labour approach is that it plays into a narrative that it is the civil service or NHS' fault (rather than say a lack of money), and the danger is that it will cause good staff to leave, just as I left the civil service as soon as I could when the coalition government came to power.
In related news.
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/mar/14/30000-jobs-could-go-in-labours-
"30,000 jobs could go in Labour’s radical overhaul of NHS
Loss of staff will be at least twice as big as thought, as new NHS England chief tells regional boards to cut costs by 50%"
Leaving aside the fact that this would appear to be more severe than anything the coalition did, it is difficult to think there are 30,000 people not performing any sort of useful function.
Of course, some of it is perhaps rhetoric designed to show that Labour is tough (Morgan McSweeney anyone?) but if it is (and I rather suspect the cuts won't be anywhere near that number) it is not a fair way to treat staff.
Finally, they are not doing anything in relation to social care which seems to be at the root of a lot of the NHS's problems. [Post edited 15 Mar 8:18]
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| All you Labour voters, how's it feel so far. on 08:17 - Mar 15 with 4192 views | BanksterDebtSlave |
| All you Labour voters, how's it feel so far. on 07:43 - Mar 15 by BlueBoots |
Regarding the previous sh1tshow, if anyone has been watching footage from the Covid inquiry, they'll have a feel for how the finances for public services have got in such a state.
So yes, feels great so far that we have a government now that are trying to sort out that mess, rather than one that borrowed money just to stick half of it in their mates' back pockets. [Post edited 15 Mar 7:54]
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https://goodlawproject.org/how-private-health-has-invested-in-wes-streeting/
Don't get your hopes up. | |
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| All you Labour voters, how's it feel so far. on 08:18 - Mar 15 with 4181 views | You_Bloo_Right |
| All you Labour voters, how's it feel so far. on 08:00 - Mar 15 by DJR |
I am still a Labour party man but am no longer a Labour party member because the Labour party isn't the Labour party anymore.
The fact is that the Labour government is doing things that many would absolutely condemn the Tories for.
And there are alternatives given the changed World situation. Indeed, Germany is going down this route.
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/mar/15/economists-urge-rachel-reeves-t
PPE at Oxford has a lot to answer for because they all end up thinking the same, and that thinking has led to little in the way of real growth since the great recession. [Post edited 15 Mar 8:10]
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"PPE at Oxford has a lot to answer for ..."
Too bl00dy right DJR.
.. the degree (that) wannabe elites study. |  |
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| All you Labour voters, how's it feel so far. on 08:26 - Mar 15 with 4124 views | DJR |
| All you Labour voters, how's it feel so far. on 08:18 - Mar 15 by You_Bloo_Right |
"PPE at Oxford has a lot to answer for ..."
Too bl00dy right DJR.
.. the degree (that) wannabe elites study. |
And economics makes up only one-third of the course!
The domination of Oxford more generally when it comes to Prime Ministers (as the following shows) has not served the country well. Indeed I think only Churchill (Sandhurst), Callaghan, Major and Brown didn't attend Oxford of Prime Ministers since the war.
https://www.ox.ac.uk/about/oxford-people/british-prime-ministers
Perhaps the icing on the cake when it comes to PPE and Oxford though is Liz Truss. [Post edited 15 Mar 8:32]
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| All you Labour voters, how's it feel so far. on 08:27 - Mar 15 with 4114 views | itfcjoe |
Fun fact - Tom Clougherty was in my year at school in Ipswich |  |
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