UK Politics General Discussion

[Hid]

Unfortunately when Labour are essentially courting Reform voter types who will have ZERO intention of voting for them they're annoying their actual base voters who'll go elsewhere.

The plan seems to be "agree with Reform type stuff and trust the voters will vote for us instead".

It's a poor look.

The election isn't for at least another 4 years Reform have a lot of things against them.

When Labour's policies start coming properly into effect they will have more positive stuff to talk about and the country will be better off.

And if Advance UK becomes a political party and Conservatives actually start doing better that will pull votes away from them.

The political landscape will look different from now.

 

[Benzin]

When Labour's policies start coming properly into effect they will have more positive stuff to talk about and the country will be better off.

That including the cuts to disability benefits?

 

[Hid]

That including the cuts to disability benefits?

They haven't cut disability benefits they retracked on that. And have given them more more money that problem is now resolved

 

[rob666]

Not so for new claimants.

 

[Smiley]

Why is Rayner not "out-ing" those professionals who gave her incorrect advice?? Maybe because she didn't give them all the details. Anyone setting up a trust as she did would have had all the details, including owning property in trust and what it means in terms of tax/liabilities.

I don't for a minute believe she didn't know - politicians are always very apologetic when they get found out...

 

[Hid]

Tories do have some nerve calling Rayner out though when they did much worse.

I don't want to see Rayner kicked out as she is critical to getting more houses which is something I really want achieved.

 

[BarryZola]

What are we thinking about Rayner now spending £150,000 of an award for her child because of their disability, as part payment on a new very expensive home for herself in Brighton (that she said in the interview was out of her life savings)? The child already apparently has a home for life in trust so why is she spending any of that money awarded on other houses?

It's not a good look is it? Spending money allocated for your disabled child on an extra home. Advice from the expert accountant again?

This was reported in a couple of newspapers so I'm guessing they've done their homework rather than wanting to be sued.

Edit - I'll happily hold my hands up if this is not correct. Just checking out what I've read in a few articles today of different merits.

 

[Hid]

What are we thinking about Rayner now spending £150,000 of an award for her child because of their disability, as part payment on a new very expensive home for herself in Brighton (that she said in the interview was out of her life savings)? The child already apparently has a home for life in trust so why is she spending any of that money awarded on other houses?

It's not a good look is it? Spending money allocated for your disabled child on an extra home. Advice from the expert accountant again?

This was reported in a couple of newspapers so I'm guessing they've done their homework rather than wanting to be sued.

Edit - I'll happily hold my hands up if this is not correct. Just checking out what I've read in a few articles today of different merits.

I wouldn't trust newspapers at all or mainstream media.

I think it is the first Scandal of this government but in reality is a minor inconvenience.

Raynes is critical to Labour's plans that's why the Tories want her gone

 

[BarryZola]

I wouldn't trust newspapers at all or mainstream media.

I think it is the first Scandal of this government but in reality is a minor inconvenience.

Raynes is critical to Labour's plans that's why the Tories want her gone

Newspapers can't just make really high profile stuff up like that nowadays. They'd be sued. I know they used to have more form for stuff like that but they're more careful now in the age of litigation. Not sure why Rayner is critical to anyone's plans either? What are her special skills?

 

[GooseOnTheLoose]

I think it is the first Scandal of this government but in reality is a minor inconvenience.

It's not. The first scandal was the "freebies controversy". They've very much been on the back foot since then with the public's trust.

The Deputy Prime Minister being accused of tax evasion is not a minor inconvenience. It is a major cause for concern.

Labour, and those on the left especially, are aware of the higher scrutiny that they are put under when in a position of power. The usual casting a blind eye to minor misdemeanors do not apply to them, whether it is fair or not. You would then expect that any left wing, or Labour, politician would just keep their head fairly low for the duration and make sure that everything is above board.

Whether or not Angela Rayner has actually done anything wrong is immaterial, it's the optics. You can't be the holding the previous government to the bare minimum of public standards if you're not going to follow them yourself, or if you're going to skirt incredibly close to the fringes of what is possible.

I am incredibly disheartened, I am incredibly cross and I am incredibly angry. All because I expected, and they should know, better.

Yes, Labour are held to higher standards than the Tories, but this has always been the case. Yes, it is unfair, but Labour know the game.

They had one job.

 

[Hid]

. The first scandal was the "freebies controversy". They've very much been on the backdoor since then.

That wasn't a scandal that was the media fabricating stories into bigger then it actually was.

I am incredibly disheartened, I am incredibly cross and I am incredibly angry. All because I expected, and they should know, better.

I understand this and share some centiment however they are in my opinion getting a lot of things right.

For me there have 5 big errors Winter Fuel Payment, Disability Cuts, Trans issues, Communications and talking about immigration far more than they should. 2 of these issues have been resolved.

There pros are outweighing their cons

 

[GooseOnTheLoose]

That wasn't a scandal that was the media fabricating stories into bigger then it actually was.

£20,000 in free Taylor Swift tickets to Labour Party politicians, in addition to £107,145 worth of gifts, personally received by Kier Starmer between the 2019 and 2024 General Elections, are not a fabrication and nor are they small.

It was a scandal which dominated headlines and public discourse for weeks.

 

[Matt N]

That wasn't a scandal that was the media fabricating stories into bigger then it actually was.

This absolutely was a “scandal” from the public’s standpoint. The coverage it received, and the level to which it undermined confidence in the government, would absolutely qualify it as a “scandal”, in my view.

We can pontificate all day about whether the Tories would have received the same level of coverage for this, but it was still something that undermined public faith in the government regardless.

I understand this and share some centiment however they are in my opinion getting a lot of things right.

For me there have 5 big errors Winter Fuel Payment, Disability Cuts, Trans issues, Communications and talking about immigration far more than they should. 2 of these issues have been resolved.

There pros are outweighing their cons

Like it or not, the government stances on trans issues and immigration are in accordance with the public mood.

An overwhelming majority of the public agreed with the Supreme Court ruling on trans issues (an Electoral Calculus poll suggested that 59% of the public agreed with the ruling, versus only 18% disagreeing: https://www.electoralcalculus.co.uk/blogs/ec_transpoll_20250430.html), and I don’t think trans rights are a big issue to the majority of people (yes, you have ardent trans rights activists on one end of the spectrum and ardent gender critical activists like JK Rowling on the other end of the spectrum, but the majority of people don’t care about it as much as either of these groups). The majority of the public supported the ruling, so it probably makes sense for Labour not to ruffle any feathers in this regard if going against the ruling in favour of trans people is not what the public agrees with.

Immigration is also a considerable issue for a not insignificant cross section of the public. You only have to look at the post-Southport riots, and the current spate of St George flags, to know that there is considerable public dissent around the issue. You may not care about immigration, but a lot of people do.

 

[Plastic Person]

I'm a lifelong Labour voter, but I feel that I'm done with them on a national level. I voted for Starmer with my nose held last year, but I was cautiously optimistic that he would at least be a steady if inevitably, invariably centrist hand. Nonetheless, I cannot fathom many of the choices that he has made as a leader, especially in the last six months. The disability cuts remain inhumane, and the proscription of Palestine Action as a terrorist group akin to the former IRA or Al Qaida, resulting in the mass arrest of protestors, including elderly and Jewish citizens, is deeply concerning, as well as farcical.

I am not a tin-foil hat conspiracist, and I don't think that the UK is an authoritarian country, but attacks on rights and liberties occur inch by inch and are of more concern to me than a decade ago. I'd also factor the clumsiness of the Internet Safety Bill under this umbrella, including the subsequent smearing of those concerned about it’s implementation. To top all this off, with the UK currently decorated with St. Georges flags and Union Jacks, a movement that has been directly linked to far-right aggravators, as well as to violence and property damage within their vicinity, Starmer's attempts to heal and unite the nation on this sensitive topic involve him declaring that he actually has a St. George's flag hanging in his own front room. Meanwhile, Yvette Cooper tells us that she has Union Jack bunting all across her garden! (I don't believe her).

There are plenty of moments in which I can see the current iteration of Labour attempting to appeal to Reform voters. I think this is an impossible task; why pour diet fascism when you've got full-fat on tap? But there are also numerous instances in which I can't work out who they're trying to win votes from at all. Either way, the party's instincts have drifted far from my own. Ultimately, I see the decay in politics spread across the major parties. The discourse doesn't seem to be so proscribed as right or left any longer, but the rot comes from an entitled professional ruling class that seems compelled to get away with almost anything.

 

[BarryZola]

It's almost a given now that when you get to be a big part of the ruling party for a while, you make connections whilst you're there, then once you've done that, you're sorted. It doesn't matter how bad you are. See Liz Truss. She's undoubtedly made millions since she's left office. Is that because she's a brilliant person in whatever profession, or is she calling in favours from her time in government? You decide.

The same goes for most of them, I would guess. How many have jobs on boards of companies that they've not genuinely contributed to in any meaningful way, since they've left high levels of government? I wonder why? Paid a few hundred grand for speaking for an hour at a dinner? A couple of million a year for writing 500 words a week for a newspaper?

I've always been opinionated with regards to politics (rightly or wrongly) and there was a time when not that many around me actually were. I've noticed in the last several years that more people actually are though, and they're ******. It's probably because their standard of living in real terms has been dropping and those in control don't seem to be bothered because they're insulated from it. Especially when buying a new £800,000 home and not even paying the tax on it. That's how it comes across to people. You need to be squeaky clean.

 

[rob666]

For me there have 5 big errors Winter Fuel Payment, Disability Cuts, Trans issues, Communications and talking about immigration far more than they should. 2 of these issues have been resolved.

There pros are outweighing their cons

Which two issues have been resolved?
All are still unresolved regarding funding...where does the money come from to fix things when the government has no increase in income?

 

[Hid]

Which two issues have been resolved?
All are still unresolved regarding funding...where does the money come from to fix things when the government has no increase in income?

The Winter Fuel Payment has been resolved being the threshold has increased. And the PIP payment cuts for current claiments have been stopped.

They will be resolved funding wise at the budget. The reason they did the cuts in the first place was ro balance the books

 

[rob666]

So pip isn't resolved for new claimants, causing a two tier state for the disabled, and the winter fuel payment remains unfunded.

...The reason they did the cuts in the first place was ro balance the books

The books didn't balance then, and are in a worse state now, ignoring the above u turns.
Silly promises about no increase in taxes was foolish.
They have to come to fund an increasing overall welfare bill.

 

[Benzin]

You know like how towards the end if Sunak's tenure and beyond that Labour as the opposition kinda didn't have to do anything and let the Tories screw themselves over?

Same thing. But with slightly more desperation to garner the right-wing vote.

 

[Hid]

You know like how towards the end if Sunak's tenure and beyond that Labour as the opposition kinda didn't have to do anything and let the Tories screw themselves over?

Same thing. But with slightly more desperation to garner the right-wing vote.

They don't have to panic as their strategy is to make people feel better by the next election which election is a long way off.