Something positive about this government

Surely not, whitewave - isn't that why you started the thread in the first place?

Well I tried to find a positive , if Ken Clarke was in it I would have found something positive

ana truly I did it out of mischievousness initially, but was totally unprepared for the paucity of the replies, that is absolutely genuine and quite honestly saddening and somewhat alarming

Is it worth trying to post anything on this thread?

For what it's worth:

it was rarely that unskilled workers moved from country to country looking for work.
That is not true. How many £10 'POMS' emigrated - went out to conditions worse than at home but made a success of their lives in a country where hard work and enterprise count for something. Many emigrated to other countries around the world for work.
People have always emigrated, moved, tried to find work and look for a better life despite the upset of leaving their roots for generations.
anniebach was it you who mentioned the Cornish tin miners? Well, they didn't just go to South Wales - they went all over the world.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornish_diaspora
And it was a couple of hundred years ago!

We had to move from an area I loved to an area I hated at first (or be on benefits until the perfect job materialised for DH) yes, we had four months on benefits . When we moved we had no family near, no social connections, but we made social connections and settled down to a certain extent although the mortgage and bills were crippling with young children. Then redundancy again and another move to an unknown area because that is where the work was; in the end we stayed put while DH lived away all week for years and years just to give the children some stability instead of moving from school to school.

And I think, although this government has to rein in the burgeoning welfare bill, GO went about it in a most stupid and crass manner in this Budget and could well have scuppered any ambition he has of becoming PM and, together with other moves by this Government (Academies), of winning the next GE.
So who do the moderate, taxpaying, compassionate (yes) middle ground vote for in the next GE? Even staunch, lifelong Labour voters who I know are shuddering at the thought of Jeremy, John and Emily taking charge of the country.

Please will someone come forward who is not an extremist of either right or left to lead us into the future.
(and I do not mean Tim Farron.)

Well, out of interest does anyone have anything to say about positive achievements of the Blair / Brown governments?

Ha ha ha

Well, Mandelson did say he was intensely relaxed about people becoming filthy rich. Blair must have been listening and learning.

Ah, but Blair was a tory in disguise Jalima surely you must know that by now, we've been told enough times!

B******s

Mandelson said that Jeremy Corbyn is a Marxist in disguise.

Is every Labour leader in disguise?

Jamila, emigrating to Australia is not travelling from country to country looking for work and I posted of people who came to this country to work in the iron works and coal mines , you must have avoided / missed some posts

I sgree about Farron

Still waiting a supporter of this government will give an opinion on who is telling lies, IDS or Cameron? they both can't be speaking the truth or csn they

Jamila, emigrating to Australia is not travelling from country to country looking for work
But it was for a lot of people, they went out to nothing then had to search for jobs.
For the most part they did not know what they were going to and had no job offers before they went.

I thought you mentioned the Cornish tin miners who went to South Wales to work .

you must have avoided / missed some posts
no, but I did get bogged down with trying to read it having not been on here all day.

And I posted initially about people in my family who did have to move to another country for work and also those who moved within this country. Jalima and I are trying to get it over to some of you that people do get on their bikes and always have.

I have spent a lovely half hour reading these posts, I cannot contribute as everything I think has already been said and I was very amused by the bitchiness.

A breakdown of this thread:

Positives:
We haven't ended up like Greece
Unemployment down
We haven't got a Corbyn government
My disabled son is better off
Got rid of "hook hand"
Authorised gay marriage
Introduced plastic bag surcharge
Housebuilding increased
A saving of £4,000 p.a. in new ISA will attract £1,000 from govt
Pensioners ring-fenced
Savers can put up to £20,000 pa. into an ISA - up from £15,240
Money from council house sell-offs can be used to build more social housing
Removed VAT on sanitary products
People in "the middle" are doing OK
Reduction of debt
The EU referendum

Many of these "positives" have been disputed. Greece has a very different economy from our own. Unemployment figures have been "massaged" and do not reflect the true situation. Housebuilding had a "spurt" when help to buy was introduced but has fallen recently. A saving of £4,000 p.a. requires a payment of around £330 per month - unaffordable for many people. The better off will, of course, take full advantage of the free money, ditto the £20,000 increased ISA allowance. The debt hasn't been reduced.

Those that posted "positive" reactions to the budget often relied on their own and their families' personal experiences and current circumstances in giving their approval, or drawing their conclusions (i.e. about the amount of new houses being built). Those supporting the government often mentioned the fact that they and their children were hard working and honest, whereas they tended to feel that other people were less honest and hardworking and were more likely to "play the system". There was praise for ring-fencing of pensions and the government's £1,000 inducement for savers, and it appeared that this was because these were issues that related favourably to them or their families. Nevertheless, there was indignation expressed when this was pointed out.

The fact that the money from council house sell-offs can now be used to build more homes did not take account of the large discounts or the fact that it is the price of land which constitutes the major cost and the price of land continues to shoot upwards.

The choices that were made were political and ideological choices and could have been aimed at people who are in a stronger position to withstand them.

How is a family with the bread winner out of work going to find work ? You say go where the work is, where will they live?
I suppose they do what we and others did, stay where they are until the bread winner (and there is usually more than one winning the bread in families these days) gets established, finds accommodation etc then the family follows him/her.

Your GF and uncles could not have been plumbers, labourers , carpenters , unskilled
I haven't met a poor plumber yet, perhaps some people know one. Or a poor carpenter.
And lots of labourers moved or emigrated, did unskilled jobs and improved their lives.

The more people who are able to use their gumption to find work and have to perhaps put up with a bit of hardship or separation from their families, the more people there will be paying tax to help the disabled and those who cannot help themselves.

I must say that in the past couple of years DH and I have been to a few places in England and en route have been astonished at the amount of house building going on.
For those who say that these houses are unaffordable for young people (and a lot of them have not been larger detached houses) - perhaps the people buying them are releasing rented property or selling cheaper property ie starter homes for younger people starting out.

Well they will not be paying tax to help the disabled if their in Australia or traveling from country to country.

No, I didn't list Cornish tin miners.

A breakdown of this thread:

Positives:
We haven't ended up like Greece
Unemployment down
We haven't got a Corbyn government
My disabled son is better off
Got rid of "hook hand"
Authorised gay marriage
Introduced plastic bag surcharge
Housebuilding increased
A saving of £4,000 p.a. in new ISA will attract £1,000 from govt
Pensioners ring-fenced
Savers can put up to £20,000 pa. into an ISA - up from £15,240
Money from council house sell-offs can be used to build more social housing
Removed VAT on sanitary products
People in "the middle" are doing OK
Reduction of debt
The EU referendum

Many of these "positives" have been disputed. Greece has a very different economy from our own. Unemployment figures have been "massaged" and do not reflect the true situation. Housebuilding had a "spurt" when help to buy was introduced but has fallen recently. A saving of £4,000 p.a. requires a payment of around £330 per month - unaffordable for many people. The better off will, of course, take full advantage of the free money, ditto the £20,000 increased ISA allowance. The debt hasn't been reduced.

Those that posted "positive" reactions to the budget often relied on their own and their families' personal experiences and current circumstances in giving their approval, or drawing their conclusions (i.e. about the amount of new houses being built). Those supporting the government often mentioned the fact that they and their children were hard working and honest, whereas they tended to feel that other people were less honest and hardworking and were more likely to "play the system". There was praise for ring-fencing of pensions and the government's £1,000 inducement for savers, and it appeared that this was because these were issues that related favourably to them or their families. Nevertheless, there was indignation expressed when this was pointed out.

The fact that the money from council house sell-offs can now be used to build more homes did not take account of the large discounts or the fact that it is the price of land which constitutes the major cost and the price of land continues to shoot upwards.

The choices that were made were political and ideological choices and could have been borne less painfully by people who are in a stronger position to withstand them.

I need to take back what I said about a small amount of money from council house sales can be spent now because for the life of me I can't find where I got the information from. Sorry.

Did you really feel it necessary to repeat yourself, Eloethan?

That's a great list Eloethan ! Remember, we don't come on this forum armed with masses of facts and statistics (at least most of us don't) and the things mentioned so far are worth having,especially number 4 on the list.

( and also number 3, now that I come to think about it.)

It is good that a son is better of but does it make up for the many who are worse off or have committed suicide. .

And always good when unemployment is down but not brought down because people are forced to take zero hours contracts.

But I do understand you think these are good Rosesarered, you said you thought the budget was good.

Wilma you could well be correct as new social housing has been approved by our District Council. First houses should be completed by September.