Whoever wins the election, faces managing horrific debt!

DiamondLily

Smileless2012

Also help with energy bills.

Yep, because of the Ukraine/Russian conflict, fuel bills were propped up, and then there was the cost of living handouts.

There’s not a money tree - all this increased the debt.

I’m not saying any of it was wrong, but it hasn’t helped.

You wouldn’t think people would need reminding about what’s happened to affect the economy and debt here, but apparently they do.

LizzieDrip

I agree with the comments above but, of course, KS and the Labour Party will, no doubt, be vilified when they don’t make everything better overnight. I’m sure there are many in the country, including here on GN, who can’t wait to stick the knife in.

Tbf posters have stuck the knife into the present government for ages.
I think it’s a mistake for Labour to have the mantra Change! As for one thing change is only good if it’s better, and change will be hard to put into action.
Therefore people will expect change from the outset.

Dinahmo

Another thing - stopping the large lifetime payments to former PMs would be good - or possibly reduced to a specific number of years. I think that Truss is claiming the expense allowance for public duties for former PMs

Wasn’t it Margaret Thatcher that introduced all of those things?

It was introduced for Thatcher but not by her I think. The Tory party were grateful for what she did for them. Having introduced it, the allowance had to continue.

Given that her dementia started towards the end of the 90's and she declined quickly after Dennis' death in 2002. She did not die until 2013 so it would be interesting to know whether she continued to receive expenses. I would assume not, but who knows?

maybe you should remember the debt the labour party left was around 800 million ...now its over 3 TRILLION .sure theres been a pandemic but how many BILLIONS were handed over to people recklessly...Michelle Mone ,Dido Harding etc.
I wouldn't trust a tory with my kids pocket money never mind the countries finances .Anyone who does ...need s to give their head a wobble!!

paddyann54 exactly the point of the post! During the last 14 years there have been numerous examples of reckless spending with public money which the Tories are still doing now! It is fascinating how people will justify this claiming that despite the facts, highlighting this huge overspend is merely election attack!! Do people not understand economics? The country is more than broke thanks to horrifically careless/naive/stupid policies and granting government contracts to Tory donors for 14 years. Sadly headlines win over common sense - as Murdoch knows to his advantage.

During the last 14 years there have been numerous examples of reckless spending with public money which the Tories are still doing now!

I am half inclined to agree with this, but, with public services falling apart for deliberate lack of government spending on them I'm more inclined to say that government spending has been woefully misdirected in the interest of government 'small state' ideology, 'austerity', and, as made clear by the pandemic spending, blatant cronyism and corruption.

Rather than focussing on the 'debt' itself I think we should be asking why government has increased the debt with little tangible benefit to the UK. and judging it accordingly.

The country is more than broke

As usual, I would point out that aa government which has the power to issue its own sovereign currency cannot become 'broke' because it is highly unlikely to renege on its 'debt'.

Common sense' prompts me to ask why people and institutions are keen to hold 'government debt', in the form of bonds and government savings vehicles?

The answer being that they know it is the safest form of saving for a guaranteed return in the form of interest payments and with the knowledge that their principle will be repaid to them any time they ask for it back. The holders of government 'debt' don't aren't very kindly lending their money to the government, they view it as a very safe way of saving. Some even see it as a good opportunity to speculate through the secondary bond market...

Do people not understand economics?

Well, if they see a national economy as being the same as a household or company economy they clearly don't understand economics...

What the red wall voters want, in my humble opinion (I’m not a red wall voter) is immigration to be properly controlled and I have little confidence that a Labour government will deliver that to them. Neither did the Conservatives and so I think they’re on to a hiding to nothing. Labour will deliver what middle class Labour voters want, but there’s little hope for red wall voters whichever party they vote for.