Jeremy and the future

Jeremy and the future. Has he got one? I thought most of his appointed ministers resigned some months ago , and most of those polled feel he is a disaster. What has changed? I am truly baffled that a man who seems to instil such little confidence has been re elected.

Depressing...

Deserves to be a PM? It isn't an award like a knighthood or the .George Cross .

He did have 60% of the vote but 40% didn't vote for him. This is quite a large number of party members.

What is important is how the country vote come the election . Labour has lost Scotland, will lose about thirty seats come the boundaries changes and UKIP is targeting labour seats because of the fear of free movement of immigrants

Add to these it is a fact many in the country do not trust labour on the economy and the plan of borrowing 25 billion pounds is not going to instilling confidence .

Oh no ab, no one can help the circumstances of their birth or where their parents send them to school, but they can help where they send their own children. The wealthy and influential can still do this by that influence or where they choose to live. I take the same view as TM and for the same reasons. I do however, totally oppose cramming as shoving a child through an exam imo is actually doing them a great disservice as it will soon become obvious that they will probably struggle badly to keep up once the cramming stops. Incidentally I failed my 11+ dismally!! which actually was a good thing as the Grammar School would have been an academic nightmare for me, so perhaps I am one of the few children that gave a sigh of relief at this failure and settled much better into a school more suited to my then limited abilities!!!

I'm not a member of the Labour Party (I'm a Green actually) but I know many people who have joined them, from retired mild mannered Christians to younger people who've not engaged with politics before who have joined because of Corbyn. I'm hopeful of developing some sort of progressive alliance as the Tories have almost a guaranteed majority after the boundary changes.
I live a nice comfortable life but my work with the foodbank at our church makes me realise how very different other people's lives can be. Sanctions and the withholding of benefits are a truly evil system and the awful despair this causes might be unimaginable by many. Families that rent without any security may have to move at the whim of a landlord, what does that do to children who have to keep changing schools?
I am really, really angry at the divisions and injustice in our country and that's what is driving many to join the Labour Party and support Corbyn as he seems to really get that and wants to do something about it - if his MPs ever get on side and support him.

@niggly

If you had gone to a comprehensive school, you probably wouldn't have been in top sets, although hidden talents might have been uncovered. A far greater range of choices would have been offered to you. What would have been wrong with that?

But Niggly, cramming will happen and will mean more places in grammer schools go to children from more affluent homes . Nothing can be done to stop people buying homes where they choose but why add to this by giving them even more choice of the education they can buy .

Why not do the same in English comps as we do here, place children into sets according the their academic levels, they can work to up a level if they wish , not have it decided by one day in their lives

I fear Corbyn will take us back to the 1970s, strikes, taxation at 33p in £ - yes that was for ordinary workers, I was a clerical assistant for a Pharmeceutical Wholesaler, 3 day week, powerful unions. I for one do not want to be dragged back into the dark ages. Jeremy has done nothing but alienated a great many of die hard Labour supporters. Diane Abbot is a disgrace with her coments on Brexit voters & racism. Labour does not offer a credible Opposition Party at the moment - huge rifts within the Party, he will just surround himself with "cronies" who will agree with him

@ ab

The Bank of England currently has a £60 billion QE programme - just to keep the economy steady after the referendum.

The government's debt is over £1.6 trillion, more than double what it was in 2009, just before the Coalition was elected. We don't hear much about that, do we? £25 billion is less than the cost of servicing the debt which the Tories have run up.

Most of that money has gone to asset holders and made them richer. Little has trickled down to the 'man or woman in the street'. The poorest and most vulnerable are paying for it with austerity and the government has to keep up its narrative that these people are responsible for their own poverty and vulnerability, so that Middle England blames them rather than the real targets.

I support Labour's agenda. McDonnell is suggesting a different way of boosting the economy. My fear is that people see the national economy as a household budget and the right wing press will hurl the accusation of 'same old Labour - spend, spend, spend' at them. I understand your concerns about Momentum and their methods, but you're doing the Tories' job for them.

@Legs55

Taxation was 33p, but what were you paying for National Insurance? Taxation and NI combined (for the ordinary worker) can already be over 37p. How much did you pay for housing? I bet it was a lower percentage of your income than younger people currently pay. If you owned a property, how much did you receive in tax relief on your mortgage?

I don't want to go back to the 1970s either and I don't think it will happen, although I share your concern that Corbyn is not the right person to be leader. For a start, the unions don't have nearly so much power as they did.

@ab

Most English comps do place pupils in ability sets.

cagsy yes! I'm with you on a coalition, otherwise the Tories are ensured a built in majority after the boundary changes.

My GSs are in ability sets. They have friends across the board, and they work like fury to get into their desired set. So one GS works like mad to stay in top science set (his chosen subjects) this does involve a lot of hard work as he is dyslexic and has out if school tuition and has done so since at primary - the council cut all assistance when he was 7. Last I knew my daughter was paying £48 hr. It must have gone up since then. How unfair for those on low income!!!

I went to school in the late 1940's 1950's, leaving in the summer of 1960!! long before comprehensives! Our son was was at school during the change over,(1975) which had a lot of teething problems which I'm sure have been sorted out long ago!!
As I've said, I totally disapprove of cramming as completely self defeating thank god I wasn't, some I knew were and spent most of their school days struggling.

Thank you Daphne and whitewave, so the demand for grammer schools and the complaint that more academically gifted children are held back just isn't true

I worked up till about 8 years ago as office manager/senior administrator/PA/book-keeper etc and even when I retired £10/hr was an absolute fortune. Locally £7.50 was the absolute max. My pension is now around £125/week. Still the same domestic costs (allowing for inflation) - would be happy to work for minimum wage and would see it as good money!

Daphne,

Corbyn wants to give more power back to the unions

Daft to accuse me of doing the Tories work, I am just putting forward fears of voters , what on earth is the point of a Corbyn is wonderful with no faults exchange of posts.
This will not anyone very far if canvassing for votes will it ?

What concerned me about JC was when asked if he was going to reduce immigration numbers, he gave the typical politicians reply of not answering the question. All he seemed to be saying was he would give more money to areas with high immigration. Bearing in mind that a lot of the country seem to be worried about the numbers of immigrants (but not necessarily about immigration per se) is this policy going to win the votes of people who voted for Brexit, a lot of those concerned with the numbers of immigrants.?

Brown set up a method whereby the areas most affected by immigration received more money to deal with extra school places, extra doctors and hospital beds ( although we know from the evidence that immigrants make less demand on welfare than most)

Tories immediately cut it when they came to power, then blamed the immigrants for the problems

Then they leave the country!!!

Jeremy and the future. What future?

@ab

Theresa May wants to give more power to the unions too, by ensuring that they are represented at board level. This is what happens in Germany and the result is that agreements are negotiated before they reach crisis point.

whitewave, little if anything can be done about people prejudices but I believe dismissing people's fears is unwise and costs votes

I find this a difficult subject but accept it has to be discussed

Many people feel resentful when immigrants are housed whilst they or family members are stuck on the waiting list .

The old - the NHS would collapse if we didn't hsve immigration, this is true but it is a way of dismissing the thousands of immigrants who do not work forthe NHS .

Immigration was the main reason people voted to get out of Europe , the same people will vote in a general election

@foxy

Those people concerned about immigration, but not affected by it, should be asking themselves why they're so bothered. It couldn't be that they're just a teensy weensy bit racist/xenophobic, could it? Maybe they're hiding behind the 'numbers' argument.

Daphne, the third most interviewed person after McDonald and Corbyn is McCluskey , people fear unions with too much power, fact, they don't care what happens in Germany