Reform will stop the small boats within two weeks ...

[ReganAndCarter]

Do you dispute the statistics?

Yes. Most claim asylum does not mean most are refugees.

 

[ReganAndCarter]

British public keep voting Tory…..that leads to rich people getting richer and managed decline for everybody else.

Just the Tories??

How about Angela Rayner, Tony Blair, etc, etc, etc. Even holier than thou Skier has his snout firmly planted in the trough.

I am not a Tory supporter, but Notchy you need to wise up and see they're all at it.

 

[ReganAndCarter]

Like you i'm a bit unsure that these gangs of young men coming across from france are all doctors and nurses running away from a war

Don't forget the engineers and astro physisicists.

 

[ReganAndCarter]

Politicians are probably just reflecting the reality. The West has peaked and is massively in debt. We cannot afford what the voters wants. But any politicians who tell the voters the truth are committing electoral suicide. Boosterism is only a very short term tactic.

Young people face a very tough time. Subconsciously, older voters feel guilty that they have ended up in such a good position. So, they blame the younger people for being lazy and snowflakes.

But there are other factors as well. The end of the Cold War removed a common purpose. The explosion in inequality following the Great Financial Crash is a big factor. They say the internet and social media causes a lot of depression.

Also, technology is no longer exciting these says. Who is really excited by AI apart from a few nerds.

Yes, unfortunately it is turning into a dull, grinding, tick-box world. If I had a pound for every time someone says to me "we've had the best years"..........

I do feel sorry for the kids. Now is pretty much the only reference point they've experienced and they probably think this is as good as it always was. Those with a few more miles on the clock know better. Felt like we were improving for centuries - suddenly we've been thrown into reverse.

 

[ReganAndCarter]

Do you not think if Labour could sort it quickly they would?

The Tories were a car crash. Unfortunately Labour are a high speed, burning, multi car motorway pile up in the fog of their own incompetence.

Unfortunately Labour will be unable to avoid calamity partly due to their own back benchers. We saw this when Starmer tried a couple of timid welfare cuts. Maybe a Reform government could have more success getting such cuts through. Though I'm not completely sold on Reform on the whole.

 

[Brigadier]

Will, you mean might ?

Their stated commitments have already been shown to be c. £80 billion into the red so no, not "might".

And that's before "the markets" get involved.

 

[Brigadier]

I do feel sorry for the kids. Now is pretty much the only reference point they've experienced and they probably think this is as good as it always was. Those with a few more miles on the clock know better. Felt like we were improving for centuries - suddenly we've been thrown into reverse

We haven't "suddenly been thrown into reverse" though. The nation and it's people has been on a "false feeling of wealth" bender for decades and no party could get elected if they vowed to hit the reality reset button.

So, they just kick the can down the road.

 

[Notch7]

Just the Tories??

How about Angela Rayner, Tony Blair, etc, etc, etc. Even holier than thou Skier has his snout firmlyb planted in the trough.

I am not a Tory supporter, but Notchy you need to wise up and see they're all at it.

You have totally missed the point.

Decades of Tory policies has led to a massive transfer of wealth to the very wealthy.
A decade of austerity 2010 -2020 where ordinary citizens got steadily poorer whilst the wealthy got substantially richer

We now have a country where everything has been privatised and flogged to foreign sovereign wealth funds



the situation now is the result of the last 45 years of Tory + Blairs Labour period

 

[Notch7]

We haven't "suddenly been thrown into reverse" though. The nation and it's people has been on a "false feeling of wealth" bender for decades and no party could get elected if they vowed to hit the reality reset button.

So, they just kick the can down the road.

Tories tried to keep the illusion going but by then end public finances were running on thin air…..so Tories thought **** it, we aren’t going to win so let’s just salt the earth.

 

[Brigadier]

Tories tried to keep the illusion going but by then end public finances were running in stream……so Tories thought **** it, we aren’t going to win so let’s just salt the earth.

Been going on far, far longer than the last shower.

Go back to the last generation whose wealth was a true reflection of their graft: I'd bet they're all dead.
After them, it's been individual and state borrowing; supported in no small part by silly house price inflation.

 

[Notch7]

We haven't "suddenly been thrown into reverse" though. The nation and it's people has been on a "false feeling of wealth" bender for decades and no party could get elected if they vowed to hit the reality reset button.

So, they just kick the can down the road.

This is a brilliant post

 

[Notch7]

supported in no small part by silly house price inflation.

I know how lucky I am: I got on the housing ladder in early 2000s, my wife and paid off our mortgage a couple of years ago.

I have a carpenter friend in his late 30s, he missed the boat. He pays £1k a month for rent and just can’t save enough to get near a deposit. His parents aren’t home owners so there’s no inheritance.

That means every month my basic cost to keep a roof over my head is £0.00 and his is £1000




I feel like being able to have a secure affordable home is part of our social contract, it’s been massively broken.

 

[pete01]

I know how lucky I am: I got on the housing ladder in early 2000s, my wife and paid off our mortgage a couple of years ago.

I have a carpenter friend in his late 30s, he missed the boat. He pays £1k a month for rent and just can’t save enough to get near a deposit. His parents aren’t home owners so there’s no inheritance.

That means every month my basic cost to keep a roof over my head is £0.00 and his is £1000




I feel like being able to have a secure affordable home is part of our social contract, it’s been massively broken.

I paid my mortgage off 2 years ago but I know people in similar situations as your friend, I almost feel guilty when telling people.

 

[Highway Man]

That means every month my basic cost to keep a roof over my head is £0.00 and his is £1000

I feel like being able to have a secure affordable home is part of our social contract, it’s been massively broken.

It is the same all over the country, I live in a very exclusive area and my house is something that most young couples couldn't afford to buy now, it is a shame for couples or anyone to get onto the property ladder now and although labour has promised to build affordable housing, just how affordable is it?

 

[Highway Man]

I paid my mortgage off 2 years ago but I know people in similar situations as your friend, I almost feel guilty when telling people.

A bit like flying the union flag then, soon you will have nothing that you do not feel guilty over.