No mandatory digital ID after all.

NO!! He really said that! UNBELIEVABLE!

He looked at what it would cost!

As a poll clerk, I am able to accept bus passes with photos, given that you have to jump through ID hoops to get one, but the banks will not accept them.
Out of date driving license and passports if they still look like you and have the current address are accepted too, but again not for banks
You can apply for an ID card BUT laughingly you need to have either a driving license or passport to get on!

At that point I gave up - it’s like plaiting fog. People will believe what they want to believe, and seize on ‘catchy’ phrases to back it up.

That is one anecdote, though, from someone who didn't perhaps understand.

Many firms are struggling with the increased NI for employees.

Hospices, for example, are really struggling with increased wages and higher employer NIC, adding £millions to their Bill's, and some just are not coping with increased expenses. As a society we should be ashamed that our most vulnerable children and those needing end of life care have to rely on charity while the Government increases their expenses. I think those in charge of hospices know exactly what they are talking about too.

Try telling them they are plaiting fog.

Madgran77

So at PMs questions yesterday Keir Starmer started off with a long waffle about his "inspiring visit" to Croydon IKEA the day before and praised the lovely hard working staff.

Later in PMs question yesterday he told Kemi Badenoch that she had "an IKEA Shadow Cabinet...Its full of dead wood. Noone wants to buy it..."

Now THAT is beyond stupid frankly!

😂😂😂

Madgran77
Now THAT is beyond stupid frankly!

Do you think he thought he was being clever? Would fit in with some of his other examples.

I use my driving licence for ID if I need it as I don't travel so don't need a passport. However I don't really understand why there is so much opposition to ID cards and would happily have one myself.
I think that you can get an ID card specifically for use when voting, so it would make sense to amalgamate the various different cards.

An ID card would be immensely useful for my elderly mum who no longer has a driving licence or passport. She also lives in a care home so doesn't have utility bills. It took a lot of messing about to renew her Blue Badge last year. I'll also be having one and can't understand people's resistance to it.

Mollygo

Madgran77
Now THAT is beyond stupid frankly!

Do you think he thought he was being clever? Would fit in with some of his other examples.

Not the best joke, but I do sort of get, " Like Ikea the shadow cabinet is full of dead wood, but nobody wants to buy it".

I honestly think it’s best not to take on board all the news that we are subjected to at the moment. I think there are a lot of people in the world that don’t know what they’re saying…..

Nanna8 you seem to have a down on everything in the UK despite not living here!
I love the idea of ID , would solve a lot of issues in my opinion !

Galaxy

It isn't comms I dont think. He doesn't know what he wants to do with the power he has, he hasn't a vision, belief system call it what you like. If he did he wouldn't care what people thought, or what the reaction was.

I'd agree with you Galaxy.

He reneged on the pledges that got him elected as Labour leader and has ended up with no coherent vision of how he would like to make life better for the country and its citizens.

As it is, he appears to be led by McSweeny and Blue Labour, who seem bent on destroying the Party with his stance on immigration, and he and his Chancellor are in thrall to the financial industry and the wealthy.

So no chance of much improvement for most people's lives. as the inequality gap widens and Labour appears to have lost touch with its principles.

I feel as if we have agreed quite a bit lately Maizie, not sure what it means.
I also think he thinks problems can be solved via an authoritarian approach which makes me quite uncomfortable, I should have paid more attention to that when he was in opposition.

Mamie

Mollygo

Madgran77
Now THAT is beyond stupid frankly!

Do you think he thought he was being clever? Would fit in with some of his other examples.

Not the best joke, but I do sort of get, " Like Ikea the shadow cabinet is full of dead wood, but nobody wants to buy it".

Well it was marginally better than his Kama Sutra joke the other day!!

MartavTaurus
Well it was marginally better than his Kama Sutra joke the other day!!

🤢🤮
I didn’t hear that joke, but the thought of KS and Karma Sutra (KS+KS) is nauseating.

Keir Starmer accused the Tories of having “more positions in 14 years than the Kama Sutra” - after constantly changing ministers when in power. 🤮

chattykathy

An ID card would be immensely useful for my elderly mum who no longer has a driving licence or passport. She also lives in a care home so doesn't have utility bills. It took a lot of messing about to renew her Blue Badge last year. I'll also be having one and can't understand people's resistance to it.

I'm all for those who want to have an ID card will be able to have one.

However, maybe use a little imagination to understand why we don't share your optimism around them. 3,000,000 of us, I and the rest of my family signed the petition showing our opposition for making them mandatory for a multitude of reasons, some outlined below.

Mass state surveillance of our daily activities. Please anyone don't come out with the old chestnut of "if you have nothing to hide" we have no idea how that could pan out given the grey areas we already have around free speech and what could manifest in the future with another government.

The potential for our data to render us vulnerable to aggressive foreign states and God knows there are enough of those these days.

The idea that basic rights could be denied, to work, to have a bank account, accessing health services, if one is deemed to hold views on what the government of day considers to be subversive.

Maybe consider the worst case scenario of China in that respect.

Centralised data of all our personalised information would be a prime target for hackers. Estonia was used as a blueprint for potentially rolling them out here. They, have suffered significant problems along those lines.

Concerns over government overreach, particularly with regard to what could come down the line in that respect. We all know how falsified data was used against the sub Post Office employees.

Massive lack of trust in the government, or any government's ability to protect digital ID Data.

Jojo1950

NO!! He really said that! UNBELIEVABLE!

He did!!

Mollygo

Madgran77
Now THAT is beyond stupid frankly!

Do you think he thought he was being clever? Would fit in with some of his other examples.

I've no idea what he thought! Did he think atall?

Allira

^At that point I gave up - it’s like plaiting fog. People will believe what they want to believe, and seize on ‘catchy’ phrases to back it up.^

That is one anecdote, though, from someone who didn't perhaps understand.

Many firms are struggling with the increased NI for employees.

Hospices, for example, are really struggling with increased wages and higher employer NIC, adding £millions to their Bill's, and some just are not coping with increased expenses. As a society we should be ashamed that our most vulnerable children and those needing end of life care have to rely on charity while the Government increases their expenses. I think those in charge of hospices know exactly what they are talking about too.

Try telling them they are plaiting fog.

I don't doubt that SMEs with over 5 employees (or whatever the cut-off is for paying higher NI) will feel the pinch of both that and a rise in the NMW, but my point is that the hairdresser was saying that her business has suffered as a result of 'the new government' and cited those things when I asked what she meant. Most people probably just agree and swap cliches about rabbits in headlights and two-tier policing. She is not affected by either, but kept on saying it was those things that are making life difficult for her. That's what I meant by plaiting fog.

I agree that hospices need much more funding, but I also think that our society should be ashamed that so many people earn so little that they need benefits to get through the week.

Mollygo Not the best joke, but I do sort of get, " Like Ikea the shadow cabinet is full of

Wel maybe but coming out with it after a visit to IKEA and eulogising about it and praising the workers ? 🙄🤔

The dead wood in question being IKEA furniture. Seems obvious to me.

Mollygo

MartavTaurus
Well it was marginally better than his Kama Sutra joke the other day!!

🤢🤮
I didn’t hear that joke, but the thought of KS and Karma Sutra (KS+KS) is nauseating.

Again its the coming out with it after his eulogising about his visit to IKEA that is downright stupid

Actually I find all the stupid sarcastic sometimes nasty comments and "jokes" at PM questions these days pretty pointless and not a good reflection on our parliamentary system

Agreed. PMQs has become more about performance than politics. Charisma is more important to some than their policies or arguments. It's depressing.

Mamie

The dead wood in question being IKEA furniture. Seems obvious to me.

And? Referencing IKEA for the sake of some nasty pointless dig was stupid after eulogising about his visit. He might as well have said "Liok at me I dont mean a word I say!"

Madgran77

So at PMs questions yesterday Keir Starmer started off with a long waffle about his "inspiring visit" to Croydon IKEA the day before and praised the lovely hard working staff.

Later in PMs question yesterday he told Kemi Badenoch that she had "an IKEA Shadow Cabinet...Its full of dead wood. Noone wants to buy it..."

Now THAT is beyond stupid frankly!

I hope he didn’t take his wife.
IKEA is known as the ultimate relationship test 🤦🏼‍♀️