Labour Party Conference

Really the people who swallow this 'necessary austerity' claptrap fascinate me. It's the best sales job I have ever seen.

Snap! trisher

I understand that even the IMF is rejecting it....

I didn’t hear that Paddyann, why would Kerr be surprised !

trisher I didn’t say that no library branches have closed,
But in most places there are still open libraries, even if some have closed or slimmed down hours.
Schools, hospitals and the police are still operating, honestly you would think Armageddon had arrived to see what some people write on here.
No, trisher the amazing thing is that after a huge financial crash some seem to think everything should be able to carry on as normal!
OldBatty bank closures have zilch to do with austerity
measures. The rise of Internet banking has contributed to that.Banks are there to make money.

Sorry Gill but at times you sound very naive indeed.

I'm sorry, lemon but you're the one who is sounding very naive.

You (and I have to say, a lot of other people) have swallowed hook line and sinker the myth that a national economy is like a household economy. On the whole, economists will tell you completely differently.

Here are a whole lot of economists telling you it's not:

duckduckgo.com/?q=is+the+national+economy+like+a+household+economy&atb=v128-7__&ia=web

And here is a Nobel Laureate economist telling you about the 'austerity delusion'

www.theguardian.com/business/ng-interactive/2015/apr/29/the-austerity-delusion

(Forget that it's in the Guardian; the message is important not the media that carries it)

As far as the everyday economy is concerned it doesn't matter if it is the government spending money on public services; the thing that matters is that there is money circulating in the economy. That people are being paid wages which they can spend on goods and services, thus keeping businesses going and which eventually returns to the government by way of tax (because just about every transaction is taxed). Government spending on nationalised industries also benefits the private businesses it deals with directly (because all nationalised industries and public services, such as education, buy from private business) which also means money circulating in the economy and a return by way of the tax take. Money spent by the government is no different from money spent by private companies or individuals. There's no special 'government money' which is somehow inferior to 'private' money.

And this is not some batty leftie idea. It has perfectly respectable origins in Keynesianism (which drove recovery from the 1930s Great Depression)

I could critique tory 'austerity' (and some on here have pointed to its failures) but I won't because economic theory should be neutral. But plenty of economists have done so.

Well Annie I see labour are adding Catholics to their hit list! Andy Kerrs remark to a questioner in the auditorium yesterday has had widespread coverage in the Scottish press.With the religious divide being what it is/was in thes part of the world and Labour traditionally having the catholic vote you could say they've shot themselves in the foot AGAIN.Confirmed by George Galloway who tells that Kerr was appalled when he found out Galloway was in his words "A FENIAN" Labour wont win back their Scottish voters after this .

I was in a branch of my bank today. Not my branch of course, as it has shut down. It was quite an unpleasant experience. It was a relatively simple thing, which had been done at my local branch before. " No they couldn't do it. We don't do that here"
Sickening really.

lemon Everybody I know ( up and down the UK) has a library service
Well 478 libraries have closed since 2010 and 8000 staff been lost. I suppose the people most affected are those you don't know-you know the poor working class people!
www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/dec/15/tories-libraries-social-mobility-conservative
Really the people who swallow this 'necessary austerity' claptrap fascinate me. It's the best sales job I have ever seen. The Conservative party do not believe in public services, they would prefer a smaller state and less intervention. And austerity has given them the opportunity to pursue their belief and sell it to others as justified. The amazing thing is that people bought it!!!

" everything is booming" possibly for a very tiny minority.

No joke Gill
Austerity measures because of the financial crash have meant cuts to public services as we all know, but you really must be living in la la land yourself if you think Corbyn and pals will mean cushy living.
Everybody I know ( up and down the UK) has a library service, has a working police force, have hospital appointments.Granted, I don’t know anybody who is in prison, perhaps you do.
Do you think we should have spent our way out of our troubles years ago?
It was always going to take a very long time to get out of.
Being concerned about others less fortunate is not the exclusive preserve of Corbyn supporters btw.
The economy is slowly getting better, more people are working and yes, plenty of people are managing and doing very well.
Austerity was worth it and was neccessary.
If Corbyn ever gets into power no doubt every neighbourhood will have every single thing that it needs,(including rainbows and unicorns.)
Sorry Gill but at times you sound very naive indeed.
You say you are not talking about jobs or industry?! The very things that will make the UK do well.
We won’t agree, that’s for sure.I can live with that.

Also, although like many on here, I am lucky enough to own my own home, have no significant health problems ( sorry, oldbatty), have no need of help from social services, no need of the prison service, and touch wood, no crimes requiring help from the local police, I do realise that this is not the case for many others around me. Being safe and healthy in my own home does not stop me from being concerned about those who are not so fortunate, being able to buy my own books does not make me any less angry at the closure of my local library. I do hope you were talking tongue in cheek lemon, otherwise I would think you are rather smug and perhaps a little 'I'm alright Jack' in your attitude. But hopefully you will come back and explain that it was all a misunderstood joke on your part.

Contrary to what MaizieD and others of the same ilk would have you believe, vast swathes of the UK are doing very nicely,

The South Midlands is not 'vast swathes of the country', though it might be in your alternative universe, lemon.

I am not talking about industry or jobs Lemon as you well know. If you are living in La-La Land doing uk in the sunny West Midlands, we can only assume that you have no need for social care, no need for a GP appt, no burglaries or crimes necessitating calling the local constabulary, no children or grandchildren in underfunded schools, no pot holes, ample rural bus services, lashings of parks and public libraries........really? We are all perfectly entitled to our own opinions on whether or not austerity was worth it or even necessary, but please don't try and tell us you have not been inconvenienced or noticed the impact.

I am a happy bunny , Carwyn Jones is loaning his vote to Eluned Morgan so she can stand in the Labour Welsh leadership election, there were four men who declared they would stand, two stood down to give Eluned their support.

I want to mail the male AM’s and remind them it’s 2018 not 1918. Anyway I am back to canvassing, Eluned won’t win, a female leader of Welsh Labour? She has more chance of flying to the moon. She has my vote and support.

Contrary to what MaizieD and others of the same ilk would have you believe, vast swathes of the UK are doing very nicely, not everywhere of course, but that has always been the case.

Gill I live in the South Midlands, everything is booming here, where do you live?

Where do YOU live lemon?

I suspect that lemon lives in a parallel universe.

Personally I want Dwr Cymru to remain privatised , have no experience of trains since privatised but certaintly remember how dirty they were before.

I agree with lemon that McDonnel is sinister, I really do dislike him, but I have to strongly disagree with Nationalising everything and generally destroying everything that has been built up since the financial crash. Where do YOU live lemon? Every public service has been decimated by the Tory administration, without exception. Schools, NHS, prisons, Police, Social Services.......name one that has been built up? I haven't yet watched all of the conference, just heard a bit on Radio 4, but I am aghast at just how out of touch even Labour politicians are. I heard all these big promises about renationalisation/deprivatisation of the water industry. That is of absolutely no bloody help to young families who cannot afford decent long term homes for their families. In this household so far ( mixed ages) there is nothing but grave disappointment mixed with anger.

Corbyn has experience of performing for the camera

Something he’s had to learn recently. He shunned the media before.

It is sinister when he does it that way . It was amusing when SKY put subtitles on for a repeat of the applause for McDonald , Corbyn telling him to move forward for a better photograph, then telling him ‘wave John ‘ . Corbyn has experience of performing for the camera

Built up?

Like the NHS has been built up?

Like education has been built up?

Like the police force has been built up?

Am I missing something here? ???

McDonnell gave a speech using his softly spoken avuncular act, which is more sinister than anything else.When he was praising and hugging Corbyn on stage DD ( also watching)
Said ‘ Get a room!’ [ grin]
What Macca would like to do seems to be to take us back in time, to a time where the Unions ruled the roost and were wrecking the country.Nationalising everything and generally destroying everything that has been built up since the financial crash.
Have to hope the voting public see through it.Us oldies are not entirely naive and stupid.

What the hell was Carwyn on about, I wanted to thump him, Corbyn doesn’t come to Wales, he and Corbyn do not get on.

Think it was a party political broadcast for Wales, there is to be a new leader end of year.

If Labour abandoned N.I, shame on them

The First Minister for Wales has just referred to JC as the "next Prime Minister of Britain." Is this a clue that Labour is prepared to abandon Northern Ireland for the sake of a Brexit deal?

John McDonald is acting on advice from Gordon Brown and thanks him for the advice !