General Election 13:52 - May 22 with 20020 views | raynor94 | Are we about to hear the date later today, Sunak has called a cabinet meeting this afternoon. Inflation is down, things aren't going to get much better for the Tories. July 4th😉 | |
| | |
General Election on 23:01 - Jun 14 with 955 views | Whiterockin |
General Election on 22:38 - Jun 14 by majorraglan | I suspect that with a large majority, we could see some light being shone on the political donation issue and potentially some form of action taken against the press, potentially focussing on privacy. I fully expect to see Ofcom focussing a lot more scrutiny on GB News. |
All political donations should be banned including from unions, all funding should come from direct membership only. | | | |
General Election on 06:48 - Jun 15 with 891 views | Gwyn737 |
General Election on 22:49 - Jun 14 by SullutaCreturned | Weren't they on 19% when you posted that? |
I mean at the GE, Cat. I reckon that’s the top end of what they’ll actually get. Mind you, if the Tories continue to do daft things it might rise a bit. | | | |
General Election on 09:04 - Jun 15 with 848 views | builthjack |
General Election on 22:01 - Jun 14 by raynor94 | I'd have thought you were a Plaid man |
Why? | |
| Swansea Indepenent Poster Of The Year 2021. Dr P / Mart66 / Roathie / Parlay / E20/ Duffle was 2nd, but he is deluded and thinks in his little twisted brain that he won. Poor sod. We let him win this year, as he has cried for a whole year. His 14 usernames, bless his cotton socks.
|
| |
General Election on 09:10 - Jun 15 with 843 views | raynor94 |
General Election on 09:04 - Jun 15 by builthjack | Why? |
Just an impression I got from your posting | |
| |
General Election on 10:23 - Jun 15 with 808 views | onehunglow |
General Election on 09:10 - Jun 15 by raynor94 | Just an impression I got from your posting |
Builth I reckon is a Labour stalwart in an affluent part of Wales which has a Tory MP for now. I might be wrong | |
| |
General Election on 11:43 - Jun 15 with 789 views | raynor94 |
General Election on 10:23 - Jun 15 by onehunglow | Builth I reckon is a Labour stalwart in an affluent part of Wales which has a Tory MP for now. I might be wrong |
Well, what Drakeford and now Gethin have done to Wales, has put me off voting Labour. And now to cap it all Labour have parachuted Torsten Bell? in to the safe seat of Swansea West | |
| |
General Election on 12:06 - Jun 15 with 778 views | AnotherJohn | Who to vote for is a conundrum for many. For years I voted Labour, and have voted Plaid on one occasion. I had a strong dislike for the Tories, but paradoxically became more sympathetic to them as they increased public spending and pursued at least some socially responsible policies such as levelling up and energy cost support. Of course, that has been undone by the in-fighting and way things have imploded in recent years. With Starmer taking the helm one might have supposed that people like me would return to Labour, but I am unconvinced by the waffle about funding the manifesto commitments from economic growth (which will take time), and turned off by the thought of people like Thornberry, Cooper and Lammy as ministers. I can see why people are undecided. | | | |
General Election on 12:26 - Jun 15 with 758 views | Gwyn737 |
General Election on 12:06 - Jun 15 by AnotherJohn | Who to vote for is a conundrum for many. For years I voted Labour, and have voted Plaid on one occasion. I had a strong dislike for the Tories, but paradoxically became more sympathetic to them as they increased public spending and pursued at least some socially responsible policies such as levelling up and energy cost support. Of course, that has been undone by the in-fighting and way things have imploded in recent years. With Starmer taking the helm one might have supposed that people like me would return to Labour, but I am unconvinced by the waffle about funding the manifesto commitments from economic growth (which will take time), and turned off by the thought of people like Thornberry, Cooper and Lammy as ministers. I can see why people are undecided. |
What measure are you using to say Tories increased public spending? Forget the impact of Covid, what was better in 2019 in regard to public services after a decade of their government? I get the energy support but that was forced by Putin’s actions. I’m curious when you became more sympathetic to the Tories. I’ve said many times my issues with them are recent - since 2019 really. I voted Tory one prior to that. I totally agree with you about Thornberry and Lammy but think Cooper is suberb. Totally different to the other two. | | | | Login to get fewer ads
General Election on 12:32 - Jun 15 with 755 views | Joesus_Of_Narbereth |
General Election on 12:26 - Jun 15 by Gwyn737 | What measure are you using to say Tories increased public spending? Forget the impact of Covid, what was better in 2019 in regard to public services after a decade of their government? I get the energy support but that was forced by Putin’s actions. I’m curious when you became more sympathetic to the Tories. I’ve said many times my issues with them are recent - since 2019 really. I voted Tory one prior to that. I totally agree with you about Thornberry and Lammy but think Cooper is suberb. Totally different to the other two. |
Cooper might be competent, I quite like Ed Balls as a personality too but they were both caught with their hands in the till and therefore would be sacked under any administration run by me. | |
| |
General Election on 12:41 - Jun 15 with 744 views | Gwyn737 |
General Election on 12:32 - Jun 15 by Joesus_Of_Narbereth | Cooper might be competent, I quite like Ed Balls as a personality too but they were both caught with their hands in the till and therefore would be sacked under any administration run by me. |
Are you on about the second home thing? Wasn’t that dismissed? Can’t remember. | | | |
General Election on 12:50 - Jun 15 with 742 views | Joesus_Of_Narbereth |
General Election on 12:41 - Jun 15 by Gwyn737 | Are you on about the second home thing? Wasn’t that dismissed? Can’t remember. |
They had to repay £2600. Taxpayers also had to foot the bill for £2000 for them to move their furniture in despite them being on a combined salary of £230,000. Gone. Sacked. | |
| |
General Election on 13:08 - Jun 15 with 720 views | majorraglan |
General Election on 12:06 - Jun 15 by AnotherJohn | Who to vote for is a conundrum for many. For years I voted Labour, and have voted Plaid on one occasion. I had a strong dislike for the Tories, but paradoxically became more sympathetic to them as they increased public spending and pursued at least some socially responsible policies such as levelling up and energy cost support. Of course, that has been undone by the in-fighting and way things have imploded in recent years. With Starmer taking the helm one might have supposed that people like me would return to Labour, but I am unconvinced by the waffle about funding the manifesto commitments from economic growth (which will take time), and turned off by the thought of people like Thornberry, Cooper and Lammy as ministers. I can see why people are undecided. |
The levelling up exercise has been a real smoke and mirrors job. After the last GE I expected the levelling up initiative to be targeted at the places where there were higher levels of need, but it turns out hasn’t turned out as I anticipated it. Levelling up was a key manifesto pledge of Boris’s government back in 2019. The funding is in numerous different pots, but the main levelling up fund has a budget of £4.8bn and as of April, several years after it was launched only £800m of its £4.8bn budget had been allocated and £500m actually spent. Most of the money has gone to Conservative constituencies and in particular Tory marginal seats. Levelling up hasn’t exactly levelled things up. | | | |
General Election on 13:08 - Jun 15 with 720 views | builthjack |
General Election on 09:10 - Jun 15 by raynor94 | Just an impression I got from your posting |
Why? | |
| Swansea Indepenent Poster Of The Year 2021. Dr P / Mart66 / Roathie / Parlay / E20/ Duffle was 2nd, but he is deluded and thinks in his little twisted brain that he won. Poor sod. We let him win this year, as he has cried for a whole year. His 14 usernames, bless his cotton socks.
|
| |
General Election on 13:31 - Jun 15 with 695 views | raynor94 |
General Election on 13:08 - Jun 15 by builthjack | Why? |
Why do you want me to answer you again? | |
| |
General Election on 13:32 - Jun 15 with 695 views | majorraglan |
General Election on 12:50 - Jun 15 by Joesus_Of_Narbereth | They had to repay £2600. Taxpayers also had to foot the bill for £2000 for them to move their furniture in despite them being on a combined salary of £230,000. Gone. Sacked. |
This kind of stuff really annoys me. Politicians earn earn a lot more money than most and it really sticks in my throat when they abuse their positions to extract every last penny or in some cases fraudulently claim money at the expenses of the tax payers. There are occasions when they break the law and others where they don’t commit any offences, but it just feels wrong. Esther McVey and her MP husband own a flat in London, the expenses rules prevent them claiming mortgage relief on a second property so he rents it. They now rent another property for themselves in London which they can claim reimbursement from the tax payer. The arrangement is totally legal, but I think it’s morally questionable. It’s not confined to Westminster either, there’s an AM in the Senedd currently under investigation for expenses claims. And all that’s before we take in to account directorships, lobbying and cash for questions type deals. There needs to be a huge clean up. | | | |
General Election on 13:41 - Jun 15 with 690 views | AnotherJohn |
General Election on 12:26 - Jun 15 by Gwyn737 | What measure are you using to say Tories increased public spending? Forget the impact of Covid, what was better in 2019 in regard to public services after a decade of their government? I get the energy support but that was forced by Putin’s actions. I’m curious when you became more sympathetic to the Tories. I’ve said many times my issues with them are recent - since 2019 really. I voted Tory one prior to that. I totally agree with you about Thornberry and Lammy but think Cooper is suberb. Totally different to the other two. |
Re when I become more sympathetic, I'm not sure of the exact year, but it would have been after 2015 as total public expenditure (TME in the jargon) increased after a period of retrenchment. https://ifs.org.uk/total-uk-public-spending I was extremely unsympathetic during the Coalition austerity period, for which the Lib Dems have to take their share of the blame, and again when Truss was selected as PM (even before the crisis). I actually thought Boris did okay regarding the big decisions re COVID, though obviously I was not so keen on the PPE contracts and parties. Re MR's comment about leveling up, it was the outline policy that I liked, but I agree that implementation wasn't great. This was a wasted opportunity to put the Conservative Party on a better policy trajectory.. [Post edited 15 Jun 14:28]
| | | |
General Election on 14:03 - Jun 15 with 670 views | JumpingJackFlash | I always thought that Boris’ levelling up policy was a bit strange for the Conservatives. Then again, Boris was not very right wing at all economically and it was somewhat surprising that he was mates with the likes of Rees Mogg, Braverman etc. Levelling up as a concept is very socialist. | | | |
General Election on 14:36 - Jun 15 with 636 views | onehunglow |
General Election on 14:03 - Jun 15 by JumpingJackFlash | I always thought that Boris’ levelling up policy was a bit strange for the Conservatives. Then again, Boris was not very right wing at all economically and it was somewhat surprising that he was mates with the likes of Rees Mogg, Braverman etc. Levelling up as a concept is very socialist. |
Some would argue a right wing government is what this. II try needs,starting with protecting our borders and making criminals fearful of being locked up. We have never had a truly right wing government ,including That her . Many will disagree Good. | |
| |
General Election on 15:16 - Jun 15 with 600 views | SullutaCreturned |
General Election on 06:48 - Jun 15 by Gwyn737 | I mean at the GE, Cat. I reckon that’s the top end of what they’ll actually get. Mind you, if the Tories continue to do daft things it might rise a bit. |
Yeah, Reform overtook the tories in the polls to be at 19% compared to tory at 18%. Of course that doesn't mean they'll match those numbers in the vote because polls are so unreliable, they may get more! The way the tories are going they're practically driving people towards Reform. | | | |
General Election on 15:21 - Jun 15 with 597 views | JumpingJackFlash | At the moment the one poll showing Reform on 19%looks to be an outlier. The interesting question is whether Tories will switch to Reform in greater numbers on the back of that poll. | | | |
General Election on 17:03 - Jun 15 with 540 views | Joesus_Of_Narbereth |
General Election on 13:32 - Jun 15 by majorraglan | This kind of stuff really annoys me. Politicians earn earn a lot more money than most and it really sticks in my throat when they abuse their positions to extract every last penny or in some cases fraudulently claim money at the expenses of the tax payers. There are occasions when they break the law and others where they don’t commit any offences, but it just feels wrong. Esther McVey and her MP husband own a flat in London, the expenses rules prevent them claiming mortgage relief on a second property so he rents it. They now rent another property for themselves in London which they can claim reimbursement from the tax payer. The arrangement is totally legal, but I think it’s morally questionable. It’s not confined to Westminster either, there’s an AM in the Senedd currently under investigation for expenses claims. And all that’s before we take in to account directorships, lobbying and cash for questions type deals. There needs to be a huge clean up. |
It’s disgusting. The second home thing in particular is absolutely ridiculous and being abused on a daily basis. An idea I mooted a while back is for the government to purchase 650 properties in London (or take them from the Russian sanctions) and just allocate each one randomly to every MP for their use during their term in office. It would be expensive at first but long term would be an investment, the prices would only go up over time. It would rid MPs of the opportunity to claim for extortionate mortgages and rent and moats for their duck houses. You’d probably save money long term. | |
| |
General Election on 17:18 - Jun 15 with 510 views | Joesus_Of_Narbereth |
The polls are utterly pointless really. The greens will never get 7% for gods sake. They only had 2% last time. The Lib Dem’s were predicted to get twenty odd seats last time but only ended up with 10. The polls always over inflate the smaller parties. I suspect a similar thing is happening with reform. I think they’ll get a good chunk of votes nationwide but nowhere near 20% and it’ll be spread too thin to result in seats. | |
| |
General Election on 17:26 - Jun 15 with 504 views | SullutaCreturned |
General Election on 17:03 - Jun 15 by Joesus_Of_Narbereth | It’s disgusting. The second home thing in particular is absolutely ridiculous and being abused on a daily basis. An idea I mooted a while back is for the government to purchase 650 properties in London (or take them from the Russian sanctions) and just allocate each one randomly to every MP for their use during their term in office. It would be expensive at first but long term would be an investment, the prices would only go up over time. It would rid MPs of the opportunity to claim for extortionate mortgages and rent and moats for their duck houses. You’d probably save money long term. |
I mooted a similar idea a long time back and I've oft repeated it. We should build blocks of flats, enough for every MP. One bedroom flats for each constituency that are kitted out to the sme standard. If anything needs replacing you call up procurement and they send someone out with the new gear and take the old gear away. I reckon this idea is great in conjunction with the idea to mive Parliament away from Londonand maybe save billions on restoring Westminster. Put a new, modern parliament building up and have these flats nearby, put a train station and bus services close by. Have it all in one spot but outside of any town or city. Again, expensive in the short temr but long term may save money, first of all on the restoration of Westminster and then on expenses. | | | |
| |