The Starmer Years - Can The New Broom Sweep Clean?

[Lord Duckhunter]

35 minutes ago, Dr. Kucho said:

Here in the Netherlands we have a private system where you pick your own health insurance. It starts around €160 a month and if your salary is below a certain amount you can get a monthly benefit from the government.

Sounds like Reforms policy to me…

 

Reform UK has also called for a new NHS funding model. It wants the next government to look to countries like France

[whelk]

48 minutes ago, badgerx16 said:

The last time I was in A&E there was a loudly drunk man sitting to one side telling the security staff that they were failed Policemen, and were just as corrupt as the Police. He continued this rant for about half an hour and refused all requests to STFU, so security went to call the 'real' Police, Just as they arrived the drunk did a runner out of A&E and down the corridor towards the X-Ray department. The Police asked where he had gone and everybody in the reception, about 40 people, all pointed out the direction he had run.

About 2 minutes later he was frogmarched out, this time ranting directly to the Police about how corrupt the force is.

So he doesn’t live in Thailand

[sadoldgit]

58 minutes ago, Dr. Kucho said:

 

Because the NHS is a shit system and costs a whopping 242 billion pounds a year. I am not talking about the amazing staff that give their all every day when I say the NHS is shit.

I’ve seen it over the last few years with both my grandmothers who have had health problems over the last years (one has passed now at the grand age of 92). Getting an appointment with the GP was impossible and it would happen that the GP would call to ask if nan could be at the surgery in 10 minutes, what the fuck do they think?

The former news correspondent in the UK from the Dutch state television made a series about the NHS and the waiting times, it was shocking and sad how the system works. People waiting full days to see a doctor and ambulances queuing. 

When visiting my grandfather in hospital in Bournemouth a few years ago before he passed I was shocked to see the state of the hospital. It was like walking back in to the 80s. And that in one of the more wealthy parts of the country. 

I don’t know what the best system is as alternative for the NHS, but the current system certainly isn’t.

Here in the Netherlands we have a private system where you pick your own health insurance. It starts around €160 a month and if your salary is below a certain amount you can get a monthly benefit from the government.

The waiting lists here are minimal and if I want an appointment with my GP I can usually come the next day. Also the hospitals are of good quality and fully digitalized. It’s by far perfect, quite expensive, but compared to the NHS it’s a lot better. 

Here in mainland Europe we often joke about the state of the motorways in Belgium, but I am sad to say the ones in the UK are worse nowadays. And let’s not start about the potholes everywhere. 

We should look in to improving the roads, build more cycle paths and think outside of the box. Look at building a bridge between the UK and France, one like the one between Denmark and Sweden, partly bridge and partly tunnel to not disrupt the shipping lanes. That would boost the economy massively, make it easier to import and export goods, grow tourism (taking the ferry with a camper van or caravan is incredibly expensive and puts people of) and make it easier for Brits to visit mainland Europe. 

With Trump being unreliable and Europe wanting to be more independent from the US, this is the moment to fill the gaps they leave behind! 

Germany are investing over 150 billion euro in to their arms and defense industry. Now we all now in the next years they will have some amazing stuff and be selling it to the rest of the western world. France have just launched their own AI app and here in the Netherlands we have the most valuable company of Europe in ASML (chips) who are expanding their business because of AI. 

This is the moment for the UK to get their act together and grow the economy. I know for instance that lots of servers and IT systems are provided by US companies. Lots of European countries don’t want to rely on the US so we could start investing in tech companies in the UK to fill that gap. Make the UK attractive for foreign investment and workers and attract the brains who work in Silicon Valley (lots of Indians and other Asians). 

Kickstart the CANZUK alliance and make it possible for workers and visitors from the those countries to come here without a visa.

When Nigel says he wants the best for Britain he means he wants the best for Nigel. Because if you want the best for Britain you would stay in the EU. We need a strong European economy to compete with China and the US. Alone we cannot compete. To make these changes you need lots of money so that means increasing taxes, cutting spending in certain areas and having people in government who want to move forward and make unpopular decisions.

It sounds like I am only talking negatively about the UK but it makes me sad to see the state of it. I love my country of birth and after all these years abroad still and always will identify myself as English. Would love to move back to the south coast. Saturdays at St Mary’s, Sunday walks in the New Forest with the dog and stopping at a pub for a Sunday roast. Sadly the wages and my work here make it hard to leave. Besides that I would somehow have to find work for my girlfriend and her being Dutch that would mean a process of visas and lots of paperwork.

Apologies for some of my sentences and words, have been speaking Dutch and partly French all day so my grammar isn’t the greatest at the moment.

Our local surgery is brilliant. I know several people who have been diagnosed with cancer and they have all said that they can’t fault the way that they have been looked after. I guess some are better than others.

As for the economy/travel with Europe, wouldn’t it be better if we were in the EU?

As for part bridges part tunnels across the channel, how would that work??

[iansums]

47 minutes ago, Lord Duckhunter said:

Sounds like Reforms policy to me…

 

Reform UK has also called for a new NHS funding model. It wants the next government to look to countries like France

No, that’s not how it works Duck, if anyone mentions a new funding model of healthcare to replace the NHS, we have to look to the US 🤔

[Weston Super Saint]

1 hour ago, sadoldgit said:

 

As for part bridges part tunnels across the channel, how would that work??

Part of it would be a bridge, part of it would be a tunnel I guess. It's not a unique concept. Oresund bridge for example.

[Holmes_and_Watson]

7 hours ago, Lord Duckhunter said:

I”’ll go to the coffee shop with other mums”

”Sometimes I’m so busy I be forgotten whether I’ve fed them”

Poverty 🤣🤣

 

Vote Labour!

[Dr. Kucho]

11 hours ago, Lord Duckhunter said:

Sounds like Reforms policy to me…

 

Reform UK has also called for a new NHS funding model. It wants the next government to look to countries like France

Then I would have to agree with them on that topic. The NHS was set up in the 50s if I am correct, we are 70 years later now and the country and population have changed.

[Farmer Saint]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cg4gzr56wd2t

Good news, hopefully another interest rate cut on the way, which should lead to higher investment, increased spending and a better economic position.

[Farmer Saint]

An additional odd bit of news - obviously not conclusive, but interesting 🤔 

 

 

[rallyboy]

Adding Jenrick, Zahawi and Braverman to your team is only going to strengthen everyone else.

[tdmickey3]

12 minutes ago, rallyboy said:

Adding Jenrick, Zahawi and Braverman to your team is only going to strengthen everyone else.

They need to get looney Liz on the team

[iansums]

Another sort of u-turn incoming, the goverment planning on delaying the increase in minimum wage for 18-20 year olds to match 21+. 

[Jeremy Corbyn]

32 minutes ago, tdmickey3 said:

They need to get looney Liz on the team

I don't think reform are that dim.  She's actually crashed the economy, the others are more shit by association.  Think she might end up with Rupes when he gets desperate for relevance.

[tdmickey3]

8 minutes ago, Jeremy Corbyn said:

 

 

26 minutes ago, iansums said:

Another sort of u-turn incoming, the goverment planning on delaying the increase in minimum wage for 18-20 year olds to match 21+. 

Will suit all of the business owners not wanting to pay a fair wage...

Edited 7 hours ago by tdmickey3

[moonraker]

5 hours ago, Dr. Kucho said:

Then I would have to agree with them on that topic. The NHS was set up in the 50s if I am correct, we are 70 years later now and the country and population have changed.

you are in correct it was set up in the 40s post WWII

[iansums]

19 minutes ago, tdmickey3 said:

 

Will suit all of the business owners not wanting to pay a fair wage...

Remember, these are 18-20 year olds only, but it would lead to increased pay across the board. An added financial burden especially on small businesses who have already seen massive cost increases. Sadly, the result would lead to less 18-20 year olds being employed. I'm not sure it is necessary to have 18-20 year olds on the same minimum wage as adults. I'm all for the minimum wage by the way.

[tdmickey3]

1 hour ago, iansums said:

Remember, these are 18-20 year olds only, but it would lead to increased pay across the board. An added financial burden especially on small businesses who have already seen massive cost increases. Sadly, the result would lead to less 18-20 year olds being employed. I'm not sure it is necessary to have 18-20 year olds on the same minimum wage as adults. I'm all for the minimum wage by the way.

Companies/bosses paying people pitiful wages is a disgrace irrespective in its own right.

But why it is deemed fair to pay someone a low wage because they are young is even more disgraceful.

If someone joins burger king at 25 and the other at 18, why should the younger employee get less per hour?

[tdmickey3]

Big fall in household energy bills predicted from April

Annual energy bills will fall by £117 from April due to government changes, forecasters have predicted.

Measures announced in the budget will mean a drop to £1,641 a year for a typical dual‑fuel household, according to research firm Cornwall Insight.

That would represent a 7% fall from the £1,758 being paid until the end of the financial year in March, under the energy price cap.

If the forecast proves correct, annual bills will be at their lowest since July 2024.

[whelk]

This anti-business government is just ruining companies

 

[whelk]

11 minutes ago, tdmickey3 said:

Big fall in household energy bills predicted from April

Annual energy bills will fall by £117 from April due to government changes, forecasters have predicted.

Measures announced in the budget will mean a drop to £1,641 a year for a typical dual‑fuel household, according to research firm Cornwall Insight.

That would represent a 7% fall from the £1,758 being paid until the end of the financial year in March, under the energy price cap.

If the forecast proves correct, annual bills will be at their lowest since July 2024.

Like an idiot I fixed mine a few months back

[sadoldgit]

3 hours ago, rallyboy said:

Adding Jenrick, Zahawi and Braverman to your team is only going to strengthen everyone else.

God knows what is going on but I have had a flood of Jenrick, Braverman and Reform crap on my social media feeds today. They must have my algorithms mixed up with some other posters on here 😩

7 councillors from KCC who were booted out of or left Reform have now joined up with Lowe’s party. We now have 3 types of Tory to pick from in Kent and none of them remotely close to centre right. Happy days.

[Weston Super Saint]

1 hour ago, tdmickey3 said:

Big fall in household energy bills predicted from April

Annual energy bills will fall by £117 from April due to government changes, forecasters have predicted.

Measures announced in the budget will mean a drop to £1,641 a year for a typical dual‑fuel household, according to research firm Cornwall Insight.

That would represent a 7% fall from the £1,758 being paid until the end of the financial year in March, under the energy price cap.

If the forecast proves correct, annual bills will be at their lowest since July 2024.

Pretty sure they fell last year at the end of Spring as well - when no one has the heating on!  They went up again ready for autumn though  

[Lord Duckhunter]

1 hour ago, sadoldgit said:

God knows what is going on but I have had a flood of Jenrick, Braverman and Reform crap on my social media feeds today.

You need to get a life, try getting out more. Scanning the internet for stories to post on here, isn’t a hobby. 

[iansums]

2 hours ago, whelk said:

This anti-business government is just ruining companies

 

Thankfully the FTSE is more of a measure of multinational businesses and the global economy rather than the UK, even though Rachel tried claiming credit for it.

[iansums]

3 hours ago, tdmickey3 said:

Companies/bosses paying people pitiful wages is a disgrace irrespective in its own right.

But why it is deemed fair to pay someone a low wage because they are young is even more disgraceful.

If someone joins burger king at 25 and the other at 18, why should the younger employee get less per hour?

I have no idea what Burger Kings policy is, perhaps they do pay the same. Generally though young people start in low level roles requiring lots of training to give them experience. Lower pay is quite normal, most of us have gone through this. 

[tdmickey3]

On 16/02/2026 at 17:07, Lord Duckhunter said:

So it looks like Nigel was right, and the New Broom was wrong, it was illegal to delay the elections. Strange that Mr Rules, ex head of CPS got this wrong, and they’ve now got to cough up 100k. 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c70ne31d884o

 

 

On 13/02/2026 at 12:59, Lord Duckhunter said:

I don’t know why anyone is surprised, Sir Jim has some pretty weird views. 
 

 

 

On 17/02/2026 at 14:24, Lord Duckhunter said:

 

On 17/02/2026 at 15:29, Lord Duckhunter said:

I”’ll go to the coffee shop with other mums”

”Sometimes I’m so busy I be forgotten whether I’ve fed them”

Poverty 🤣🤣

 

 

10 minutes ago, Lord Duckhunter said:

You need to get a life, try getting out more. Scanning the internet for stories to post on here, isn’t a hobby. 

It is for some

[tdmickey3]

1 minute ago, iansums said:

I have no idea what Burger Kings policy is, perhaps they do pay the same. Generally though young people start in low level roles requiring lots of training to give them experience. Lower pay is quite normal, most of us have gone through this. 

True but if you are doing the same job the pay should be the same irrespective of age

[Weston Super Saint]

49 minutes ago, tdmickey3 said:

True but if you are doing the same job the pay should be the same irrespective of age

I believe the theory is that younger workers (18 to 20), still live at home so have fewer bills to pay, whilst older workers (25+) are more likely to have rent of their own to pay.

How true that is or not is probably irrelevant to the theory.

[whelk]

1 hour ago, iansums said:

Thankfully the FTSE is more of a measure of multinational businesses and the global economy rather than the UK, even though Rachel tried claiming credit for it.

You’d be wetting your pants if it was tanking.

[tdmickey3]

28 minutes ago, Weston Super Saint said:

I believe the theory is that younger workers (18 to 20), still live at home so have fewer bills to pay, whilst older workers (25+) are more likely to have rent of their own to pay.

How true that is or not is probably irrelevant to the theory.

Possibly true but same job, same skill should mean equal pay IMO