Current Affairs The General Election

[NilSatisOptimum]

He'll enjoy his day in the sun, but as always actions speak louder than words. Let's see the impact Brexit has on these small northern towns and hope if it isn't desirable that the people realise they've been spun a pack of lies.

Just as there is no political media bias in the UK, all there can be is opportunity with Brexit. And it will be down to the individual in these Northern towns if they don't take the opportunities afforded them.

 

[random]

He deffo played a big part in getting the younger generation voting and interested in politics.

fixed for you

 

[Bruce Wayne]

Your making things up that are not in the interview.
So what piece of mind are those who can afford this charge getting?
Bare in mind, this piece of mind is not mentioned for those who cannot afford the charge...

No idea as as far as I can tell, it's not like it's a policy or anything as opposed to someone talking from the cuff. From what I can tell however, he's saying that social care for the elderly stays the same as it is now in terms of provision, but that older people with the means are taxed more to help plug any funding gaps that exist. Those without the means won't be taxed more. It's aimed at the Petes of this world I suspect.

 

[Paris]

Likewise, you’ll get loads of likes because it sounds like you’re being philosophical and profound, and your sentiments echo what all the liberal commentators are saying on twitter and in the guardian.

Ultimately though, you’re propagating the myth of the working class lad who just wants to better himself, whereas I actually know the person I’m talking about, and know that not to be the case. If he wants to start earning £80k a year, he should start turning up to work on time and stop taking drugs the night before an early start.

No, there are those, like you it seems who are in denial. I can see it as can anyone who doesn't think the sun shines out of Corbyn's backside. I will repeat it again, perhaps eventually you'll accept it this time - our manifesto was soundly rejected by the electorate because it was diabolical and as I heard so often when knocking on doors, to anyone who has outgrown sixth form politics, Corbyn has as much appeal as a smelly fart.

As for your apprentice, hopefully one day he'll wake up and realise the error of his ways - we all make daft mistakes when young, like I did by voting for Corbyn twice in the two leadership contests.

 

[NilSatisOptimum]

No idea as as far as I can tell, it's not like it's a policy or anything as opposed to someone talking from the cuff. From what I can tell however, he's saying that social care for the elderly stays the same as it is now in terms of provision, but that older people with the means are taxed more to help plug any funding gaps that exist. Those without the means won't be taxed more. It's aimed at the Petes of this world I suspect.

So two tier system it is, finally got there.
And what nonsense, your not even discussing what Greene actually said, I have no time for a misleading willing patsy...

 

[random]

Mr Corbyn said: "We now need to listen to the voices of those in Stoke and Scunthorpe, Blyth and Bridgend, Grimsby and Glasgow, who didn't support Labour."


Maybe listening to them before they voted would have been a more sensible option

 

[Bruce Wayne]

So two tier system it is, finally got there.
And what nonsense, your not even discussing what Greene actually said, I have no time for a misleading willing patsy...

You've lost me. How is it a two tier system? You don't call the NHS a two tier system because wealthier people pay more in tax to support it, so how is this different? It's another form of taxing wealthier people, with any funds raised ear marked for social care.

 

[NilSatisOptimum]

You've lost me. How is it a two tier system? You don't call the NHS a two tier system because wealthier people pay more in tax to support it, so how is this different? It's another form of taxing wealthier people, with any funds raised ear marked for social care.

One last time, what is this piece of mind this insurance buys for those who can afford it?

Why is this piece of mind not mentioned for those who cannot afford the insurance?

 

[Bruce Wayne]

One last time, what is this piece of mind this insurance buys for those who can afford it?

Why is this piece of mind not mentioned for those who cannot afford the insurance?

Christ, is Sunday spoon feeding day?

Damian Green suggests modelling social care provision on state pension

Proposals including fuel allowance tax and surcharges labelled ‘a tax on getting old’ by opposition

www.theguardian.com

As a “last resort”, he says, the over-50s might be asked to pay a 1% national insurance surcharge, “in exchange for a guarantee that their personal finances will not be exhausted by the costs of social care, and that they will be looked after whatever their condition”.

 

[mahermi1]

Joking aside though, this is a good example of the daftness of politics. They must all know that demographically we're in a bind, as the baby boomers enter retirement, get frail and need healthcare, whether in hospitals or in care facilities. It's no coincidence that spending on healthcare has gone up so much as so many more people are using it. Add to that the pensions situation that sees a budget the size of the NHS going out each year on state pensions, and you'd think maybe something needs to happen, especially as this is the first generation, possibly in history, that won't do better than the generation before. I'm fairly sure people across the political spectrum have grumbled that the baby boomers have grown rich on the kind of environment and opportunities that today's generation don't have.

Yet despite that, politicians are loathe to do anything but lick the arse of old people as they know full well that they will come out and vote in swathes in a way that the frankly pathetic 'youth quake' has illustrated, the young do not. So you have a problem that we've known exists for blooming ages, and the fear of upsetting the older demographic is compounded by the constant fear mongering among any that do so. May's frankly ridiculously monikered 'dementia tax' is a prime example. The absurd pandering to the WASPI movement is another where politics got in the way of common sense.

"Lick the arse of the old", wow just wow, how old are we talking here Bruce, the war veterans ? Or is the just ordinary old like myself 60 next birthday, you know the ones who've paid tax and national insurance all their lives and who now, you I think and a few more on here, advocate us paying even more tax, more than you perhaps. Btw how old are you, if you dont mind me asking.

 

[Lanolin]

No, there are those, like you it seems who are in denial. I can see it as can anyone who doesn't think the sun shines out of Corbyn's backside. I will repeat it again, perhaps eventually you'll accept it this time - our manifesto was soundly rejected by the electorate because it was diabolical and as I heard so often when knocking on doors, to anyone who has outgrown sixth form politics, Corbyn has as much appeal as a smelly fart.

As for your apprentice, hopefully one day he'll wake up and realise the error of his ways - we all make daft mistakes when young, like I did by voting for Corbyn twice in the two leadership contests.

I’m not in denial. You, like many in here, are seeing things that aren’t there. You think you know what I’m saying, so you don’t actually read it and just imagine it to be more of how you think people are reacting.

Labour lost the election for many reasons, some policies that didn’t chime with people, the Brexit stance, a failure to take to Corbyn for genuine reasons, and a failure to take to Corbyn for manipulated reasons. There’s no excuses here, we lost, it didn’t work, we have to try something else.

Im not saying that labour lost the election because the entire electorate is stupid. I tried to make that clear by, you know, saying it, but asking people to read whole paragraphs is taxing I know. That doesn’t mean, however, that none of the electorate is stupid, which was my point. There’s a load of people who want us to ignore the very simple fact that some people do and say very stupid things, and have no grasp of what they’re voting for. We have to listen and respect all of them according to you, even the ones who are clearly stupid. It’s ridiculous knee jerking, thinking that all these people are telling us something, when actually they just had no idea what they were doing.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

"Lick the arse of the old", wow just wow, how old are we talking here Bruce, the war veterans ? Or is the just ordinary old like myself 60 next birthday, you know the ones who've paid tax and national insurance all their lives and who now, you I think and a few more on here, advocate us paying even more tax, more than you perhaps. Btw how old are you, if you dont mind me asking.

war veterans? Heavens. Yes, I personally propose we kick them all in the nuts as a sign of gratitude. The fact is that people are living considerably longer than they were, and that demographically there are far more older people now than there were in the past. This has meant that the worker/retiree ratio has changed overwhelmingly since the state pension was introduced, and people are living longer in retirement. Older folk are also the biggest users of the NHS, and our lifestyles mean they are living longer with various chronic conditions that require frequent usage of the NHS.

Couple that with the shifting wealth of society that sees young people today the first generation in history less likely to be better off than the generation before them, it's perhaps not a big ask to request wealthy older people to contribute more to the burden their placing on the state. But that doesn't happen. Even under austerity for everyone else, the state pension was triple locked, and retirement age continues to grow at a slower pace than life expectancy, all while wealthy pensioners like Pete continue to get freebies like tv licenses and bus travel.

With regards to your question, I'm 40, and unless things change I don't expect there to be a state pension when I get to retirement age as it will be wholly unsustainable and the government won't be able to afford it. Also, just as a reminder, paying taxes all your life is irrelevant, as the pension isn't paid for out of your lifetime of taxes, but out of the taxes of those working in the current time. You don't pay into a pension pot as you would a private pension. It doesn't work like that. It's a ponzi scheme basically, that relies upon enough tax payers to foot the bill.

 

[mahermi1]

I’m not in denial. You, like many in here, are seeing things that aren’t there. You think you know what I’m saying, so you don’t actually read it and just imagine it to be more of how you think people are reacting.

Labour lost the election for many reasons, some policies that didn’t chime with people, the Brexit stance, a failure to take to Corbyn for genuine reasons, and a failure to take to Corbyn for manipulated reasons. There’s no excuses here, we lost, it didn’t work, we have to try something else.

Im not saying that labour lost the election because the entire electorate is stupid. I tried to make that clear by, you know, saying it, but asking people to read whole paragraphs is taxing I know. That doesn’t mean, however, that none of the electorate is stupid, which was my point. There’s a load of people who want us to ignore the very simple fact that some people do and say very stupid things, and have no grasp of what they’re voting for. We have to listen and respect all of them according to you, even the ones who are clearly stupid. It’s ridiculous knee jerking, thinking that all these people are telling us something, when actually they just had no idea what they were doing.

Thought myself, Labour lost it through swinging too far to the left, Corbyn, whether manipulated or not, people vote for a strong leader, Corbyn was not in my view trusted or the people around him.
Some of their policies, I would say were nuts, free broadband for all, re-privatise companies, four day week. Brexit, Labour were not trusted or their message never got across. I am a life long Labour supporter and always will be.

 

[mahermi1]

lol war veterans? Heavens. Yes, I personally propose we kick them all in the nuts as a sign of gratitude. The fact is that people are living considerably longer than they were, and that demographically there are far more older people now than there were in the past. This has meant that the worker/retiree ratio has changed overwhelmingly since the state pension was introduced, and people are living longer in retirement. Older folk are also the biggest users of the NHS, and our lifestyles mean they are living longer with various chronic conditions that require frequent usage of the NHS.

Couple that with the shifting wealth of society that sees young people today the first generation in history less likely to be better off than the generation before them, it's perhaps not a big ask to request wealthy older people to contribute more to the burden their placing on the state. But that doesn't happen. Even under austerity for everyone else, the state pension was triple locked, and retirement age continues to grow at a slower pace than life expectancy, all while wealthy pensioners like Pete continue to get freebies like tv licenses and bus travel.

With regards to your question, I'm 40, and unless things change I don't expect there to be a state pension when I get to retirement age as it will be wholly unsustainable and the government won't be able to afford it. Also, just as a reminder, paying taxes all your life is irrelevant, as the pension isn't paid for out of your lifetime of taxes, but out of the taxes of those working in the current time. You don't pay into a pension pot as you would a private pension. It doesn't work like that. It's a ponzi scheme basically, that relies upon enough tax payers to foot the bill.

Good agree but maybe we should all pay more taxes and then nobody could be accused of picking on the old and infirm. Unfair to pick on on e section of the country, just because they happen to old.

 

[samcdavies94]

Im quite alarmed that people think earning 30k a year is accessible to everybody.

Try telling most manual labourers in the building trade that.

The median annual income in the UK, according to the most recent Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, is £28,677 for full-time employees.

There was a guy on Question Time the other week (who earned over 80k a year) calling out a Labour politician for lying about their claim that everyone earning over 80k was in the richest 5% of the country.

He had literally no idea how wealthy he is relative to most of the country.