@lowtide Yes, I found it interesting to re-read in light of the news. Sending all good healing thoughts to her and her family for a full recovery.
@luminous Thanks for sending this detail on the NHS waiting list. I'm stunned and my heart goes out to you and everyone in the UK having to suffer it. The NHS system used to be a shining example of social democracy gone right, not wrong.
Do you see Charles standing down as King? And will William and Kate divorce? Heard some people mention that in real life conversation
Well, that's that then. The Labour party has launched quite possibly the most uninspired policies for their electoral campaign that I have ever seen.
The UK is crying out for investment in its public services after 14 years of cuts, but Labour has no plan to address this.
I am also not impressed by the Labour leader's arrogance of thinking he can coast into the job on the strength of the most uninspired policies and soundbites.
Labour is leading in the polls, and my biggest fear is that they are not going to provide the big changes the UK needs if they are elected.
I would prefer to see a hung parliament where there is a coalition government and they have to work with another party like the Liberal Democrats.
Looking the the poll data you might think a coalition is unlikely to happen given how much Labour is leading, but we are still 3 weeks away from the election, and anything could change.
@luminous I understand your concerns. Given that there is so much push for improved public services in the UK, what conservative forces are driving the strong Labour Party? What do they want?
@luminous I understand your concerns. Given that there is so much push for improved public services in the UK, what conservative forces are driving the strong Labour Party? What do they want?
Rupert Murdoch and a few others.
This isn't the Labour party I know. Even the one led by Tony Blair and Gordon Brown was less conservative than this.
The current leader, Keir Starmer, is not recognisable to me anymore. He has completely changed his political beliefs and the Labour party.
The Labour party is now a red version of the Conservative party (blue).
@luminous Boggles my mind why this Labour Party believes it works to under-serve the public health needs of its population. It's been going on for such a long time now, and it's sure to boomerang on them, sooner than later. Where is all the money going? Or, is this still about Brexit?
Labour wants to prove they are not a tax-and-spend political party and wants to place themselves in a similar position to the Conservatives politically based on economic growth and low taxes.
The problem with this plan is that the Conservatives tried it for 14 years, and it resulted in lower-funded public services and weak growth.
Labour wants to grow the economy to fund public services, but how can you do that when there is no guarantee growth will improve?
The elphant in the room, as you rightly point out, is Brexit. Brexit has caused a £40bn hole in tax receipts for our economy and has created so much red tape and barriers to our economic trade. According to one report I read, £500bn worth of investment in our economy has been lost because of Brexit.
The Liberal Democrats, the Green Party and the SNP are the only parties prepared to work towards rejoining the EU, and each of them has a comprehensive plan for taxing the wealthy and fossil fuel companies a little more to fund public services like the NHS.
The Conservatives and Labour are in denial.
@luminous Seems like Labour wants to win and will work with Conservatives voters to do so. Let me know if I have this wrong. I read a recent article about how other European elections were faring, and the pundits said that many of the moderate parties were incorporating conservative initiatives into their platform in order to gain the votes they need to stay in power. Is this the issue with the Labour Party? Is it sustainable?
Yes, they are.
But it's not helping to see off the far-right in the UK.
Nigel Farage's far-right populist party called Reform UK is surging in the polls and may overtake the Conservatives.
This adoption of conservative policy by Labour to appease right-wing voters has just further enabled the narrative of what Reform UK is offering people.
What Labour should be doing is fighting Reform UK and challenging that right-wing narrative.
This is why I have a lot of praise for the SNP, Green Party, and Liberal Democrats, because they have challenged Reform UK on their right-wing populism and have made attempts to deconstruct their arguments about migration being the cause of all the UK problems, for example.