Starmer's speech 27th Aug 24

Starmer has said the budget will be painful but it will effect those with broad shoulders more.
He has also cancelled Sunak's helicopter that he spent thousands on flying more than any other PM.
I will wait to see who will feel the pinch after the budget.

Guardian article dated 23/08/2023, regarding the cancelling of Helicopter Contract last year

This PM is no different to any other, he makes promises he know he cannot keep…

AGAA4

Starmer has said the budget will be painful but it will effect those with broad shoulders more.
He has also cancelled Sunak's helicopter that he spent thousands on flying more than any other PM.
I will wait to see who will feel the pinch after the budget.

Lies from Starmer then, already cancelled.

If he's lying about the cancellation of the helicopter contract, how are we supposed to believe that he didn't know about the "black hole"?

Not neccessarily, article said the contract out to tender wouldn't be renewed but helicopter transport for the PM + defence minister would be provided by other means. Maybe Sunak was still using a HMG helicopter regularly & this is the one Starmer cancelled?

Starmer and his defence secretary, John Healey, have decided not to renew a contract for helicopter transport which is due to expire at the end of the year after it was extended in 2023 at Sunak’s personal insistence.
The former PM used government-funded helicopters on several occasions while in office, even when train travel would have been almost as quick, using them to travel to events in Southampton, Dover, the West Midlands and Essex.

The Guardian article is there for all to see…

Unlike them to get something wrong?

This is the transcript from Starmer's speech today which gives details not the bits people are, inevitably, picking out.

www.gov.uk/government/speeches/keir-starmers-speech-on-fixing-the-foundations-of-our-country-27-august-2024

I believe there was/is a black hole, and policies that just try to paper over it for "good"publicity will not do us any favours. Sunak was making promises that were unfundable at the election.

I Player:
"Speak to Labour officials who have spent the summer at work in Whitehall and they bristle with palpable anger at what they have uncovered".

I ask, what would a conservative government have done?

Whitewavemark2

Starmer and his defence secretary, John Healey, have decided not to renew a contract for helicopter transport which is due to expire at the end of the year after it was extended in 2023 at Sunak’s personal insistence.
The former PM used government-funded helicopters on several occasions while in office, even when train travel would have been almost as quick, using them to travel to events in Southampton, Dover, the West Midlands and Essex.

It's still appearing as up to date news.

Labour has reportedly axed the private helicopter service favoured by Rishi Sunak to save the taxpayer £40million.

The “grossly wasteful” contract was scrapped by defence secretary John Healey just weeks after coming into office.

In 2023, Mr Sunak reversed an initial decision to stop leasing the two Augusta Westland helicopters.

But according to The Sun, Mr Healey has since decided not to renew the £40million contract, with a government source saying it “became a symbol” of the previous government.

The deal with Sloane Helicopters, as well as another five-year contract, have both been axed.

Also I think the "Black Hole" is not just a matter of previous government not telling general public about it (of course they wouldn't)- the office for budgetary responsibility & other advisories didn't know which is unusual & meant Labour had incomplete info when they were writing their manifesto. Remember we were all surprised when Rishi called the election for july when things seemed to be possibly picking up & september was expected? Maybe "BH" couldn't have been stuck in a cupboard till then.

WWM's
In 2023, Mr Sunak reversed an initial decision to stop leasing the two Augusta Westland helicopters

Is what is being reported.

So the 2023 Guardian article must have come at the point of the initial decision to stop before Sunak reversed it.

Its in the UK Defence Journal from today
ukdefencejournal.org.uk/starmer-cancels-40m-government-helicopter-contract/

The helicopter has been cancelled so I am glad about that whenever it was done. I am more concerned about the 'painful' decisions Labour say they will make and the affect on all of us. Things will get worse but for whom?

AGAA4 he has already started on the pensioners, and he has not fulfilled his commitment to lower all our energy bills.

I think we should all be worried about the coming Budget…

I thought the speech was sombre, but so are the circumstances we are in.

I'm not sure what the point was, really, as KS couldn't say what the budget will hold, but I came away with the feeling that he is a safe pair of hands. I'd rather be told the truth, whether that is palatable or otherwise, than be assured that all is well when it's not.

I think the PR has been disastrous up to now. Cancelling the WFP so early in the day has set up a lot of people to be resentful, and that was predictable, so could have been avoided. It's never a good idea to lead with bad news, as people don't listen to what comes after. They are too busy processing how the bad news will affect them to care about other ideas, however good they might be.

I don't know how the WFP news went down with younger people, though - maybe it has signalled a willingness to equalise support across generations. Where pensioners have more coming in than families there is no obvious reason why they should get a subsidy, but the starting point for Pension Credit is too low. IMO the State Pension is too low. psychologically it is much worse to have something taken away than not to be given it in the first place.

That posted too early - I was trying to edit the end so it doesn't make sense, but I'll leave it there.

GrannyGravy13

AGAA4 he has already started on the pensioners, and he has not fulfilled his commitment to lower all our energy bills.

I think we should all be worried about the coming Budget…

I am worried GG 13.

GrannyGravy13

AGAA4 he has already started on the pensioners, and he has not fulfilled his commitment to lower all our energy bills.

I think we should all be worried about the coming Budget…

I think the completely unthought through measure of linking WFP to pension credit is just the start. I volunteer with a local disabled charity - helping to complete disability benefit claim forms. There is a palpable atmosphere of fear at what may be coming. The perception is that if they will do this to the poorest pensioners, they won’t have any compunction when it comes to doing similar to disability benefits. To be honest it’s hard to disagree.

Starmer has said that the broadest shoulders will bear most of the burden, but he’s indicated that everyone will have to contribute something. Given that he’s already said that he doesn’t consider those who have savings to be ‘working class’ I think we all need to brace for impact.

Doodledog

I thought the speech was sombre, but so are the circumstances we are in.

I'm not sure what the point was, really, as KS couldn't say what the budget will hold, but I came away with the feeling that he is a safe pair of hands. I'd rather be told the truth, whether that is palatable or otherwise, than be assured that all is well when it's not.

I think the PR has been disastrous up to now. Cancelling the WFP so early in the day has set up a lot of people to be resentful, and that was predictable, so could have been avoided. It's never a good idea to lead with bad news, as people don't listen to what comes after. They are too busy processing how the bad news will affect them to care about other ideas, however good they might be.

I don't know how the WFP news went down with younger people, though - maybe it has signalled a willingness to equalise support across generations. Where pensioners have more coming in than families there is no obvious reason why they should get a subsidy, but the starting point for Pension Credit is too low. IMO the State Pension is too low. psychologically it is much worse to have something taken away than not to be given it in the first place.

I agree. Linking the removal of the WFP to pension credit is lazy. PC is there to support the poorest of pensioners, so now we’re back to cliff edge means testing - those a few pounds over the threshold will lose out on hundreds in support. Not only that but I wonder whether Reeves has figured out yet that those pensioners who do qualify for PC will actually be better off than some who won’t qualify for the WFP because of the low threshold. It seems perverse that this hasn’t dawned on the very person in charge of the country’s finances !!

I don't think for a minute that the LP is out to get pensioners. Maybe they don't see pensioners as a protected group, though. The Tories did, as they got voted from pensioners, but realistically, there is no reason why subsidies should be given to one group and not others with the same income.

The pension should rise, as should benefits for those who can't work, and IMO those who could work but choose not to should also have to pay into the system (with safeguard in place). As things are, there are too few contributors for the number of recipients of all ages. The SP in itself is not enough to live on, which is not right, but as long as working age people can opt out of making financial contributions to society there will not be enough to increase it.

Until that happens, those (of all ages) with savings and incomes will have to carry the burden. It's not fair, but means-testing isn't fair. The trouble is that the alternative is to have people going cold and hungry if they haven't provided for themselves, and who wants to see that?

Everyone should be able to pay in, so wages need to rise so that people can survive with enough left over to pay taxes, even if they are relatively low. Minimum wage is not enough to live on either as rents are so high, so wages need to rise, and rents need to be controlled. I hope this is something that is in the budget. Yes, it will mean that those who have paid low wages and those who charge high rents will lose out, but there is no reason why anyone should get rich because taxpayers money subsidises their profits.

Ensuring that everyone contributes will mean that everyone has a stake in society, which might improve morale and cut down on the sort of disaffection that led to the riots.

My hope is that this is the sort of thing that Starmer is planning. Not by taxing working people more, but ensuring that they are not carrying too much of the burden of the welfare state. With that in place, there should be enough to pay a decent pension so that pensioners don't need extra payments.

This government has not been power long but already I can smell the sickly stench of corruption. Inflation busting pay rises being thrown at members of unions which are big contributers to the party. Meanwhile pensioners – who have paid in for the last 40 odd years and saved a modest amount – get shafted. There was nothing about all this in their manifesto otherwise I wonder who would voted for them. No, I didn’t vote for these shysters.

In the last few weeks Starmer has axed WFA, slashed MPs expenses, cancelled the Helicopter trips and promised a tough budget stopping the previous waste.

He’s my kind of PM, if I have to pay tax I want it spent properly not gifted to those who already have enough

GrannyGravy13

The Guardian article is there for all to see…

Unlike them to get something wrong?

They didn't get it wrong, Sunak later insisted the decision was reversed.
www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/labour-helicopter-rishi-sunak-b2602220.html