Government watch

There are millions of people called public sector workers who have had less in their pay packets for years

And it hasn't created jobs because it means they can't afford to buy goods and services; which cuts demand and means that the people who create the goods and services can't sell them. so they have to cut back their staff and their spending. It creates a downward spiral.

The alternative is for people to get heavily into debt. The level of personal debt in the country is extremely high. It cannot go on rising for ever.

As far as I understand it on a simple basis, the economy runs on us, the consumer, buying stuff, perhaps stuff that we do not need but feel we must have, objects such as the latest i-phone perhaps. If we do not have much money left at the end of the month,or are on a zero hours unpredictable job, we will not buy that new winter coat, that new bed, that new carpet. Add on the fact that record numbers of young working families are now in precarious, private rented accomodation; they don't spend money on paper and paint, new bathrooms, new kitchens, carpets and suddenly the domestic economy is not looking so good.

So the Repeal Bill is causing a major headache for May.

The devolved governments are accusing May of a power grab, saying that powers that should be going to the devolved governments are remaining at Westminster and so they -the devolved governments- will not provide approval for a legislative consent motion.

May cannot even begin to provide a United front to Brussels - not even amongst her own party..
Anna Soubry commented that May does not seem to understand that everything has changed since June 8th. "She has to step up, if she is going to stay and see this through. She must get fully briefed, and she's got to put David Davis back into his box, and listen to Clark, Rudd, and Hammond.

So we have had nearly a decade of austerity, bringing a huge drop in living standards for the average working family, with inequality increasing, poverty increasing overall, with child poverty the worse it's been since the 30's . All in the name of strengthening our economy.

How successful has this been?

Well it hasn't.

Our economy is in a far worse state now than it was just before the world banking crash.

So looking ahead, the government has been warned by the OBR that Brexit will bring about a fall in growth, and even a small drop will bring a huge increase in the nation's debt burden. This will bring a real existential threat to our NHS.
The Tories will try to blame Brexit but the real culprit is this government economic failures and the last 7 years of poor economic performance.

I despair at what we see going on. Housing is a huge problem. I know that a mortgage is in most instances cheaper or as cheap as rent - it certainly is as far as those in our family are concerned - maybe it is time for some rent controls to be brought back in.
In that first programme about the Landlords - the young fellow was so proud of the fact that he alone was responsible for putting up the local rents by £100 a month as after he tried it and still managed to rent out all the other landlords followed suit - then you saw the poor woman who had to find the extra £100 a month and the problems it gave her.

Any slack people had in their budget has been taken up with the rises and no wage increase - just an awful situation for so many people and it is stagnating the economy as Gill pointed out.

And don't forget social housing investment was wiped from the Tories QS.

At one time I didn't really believe that MPs could be in such a bubble that they didn't understand the lives of others. But they really don't ... They may empathise with what they hear or try and explain why for instance, as a nurse, you are just a cog in the economies wheel and that we feel some human sympathy (possibly), if you are struggling while you watch a small percentage have more than they will ever need but they will keep talking about "the economy" as if it is a living god. This is a god whose needs come above the needs of those it is supposed to serve. "It" sends down from on high a way of living that ensures the robes and living of its high-priests are sumptuous while its wage-slaves starve and these high-priests warn us of swarms of locusts, plagues and floods (or the modern equivalent) if we don't continue to maintain this religion.

There are also people in the general who choose not to understand the disparity of lives and appear not to be aware that it is this religion that makes or breaks our lives not people making bad decisions (and obviously not the ones they would ever make) or having bad luck(obviously nothing that would every overwhelm them).

This is not just a lack of empathy - although that seems to be part of it - it is also a sheer lack of knowledge of the world we live in and an 'I'm alright Jack and I did it all myself' mentality.

Good post gg

That's an interesting perspective. How should the economy work? What would help people understand about it?

gg I think the coordinated market economy goes a long way to answering those problems.

Have I just become your tutor Primrose? I would like my share of what the lovers of the so called market economy have put in place, in that case. (without the market being created noticeably). So, shall we say, what, a fifth of the going rate of £9,250. Your sort of politics dictates there will be know knowledge gain that you can't pay for or earn, I believe.

CMEs certainly encourages patient capital whitewave and we could sure do with some of that to get our industries going. It also seems more honest than the suggestion that 'trickle-down' will occur as the backers of a liberal-market economy would have us believe.

Mind you, I think some people would take some convincing. After all May thinks (thought?) only she could provide stability and I wonder if we could persuade people to look past her to those stable CME run ones? And there are the long-term relationships you need to form. The Tories can only see about a week in front of them at the moment so again some convincing to be done re long-termism.

On the other hand you might will persuade those who liked what they have heard Corbyn talk about and if these are the young/well-educated/well travelled voter we have been told have supported him I rather think a quick look at Germany's manufacturing might convince them.

Fri 14-Jul-17 14:31:31 know no

Get a grip gg. I didn't know you're an advocate of tuition fees! That's not my kind of politics. I'm surprised it's yours.

That's not my kind of politics.

You do surprise me.

One explanation for Mays disastrous election result can be found in the recent report highlighting how the young have faired since this rabble of a government came to power 7 years ago.

The under 35sare now frozen our of the home ownership market by low wages and high prices overwhelmingly voted for Labour. They are the only group whose income has failed to reach pre-crises levels.

The middle to low income families have seen their living standards only rise by 3% since 2002, and once housing costs were taken into account were no better off than they were 15 years ago.

The wealthy have after taken dip from 8.5% to 7% at the time of the world crises, now see their share of total national wealth rise once again to 8.5% of national income.

The greedy old dears who overwhelmingly voted Tory know which side their bread is buttered. Their income has grown in real terms by 30%

The greedy old dears who overwhelmingly voted Tory know which side their bread is buttered. Their income has grown in real terms by 30%

They're going to get a nasty shock when the Brexit that they also voted for really gets a grip...

"One explanation for Mays disastrous election ..."

Not just a disastrous election wouldn't you say whitewave but she has been very much a disaster all round.

One explanation I keep seeing in the articles on the phenomenon of May is that her analysis of the problems is generally correct but the solutions offered are, as Stephen Bush in the New Statesmen describes them, thin gruel.

If we just look at the recent analysis of working practices she seems to have recognised the issues with these. Your typical Tory will ignore these problems and the fact that such workers are paying little in tax and just chime out the usual mantra of low unemployment and the memory of economic growth going hand in hand with 'self-employment' growing into greater employment all round. May saw the problems in the insecurity, the lack of sick pay, parental leave, and the lower than minimum wage pay that is often earned, the almost Victorian attitude to workers by many of the platform 'employers' and the fact that these workers cannot 'grow' their 'company'.

There is also much comparison between the extremes of her initial popularity and Blair's, both followed by equally extreme unpopularity verging on hatred from some. To make this more obvious May used an ex New Labour advisor to report on this. Just as New Labour under Blair did, he brought out a 'let's not frighten the horses' report which was almost more insulting than not recognising the problems in the first place.

In the same way May talks about housing - but nothing gets done. In 1992 (John Major) half of all voters owned a home. Today it is just under 20% - why would they vote for what is, if it is anything, the party of property. If she had believed the High-Tories would listen she may have been able to convince them that these problems exist and that people will rebel in every way possible if they are not address properly but she knows they will not hence the election called, not as she declared, but in order to keep this part of her party in place.

May's policies are thin in the extreme. They will probably win over some of the Blairites as there are real comparisons between them but they will not resolve the problems of this country and, I would suggest, her attitude to leaving the EU will only serve to make it all a great deal worse.

We need boldness at this point - I have seen a little from the left but it still seems to be lacking all round when it comes to our Brexit problems.

Good post gg

The FT are reporting that e Tories fear a descent into chaos over a leadership battle.

They are reporting that Tory ministers are on manoeuvres as May limps towards the summer recession. There is a real chance of a Tory civil war breaking out between Brexiters and Remainers.
The 1922 club had hoped to avoid this chaotic disaster by keeping May in position, but it all seems to be falling apart because of one thing. Ambition.

There is talk of Davis and Mitchel having dinner with May telling her she is dead in the water.
Other hopefuls are going out for drinks and meals trying to drum up support.

I look forward to the summer with interest

The hapless TM is putty in the hands of the barmy brexit brigade who need her to carry the can as the disaster unfolds, but the sensible faction in the Tory party are gathering strength. Watch this space

We ought to have a sweep for Tory leader.

So Davis - not bright enough
Johnson - to daft
Fox - hmm enough said
Loathsome - No!
Hammond - bit too grey
Rudd - too identified with May
Hunt - I'm beginning to scrap the barrel now
Gove- even he has put himself out the running in the past as unsuitable.

I know!! Moggie absolutely ideal! A loony Brexiter, who is totally out of touch with the majority of the UK population with a vastly privileged background that makes him eminently suitable to understand nothing whatsoever about anything very much.
He would be a gift for the opposition.

I don't know who plays Gove on Dead Ringers but it is brilliant.

Apparently many knives are out for Johnson.

What an almighty mess the Tories have got us into. I hope they are never forgiven for the risks they have taken with the country.

What a mess they have got themselves in as well! I can't ever remember such a chaotic time for any single other government.

We grannies have lived through some interesting times but I cannot remember such a pivotal time in our lives. It does seem perplexing that many old folk were fooled into supporting the lies of the brexiters, which will hurt their children and garndchildren. I'm sure that was not their intention.

I am an optimist by nature but not a blind foolish optimist who just think things will always turn out for the best. A lot of decent people believed the lies of the leave campaign and some still cling to the hope that brexit will not be the disaster we fear.

I would like to believe that too, but the best hope for the UK would be for us to admit, as soon as possible, that we, collectively (37%of the electorate) made aterrible mistake. We can never get such a good desl from the EU by leaving as we have nowas members.