Has our country ever been in such a state?

I've been asking myself this question for a few months now. I cannot remember anything close to current mess, other than the TORIES AGAIN with their incompetence triggering the three day week and associated inflation unemployment blackouts etc! We never learn do we? Tories are for the Tories and that's all folks!

Fashionista1

If you watch the TV broadcasts all you hear is how bad this Government is and there has been a constructive witch hunt to bring down our Prime Minister amounting to bullying. I think people should consider whether those parties (if they were parties) were that serious in the scheme of things bearing in mind the apology. We shall see. I would say that taking this country into an illegal war resulting in many deaths by Tony Blair, and the signing out of the Treasury by Labour leaving a note saying There Is No Money Left and Gordon Brown selling off our gold assets at the bottom of the market are much more serious. I really think people should be careful what they wish for.

Just taking a coffee break from doing tax returns so haven't got the time to counter your statements in detail. Basically you've got it wrong. Hopefully someone else will take up the cudgels.

I've got James O'brien on whilst I'm working and am having difficulty not crying

M0nica

It doesn't matter that there is no obvious replacement for him, anyone, but almost anyone, would be better than having our country represented abroad by a serial liar and cheat who looks permanently as if he has slept under a hedge and is probably on something addictive.

I know he has a proper home together and has no addictions, but that makes it worse, that he doesn't need either to look as if he does

You don't actually "know" anything about him. We know what he wants us to know. Proper home? No addiction habit? Watch this space

This treatment of MP's by the Whips office has always gone on by all accounts. Strange that it's suddenly acquiring so much prominence.

Oh but it's an email to BJ's PPS not to the Great Leader himself: it was obviously never drawn to his eagle-eyed attention so he could have dealt with it using his extraordinary attention to detail - an oversight while they were all saving the nation from Covid, Brexit, etc.: simples!

Oop north in my town we have had labour councils for maybe 20 years after decades of lfip flopping between lab/Con. Last con MP sacked for corruption (shock horror) we now have a fantastic very high profile MP who's seen in and around town frequently lives in area and is sooo approachable it's bonkers! He's engaged and fights like mad for his constituents , last open meeting he attended was a full house held I a local community hall he was great! Supporting our cause to the hilt. "How does he find the time?" "Is he not in the House much?" I hear some wonder. Well he's Sir Lyndsay Hoyle, so you tell us here in Lancashire?

Unfortunately you get what you vote for. Why anyone would have trusted the tories Is beyond me. But they’ll still vote for them again.

And as an add-on our town is smart clean refuse collections amazingly efficient various projects of improvement under way and visible efforts to improve the lot of the town centre too and council tax affordable and always have been under labour. No complaints from me....

crooks in suits is often quoted. someone may enter politics with good intentions but get sucked up into the culture of it.
ever noticed how politicians talked in a clipped manner, never answering the questions, often not blinking.Only a certain type
personality would enter politics,It is well documentated the ammount of sociopaths etc are in the arena. we have a prime example in the usa -trump and russia- putin. We are are run by a bunch of power hungry maniacs. I have no idea how good people get into positions of power,i don't think anyone else has either!

To answer the original question, yes the country has been in crisis several times. Remember the three day week (Jan 1974) and the winter of discontent (1978) both caused by various factors but mainly union led strikes. The three day week resulted in a general election, hung parliament, the Conservatives losing their majority in the house. After the winter of discontent, the next general election (1979) resulted in a landslide win for the Conservatives with the slogan 'Labour isn't working'. Politics is a crazy business.

When the Lights Went Out in Britain: The Story of the Three Day Working Week
historyhit.com

Now there is social media and the instant "news", there is trial by knee-jerk reaction. Much better to wait a few hours or days to ascertain all the facts, pro and contra, and form a balanced opinion of your own. If you wish things weren't as they are, then just be careful what you do wish for.

Mummer

Oop north in my town we have had labour councils for maybe 20 years after decades of lfip flopping between lab/Con. Last con MP sacked for corruption (shock horror) we now have a fantastic very high profile MP who's seen in and around town frequently lives in area and is sooo approachable it's bonkers! He's engaged and fights like mad for his constituents , last open meeting he attended was a full house held I a local community hall he was great! Supporting our cause to the hilt. "How does he find the time?" "Is he not in the House much?" I hear some wonder. Well he's Sir Lyndsay Hoyle, so you tell us here in Lancashire?

That’s great to hear !

My local area has been staunchly Labour for many years. Cuts in funding have been applied by the Conservatives every year. The Council has done an excellent job in trying to minimise lack of cash by becoming as efficient as possible, but they have just about reached their limits now. People are suffering because of the lack of funding, especially in Social Care.

Yes I definitely think things have been worse and Couid be worse lol
I remember the the electricity strikes and when I was little that meant we only went to school a couple of days a week. And the time after I was married when our mortgage rates went up so much we were desperately struggling to pay our mortgage and in negative equity.
Yes there’s a big scandal over the lock down parties etc but on the positive side, the pandemic seems to be waning, so unless some one else eats a dodgy bat or plays with some virus in a lab and let’s it escape, things might be on the up !

MerylStreep

I assumed it’s always been this way. I’ve never had very high expectations from the majority of MPs or those within that circle.

I agree. It's always been this way we're only able to find it out because of spyware, digital advances and people breaking confidentiality for various good or selfish reasons.

Should whips have this power? To take away what has been given?

YES! What about the Bliar/Brown era followed by the labour leader who preceded Kier what's his name. Was not that era shameful enough? Is it not said, Let he who is without shame cast the first stone.

MrsBoot

This treatment of MP's by the Whips office has always gone on by all accounts. Strange that it's suddenly acquiring so much prominence.

What appears to be different now is that the whips haven't before threatened to withdraw, or withhold, money from the MP's constituency if the MP doesn't obey the whip. Their usual 'inducements' have been to 'suggest' that the MP won't be in line for any promotion, or to reveal episodes in their life that they wouldn't care to be made known.

Withholding money from constituencies is completely unacceptable.

We deserve so much more than this shower of a Government. They lie about everything from the economy to Covid. The parties have been a disgrace, truly awful given what they put us through.

Now we hear they threatened MPs with taking away funding from their constituencies. It's time for them to go, every last one of them and to have honesty and integrity brought back to our country.

Regarding blackmail, I thought that Andy Burnham with Manchester’s businesses suffered at BJ hands when there was lockdown. The surrounding towns were threaten with, they would not have any help if they continued not to agree with the government and Manchester was held up as an example.

Why does anyone vote Conservative? Perhaps they remember Tony Blair and the war. Not to mention Dr Kelly. Read up on it it's fascinating.

sazz1

Why does anyone vote Conservative? Perhaps they remember Tony Blair and the war. Not to mention Dr Kelly. Read up on it it's fascinating.

Gosh. I’m sure most of us hadn’t heard about that! Thanks for informing us.

I have disagreed with many governments but have never before believed that we had a government which was deeply corrupt.

I feel sorry for Scottish voters who have remained loyal to the Conservatives. They now know that the leader of the Scottish Tories is considered to be a lightweight by a senior member of the government. Regardless of what I think of Douglas Ross this shows great disrespect for the office he holds. Add to this the behaviour of the PM when Blackford speaks at PMQs and
the argument for independence must be growing stronger by the minute. On top of everything else, I fear for the state of the union.

Do I believe this government is corrupt? Yes. Do I think other government members haven’t been equally corrupt? No, I just think that there wasn’t the facility for us to find out stuff so quickly.