Britain is Broken protest in London

Let’s try and think about this empirically that is evidence based. Where to start? Maybe with the list of election promises set out so eloquently by Boris Johnson. Easy enough to gauge progress or not…. If no action, then who would have failed to implement them? Maybe the Civil Service as administrators?

To suggest that ‘ The government is therefore a sort of facade or almost shop window for the bureaucracy to govern as they wish!’ is a flight of fancy.

Aaah. Put that way I understand

I wonder why that poster's husband retired early.

MaizieD

Casdon

Are you off on a flight of fancy? Saying that the civil service are in charge of the country not the government is as deluded as Boris Johnson saying at COP that it was 40 degree temperatures that cost him his job as PM. Clearly people who say that have never worked as public servants, and certainly never in the civil service.

Are you taking a narrow view of what comprises the ;civil service', Casdon?

If the state funded administrators and workers aren't keeping our poor country ticking over, who is? Because it certainly isn't the government...

There’s a difference between administration of the country, which of course is the responsibility of the civil service and the rest of the public sector for their remits, and making the decisions about policy which the public servants have to adhere to MaizieD, that was the point I was making, perhaps not clearly enough, sorry. To suggest that ‘ The government is therefore a sort of facade or almost shop window for the bureaucracy to govern as they wish!’ is a flight of fancy.

Nan0

Corban supports Iran , for this reason he will never get my vote

It is Corbyn. Not Corban.

JenniferEccles

What are they protesting about this time?
No more oil, no more gas?
‘Savage Tory cuts’?

I suppose poor Londoners should be thankful they haven’t glued themselves to roads, stopping everyone going about their business, or dangling from a bridge over the M25, bringing the motorway to a close like before.

With any luck the torrential rain would have sent them scampering.
Every cloud eh?!

Straight out of the RW tabloids there. Why not have a read about what these myriad groups were protesting about? Some of it, in fact most of it, will affect you and your life. NHS cuts, austerity, global warming etc. It's a good job some people care, even if you don't. Read, educate yourself, listen to people, you may be surprised. The women who went through dreadful treatment in prison in order that you got the vote Jennifereccles probably upset and annoyed people too

Husband ex civil servant took early redundancy … can’t say why!

The ecorabble have blocked the motorway today in some pointless protest about oil, the UK IS phasing out Petrol cars what else do they expect to achieve.
Or do there lunatics expect to move food around using hand carts

Yes, government ministers are totally dependent on the civil service - without them nothing would happen.

Corban supports Iran , for this reason he will never get my vote

Casdon

Are you off on a flight of fancy? Saying that the civil service are in charge of the country not the government is as deluded as Boris Johnson saying at COP that it was 40 degree temperatures that cost him his job as PM. Clearly people who say that have never worked as public servants, and certainly never in the civil service.

Are you taking a narrow view of what comprises the ;civil service', Casdon?

If the state funded administrators and workers aren't keeping our poor country ticking over, who is? Because it certainly isn't the government...

The Fixed Term Act was repealed by the Johnson government a couple of years ago.

Parliaments are still limited to a maximum term of 5 years, but a PM can call an election at any time. The current government won't call a general election because it knows it will be trounced, with, on current polling, the tory parliamentary party all but disappearing.

I think that rejecting a whole movement because it has an association with someone one disapproves of is sad.

The people who marched care deeply about what our country has become and the adverse effects it has on many of its citizens. I think this is a perfectly legitimate reason for protesting.

Are you off on a flight of fancy? Saying that the civil service are in charge of the country not the government is as deluded as Boris Johnson saying at COP that it was 40 degree temperatures that cost him his job as PM. Clearly people who say that have never worked as public servants, and certainly never in the civil service.

I live in blissful ignorance. Stopped watching the news (never any good news).

Agree. The coalition government, encouraged by the Lib Dems, ensured a fixed term parliamentary system. We presumably have to sit this government out? I tend to share the view that it doesn’t really matter who has parliamentary power as this country is being administered by the Civil Service. The government is therefore a sort of facade or almost shop window for the bureaucracy to govern as they wish!

The problem is for me is Jeremy Corbin jumping on the bandwagon as usual. While many of the aims of this protest are laudable, having rent-a-mouth there puts me off. I can’t forget his eagerness to do away with our nuclear deterrent, his appearance at a Palestinian rally, his non attempts to stamp out anti semitism in the Labour Party etc. Although I am by no means pro Tory, his left wing politics are far too much for me to countenance. Obviously many of my fellow citizens feel the same, as his party suffered a trouncing in the last election! He set the Labour Party back years and it is a position of inadequacy they still hold IMHO. They lead the polls at the moment, true, which is only to be expected with no other real choice around and people being desperate! Sad, as now more than ever we need a credible alternative to our present government and I am not at all sure we have one.

Well at least it shows our dissatisfaction about how the country is being governed, what do you suggest Prentice we all sit back and just let them carryon thinking what a great job they are doing. No party could do worse than this one

The Rejoin march was also ignored by the media, despite around 50,000 people attending in London.

Grantanow

I doubt the demo will result in a General Election. It's simply not in the Tories' interest to call one and that is where the power of decision lies.

Exactly, do turkeys vote for Christmas? Any amount of protests will not result in a general election.All it does is sow dissension and anger and clog up, city centres.
Quite honestly, at this point in time, no political party could easily solve all the economic problems.

I agree Grantanow. No party in government will call for a general election when the odds of them winning are stacked against them.

Barmeyoldbat

They might have no choice. JenniferE. It’s a combined protest, protesting about everything that is wrong with the way this country is being governed, the complete waste of millions, no billions, made by the Tories and how the public are having to pay the price for their incompetence.

Tens of billions

Barmeyoldbat

They might have no choice. JenniferE. It’s a combined protest, protesting about everything that is wrong with the way this country is being governed, the complete waste of millions, no billions, made by the Tories and how the public are having to pay the price for their incompetence.

This is the point Barmeyoldbat (your user name does tickle me!).

It is always the same story. Government waste and incompetence has a price tag, and the payment of it always falls on the shoulders of those who are least able to bear it. Whether it be wage stagnation, cuts in benefits or (yet more) cuts to public services, those on modest to low incomes will, once again, be expected to bear the burden, after years of austerity introduced during the Cameron / Osborne years.

Tory chancellors seem to believe that they should never let a crisis go to waste and use it as an opportunity to further shrink the state and make cuts to public spending. Well even the long-suffering British public who mostly moan and complain but do little more than that, have had enough, clearly.

We can all tighten our belts, live within our means, budget carefully and 'manage'. We've done it - for years, yet here we are again, but I don't think the public are buying the "all in it together" rallying cry this time round.

The Tories, over the last six years, have absolutely, beyond doubt, shown themselves to be both corrupt and incompetent.

They might have no choice. JenniferE. It’s a combined protest, protesting about everything that is wrong with the way this country is being governed, the complete waste of millions, no billions, made by the Tories and how the public are having to pay the price for their incompetence.

Our so called democracy is a total farce - a fraud perpetuated by the UK establishment including the right wing press and the broadcasters.

I doubt the demo will result in a General Election. It's simply not in the Tories' interest to call one and that is where the power of decision lies.