General Election to be called today?

Sunak was on LBC a little while ago. Goodness, it was bizarre.

Ferrari was asking questions. Sunak was completely ignoring them really, and just kept talking over Ferrari about it being a choice, and how bad Starmer was.🙄

He wasn’t even pausing for breath.😗

Joseann

^Who on earth else is going to pay for it if not the citizens of the country in which they live.^
That's the trouble for me with Labour. They like to bang on and say that it's the wealthy they are targeting, but the real rich won't particularly care much anyway. It is the average hardworking citizen, (like with VAT on school fees), who will feel it most, so just be honest and say.

The "average" citizen can't afford school fees.

GrannyGravy13

Joseann all parties are going to be telling the electorate what they think we want to hear.

Their manifesto’s and promises fly out of the window the minute the winner has the keys to No.10

Labour have promised very little though, which has been one of the major frustrations for the Tories over the last year, because there’s not been much to knock down. I expect a dirty fight now.

Katie590

Whitewavemark2

Also paying for a decent NHS, education, good policing, border control, defence etc. should not be such an alien thing.

Who on earth else is going to pay for it if not the citizens of the country in which they live.

Decent public services makes for a very civilised society.

As long as everyone realizes that improvements are not going be conjured out of thin air, either taxation is going to increase or services are going to be more expensive.

If you think austerity will end, think again.

No I certainly don’t think that austerity will end over the medium term, who on earth can reverse what has been done in short order?

Whitewavemark2

Also paying for a decent NHS, education, good policing, border control, defence etc. should not be such an alien thing.

Who on earth else is going to pay for it if not the citizens of the country in which they live.

Decent public services makes for a very civilised society.

As long as everyone realizes that improvements are not going be conjured out of thin air, either taxation is going to increase or services are going to be more expensive.

If you think austerity will end, think again.

Joseann all parties are going to be telling the electorate what they think we want to hear.

Their manifesto’s and promises fly out of the window the minute the winner has the keys to No.10

Who on earth else is going to pay for it if not the citizens of the country in which they live.
That's the trouble for me with Labour. They like to bang on and say that it's the wealthy they are targeting, but the real rich won't particularly care much anyway. It is the average hardworking citizen, (like with VAT on school fees), who will feel it most, so just be honest and say.

I agree with much of what you say Doodledog - but I think where the NHS is concerned, it’s as much about lack of social care, lack of GP services etc., and, to be honest, the NHS seem to waste a lot of money. The whole thing needs reorganising.

I must admit to caving in with the NHS, to a large extent - I just use private GPs and dentists, but it’s not ideal.

We do need a massive affordable housing scheme started, but no one seems to want housing anywhere near them. So, there’s endless protests. And land, in many areas, is very expensive. Which adds to the costs.

Social housing is not as cheap as it used to be - even if we had more, benefits will still be needed to prop up some people.

All of this costs a fortune, will take a long time, and although we will obviously need to pay more in taxes, I’m already left reeling by the tax I pay lol

Regardless of who wins, I cannot see life improving for most of us, in the short term, anyway.🙄

vegansrock

The country is on the up? Really? Some people believe anything.

Up from an all time low of their own creation!

Also paying for a decent NHS, education, good policing, border control, defence etc. should not be such an alien thing.

Who on earth else is going to pay for it if not the citizens of the country in which they live.

Decent public services makes for a very civilised society.

The downside is that the cost of improving services is going to come out of our pockets
The cost of not improving services will come out of our pockets though. Increased crime, high benefit bills and subsidies to low-paying employers, sewage in the water, lengthy waiting lists in the NHS leading to people paying for operations, NHS dentistry unavailable to the majority of people even though they have paid towards it for years, mortgage rates crippling young families and landlords profiteering from a lack of affordable or social housing - the list goes on. All of that is paid for by us.

I would much rather see the money we are paying being spent on improving people’s lives than on propping up a system that benefits a few at the ‘top’ and casts others adrift. That is the right thing to do, both because a decent society is pleasanter for all its citizens and because none of us knows when we might need a safety net.

Katie590

Labour are going to win for sure, how large the majority will depend whether Reform take many votes from the Tories and SNP taking/retaining seats against Labour.

Whatever the results Starmer has very few short term fixes available, maybe in 5 yrs we will see an actual improvement in the NHS, Water Industry and all the other problems. The downside is that the cost of improving services is going to come out of our pockets

As the cost of feathering the nests of the already wealthy has come out of the electorate’s pockets, I think the majority do understand that putting things right after 14 years comes at a cost.

From what I’ve seen the moaners about a potential Labour government aren’t the ordinary person on the street, but those who see the cash cow which has benefitted them running dry. Sadly, so many of the gainers over the past 14 years have been our age group, and so many of the losers have been the young, who tend more towards altruism.

nanna8

The Labour Party are always full of good ideas but they never seem to be able to manage the economy so people vote them in, they seem to be compassionate and ‘right’ minded but the truth is things for the average Joe Blow get worse, not better. Hope I am wrong but I wouldn’t count on it.

That was what the propaganda led us to believe years ago.

In fact Labours record on the economy is better than the Tories.

I am loathe to say it but with regard to the economy both parties follow the same economic beliefs.

9 am stockpile for 3 months
5 pm everything is on the up!
We know many people believe politicians lies but Sunak is gambling too much on voter gullibility.

Labour are going to win for sure, how large the majority will depend whether Reform take many votes from the Tories and SNP taking/retaining seats against Labour.

Whatever the results Starmer has very few short term fixes available, maybe in 5 yrs we will see an actual improvement in the NHS, Water Industry and all the other problems. The downside is that the cost of improving services is going to come out of our pockets

Wyllow3

Wheniwasyourage

Scottish school holidays will be on then, but stuff the Scots, eh?

Noticed that, can you imagine uproar had he arranged it during English/Welsh school holidays?

Oh I'm sure he did it on purpose, just to annoy the Scots what a ridiculous thing to say. Don't you have postal voting, proxy voting. Does every single Scot leave Scotland during the holidays. Honestly.

Cossy

Urmstongran

Cossy with respect I didn’t say Steve Bray supported Labour.
And I don’t appreciate being told to ‘grow up’.

With respect, Urmstongran, it was exactly what you inferred. He isn’t supported by Hugh Grant, he once played something loud somewhere at the request of HG. Which I also think is childish. Your remark was utterly childish. I don’t appreciate all the remarks constantly directed at anyone who isn’t a Tory, but we have to tolerate them in the name of democracy.

Pot kettle. Many of us don't appreciate the rude comments on here about Tory voters, or rather those who aren't Labour supporters. We have to tolerate it in the name of Democracy though, dont we?

nanna8

The Labour Party are always full of good ideas but they never seem to be able to manage the economy so people vote them in, they seem to be compassionate and ‘right’ minded but the truth is things for the average Joe Blow get worse, not better. Hope I am wrong but I wouldn’t count on it.

Well, I don’t know.

I feel my life, generally, has got worse since 2010. Not everyone will feel the same though.

It feels as though nothing functions well in this country now, especially public services.🤷‍♀️

If Labour win, and nothing is guaranteed, I just hope they do better.

They will never have a better chance - people are sick of the government, Reform will help Labour, by hoovering up a few Tory votes, and the country feels ready for change.🙂

Jaxjacky

The news feeds are buzzing, July 4th mentioned - ironic.

Indeed.
My earworm all evening was "I'm a Yankee Doodle Dandy".
I like James Cagney.

The Labour Party are always full of good ideas but they never seem to be able to manage the economy so people vote them in, they seem to be compassionate and ‘right’ minded but the truth is things for the average Joe Blow get worse, not better. Hope I am wrong but I wouldn’t count on it.

He must have called the election this early because he knows things are only going to get worse. All this spin about sticking to the plan and Labour has no plan is ridiculous when only days ago Labour outlined a 6 point plan- he may not like the plans but they've definitely got plans! I’m not sure what marg75 you are seeing as being “on the up” , but I can see public services struggling, businesses dealing with mountains of new red tape, the water companies bankrupt yet managing to pay dividends and bonuses whilst spewing raw sewage , people struggling paying high mortgages thanks to Lettuce Truss, I could go on - but tell me how we are “on the up? “

Casdon

Casdon

Isn’t it too late now, he’s already seen the King, because he needed his permission to dissolve parliament? Is it constitutionally even possible to oust the leader of a party once the election has been called, does anybody know?

Sorry, that was for DiamondLily.

I wouldn’t have thought you can throw out a leader at this point. I have never heard of this before. Mind you, I’ve never known such a government before, the way they change leaders and oust people!

It’s been nothing but chaos since 2019.🙄

It's not all about believing, it's about seeing.

The country is on the up? Really? Some people believe anything.

LizzyDrip, be scared if he doesn't win, inflation is down, he's tackling, against all odds, illegal migration, we're through Brexit and out the other side, the country is on the up. If he doesn't win, I'm scared we'll all be going backwards again very quickly.