Search results

Very good points, but I said printing money is inflationary, not deficit spending.

QE has suppressed interest rates and if there was a time to commit to large public spending commitments, it was then. Alas, interest rates are around 5-6% and because asset prices have ballooned (partly because of QE), historically normal interest rates cause people issues. At some point...

The net benefit is about £3.3bn - you’re not getting much with that. Again, that’s without spending the money on the infrastructure to keep up with levels. What does that look like then? There’s a reason GDP per capita is going down steadily since net migration has picked up.

No, but printing money is. The costs of servicing public sector debt is already £40-odd billion so good luck with bold public spending plans.

It’s all well and good saying that… How do you fund the spending required? There’s a housing deficit of 4.3m and then apply that to roads, hospitals, schools and so on. There already exists a significant deficit and finding it by printing money is inflationary and that drives interest rate...

Realignment of the major parties. The best example is UKIP, they promised to leave the EU, the tories respond by offering a referendum. Leave wins and UKIP achieve their political aims without ever winning more than 2 MPs. Besides, the IFS has come out and criticised both Labour and Tories...

Yep, doesn’t matter because they weren’t campaigning to be in government. The Lib Dems, Greens and Reform do not need plans for government…

If the Labour government disappoints people like you, it’s possible that the Greens could start cannibalising Labour’s vote share in a similar way to Reform in future elections. What was impressive about their performance last night was that they won in both Labour and Tory areas.

There you go… I laboured to listen to a few manifesto launches and Reform made an effort to talk more on the economy and tax. On the NHS, they had some creative policies too such as abolishing basic tax for nurses and GPs. Of course immigration was a main topic, as it is for the electorate as a...

If you have that breakdown, please do share. They got 15% of the national vote, that’s not indicative of a single issue party. That’s more than the Lib Dems! Did you vote Greens purely on their environmental/net zero policy alone? I know my friends who voted Greens didn’t. To draw a comparison...

Funnily enough, Farage’s big pitch was to turn the clock back to 1997 (tongue in cheek). Taxation, net migration and public services back to levels seen before Blair became PM. Immigration would be main appeal for ‘red wall’ areas and taxation a focus in attracting ‘blue wall’ support. Calling...

Personally, I have no qualms with that because Labour will be stable in government. Just as the Tories were in the sense that the government wasn’t in danger of being brought down. I’m just not a fan of the volatility and nature of coalition governments characteristic of the many European...

100% agree. However, given our electoral system, modest swings back in favour of other parties and there are some really vulnerable seats. Labour won a majority with the smallest % of vote share ever. Whilst last night was a massive achievement that was truly unthinkable in 2019, it is a...

Did you mean wouldn’t underestimate? In which case, I’d agree it’s foolish to underestimate him. He cuts through to voters who traditionally would be Labour voters with conservative ideas.

Well, GDP per capita has been steadily decreasing since the Blair years. Rents and house prices are up, NHS waiting times are up and schools overcrowded. There’s multiple factors, no doubt net immigration being high as it is plays a role here. It’s an issue that consistently is a top 3 concern...

Exactly - it’s about realignment of the right because they’re an insurgent party. They’ve just won 15% of the popular vote. Farage’s stated goal is to lead a hostile- takeover the tories.

Their goals were different to Labour and Conservative. These parties needed a plan for government. Parties like Reform and Greens, their goals are for realignment of the the right and left respectively. As a party, they had an interesting policy on the NHS. Things like lowering tax for front...

Lowering taxation - that was their main pitch to voters. If you think it’s just about immigration, you underestimate their threat. Reform ran Labour close on many northern seats so Starmer can’t rest easy thinking he’ll have 2 terms guaranteed.

Returning taxation net migration to the same levels as the Blair government is scarcely making yourself unelectable. Looking at the early results in Labour strongholds, they could easily lose a lot of seats to Reform if they don’t sort out migration. Especially if the Tories-Reform have some...

They are challenging very hard in Labour strongholds as well as Tory safe seats too. They could well be on the precipice of a major breakthrough in 2029 at the current rate.