Question Time is good tonight.
Westminster Politics
- Thread starter altodevil
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Austerity was inevitable once they announced that monstrosity of a budget.
Was voting Truss pragmatic? It doesn't really look that way right now. And as far as I know the Bros backed Clinton more or less as much as Clinton voters backed Obama in 2012, while the changes in 2016 vs 2012 elections were mostly increased voter turnout for the Republicans while the Democrats stayed the same.
We have had a decade of austerity. What is there left to cut?
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Harsh thing to say about the Beckhams.
Might already be posted
Pension triple lock and other index linked benefits
Welfare
The amount they pay to local authorities
Hs2
International aid
General departmental cuts ij the name of "efficiency"
Would be my guess as starting points
Force civil service workers to retrain as medical professionals, fruit pickers or plumbers
Wonder if he’ll be sports minister in Starmers government
Truss wants to scrap the state pension and reduce benefits. Let that sink in.
Phew, that’s a relief, they’ll be able to pay for the tax cut for the wealthiest 1% by cutting back on benefits payments as inflation soars.
I wouldn’t be surprised if the state pension became means tested, so that only those with little or no private pension provision gets it.
I would... people would stop saving for pensions
Pension funds are such a huge player in the market - there would be a total collapse as they are forced to sell off assets and not replace - honestly it would make the mini budget look like a small blip - forget parity with the dollar and think parity with the paso
You reckon any government would be that brave? It would instantly keep them out of power for some time if they did that.
Yes indeed.
Everything but the tax cuts and consequent borrowing that caused the problems in the first place.
All the while the gap between the so called rich and the much less well off grows and grows.
Let's means test more benefits while also cutting jobs within the public sector.
Sounds like a coherent strategy.
Sounds like a coherent strategy.
Totally agree.
The Office for Budget Responsibility Will not be allowed to mark the budget.
Is that even legal?
Is that even legal?
They have no choice if they were employees as they’d be automatically enrolled in at least a basic company scheme. Obviously those already on a state pension would probably keep it.
Means testing the state pension and restricting it to those that need it would force people to save more for pensions, not less unless there's something really basic I am missing
They won't have any choice, the hole in state pension fund is huge and growing at some point whoever the government is will be forced to either massively up the age of retirement or restrict who gets it. I am 50 and have no expectation of a state pension, it will be gone for me in before I am 65.
It’s really hard to believe they’re not intentionally shorting the pound at this point.
Yeah I've always assumed I wouldn't get it because of the crisis but reality (as per credit) is they won't risk it politically in my opinion.
Increasing the age and letting inflation erode the value of pension payouts seems the more obvious route.
If it's the fiscal event then yes I think that's ok
If it's the November budget then no... And the reprocussions would be brutal
pound up to $1.12 now so I'd guess the former
Only legal if it suits the Tory agendas.
It sends an awful message and I guess the market has given its own verdict. He's first up on Monday at the conference apparently, so will be interesting to see if there's any reaction to his comments.
That would be taking money off rich people, and the Tories don't do that. Means testing was actually more of a Gordon Brown thing really, and he managed to change the balance of spending in favour of poorer people quite a bit in some ways.
This is something I've raised in this thread before, the left don't know how to win.
In the last election the Lib Dems and Labour stole votes from each other whilst the Brexit party stood down in seats where it was going to be closely contested. The left don't care about winning, they care about purity and 'being right'. Its morally laudable to say that a LD and Labour candidate might disagree on some things, but in the main they agree on one major thing: the disagree with the Tories. However rather than being pragmatic, they compete over the minor issues rather than focussing on the bigger picture and working together to win a left-wing coalition.
In the 2019 GE the popular vote was almost an even 50/50 split between the left and right parties, but the Conservatives won a thumping majority. In my own constituency the Tory (the only right wing candidate) got 49.5% whilst Labour, LD and the greens combined for 50.5%. People voting LD and the greens might have thought they were doing the right thing, but in reality their votes directly elected the Conservative MP. I cannot fathom the mindset of someone who vote LD or greens in a tightly contested seat.
For the left to win, tactical voting must become the norm.
I'm not sure why this would be a bad thing. Why do pensioners with decent private pensions need the state pension any more than people with good salaries need universal creditt? Yes they've paid into it, but this is how social services work: some people pay in more than they take out. In general some of these schemes are not means tested because its more expensive to implement that you'd save, I think that was the case with the winter fuel allowance.
Speaking as someone who wouldn't qualify if it became means tested, I would vote for this.
OBR plans meeting with PM
Markets wait - freefall halts
OBR spend 48 minutes with PM - leave
Pound heads south again.
Markets wait - freefall halts
OBR spend 48 minutes with PM - leave
Pound heads south again.
So who is getting sacked for telling the frog eyed weirdos in charge some home truths this time?
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Good news for first time buyers buying a terraced house in London on a 30k salary!
Yes of course, I live in the North so I relate it to local situations.
The main thing is for Labour to 'level up' properly in towns and villages outside the main conurbations. Labour Councils in particular, wherever they are, have to do more this time around with regeneration initiatives than just 'tarting up' the area, or running a few projects that last for a while but then become obsolete. That 'patch up' or 'make do and mend' approach has been rumbled (red wall areas again) and they must do it properly next time.
The reason that didn't happen was mainly on the Lib Dems though and it's hard to claim them as left unless you're using very loose grouping.
What's the price of the house if you can save £11250 on the stamp duty? Can only see that they've raised the threshold from £300k to £425k where they pay the 5%
Apparently 600k.
But it is affordable if you cancel Netflix and stop eating avocados.
Unless I'm missing something on £600k - they only save £6250.
Not forgetting of course interest rates going through the roof.
Nice. Will help offset the 8% mortgage rate.