Is the U.K. really broken, or does it just need tinkering?

varian

Tha country has been broken by two disastrous policies - privatisation- every example has been damaging from council house sales to water, railways, energy, and brexit - huge hit to our GDP and our standing in the world.

I 100% agree with you.

No it's not broken. We're being rushed into some kind of horrible agenda by the media, we need to stop and focus on our commonality. This division is vile.

Susieq62 I wouldn't be shouting you down, but might be insisting you stand as an MP!

Tha country has been broken by two disastrous policies - privatisation- every example has been damaging from council house sales to water, railways, energy, and brexit - huge hit to our GDP and our standing in the world.

FranP

It is not long since we were bleating on about "benefit scroungers", and then when he tries to do something about it, he is evil. The process is broken, designed to stop anyone getting anything rather than being rigorous about helping those who need it, and helping those who want help to work to transition.

This is the bit which just doesn't make sense.

I don't understand why this coincides with a fall in Labour support and a rise in Reform support. Surely former Labour voters aren't now supporting Reform as a result of the welfare bill. It just defies logic.

I don’t think it is broken but there are definite repairs needed! I would like to see transport, water, gas, electricity nationalised so we all have a stake in them !
I want house builders to build community facilities first then their estates ! House builders should also be made to refurbish flats above shops or old properties as well as build new homes!
The state pension should not be included in taxable income!
Income tax base at 10% then incremental tax levels ! Let’s face it,
those who earn the least spend the most so put more in their pockets!
All rail fares to be standardised!
Have walk in clinics in all towns !
Singing and walking on prescription
Scrap SATS. And trust teachers again plus go back to training teachers at teacher training colleges
I could go on but I would be shouted down !!

David49

growstuff

wendym8116

i think it needs a complete over haul . needs sifting out the idiots and let reform uk in . after all they cant be as bad as karmer .. all illegal immigrants ,should be sent back to where they came from . or not give them any money at all. if they havent found work in 3 months ship them off to ruanda . am not racist ,but enough is enough ,we are funding them with our taxes ,and yet they get free everything ..karmer over turning heating payments too late ..elderly and disabled need to be means tested ,,

Well, you could start with the truth!

How can asylum seekers find work when they're not allowed to work? Just asking!

Register them give them work permits and a hostel for accommodation it’s not rocket science

What a sensible suggestion!

growstuff

wendym8116

i think it needs a complete over haul . needs sifting out the idiots and let reform uk in . after all they cant be as bad as karmer .. all illegal immigrants ,should be sent back to where they came from . or not give them any money at all. if they havent found work in 3 months ship them off to ruanda . am not racist ,but enough is enough ,we are funding them with our taxes ,and yet they get free everything ..karmer over turning heating payments too late ..elderly and disabled need to be means tested ,,

Well, you could start with the truth!

How can asylum seekers find work when they're not allowed to work? Just asking!

Register them give them work permits and a hostel for accommodation it’s not rocket science

Tories managed to hide the depth of their depravity by showing false accounting. Labour's manifesto was based on a serious debt, but they had, naively, no idea just how bad it was.
The country is broke, and we are in a depression, but folks are sticking their heads in the sand and not willing to take the pain needed to get us out.
Starmer is trying to show positivity because that brings investment. Let us all get behind him and talk up the situation instead of such damaging negativity
It is not long since we were bleating on about "benefit scroungers", and then when he tries to do something about it, he is evil. The process is broken, designed to stop anyone getting anything rather than being rigorous about helping those who need it, and helping those who want help to work to transition.
But we seem to be in an entitled, dependent world these days, that we cannot afford.
Rachel Reeve is being called all sorts, but you can bet your bottom dollar that the team of economists and civil servants behind her came up with the book balancing that she is trying to achieve.

eazybee

That's why the country isn't offering largesse to everybody who just lands here. As ever, they're the scapegoats.
Most of those who cannot or will not work are born and bred in the UK. I'm not convinced they're at the root of the problems anyway.

I repeat, as a country we cannot afford a huge influx of people who will be dependent on the state, in the same way as we cannot afford the huge escalation of people claiming benefits, for whatever reason.
The burden falls on those who are working, particularly as after the fiasco of the Welfare Bill it seems inevitable that taxes will have to be raised.

As ever the problem is finding the money that needs to be spent. None of us want to pay more tax, but equally few would suggest that those who are in genuine need of benefits should have them removed or reduced.
Something does need to be done about people claiming benefits if they are capable of work - without destroying the lives of those with real disabilities. Equally people living in social housing must live in housing suitable for their household size, freeing up space for others in greater need.
And yes, as eazybee suggests, we simply cannot afford a huge influx of illegal immigrants, many of whom are not genuine asylum seekers. The authorities must start returning immigrants to their country of origin, which clearly is often not where they claim.
Economic migrants can only be welcomed if they are able to support themselves, i.e. we need a system similar to that in Australia and other countries where people coming in have to show that they are offering a skill that will enable them to earn a living.
There must always be space for genuine asylum seekers, but they can't all come to the UK.

wendym8116

i think it needs a complete over haul . needs sifting out the idiots and let reform uk in . after all they cant be as bad as karmer .. all illegal immigrants ,should be sent back to where they came from . or not give them any money at all. if they havent found work in 3 months ship them off to ruanda . am not racist ,but enough is enough ,we are funding them with our taxes ,and yet they get free everything ..karmer over turning heating payments too late ..elderly and disabled need to be means tested ,,

You can’t even spell the name of the country where you want to send the migrants. 🤦🏼‍♀️

Nigel has NEVER been an investment banker. He was a commodities trader.

Who are these mythical far right?

Tenaciousd

How anyone can look back at the past 40 years in politics and determine that anything has actually improved - no matter who has been in power - and not deteriorated simply bewilders me.
They have ALL had their chance, there has been zero accountability for mishandling the economy and everything else and whilst I do not trust Nigel Farage per se (though I do agree with certain things he says), I would not be so childish as to call him Faridge a la James O'Brien et al.
I also shake my head at this nonsensical parroting of 'far right'. If being against uncontrolled and illegal makes me far right then so be it. If a bus driver pulled up at a bus stop and refused to let anyone on because his vehicle was full and in danger of crashing, would that make him 'far right'.
In this political climate, anyone who speaks out against the government full stop is deemed far right. It's absolutely pathetic.

Jeremy Corbyn, Zarah Sultana and John McDonnell have spoken against the Labour government. I've never known anybody call them far right.

wendym8116

i think it needs a complete over haul . needs sifting out the idiots and let reform uk in . after all they cant be as bad as karmer .. all illegal immigrants ,should be sent back to where they came from . or not give them any money at all. if they havent found work in 3 months ship them off to ruanda . am not racist ,but enough is enough ,we are funding them with our taxes ,and yet they get free everything ..karmer over turning heating payments too late ..elderly and disabled need to be means tested ,,

Well, you could start with the truth!

How can asylum seekers find work when they're not allowed to work? Just asking!

wendym8116

i think it needs a complete over haul . needs sifting out the idiots and let reform uk in . after all they cant be as bad as karmer .. all illegal immigrants ,should be sent back to where they came from . or not give them any money at all. if they havent found work in 3 months ship them off to ruanda . am not racist ,but enough is enough ,we are funding them with our taxes ,and yet they get free everything ..karmer over turning heating payments too late ..elderly and disabled need to be means tested ,,

You can't 'let ... in ... because they can't be as bad as ...)
They are always 10 times worse! And as for 'Nigel' with his investment banking background and German passport - well, light the blue touch paper and retire.

There is no left anymore.
The right has gone crazy.
Left and right politics were always an illusion to keep us busy anyway.

Watch some old Yes, (Prime) Minister episodes. Not a thing has changed. Maggie and Blair started the rot.
All about me, me, me now.
Well, we wanted to be like America, we voted into power egotistical incompetents; s.hat on the huge market on our doorstep and now, here we are.
I don't know what can be done.

To Whitewavemark2 - like you, I am probably between the middle & the far left but I think, as a nation, we need to face the fact that in order to have decent public services, taxes have to rise. We can't continue bemoaning the state of the NHS, education, potholes etc without the willingness to pay for services we all rely on.

PS I have lived under 25 years of abysmal Labour rule in Wales. Everything is broken here.

How anyone can look back at the past 40 years in politics and determine that anything has actually improved - no matter who has been in power - and not deteriorated simply bewilders me.
They have ALL had their chance, there has been zero accountability for mishandling the economy and everything else and whilst I do not trust Nigel Farage per se (though I do agree with certain things he says), I would not be so childish as to call him Faridge a la James O'Brien et al.
I also shake my head at this nonsensical parroting of 'far right'. If being against uncontrolled and illegal makes me far right then so be it. If a bus driver pulled up at a bus stop and refused to let anyone on because his vehicle was full and in danger of crashing, would that make him 'far right'.
In this political climate, anyone who speaks out against the government full stop is deemed far right. It's absolutely pathetic.

Broken or badly managed? The NHS is badly managed but not completely broken. The same with some of the utilities and rail services. We also need to raise taxes to pay for an overhaul but those taxes have to be spent wisely so the public can see what their money is doing for them. Whilst you have to pay for good quality advice, the current advisors (including Deloittes and similar) we aren't getting that so we need to have a rethink there. We really need to take a holistic approach to revamp. If you talk to a Dr and discover how they need to access so many systems in order to see a full record of their patient, you'd understand why it is so difficult for them to work efficiently and in the best interests of the patient.

I spend time in France where I have family and friends. Also, I was in Germany last year. The difference in quality of life between these two countries and the UK is staggering: Life is there so much more convivial: there is noticeably greater investment in local services: there is largely no rubbish in the streets and streets are washed. Food in restaurants and markets is infinitely superior and better value. This country desperately needs investment in infrastructure. There is an allergy to borrowing and to taxation which I think is ridiculous: I cannot see any other way forward. (Eg cutting services to the disabled is just not humane.) Plus we have to rejoin the EEC. Leaving was just plain suicidal.

i think it needs a complete over haul . needs sifting out the idiots and let reform uk in . after all they cant be as bad as karmer .. all illegal immigrants ,should be sent back to where they came from . or not give them any money at all. if they havent found work in 3 months ship them off to ruanda . am not racist ,but enough is enough ,we are funding them with our taxes ,and yet they get free everything ..karmer over turning heating payments too late ..elderly and disabled need to be means tested ,,

I so agree.
We need excellent public services and NHS care.
If these were good people wouldn't be concerned about dental bills etc.
So bite the bullet and raise taxes!

MaizieD

^Starmer has some redeeming qualities. His understanding of law, and real strengths as a statesman, in diplomacy and foreign affairs and handling Trump, that this country (and the world) cannot afford to lose right now.^

Fine as far as it goes, but he has no understanding of how a country's economy works (neither does Reeves) and appears to have little rapport with his MPs or with disadvantaged groups. He also has too much rapport with big business.

Additionally, he appears to have depended too much on his advisors and his chief of staff, McSweeny is catastrophically focused on winning the next GE by making Labour more Reform than Reform to attract right wing voters.

Oh for an advisor who would tell him to nationalise the utilities, put some serious money into the NHS and get rid of the private companies which are milking it for profit, do something about making taxation far more progressive and stop deferring to the wealthy... Oh, and get rid of Reeves...(though who on earth would succeed her I don't know. I fancy Clive Lewis, at least he appears to know something about how a country's economy works...)

I don't disagree. However, running a country takes more than one person; a team of competent specialists with real life expertise backed by hard graft researchers keeping them up to speed .

Reeves' flakey financial CV has fallen flat on its face. So predictable.

"Oh for an advisor who would tell him to nationalise the utilities, put some serious money into the NHS and get rid of the private companies which are milking it for profit, do something about making taxation far more progressive "

Hoots mon, whoever heard of ony country daein a' thon shite . Jings.