The govt talks the talk but does it walk the walk?

The New Statesman has done a poll on how Councillors feel about the coronavirus and levelling up.

While Covid-19 would have disrupted the best-laid plans of any government, the verdict of local council representatives on Westminster’s pandemic response reflects the country’s beleaguered state.

www.newstatesman.com/spotlight/coronavirus/2021/04/exclusive-poll-majority-tory-councillors-give-government-bad-marks

There is no levelling up- it was another myth told by this corrupt government- more money has been pumped into wealthy Tory areas than in the old Labour constituencies who were fooled into thinking they would be treated with anything but scorn. Even the new Tory MPs elected are frustrated with the government's cronyism.

There has been a lot of money pumped into the red wall seats, as for the disregard of experienced business people, well we all know how this administration listens to 'experts'. I am surprised that anyone is surprised to be honest.

Incidentally, Andy Haldane is leaving the BoE to become CEO of the RSA. Haldane is an interesting character and this is an interesting move for him.

All promises made before the Pandemic hit us.

When the Covid problems are over the Government can begin to put former plans into action.

Oopsadaisy1

All promises made before the Pandemic hit us.

When the Covid problems are over the Government can begin to put former plans into action.

Do you actually believe Johnson??

There most certainly is no levelling up. New funding formulae for local councils and schools favour those in affluent areas, but the public doesn't scrutinise balance sheets. What it sees is a government spending money on vanity projects and boasting about them. The public also blames the local councils (mainly Labour held) for cutting services, when the truth is that they are having to deal with reduced funding from central government.

Oopsadaisy1

All promises made before the Pandemic hit us.

When the Covid problems are over the Government can begin to put former plans into action.

Oh yes? How long can you hold your breath?

I look forward to the time when this current sleazy administration can no longer blame covid19 for everything that has gone wrong/been found out. When I had covid19, it made my legs ache, caused me to have a high temperature, lose my sense of smell. What it did not do is make me lose my sense of what is right and what is wrong, it did not obliterate the moral code I follow, it did not cause me to cheat and lie. Maybe Johnson had a special variant?

There were reports from before most people had even heard of coronaviruses that Johnson disagreed with Cummings about levelling up the north.

Cummings might be a rat, but he's a savvy political operator, understands what people want and his family is based in Durham.

Oopsadaisy1

All promises made before the Pandemic hit us.

When the Covid problems are over the Government can begin to put former plans into action.

When the covid problems are over the government is going to tell us that there is no money left and that they have to implement tax rises and make swingeing cuts to public expenditure. And sell off even more of the NHS.

The 'public' will lap this up as they persist in believing that a national economy is run on the same lines as a household economy. They will take it on the chin and will duly elect the tories again in 2024/5 because they're so good with the public finances...

It must be marvellous to be in England and see where the tories have gone wrong...here in Wales I need bifocals because the Labour administration has been wrecking everything since devolution and blaming the tories since 2010!

Now they have COVID to add to their scapegoat peg!

All I can say is you’re living in a different Wales to me Pantglas2, I think it’s a great place to live. Not perfect of course, and poor, but there’s no sniff of sleaze.

Pantglas ?
Oopsadaisy you are entirely correct, but Conservative bashers on GN have got the bit between their teeth and are galloping into the sunset eagerly with any tale of government or Johnson ‘wrongdoing’ and will not hear of Covid being terrible economically speaking.Even though it is ( and for all the countries who have helped citizens through it.)

lemongrove that’s an odd comment about COVID, surely nobody has said anything other than that’s it’s terrible economically speaking, of course it is, for the whole world.
We aren’t all galloping off into the sunset rubbing our hands either, some of us do just want a proper investigation and the truth told. I’d feel exactly the same if any party was in power, whether in Wales or the UK government.

Try Betsy Cadwaladr HB for waiting lists under Labour Casdon, pre COVID!

I refer you to MaizieD and her comment above.I expect a further comment on how we should just print money to cover it, how it’s not a household budget blah blah any time soon.
Covid has put any negative effect from Brexit in the shade economically speaking and will take years and years for us to recover. Councillors will always want money for their own areas but it’s a bit early for them to give any government ‘bad marks’.

Good try lemon, but I do understand the economic implications of covid, only a complete fool would not. The point being made was that covid was providing a cover for the inequalities, the corruption, the lies that are not even covered up anymore. I don't know what bothers me more, those who are not interested in the fact that their government are corrupt, or those who recognise it but still try to deflect from the facts.

I suppose, Casdon, it depends whether you accept and don't care that this is a tired government that has been in power too long, has asset stripped the public services without providing any emergency funding and is now run by people who believe their privilege means they can award contracts in a possibly unlawful way and seemingly set up Trusts which are quite possibly donations to the Tory Party without declaring them. Obviously, if you are okay with all this you will want to believe blaming the Tories is misplaced.

The rest would rather have their country run properly and legally.

Yes I agree that waiting lists at Betsi Cadwaladr have been an issue Pantglas2, but there have been huge scandals in England as well (mid Staffordshire, and Winterbourne View spring to mind immediately). I’m not defending areas of poor performance or the part governments play in that.

However, I’d still far rather live in Wales for overall quality of life, and I’m pleased to see that England are now belatedly adopting many of the integrated working practices in the community for health and social care that we do here, which enable people to live in their own homes for longer.

Interestingly, the Tory councillors did not think it too early to give the Government "bad marks" on the fulfilment of the levelling up promise. They did so with a bigger majority than the 2016 referendum which we have had to accept that with no caveats. Now the excuses flow from the Tories on here.

And where do you start, Pippa, with a Labour administration in Wales for decades (under Westminster Labour/Tory&Lib/Tory) which has blamed the man in the moon and his wife for the 3 year waiting lists (pre COVID) in Wales?

I’m Welsh and happy living here Casdon but not blind to the faults of government and happy to call out poor governance whether Labour or Tory -the privilege of being unbiased!

PippaZ why so condescending? I’m a Labour supporter, but I don’t see things as black and white as you do, that doesn’t mean my view isn’t as valid or that I support the government. I believe that without a proper investigation revealing what the facts of the situation actually are, all does is to entrench the position of both sides of the spectrum and alienate everybody who has a different perspective - what’s the point in that?

I don’t know whether you know much about what’s happening in Wales, but the Labour government here has been in place for 22 years, so it’s the same ‘tired’ argument being promulgated by the Tories here. What are we saying, that the power balance should change regularly to keep them sharp?