Where would you begin if you were the next government?

1 negotiate with all striking and settle it.
2 pass a law that all private dentists must take 10% NHS patients to be 50% children
3 abolish uni fees for teachers dentists doctors nurses midwives
4 increase Personal allowance for pensioners
5 increase tax on large businesses
6 deport all economic migrants withdraw appeal rights for those
7 employ more workers in immigration to speed up paperwork
8 Allow and encourage migrants to work part time and adjust benefits while awaiting decisions
9 increase funding for schools
10 revert to matrons and training nurses on the job like SEN SRN years ago. All these managers are costing too much.
That's it for now

Katie59

I’m sure the top 1% do pay 30% of the taxes quite rightly, it’s the next 20% of the population that are wealthy and don’t need state help but take everything the welfare state offers.

What do you call wealthy. Lets have a definition. Anyone earning above 80,000 or higher. Again they pay taxes, at 40% they may use private health care, pay again,or private education, pay again. They are taxed as the tax law stands.
They can't claim benefits, child benefit not avaliable to them. They have paid more into the system than low paid workers, who are able to get benefits, Unless you're single with no children of course. Politics of envy.

I would start by making as sure as possible that all members of the Cabinet were able to distinguish between truth and lies and stick to telling the truth. After that I would want to ascertain that each Minister actually had some knowledge of his or her ministry's concerns and the ability to listen and take the advice of the competent civil servants in their ministries.

After that it would be time to start reducing poverty, increasing employment and starting to deal with the environmental issues.

Unfortunately, I doubt, whoever comes into power will be able or willing to do any of the above.

I would force the sale of all second homes and empty homes. That would free up so much accommodation.
I would ask people who had been affected by violent crime - knives, drugs etc - to go into schools and talk to the older children in graphic detail, hopefully making them stop and think.
I would make Natural History part of the school curriculum.
I would bring back some kind of national service (not necessarily the military but instead perhaps some kind of social or environmental work).
I would ban children under 18 from having smartphones.
I would close down certain websites.

Start sending 'illegal' immigrants back to their own countries and stop spending the millions if £s spent housing and supporting them, to the detriment if our 'own'. Make sure anyone from overseas wanting medical help from the NHS pays BEFORE treatment - so much money is never refunded, e.g. the quadruplets born here with, as publicised, a wealthy father back home! Also foreign aid as paid to India, who can afford to have their own space programme!
No one Government can be accused of the state of the Country, there is good and bad in all Parties.

kittylester

First thing the next government should is to admit that the NHS as it was initially conceived is not fit for purpose and should be totally rethought for the age in which we now live. There should be more computerisation and far fewer 'managers'. It should not be a sacred cow which noone dares to dismantle.

Totally agree with you. The services the NHS provide must be revised. Also wastage on procurement needs to be looked at.

If I were the next government I would begin with a root and branch reform of the tax system - closing up loopholes etc. This seems to me to be the soundest and fairest way to provide the funding needed to turn around the failing state of our precious public services such as NHS, education etc.

I would start with education and put lots of £ into poorer areas where children lives are difficult. Working in a deprived area like that needs the most caring teachers. And they need paying properly. In the earliest years of their lives these children in this sort of area need Surestart to be brought back. Health visitors giving children books who might never see one ( it used to happen, I'm pretty sure it doesn't happen now )
Re the NHS. I remember the wonderful Sir Gerry Robinson did a tv programme that asked if the NHS could be saved. He examined it very carefully and spoke to all levels of workers. His ideas seemed pretty sound to me. Perhaps the Minister for Health might give it a glance. People are dying unnecesarily because they are not getting the treatment they need ( my friend's husband is a case in point, he died recently because 111 mismanaged the situation. He did finally get into a hospital, but died on a trolley)
All the things people are mentioning here like tax and housing are very important, but if we don't give our children the best start in life what future is there ?

Well - I don’t know I’m sure- I remember the mess left by each Labour government- have we forgotten the stranglehold that the unions had over the Wilson/Callaghan governments? It took Maggie Thatcher to release us all from their grip. She of course was felled by the poll tax. All governments seem to end in a mess. So when the opposition takes over, everyone has a chance to throw brickbats at them - will make a change anyway.

Goodness only knows. Our health, education, housing, transport and justice systems are all on their knees. Where to prioritise, especially when there are quite justifiable demands from all these sectors?

If Labour gets in - which I hope they will, though I am no longer a member of the Labour Party - I really don't envy them.

I'm quite sure Labour will win the election.

However I wouldn't want to be in their government.

They promise plenty but it will be very hard to deliver. Especially in the first term

What we will hear endlessly, is they have to cope with 12 years of Tory mismanagement.

Fair enough , but it's not going to be a picnic for them.

53Maggierose

"Abolish the right to buy
Abolish the 2 child benefit cap
Bring back rent controls
Renationalise water"

I'd like to add:
Invest in public transport
Build council houses
Abolish housing benefit that goes straight to private landlords
Press ahead with plans for new towns, Great British Energy and reforming the House of Lords

I feel so sorry if Labour win the next election because they have the most difficult job to get this country on its feet again heaving to deal with the dreadful mess the Tories will have left I their wake.

Greyisnotmycolour

53Maggierose

"Abolish the right to buy
Abolish the 2 child benefit cap
Bring back rent controls
Renationalise water"

I'd like to add:
Invest in public transport
Build council houses
Abolish housing benefit that goes straight to private landlords
Press ahead with plans for new towns, Great British Energy and reforming the House of Lords

Housing benefit, tax payers money paying for someone to have a home. More rent arrears since tenants have had Housing benefit straight to themselves.
26,000 arrears in Lincoln,from tenant who had housing benefit paid directly to him.
I rented out once,never again, would rather sell up.

If Labour do get into government, where on earth would they start…….. ?
Hopefully with the problems of the NHS

“That is why a core component of my platform is a comprehensive cross-party review of future NHS and social care funding, aimed at creating a stable cross-party consensus for the future. We have kicked the can down the road for too long in this area, and it is essential that our next leader takes up the challenge and converts the excellent thinking that has already been done into practical action.”
Rory Stewart June 2019

If you read his latest book ‘Politics on the Edge’
you too might feel might feel he is the man for the job !
Divisive yes but hugely talented.

Stop sticking our heads in the sand and order a Royal Commision re the NHS. All governments are too scared to do anything to sort out the mess which it is. Show some guts. Throwing money at it doesn't work it just disappears into a deep hole and nothing improves or even changes. Just admit it.

Oreo

In the sense that she isn’t an MP I should imagine.

Maybe in the sense that no one would want to elect her?

albertina

I would start with education and put lots of £ into poorer areas where children lives are difficult. Working in a deprived area like that needs the most caring teachers. And they need paying properly. In the earliest years of their lives these children in this sort of area need Surestart to be brought back. Health visitors giving children books who might never see one ( it used to happen, I'm pretty sure it doesn't happen now )
Re the NHS. I remember the wonderful Sir Gerry Robinson did a tv programme that asked if the NHS could be saved. He examined it very carefully and spoke to all levels of workers. His ideas seemed pretty sound to me. Perhaps the Minister for Health might give it a glance. People are dying unnecesarily because they are not getting the treatment they need ( my friend's husband is a case in point, he died recently because 111 mismanaged the situation. He did finally get into a hospital, but died on a trolley)
All the things people are mentioning here like tax and housing are very important, but if we don't give our children the best start in life what future is there ?

I could not agree more.

A blanket approach to train more staff for the NHS is not the answer. There are plenty of staff already and plenty of training places.
What we lack is training placements (enough clinical areas where nurses and doctors can be placed to complete their clinical competencies).

Trainee nurses in particular often find themselves travelling nearly a hundred mile round trip (every day) to get to their allocated placements. I spoke to one trainee nurse recently who is at university in one city but is travelling to another 50 miles away for her placement. She doesn't drive so relies on public transport or lifts from fellow trainees who may be on the same shift as her in the same hospital. She said she was thinking of moving back home because the distances she needed to travel would be the same (from a different direction) but at least she would have comfy bed, not be disturbed by fellow students on a different course who have different lecture pattern and be looked after by her Mum who she knew would feed her! She also said her Dad would probably take her to and from placements a few days a week as well. I can't fault her logic.

By centralising university training for nurses we often expect them to travel to different counties for their placements because we don't have enough clinical placements for them.

We then need to look at how best to support the staff we have, get the long term sick back to work and then look at the gaps.

nanna8

Stop paying the pension to everyone without a means test. That would raise a lot of money which could go to the NHS. That’s what we do and, painful though it is, it saves heaps.

Why? If we have contributed all our working lives!
Stop allowing all these illegals into this country & help our own homeless, people, some who have fought in the wars under Blair & for what? Who can’t can’t house but will house all these migrants, it’s shameful!

Juniewoonie

Goodness I wouldn’t know where to start - immigration, NHS, energy costs, the economy! All huge issues with no easy fix. I’m guessing Labour might be the next government and I do wonder exactly what their plans are, they’re playing their cards close to their chests at the moment. It’s certainly easier to be in the opposition.

No better than the tories, no doubt!

SuperTinny It's good to hear from somebody who appreciates the problems "on the ground". As users (patients) of the NHS, I expect we've all experienced problems and I expect many of the staff are frustrated by them too. It would be ridiculous to re-organise the NHS completely because the cost and issues caused by re-organisation itself would be horrendous. However, I do think there should be more opportunities for people who really do understand the systems to have a say and make practical suggestions for improvement.

growstuff

SuperTinny It's good to hear from somebody who appreciates the problems "on the ground". As users (patients) of the NHS, I expect we've all experienced problems and I expect many of the staff are frustrated by them too. It would be ridiculous to re-organise the NHS completely because the cost and issues caused by re-organisation itself would be horrendous. However, I do think there should be more opportunities for people who really do understand the systems to have a say and make practical suggestions for improvement.

Here’s a Practical Solution

More money to employ more nurses, nothing is going to change until staffing levels are increased.

Mt61

nanna8

Stop paying the pension to everyone without a means test. That would raise a lot of money which could go to the NHS. That’s what we do and, painful though it is, it saves heaps.

Why? If we have contributed all our working lives!
Stop allowing all these illegals into this country & help our own homeless, people, some who have fought in the wars under Blair & for what? Who can’t can’t house but will house all these migrants, it’s shameful!

Yes we have contributed but the level of service we need is far in excess of those contributions, we have been relying on contributions from younger workers to fill the gap, now there are too few of them and too many of us receiving care and pensions.

Katie59

growstuff

SuperTinny It's good to hear from somebody who appreciates the problems "on the ground". As users (patients) of the NHS, I expect we've all experienced problems and I expect many of the staff are frustrated by them too. It would be ridiculous to re-organise the NHS completely because the cost and issues caused by re-organisation itself would be horrendous. However, I do think there should be more opportunities for people who really do understand the systems to have a say and make practical suggestions for improvement.

Here’s a Practical Solution

More money to employ more nurses, nothing is going to change until staffing levels are increased.

Well, yes, that would be an excellent start!