Current Affairs The Labour Party

[Amw79]

Booo. Starmer now working collaboratively with European partners for the betterment of the country. This is not the isolationist, self-defeating, British exceptionalism that the country needs.

 

[Daveysgingerlovechild]

Weirdest thing, going on about the budget being painful. Reports are the richest will get clobbered. They seem apologetic.

Very strange.

 

[peteblue]

Yes. About £16k on clothing and £2.7k on glasses is what I read elsewhere. Close enough to £20k to report it as such. That's not £60k just on suits though, is it?

That glasses figure is puzzling I'll admit, I wear glasses and have paid about £250 for a pair (well 2, because Specsavers). Even with a designer markup I don't know why you'd need more than 1 pair, a spare and maybe prescription sunglasses too so can that be close to £1000 per pair?

He has special glasses to hide the shifty look on his face as her pours another cesspool of lies onto the U.K. populace…like he did to win the leadership of the Labour Party……

 

[peteblue]

 

[peteblue]

I've got two old friends, going back 30 years at least, who have pretty much scammed their way through life claiming benefits. It's incredible to hear when I catch up with them.

They even have the gall to complain they don't get enough, or housing allowance doesn't support them living in the more desirable neighbourhoods in their respective towns.

They're also extremely happy espousing socialism as the preferred political and economic system, forgetting folk do indeed have to do work. One justifies not working as an ethical position of not being part of the 'system' or working for exploitative profiteers. Then forgets himself when plastered and boasts about outwitting the system or not wanting the 'hassle' of a more socially focused career. He also used to sell copies of the socialist worker for the local communist party with no sense of irony.

It's frustrating because I'm convinced career claimants like this are what drive the crwck downs that are costing those that need it. Not to mention they give decent left-wingers a bad name.

It’s unfortunate that it happens but is possibly more prevalent than we think. A mates daughter in law, early forties, calls herself a chef or pharmacist depending on the day of the week. She has never held down a job of any description, but appears to be quite brilliant at ‘playing the system’ utilising a variety of made up illnesses to pick up a range of benefits. She has two or three overseas holidays a year. Having worked all his life my mate cannot stand her….

 

[peteblue]

“ Well that didn’t take long.

Everyone accepts that, with the national debt swollen to breaking point by pandemic and energy crisis spending, this is not the most auspicious of times to be forming a new government. Expectations were consequently low in the first place.

But if part of your stall is to restore trust in politics, you do not begin by doing something that was not in the manifesto and, for many of those who voted for Labour, looks like a vindictive betrayal.

Nor do you begin with a public display of cronyism. To be clear, the last lot thoroughly deserved to lose. By the end, they’d made a complete horlicks of things. Yet rarely has public disillusionment with a newly installed government set in quite so quickly as it has with this one.

For the new inhabitants of Downing Street, two lessons are already painfully apparent. One is that once an entitlement has been established it is very difficult to take away again without extreme political cost.

The other is that, whatever the Government chooses to do by way of tax and spend, there will always be winners and losers, and that it will be blamed by the losers while gaining no credit at all among the winners.

It might seem that there are no winners from means-testing the pensioner winter fuel payment – only losers. But of course there are: the winners are public sector workers given inflation-busting pay awards.

This is to be partly paid for, according to Age UK, by pushing 2m pensioners into hardship this winter.“

 

[NilSatisOptimum]

Kin hell like buses these politcal grown ups. They all come at once.

 

[Xizor]

Pete apparently on a one-lush mission to tear down the Telegraph's paywalls by just reposting as much of their content here for free as he can find. I personally love the ones where the author wails about Brexit being undone, can't wait!

 

[NilSatisOptimum]

I broadly agree, I think, but the alternative isn't sunny uplit lands where EU comes begging. They could give us some long term plans. A vision of what they want to achieve.

It's fascinating stuff all this. The psychology interests me greatly. People on the hard left and hard right desperately trying to discredit Labour, yet failing somewhat spectacularly in the process. Floundering would be an appropriate word.

Personally I don't believe they've put much of a foot wrong thus far. As some commentator pointed out yesterday, more responsible governance in 7 weeks than we've had in 7 years. Yet the usual suspects are complaining. Good when they go down anylsing attaire of politicians are normally at their strongest when this becomes focus.

 

[Daveysgingerlovechild]

It’s unfortunate that it happens but is possibly more prevalent than we think. A mates daughter in law, early forties, calls herself a chef or pharmacist depending on the day of the week. She has never held down a job of any description, but appears to be quite brilliant at ‘playing the system’ utilising a variety of made up illnesses to pick up a range of benefits. She has two or three overseas holidays a year. Having worked all his life my mate cannot stand her….

I'm always a bit cautious about the term 'made up illnesses', there's quite a few with genuine problems which are 'invisible' (chronic pain, mental health) in the sense that there's no outward sign, such as cancer or being wheelchair bound.

There are, however, those who definitely swing the lead. My favourite being an old neighbour who claimed to be basically lame from knee osteoarthritis and alternated between being pushed around in a wheel and limping around using a stick. Every so often he'd forget himself and the bad leg would change. Or he'd be spotted playing football with his nephews. Had a decent left peg actually. Especially as it was apparently useless! On Wednesdays.

Man was an arse.

 

[Harryflashman]

View attachment 270914

Spot on Pete pretty much everyone living high on the hog these days , it’s like nirvana out there isn’t it ?

 

[NilSatisOptimum]

Weirdest thing, going on about the budget being painful. Reports are the richest will get clobbered. They seem apologetic.

Very strange.

Is he playing a politics here? Was yesterdays speech all about preparing the country for the worst outcome knowing the Tories and their client media along with hard left have premature orgasim and lambast Starmer's Labour, only for the October budget to be in line with their Manifesto leaving the Tories and hard left with egg on their face.

 

[NilSatisOptimum]

I'm always a bit cautious about the term 'made up illnesses', there's quite a few with genuine problems which are 'invisible' (chronic pain, mental health) in the sense that there's no outward sign, such as cancer or being wheelchair bound.

There are, however, those who definitely swing the lead. My favourite being an old neighbour who claimed to be basically lame from knee osteoarthritis and alternated between being pushed around in a wheel and limping around using a stick. Every so often he'd forget himself and the bad leg would change. Or he'd be spotted playing football with his nephews. Had a decent left peg actually. Especially as it was apparently useless! On Wednesdays.

Man was an arse.

Constant disappointment how some neighbours and even family of people who have very servre mental health problems will set about essentially bad mouthing and label " just lazy" "get a job". To the point "safe guarding" measures have been put in place to protect individuals from community backlash. Simply don't get PIP without medical evidence from specialist professionals.

 

[Rita_Poon]

Your riding two horses with one backside .

 

[Harryflashman]

It’s unfortunate that it happens but is possibly more prevalent than we think. A mates daughter in law, early forties, calls herself a chef or pharmacist depending on the day of the week. She has never held down a job of any description, but appears to be quite brilliant at ‘playing the system’ utilising a variety of made up illnesses to pick up a range of benefits. She has two or three overseas holidays a year. Having worked all his life my mate cannot stand her….

Not that it matters I don’t claim pip or similar benefits but I’ve got stuff wrong with me that wouldn’t be obvious. If I wasn’t in the financial position I’m in I might get fingers pointed at me .

Not saying that there aren’t people out there at it but it’s easy to dismiss individuals without knowing the facts .