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Post by lugg on Jul 9, 2024 20:15:50 GMT
hat worries me too, now I realise in how many seats they came second, how shallow the Labour vote actually was, and the risk of things just going wrong on their watch. But given the personalities of the MPs Reform actually got, and Farage's track record with his various parties/fanclubs, not to mention some of their candidates, they might just implode (assuming the remaining Tories can pull themselves together and don't implode first). Exactly Patrick
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Post by monetsmum on Jul 10, 2024 11:09:42 GMT
If they want to get the economy moving the first thing they need to sort out is the infrastructure, rail, bus and road so that people can move about easily and at a decent cost. I took a short journey this morning and was met by half a dozen sets of road works with temporary lights and little work actually being done. This isn't a recent problem though is it? Our infrastructure is suffering from years of underinvestment. Services starved = services broken. Andy Burnham has taken public transport in Manchester back into public ownership and transformed it with more services and cheaper fares. The same is happening in West Yorkshire. It seems the answer lies with Metro Mayors.
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Post by onlyMark on Jul 10, 2024 14:26:19 GMT
Jonathan Pie has a few words to say on the 'state of the nation' -
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Post by mickthecactus on Jul 10, 2024 14:39:07 GMT
Needs something bigger than metro mayors. A joined up plan would be a start.
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Post by kerouac2 on Jul 10, 2024 16:26:50 GMT
Excellent video, Mark.
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Post by lugg on Jul 10, 2024 19:59:34 GMT
Jonathan Pie , angry man , at least you can trust him to tell it like it is, MAYBE ?
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Post by mickthecactus on Jul 29, 2024 19:44:18 GMT
Well, it didn’t take them too long to bash pensioners by removing the winter fuel payment unless you are on benefits.
Not sure that’s a clever idea.
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Jul 29, 2024 19:58:41 GMT
I think that these extra payments need to go where they're most needed.
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Post by mickthecactus on Jul 29, 2024 20:41:28 GMT
Just because you aren’t on benefits doesn’t make you a rich pensioner.
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Post by monetsmum on Jul 30, 2024 19:37:45 GMT
I think that these extra payments need to go where they're most needed. I agree Cheery. We got £300 on top of the £200 Winter Fuel Payment. I'm far from wealthy but I can manage on my state pension plus my small Local Government Pension. Most pensioners that I know spend the extra on their grandkids at Christmas. I admit I've done the same but they won't go short if I don't get it. I just wish the media would give the full details. Many haven't applied for Pension Credit but Rachel Reeves sets out here how she wants to ensure that those who aren't claiming do.
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Post by mickthecactus on Jul 30, 2024 20:22:20 GMT
Hmmmm...
Please tell me, in your heart of hearts, that you think it’s a good idea to take money from pensioners to save a comparatively measly £1.6bn.
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Jul 30, 2024 20:47:32 GMT
I'm surprised that many of my (reasonably well off) friends on fb are incandescent with rage. If public sector workers get a 5.5% pay rise our NHS pensions will increase a bit too. Mind you, by nhs workers they may well mean 'nurses' and the other health care professionals...we haven't had a pay rise of nore than 0.5 for years (and most years...nothing at all)
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Post by monetsmum on Jul 31, 2024 6:12:13 GMT
Hmmmm... Please tell me, in your heart of hearts, that you think it’s a good idea to take money from pensioners to save a comparatively measly £1.6bn. In my heart of hearts, yes! Giving it to those who don't need it is wasteful. And £1.6bn is hardly measly. That's the figure I've seen quoted to end the junior doctors strikes which in reality have already cost £1.4bn. Imagine if that figure was invested in youth services and mental health support. How many affordable houses would £1.6bn build? I'm in a position to say "I'm alright Jack" but I don't because I have a social conscience. If that brands me a socialist I don't care; it not the dirty word that some think.
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Post by monetsmum on Jul 31, 2024 6:21:03 GMT
I'm surprised that many of my (reasonably well off) friends on fb are incandescent with rage. If public sector workers get a 5.5% pay rise our NHS pensions will increase a bit too. Mind you, by nhs workers e hernment may well mean 'nurses' andthe other health care professionals...we haven't had a pay rise of nore than 0.5 for years (and most years...nothing at all. Raging over a measly £500? Wait until they see the reality of what the Tories have stolen from us over the years.
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Post by mickthecactus on Jul 31, 2024 6:56:36 GMT
The UK State Pension is ranked 15th best in Europe.
Just saying.
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Post by mickthecactus on Jul 31, 2024 9:12:23 GMT
Incidentally, my 25 year old grandson whose politics are way left of anybody on here thinks it an appalling idea.
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Jul 31, 2024 16:17:21 GMT
Nobody really likes the idea...at the end of the day it's 'robbing Peter to pay Paul'. We have a huge national debt, and crumbling public services that need rescuing. The money has to be salvaged from somewhere. Trickle down economics doesn't work when the richest 1% are busy squirrelling away every last penny in offshore tax havens. There are more food banks in this country now that MacDonalds. Our education system is rubbish (with a few exceptions) with successive governments creating 'academies ' bringing in private companies to run schools...many schools don't have teachers qualified to teach the maths and sciences, children are expected to stay in education until they are 18 years old then shoe horned into useless, expensive further education with zero chance of getting a career out of it.
Sorry....it's such a mess.
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Post by mickthecactus on Jul 31, 2024 16:28:48 GMT
You are absolutely right Cheery but bashing pensioners is not the way to go.
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Post by kerouac2 on Jul 31, 2024 16:59:46 GMT
I'm not sure if it is the same in the UK as in France, but here the retired are basically considered to be the wealthiest segment of the population. Most of them own their own homes, are no longer raising children and were able to retire at a time that allowed them to save a lot of the extra money. So our pensions have barely budged either in recent years. Naturally, all of the same complaints come up.
On the positive side, about 4 years ago I qualified to the scheme of the Paris metropolitan region to make all local transportation 100% free for non-rich old people. Since I was paying something like 75 euros a month for my transportation pass, this saved me 900 euros a year. Of course, I know a lot of people who stopped paying for a pass when they retired ("I'll just buy a ticket when I need to go somewhere.") so they probably did not even notice this change. Also, a lot of them have automobiles, so they are still paying a lot for insurance, petrol and parking. Therefore not all pensioners view their situation the same way.
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Jul 31, 2024 20:51:03 GMT
Yes. According to everybody boomers had it all, then broke
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Post by bjd on Aug 1, 2024 6:37:09 GMT
Perhaps because many "boomers" had the luck to grow up after WW2 and under more socially democratic governments, when health care, social housing and other programs were put in place. Then their kids in the 1970s-80s had the misfortune to grow up when Reagan/Thatcher et al started pushing for small government, privatization of public services and letting the strongest win. Inequality now is the highest in decades, especially in countries like the States and UK, where these right-wing ideas were strongest.
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Post by whatagain on Aug 1, 2024 10:10:11 GMT
Spot on Bjd.
I often hear that the social elevator doesn’t work anymore. You are born poor you will stay poor. The American dream is dead.
It can still work in Belgium. I was born in the high middle class and I am now in the low upper class.
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Post by bixaorellana on Aug 1, 2024 18:03:28 GMT
Perhaps because many "boomers" had the luck to grow up after WW2 and under more socially democratic governments, when health care, social housing and other programs were put in place. Then their kids in the 1970s-80s had the misfortune to grow up when Reagan/Thatcher et al started pushing for small government, privatization of public services and letting the strongest win. Inequality now is the highest in decades, especially in countries like the States and UK, where these right-wing ideas were strongest. Quoting this because it's so succinctly perfect that it needs to be read more than once.
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Post by kerouac2 on Aug 5, 2024 8:03:46 GMT
It looks like the shoe is suddenly on the other foot in terms of riots. It's not just a French disease.
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Post by mickthecactus on Aug 5, 2024 8:56:20 GMT
Oh no. We have a history of braindead idiots too.
And of course it’s summertime. The best thing to happen would be rain.
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Aug 5, 2024 21:21:41 GMT
Yep. The EDL and internet racist twits have used the tragic death of three little girls, murdered by a mentally ill young man in a brutal attack where he stabbed several little girls and adults as an excuse for rioting and social disorder..
Hundreds of racist bullies, including known terrorists have flooded the internet with fake claims that the perpetrator was a muslim, and an illegal immigrant arriving on a boat... (he was born here)...
It's an excuse for hooliganism, rioting, attacking police officers and looting. Of course its all over the media, probably stirring them up even further... They're all thick as mince.
The PM called a C.O.B.R.A meeting today, the police are 'confident' that they'll be able to arrest the culprits, both those stirring things up on the internet and the rioters..many filmed themselves for tick tock....the courts are running 24 hours to process the ones already arrested.
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Post by lugg on Aug 7, 2024 19:40:59 GMT
The riots make me sick to my stomach and I am ashamed to be English at the moment. All made worse as I have got my new " Blue " passport.
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Post by mickthecactus on Aug 8, 2024 6:55:00 GMT
With all the horrible racist stuff going on, interesting to note that grandson’s cricket team of 11 has players from Australia, India, England , Pakistan, South Africa and Afghanistan. And a nicer bunch it would be hard to find.
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Aug 8, 2024 17:46:35 GMT
With all the horrible racist stuff going on, interesting to note that grandson’s cricket team of 11 has players from Australia, India, England , Pakistan, South Africa and Afghanistan. And a nicer bunch it would be hard to find. That's brilliant to hear x
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Aug 8, 2024 17:48:59 GMT
I was quite pleased to see that the only gatherings last night were of anti-racist, peace promoting groovy people.
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