The Budget

[Saint Fan CaM]

1 hour ago, Turkish said:

Oh dont get me wrong, there is a lot to moan about, they are useless, self serving cunts. However not everything in life is the fault of the tories, yet some seem to blame them for everything. And guess what, the reason they are still in power is because the alternative hasn't been credible for years. In fact i'd go as far as to say the only reason they'll get in next time is because the Tories are so, so, so bad that labour have an open goal from one inch out.

Interestingly, one of the things that I learnt from studying Economics at College was that the UK's balanced economy has generally served us well since the Second World War and this is brought about by a swing between the Conservatives and Labour - in simple terms one advances us in a certain direction, the other advances us in another direction.  The Tories of course have seen the lions share over recent decades and the Blair years were successful (in home affairs) because his Government was centre left.  Boris got a huge majority because he presented a pseudo-Socialist agenda and pretended to be Mr. UK for Brexit.  

You're spot on with the lack of credible alternative - the way things are, 'Joe average' voter may still not vote Labour, mainly because there's a growing apathy to make change in general - the majority being comfortable enough not to risk change and adopt the better the devil you know stance.  On the other hand, there may be some that are now of the opinion that enough is enough - the pendulum needs to swing the other way for a while to regain that 'balanced economy' and perhaps a 'balanced society' too.  If Labour find the right Policies they'll get a landslide which is preferable to a hung parliament.

[sadoldgit]

To say that this government is being blamed for “everything” is another facile comment. They are being blamed for their mistakes and mismanagement and there has been plenty of that over the last 13 years.

As for Labour, not only do they have to fight the opposition parties, they have to fight the right wing media too. They did themselves no favours electing an easy target like Corbyn either. He never stood a chance against the combined forces of the Mail, Sun, Telegraph, Express etc. Sadly during the last election the swing voters swallowed Johnson’s bullshit and we not only elected one of our worst PMs ever, but we gave the Tories a thumping majority which meant they could get away with anything, and pretty much did.

A Starmer government will be centre Left, which is no bad thing as it will not scare off those who are easily persuaded by the right’s less offensive policies. I would prefer a Labour/LibDem coalition though. There is a lot of damage to be repaired and hopefully between them they could get a big enough majority to make the changes required and keep in office for at least the next decade. I get the point between swinging from Left to Right, but we are by nature a centrist  country and I think we are better off sticking to the middle road rather than changing course every few years. We know that the trickle down economic policy is crap and the days of looking after the richest because they will in turn look after the rest of us will hopefully be consigned to the dustbin of history. We need economic policies that help everybody across society, not just the people who think that it is ok to replace the local national grid in order to heat your swimming pool when more and more ordinary people are afraid to turn on their heating or are reliant on food banks.

The football is almost upon us, time to walk the dog I think. 

[badgerx16]

Sunak says that the pension tax changes will keep senior doctors in the NHS and help cut waiting lists.

Will it though, or will they still retire at the same age but have simply built bigger retirement pots ?

[Weston Super Saint]

28 minutes ago, badgerx16 said:

Sunak says that the pension tax changes will keep senior doctors in the NHS and help cut waiting lists.

Will it though, or will they still retire at the same age but have simply built bigger retirement pots ?

It's because they will be able to do overtime.  Apparently.

[whelk]

Easy to fool public as most won’t have a clue about how pension allowances work and spun as a measure to help the NHS. And every other CEO etc. Also no threshold whatsoever now - if it was just to help doctors retiring when they breach it why not move to 1.5mill?

[Turkish]

Im assuming people are not that unhappy with the budget then given that we have only just got onto the second page and there has been a lack of whinging from the usual suspects

[badgerx16]

5 minutes ago, Turkish said:

Im assuming people are not that unhappy with the budget then given that we have only just got onto the second page and there has been a lack of whinging from the usual suspects

For most people it does fuck all.

[Whitey Grandad]

51 minutes ago, badgerx16 said:

Sunak says that the pension tax changes will keep senior doctors in the NHS and help cut waiting lists.

Will it though, or will they still retire at the same age but have simply built bigger retirement pots ?

Their pension pots won’t suddenly start growing. Not least because they don’t typically have a pension pot. It’s to do with the way that their pensions are evaluated.

[Turkish]

3 minutes ago, badgerx16 said:

For most people it does fuck all.

Most people haven't been affected by the huge rise in energy costs then?

[Whitey Grandad]

14 minutes ago, whelk said:

Easy to fool public as most won’t have a clue about how pension allowances work and spun as a measure to help the NHS. And every other CEO etc. Also no threshold whatsoever now - if it was just to help doctors retiring when they breach it why not move to 1.5mill?

It’s quite a complicated system to administer and need to be simplified but in general I agree with your point.

[badgerx16]

Just now, Turkish said:

Most people haven't been affected by the huge rise in energy costs then?

The Government is not in direct control of fuel prices, and the budget extended some forms of help that were already in place. In terms of new proposals the budget, for most, was "Meh !".

[Turkish]

1 minute ago, badgerx16 said:

The Government is not in direct control of fuel prices, and the budget extended some forms of help that were already in place. In terms of new proposals the budget, for most, was "Meh !".

Funny, so when the prices went up and there were images on here of how much more we're paying than other countries, the mantra was fucking government, fucking thatcher, fucking useless they're all shareholders in shell!! Now it's on well, they dont control the prices anyway 

[badgerx16]

11 minutes ago, Turkish said:

Funny, so when the prices went up and there were images on here of how much more we're paying than other countries, the mantra was fucking government, fucking thatcher, fucking useless they're all shareholders in shell!! Now it's on well, they dont control the prices anyway 

What did the Chancellor do in the Budget to control fuel prices ? It is the Budget being discussed on this thread.

[Turkish]

8 minutes ago, badgerx16 said:

What did the Chancellor do in the Budget to control fuel prices ? It is the Budget being discussed on this thread.

they’ve extend the cap and also given you and everyone else free money the last six months, (not this budget admittedly) 

So Why did it matter that any of them were shareholders in shell when prices skyrocketed? They don’t control the prices. 

Edited 21 March, 2023 by Turkish

[whelk]

50 minutes ago, Turkish said:

Im assuming people are not that unhappy with the budget then given that we have only just got onto the second page and there has been a lack of whinging from the usual suspects

This got me very excited. Something that doesn’t happen doesn’t happen again and I am £100 better off. The great fuel duty con

[badgerx16]

16 minutes ago, Turkish said:

they’ve extend the cap and also given you and everyone else free money the last six months, (not this budget admittedly) 

So Why did it matter that any of them were shareholders in shell when prices skyrocketed? They don’t control the prices. 

Whilst they don't control the prices, the bigger issue is whether they actually should.

[tdmickey3]

4 hours ago, Turkish said:

Im assuming people are not that unhappy with the budget then given that we have only just got onto the second page and there has been a lack of whinging from the usual suspects

Guess we are all waiting for your words of "guidance and wisdom" as your opinion is the only one that matters 🙄.... in your own head any way.

If some dared to voice there own you would be all over it 

[Turkish]

7 minutes ago, tdmickey3 said:

Guess we are all waiting for your words of "guidance and wisdom" as your opinion is the only one that matters 🙄.... in your own head any way.

If some dared to voice there own you would be all over it 

incorrect, everyone is entitled to their own opinion. I'm just assuming that as there hasn't been much moaning most people are alright with it. It was a simple question, not sure why it's got you making strange comments like this one.