What is wrong with this government?

Shylindyloo

I didn’t realise this Forum was so political.

I would say give Rishi a chance.

Heaven forfend if Stammer gets in at next GE

You are in News and Politics. What do you expect?

More of us should take an interest in politics, rather than just ignore what is happening. Labour has a very tough job if they want to make massive changes. Where will they start?

It’s a constant curiosity that some people just don’t see the connection between 12 years of austerity and Tory misrule, and the fact nothing works any more.
Phone the DWP, wait 20-40 mins to speak to an assistant. They can’t help despite the gov.uk website says call the number. Yiu call another number and repeat the experience.
Blame the staff, I certainly wanted to then I remembered the way our government told us it was saving money by ‘getting rid of pen pushers’.
They’d be the clerical staff who used to have to answer calls from the public by 12 rings.
You couldn’t make it up.
And where is the government ?

Iam64

It’s a constant curiosity that some people just don’t see the connection between 12 years of austerity and Tory misrule, and the fact nothing works any more.
Phone the DWP, wait 20-40 mins to speak to an assistant. They can’t help despite the gov.uk website says call the number. Yiu call another number and repeat the experience.
Blame the staff, I certainly wanted to then I remembered the way our government told us it was saving money by ‘getting rid of pen pushers’.
They’d be the clerical staff who used to have to answer calls from the public by 12 rings.
You couldn’t make it up.
And where is the government ?

Iam64. agree 100%

Nor can I understand how some people just don’t get it!

Shylindyloo

I didn’t realise this Forum was so political.

I would say give Rishi a chance.

Heaven forfend if Stammer gets in at next GE

Really? What is he going to do that the Conservatives haven't already done?

Give our taxes away?

My Tory MP has just sent me Christmas greetings - whoopee!

He has regaled me with all the wonderful things he has done for the constituency - and all of them are true - he is an excellent constituency MP.

Do I ignore it, or write back and acknowledge the good things he has done but tell him there is not a cat in hell's chance that I would vote for him as long as he belongs to a party that has presided over this shit show and that cares not one jot for those who are disadvantaged?

I don’t know. You need a new government but looking at Keir Starmer I wouldn’t be confident he would be any better. Why is he a Sir ? Can’t you get someone without that rather obnoxious title ?

In France, wouldn’t people be rioting? Just saying.

Shylindyloo

I didn’t realise this Forum was so political.

I would say give Rishi a chance.

Heaven forfend if Stammer gets in at next GE

You didn't realise that a topic under "news & politics" was so political?

Sunak is being given a chance, and we are holding him accountable. Considering his economic decisions will affect us all I don't see why we shouldn't question them.

What calamities do you anticipate with Starmer? He'll find it difficult to do any more economic damage than has already been done by Truss and Kwarteng.

I’m not sure why anyone would be scared of Starmer. I’m not a particular Labour supporter, but I think he comes across as sincere, honest and capable. I think he would make a good PM. I’m all for reforming the HoLords , taking utilities into public ownership and cleaning up our environment. Sunak is proving to be weak and has surrounded himself with the same old incompetents as before- Shapps, Coffey, Braverman , Gove etc., so no real change there.

Catterygirl

In France, wouldn’t people be rioting? Just saying.

More gumption and less willingness to put up with rubbish ?

The French are always rioting. It’s their default position. The first time I visited Paris 35 years ago, there was a full on demonstration.
I am enjoying a bit of quiet government here after the turbulent times of the last few years. I just hope it is effective and we move on as a country.

GagaJo

Shylindyloo

I didn’t realise this Forum was so political.

I would say give Rishi a chance.

Heaven forfend if Stammer gets in at next GE

Really? What is he going to do that the Conservatives haven't already done?

Give our taxes away?

Some people automatically say that about any Labour leader… heaven forbid this country should be run by any party other than Conservatives. And they rarely say why…..

Now then, Iam64 that is a very good question ' What policies would I want from a new party?' I would need to think long and hard about that. Currently both parties are so dull and one gets the feeling that we're just travelling along the same lines as we have travelled in the past. The Tories should be ashamed of 12 years of stagnation in the economy. As to Labour, they have proved that in the past, they can't be trusted with finance, leaving the coffers empty at their last departure.
I wish I was qualified to suggest policies . Radical ideas are needed to 'wake up' politics and we need leaders with some umph!!

gangy5, Labour didn’t wreck the economy. In any event, look at what a mess our economy is in now, particularly after Liz Truss/kwarteng’d crazy scheme.
The last Labour government led to improvements in public services. The last 12 years has seen our public services devastated.
Starmer’s Labour Party has a more positive approach, recognises the benefits to societies where governments invest in public services. This Tory government invests in its wealthy friends. Shameful

Gangy5: So soon do peop[le forget. The 2008 financial crash was caused by US hedge funds. Two years later, the recovery had begun under Gordon Brown, but more time was needed. Which was stopped by the Tories taking over and doing things 'their way'
So please stop denigrating Labour who have had no say in the economy since. And when they did produce a well costed radical solution it was driven down by lies from the media

Iam64

gangy5, Labour didn’t wreck the economy. In any event, look at what a mess our economy is in now, particularly after Liz Truss/kwarteng’d crazy scheme.
The last Labour government led to improvements in public services. The last 12 years has seen our public services devastated.
Starmer’s Labour Party has a more positive approach, recognises the benefits to societies where governments invest in public services. This Tory government invests in its wealthy friends. Shameful

We still don't know what gangy5 actually wants from a government, apart from some 'umph'...

Come on, gangy, 'policies' are just 'things you would like to see the government do', you must have some thoughts about that?

It would be nice if people would stop telling us that Labour left the coffers empty. It is completely untrue and unfactual. Do you believe in facts, gangy?. Because, the fact is that if Labour hadn't acted promptly when the banks were on the verge of failing in 2008 an awful lot of people like you and me would have found ourselves with completely empty ban accounts. Imagine waking up and finding that all your money has vanished...pouf!

nanna8

I don’t know. You need a new government but looking at Keir Starmer I wouldn’t be confident he would be any better. Why is he a Sir ? Can’t you get someone without that rather obnoxious title ?

He is. 'Sir', nanna8 because he was Director of Public Prosecutions. It was a 'reward' for doing the job. It's the very lowest of the titled 'honours' that anyone can get and there are a great many of them around. Quite a few MPs are 'sirs'.

It's really quite insignificant and I don't think many people give it any thought.

Iam64

gangy5, Labour didn’t wreck the economy. In any event, look at what a mess our economy is in now, particularly after Liz Truss/kwarteng’d crazy scheme.
The last Labour government led to improvements in public services. The last 12 years has seen our public services devastated.
Starmer’s Labour Party has a more positive approach, recognises the benefits to societies where governments invest in public services. This Tory government invests in its wealthy friends. Shameful

recognises the benefits to societies where governments invest in public services

This is the crux of the matter for me - our public services are all heading down the drain, because the concept of service is lost on the Tories - they are there to feather the nests of their rich mates.

Decent public services are the mark of a civilised society. WE need to have a government who knows that fact.

The Right always come out with the same theme... regardless of who leads the Labour party.

"God help us if Labour get in"; "Labour can't be trusted with the economy"; "the Left will bankrupt the country", etc, etc.

Yet here we are, after years of Austerity faced with another round of Austerity. So with all this Austerity - this Tory 'fiscal responsibility' why are we in an economic mess?

The government haven't managed the economy at all, they have allowed money to be sucked out of it - we all know the details. Two right-wing ideologues - before they were stopped in their tracks - were about to borrow £70 billion to give tax cuts to the already wealthy. £70 billion. That announcement meant that the BoE had to take unprecedented action to prevent a run on pension funds which would've created mas insolvencies.

And now we're faced with huge public spending cuts - that's our NHS and all the other social and welfare services that we rely on - together with increased taxation... wait for your next council tax bill...

"Oh, but the pandemic - not their fault". No, but (a) they were ill-prepared because to be prepared required funding, (b) not a few made a packet out of contracts 'fast-tracked' to questionable organisations / companies, and (b) the NHS bore the brunt of the crisis - having been starved of funding and resources for years.

But, yeah... Labour, eh? Can't trust them with the economy... right?

GMS

I am so sick of the lack of money provided for public services and am all for nationalising( is that a word?)many of the privatised services. Its not enough to say 'we have given them this much, that much, however much'. Government needs to say 'how much do you need to provide a well run efficient service?' and fund it! Im very angry and sad atm having been in hospital a&e recently with a suspected heart attack(thankfully not one) after an hours wait for an ambulance and I am currently waiting for an ambulance with my DD who had a fall last night. It has now been 16hrs since we first rang and they are still too busy to get to her. Many ambos are stuck at hospitals waiting to offload because there arent enough staff or beds to cope with the patients already inside. I would take her myself but she is unable to be moved without agonising pain and needs trained help and pain relief. I shudder to think how a more frail person would be coping at thus point. Im not running down the NHS, I had the privilege of working for it for over 20 years but it needs more funding to continue the fantastic service it was, needs to be, wants to be.

We now have for profit companies running care placements for adults and children. Social care services in the community also ‘for profit’. This means carers don’t get paid for travel time, only for face to face client contact. They’re often given mins per visit time.
Local authority services may not have been perfect but were so much better than the profit making companies. Home helps were an army of women who laid fires, made cups of tea and most importantly, befriended. Same with meals on wheels drivers. No reply to them resulted in a duty social worker calling to make sure the client wasn’t collapsed on the floor.
It’s about people

Mikkima

I am so sick of the lack of money provided for public services and am all for nationalising( is that a word?)many of the privatised services. Its not enough to say 'we have given them this much, that much, however much'. Government needs to say 'how much do you need to provide a well run efficient service?' and fund it! Im very angry and sad atm having been in hospital a&e recently with a suspected heart attack(thankfully not one) after an hours wait for an ambulance and I am currently waiting for an ambulance with my DD who had a fall last night. It has now been 16hrs since we first rang and they are still too busy to get to her. Many ambos are stuck at hospitals waiting to offload because there arent enough staff or beds to cope with the patients already inside. I would take her myself but she is unable to be moved without agonising pain and needs trained help and pain relief. I shudder to think how a more frail person would be coping at thus point. Im not running down the NHS, I had the privilege of working for it for over 20 years but it needs more funding to continue the fantastic service it was, needs to be, wants to be.

I'm so sorry about your daughter. You are doing the right thing by not moving her - especially if she is in pain.

16 hours waiting, and I suppose they have told you not to call again to find out where you are in the queue?

My partner also had a fall (a few, actually) and all you can do is make the person as comfortable as possible. But it's not easy for the person who's fallen and in pain. I really hope you don't have to wait too much longer.

nanna8

I don’t know. You need a new government but looking at Keir Starmer I wouldn’t be confident he would be any better. Why is he a Sir ? Can’t you get someone without that rather obnoxious title ?

Why don't you look it up?

I hope your ambulance has turned up by now, Mikkima.

It's all very depressing, isn't it? Nothing seems to work any more - doctor's appointments, the post, the trains, the NHS, ambulances, border control, the banks, buses, planes, nobody ever answers the phone any more and I'm tired of speaking to computers. You name it, it's broken.

I agree with those who say we need a General Election but I read that one of those can take 10 months to organise. Ten months! We need a quicker fix than that.

I wonder who the ultimate shareholders are of the Cayman based coal mine contractors?