General Election 2017

[limpid]

33 minutes ago, mjmooney said:

She didn't turn it down though. And I assume she's seen the food banks on the news. Shameless. 

Can she turn it down? I don't think she's allowed to comment on government policy.

[bobzy]

45 minutes ago, MakemineVanilla said:

The growth of public spending under the Tories continued since 2010 (16.6%) and is predicted to grow until at least 2020.

http://www.ukpublicspending.co.uk/spending_chart_2000_2020UKb_F0t

 

Looks to me like GDP per head is shrinking and public sector spend as a % of GDP is shrinking too?

 

(Having also not looked into what in "the public sector" this spend relates to). 

[bobzy]

5 minutes ago, mykeyb said:

Is this the same party that left a note to say all the money was gone?

So you believe we have "no money"?

[HanoiVillan]

9 minutes ago, mykeyb said:

So lets pretend that didnt happen and they left the country with plenty of money then..........vote them in.

That isn't what I said. 

The extent to which Labour are to blame for the country's financial state in 2010 is something over which reasonable people can disagree. We probably have different opinions on the topic, but it is possible to make arguments on both sides. What is not possible to do, in good faith, is wave around a joke (Liam Byrne's note) as if it's some kind of guilty plea. 

[peterms]

7 minutes ago, bobzy said:

So you believe we have "no money"?

Of course we have no money.  Someone's taken away the keyboard, so no new computer entries can be made to create it.  We're helpless.  We're doomed...

[peterms]

1 minute ago, HanoiVillan said:

wave around a joke (Liam Byrne)

Fixed.

[Amsterdam_Neil_D]

Had a bit of a mad thought but here it goes:-

Imagine you are a Risk Assessor for the Tories and Labour.

The election is called and you produce a report for each party detailing the risks during the campaign and the possible outcomes at that point and now.

Could it be that given the mess of Brexit + the added Terrorism thing that it might be worth letting the other side win and slit their own throat and kill that party forever ? I would not fancy sortign all that out with the added uncontrollable variables of Brexit,  immigration and Policing to name but a few.  Whoever is in power next,  I think it will go spectacularly wrong no matter which party wins.  For example,  if something like London / Manchester happens in the next couple of days do the Tories think that wheeling May out will suffice again.  

Do you think anyone is thinking this,  at least in private ? (apart from me obviously ) 

 

[Demitri_C]

33 minutes ago, bobzy said:

But surely you'd go for the ones who are actively trying to invest in the future? By heavily investing in education? By ensuring our healthcare system is improved?

Sure, there's probably plenty you don't agree with (again, I'd be curious to know what exactly) but isn't that party the "lesser of two evils" in your eyes?

The lesser of two evils hmm not so sure about that. Both parties have evil people in them.

One issue i have with corbyn is why does he put his trust in a completes numbskull in diane abbott? She ia going to have a key position if he wins? Its harder to find a bigger embrassment than boris johnson yet corbyn seems to have found her.

My concerns with labour are that i think mass tax rises are going to come, not just for the rich, but all of us will pay more when its already tough. I also think unemployment is going to sky rocket under him.

So as i say both shite choices. This is why i gwt angry with lib dems they should be a alternative but they were crap as well. **sighs**

[LondonLax]

I suspect the Torys will win but with a much smaller majority then they hoped for, creating disunity within the party. At the same time they willbe trying to negotiate Brexit which is a bit of a poisoned chalice in itself.

Meanwhile Labour will be getting their house in order having seen some hope in the Corbyn / Sanders style of politics and may well win big in the next election.

[StefanAVFC]

1 minute ago, Demitri_C said:

My concerns with labour are that i think mass tax rises are going to come, not just for the rich, but all of us will pay more when its already tough.

Haven't Labour ruled out tax rises on anybody below the top income tax bracket?

[magnkarl]

Someone needs to get Diane Abbott the hell out of office right now. Jeremy makes gains and Diane comes in with the napalm to burn it all to smithereens. Like Chris said earlier in this thread I'm finding it incredulous that our front bench quality from both parties this year is so bad that someone like her (or Johnson for that matter) can hold any sort of prominent position.

The debate, this election and the whole period has been quite anemic to me. Corbyn has done well in a lot of places but seems to have the inability to get rid of DA, which worries me when it comes to a possible secretarial selection under him. We could end up with DA as a prominent part of our future government and that gives me shivers down my spine.

[mjmooney]

1 minute ago, LondonLax said:

I suspect the Torys will win but with a much smaller majority then they hoped for, creating disunity within the party. At the same time they willbe trying to negotiate Brexit which is a bit of a poisoned chalice in itself.

Meanwhile Labour will be getting their house in order having seen some hope in the Corbyn / Sanders style of politics and may well win big in the next election.

This has been my prediction all along.

[mjmooney]

Keir Starmer next Labour leader. 

[bickster]

10 minutes ago, magnkarl said:

Someone needs to get Diane Abbott the hell out of office right now. Jeremy makes gains and Diane comes in with the napalm to burn it all to smithereens. Like Chris said earlier in this thread I'm finding it incredulous that our front bench quality from both parties this year is so bad that someone like her (or Johnson for that matter) can hold any sort of prominent position.

The debate, this election and the whole period has been quite anemic to me. Corbyn has done well in a lot of places but seems to have the inability to get rid of DA, which worries me when it comes to a possible secretarial selection under him. We could end up with DA as a prominent part of our future government and that gives me shivers down my spine.

Diane Abbott isn't in office. 

[Demitri_C]

40 minutes ago, HanoiVillan said:

Not this again. 

To be fair if your stupid enough to leave that then you deserve to be crucified. If conservatives had done that we would never hear end of it

[Demitri_C]

15 minutes ago, StefanAVFC said:

Haven't Labour ruled out tax rises on anybody below the top income tax bracket?

Politicians never lie do they Stefan?

[StefanAVFC]

2 minutes ago, Demitri_C said:

Politicians never lie do they Stefan?

Why would Labour raise income taxes on the lower income tax brackets? What do they achieve politically by doing that?

There's cynicism and there's fantasy.

[bobzy]

6 minutes ago, Demitri_C said:

The lesser of two evils hmm not so sure about that. Both parties have evil people in them.

One issue i have with corbyn is why does he put his trust in a completes numbskull in diane abbott? She ia going to have a key position if he wins? Its harder to find a bigger embrassment than boris johnson yet corbyn seems to have found her.

My concerns with labour are that i think mass tax rises are going to come, not just for the rich, but all of us will pay more when its already tough. I also think unemployment is going to sky rocket under him.

So as i say both shite choices. This is why i gwt angry with lib dems they should be a alternative but they were crap as well. **sighs**

I think you're Tory-slanted (at the moment).

Diane Abbott is indeed an embarrassment to the Labour Party, as in Boris Johnson to the Tories. I would tend to agree that Abbott comes off worse. What about the Chancellor of the Exchequer getting his figures wrong on HS2 though (only by a casual £20bn)? That's a major project and he's the one looking after the money! Somehow, not quite the same level of vitriol aimed at him as with Abbott.

Labour have said they aren't increasing taxes for anyone earning under £85k/year. The Tories have refused to rule out tax increases.

So, as I say, fine you might disagree with them both but certainly one party being clear (even if you think wishful!) and one party being deliberately deceitful.

[Demitri_C]

8 minutes ago, StefanAVFC said:

Why would Labour raise income taxes on the lower income tax brackets? What do they achieve politically by doing that?

There's cynicism and there's fantasy.

Fantasy lets talk if they are elected. 

[PaulC]

Its the continued embarassing interviews with Abbott though that go back a long way.. You google how many she has done. Its ridiculous! She obviously has lost either her memory or not doing her homework.