General Election 2024

[Stephen]

I wonder if Penny will bring her sword? I do find Angela very unpleasant.

Can’t stand the woman.

[david63]

I wonder if Penny will bring her sword? I do find Angela very unpleasant.

Can’t stand the woman.

Which one?

[barney]

I am surprised the Labour party have agreed to let Angela go head to head with Penny, hopefully Penny can redress some of the loss that Rishi lncurred. I did not watch it in full, but the snippets the BBC showed did not show Rishi in a good light.

I did watch it all Towny and Mrs B and I both agreed that Sunak came out on top.
Starmer looked a bit like a deer in the headlights on a couple of occasions.

What I want from Starmer is specific answers to specific questions.
Sunak gave those. Starmer didn't.
Round two should be more interesting.

[david63]

What I find annoying is that all the parties are out making speeches saying that they each have all the answers and the other parties have got it all wrong - OK that is electioneering. Where the issue comes is that none of the parties has produced a manifesto yet outlining exactly what they are about.

In my view there should be no electioneering until the manifesto has been published.

[Mervyn and Trish]

I am surprised the Labour party have agreed to let Angela go head to head with Penny, hopefully Penny can redress some of the loss that Rishi lncurred. I did not watch it in full, but the snippets the BBC showed did not show Rishi in a good light.

I did watch it all Towny and Mrs B and I both agreed that Sunak came out on top.
Starmer looked a bit like a deer in the headlights on a couple of occasions.

What I want from Starmer is specific answers to specific questions.
Sunak gave those. Starmer didn't.
Round two should be more interesting.

Yes we'd agree with that exactly Barney. The snippets of Rishi talking over Starmer were generally frustration because the latter was refusing to give straight answers.

It's been my problem with Starmer from the start. At first his only policy was I'm not Boris. Now Boris has gone it's turned to I'm not the Tories. I'm genuinely on the fence at the moment. I just don't know what I'd get if I vote Labour. Yes the Tories have plenty of failings, but at least I know what they are.

[oldbluefox]

After the way Penny savaged Angela a couple of years ago I am looking forward to this next confrontation. Penny rarely has a chance to say much but when she does she can be very sharp with her words. It will certainly be an interesting watch.

[Stephen]

I wonder if Penny will bring her sword? I do find Angela very unpleasant.

Can’t stand the woman.

Which one?

Angela

[david63]

Can’t stand the woman.

Which one?

Angela

Cannot disagree.

[Mervyn and Trish]

Angela won't put Penny off by flashing her legs!

[barney]

Who on earth advised Sunak that it was a good idea to leave the DDay services early to do an interview with ITV?
Bloody hell mate.
Read the room !

[Ray Scully]

Why anyone is bothering I fail to understand. The result will be, Socialist clearing the board and civil war between the centrist Tories and their right wingers. Smells a tad like the situation with the Socialists after Corbyn's route, but with far more mulish players. But hey some have got a lot to lose.

[Ray B]

On such a day as was the D day commemorations , why on earth did our Prime Minister leave Normandy just for a TV interview. Disgusting.
Mind you, he did say sorry, so it's alright then.

[Ray Scully]

On such a day as was the D day commemorations , why on earth did our Prime Minister leave Normandy just for a TV interview. Disgusting.
Mind you, he did say sorry, so it's alright then.

a defining moment! if one is needed.

[Mervyn and Trish]

It was a stupid mistake but not one to define the next five years. I've still not decided who to vote for, not that it will make much difference. I think Starmer knows it's in the bag so is saying nothing so as not to cock it up. Sadly I still have no idea who he actually is. Whichever party gets in there will have to be cuts, borrowing or tax rises. I really want to know which. So far Starmer has said he won't raise taxes for working people, but unless he ends the freeze on personal allowances he will by default. And I'm not a working person. I'm retired. So is he planning to stuff me?

[oldbluefox]

I just do not trust Starmer no matter what he says. It's what they don't say which is the crux of the matter and I feel there is much they are hiding - pensions, capital gains tax, tax bands, stamp duty. There is plenty of scope there to tax 'the working man'. And what will he really do about immigration?

I remember the last time Labour were in power and the way they raided pension pots. It meant a close friend of mine had to continue working past retirement age as a consequence, I remember George Brown selling off the gold reserves. PFI initiatives which for 30 years crippled NHS hospitals with exorbitant interest rates leading to cuts in services. I remember monies coming into education but for short term 'projects' which could not be maintained unless the funding went with them. I certainly don't want a repeat of that. And looking at some of the characters still around that shadow cabinet I don't trust them either. Leopards don't change their spots.

Pity the Tories have made such a pig's ear of the past 14 years. They have only themselves to blame and a period on the opposition benches may do them good to re-group, reform and get their house in order.

Neither of those two parties will be getting my vote.

[Mervyn and Trish]

The reality is they're the only two who can win, so a vote for anyone other than Tory is in effect a vote for Labour. A disgruntled friend of mine wants to "punish" the Tories - his word - but is voting LibDem. My theory is he's doing it so if Labour cock it up he can say he didn't vote for them!

[Ray Scully]

It was a stupid mistake but not one to define the next five years. I've still not decided who to vote for, not that it will make much difference. I think Starmer knows it's in the bag so is saying nothing so as not to cock it up. Sadly I still have no idea who he actually is. Whichever party gets in there will have to be cuts, borrowing or tax rises. I really want to know which. So far Starmer has said he won't raise taxes for working people, but unless he ends the freeze on personal allowances he will by default. And I'm not a working person. I'm retired. So is he planning to stuff me?

Well hopefully if we do get a Starmer government. There will be a full review of tax and benefits. Currently we are both on defined benefits pension paying tax at the normal rates on a joint income which is in excess of the current average. Absurdly and despite being in the top cohort of those regularly accessing the health service, we pay no N.!. I have heard the argument "we have been paying it all our lives" yes paying for Morris Minor service but now expecting a Tesla standard. Another concern I often hear is "they will tax our house when pass on. Well with little or no effort apart from a small extension and general upkeep the resale value of our mome is 150 times the purchase price. On our demise I don't have a problem with some part of that gain being paid in tax.

[towny44]

I wonder whether a cross party alliance would ever be able to manage the economy to the satisfaction of a majority of the electorate. Certainly neither of the 2 main parties have managed it during my lifetime.
I somehow doubt it, because the electorate's expectations are way In excess of the acceptable taxation level.
I know that socialists do believe it is possible to tax the rich, sufficient to provide enough tax revenue to significantly improve the living standards of the poor. If that were true, why has no socialist govt so far managed to achieve this nirvana?

[Mervyn and Trish]

Trying to soak the rich has never been a success in the past so no reason to believe it will in the future.

Our house value has only increased by 6 times since we bought it 37 years ago. Maybe I should move it to where Ray lives! But it's still way below Inheritance Tax levels.

I would resent it if anyone decided to impose a massive tax rise on us by imposing NI. Yes I did pay into it all my working life and never claimed any sort of benefit, either sick pay, unemployment or anything, until I retired and claimed my pension. I do accept it is a double tax on workers and would favour the option of phasing it out for all rather than imposing it on pensioners. Then balance the books by adjusting Income Tax so it depended on all income, whether it was salary, pension, dividends or whatever. I've known more than one small company owner who has dodged tax by paying themselves a very small salary and taking it all in dividends at a lower tax rate.

[oldbluefox]

Those with means will always have the ability to reduce their tax liability leaving the rest of us to foot the bill.

[Ray Scully]

I wonder whether a cross party alliance would ever be able to manage the economy to the satisfaction of a majority of the electorate. Certainly neither of the 2 main parties have managed it during my lifetime.
I somehow doubt it, because the electorate's expectations are way In excess of the acceptable taxation level.
I know that socialists do believe it is possible to tax the rich, sufficient to provide enough tax revenue to significantly improve the living standards of the poor. If that were true, why has no socialist govt so far managed to achieve this nirvana?

Because the wealthy power brokers make sure it can't happen . Perhaps a revolution is the answer

[Mervyn and Trish]

Don't get OL started...

[Onelife]

The only good thing that came out of tonight’s political debate was that four of the panel agreed with me, in that our political system is broken.

What a complete shambles of a political debate with only Farage coming out with any credibility. I was disappointed with Penny’s performance, however, to be fair, how do you keep a holed ship from sinking?

I thought Rayner stood her ground without actually revealing anything she hasn’t already said before.

The only highlight of the evening came when the Welsh guy said he welcomed more migrants into Wales…hopefully, taking a south westerly route, thus avoiding having to pass through England to get them there.

[towny44]

I wonder whether a cross party alliance would ever be able to manage the economy to the satisfaction of a majority of the electorate. Certainly neither of the 2 main parties have managed it during my lifetime.
I somehow doubt it, because the electorate's expectations are way In excess of the acceptable taxation level.
I know that socialists do believe it is possible to tax the rich, sufficient to provide enough tax revenue to significantly improve the living standards of the poor. If that were true, why has no socialist govt so far managed to achieve this nirvana?

Because the wealthy power brokers make sure it can't happen . Perhaps a revolution is the answer

Ray, I don't believe the wealthy prevent it by any means other than the fact that the numbers remaining as tax payers would prevent the tax collected from being anywhere near adequate to finance the country. Resulting in them losing the next election.
Let's face it the UK electorate are a lot like P&O cruisers, they want the best services, but are not prepared to pay Saga prices to achieve it.

[Onelife]

I just do not trust Starmer no matter what he says. It's what they don't say which is the crux of the matter and I feel there is much they are hiding - pensions, capital gains tax, tax bands, stamp duty. There is plenty of scope there to tax 'the working man'. And what will he really do about immigration?

I remember the last time Labour were in power and the way they raided pension pots. It meant a close friend of mine had to continue working past retirement age as a consequence, I remember George Brown selling off the gold reserves. PFI initiatives which for 30 years crippled NHS hospitals with exorbitant interest rates leading to cuts in services. I remember monies coming into education but for short term 'projects' which could not be maintained unless the funding went with them. I certainly don't want a repeat of that. And looking at some of the characters still around that shadow cabinet I don't trust them either. Leopards don't change their spots.

Pity the Tories have made such a pig's ear of the past 14 years. They have only themselves to blame and a period on the opposition benches may do them good to re-group, reform and get their house in order.

Neither of those two parties will be getting my vote.

In a nutshell Foxy …this country has been let down by incompetence, greed, and party infighting…they wrote their own epitaph, and now we await the hereafter.