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[Politics] Are Labour going to turn this country around?

Is Labour going to turn the country around

  • Yes

    Votes: 100 28.5%
  • No

    Votes: 203 57.8%
  • Fence

    Votes: 48 13.7%

  • Total voters
    351


Is it PotG?

Thrifty non-licker
Feb 20, 2017
25,736
Sussex by the Sea
Not entirely sure if a complete turn around is possible, but if, in three years time we get to be able to get face to face appointments with GPs, dental treatment on the NHS and patients aren`t crowded into corridors in the hospitals, if we stop raw sewage being dumped in our seas and rivers, if we get a adequately funded, functioning police force and we move to a fairer more equal society, that will do for me.
I'll be genuinely interested as to how many of those boxes are able to be ticked in 3 or 4 years time.

We'll see.

One I very much doubt is the dentist part. Speaking with a dentist chum last week, he really doesn't see how viable it is nowadays....the costs involved far outweigh any income derived from the NHS.

Additionally should that happen, then many folk will head that route rather than go the current private route, the demand would be substantial.

As I said, we'll see.....
 






Flounce

Well-known member
NSC Patron
Nov 15, 2006
4,605
Not entirely sure if a complete turn around is possible, but if, in three years time we get to be able to get face to face appointments with GPs, dental treatment on the NHS and patients aren`t crowded into corridors in the hospitals, if we stop raw sewage being dumped in our seas and rivers, if we get a adequately funded, functioning police force and we move to a fairer more equal society, that will do for me.
It’s getting quite dark now but I think I’ve just seen a pig fly past my house :wink:
 


nevergoagain

Well-known member
Jul 28, 2005
1,598
nowhere near Burgess Hill
Indeed.

An odd one yesterday on local news was a woman (councilor) complaining that the new development in Sittingbourne was bad because there were few 'affordable houses for rent.'.

I said to Mrs T 'If she wants more rental houses built who does she think will own them?'

The only answer we could come up with was the council.

I don't see building council houses as a solution to the cost of buying a house, especially given that it is still law that when you have lived in a council house for some years you can buy it at a knock-down price, thereby defrauding the taxpayers who built it. Legally.

The idea of stopping council house sales and building new council houses is interesting but has not been part of the national debate since the 1980s, since 'everyone' seems to have bought into Thatcher's wheeze, the right who disapprove of council houses, and, er, the other right (the working class tories) who suddenly found they could buy their house at a knock down price. I think that ship has sailed.

Meanwhile the issue you mention certainly need addressing:

The idea of buying property to rent is excused as fair in a capitalist system on the grounds that this meets a social need. One could perhaps argue that the sale of heroin and crack cocaine would do the the same. The need exists only becaus people can't afford to buy, in a culture that (unlike Germany) is addicted to home ownership as a self-defining necessity.

If we made it illegal to own a second home much of the problem would resolve with a flood of houses put on the market, and an inevitable fall in house prices.

But this would not be palatable at large. Those who bought second properties when it was legal would make even more fuss than the farmers who are being asked to pay a bit of tax (albeit less than they paid before Thatcher). And nobody likes to see the value of the house they own fall. The Mail would say that 'Labour have crashed the housing market' when in fact they would be rebalancing it.

If house prices fell across the board, in relative terms those losing out are those who planned to sell their house (or second house) in order to obtain cash for non-housing purposes. It would be interesting to know how many people fall into this category.

Let's not forget that downsizers would not be affected much because the cost of the house they are downsizing to would fall proportionately to the house they are selling. They would just have a bit less spare cash after the deal.

But overall, the push back would be immense, and the usual wankers we see bleating on NSC would be accusing Starmer of being the wort PM in the worst government ever. Luckily Starmer et al don't seem too bothered about that presently, but they will as the next GE looms.

We live in times that could be a bit more interesting :wink:
Illegal to own a second home ? jesus that's one of the most stupid ideas ever. Bring house prices right down and plunge thousands of people into negative equity, great.
 


sussex_guy2k2

Well-known member
Jun 6, 2014
4,318
Illegal to own a second home ? jesus that's one of the most stupid ideas ever. Bring house prices right down and plunge thousands of people into negative equity, great.
Oh no, think about the poor rich people.

It’s not a stupid idea, it’s just not an idea that will ever happen in this country because we’d prefer people to be homeless or not have access to reasonably priced housing, rather than have a rich person be a bit poorer.

In terms of the OPs question - I voted for them, but I’m on the fence. This country is so far down the rabbit hole, with the media so controlled by the right wing, with public services that could take decades to sort, and we’ve cut off our noses to spite our own faces with Brexit… so it’s almost an impossible task at present to turn it around, back to the level it was at in the peak Blair/Brown years.

However, the thing I fear the most is that, when they inevitably don’t pull a magic bullet out of their backside, many will turn to Farage as their perceived solution. If that happens, this country will be irreparable.
 




Harry Wilson's tackle

Harry Wilson's Tackle
NSC Patron
Oct 8, 2003
56,705
Faversham
If they have lived in the property for a LONG time they will maintain the right to buy , since it was changed in the early noughties you no longer can .
Se post 235. I will paste it again here:

"Yes, you can buy your council house through the government's Right to Buy scheme if you meet certain eligibility requirements:
You've been a secure tenant of the property for at least three years
The property is your main or only home
The property is self-contained
You've had a public sector landlord, such as a council, housing association, or NHS trust, for at least three year"
 


Harry Wilson's tackle

Harry Wilson's Tackle
NSC Patron
Oct 8, 2003
56,705
Faversham
Oh no, think about the poor rich people.

It’s not a stupid idea, it’s just not an idea that will ever happen in this country because we’d prefer people to be homeless or not have access to reasonably priced housing, rather than have a rich person be a bit poorer.

In terms of the OPs question - I voted for them, but I’m on the fence. This country is so far down the rabbit hole, with the media so controlled by the right wing, with public services that could take decades to sort, and we’ve cut off our noses to spite our own faces with Brexit… so it’s almost an impossible task at present to turn it around, back to the level it was at in the peak Blair/Brown years.

However, the thing I fear the most is that, when they inevitably don’t pull a magic bullet out of their backside, many will turn to Farage as their perceived solution. If that happens, this country will be irreparable.
There was a sizeable number who didn't care if the country, or ever themselves, were better off, as long as Brexit gave us our sovereignty back.

The perceived gain in national freedom outweighed anything. Such was the hatred of the idea of foreigners having any say in anything to do with British Life. I found it impossible to argue with such sorts.

And the same applies to party politics. There are those who see socialism as fundamentally evil, and would rather be poor and hopeless than Red. And anything connected with Labour, even PPP, Tony Blair and cosying up to America, is all Red and Wrong. Even when Labour do something obviously right it is wrong because it is Labour that has done it.

I recall much the same attitude among certain sorts about black people born in the UK, back in the 60, 70s and 80s.
"If you want a n*gger for a neighbour, vote labour" (forgetting it was Enoch Powell who invite 'them all in')
And homosexuals. "It's Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve".

It is socio-economical political fuckwittery. Incurable, in the main. :shrug:
 






Is it PotG?

Thrifty non-licker
Feb 20, 2017
25,736
Sussex by the Sea
My brother and sister in law bought theirs 2 years ago
Absolutely too right, any facility which allows another buyer to jump on the housing ladder should be admired.
My parents bought their council place and then moved on up the ladder...keeping the process going.
 


WATFORD zero

Well-known member
NSC Patron
Jul 10, 2003
27,942
Absolutely too right, any facility which allows another buyer to jump on the housing ladder should be admired.
My parents bought their council place and then moved on up the ladder...keeping the process going.

Taking social housing out of the social housing supply in order to selfishly make money at others expense, particularly after benefiting from the same social housing when desperately needing it ?

Being completely honest, admiration wasn't my first thought ???
 


Is it PotG?

Thrifty non-licker
Feb 20, 2017
25,736
Sussex by the Sea
Taking social housing out of the social housing supply in order to personally make money at others expense, particularly after benefiting from the same social housing when desperately needing it ?

Being completely honest, admiration wasn't my first thought ???
They didn't make money, they lived in it.

Then they moved on, allowing someone else to buy it. It's the housing market.

Is it that difficult for you to comprehend?
 




Triggaaar

Well-known member
Oct 24, 2005
53,610
Goldstone
Why do people trot out the "build more homes & the price will fall". They will not. Land owners will still want big sums, construction costs are rising & developers will still want the same margin of profit.

Land owners 'wanting' big sums, and developers 'wanting' profit, doesn't determine prices. Properties are worth what people will pay. If there were many millions more homes, then prices would fall. The problem is that we won't be building that many homes, and construction costs would limit the number built if prices fell.
 








WATFORD zero

Well-known member
NSC Patron
Jul 10, 2003
27,942
They didn't make money, they lived in it.

Then they moved on, allowing someone else to buy it. It's the housing market.

Is it that difficult for you to comprehend?

Absolutely too right, any facility which allows another buyer to jump on the housing ladder should be admired.
My parents bought their council place and then moved on up the ladder...keeping the process going.

It's not difficult to comprehend at all. In all social groups there are some who will have a sense of community and will try to help those around them and some that will jump on the first opportunity to make money, even at the expense of all those around them. Been the same throughout history :shrug:
 




Triggaaar

Well-known member
Oct 24, 2005
53,610
Goldstone
Where would the deposits and income multiples come from?

I'm not sure what you mean. If prices fell then the required deposits and income multiples would be lower.
 


Is it PotG?

Thrifty non-licker
Feb 20, 2017
25,736
Sussex by the Sea
It's not difficult to comprehend at all. In all social groups there are some who will have a sense of community and will try to help those around them and some that will jump on the first opportunity to make money, even at the expense of all those around them :shrug:
I take it that you rent your house.
 




Thunder Bolt

Silly old bat
They didn't make money, they lived in it.

Then they moved on, allowing someone else to buy it. It's the housing market.

Is it that difficult for you to comprehend?
Moving up the ladder, you said.
 




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