Dennis the Menace and Beryl the Peril next door.

Sago

I did not vote Labour or Tory.

I am disgusted at the past 14 years of Tory rule.

I made a decision to try and be positive and give the new government time.

I managed no more than 6 weeks.

Starmer is making Boris look competent.

Sago I share the views expressed in every line of your post

madeleine45 David Owen - David Steel was leader and lifelong member of the Liberal party.

Gang of Four David Owen, Roy Jenkins, Shirley Williams, Bill Rodgers

Kate1949

I was hoping this would be a nostalgic thread about comics. How disappointing,

I thought it was going to be about the neighbours’ awful children 😬

Nanato3

I thought it was going to be a thread about the neighbours.
I was looking forward to a laugh

Same here😁

On a serious note, I do have some buyers remorse and am worried about what comes next since KS and RR haven’t covered themselves in glory since last June.As others also say tho, what choice did we have? Hobsons!

I do not think the title of this thread makes sense in what is purporting to be a discussion about how the new government are doing. Maybe someone might like to start a new thread in the right place. It is an important and interesting topic for discussion.

Labours current fiscal policy is not going to help growth.

It is penalising business, employers and definitely making them think twice probably thrice on their employment strategy going forward.

Oh lighten up! Starmer & Reeves are political ‘neighbours’ in Nos. 10 and 11 hence my playful title. And I put it in Chat because it’s not ‘news’ as such it’s more for discussion of what we all think of it ‘so far’.

“Every confidence” in political verbiage covers various scenarios going forward. At present Starmer has drafted in a helper for Reeves. He realises she needs one.

GrannyGravy13

Labours current fiscal policy is not going to help growth.

It is penalising business, employers and definitely making them think twice probably thrice on their employment strategy going forward.

I agree. And things will only get worse if Angela Rayner’s planned changes to employment law go through, as they are bound to do given the size of Labour’s majority.

How do I think they’re doing? Dreadfully.

Am I optimistic about another four years? Not in the least.

FGT

No regrets at all for voting Labour.

Do I agree with everything they have done so far, no, have I given up on them, no!

14 years of Tory rule, which damaged many, in many different ways. 14 years of lies, incompetence, fiscal disaster and crony contracts. 6 months is way too soon to make any discernible positive difference.

Britain is a Conservative Country that occasionally votes Labour.
In four years they will be out - Reform is just one point behind Labour in polls - and we will have a Con?Reform party.

Or as Morecambe and Wise might have said?

youtu.be/R3ot1HjCRdg

They are wreckers.

They are doing a good job of ruining our society, our economy, our aspirations for our AC and grandchildren and our hopes for the future of the UK

They are however doing a good job of catapulting the UK into 3rd world status

BlueBelle

Well I knew who the GN er was who stared this thread without even looking 🤣🤣🤣

😂😂😂😂

More boring Starmer/Labour bashing!

🙄🙄🤷🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️

Well, we have seen lies, incompetence, fiscal disaster and expensive personal gifts from a crony thus far from Labour, and the anti-corruption minister appears no stranger to corruption - all in the first six months. I have seen it described as the worst ever start to a government.

Boz

Britain is a Conservative Country that occasionally votes Labour.
In four years they will be out - Reform is just one point behind Labour in polls - and we will have a Con?Reform party.

Heaven help us!!

Calendargirl like football managers, then poof! They’re gone.

Barleyfields

Well, we have seen lies, incompetence, fiscal disaster and expensive personal gifts from a crony thus far from Labour, and the anti-corruption minister appears no stranger to corruption - all in the first six months. I have seen it described as the worst ever start to a government.

Mmmm I seem to remember Boris illegally proroguing parliament.

Doodledog

Kate1949

I was hoping this would be a nostalgic thread about comics. How disappointing,

That would be far less tedious, I agree. I always liked Minnie the Minx.

I was hoping for the same as I love "The Beano" and "The Dandy".

There must be something wrong with my sense of humour as I found the clumsy comparison offensive rather than funny.

Boz

Britain is a Conservative Country that occasionally votes Labour.
In four years they will be out - Reform is just one point behind Labour in polls - and we will have a Con?Reform party.

Not completely accurate.

13 Labour MPs have served two terms (not necessarily all consecutively) and Blair served three consecutive terms.

I don’t actually believe Britain is a conservative country.

Sorry PMs not MPs.

All indications suggest a swing to the Right and there seem to be numerous articles about the end of Liberalism. It's everywhere.

Happy to "lighten up" - but am becoming tired of threads that simply diss/make fun of parties/people without proper consideration.

Here is my take on the situation:

- It was very important that we got rid of the last government because of their corruption, dishonesty and incompetence and worse still their scorn for democracy and parliamentary process. The presence of people like Johnson and Truss who almost treated their position as a joke could not have continued and was both insulting to the electorate and damaging to our international relations.
- Labour was the only credible alternative and I voted for them and have no remorse about this. I have not voted for them before. In the main I have usually voted for whichever party might oust the Tory incumbent in my constituency.
- I recognise that Labour have inherited a chaotic and disastrous situation and feel that it is far too early to be judging them.
- However I do think that they have failed to "read the room" and have not fully understood why people voted for them (apart from a desire to be rid of the Tory government). People voted for them because they wanted to see some integrity at the top (I think we have this now - no political party is perfect and pressures towards corruption are rife in government, but I do feel more secure on this with Labour than with the Tories).

People wanted to see a government that had a secure ethos of equality and might consider the lot of those less fortunate. I think that the present government's' emphasis on financial responsibility makes sense as they want to convince the voters that they can be trusted with the economy. But the places in which they have chosen to target their actions are unfortunate: winter fuel allowance, IHT on small farms etc. These are politically suicidal and not necessary at this stage.

I am also disappointed that their investigation into the care system is not more broadly based to encompass health and care services as one entity - this false division is a very basic part of the problem.

They have barely arrived in office so it is not fair to make blanket judgements at this stage and I am hoping that they will settle down and feel they do not have so much to prove but can get on with some long term thinking and planning.

I am hoping very much that they will take a proper look at child poverty and consider bringing back Sure Start.

Basically I would like to see them being more radical in the direction of social equality. I do not think that tinkering round the edges is going to do the trick.

I didn't vote for either Conservatives or Labour but I'm willing to give Labour a chance as Keir Starmer is much more a voice of reason than any Conservative.. It's very early days and very difficult Global times to also contend with.. I think they will have to replace Reeves though..

In some ways I agree with you Luckygirl. SureStart was a great innovation and most people would think it a good idea to see it reintroduced. However Starmer has told all his departments to dramatically cut budgets wherever they can. Austerity Mk 2? So I can’t see SureStart up and running any time soon.

The country is in a mess financially. I don’t envy Labour to be honest trying to fix it.

But then why unilaterally just give away the Chagos island to Mauritius with money up front too? Now is surely not the time. Or even wise?

Voters went for “anyone but the Tories”. I don’t think that was any kind of endorsement for Labour per se but they reaped the benefit naturally.

Just weeks after taking office, Labour agreed a deal with the previous Mauritian government to give away the strategically placed archipelago in the Indian Ocean.

Under the pact, UK taxpayers would pay Mauritius a reported £9 billion over 99 years to lease back Diego Garcia, the site of a key UK-US airbase.

Starmer &Lammy want this signed off and the deal done before Trump’s inauguration next Monday 20th January!