Our GDP per capita has been flat for 18 years, labour productivity i.e. the amount of GDP we create per hour worked has only raised 8% in those 18 years. We have grown around 1.1% in GDP when the normal rate would have been 2.5% i.e. the economy should be about 35% bigger.
[https://obr.uk/forecasts-in-depth/tax-by-tax-spend-by-spend/welfare-spending-pensioner-benefits/](https://obr.uk/forecasts-in-depth/tax-by-tax-spend-by-spend/welfare-spending-pensioner-benefits/)
The state pension has gone from 4.4% of GDP in 2011 to 4.9% of GDP when it was introduced. CPI has risen 60%, average wage 66% and the pension 89%., the triple lock is that it raised on CPI, average wage of 2.5% per year. So it should have gone up 60-66% per person since 2011 but has gone up 89%. This however is a small part of the problem. Much of the rise has been simply more pensioners.
Debt interest has gone from 2.9 to 3.6% though from 2011 to 2021 this had gone down to 1.2% so that is a of 2.5% of GDP on debt repayment through the big jump in interest rates and borrowing.
[https://obr.uk/forecasts-in-depth/tax-by-tax-spend-by-spend/debt-interest-central-government-net/](https://obr.uk/forecasts-in-depth/tax-by-tax-spend-by-spend/debt-interest-central-government-net/)
Disability has gone from 1.1 to 1.8%.
[https://obr.uk/forecasts-in-depth/tax-by-tax-spend-by-spend/welfare-spending-disability-benefits/](https://obr.uk/forecasts-in-depth/tax-by-tax-spend-by-spend/welfare-spending-disability-benefits/)
Universal Credit, which has had the most controversial cuts is at about 3.3%
[https://obr.uk/forecasts-in-depth/tax-by-tax-spend-by-spend/welfare-spending-universal-credit/](https://obr.uk/forecasts-in-depth/tax-by-tax-spend-by-spend/welfare-spending-universal-credit/)
Healthcare is about 11.1% of GDP it was around 10% of GDP in 2010 but falling through the 2010s and demand has been rising. So worse services for more costs.
Around 2007 the state was about 40% of GDP. This rose to 46% in 2010 with measures to fight the global financial crisis and back down to 39.5% in 2019 that was the Austerity years. Today its about 44% with around 41% coming from tax the rest from borrowing. Most of that 4% extra is detailed above and cuts in everything else have been sharp and painful.
[https://ifs.org.uk/taxlab/taxlab-data-item/uk-government-spending-over-time](https://ifs.org.uk/taxlab/taxlab-data-item/uk-government-spending-over-time)
In essence you either increase tax, reduce spending or keep it stable with 3% pa debt growth.
The idea that there is some c**** and easy policy you just need some charisma to make happen is horseshit. Until the public demand how people intend to fix it, then we will just get people who want a shot at being PM then end up back in the same place we have been with Cameron, May, Johnson, Truss, Sunak and now Starmer.
So while Stamer is stiff in presentation, has had poor choices. I strongly think the public want the Moon on a stick, want it yesterday and do not want to think about complexities about how to get it. Labour MPs have fallen for the idea that just chaning the voice explaining that we are not getting a Moon on a stick yet will make things better.
The Greens and Respect are promising the Moon on a stick in either insane tax (Respect) cuts or 17% tax rises and the spending to go with it (the Greens)
611
nailbunny200019 hr ago
+229
100% agree.
This is all just performative bluster from ladder climbers looking for personal gain and glory.
Every one of them who has resigned can piss right off, and those who remain can get the f*** back to work.
229
brainfreeze319 hr ago
+186
well the biggest contributor to all of the problems is brexit and the man who made brexit happen is probably going to be the next prime minister, so yeah stupid people get stupid leaders
186
IndividualSkill343219 hr ago
+57
>well the biggest contributor to all of the problems is brexit
Brexit is estimate at about 5% miss on GDP over the years. Low productivity growth since 2008 has left the economy with around and average growth of 1.1% pa, this is a growth of about 22%, growth of 2.5% the historic norm would have resulted in 56% growth.
Also Brexit is not a contributor the growth in pensions, disabilities and healthcare that is mostly down to an ageing population.
It was a bad policy, but far too many make out (like you) its the biggest issue we face.
[World Economic Outlook (April 2026) - GDP per capita, current prices](https://www.imf.org/external/datamapper/NGDPDPC@WEO/GBR/DEU/CAN/FRA/ITA/JPN)
Uk has performed well over that period compared to our non US G7 peers. Many of the issues are found in other countries, housing crises, low growth, high debts and ageing population. Much of it stems from the Tech Giants eating up so much market space, US stocks being so insanely valued, US dollar being so high and China being so agressively c**** in labour, energy and generous in funding and somehow finding so much expensively paid for western intellectual property in their hands.
Many problems. Widely shared.
57
Richmondez16 hr ago
+42
You are right, brexit isn't the biggest issue, but it is the only issue that we didn't have to face.
42
funtimes-forall15 hr ago
+23
And the easiest to solve. Why is everyone afraid to seriously re-evaluate it?
23
Lokon1913 hr ago
+14
Because reentering the EU would require the UK to make a whole host of unpalatable choices.
14
funtimes-forall12 hr ago
please elaborate if you would
0
Chengar_Qordath11 hr ago
+13
The common assumption is that if the UK tried to rejoin the EU, they’d be getting a much worse deal than they had pre-Brexit.
13
funtimes-forall9 hr ago
-1
They won't know unless they start asking.
-1
Lokon193 hr ago
+1
There is no way they are going to get the carve outs they got the first time
1
Lokon1911 hr ago
+2
Well for starters they would likely have to abandon the pound.
2
funtimes-forall9 hr ago
+1
They didn't have to last time, they could ask to keep the pound at worst they'd say no. But the Euro is really about the same.
1
McUpChuck11 hr ago
-3
Adopting the single currency is not a condition of EU membership
-3
Tall_Fox6 hr ago
+6
It is, actually.
6
kawklee15 hr ago
+7
Would have helped to balance population age too, like it or not.
7
Shot_Illustrator42649 hr ago
+1
So you are saying that 1% lost GDP each single year because of Brexit is not a big deal? Do you even know when Brexit was implemented?
1
theculture18 hr ago
+35
I want to copy and paste this into conversations I have with my people who complain it “isn’t all fixed yet” (that or blame immigrants).
We need to have a proper “what do we want our country to look like” conversation at a national level.
Public assets (trains, airports, manufacturing), public services (NHS, Defence) and then a real conversation about how we pay for any of that.
This is going to be hard and people might have to do some thinking.
My big worry is that I am not sure people are capable of the thinking and want a simple “this one thing is the problem” answer.
35
ContrarianDouche16 hr ago
+15
>want a simple “this one thing is the problem” answer.
And certain politicians are happy to give it to them. Farage's polling suggests it's an effective strategy
15
IndividualSkill343218 hr ago
+2
No problems.
2
MrHedgehogMan17 hr ago
+23
People forget that we’re still hungover from 14 years of Tory government. And the cantankerous leviathan that is the British state isn’t going to about turn overnight.
Reform are making c**** promises when in actual fact they will dismantle the ship then sell off the best parts of it and finally jam the controls and disappear.
23
Middle-Cod-701618 hr ago
+10
Thank you for the data, that was much needed for a Canadian.
Let’s say you had a genie and three wishes, and a mandate to have a viable economy that’s last another lifespan. How would you fix it?
10
IndividualSkill343218 hr ago
+31
Create a category of project called a "national infrastructure project" that has a much lower regulatory over head and massively curtailed legal rights for nearby property owners to challenge. Many big projects are locked in years of very expensive legal cases and reviews and that massively delay them and add huge legal costs. Nuclear power stations, new rail lines and road tunnels have all been hugely burdened by the weaponisation of the planning system.
Create areas for new towns with the first builds of starter homes being given much lower regulatory over head, going back to 80s/90s type regulation and the land being block taken by the state for rapid development. Then when around 40% or so of the housing is built and you will have a lot of c**** first time homes you can reintroduce current levels of regulation for the rest aimed at second homes etc.
Create a cross party group between the mainstream parties to work with industry experts to identify ways to create incentives or remove blocks on productivity growth, with the idea of setting up policies that can be agreed across the centre of politics and carried on over changes in government.
31
Abject_Breadfruit1487 hr ago
+3
I love having regulations disappear since we always forget rules get written in blood.
3
HowYouMineFish7 hr ago
+4
They're not talking about health & safety regulations.
4
Jaffa65 hr ago
+2
You say that, but they haven't specified - and likely a lot of the regulations do boil down to that one way or another.
2
quick_justice5 hr ago
+3
Fundamentally, there are two problems in UK that are very hard to fix without destroying social contract.
First one is of course demographics. Old age dependency is growing fast, and there are not many ways to fix it. You need more workers, and you need them soon.
Increase in births is not happening, unless country is willing to mass remove women’s rights. Country haven’t had demographic self-sustainability since early 70th and no financial incentives will change it. Nature of second demographic transition is well-known.
In theory you can get out of it by dramatically increasing productivity, but we are simply not there technologically - Japan tried it and failed. So you need immigration, sensible immigration policy, but more importantly a mandate for it from public, and understanding that immigrants are to stay. This issue was made sharply more acute with Brexit that made immigration both more visible and less culturally homogenous to local population. Brits do not want to process that freedom of movement in EU is freedom of labour movement and is put in not out of goodness of the heart and not for the benefit of the less well off members.
Current British society does not allow to approach this issue at all.
Second one is just as bad - it’s a structure of property, most importantly - land, ownership, and rights of owners, that creates inequality and stops any sensible development in its tracks. Large landlords are really large and own colossal parts of the country, and would not allow things to happen. Attempts to build a high speed rail line, much needed, all but failed due to demands to take it away from the places where rich live or have property, making it astronomically more expensive to build.
You need both break down big estates, and reduce owners rights to stop essential projects. And how are you gonna do that, if naturally they call the shots in the country?
So good bloody luck.
3
Harrison8819 hr ago
+11
Actually, there’s quite a few easy enough policies to implement which would increase productivity.
Take the £100k tax threshold for example. It’s limiting day to day spending ability of a large amount of high earners. Anyone that is potentially earning £100k to £140k if they have a child in nursery is purposely limiting their hours, not going for promotions, or increasing their pension contributions - all impacting productivity. You see this with NHS doctors.
This is also seen at lower levels with care benefits and child benefit (though that has been smoothed in last few years).
Planning restrictions is another one. There’s ways you can stop people just sitting on land. Stop making it so difficult to build infrastructure and start investing more into infrastructure projects.
11
Emergency-Assist-42117 hr ago
+11
God forbid you suggest anyone earning £100k is getting absolutely shafted. Everyone should earn min wage and be happy about it!
11
Harrison8817 hr ago
+9
The thing is, you’d get more tax if the thresholds weren’t a straight ‘yes or no’. 62% tax rate between £100k and £125k, then back to 47% is weird… why not just set 47% at £100k? Promoted avoidance. Similar for childcare benefits. It would cost me £32k a year net of tax to have two kids in nursery… where am I meant to get that money from? But we need kids to fund future pensions.
9
quick_justice5 hr ago
+1
This is a good policy but
\- you will get shafted in the press for helping the rich
\- you will help some people but on macro level it won’t do anything. People earning over 100k are minority and mildly increasing their spending power won’t be seen, nor mildly increasing their productivity.
That’s why doing policy on vibes doesn’t work.
1
Harrison885 hr ago
+1
Totally agree that we need a Government with some balls. Look at the policies they’ve had to reverse due to push back.
Your second point isn’t quite true though. The top 10% of earnings pay 60% of income tax. They matter more than you think. That’s ignoring the fact it restricts people’s cash that they can spend too. Each year it gets less and less because the bands haven’t changed with inflation too.
1
quick_justice3 hr ago
+1
The policy would address a relatively narrow band of 100k-150k salaried workers. I didn't make calculations and a bit lazy for that, but I doubt it will affect macro figures.
1
_PM_ME_PANGOLINS_3 hr ago
+1
Do you think that going into the next tax bracket means your net income goes down?
1
Hal_Fenn17 hr ago
+5
Yeah there's clearly a complete and utter lack of ideas within the established political parties and unfortunately the vultures on the right and left have swooped in to fill the void.
But I think what infuriates me the most is people at the top completely ignoring facts. We saw productivity go up over COVID (within office environments) because of work from home and yet a huge amount of people have already been forced back to an office and it looks like more are going to have to follow. We have study after study that shows that that things like 4 days weeks actually increase productivity and yet nothing, not a whisper, it's maddening.
5
Lokon1913 hr ago
+3
This is not just a UK thing. This is a EU-wide issue. And clearly whatever Starmer is doing is not working. The biggest issue is that the EU is just not competitive against other major economies and they aren't doing themselves any favors to get out of that position.
3
Konker10119 hr ago
+7
Close up tax loopholes, Raise wages, tax the large mulitmillionaires.
7
Emergency-Assist-42117 hr ago
-7
There are very few tax loopholes. The min wage is amongst the highest in the world and the highest earners are already taxed to the hilt.
-7
the_gnarts7 hr ago
+2
> the highest earners are already taxed to the hilt.
They didn’t suggest taxing high earners more, but ultra rich people.
High income does not imply high wealth.
2
inspired_apathy3 hr ago
+1
High earners have to eat the tax because they can't just pack up and run. Ultra rich people have many options. They can move to anywhere with low taxes and take their money with them.
The US and EU can actually get away with taxing the ultra rich because most of them still need access to these huge markets to maintain their wealth.
The UK alone has very little leverage. Your billionaires can simply move to Singapore or other havens and ditch you completely.
1
funtimes-forall15 hr ago
+1
And yet, there's still no real conversation that Brexit might not have been such a great idea. I don't know what the answer is but the Tories have had their chance and if you like Trump, you'll love Farage.
1
Ket_Yoda_6918 hr ago
+1
They also left the EU like a bunch of nonces
1
imaginary_num6er17 hr ago
+1
Still better than Japan though.
1
umami-boot18 hr ago
-1
So you’re saying the UK is kinda poopy
-1
IndividualSkill343218 hr ago
+8
You will see those problems repeated to one degree or another across most of the top economies in the world other than the US, which had the huge tech sector and the massive surge in its stock markets plus very strong dollar to help partially alliviate some of the issue. But the US has had very good productivity growth as well. But its housing and debt problems are going nowhere fast and will likely catch up with it some day.
8
Terrible-Group-960219 hr ago
-14
You wrote SO much when you could have just said that Keir Starmer is a bad leader.
-14
AdSevere127418 hr ago
-14
If UK freezes immigration, it will benefit in two ways.. It will improve the labor participation and reduce the unemployment costs.. and GDP will go up because salaries increase.
-14
admuh17 hr ago
+13
So immigration has decreased 88% from its peak in 2023; where is this magical growth?
13
AdSevere127417 hr ago
-7
The unemployed from the era of massive importation of labor are still jobless. Just freeze the labor importation.
-7
JoeSicko18 hr ago
+16
Magic thinking indeed
16
AdSevere127418 hr ago
-12
It would work like magic but they won't do it.. It will release the unemployables to the marker and they would pay taxes rather than collecting cash.. The GDP will go up too. The right wing would not give up on immigration that discounts the labor costs. They are in fact pro c**** labor under the cover. You need to add 5% more employed people.
-12
wartopuk17 hr ago
+3
so when a company needs a specialized worker or one with experience and the country can't provide it, where does that come from?
Immigration isn't all care workers.
3
AdSevere127417 hr ago
+1
UK produces specialized labor.. lotsa good universities.
C**** labor though is what is mostly imported. The immigrants are probably better workers at lower cost but there is an inherent cost to the infrastructure given that there is inhouse labor that remains lacking experience or can't find jobs because their skills has gotten dated or whatever. When the employers have access to stream of newcomers with experience which require no training, they just bypass the untrained labor and the unemployed will pile up and become part of the unemployables in due time.
1
wartopuk17 hr ago
+1
They might, but not in all sectors. THere are lots of higher end specialized immigrants here as well. They're not here just for fun, because they are more expensive to bring in than locals.
1
AdSevere127416 hr ago
+1
What is it that can not be specialized in UK?
1
wartopuk16 hr ago
+1
Just experience with certain technologies, sectors,etc, especially in leadership positions. My company spent 1.5 years looking for someone in the UK, used various headhunting agencies, etc. and came up completely blank and had to bring me in from abroad. Not all immigrants are the same.
1
AdSevere127416 hr ago
+1
You can't train a CEO.. Do you think that Americans have special breeding program? You have to take a chance and hire someone who is good is learning new stuff. Is it the famous Ai field by the way?
1
BestFriendWatermelon14 hr ago
+1
You know immigrant workers have to get minimum wage as well right? The thing stopping the "unemployables" getting jobs as care workers on the same terms as immigrants is that they need to pass a criminal background check and be able to look and act like someone you'd let look after your mum.
1
AdSevere127412 hr ago
+2
New blood keeps it at minimum wage.. experienced labor on minimum wage that is. And probably they have better work ethics than local population too. Faster, better and cheaper till Ai do them apart.. Who said they are criminals, not me. It is actually about them being better because there is a filter before even get there most of the time. Local population can not become better than the average of filtered and imported labor specially when they have no experience and competing experienced labor at low cost.
2
Typingdude320 hr ago
+614
And the left continues to eat itself over the slightest offenses. The right marches on and soon there will be a reform government in the UK. Brace for it. Trump with a British accent.
614
BringbackDreamBars20 hr ago
+180
>The right marches on and soon there will be a reform government in the UK. Brace for it. Trump with a British accent.
I think the same pattern is going to happen as well, where a loud, witty, social media friendly personality wins over an opposition who isn't, regardless of the policy.
A lot of people don't care much about policy anymore, just these clippable moments where the so called "peoples man owns the woke, out of touch lefties/wokies"
180
sleepytoday19 hr ago
+65
I genuinely don’t understand how people see Trump as a “witty, social media friendly personality”. I know many people must do because I keep hearing him described as charismatic, but when I look at his tweets and his interviews, I don’t see any of that.
Same goes for Farage. He just feels slimy and awkward - not at all a “man of the people”.
65
blueskies848419 hr ago
+29
Every time Trump talks I cringe. I literally can’t listen to his voice anymore. I don’t get it either. There are witty charismatic people who are on the hard right. He and Farage aren’t it. Or at least I can’t see it.
29
Nikiaf18 hr ago
+4
I've heard Donald described during his first term as "the tweeting president", as if his alleged knowledge of social media was unprecedented and super effective. They didn't really discuss the unhinged 2am toilet posts where he insulted other world leaders or made sweeping policy announcements in what amounts to an illegal medium to do so.
4
Anteater_Pete19 hr ago
+30
Okay, okay, just hear me out. Jeremy Clarkson as Prime Minister.
30
Nikiaf18 hr ago
+28
This one is dangerous, because he's going to be extremely well-liked among the people most likely to actually vote in a general election. He might also pull a good bit of younger voters just due to name recognition. Now while I don't think he'd be the worst PM imaginable, he'd definitely be firmly to the right of centre.
28
arise_chicken17 hr ago
+17
Hear me out... ^little ^^alex ^^^horne
17
theLeverus17 hr ago
+6
That guys a nazi gay immigrant loving immigrant gay nazi according to Greg
6
_PM_ME_PANGOLINS_3 hr ago
+1
He just thinks women should know their place, that’s all.
1
monkeybawz18 hr ago
+1
He addressed that about 15 years ago and gave it a hard pass.
1
quick_justice5 hr ago
+1
It's nothing new. The strategy was known in ancient Rome. In late days of the Republic, if wanted to do something by bypassing senate, you went to *people* and made a speech, full of promising pie in the sky, if only your policy would be put in place. Then, people went to Senate and demanded. Worked well, contributed to the fall of Republic, too.
1
gcko20 hr ago
+32
I thought Trump with the British accent was Boris Johnson. He even had the hair on point.
32
Turbo_Baggins19 hr ago
+43
The main difference is Bozza has always been a card carrying establishment guy, think of him more as Dubya but with a large helping of populism on the side
43
abfgern_11 hr ago
+6
Boris was rubbish but was completely different to Trump. Those comparisons were infuriating, because it shows how little people actually pay attention to the people they do/dont vote for
6
gcko3 hr ago
+1
I’m not from the UK so couldn’t even name one of his policies except for brexit tbh. I couldn’t help but notice that both him and Trump seem to have the same policies when it came to hair grooming though.
The first time I saw him, before I even knew who he was, I honestly thought it was someone doing some sort of British caricature of Trump for a satire bit. Until I unmuted and realized this was real life. I admit I don’t pay much attention to UK politics, but my very first thought when he was elected was “wow they went with British trump”. 😅
1
acidus119 hr ago
+58
This isn't just a minor squabble about policy or infighting. Starmer has lead Labour into the worse local election results ever.
450 seats in London gone, over 1400 across England. They are now 3rd place. Similar in Wales what should be a Labour heartland, they lost the Snedd and the Labour first minister, they aren't the opposite in Wales, they are now 3rd. Same in Scotland, Labour has been wiped out.
He has to go. He can't win the General election with this record. It's like backing a dead horse in a race.
58
lollysticky19 hr ago
+46
and which labour front-bencher (of outsider) is going to do better? Remember, the tories did the exact same scenario after David Cameron, leading to the cascade of May, Boris and Truss. Didn't exactly get better :/
46
Xercies_jday18 hr ago
+22
Actually in terms of votes for the Conservatives it did, because they were in power all that time
22
lollysticky16 hr ago
+1
Granted, the won the election. But that was the start of even more issues 😁
1
abfgern_11 hr ago
-2
That's only because Labour had a handicap in that time who's name was Jeremy
-2
Xercies_jday9 hr ago
+6
Corbyn got more votes than Keir. They just weren't as distributed around the country
6
LikePissInTheRain20 hr ago
+20
Labour hasn't been left leaning for a long time now (if you don't count Corbyn's brief stint in charge)
20
IndividualSkill343220 hr ago
+53
Labour is the centre left of UK politics. It favours more state spending on welfare, greater market regulation and more legislation of social issues.
The Conservatives are the centre right, the Lib Dems the centre, Reform the far right and the Greens the far left.
That you wish to place the large majority of the UK population o the right then declare the centre left party not left, is about you, not the political landscape of the modern UK.
53
Potato27118 hr ago
+23
The lib dems are currently to the left of Labour I’d argue, and consistently have been since Clegg’s departure outside of Corbyn’s stint.
23
IndividualSkill343218 hr ago
+2
>The lib dems are currently to the left of Labour I’d argue, and consistently have been since Clegg’s departure outside of Corbyn’s stint.
So if you d******* the coalition and then Corbyn, so the entirety of the 2010s you are saying they are to the left of Starmers Labour?
The LDs see themselves as a centreist party, the public see them as centrits, their composition is the old Liberal party and its economic polices, plus the old Social Democratic Party and its more centre left tendencies.
It is generally free market and liberal on social issues. People conflate the more socially conservative nature of much of the working class and Labour having to reflect that in parts with the middle class' more liberal social issues with being "left".
2
Xsiah15 hr ago
+4
That's one of the arguments that drives the self-eating.
People decide that they don't want the most left leaning party because they're not left _enough_ and by abstaining on principle they let in fascists instead.
4
Gaesatae_14 hr ago
+15
Starmer is the one who chucked out a whole bunch of left wingers, changed internal election rules to freeze them out of positions of power and then said ["If you don't like the changes that we've made, I say the door is open, and you can leave"](https://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-politics-64649299)
It's not like people abandoned the party over nothing, Labour basically told them that they're not wanted and should f*** off. This is the result.
15
Ichigo1uk8 hr ago
+2
Y'kno sometimes I also forget Corbyn lost two elections.
2
Hipple19 hr ago
+6
I am a bit out of the loop. What would you say is the measuring stick for whether a party is “left leaning”? Seems like it varies a lot over time and across countries?
6
tonytroz13 hr ago
+2
Definitely varies by country but in general all of Europe’s political parties are already shifted to the left compared to the US. But that varies a lot depending on if you’re talking about economic or social issues.
2
This_Charmless_Man5 hr ago
+1
Except for the recent massive improvement of worker's and renter's rights.
1
muface19 hr ago
+6
Farage and "reform"/ukip absolutely fucked the UK with brexit, why not let them come back and finish the job for good?
6
lollysticky19 hr ago
+5
they claim that brexit wasn't implemented 'fully' and that lead to the disaster/collapse. They will obviously fix it in a second go!
5
ShermansFieldOrder6620 hr ago
+5
Marching right into boots on the ground.
What a stupid island.
5
Massive-Anywhere849720 hr ago
+5
And the markets crash. Liz truss revisited
5
Far_Review429219 hr ago
+5
Streeting is Labours answer to Liz Truss.
As a lifelong swing voter, I would vote for Starmer, not for Streeting.
5
BestFriendWatermelon15 hr ago
+2
Worse still, the left eating itself at the instruction of right wing media.
2
calibosco19 hr ago
And unlike the US, Britain isn’t the world’s biggest military power or the global currency. They’ll try to use the trump playbook and quickly realise that they have no cards to play. No one is going to take the UK seriously anymore.
If the democratics get in in November, you can imagine other nations being willing to say “all is forgiven” out of sheer desperation / nostalgia for the old secure world under the US umbrella.
The Uk will get no such third chance.
0
jack562419 hr ago
-4
Tbf, as much as I dislike Farage and Trump. Trump is way worse than Farage.
-4
ruledbyoligarchs19 hr ago
-1
Our oligarchs rule us with division and distraction
-1
Spooknik20 hr ago
-8
> Trump with a British accent.
First time I ever said this but thank god for Brexit.
-8
True-Host-747519 hr ago
+53
The writers for the UK Politics reality show are really getting lazy reusing the 'mass cabinet resignation' plotline again.
53
lastSKPirate7 hr ago
+2
Saw this one on the Canadian version of the show last year, too.
2
Southwestern20 hr ago
+142
Switching horses every 6 months seems f****** stupid. Brits need to give someone a couple of years to do something.
142
I_R0M_I18 hr ago
+31
Not saying the sentiment is wrong. But hes been Prime Minister for 22 months, so hardly far off.
31
Skullrogue20 hr ago
+120
So many tories who were given a million chances and fucked the nation over, in much, much worse situations. Starmer should ignore all this nonsense and persevere.
120
BonerPorn20 hr ago
+125
This is what baffles me as an outsider. It seemed like the conservatives got endless chances, despite doing nothing but making everything worse.
Now labor can't fix it fast enough and they are gonna put the right wing in charge again? This sounds exactly like the US's problem.
125
IamRick_Deckard19 hr ago
+29
Maybe, but from afar Starmer keeps up crazy immigration policies and seems to stand for nothing, so it seems like such a self-own. He, and the party, could have a vision they tell people about, and enact that vision. But it's just more austerity and one-in one-out policies. Like, even from a realpolitik perspective, they won, so do something to be popular. Nope, just austerity and racism. It's so so weird.
29
Baynonymous19 hr ago
+21
The government are doing lots of good things compared to what we had before, but they get drowned out either by world events or media that focuses on the negatives. Even the left wing media love to take digs because the government aren't left wing enough.
21
IamRick_Deckard19 hr ago
-2
Great; tell me more.
-2
Richmondez19 hr ago
+12
Racism is actually en vogue in the UK right now.
12
IamRick_Deckard19 hr ago
-2
I don't think being more racist than Reform is going to be a winning policy for Labour. Same about being just a bit less racist. Offer a vision for the UK, Labour, instead of rehashing old Brexit arguments.
-2
WhereTheSpiesAt17 hr ago
+3
Considering that's not what is happening, you have to wonder as someone from afar how you've managed to spread all these comments and yet factually be so far away from the truth?
Edit: Downvote all you want, if you think Labour is pursuing being more racist than Reform you're spreading outright propaganda and misinformation or completely and utterly stupid.
3
WhereTheSpiesAt17 hr ago
+2
Clearly this is an opinion from afar, because it's loosely attached to reality.
>But it's just more austerity and one-in one-out policies. Like, even from a realpolitik perspective, they won, so do something to be popular. Nope, just austerity and racism. It's so so weird.
Record investment in public services, public sector pay increases, the largest increase in day to day spending on the NHS, completely reworked how devolution works in England granting more control to local authorities and they've raised taxes as a percentage of GDP to the highest levels since WW2.
They've already began massive nationalisation of public infrastructure, contracts are no longer renewed on privatised train companies as they are taken into public ownership, the Government is nationalising British Steel.
All in all, from afar if you think they've pushed for austerity then it's because you either don't know what austerity is or as someone from afar you've simply decided to spread an uninformed opinion.
2
Jerri_man9 hr ago
-1
Because the right own the media, or rather those that own the media have a vested interest in either distraction or outright sabotage of the average person for their own financial benefit, which the right provides.
Labour need to broadcast every Tory and Reform failing, every day. They need to attack them constantly, because that's clearly what works.
-1
vario15 hr ago
+1
He's trying to do exactly that.
It's only 80 MPs, out of 300. So about 20% if his party have a no-confidence vote. But the problem is that there's no challenger, other than Andy Burnham.
1
shadereckless18 hr ago
+10
Got rid of Jess Philips, result
10
SillyGoatGruff20 hr ago
+31
So, we'll see reports that this was all backed by various right wing orgs in what? 6 months, a year?
31
Turbo_Baggins19 hr ago
+33
The attempted take over is from the left wing of Labour (with the PM being more centrist), but you're right that the daily attacks in the media are very much backed by the same dodgy groups in the US
33
CadianGuardsman13 hr ago
+7
The crime Starmer commited is he ran for leader as a DemSoc and former leader of the Reformist Socialist thinktank and then pivoted (or was percieved to have pivoted) hard into Blairism with leftist concessions. Something many in the party see as a mistake at a time where more radical reform is called on.
Kier probably is doing it to try and retain the protest votes Labour gained in 2024 but its sort of a pipe dream and Labour is in real risk of being wedged by the Greens and Reform because of the leadership teams inability to communicate with the public OR achieve the radical reforms their base wants them to achieve in a timely matter. Something the other two parties are happy to lean into.
7
Chengar_Qordath11 hr ago
+6
Pretty much the problem. Trying to win back Reform voters by running to the right is a losing proposition because Reform voters won’t vote for Diet Reform when they can just vote for Reform. Meanwhile the left wing of Labour wants to vote for actual leftist parties instead of Blairists who are trying to lightly pander to bigots.
6
Virtual_Medium_672120 hr ago
+17
Not a surprise considering how quickly the Labour Party is dropping in popularity
17
Ovaryunderpass19 hr ago
+3
I’m not from the UK but as I understand it, they had some local elections recently and it didn’t go well for labour. It seems like when local UK elections are making the news in other countries, it’s because there has been a significant development of some sort
3
Counterpoint-420 hr ago
+17
Sabotaging their own government and therefore their own futures.
17
navyblusheet13 hr ago
+7
Why exactly? What did he do wrong?
7
heyhey92212 hr ago
+19
He's basically had garbage political judgement since day 1. He basically told voters as soon as the adults were in change and we had grown up governance, the issues they country faced would fix themselves without any major changes as fundamentally their country isn't broken.
Since getting in he's gone from uturn after uturn, scandals and showing absolutely not contrition. No ability to feel the mood of them country that is clearly feeling the same cost of living which he offers no real solutions for.
19
Counterpoint-420 hr ago
+3
How much are these people costing the UK in extra interest charges because of the uncertainty? So long as each can be perfectly principled blow everyone else. How dare they get their MPs pay whilst being such traitors to Britain.
3
CanIhazCooKIenOw15 hr ago
+2
Probably the 4 you would least recognize that were even part of this government.
Lets see who are the replacements.
2
Content_Big848418 hr ago
+2
This is so damn stupid.
2
FarAd28576 hr ago
+1
Every new leader is learning the same thing; global inflation fucked everything, so you gotta either stimulate your economy in a massive way ie: massive infrastructure projects, military buildup, or demand corporations pay higher taxes and set reasonable prices/wages. The latter seems quite difficult
1
Takis1219 hr ago
+1
I thought BREXIT was gonna fix everything….
1
mpsteidle16 hr ago
+1
Question from an American. Does Left/Right mean the same thing in the UK as it does here?
1
HowYouMineFish7 hr ago
+3
Yes, but our Right is generally more analogous to your Left.
3
zizou005 hr ago
+3
Functionally yes, but what we consider right, you probably consider more centre. The centre here in the UK would be considered your left. Think of our entire political spectrum as a scale shifted over left from yours. Though our far right is copying straight out of your Trump-aligned Republican playbook, which is pretty alarming.
3
ukreader16 hr ago
+4
Yes. Labour is centre left, conservatives are centre right.
4
homealoneinuk18 hr ago
-1
Good, let the rats leave.
-1
Blunt_Hadder14 hr ago
-7
Why doesn’t he just resign and run for prime ministers position in Israel, since his wife’s family members serves in the IDF and he is eligible to for Israeli citizenship?
140 Comments