Current Affairs The Labour Party

[Bruce Wayne]

One based in Scotland, one based in London. Perhaps we should force the reduction of pay in London to line up with the rest of the country. Again, not a good example of a ‘comparison’…….

I believe the "London weighting" is 20%, which would bring your Scottish cyber employee up to around £36k a year.

 

[PhilM]

When pensioners raise a fuss about their £300 year benefit being cut, whilst vilifying people on general benefits and not caring that many peoples mortgage and rents have risen £300 £400 £500 per month and more.

Mate, it doesn't have to be a one or another situation. My mortgage has gone up as has the cost of living, but that doesn't mean I don't feel sorry for pensioners.

My mother for example is retired and thankfully has a decent pension, but the winter fuel allowance was a great help for her for a multitude of reasons.

Firstly, pensioners spend more time at home (our house is empty from 8am to 3pm most days due to work and school), so we do not heat it at that point.

Now I'm the first to say, "Put a jumper on!" yet it ain't that easy because a) they're there longer, and b) often as people age their circulatory systems decline.

This causes them to feel the cold much more, hence the need for heating to be on; when we're at work with the warmth, they're often having to heat their own home.

Is it unfair to criticise those possibly requiring some support in these times of growing costs, when the likes of my mum has paid tax all her life?

She's stoic and will shoulder it, but there are a lot of pensioners for who that £300 is the difference between heating their home, eating and staying healthy/alive.

It ain't like they can go out to work to get the money either, is it? But let's be clear, the real issue here is the extortionate fuel prices that we have to face here.

If they can be brought into line, the issue about the fuel credits wouldn't be as severe.

 

[Paris]

@peteblue I see you're sweating about the WFA being taken away from you but why not just give up the Avocado on toast and Costa Coffee?

 

[NilSatisOptimum]

You could always have donated it to Help the Aged…

The entire Labour ehos is getting the actual cost of energy down, this will benefit everyone that's where the focus is going, alongside better insulation etc. We had our privately owed home insulated by welsh government 5 years back. The results have been amazing in lowering our gas usage overall.

 

[NilSatisOptimum]

Mate, it doesn't have to be a one or another situation. My mortgage has gone up as has the cost of living, but that doesn't mean I don't feel sorry for pensioners.

My mother for example is retired and thankfully has a decent pension, but the winter fuel allowance was a great help for her for a multitude of reasons.

Firstly, pensioners spend more time at home (our house is empty from 8am to 3pm most days due to work and school), so we do not heat it at that point.

Now I'm the first to say, "Put a jumper on!" yet it ain't that easy because a) they're there longer, and b) often as people age their circulatory systems decline.

This causes them to feel the cold much more, hence the need for heating to be on; when we're at work with the warmth, they're often having to heat their own home.

Is it unfair to criticise those possibly requiring some support in these times of growing costs, when the likes of my mum has paid tax all her life?

She's stoic and will shoulder it, but there are a lot of pensioners for who that £300 is the difference between heating their home, eating and staying healthy/alive.

It ain't like they can go out to work to get the money either, is it? But let's be clear, the real issue here is the extortionate fuel prices that we have to face here.

If they can be brought into line, the issue about the fuel credits wouldn't be as severe.

Was directed at Tory and Brexit voters who have essentially voted over the past 14 years to make most of us poorer. If anyone as mentioned happnens now to fall into being poorer because Labour are trying to balance books and put things right, then karma does exist or we can all share the burden now. Many people work hard just nowadays many more need food banks to supplement a living so they can work.

 

[Hinchcliffe's Corner]

@peteblue I see you're sweating about the WFA being taken away from you but why not just give up the Avocado on toast and Costa Coffee?

The boomers could also downsize their houses, sell at a reasonable price to people with families that need large houses while still making a tidy profit (seeing as they bought it for 30k 40 years ago with mum and dad's help), and use that money to keep warm.

 

[Toffe3m4n]

When pensioners raise a fuss about their £300 year benefit being cut, whilst vilifying people on general benefits and not caring that many peoples mortgage and rents have risen £300 £400 £500 per month and more.

Whilst supporting the party responsible for interest rises and that has been cutting everything but channelling money to their supporters, it's hard to care that much That demographic has been the strongest supporters of the party that has been power the past 14 years.

The party whose governments have been racking up debt whilst cutting spending. Maybe pensioners should ask, how did those Tory government manage to leave the finances thus...

Turkeys voting for Christmas mate and they didn't even cotton onto it..

 

[davek]

You didn't give the answer.
I'm not defending anything .

All I asked was what was the option to voting Labour.

Very simple David.

Abstain if you didn't like any other party's offer.

 

[ArtetaMoney]

The pensioners losing £300 a year is causing an uproar, but when all our mortgages went up by more than that per month it was Russia's fault.

We see now the repercussions of the Tories burning money and neglecting the public services, for their time in power.

 

[Nobby Nobbs]

If losing my WFA is to help people worse off than me I’ve no complaints, I’ve posted before the more comfortably off of us should not be moaning about giving up a little to help others.

 

[Nobby Nobbs]

Abstain if you didn't like any other party's offer.

Genuine question did you abstain.

 

[Daveysgingerlovechild]

Pete: straight back on the cocaine over cornflakes and into the Nuuuu Labour horrors on GOT!

 

[Hinchcliffe's Corner]

Pete: straight back on the cocaine over cornflakes and into the Nuuuu Labour horrors on GOT!

He's been good mate, he's given them 3 weeks, how long do they need?

 

[Thomasc]

Reeves is a class act compared to the ghouls we’ve had thrust upon us over the last 14 years.

She’s stopped giving a benefit to those who don’t need it, so for that she should be applauded.

 

[davek]

Having a People's Quantitative Easing would be a good place to start - we have the gold reserves to do it and as long as it is targeted in a social ethical way that's right. That was a key part of Jeremy Corbyn's leadership campaign in 2015. I know some on the left are now advocating Modern Monetary Theory which involves the Central Bank of a country printing money indefinitely but I just don't think that's a good idea.

The key to all of this is what Labour don't want to do and that's put the trade unions in the driving seat when it comes to pay and conditions, put doctors and patients in the driving seat when it comes to reworking the health service etc. What have these Oxbridge Lib/Lab/Con politicians done in govt other than break the economy, follow voodoo economic theories for the last 40 years and then every 5 years promise it's all going to be different.

Exactly right. But we have a government now that's going for Bidenomics: crowding in private investment - and leaving it to the short term caprice of institutional investors - to do the heavy lifting. Government policy now will be to hand cash incentives to those investors to set up in depressed areas and maybe use wage increases to stimulate demand and to attack welfare benefits.