Tufton Street

[Mr. Dazzle]

Furlough was aaaages ago, you don't have to pay for stuff which happened ages ago. Everyone knows that.

[cheb]

We've the bonus of having the SNP to vote for, and they are doing such a fantastic job of running Scotland currently.

Just when I think it is all doom and gloom you come along to remind me things could be worse.

I am confused, I've looked at a few reports on NHS and social care spending and all of them show a steady increase. I'd be surprised if I've accidentally stumbled on all pro Tory-websites. Even nhsfunding.info that wants more money shows a positive real world increase every year, just not enough.

What are these Tory-driven cuts mentioned in the OP?

In real terms <rest of droning speech to prove any increase is actually a cut>

[Horse]

Furlough was aaaages ago, you don't have to pay for stuff which happened ages ago. Everyone knows that.

Classic example: student loans, 'government' (ie taxpayers) pick up most of the bill after 30 years.

[wheelnut]

I think I read today that if there was a GE the polls show a labour gov with a SDP opposition!

[wheelnut]

Furlough was aaaages ago, you don't have to pay for stuff which happened ages ago. Everyone knows that.

Classic example: student loans, 'government' (ie taxpayers) pick up most of the bill after 30 years.

Not so sure now with with interest rate - there’s a lot of student loans growing faster than they are being paid back.

[Horse]

Furlough was aaaages ago, you don't have to pay for stuff which happened ages ago. Everyone knows that.

Classic example: student loans, 'government' (ie taxpayers) pick up most of the bill after 30 years.

Not so sure now with with interest rate - there’s a lot of student loans growing faster than they are being paid back.

Figures from July 2022:

Currently almost £20 billion is loaned to around 1.5 million students in England each year. The value of outstanding loans at the end of March 2022 reached £182 billion. The Government forecasts the value of outstanding loans to be around £460 billion (2021‑22 prices) by the mid-2040s.

The forecast average debt among the cohort of borrowers who started their course in 2021/22 is £45,800 when they complete their course. Forecast debt is expected to be lower for those starting in the reformed system from 2023/24 at £43,400. The Government expected that around 20% of full-time undergraduates starting in 2021/22 would repay them in full. They forecast that after the 2022 reforms this would increase to 55% among new students from 2023/24.

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

What we need are politicians with spines, not ones that do what the media wants - feck knows where this bunch of spineless, useless twats that are afraid of any criticism came from, but can they just go away and let some adults run the country

Yes we do need politicians with spines, or as my sister says, "proper grown ups"

This bunch of spineless, useless twats mostly came from Eton....

The scariest thing for me is that the nearest the Tories have to a grown up is J *unt. The problem we have is that he is the Antichrist.
@Docca will remember when he did his best to destroy the NHS.

As at today, I'm hearing much more common sense coming out of Labour than I have for years.

A slight aside regarding taxes. After the pandemic, most of the people i talked to were expecting taxes to rise to pay for Furlough and the stalled economy, I expected just that too. were you?

I meant all politicians of all political parties, they're all useless spineless tests with no real experience of anything other than politics, useless fucktards, get rid of them all, anyone who wants to be a politician should be locked away somewhere where they can't do any damage.

[gremlin]

When I read the thread title I thought this was a variation of Mornington Crescent.

The disappointment...

[gremlin]

I can't help but think the second biggest tragedy of wasted talent in this country, after the FA failing to pick an England manager from the vast pool of taxi drivers who clearly know how to win the World Cup better than any other group of individuals, is the fact that not one person from this august body of experts has never once stood for public office, despite clearly having the answers to most of the country's travails*.




*Or at least, that's what I've assumed for all these years, having watched everybody shouting from the sidelines.

[Cousin Jack]

I can't help but think the second biggest tragedy of wasted talent in this country, after the FA failing to pick an England manager from the vast pool of taxi drivers who clearly know how to win the World Cup better than any other group of individuals, is the fact that not one person from this august body of experts has never once stood for public office, despite clearly having the answers to most of the country's travails*.




*Or at least, that's what I've assumed for all these years, having watched everybody shouting from the sidelines.

Being serious for a moment, to actually climb the political greasy pole you need to do one of a very few options.

1. Start young, a la William Hague.
2. Have a rich Dad.
3. Make a fortune at doing something else.
4. Have family members who are big in politics.

Combinations of more than 1 are a major advantage, eg a rich Dad who is in politics already


Method 1 - Sorry but as a teenager I was interested in girls, motorcycles, and rugby. Politics was a VERY distant also ran.
Method 2 - Failed. Dad learnt his trade as a carpenter. My chances of going to Eton were negligible
Method 3 - Failed. I tried but failed. Mea culpa.
Method 4 - Failed again.

I am waaaaay too old, but even those upstarts on here who are in their 40s will struggle. If you aren't in a 'political' family you need to start in Local Government as a County Councillor, then stand for 1 or 2 Parliamentary seats with zero hope, before finally getting a chance to become an MP. All this while your wife and children get on as best they can, because you are too busy.

Only the lucky will actually succeed.

[Horse]

All this while your wife and children get on as best they can, because you are too busy.

Often 'busy' with other MPs. John Major with Edwina being perhaps the most astonishing example and Matt FaceHandsArseCock being incredibly well-timed ...

[Greenman]

As i have said for getting on a decade now nothing will change until with change something with the voting system.

We need to all show a vote of no confidence and not vote. We need mass non-compliance. The Tory scrum and tbh no doubt most of the other parties just want to make things better for themselves and their rich mates, they don't want to rock the boat and make major changes that will benefit the country as a whole as it will affect the setup they currently have which is massively bias towards the rich, just look at the latest tax cuts thing, it's a joke.

Once our ruling class see that we are finally uprising by using mass non-compliance as our weapon they will have no choice but to make changes to the way they govern us, or the country inc their little rich mates won't have the power to corrupt each and every part of what is so called 'Great Britain!

[gremlin]

Only the lucky will actually succeed.

I would question if they're lucky. The money ain't great*, the hours are shit, no job security, abuse from every Tom, Dick an Harry...

Bollocks to that gig.

*Ok, better than the average, but then who wants Kevin from the local comp running the show? And granted, the expenses don't seem to be controlled with an iron fist.

[Count Steer]

I can't help but think the second biggest tragedy of wasted talent in this country, after the FA failing to pick an England manager from the vast pool of taxi drivers who clearly know how to win the World Cup better than any other group of individuals, is the fact that not one person from this august body of experts has never once stood for public office, despite clearly having the answers to most of the country's travails*.




*Or at least, that's what I've assumed for all these years, having watched everybody shouting from the sidelines.

Behind every person that gets elected is a whole body of others like constituency party members that helped them get there. You don't necessarily have to be the bod that stands for public office to be involved. Some of them are more clued up than the candidate and would be better MPs but don't want the job, they prefer the job/business they've got.

My local MP (completely unsuitable - I knew them reasonably well at one time) really wanted the job but will probably get one term then back to obscurity and the jobs market. They just wanted it more than any of the others available. Wanting it didn't make them competent in any way, their voting record and public comments have been all over the shop.

[DefTrap]

The money ain't great*, the hours are shit, no job security, abuse from every Tom, Dick an Harry...

Power is addictive though innit? And, as everybody is always right all the time, you're doing the world a big favour letting them have the benefit of your expertise. There's surely a lot of good that you actually can do (that goes unseen, that the meeja don't care about) that probably warms your heart. And the bolshy buggers just get told what's what and, if you're really lucky once the cabinet merry-go-round has exhausted all the good ones, you get to stand at the front alienating half the electorate calling them "guardian-reading, tofu-eating, wokerati".

Plus, once you're in the H-o-C you have access to that legion of benefits and all the side hustles that go along with it. It sets you up. I doubt that al the ex MPs from non-lucrative backgrounds end up on the tills

[gremlin]

All this while your wife and children get on as best they can, because you are too busy.

Often 'busy' with other MPs. John Major with Edwina being perhaps the most astonishing example and Matt FaceHandsArseCock being incredibly well-timed ...

Imagine that! Affairs at work!!!
Just imagine if that spread to other industries....there'd be no opportunity for indignant, moralistic rage! Luckily we can all sleep safe in our beds knowing it's only those filthy politicians having extra-marital affairs.

[Ant]

All this while your wife and children get on as best they can, because you are too busy.

Often 'busy' with other MPs. John Major with Edwina being perhaps the most astonishing example and Matt FaceHandsArseCock being incredibly well-timed ...

Imagine that! Affairs at work!!!
Just imagine if that spread to other industries....there'd be no opportunity for indignant, moralistic rage! Luckily we can all sleep safe in our beds knowing it's only those filthy politicians having extra-marital affairs.

Quite. I can imagine now, John Major thinking "none of those working class plebs ever nail another lass up the side alley of the snooker club", as he exploded inside Mrs Currie.

[gremlin]

John Major, out of all of 'em, was actually working class.

Got into grammar school, but only achieved 3 O levels. Family were middle-income, but then got skint. Ended up in flat in Brixton.

[Ant]

John Major, out of all of 'em, was actually working class.

Got into grammar school, but only achieved 3 O levels. Family were middle-income, but then got skint. Ended up in flat in Brixton.

That's got to beat someone with the voice of Zippy from Rainbow, claiming that he's in touch with the people as his dad was a toolmaker and he grew up in a pebbled dashed three bedroom semi.

Come on, pebble dashed, three bedroom semi, pebble dashed I tell you, pebble dashed!

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

John Major, out of all of 'em, was actually working class.

Got into grammar school, but only achieved 3 O levels. Family were middle-income, but then got skint. Ended up in flat in Brixton.

Met him at a do at Marshalls at Cambridge Airport when I worked for BT in late 1997, he seemed like a decent bloke, certainly a lot better than Sir Michael Marshall who didn't deign to talk to us plebs.