UK Politics

There have been some great discussions here during and post-election so I thought a general-purpose UK politics thread might be worth a try. Non-UK residents are obviously more than welcome to chip in as well.

I'd like to start the ball rolling by asking what everyone thinks of the government's overall spending cut policy. Is cutting the deficit really the most important thing we should be doing right now, or might a lack of investment in the public sector damage our economy in the long-term? Some food for thought on this issue here.

Cool, I want to learn more about UK politics! 

I can see the nead to cut back on public spending but the way they've gone about it through giving the chop to whole serveces doesnt seem to be a good way of doing it. OK, some of those serveces, councils, weekend get-togethers we could have done without but I fail to see how dispencing with the UK Film Council is a good thing. 

UK politics has gone down an inevitable path in my opinion. A coalition government - which has happened before - is the result of a homogenisation of policy across the three main parties. A dissillusioned electorate no longer trusts any one party. This can be construed as a good or bad thing, depending on your own personal stance. Some would argue that in the longer term a more stable economy could be achieved by all parties striking a careful balance between tax and spend. Historically Labour taxed and spent, and the Tories chopped and privatised.

That's an ideal model though; all parties agreeing on how best to achieve a stable economy, and in reality I perosnally dont think this is attainable. On the issue of the budget cuts, I think they are too harsh. The recovery of an economy can't be based solely on cutting the public sector to death, in the belief that the private sector will pick up the jobless from the public sector. There needs to be up front investment in jobs creation. Banks need to start lending to small businesses again, to get things moving. The tax payer has bailed these greedy b*****ds out, and they are nearly all making a healthy profit once more. It's time to start putting it back.

Lets be clear about the extent of public sector cuts. Natioanlly we are looking at potential job losses of over 600,000. The private sector is not going to re-employ a large chunk of that figure, certainly not in the short term. The Tories are using the budget deficit as an excuse to implement to sort of cuts, one may expect of the Tories anyway. Meanwhile Nick Clegg, in his rather restricted capacity as deputy PM, has managed to alienate vast swathes of Lib Dem voters, scuppering any small chance they may have had of obtaining outright power at the next election, and ultimately pushing the party back in to a distant third place behind Labour. It's an interesting and rather worrying time for UK politics, imo. Looking back over the NuLabour years, it has to be said that despite the watering down - or complete drowing - of the party's socialist element, they did invest vast amounts of money in health and education. Many people take these improvements for granted, as we naturally expect our public services to be there when we need them, in a state that we expect. For all those who think NuLabour done little for this coutry, prepare to be very disturbed and dissapointed by what happens over the next four years. Be under no illusion; our public services are f***ed! I was alife long Labour voter, albeit one who cursed them for abolishing clause 4 of their constitution and playing such a major part in an illegal war in Iraq, and an unwinnable conflict in Afghanistan. Would the Tories have done anything different in this respect? Of course not.

I now judge individual politicans on their own personal merits, as I interpret them, and have no single allegience to any one party. I genuinely dont know who to vote for in the next election, but one thing is sure, I'll be in a wooden box, with hell frozen over, before voting Tory.

None of the above is stated as fact. It is opinion only. I dont claim to know better than anyone else. The opinions are based on perceptions. Like most of not all people here, I'm not an economist

Trouserpress wrote: mystic fred wrote: but i appaud their plans to root out the benefit cheats..  Excuse the selective quoting but I wanted to pick up on this point. I'm sure we can all agree that discouraging people from exploiting the benefit system is a good thing, but the way in which the Tories propose to do it have me deeply concerned. Making people poorer does not help them find jobs. I myself have been looking for work for the last few months and have had no success so far. I am not entitled to Job Seeker\s Allowance because my partner works full time. Never mind that she earns minimum wage and is too young to be eligible for working tax credits. We are still trying to process our claim for Housing Benefit and in the meantime we are facing the distinct possibility of being unable to pay the rent this month. I am keenly aware that if I got a decent job all this would solved in a flash. It doesn't make me any more likely to find one.

Snow Dog wrote: Thiis  harsh but the answer is...take ANY job......Asda, Tesco, pub...whatever, until you find what you sre looking for.

Don't think I haven't tried. I have no career aspirations, all I want is a wage I can live on. My writing/performance work is my career, it just doesn't pay the bills. In the last month I have applied to every call centre and retail job going, but I've not had so much as an interview. From any employers perspective, why would they give the job to an inexperienced arts graduate when they have dozens of other applicants with years of work experience behind them? Anyway, we're getting off topic here...

Andy, you made some excellent points regarding the three main parties all shifting towards the centre-ground and the inevitable disconnection that causes. In my brief time as an elligible voter I have always voted Lib Dem, viewing them as the only major party which gets close to representing my views on certain issues. Labour's increasingly authoritarian streak and warmongering was always a major obstacle for me, and likewise I'd never so much as contemplate voting Tory. Yet now, with Clegg's discgraceful u-turn on spending cuts the moment he got a sniff of power I feel completely cut off from all three parties.

Dean, you're bang on the money with this tabloid attitude to the public sector. I've nothing useful to add, but I wanted to acknowledge your valuable contribution.

Benefit cheats is just a minor problem (max 5 bills of the 156 bills in budget deficit) and a scapegoat for every government. Remember, people on benefits have no voice and no defence. 

Another thing....... If they tackle alcoholism, unhealthy lifestyles and social deprivation on the many estates, there will hardly be no need for UK to borrow money at all. Remember, the food and drinks industry have billions of pounds in resources and hundreds of lobbyists.

My guess is that this government will just use people on benefits as scapegoats for all the ills in the world and not tackle the issues which has led to this mess. 

 

Edited by toroddfuglesteg - August 08 2010 at 07:05

A donation from the drink producers to the party funds keeps the government away from dealing with the real issues here. 

Three months ago and on a Thursday night, I had to go to the local Accident & Emergency dep at my local hospital after a small accident (flesh wound) on my push bike. I was the only stone cold sober person admitted there that night. The rest was all alcohol related accidents and very avoidable. Most of them Buckfast related, an drink produced by a company who has never paid tax in the UK because they are a registered charity.    

There you have a lot of the 156 bill budget deficit and the next hellish five years here. But would anyone dare to fix this ? No.  

The thing is that we all knows what has to be done to fix the problem. We have all seen the sink estates and the millions of people who are outside this society. We all knows that picking on benefits receivers and gypsies does not solve anything. This time around, I am not sure if this scapegoat thing will help. In particular when the kids dies before their parents due to alcohol, bad food, no jobs, bad housing and drugs.

Edited by toroddfuglesteg - August 08 2010 at 08:10

The situation with University and College grads. will not get any easier this year, the funding has been cut further and many students will find themselves competing with hundreds of equally qualified applicants for the same few jobs,  media studies, law and the arts have taken over from science subjects, i fear the cleverest most useful people will "temporarily" end up in Debenhams, MacDonalds, building sites...or go abroad.   . .

Trouserpress wrote: There have been some great discussions here during and post-election so I thought a general-purpose UK politics thread might be worth a try. Non-UK residents are obviously more than welcome to chip in as well. I'd like to start the ball rolling by asking what everyone thinks of the government's overall spending cut policy. Is cutting the deficit really the most important thing we should be doing right now, or might a lack of investment in the public sector damage our economy in the long-term? Some food for thought on this issue here.

May not be a UK resident, but that seems to be the trend through a lot of the "developed" world.
It's important...but I am a bit appalled at how deficit is now the greatest evil and unemployment...meh