Election promises- are they getting desperate?

And just under four weeks to go for more delights to be revealed......

I don’t know why they are bothering. None of them are going to deliver any of their promises the country is so polarised and impoverished by the Brexit shitshow and will be for decades.

‘‘’Twas ever thus”.

This just serves to illustrate how completely flawed our political system is. Instead of different parties making promises to deal with certain problems, if we had a one-party system whose sole purpose was to do what is best for the country, all important issues would be dealt with. We could then choose our MPs according to their ability to best represent our town/city.

Labour are now promising to Nationalise BT and we all get free Broadband! I do not see that as a desperate need when as Maw says NHS in crisis, rising crime rates, homelessness etc!

A 'one party system',

Like Communist countries and Dictatorships?

The opinion polls are showing that it is the NHS that has now come to be the first priority in the minds of the electorate rather than Brexit.

I would certainly not have believed that was possible just a few weeks ago, but that does demonstrate how volatile this election situation is for all the parties involved.

As for promises on bringing back into service old rail branch lines closed more than fifty years ago and free broadband for all homes, those making such promises must believe we are all fools.

For me at this stage of the campaign, if Johnson can bring the main focus back to Brexit the Tories could win with an overall majority. However, if Corbyn and the Labour Party can keep the NHS, Housing and Education etc at the top of the agenda then we could see another hung parliament, and out of that even a Labour government.

However, as Harold Wilson so rightly said, "a week is a long time in politics".

The bringing back "old" railway lines makes me feel this has been pulled out of a hat by people who really do underestimate the intelligence of the electorate. If they has suggest a switch away from encouraging road travel to encouraging more railways I could have believed it but I doubt they have what anyone would call a policy. This sounds as if it came out of research with a group of the very elderly and backward looking, i.e., the Tory base.

The idea of making Broadband a service like water and electricity is interesting. They are not talking about nationalizing BT but Openreach. Johnson has offered a complete cover of Broadband but didn't say how he intended to do it. We are lagging behind many countries on this. I would like to know more about how both parties intend to do it.

Re the NHS, it is interesting and makes me feel better about the people in this country that they are awake to what recent governments have done. We cannot go on like this and keep an NHS that looks anything like our universal service. But then, that is the Tory plan isn't it.

Crazy, election promises now, today it’s free Broadband, that’s not likely to happen. Most broadbands time is now used for entertainment, cable TV , Games, social media so I see no justification for making it free, a better idea would be abolish TV licence.

NHS cash is only part of the problem, staff morale is rock bottom, recruit 25000 nurses, that’s not going to happen, they might find that number of support workers (CSWs), the quality varies greatly, some are excellent, many are dire. Johnson is on TV now saying there are 17000 more nurses at present, that’s a lie, they are CSWs

All parties are promising the Earth for the NHS so it doesn’t make any difference who you vote for, so it isn’t the prime issue. In reality it is the economy, that’s linked to Brexit.

Migration is a non issue as well if Boris wins we will have a points system, if we get fewer from EU countries they will be replaced by others, that does not mean less migrants all it means is another layer of beaurocracy.

? ? ?. ?

Further to my above post, it would seem that at present the campaign is going much as it did in 2017. Theresa May, believed that she could keep Brexit as the sole debate throughout the campaign, that proved not to be the case.

The same seems to have happened in this election, but there is a long way to go and the Tories may yet be able to refocus the minds of the electorate again towards Brexit.

That will be essential if they are to take any of the Labour held northern constituencies.

Instead of different parties making promises to deal with certain problems, if we had a one-party system whose sole purpose was to do what is best for the country, all important issues would be dealt with

they tried that in East Germany (among other places) and that didn’t work either ladymuck.

Some desperate, many implausible. The main ones I want to see are a People's Vote to stop Brexit, Nurse Training bursaries restored. Politicians accountable to reckless behaviour including lying to gain votes.

Empty promises as per. Full of wind and water like the barbers cat.

if Boris wins we will have a points system,

We already have a points based immigration system. Except that in the UK it's called a tiered system. Introduced in 2008 by Labour and apparently based on the Australian system.

Plenty of search results here if you want to verify what I'm saying

duckduckgo.com/?q=does+the+UK+have+a+points+system+for+immigration&t=chromentp&ia=web

Extraordinary really, politicians and public alike showing woeful ignorance of our immigration system...

It seems it really is ”good-bye austerity – welcome unlimited spending power”. I find all these empty promises absolutely meaningless. Mind you, 'promises' may be a misnomer, I guess the parties would call them 'aspirations'.

Free broadband sounds interesting but should it really be a priority? Apparently we lag behind other European countries with broadband coverage but since we lag behind in so many other areas – tant pis.

I understand the Labour Party is bringing out their manifesto early next week, the Conservatives not until a week later. That will give less time for scrutiny so could be advantageous for them.

Priti Patel found it very difficult in a recent interview to say whether the Party is aiming to reduce or increase immigration. She kept avoiding a straight answer and time and time again just stood there with her eternal smirk and repeated the same pointless mantra.

I remember being amazed that I actually agreed with JRM about something on QT a while ago, where he suggested re-instating old branch lines, but the point was to do that instead of continuing with HS2, and to use money not spent on that.

Free broadband sounds interesting but should it really be a priority?

Who said it is a priority? Labour is just focusing on one area each day. It's a bit absurd to get upset every day about a spurious 'priority'.

Ad yes, we can afford to offer free broadband, Wwmk2 put this link on another thread. Government research says it is so.

assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/727890/FTIR_Annex_A_-_FE_Report.pdf

MaisieD. The public have no idea what the immigration system is, they just hear or see what is in the media and that’s always biased one way or the other.

Politicians play on public fears and prejudice to gain votes.
I am concerned just how many of the promises will actually be delivered by a right wing Tory government. Also which will be worse a hard Tory Brexit or a Corbyn led hung parliament, the two most likely problem results.

Housing should be a number one priority it is a human right to have a secure roof over one,s head and a national disgrace that we have so many people living on the street in the 21st century.

Not to mention free broadband for everyone too

Do away with the House of Lords and all the benefits they gain, like £300 per day for just turning up and they then sleep in the House for an hour or two then go home, mortgages on properties they don't really need as they already have property etc etc etc. The money saved from them could go to NHS, Police, Fire Brigade etc and be used for something useful.

Most broadbands time is now used for entertainment, cable TV , Games, social media so I see no justification for making it free, a better idea would be abolish TV licence.

Could you please reference comments such as this Davidhs as I simply don't believe it's true. Of course, you may no longer be working or know anyone who is working these days and that may account for your lack of knowledge about how businesses are run these days.