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Post by staffordshrew on Aug 15, 2022 9:27:36 GMT 1
Conservative party members might be a bit smarter than Truss and realise that something like Starmer's plan is needed right now to avoid the abyss that threatens this winter. Time for bold moves, rather than tax cuts from one and the odd "bung" from the other. |
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Post by northwestman on Aug 15, 2022 9:32:51 GMT 1
Conservative party members might be a bit smarter than Truss and realise that something like Starmer's plan is needed right now to avoid the abyss that threatens this winter. Time for bold moves, rather than tax cuts from one and the odd "bung" from the other. Well, Starmer's plan has certainly received approval from a significant number of Tory supporters according to a poll conducted by the Times. |
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Post by northwestman on Aug 15, 2022 9:40:55 GMT 1
Weekly update from Helen Morgan, M.P. for North Shropshire:
GOVERNMENT MUST ACT TO STOP ENERGY BILL HIKE
On Monday, I joined Lib Dem Leader Ed Davey in calling for government action on gas and electric bills. OFGEM are planning to hike the energy price cap that tells energy producers the maximum they can charge suppliers, who in turn provide gas and electricity to customers.The Lib Dems want the government to cover the increased costs, so that OFGEM can cancel the hike. Even though millions of residents are already struggling, the Conservatives are hesitant to take action. The Lib Dem plan would save a typical household an extra £1,400 a year and would be paid for by expanding the windfall tax and using the government’s higher-than-expected VAT revenues.
DENTAL NEGLECT
Also on Monday, I challenged the government over their ongoing neglect of NHS dental services. This came after BBC research discovered that nine out of ten NHS dental practices were not taking new adult patients. Just six dentists in the whole of Shropshire were willing to accept new adult NHS patients. People who move area often have no choice but to register with a new practice and sometimes end up paying hundreds or thousands for private dental treatment instead.
RECORD AMBULANCE DELAYS UNCOVERED
Shocking new research emerged on Wednesday, showing stroke and heart attack patients in the West Midlands waiting an average of 59 minutes and seven seconds for an ambulance, despite a maximum target of 18 minutes. The situation has deteriorated dramatically in just three years - the average wait being just 12 minutes and 58 seconds in 2019. Liz Truss herself has admitted that under the Conservatives people are facing appalling ambulance delays. Yet neither she nor Rishi Sunak have set out a credible plan to solve this crisis. We need emergency funding now to support overstretched ambulance services along with an official CQC inquiry into how to fix these appalling delays.
CANCEL BONUSES FOR WATER BOSSES
On Friday, I called for bonuses to be scrapped for Severn Trent Water executives, for failing to fix leaking pipes ahead of this summer's drought. This comes after analysis from the Liberal Democrats revealed that executives at Severn Trent received £8,432,000.
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Post by staffordshrew on Aug 15, 2022 9:47:18 GMT 1
Weekly update from Helen Morgan, M.P. for North Shropshire: GOVERNMENT MUST ACT TO STOP ENERGY BILL HIKE On Monday, I joined Lib Dem Leader Ed Davey in calling for government action on gas and electric bills. OFGEM are planning to hike the energy price cap that tells energy producers the maximum they can charge suppliers, who in turn provide gas and electricity to customers.The Lib Dems want the government to cover the increased costs, so that OFGEM can cancel the hike. Even though millions of residents are already struggling, the Conservatives are hesitant to take action. The Lib Dem plan would save a typical household an extra £1,400 a year and would be paid for by expanding the windfall tax and using the government’s higher-than-expected VAT revenues. DENTAL NEGLECT Also on Monday, I challenged the government over their ongoing neglect of NHS dental services. This came after BBC research discovered that nine out of ten NHS dental practices were not taking new adult patients. Just six dentists in the whole of Shropshire were willing to accept new adult NHS patients. People who move area often have no choice but to register with a new practice and sometimes end up paying hundreds or thousands for private dental treatment instead. She really wants to retain that seat at the GE doesn't she. I think she will. She has been a breath of fresh air to sleepy old North Shropshire after it's sleepy old Tory encumbent. |
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Post by northwestman on Aug 15, 2022 9:59:50 GMT 1
The problem for Helen Morgan is that I think the local Conservative association has learnt from its mistake in selecting an external candidate, a barrister from Birmingham, as their candidate in the by election, and won't do so again. The fact he wasn't local, unlike Helen Morgan, was apparently an issue with a number of the voters.
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Post by staffordshrew on Aug 15, 2022 10:11:47 GMT 1
The problem for Helen Morgan is that I think the local Conservative association has learnt from its mistake in selecting an external candidate, a barrister from Birmingham, as their candidate in the by election, and won't do so again. The fact he wasn't local, unlike Helen Morgan, was apparently an issue with a number of the voters. The local Conservative association may have learned the lesson, but is there anyone local with the Helen Morgan spirit and energy? Plus, Lib Dem MPs are a rare species, so she get's national coverage. Get a Tory shire MP back in and the world stops listening to North Shropshire again. |
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Post by frankwellshrews on Aug 15, 2022 10:23:33 GMT 1
The problem for Helen Morgan is that I think the local Conservative association has learnt from its mistake in selecting an external candidate, a barrister from Birmingham, as their candidate in the by election, and won't do so again. The fact he wasn't local, unlike Helen Morgan, was apparently an issue with a number of the voters. Trouble with this analysis is it seems to work on the assumption that Morgan winning was a one off and ignores the fact that dynamics are changing here. The area's nowhere near as affluent as people seem to imagine, especially not in the market towns (and i say this someone who lives in a North Shropshire market town, despite the username) where most of us actually live. People are fed up of being taken for granted and in Morgan have found someone popular who seems to give a s**t about the area. Going to be very hard for the Tories to come back from that. |
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Post by northwestman on Aug 15, 2022 10:28:54 GMT 1
Sunak: “Liz Truss’s tax plans do virtually nothing” for pensioners and people on low incomes. This came the day after a hustings in which he stuck the boot in even harder, saying Truss would personally benefit more from ditching the National Insurance rise because she was on a high income.
“Scrapping the health and social care levy, as she wants to do, is worth £1,700 to her on her salary,” Sunak said. “For someone working really hard on the national living wage, it’s worth just over a quid a week. And for someone who’s a pensioner, without any earnings, it’s worth zero.” The humming sound in the distance may have been Labour hastily printing posters with that quote on them.
The 'i'
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Post by northwestman on Aug 15, 2022 11:38:25 GMT 1
Starmer, who insisted this week that his party has been “leading” on the cost of living, is setting out his party’s plans to freeze October’s energy price cap rise as part of a “comprehensive” cost of living plan on Monday.
Lib Dem leader Ed Davey – who proposed a price cap freeze a week ago – tweeted Labour: “Glad you liked my proposal to cancel the energy price rise. I also have some thoughts on electoral reform that you’re welcome to adopt.”
The Independent.
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Post by northwestman on Aug 15, 2022 11:41:11 GMT 1
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Post by staffordshrew on Aug 16, 2022 9:02:52 GMT 1
If, though surely even Boris is not that stupid, he is using any benefit of being PM to facilitate his travelling, then it wouldn't look good when the papers find out.
He seems to have a strange view of "working out his notice". In just a few weeks he will be free to undertake a world cruise if he wants to, meantime the country should have his full attention.
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Post by salop27 on Aug 16, 2022 10:25:36 GMT 1
Haven't bothered sending my ballot form back. It's all very uninspiring....
No party or politician has actually suggested a long term plan to cope with energy prices. This is going to cost the UK hundreds of billions. This is a bigger crisis then Covid and our politicians just seem happy to carry on scoring cheap political points from each other.
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Post by staffordshrew on Aug 16, 2022 10:33:51 GMT 1
Haven't bothered sending my ballot form back. It's all very uninspiring.... No party or politician has actually suggested a long term plan to cope with energy prices. This is going to cost the UK hundreds of billions. This is a bigger crisis then Covid and our politicians just seem happy to carry on scoring cheap political points from each other. Nail hit firmly on the head there!
HS2, right or wrong, something big actually got through the politicians, onto the drawing bord and started. The energy crisis? So far just scratching the service.
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Post by northwestman on Aug 16, 2022 10:56:24 GMT 1
www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/aug/16/britain-has-been-avoiding-its-biggest-problems-for-decades-now-were-paying-the-priceIn 2018, a report by the TUC revealed that private and public investment as a proportion of national income put us 34th in a ranking of 36, trailed only by Portugal and Greece. In the 40 years to 2019, fixed investment in the UK averaged 19% of GDP, the lowest in the G7. Now, business investment in the UK remains more than 9% below its pre-pandemic level. Crucial parts of our national infrastructure have been failed twice over: first when they were state-owned and let down by the stinginess of the man from the ministry – and then when they became privatised victims of modern capitalism’s increasing fondness for stripping out, squeezing down, and chasing dividends. The fate of England’s water is a particularly vivid example. Pipes, reservoirs and treatment works were once owned and run by local councils, but are now in the possession of a mind-boggling mess of interests that includes a Malaysian conglomerate called the YTL corporation, Norway’s state-owned bank and JP Morgan Asset Management. The consequences have been as mad as that suggests: between 1991 and 2019, such shareholders were paid £57bn in dividends – nearly half what the water companies spent on maintaining and improving their infrastructure. 'Looming power cuts, rocketing bills, water shortages, dysfunctional public services, sky-high taxes, a failing economy: Britain’s slide into crisis, our staggering seemingly accelerating decline, is tragic yet unsurprising. We are nearing the endgame, the final denouement, of a quarter century of political, intellectual and moral failure in which most of our political class has been complicit. Statist ideology, historical naivety, cowardice and short-termism have crippled our country. Orthodox thinking has turned out to be wrong in almost all areas that matter, from the economy to energy to planning. Politicians of both parties are to blame'. Daily Telegraph.
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Post by staffordshrew on Aug 16, 2022 11:36:27 GMT 1
Even if you forget about the public/private argument for water companies, there surely has to be something wrong with the set up - the trains run on an infrastructure that has been private and public, but covers all of Britain. Electricity is distributed by the privatised National Grid.
We are never going to get the big projects, like moving water from the places it is to the places it's short, unless something similar happens with water.
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kp
Midland League Division One
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Post by kp on Aug 16, 2022 15:03:38 GMT 1
www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/aug/16/britain-has-been-avoiding-its-biggest-problems-for-decades-now-were-paying-the-priceIn 2018, a report by the TUC revealed that private and public investment as a proportion of national income put us 34th in a ranking of 36, trailed only by Portugal and Greece. In the 40 years to 2019, fixed investment in the UK averaged 19% of GDP, the lowest in the G7. Now, business investment in the UK remains more than 9% below its pre-pandemic level. Crucial parts of our national infrastructure have been failed twice over: first when they were state-owned and let down by the stinginess of the man from the ministry – and then when they became privatised victims of modern capitalism’s increasing fondness for stripping out, squeezing down, and chasing dividends. The fate of England’s water is a particularly vivid example. Pipes, reservoirs and treatment works were once owned and run by local councils, but are now in the possession of a mind-boggling mess of interests that includes a Malaysian conglomerate called the YTL corporation, Norway’s state-owned bank and JP Morgan Asset Management. The consequences have been as mad as that suggests: between 1991 and 2019, such shareholders were paid £57bn in dividends – nearly half what the water companies spent on maintaining and improving their infrastructure. 'Looming power cuts, rocketing bills, water shortages, dysfunctional public services, sky-high taxes, a failing economy: Britain’s slide into crisis, our staggering seemingly accelerating decline, is tragic yet unsurprising. We are nearing the endgame, the final denouement, of a quarter century of political, intellectual and moral failure in which most of our political class has been complicit. Statist ideology, historical naivety, cowardice and short-termism have crippled our country. Orthodox thinking has turned out to be wrong in almost all areas that matter, from the economy to energy to planning. Politicians of both parties are to blame'. Daily Telegraph. All by design. Just don't tell Sid. Ironically The Telegraph (5th Estate Generally) has been complicit. |
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Post by northwestman on Aug 16, 2022 15:07:36 GMT 1
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Post by staffordshrew on Aug 17, 2022 9:47:08 GMT 1
10.1% inflation. Whose going to sort that out? What are those two trying to get themselves into?
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Post by block12massive on Aug 17, 2022 9:52:17 GMT 1
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Post by ssshrew on Aug 17, 2022 9:55:37 GMT 1
Which would be amusing if she hadn’t been appointed Foreign Secretary. Maybe if she becomes PM a knowledge of geography won’t be quite so vital  |
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Post by wookeywombat on Aug 17, 2022 11:07:33 GMT 1
Really surprising that you used the last example because the article itself makes plain that it was not his responsibility. Also in Spectator double speak they say he apologised for the failings of the CPS and virtually in the same breath they say he didn't apologise !!!! Track record of lying... does one example constitute a track record. As for the first, it appears that only the Express could actually take offence. |
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Post by staffordshrew on Aug 17, 2022 12:13:48 GMT 1
Nice to know what Truss really thinks of those "ordinary working people" they talk about.
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Post by staffordshrew on Aug 17, 2022 12:28:39 GMT 1
I read the Express on line, most of their stories never appear in a reputable news outlet. First thing to do if finding something in the Express is to search online and see if anyone else is even mentioning the so-called story. The Spectator is very much into double speak, turning things around one way then the other. You do have to bear in mind that Boris Johnson, well known for his straight talkng, truth nd honesty, was once editor there. |
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Post by northwestman on Aug 17, 2022 16:10:42 GMT 1
The remarks by Ms Truss echo controversial arguments made in a 2012 book she co-authored, "Britannia Unchained", in which British workers were described as among the "worst idlers in the world".
Asked about it at a leadership debate last month, Ms Truss distanced herself from the contentious assessment, claiming co-author and Sunak supporter Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab, had written it.
Mr Raab has subsequently said the authors of the book, which also included several other senior Conservative ministers, had agreed "collective responsibility" over its contents.
The 152-page book excoriated the UK’s “bloated state, high taxes and excessive regulation” and, most memorably, derided British workers as “among the worst idlers in the world” (“We work among the lowest hours, we retire early and our productivity is poor. Whereas Indian children aspire to be doctors or businessmen, the British are more interested in football and pop music.”)
Kwarteng, Patel, Raab, Skidmore and Truss are the co-authors.
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Post by northwestman on Aug 17, 2022 16:35:34 GMT 1
At the Tory hustings in Belfast, Sunak has said:
The most important issue facing our country in the short term is how are we going to get through this winter. I think millions of people are at risk of a very tough time and I’ve been very clear that my plan is to support them.
I believe that we have to support vulnerable groups, those on low incomes and pensioners, directly with financial support, because a tax cut does not work for those people.
Liz’s plan is to say ‘well, I believe in tax cuts, not direct support’. I don’t think that’s right because a tax cut for someone on her salary means 1,700 of help. For someone working really hard on a national living wage, in the care sector, that tax cut is worth about a 1 a week. For a pensioner, who is not working, that tax cut is worth precisely zero.
That’s not a plan that I think is right for our country.
If we don’t directly help those vulnerable groups, those on the lowest incomes, those pensioners, then it will be a moral failure of the Conservative government and I don’t think the British people will forgive us for that.
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Post by staffordshrew on Aug 17, 2022 17:10:30 GMT 1
The remarks by Ms Truss echo controversial arguments made in a 2012 book she co-authored, "Britannia Unchained", in which British workers were described as among the "worst idlers in the world". Asked about it at a leadership debate last month, Ms Truss distanced herself from the contentious assessment, claiming co-author and Sunak supporter Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab, had written it. Mr Raab has subsequently said the authors of the book, which also included several other senior Conservative ministers, had agreed "collective responsibility" over its contents. The 152-page book excoriated the UK’s “bloated state, high taxes and excessive regulation” and, most memorably, derided British workers as “among the worst idlers in the world” (“We work among the lowest hours, we retire early and our productivity is poor. Whereas Indian children aspire to be doctors or businessmen, the British are more interested in football and pop music.”) Kwarteng, Patel, Raab, Skidmore and Truss are the co-authors. Strange that, book written in 2012 - who's been in power over that time? That's a whole secondary school generation that ought to be coming out aspiring to be doctors or businessmen. What went wrong? |
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Post by kenwood on Aug 17, 2022 17:15:24 GMT 1
At the Tory hustings in Belfast, Sunak has said: The most important issue facing our country in the short term is how are we going to get through this winter. I think millions of people are at risk of a very tough time and I’ve been very clear that my plan is to support them. I believe that we have to support vulnerable groups, those on low incomes and pensioners, directly with financial support, because a tax cut does not work for those people. Liz’s plan is to say ‘well, I believe in tax cuts, not direct support’. I don’t think that’s right because a tax cut for someone on her salary means 1,700 of help. For someone working really hard on a national living wage, in the care sector, that tax cut is worth about a 1 a week. For a pensioner, who is not working, that tax cut is worth precisely zero. That’s not a plan that I think is right for our country. If we don’t directly help those vulnerable groups, those on the lowest incomes, those pensioners, then it will be a moral failure of the Conservative government and I don’t think the British people will forgive us for that.4 You couldn’t make it up could you. Sunak coming over all , “oh worries me , look what Liz’s policies will do for the poor people .” Give it a bloody rest Sunak, you were the one commending your s**te policies to the House will the great blond ball bag beside you, slapping you on the back. Its too late now to try and convince the Tory faithful that your way forward is to be trusted . Yes, Truss is a bloody clown likely to get things horrendously wrong but at one time you were in the driving seat and look what happened . I blame the parliamentary Tory Party for the s**te storm about to engulf us all .They decided May wasn’t the right fit for them and that Brexit would remain a disaster with her in charge . So, what do they do? Put into the highest position in this Country a man with a fault list as long as Ron Jeremy’s cock . A man so utterly obsessed with himself and sod every one else , a man who was well known as being a stranger to the truth . After Cameron and Osborne didn’t they consider that they had a chance , a great chance , ignoring May, to put things right . I blame Labour too. Corbyn and his ex religious nutter mate ,McDonnell , were no match against May and Hammond . I hold my hand up and confess I thought Corbyn stood a chance , how deluded was I . In truth the Tory lot had nothing to beat and once Johnson got the nod it was game over for Labour . Starmer looked promising but he isn’t up to it unfortunately . In fact Labours best are long gone. So, between the two main parties we have been royally f.cked . I cannot see a way out of this mess , I really can’t . With a general strike not to be ignored Im really looking forward to Christmas . |
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Post by zenfootball2 on Aug 17, 2022 17:31:18 GMT 1
As Boris goes on one long holiday and is the press are to be belived will live chequers; www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/boris-johnson-holiday-greece-chequers-b2145887.html"Boris Johnson ‘will live at Chequers mansion for rest of premiership’ so he lives in a country mansion for free in between holidays whilst many less fortunate experience a very different life. does anyone think the replacements have what it takes to turn things around? www.shropshirestar.com/news/local-hubs/telford/2022/08/17/devastating-telford-charity-has-already-provided-100000-meals-to-struggling-households-this-year/"A Telford charity says the number of meals it has provided to struggling households this year has topped 100,000. The startling total, revealed through analysis of parcels handed out by Telford Crisis Support, is a stark reminder of the devastating impact of the cost-of-living crisis. The number is already 10,000 meals higher than in 2020, at the height of the pandemic. And operations manager Simon Lellow says the figure will only increase as inflation has surged into double digits for the first time in 40 years, piling more pressure on families. Mr Lellow forecasts the number of meals handed out will, at the least, top the 150,000 mark by the end of 2022." |
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Post by staffordshrew on Aug 17, 2022 18:13:36 GMT 1
We are where we are. You have to be a Tory member to chose our next PM, they have to chose between Truss or Sunak. Truss hates the poor, so they would be in for a really tough time. Sunak realises that hating the poor would lose the Tories a lot of votes at the next GE.
Whichever one, anyone on a reasonable wage is going to get screwed this winter.
So, Tory members, we are in your hands, but bear in mind that the poor, the middle earners and the rich can all vote at the not so far away GE and, I would imagine, Tory members don't really want to be tripping over hungry poor people or inconvenienced by General Strikes?
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Post by Worthingshrew on Aug 17, 2022 19:50:52 GMT 1
No one seems to have challenged Truss’ policy of relying on tax cuts, to,point out that any reductions to personal taxes won’t take effect until April 2023, I.e. new tax year, by when we’ll have had 6 months of winter with the highest fuel prices with no support.
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