[Politics] The Labour Government

[Is it PotG?]

I certainly don’t think anyone was as bad as the last few Tory governments but yes, they all certainly like to live the high life at someone else’s expense. It’s out of control.

Comparing different groups is subjective and relative, the here and now is what matters.

 

[The Clamp]

Comparing different groups is subjective and relative, the here and now is what matters.

I meant in the context of “they’re all the same”. That implies we are comparing them to each other. But I get your point.

 

[Bry Nylon]

Poor old Keir. He does appear to be a fundamentally decent bloke but he does seem to be blundering from one self-inflicted shitstorm to another at the moment.

And just when he needs his top team to put on a united front and share the heavy lifting, his Cabinet appear to have gone missing in action - with the honourable exception of David Lammy who just makes everything 10 times worse every time he opens his gob.

 

[Kinky Gerbil]

I think it’s fair that someone so high profile would be in a hospitality box. More than fair, vital really.

But when austerity hits, the first thing ordinary folk give up is luxuries like season tickets and entertainment.

Perhaps he could watch the game at home instead?

Are you suggesting he gets a dodgy firestick?

 

[BadFish]

“A 78th minute substitution for the whataboutary tag-team. Player off, Thunderbolt. Player on, BadFish.”

My post was specifically about the notion that 'they are all as bad as each other!'. It is challenging to make that point with mentioning the other lot.

It is right there in the first hashtag but I guess I should have quoted some posts to make it easier for you to understand.

 

[Super Steve Earle]

I did a bit more reading about the pension heating allowance.

I didn’t realise quite how fine the line is between those eligible and those who will simply not get it.

While in principal I think means testing for the allowance is a good idea, I didn’t appreciate quite how many people will struggle.

And for our PM to be living quite the high life, gratis? It’s not good at all.

Last week I heard a lady in her 70's talking about her life with her husband. They each have a heart condition and he is very incontinent. They never leave their home and he a recurring cycle of washing. If they use the tumble dryer, it's expensive. If they drape the washing over the radiators which they need anyway to keep warm, they have to use dehumidifiers to stop the house getting damp. They are trapped in a financial and poor health moneypit and the loss of the WFA left her tearful and wondering how they will manage. Not ashamed to say my eyes were moist as I listened. I know that I and many others don't need it, but taking it away from the needy like that is brutally cruel. The social cost of sorting the wheat from the chaff is not worth the modest financial saving.

 

[Bry Nylon]

It is right there in the first hashtag but I guess I should have quoted some posts to make it easier for you to understand.

Maybe pop back and have another try later.

 

[BadFish]

Last week I heard a lady in her 70's talking about her life with her husband. They each have a heart condition and he is very incontinent. They never leave their home and he a recurring cycle of washing. If they use the tumble dryer, it's expensive. If they drape the washing over the radiators which they need anyway to keep warm, they have to use dehumidifiers to stop the house getting damp. They are trapped in a financial and poor health moneypit and the loss of the WFA left her tearful and wondering how they will manage. Not ashamed to say my eyes were moist as I listened. I know that I and many others don't need it, but taking it away from the needy like that is brutally cruel. The social cost of sorting the wheat from the chaff is not worth the modest financial saving.

And these guys won't get the allowance? That is awful, clearly the threshold needs to be looked at.

It brings into question what processes and algorhyths are used to arrive at the threshold figure.

 

[Bozza]

When this story broke I did give lots of examples of how tight that threshold is and received a lot of pushback about how “well, we don’t need it so I don’t care”. The replies were blindingly partisan from Labour supporters.

Labour could’ve said “we propose to cut off the head of every 5th Labour Party member to save on woolly hat manufacturing costs” and the usual cabal on here would’ve defended it.

A lot of people showed themselves to be very selfish and ill-informed about the gravity of the WFA decision.

It will directly cause thousands of deaths.

This is what I’m angry about, not Starmer taking freebies or clothes for his wife, which as I said I don’t personally give a shit about.

Last week I heard a lady in her 70's talking about her life with her husband. They each have a heart condition and he is very incontinent. They never leave their home and he a recurring cycle of washing. If they use the tumble dryer, it's expensive. If they drape the washing over the radiators which they need anyway to keep warm, they have to use dehumidifiers to stop the house getting damp. They are trapped in a financial and poor health moneypit and the loss of the WFA left her tearful and wondering how they will manage. Not ashamed to say my eyes were moist as I listened. I know that I and many others don't need it, but taking it away from the needy like that is brutally cruel. The social cost of sorting the wheat from the chaff is not worth the modest financial saving.

I share your respective anger and sadness at the wholesale withdrawal of the Winter Fuel Payment. It just doesn't make sense. I can only assume, having heavily criticised the Tories for numerous embarrassing policy U-turns, Starmer just felt he couldn't do the same so early in his tenure. He needed to look strong in the face of considerable pressure to relent.

I've had the below reply (indented) sitting in my draft replies to this thread from earlier in the day.

We could focus on hundreds of thousands of society’s poorest and most vulnerable being deprived of money that is essential to keep them warm through the winter months if you’d rather.​

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How some Labour MPs were reported to be in tears as they were pressganged into voting for something they knew was fundamentally wrong.​

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How a newly-elected local MP, a public health official by trade, was conveniently “ill” on the day of the vote, meaning she couldn’t vote in favour of it. She knew the impact this is going to have, and couldn't put her name on it.​

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How even the austerity-obsessed, poor-hating, mate-enriching Tories managed to continue making this payment, a vital lifeline for many.​

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