General Election 4th July

Yep he has but it does cast a dark shadow over the affair. I do suspect we don't have the full picture yet but Grinder and black mail / coercion is not going to end well.

It does rather sound like a sordid espionage thriller book plot.
Yes, it's not good.

But you have to recognise action taken too. That has been sadly lacking over the last few attempts at Government with different PM's.
 
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lower welfare
He said welfare is unsustainable. Then added the usual Tory rant - scroungers that aught to be working. Save £11b. Lots of pundits think this number couldn;t be achieved. He also claimed success in the past with the same problem. Given the amount of critical news the checks on people got it can't have been much of a success.

He also mentioned the IFS on welfare and made it sound like a good point from his position. What they said was that forecasts state that the problem will get worse. Not through scroungers but from needs.

The BBC have found that the viewing figures get lower and lower each time these debates are run. I took in about 1/2hr and turned it off. A lot of that down to the questions. Pretty stupid ones that neglect the fact that the country has a number of problems. The questions just aimed at embarrassment and little else. Richi of course has all of the solutions.

Council tax looks to be a problem who ever is in. A lot down to welfare areas and throw in equal pay as well.
 
Sunak kept interrupting Starmer with bleats about tax and was allowed to. Starmer mentioned tax and was swiftly shut down and told the question wasn't about tax. Meanwhile Sunak mentioned tax incessantly and got away with it.

In other news, in the next programme, the presenter nodded vigorously in agreement when a Tory was making their point.

The Biased Broadcasting Corporation?

You better believe it!
 
The Biased Broadcasting Corporation?
I don't think it's really down to bias. The root of the problem in this style of program is wanting good TV and how they are set up. It applies to a number of similar programs on politics in general.

Take this one. They collect an audience that consists of labour and tory supports plus some anti's. Maybe Reform believers in this case and others that just don't believe. They then ask for questions and select which ones get aired. The politicians stick to their mantras and sometimes avoid answering. The whole thing turns into a mess but it may provide positive feedback to some viewers that have specific views. Fact check is supposed to sort this out if people look. Fact check, A recent one was incorrect and got replaced with another.

Info from the audience. I'll pick the time when the 80mph limit was being discussed. A green in the audience. All will start driving at 90mph with a fuel consumption similar to what a V12 Lambo would give. The extra 10mph comes from something many drivers do - travel at ~10mph higher than the speed limit. It a separate problem to what the limit actually is. The Lambo aspect - not relevant but ok fuel consumption will be higher. Miss Info often crop up in questions what ever these things are about even the question itself. These are highly topical in areas where solutions are far from easy. Migration is a typical one.
 
Sunak mentioned B'ham's council tax increase. What he didn't mention was that the Tory allowed it. Some financial whizz goes in and concludes they just aren't getting enough money coming in so an increase gets worked out. Sunak didn't mention the other problem they have - equal pay. Just where is the money for that supposed to come from? Also their other problem. Easily the biggest local authority around. He of course blames Labour but fact is other close smaller local authorities have similar problems also signs of that all over the country irrespective of who runs them.

Who's got a solution. Welfare figures but Sunak wants to cut that to give tax reductions - or so he says when these areas are struggling. Labour - they mention an idea on financial decision timing but fact is who ever gets in power has a problem.

Tax reduction is an interesting one. Take the recent drop in NI. Economic ideas indicate that it will be spent and this will boost the economy. This in turn means that the supply rate has to be increased. That in turn means that productivity increases. It will in the manufacturing country the item comes from. Effects here in that area are scant. However there are sums that suggest that more people will be employed to keep the supply rate up. It's an old idea that doesn't work now due to current levels of globalism yet they still punch out the number that will be employed here. This according to the theory but many countries are noticing that this often just doesn't work out. Labour - they are not going to use these ideas in the same way. Aim to actually increase productivity here.
 
surely they could save some money by leaving potholes unrepaired, neglecting school roofs until they cave in, and doubling NHS waiting times by reducing capital investment?

Oh no

Already done all that.
 
Politics Live following the head to head meeting. Couple of interesting pundits involved plus one for each party.

Sunak did well. Seems to be a general feeling however he tried the same with a group of the public in a factory of some sort. They wouldn't accept his usual rant.

Triple lock.It's worth £29/year for pensioners in 3 years time. Labour a decision for the chancellor at that point in time. Otherwise no difference to Tory plans as they set out before adding the triple lock.

Migration. It was pointed out that visa numbers run 10 times higher than small boats. ;) As I mentioned something has already been done about that. Labour no change. The claim of where these boat people come from - dubious as most economic migrants come from other countries. Labour answer - well all know but add get processing going. There are also a stupid number of people destined for Rwanda. It needs rather a lot of flights. There is even a question if Rwanda can accept that many, Tory with a majority blames Labour for not getting the Rwanda bill through quickly. Why hasn't there been a flight? On the face of it all clear to go ahead for a while now. Detention - they are still free to move around.

Junior doc's strike. Having had some experience of strikes I can say with certainty that the Tory have used an old strike breaking idea. Just refuse to hold meetings. Labour - hold the talks. It will arrive at some sort of solution far more quickly. They too wont meet the 35% increase. The doc's are also concerned about use of spare private health facilities capacity. Some is already being used. Labour - no change??? Fact is the Tory appear to prefer it which suggests in some areas it's not expensive. More expensive to fix the NHS. Labour add ideas relating to how the NHS needs to work to improve the situation. Tory - nothing A pundit came up with growth figures needed to match the forceable future and fix this entire area.

Taxation - none have the intention to increase the allowances. Hard to say when this may happen.
 
Tory no more NI for the self employed. LOL I wouldn't be surprised if many are Tory supporters even though the changes they make don't appear to improve the country in a general sense.

State pension. Well that is paid from general taxation. They just need to make N 0% contributions. This doesn't seem to be well worked out but ok.

Hang on though. NI does include support aspects. Illness etc. While it may be a pittance anybody who finds themselves in that position and can't work will be glad of the money coming in.
 
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