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

[Tubby Mondays]

The government said it expected around 50% of the jobs at NHS England, which as of December had 14,400 staff, and the Department of Health, which has 3,500 staff, to go.

I stand corrected

 

[Kinky Gerbil]

Unless you’re one of the 9,000 people about to lose their job.

If people are needed to make the NHS work they will have a job, if not tough.

That money can be used of nurses / equipment etc etc

It's about time this happened

 

[timbha]

If people are needed to make the NHS work they will have a job, if not tough.

That money can be used of nurses / equipment etc etc

It's about time this happened

People will be made redundant and paid off, replaced by highly paid contractors and consultants in the short term, and then replaced permanently albeit in “different” roles whilst the consultants “run for the hills” leaving an almighty mess behind.

What’s the betting the first recommendation is to upgrade the IT system so it’s all on one platform, running concurrently with a cost savings initiative and the engagement of a Procurement Director on a FTC

 

[Eeyore]

Can’t work out whether this is a good thing or not, mainly because I don’t know enough about it. Would be really interested in the views of those that do AND can put aside party politics

Good luck with that. These debates are often frequented by Polidroids. I don't know much about NHS England and what it has done. So I just have to read it as news without a view.

 

[The Clamp]

Didn’t NHS England basically facilitate moving all the systems over to phone appointments, getting rid of GP’s and replacing them with “associates”, crippling the NHS dentist system etc? All the time giving the senior back office boys hefty pay rises for less and less work?

That’s my over-view anyway. Good riddance.

 

[Bold Seagull]

Good luck with that. These debates are often frequented by Polidroids. I don't know much about NHS England and what it has done. So I just have to read it as news without a view.

Like instant cameras - they give a snapshot immediately?

 

[Han Solo]

Big changes coming....

Keir Starmer says benefit system unfair and indefensible

Some Labour MPs urge ministers to tackle the "crisis of economic inactivity", while others oppose cuts.

www.bbc.co.uk

Binning thousands of Civil Servants and slashing welfare.

I thought the tories lost the last election?

Its very difficult to find a better way of gaining popularity than cutting support from the poor, as their benefits are perceived to be ruining any country. That has been and always will be be majority opinion, as humans leans towards trusting rich, attractive people and wouldn't dream that it is actually the richest who empty the pockets of our societies.

Attacking the poor is always a good populist move. Workers may hate the billionaires but never more than they hate the poor.

 

[abc]

Its very difficult to find a better way of gaining popularity than cutting support from the poor, as their benefits are perceived to be ruining any country. That has been and always will be be majority opinion, as humans leans towards trusting rich, attractive people and wouldn't dream that it is actually the richest who empty the pockets of our societies.

Attacking the poor is always a good populist move. Workers may hate the billionaires but never more than they hate the poor.

Not sure I agree. I think it is popular to ‘attack’ those who are perceived to be abusing the benefit system. They are not perceived as being poor, probably the opposite. Having said that, the definition of ‘poor’ varies.

To me this is not being able to feed, house and clothe your family properly or to afford heat in the winter. Some consider themselves poor if they can only take one foreign holiday per year, can only afford sky but not TNT etc etc

I think there will be real anger if the cuts hit people with disabilities and special needs though, as is being suggested in the media.

I think Labour are right to tackle this issue but HOW they do it will be the make or break

 

[Is it PotG?]

The UK economy shrank by 0.1% in January, according to the latest official figures.

A slowdown in manufacturing was one of the main reasons for the dip, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.

The performance was weaker than expected, with most economists having predicted the economy to have grown in the month.

 

[abc]

The UK economy shrank by 0.1% in January, according to the latest official figures.

A slowdown in manufacturing was one of the main reasons for the dip, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.

The performance was weaker than expected, with most economists having predicted the economy to have grown in the month.

Unfortunately, if you talk down the economy from your first day in government and then deliver an anti growth budget you will not get growth.

 

[Mo Gosfield]

The UK economy shrank by 0.1% in January, according to the latest official figures.

A slowdown in manufacturing was one of the main reasons for the dip, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.

The performance was weaker than expected, with most economists having predicted the economy to have grown in the month.

January is traditionally a poor month for business. A lot of people get paid before Xmas and then have to wait until the end of January for their next pay. Spending drops as money gets tighter.
Business has no incentive to push forward at present. Layer upon layer of taxation with no apparent relief. NI and Min Wage increases. The government are backing a strategy for growth but this will only come from the private sector. I applaud apparent cost cutting in key areas but you have to incentivise business.
Until the two big beasts of VAT and fuel duty are addressed we won't move forward. Governments are now so reliant on these two vast streams of revenue that they are reluctant to even discuss them. They are crippling us as a nation.

 

[Hugo Rune]

Not sure I agree. I think it is popular to ‘attack’ those who are perceived to be abusing the benefit system. They are not perceived as being poor, probably the opposite. Having said that, the definition of ‘poor’ varies.

To me this is not being able to feed, house and clothe your family properly or to afford heat in the winter. Some consider themselves poor if they can only take one foreign holiday per year, can only afford sky but not TNT etc etc

I think there will be real anger if the cuts hit people with disabilities and special needs though, as is being suggested in the media.

I think Labour are right to tackle this issue but HOW they do it will be the make or break

I agree with this.

But it’s critical to do it in the right way and not have your MPs weaponising it like the last government did. There needs to be compassion and understanding when tackling this issue.

My big caveat is that the Government should be focusing on tax dodging by the super rich as this is where they’ll find more money and fairness and I hope the work done on the benefit system does not in anyway shadow what they are doing there.

Difficult and unpopular decisions are needed such as increasing inheritance tax on farmers (plugging a tax loophole that had seen investment funds buy thousands of acres of farmland to avoid tax payments) and removing the winter fuel allowance that has seen millions of wealthy pensioners lose the £300 or so they did not need. However, those decisions need more planning, more spin and more thought as in each of the cases above, there were perceived victims. For example, Farmers are not making enough money for what they do, we all know that. They needed to be given something such as revenue from a supermarket profit tax or protected minimum prices for their produce in return for increasing their tax burden. There was a lot more the government could have done with the removal of the winter fuel payment such as increasing the level payment or the level at which payment it received. I hope they iron out these sorts of mistakes going forward and make sure their policies are a little fairer.

 

[SouthSaxon]

But it’s Reeves and the Treasury making these decisions. Showing compassion would require them to look up from their spreadsheets for a few minutes.

I think the treasury is one the institutions most needing some kind of reform in this country.

 

[Mellor 3 Ward 4]

No that’s roughly how many people work for NHS England.

The combined total of NHS England and the Dept of Health is about 19,000 which will be cut by 50%.

It's amazing how quiet the unions have been over this.

There will be a LOT of people losing their jobs.

Same in the Civil Service (in fact a lot more)

I thought the tories lost the election.

 

[Machiavelli]

It's amazing how quiet the unions have been over this.

There will be a LOT of people losing their jobs.

Same in the Civil Service (in fact a lot more)

I thought the tories lost the election.

I've got no problem with Labour (or the left in general) extracting itself away from the association/infatuation with bureaucracy. This doesn't mean that it should fully sever that link (we'll see how such severing gets on in the US, and have done here via eg Grenfell), but there ought to be the kind of pragmatic reconsideration of all modes of bureaucracy, and the culling of NHS England (the only survivor of Lansley's dreadful reform) is in line with this

 

[Rdodge30]

But it’s Reeves and the Treasury making these decisions. Showing compassion would require them to look up from their spreadsheets for a few minutes.

I think the treasury is one the institutions most needing some kind of reform in this country.

Possibly it’s Tony Blair the de facto Leader of the Party (country?) He’s massively into a decade of electrification, off shore wind farms and solar on farmland… if any becomes available ….He’s a great believer in AI and replacing the workforce …and he will push through digital ID cards this parliament I would imagine

 

[Kinky Gerbil]

It's amazing how quiet the unions have been over this.

There will be a LOT of people losing their jobs.

Same in the Civil Service (in fact a lot more)

I thought the tories lost the election.

Heard a union bod on the radio yesterday and he supported the changes

It's a hard thing to sell to the nation that the NHS doesn't need a reform, picking their battles

 

[levs]

Its very difficult to find a better way of gaining popularity than cutting support from the poor, as their benefits are perceived to be ruining any country. That has been and always will be be majority opinion, as humans leans towards trusting rich, attractive people and wouldn't dream that it is actually the richest who empty the pockets of our societies.

Attacking the poor is always a good populist move. Workers may hate the billionaires but never more than they hate the poor.

Stick to football

 

[portslade seagull]

No that’s roughly how many people work for NHS England.

The combined total of NHS England and the Dept of Health is about 19,000 which will be cut by 50%.

Yeah you are correct, misread the report. Still a big chunk being made redundant

 

[Giraffe]

I admire their stance on the NHS, something has to change, why not try this. Just hope they can follow through on it and make it more efficient. It's a massive beast and managing it is a huge challenge.