Austerity was completely right actually.....

 

 

 

 

 

....for the richest 5% in society and especially the wealthiest 1%. The rest of us, especially the disabled were slowly slowly given a real deterioration in quality of life. And the debts are now as high as ever! I cringe about thar "We're in this together' slogan Osbourne and Co came out with. They're laughing themselves silly at the gullibility of people who fell for it!

I believe Labour would have done austerity as well (but possibly would have been less ideologically wedded to it and come out of it sooner) but it itself was a terrible policy set about by short-term thinkers panicking, the low growth that we've had over the past 13 years is largely because of the lack of investment at the beginning of this period. That and letting media think that spending at all is poisonous, leading to politicians running scared from every policy that spends anything because they don't have a good-sounding answer to 'how do you pay for it?' - because there isn't one that sounds good to a layman, spending into the deficit is how you get growth in the first place.

 

all that is to say that Cameron/Osbourne were the most long-term damaging administration of this current Tory streak. They were really that bad. Economically, if a bit outwardly nicer socially.

PREACHaaaa

 

 

AUsterity is and always was a lie to enrich the rich and make the poor pay for the sins of the bankers. Political, not economic.

Austerity was the right policy at the time imo, but the Government went too far and didn't engage quick enough to spend again. Easy to say with hindsight of course. The politics are the time was pretty toxic, UKIP were winning the popular vote and the Tories were in civil war themselves with the Right of the Party (who were far, far less influential than they currently are) gaining tract. Cameron tried to double bluff both the EU at the time and the Brexit vote, I truly think he thought he could renegotiate our deal with the EU. There were lots of naive people to how data was being exploited and the power of misinformation.

Cameron was stupid enough to think that he could renegotiate our deal in a matter of weeks. That was never going to happen.

Austerity was the right policy at the time imo, but the Government went too far and didn't engage quick enough to spend again. Easy to say with hindsight of course. The politics are the time was pretty toxic, UKIP were winning the popular vote and the Tories were in civil war themselves with the Right of the Party (who were far, far less influential than they currently are) gaining tract. Cameron tried to double bluff both the EU at the time and the Brexit vote, I truly think he thought he could renegotiate our deal with the EU. There were lots of naive people to how data was being exploited and the power of misinformation.

 

I disagree with your views about austerity. It was not the right choice. It suited the Tories because they had no other credible plan. Other governments have invested as a way out of debt so there were other options available. Austerity has not solved our problems, in fact it has made many things worse and why so many councils are on the verge of bankruptcy.

Edited December 11, 20231 yr by neill2407

I disagree with your views about austerity. It was not the right choice. It suited the Tories because they had no other credible plan. Other governments have invested as a way out of debt so there were other options available. Austerity has not solved our problems, in fact it has made many things worse and why so many councils are on the verge of bankruptcy.

 

Like I said, hindsight is great. Austerity was needed at the time, even as a political motivation tool. Pretty sure at the time, half of the country favoured a pause in spending as the financial crisis left people and businesses with a lot of fear. I think people forget just how many people got burned and what effect that had on them. It was an easy choice politically to make. As Iz said, I think Labour would have done the same too, just not to the same level and reveresed it much, much sooner. Osborne went too far and led us to this current climate we're in, where it's really hard to break the cycle. Undoubtedly they went too far. I also think Cameron at the time suspected China would invest heavily in the mid 10s.

All three main GB-wide parties went into the 2010 election proposing spending cuts. The Tories proposed far bigger cuts than Labour or the Lib Dems whose figures were almost the same. The actual cuts introduced by the coalition were in line with those proposed by Labour and Lib Dems, i.e. well below what the Tories had wanted.

Austerity was not, and never was, needed. Sorry.

The vote on this Rwanda bill is happening tonight, which could very well result in Sunak being toast.

I'm still gagged at the Rwanda bill being a migrant EXCHANGE too, which they are keeping very quiet! There is just zero point to this nasty, grubby, and expensive little bill.

The vote on this Rwanda bill is happening tonight, which could very well result in Sunak being toast.

Here's hoping.

Austerity was completely right actually.....

....for the richest 5% in society and especially the wealthiest 1%. The rest of us, especially the disabled were slowly slowly given a real deterioration in quality of life. And the debts are now as high as ever! I cringe about thar "We're in this together' slogan Osbourne and Co came out with. They're laughing themselves silly at the gullibility of people who fell for it!

 

 

This, as a deaf person I have watched the services for the deaf go into the gutter since Cameron came into power. Used to be able to get same day appointments for my hearing aids, now have to wait a minimum of 2 weeks to be seen if my hearing aid breaks, even once got told I wouldn't have a replacement hearing aid for a month. I am a profoundly deaf school teacher, how the heck am I supposed to do my job? They also refuse to let us have a spare pair due to lack of budget to give out more than one pair. Honestly, they have raked the audiology departments into the ground. <_<

Like I said, hindsight is great. Austerity was needed at the time, even as a political motivation tool. Pretty sure at the time, half of the country favoured a pause in spending as the financial crisis left people and businesses with a lot of fear. I think people forget just how many people got burned and what effect that had on them. It was an easy choice politically to make. As Iz said, I think Labour would have done the same too, just not to the same level and reveresed it much, much sooner. Osborne went too far and led us to this current climate we're in, where it's really hard to break the cycle. Undoubtedly they went too far. I also think Cameron at the time suspected China would invest heavily in the mid 10s.

 

Even at the time many economists were quite rightly arguing against it, if you remember interest rates were at historic lows, and so many were arguing that the obvious move would have been to invest heavily in infrastructure (energy, transport etc.) and maintain support for vital public services. It was a choice motivated by ideology with no thought to the devastating consequences that it would have on the most vulnerable in society. Osborne had enough money to throw at property investors to cook up mind-numbingly stupid policies like 'Help To Sell Buy' (I was so angry I almost threw a TV out of a window when that policy was expanded in October 2013), but not it seems basic provisions for those who were less fortunate than he and his Eton buddies.

 

If you look at basic indicators of economic health such as productivity, wage growth etc. you see a flatlining since 2010 and the Tories took over. We are in "managed decline". Everything is in decay.

 

Just look at the recent COP summit, the UK representative flies nearly 7,000 miles to vote in some pointless Tory party psychodrama, and I'll bet they hardly noticed they weren't there. Because the UK is now becoming an irrelevance on the world stage.

 

Cameron gambled on the future of the UK to keep his party from breaking apart, fucked off when it didn't go his way, and despite all this, he's allowed to just swan back in to the Lords with no democratic vote and play at being Foreign Secretary. Johnson may be a useless, lazy slob but my hatred will forever be reserved for Cameron and Osborne. The architects for everything we have now.

HERE, HERE!!!! BEST POST ON THIS SEET YET!!!! :cheer: :cheer:

 

WE NEED YOU AT THE CANARY!!!!

Anyone else enjoying the Lady Mone PPE scandal?

 

@1736445023997096320

 

She's getting hosed down by the Twitter community notes rn !!

I mean it's great that she got caught out. I've seen Kussenburg get stick for not going hard enough.. but she got them both to admit they lied, which to give credit, is a huge scoop. But the bigger scoop here is how many other Tories profiterred and took advantage of the situation (and Brexit). I wonder if this will come out, or whether Mone will get thrown under the bus and the story will go away.

https://news.sky.com/story/amp/schools-in-e...idance-13033940

 

Tories at their far right culture war shenanigans again!

Noticed that the Tories always use the terms "common sense" about their policies nowadays - if common sense means making the majority of people poorer, unhappier, angrier and contribute to the destruction of the planet with a whole lot of incompetence thrown in too, then I guess the Tories have common sense to the tee!

 

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-67883242

 

Sunak appears to rule out a May election.

 

gonna gear up for a May election then I guess!!! but seriously, decent politicking by Labour briefings to get him to reveal anything at all about the election date so early, obviously everyone with the exception of roughly 350 Tory MPs and their donors wants the election asap and will be gutted by this news but we've also got a media conversation going on it.

His wording makes it clear that he has NOT ruled out a May election. He can still call a a May election and plausibly say that today's statement was not a lie. "Circumstances have changed since then, ..., best interests of the country,...". He'll still lose.