Well if Labour keep this up I think I’ll be voting for them at the next GE!

Re. the comment on foreign aid.................

A lot of aid is used for soft diplomacy with various countries, particularly Commonwealth.

The Foreign Office policy statement 2022-2024:
Championing 7 key initiatives that matter to our partners.
We identified 7 initiatives, critical to delivering the Strategic Development Goals, on which the UK wants to make a difference. They are:

1.reforming and greening the global financial system – to ensure the international financial institutions and capital markets are better equipped to meet the needs of developing countries in dealing with the economic, debt, climate and nature crises.
2.championing global efforts to make global tax systems fairer – ensuring revenues and assets lost are identified and recovered, so countries can self-finance their development
3. delivering clean, green infrastructure and investment through British Investment Partnerships, by leveraging the support of capital markets and the private sector.
4. conducting a campaign to improve global food security and nutrition, including increasing the availability of malnutrition treatment and prevention, driving the shift to sustainable agriculture, making greater use of research and development, and anticipatory action on famine risk.
5.delivering a global campaign on ‘open science for global resilience’, ensuring low- and middle-income countries have access to knowledge and resources for progress.
6. catalysing international work to prevent the next global health crisis, brokering more ambitious international agreements on pandemic preparedness and response, strengthening health systems, driving more equitable access to affordable vaccines, drugs and diagnostics, and tackling antimicrobial resistance.
7. coalescing a collective response to the accelerating, well-financed and organised attacks on the rights of women and girls, including online. Working to improve education, health and rights, support empowerment, reduce gender-based violence, and amplifying the role of women’s rights organisations.

LizzieDrip

OMG FriedGreenTomatoes😱 I need to go and have a lie down after reading your post🤣🤣🤣

There’s a long way to go before next GE but… fair play to yer!

😂😂😂😂😂

I was delighted at Starmer not only for using overseas aid to pat for more defence but also how he spelt out that Russia has lost a lot and it was in their interest to negotiate a settlement. Also for his loyal and steadfast stance with Zalensky.

OMG FriedGreenTomatoes😱 I need to go and have a lie down after reading your post🤣🤣🤣

There’s a long way to go before next GE but… fair play to yer!

Interesting thoughts.

FGT you are being honest

Cossy

Chocolatelovinggran

Massive credit to you FGT. Changing your views in the light of events is impressive.
Not all of us manage this.

👏👏👏

Absolutely.

Thank you chocolatelovinggran!
I think it’s me who’s had an epiphany! 😇

Chocolatelovinggran

Massive credit to you FGT. Changing your views in the light of events is impressive.
Not all of us manage this.

👏👏👏

Barleyfields

It’s always said that the first duty of a government is to look after its citizens. Starmer knows full well that most people won’t want to pay more tax for defence (yes I know a lot of you would, I wouldn’t) and you can bet your bottom dollar that Reeves has tax hikes in the pipeline as he will be fully aware, and he knows the consequences of adding to them.

That is a good post. You are absolutely spot on, the first duty of Government is to look after its own citizens. I assume that is what got Trump elected, America first?

Massive credit to you FGT. Changing your views in the light of events is impressive.
Not all of us manage this.

Wes Streeting has now shown himself to be a much more promising Health Secretary than the mind-numbing Hunt and Javid.

Re Amanda Pritchard (from an article in the Telegraph just now):

“ … earlier this year Pritchard was dragged down from her ivory tower and grilled by the Commons Health and Social Care Committee. In a rare move, it later issued a statement on her performance, during which MPs were left “exasperated”, later issuing a statement that she lacked “drive and dynamism”. This was released just hours after MPs on the Public Accounts committee published a scathing report, which raised serious doubts about Pritchard’s ability to deliver the NHS transformation ministers have promised to drive through.

If this weren’t sufficient grounds for resignation, it’s also widely suspected that she and Wes Streeting may not see eye to eye on reform. If true, perhaps there’s more hope for the NHS than I thought.”

It’s always said that the first duty of a government is to look after its citizens. Starmer knows full well that most people won’t want to pay more tax for defence (yes I know a lot of you would, I wouldn’t) and you can bet your bottom dollar that Reeves has tax hikes in the pipeline as he will be fully aware, and he knows the consequences of adding to them.

Silverbrooks

The news story about raising the personal tax allowance to £20,000 is about a petition. It would cost 55 billion.

Reform have withdraw their election "contract" where that was proposed.

It’s never going to happen, but I do think they should, at the very least, unfreeze.

Raising it to £20,000 was a Farage election “faux-promise” and would be fiscal suicide.

I think it extremely unlikely that the personal allowance would be raised to £20k. That would require huge tax hikes elsewhere - see figure quoted by Silverbrooks. I believe Reeves has said that when the state pension overtakes the personal allowance people won’t have to pay tax on the sp. How that would be achieved (if it’s actually done - like most things I’ll believe it when I see it) hasn’t been explained, but it’s a long way from raising the personal allowance to £20k.

Whilst I do agree with foreign aid, I think cutting that to increase spending on defence is actually a must, given Trump/Musk/Putin/Netanyahu appear hellbent on some kind of war!

The NHS does need to concentrate on saving lives and treating those unwell.

Sorry and sad to be saying this but things like IVF and cosmetic surgery need to take a back seat in most cases whilst the NHS struggles to meet demand.

The news story about raising the personal tax allowance to £20,000 is about a petition. It would cost 55 billion.

Reform have withdraw their election "contract" where that was proposed.

I think the threat of ReformUK has made them change their attitude! Listen to the will of the people, Mr Starmer, rather than follow your own personal projects.