Watch the press get their knives out!

I would like the press to give equal opportunities for parties other than Tories and Labour to talk about their aims and manifestos. Not give so much time to Reform and more to the Greens.

Be great if there was just a press and political broadcast blackout until July 3rd! For me this is worst part of the election process and every time it seems to get more and more “Americanlised”

The influence of the press is overstated these days.

I honestly do not know why Sunak puts himself through all this stress. He has enough money to retire for the rest of his life. We need someone in charge who knows how the other half live. Sunak has no idea and neither have all the other cronies in parliament and don't talk to me about the old codgers in the House of Lords who were never elected but still have input, get them out. I think we would be better off voting for the Wombles of Wimbledon if they were still around, they couldn' do any worse than this lot. Some people say, oh goody, goody, we got the triple lock pension rise but what good is it when the personal pension tax has been frozen until 2028. I pay tax because I have small private pension on top of my state pension because we were told many years ago to save for a rainy day and now that rainy day has arrived I am worse off than people on benefits as I pay for everything, glasses, dental treatment, they have even stopped some of my prescriptions because many of them are now over the counter so I have to pay for them when they used to be free. I have not seen a doctor since I had Double Pneumonia four years ago and even then it was the hospital doctors I saw as my doctor could not see me as there were no appointments so was told to go to A & E. I was in hospital for two weeks.

God, I detest politicians and their underhanded ways.

Not much point in giving lots of air time to the LDs, Greens, Reform as they are not likely to be in government unless the LDs throw in their lot with the Tories again.

I thought the LDs much prefer to work with Labour?

Thank heavens for the mute button. I’m sick of it already.

ronib

I thought the LDs much prefer to work with Labour?

I've tried googling but nothing as yet. I cant see LD being willing to go into a coalition with the Conservatives. I'm sure there will be some tactical voting however to keep Conservatives out.

Surely the greatest danger for the conservatives is a split vote due to Reform?

Lib Dems and conservative? 2010 Nick Clegg leader of LD became deputy PM to David Cameron PM

Wyllow3

ronib

I thought the LDs much prefer to work with Labour?

I've tried googling but nothing as yet. I cant see LD being willing to go into a coalition with the Conservatives. I'm sure there will be some tactical voting however to keep Conservatives out.

Surely the greatest danger for the conservatives is a split vote due to Reform?

Davey seems quite enthusiastic about Starmer, so that coalition would be the only likely one. They won’t touch the Tories with a barge pole, after the last one.

www.newstatesman.com/encounter/2024/03/ed-davey-liberal-democrats-labour-starmer-fighting-conservatives

Veery interesting article.

Please dont depress me more. I am just clinging on with Starmer, the thought of the lib dems joining labour would be the end of my patience.

We need someone in charge who knows how the other half live. Sunak has no idea and neither have all the other cronies in parliament

I'm never quite sure who the other half refers to 🤔

Who are "they", exactly?
Of all the millions of us in this country, we are not split into two halves, nor were all MPs, Tory or others, born with a silver spoon in their mouths.

It's a divisive statement but in fact quite meaningless.

After the disaster of Johnson and Truss at least Sunak stabilized the economy, he took on the poisoned chalice that nobody else wanted.

Why did he do it, personal ambition I guess, obviously he can earn far more as a banker with far less hassle, obviously a wealthy politician is going to be accused of not understanding everyday issues, we will see if Starmer makes a real difference to low income groups.

Galaxy

Please dont depress me more. I am just clinging on with Starmer, the thought of the lib dems joining labour would be the end of my patience.

My feelings exactly.

Galaxy

Please dont depress me more. I am just clinging on with Starmer, the thought of the lib dems joining labour would be the end of my patience.

Well, publicly, Starmer has never agreed to working with the LDs in any way (e.g tactical voting or not pushing a Labour candidate where the LD is likely to beat the tory). though I,m sure it may have happened on an unofficial level. But a hung Parliament could narrow choices.

LottieLouise I didn't mean to sound grumpy and probably took that one sentence out of context.
I hope you're feeling better now and wondered if you can speak to a GP and tell them you need these medications on prescription?

I agree about Sunak and wonder why he hasn't left politics by now. He must feel he has something to offer.

Callistemon21

^We need someone in charge who knows how the other half live. Sunak has no idea and neither have all the other cronies in parliament^

I'm never quite sure who the other half refers to 🤔

Who are "they", exactly?
Of all the millions of us in this country, we are not split into two halves, nor were all MPs, Tory or others, born with a silver spoon in their mouths.

It's a divisive statement but in fact quite meaningless.

👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

I'm not looking forward to a Labour government with any great confidence unless they change their economic strategy. Reeves is supposed to have said that she is a Keynesian. There hasn't been any evidence of it so far, but perhaps she's not giving the Right any ammunition. We know how potent the 'how are you going to pay for it?' question is, however galling it might be when it was Keynesianism that brought us the NHS and a post war rise in prosperity...

I meant to say that what I am looking forward to is the demise of the tories...

I like Rishi Sunak. I think he is genuine and has inherited a bad track record from the Conservatives. In the short time he has been chancellor and Prime Minister I think he has done a good job.

As another poster said, he doesn't need to do this job. I think he is ambitious and this is driving him. He didn't come from a wealthy background. His background was not dissimilar to Maggie Thatcher's - correct me if I am wrong.

I find Keir Starmer very unappealing. He changes his policies at the drop of a hat. He is also wealthy. He looked like a rabbit in the headlights when he was on TV last night.

All parties need to stop their infighting and dedicate themselves to the job.

The polls predict Starmer with an outright majority but it’s not a done deal.
There are a lot of voters that are not keen on Starmer as others have said a lot will depend on what Reform and SNP do

Ilovecheese

I would like the press to give equal opportunities for parties other than Tories and Labour to talk about their aims and manifestos. Not give so much time to Reform and more to the Greens.

So you don't like freedom of speech. I believe Reform are beating the Greens and the Lib Dems in the polls. Should they not be given air time because you don't like them. Obviously many people do.

Starmer background

"He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme in 2019: “My dad worked in a factory, he was a toolmaker, and my mum was a nurse, and she contracted a very rare disease early in her life that meant she was constantly in need of NHS care.”
Net worth 7.7 million

Sunak background

" His father is a general practitioner in the National Health Service. His mother was a pharmacist and owned the Sunak Pharmacy in Southampton between 1995 and 2014."
Net worth: 651 million