Do you want to discuss boring politics? (12 Viewers)

Mucca Mad Boys · Jan 9, 2026

Brighton Sky Blue said:
I assume by ‘reform’ you mean sacking loads of people. Have the courage to at least say that.

If you’ve listened to anything Dominic Cummings has had to say, you’d understand the jist of the argument.

This something corroborated with Blair’s chief of staff and Starmer has agreed with the analysis so this is past partisan politics.

The same barriers the Tories and Labour have had or are currently facing will be there for a reformist government of a right or leftward tilt.

Since you brought up the subject of civil service headcount, it’s absolutely too high. To give one illustrative example, the MOD nearly has many civil servants than soldiers and more than the RAF and Royal Navy…

The Philosopher · Jan 9, 2026

Mucca Mad Boys said:
If you’ve listened to anything Dominic Cummings has had to say, you’d understand the jist of the argument

C’mon, no one on the left is going to listen to anything Cummings is going to say.

It’s a shame that those who see themselves on the left are so closed minded. I’ve taken time to listen to Corbyn, Galloway, Benn - I’ve even taken time to read Tony f’in Blair’s autobiography.

The bigotry of some leftists is really rather spectacular

Brighton Sky Blue · Jan 9, 2026

Mucca Mad Boys said:
If you’ve listened to anything Dominic Cummings has had to say, you’d understand the jist of the argument.

This something corroborated with Blair’s chief of staff and Starmer has agreed with the analysis so this is past partisan politics.

The same barriers the Tories and Labour have had or are currently facing will be there for a reformist government of a right or leftward tilt.

Since you brought up the subject of civil service headcount, it’s absolutely too high. To give one illustrative example, the MOD nearly has many civil servants than soldiers and more than the RAF and Royal Navy…

So let’s get to the point. How many people do you want to fire?

mmttww · Jan 9, 2026

The Philosopher said:
bigotry of sone leftists is really rather spectacular

Maybe they read what he has to say and listened to what he said and how he behaved while in government and decided he's a total spanner

Captain Dart · Jan 10, 2026

Brighton Sky Blue said:
So let’s get to the point. How many people do you want to fire?

How many unproductive bureaucrats can this country sustain?

Sky Blue Pete · Jan 10, 2026

Captain Dart said:
How many unproductive bureaucrats can this country sustain?

Hey that’s me

Brighton Sky Blue · Jan 10, 2026

Captain Dart said:
How many unproductive bureaucrats can this country sustain?

How many unproductive workers can the country overall sustain? Let’s fire all of them.

Captain Dart · Jan 10, 2026

The Philosopher said:
C’mon, no one on the left is going to listen to anything Cummings is going to say.

It’s a shame that those who see themselves on the left are so closed minded. I’ve taken time to listen to Corbyn, Galloway, Benn - I’ve even taken time to read Tony f’in Blair’s autobiography.

The bigotry of some leftists is really rather spectacular

I think this is relevant to your point.

Ccfcisparks · Jan 10, 2026

Captain Dart said:
I think this is relevant to your point.

Another inevitable west post has hit the forum

Captain Dart · Jan 10, 2026

Ccfcisparks said:
Another inevitable west post has hit the forum

I suggest you think about the message rather than disparage the messenger.

Sky_Blue_Dreamer · Jan 10, 2026

Captain Dart said:
I suggest you think about the message rather than disparage the messenger.

The message is rubbish. The fact the messenger is a complete wanker is just a bonus,

bukayosakamoto · Jan 12, 2026

Family member was rushed to hospital last week and I was genuinely surprised at how bad it’s got in nhs hospitals. Corridors lined with people. Quality of care was absolutely shocking. Very scary

Sky Blue Pete · Jan 12, 2026

bukayosakamoto said:
Family member was rushed to hospital last week and I was genuinely surprised at how bad it’s got in nhs hospitals. Corridors lined with people. Quality of care was absolutely shocking. Very scary

Where was it bukayo?

bukayosakamoto · Jan 12, 2026

Sky Blue Pete said:
Where was it bukayo?

It was Macclesfield hospital as I live up Manchester way near my mrs family. Her dad was rushed straight through but as soon as he started to feel slightly better he was moved to the corridor to make way for more people. When I left at 6am I saw the a&e wait time on the board was 14 hours. It's quite harrowing really

Sky Blue Pete · Jan 12, 2026

bukayosakamoto said:
It was Macclesfield hospital as I live up Manchester way near my mrs family. Her dad was rushed straight through but as soon as he started to feel slightly better he was moved to the corridor to make way for more people. When I left at 6am I saw the a&e wait time on the board was 14 hours. It's quite harrowing really

Yep mate works as a ward manager at George elliot in Nuneaton and as a first responder I don’t know how he has time but he’s brilliant and well motivated
The needs are just astronomical and showing no signs of reducing and despite the vast majority of people doing fabulous jobs there are inherent issues - adult social care, lack of professionals to apply for roles, primary care not being used by many in society,
Pharmacies not being trusted, experts not being trusted that mean things are not improving

Hope your father in law is better and continues to be well

The Philosopher · Jan 12, 2026

Let’s get this out of the way for the lefty types: “yOuR m0Rê liKeLY to TReaTeD by an ImMigrAnt” in our “sacred NHS”.

Anyway, it was my uncle Don who made the headlines both nationally and locally after he died in UHCW (Cov & Warwick) after being left on a trolley in a corridor for hours and hours. My cousin went in a crusade for answers (it was her dad) and it highlighted the sh*t show in general.

The NHS is a bloated ineffective inefficient bureaucratic mess and a needs totally rethinking along the French model. Socialised free medicine at source with some elements of private enterprise.

The problems are so severe that it’s now impacting on private healthcare.

(this’ll make the lefty hand wringers cough):

Early October I “pulled my arm” messing about with a static caravan and a JCB. Went to A&E, a few hours waiting for initial inspection: “you’ve sprained it”.

“Nope”, I replied. “I heard a noise and it’s agony”. Medic reluctantly sent me for XRAY. Several hours later a severely overweight technician asks why I’m at X-RAY, sighs and waddles off muttering that there’s no notes. An hour later 3am I decide to chip off - I figure since that I’ve got private medical
Insurance I can organise a scan pdq as I’ve always been able to.

Now here’s the rub. Such a mess that the NHS is that they are putting h huge pressure on the private hospitals. Normal taxpayers are paying whatever to go private because they feel they have no option and in many cases the NHS are sending patients down the private route. Could I get an appointment? Could I f-ck for several weeks and during this time I’m being passed from pillar to post by GP’s and consultatants. I simply needed a scan. 10 weeks it took. Prognosis was fully torn distal bicep tendon which needed to have been fixed a few days from incident. It wasn’t. Had to go fully private to get surgery since most surgeons were unwilling / unable. I’m almost embarrassed to say that most people don’t have the means that I have and would otherwise had a gimpy arm permanently.

That’s the NHS. A mess.

Now, in our post industrial decline we ought to really be going full gun on become an international healthcare destination. Quadruple our hospital and medical technology capacity. Encourage health tourism. Free care for British taxpayers, charge visitors by insisting on medical insurance at point of entry and charge the government of the nation of those who use our healthcare system in an emergency.

Think how we’ve become an international provider of education. Become an international provider of healthcare but at a profit to cover our NHS.

Rant over.

StrettoBoy · Jan 12, 2026

Sky Blue Pete said:
Yep mate works as a ward manager at George elliot in Nuneaton and as a first responder I don’t know how he has time but he’s brilliant and well motivated
The needs are just astronomical and showing no signs of reducing and despite the vast majority of people doing fabulous jobs there are inherent issues - adult social care, lack of professionals to apply for roles, primary care not being used by many in society,
Pharmacies not being trusted, experts not being trusted that mean things are not improving

Hope your father in law is better and continues to be well

I think you have hit several nails on the head there.

Our GP practice - which was brilliant when we moved here over 33 years ago - is now unspeakably awful. It is a huge practice with eight surgeries and not one doctor works full time. It's impossible to get an appointment and so a lot of patients go straight to A&E, even for apparently minor things, which seems to be condoned if not actively encouraged by our surgery.

You are right that adult social care needs to be sorted but neither the present government nor its Conservative predecessor seem to be capable of doing so.

SBT · Jan 12, 2026

Some good news for the anxious tourists on this forum

Met Police and Sadiq Khan hail lowest homicide rates since 2014

According to the latest data, there were 97 homicides in London in 2025, the lowest figure since 2014.

www.bbc.co.uk

bukayosakamoto · Jan 12, 2026

Sky Blue Pete said:
Hope your father in law is better and continues to be well

Thank you mate, I appreciate it

Sky Blue Pete · Jan 12, 2026

SBT said:
Some good news for the anxious tourists on this forum

Met Police and Sadiq Khan hail lowest homicide rates since 2014

According to the latest data, there were 97 homicides in London in 2025, the lowest figure since 2014.

www.bbc.co.uk

Was in London over the weekend
Lovely atmosphere
Hugely diverse and mostly very friendly just like Lille where we were heading
Was saying to wife if you live in a village with all white people you’d feel very uneasy which I think is a lot of the issue for Rupert and Nigel and Tommy

Grendel · Jan 12, 2026

Sky Blue Pete said:
Was in London over the weekend
Lovely atmosphere
Hugely diverse and mostly very friendly just like Lille where we were heading
Was saying to wife if you live in a village with all white people you’d feel very uneasy which I think is a lot of the issue for Rupert and Nigel and Tommy

Guess the knives are just blunter now and they don't kill you

London knife crime 2025| Statista

Knife crime in London has increased significantly in recent years, reaching a peak for police recorded offences in the 2024/25 reporting year.

www.statista.com

Sky Blue Pete · Jan 12, 2026

Grendel said:
Guess the knives are just blunter now and they don't kill you

London knife crime 2025| Statista

Knife crime in London has increased significantly in recent years, reaching a peak for police recorded offences in the 2024/25 reporting year.

www.statista.com

Knife crime is just awful an of course this is the reported stuff
45 a day
Imagine if guns were as prevalent here?
Doesn’t negate my experience over the last couple of days

Captain Dart · Jan 12, 2026

SBT said:
Some good news for the anxious tourists on this forum

Met Police and Sadiq Khan hail lowest homicide rates since 2014

According to the latest data, there were 97 homicides in London in 2025, the lowest figure since 2014.

www.bbc.co.uk

A minor variation to recent years, not indicative of a consistent trend downwards although the peak was 220 in 2003 and London has added nearly 2m population since then, crazy. It seems to go up & down a bit over any 10 year period.

Grendel · Jan 12, 2026

The Philosopher said:
Let’s get this out of the way for the lefty types: “yOuR m0Rê liKeLY to TReaTeD by an ImMigrAnt” in our “sacred NHS”.

Anyway, it was my uncle Don who made the headlines both nationally and locally after he died in UHCW (Cov & Warwick) after being left on a trolley in a corridor for hours and hours. My cousin went in a crusade for answers (it was her dad) and it highlighted the sh*t show in general.

The NHS is a bloated ineffective inefficient bureaucratic mess and a needs totally rethinking along the French model. Socialised free medicine at source with some elements of private enterprise.

The problems are so severe that it’s now impacting on private healthcare.

(this’ll make the lefty hand wringers cough):

Early October I “pulled my arm” messing about with a static caravan and a JCB. Went to A&E, a few hours waiting for initial inspection: “you’ve sprained it”.

“Nope”, I replied. “I heard a noise and it’s agony”. Medic reluctantly sent me for XRAY. Several hours later a severely overweight technician asks why I’m at X-RAY, sighs and waddles off muttering that there’s no notes. An hour later 3am I decide to chip off - I figure since that I’ve got private medical
Insurance I can organise a scan pdq as I’ve always been able to.

Now here’s the rub. Such a mess that the NHS is that they are putting h huge pressure on the private hospitals. Normal taxpayers are paying whatever to go private because they feel they have no option and in many cases the NHS are sending patients down the private route. Could I get an appointment? Could I f-ck for several weeks and during this time I’m being passed from pillar to post by GP’s and consultatants. I simply needed a scan. 10 weeks it took. Prognosis was fully torn distal bicep tendon which needed to have been fixed a few days from incident. It wasn’t. Had to go fully private to get surgery since most surgeons were unwilling / unable. I’m almost embarrassed to say that most people don’t have the means that I have and would otherwise had a gimpy arm permanently.

That’s the NHS. A mess.

Now, in our post industrial decline we ought to really be going full gun on become an international healthcare destination. Quadruple our hospital and medical technology capacity. Encourage health tourism. Free care for British taxpayers, charge visitors by insisting on medical insurance at point of entry and charge the government of the nation of those who use our healthcare system in an emergency.

Think how we’ve become an international provider of education. Become an international provider of healthcare but at a profit to cover our NHS.

Rant over.

I must admit my recent experiences of the NHS - which is the first real experiences I have had - have shown an incredible waste and inefficient culture.

SBT · Jan 12, 2026

Grendel said:
Guess the knives are just blunter now and they don't kill you

Captain Dart said:
A minor variation to recent years, not indicative of a consistent trend downwards although the peak was 220 in 2003 and London has added nearly 2m population since then, crazy. It seems to go up & down a bit over any 10 year period.

Why the rush to equivocate on what seems like an objectively good news story?

Sky_Blue_Dreamer · Jan 12, 2026

The Philosopher said:
Let’s get this out of the way for the lefty types: “yOuR m0Rê liKeLY to TReaTeD by an ImMigrAnt” in our “sacred NHS”.

Anyway, it was my uncle Don who made the headlines both nationally and locally after he died in UHCW (Cov & Warwick) after being left on a trolley in a corridor for hours and hours. My cousin went in a crusade for answers (it was her dad) and it highlighted the sh*t show in general.

The NHS is a bloated ineffective inefficient bureaucratic mess and a needs totally rethinking along the French model. Socialised free medicine at source with some elements of private enterprise.

The problems are so severe that it’s now impacting on private healthcare.

(this’ll make the lefty hand wringers cough):

Early October I “pulled my arm” messing about with a static caravan and a JCB. Went to A&E, a few hours waiting for initial inspection: “you’ve sprained it”.

“Nope”, I replied. “I heard a noise and it’s agony”. Medic reluctantly sent me for XRAY. Several hours later a severely overweight technician asks why I’m at X-RAY, sighs and waddles off muttering that there’s no notes. An hour later 3am I decide to chip off - I figure since that I’ve got private medical
Insurance I can organise a scan pdq as I’ve always been able to.

Now here’s the rub. Such a mess that the NHS is that they are putting h huge pressure on the private hospitals. Normal taxpayers are paying whatever to go private because they feel they have no option and in many cases the NHS are sending patients down the private route. Could I get an appointment? Could I f-ck for several weeks and during this time I’m being passed from pillar to post by GP’s and consultatants. I simply needed a scan. 10 weeks it took. Prognosis was fully torn distal bicep tendon which needed to have been fixed a few days from incident. It wasn’t. Had to go fully private to get surgery since most surgeons were unwilling / unable. I’m almost embarrassed to say that most people don’t have the means that I have and would otherwise had a gimpy arm permanently.

That’s the NHS. A mess.

Now, in our post industrial decline we ought to really be going full gun on become an international healthcare destination. Quadruple our hospital and medical technology capacity. Encourage health tourism. Free care for British taxpayers, charge visitors by insisting on medical insurance at point of entry and charge the government of the nation of those who use our healthcare system in an emergency.

Think how we’ve become an international provider of education. Become an international provider of healthcare but at a profit to cover our NHS.

Rant over.

So you're saying that the NHS is causing problems in private healthcare as more people are turning to it, so the answer is to increase the usage of private healthcare?

Fact that you've said private healthcare is getting worse when it doesn't have anything like the scale or scope of the NHS tells you that isn't the answer. What they like doing is making a nice profit on easy, cheap problems. Anything long term or complicated they're not interested because there's no money there. Make private healthcare cover everything the NHS does and what you end up with is a lot of people not getting treated at all.

Grendel · Jan 12, 2026

SBT said:
Why the rush to equivocate on what seems like an objectively good news story?

Its tiny numbers in reality and clearly a statement made for political worth. You rushed to share it!

Earlsdon_Skyblue1 · Jan 12, 2026

Grendel said:
Guess the knives are just blunter now and they don't kill you

London knife crime 2025| Statista

Knife crime in London has increased significantly in recent years, reaching a peak for police recorded offences in the 2024/25 reporting year.

www.statista.com

I mean, it seems hilarious to some but you really notice the difference in general safety across countries and cities the more you travel and have a comparative sample to measure against.

Isolated statistics like this and whether the knives are blunt or sharp should really be left to those that don't leave their houses.

SBT · Jan 12, 2026

Grendel said:
Its tiny numbers in reality and clearly a statement made for political worth. You rushed to share it!

Rushed

SBT · Jan 12, 2026

Earlsdon_Skyblue1 said:
I mean, it seems hilarious to some but you really notice the difference in general safety across countries and cities the more you travel and have a comparative sample to measure against.

Isolated statistics like this and whether the knives are blunt or sharp should really be left to those that don't leave their houses.

We bow to your anecdotal evidence touring the red light districts of Europe

The Philosopher · Jan 12, 2026

Sky_Blue_Dreamer said:
So you're saying that the NHS is causing problems in private healthcare as more people are turning to it, so the answer is to increase the usage of private healthcare?

Fact that you've said private healthcare is getting worse when it doesn't have anything like the scale or scope of the NHS tells you that isn't the answer. What they like doing is making a nice profit on easy, cheap problems. Anything long term or complicated they're not interested because there's no money there. Make private healthcare cover everything the NHS does and what you end up with is a lot of people not getting treated at all.

Try reading it again.

chiefdave · Jan 12, 2026

The Philosopher said:
Try reading it again.

I'm clearly missing something as I've read it several times and had the same query.

You say the NHS is a bloated, ineffective, inefficient, bureaucratic mess and the answer is to increase the use of private health provision before going on to say you did exactly this and couldn't get a private appointment.

So how will pushing more people to private health do anything to resolve the issue of private healthcare being oversubscribed?

Captain Dart · Jan 12, 2026

chiefdave said:
I'm clearly missing something as I've read it several times and had the same query.

You say the NHS is a bloated, ineffective, inefficient, bureaucratic mess and the answer is to increase the use of private health provision before going on to say you did exactly this and couldn't get a private appointment.

So how will pushing more people to private health do anything to resolve the issue of private healthcare being oversubscribed?

I understood what he meant.

Ccfcisparks · Jan 12, 2026

SBT said:
We bow to your anecdotal evidence touring the red light districts of Europe

You haven’t fully experienced a country if you haven’t been balls deep in a foreign tart

chiefdave · Jan 12, 2026

Sky Blue Pete said:
The needs are just astronomical and showing no signs of reducing and despite the vast majority of people doing fabulous jobs there are inherent issues - adult social care, lack of professionals to apply for roles, primary care not being used by many in society, pharmacies not being trusted, experts not being trusted that mean things are not improving

StrettoBoy said:
Our GP practice - which was brilliant when we moved here over 33 years ago - is now unspeakably awful. It is a huge practice with eight surgeries and not one doctor works full time. It's impossible to get an appointment and so a lot of patients go straight to A&E, even for apparently minor things, which seems to be condoned if not actively encouraged by our surgery.

You are right that adult social care needs to be sorted but neither the present government nor its Conservative predecessor seem to be capable of doing so.

A&E won't be fixed until someone solves the issue of people who don't need to be at A&E turning up. If you phone my surgery when the appointments for the day are gone you get an answerphone message saying to either call 111, who are pretty quick to tell you to go to A&E to cover themselves, or just to go directly to A&E.

Then add in the number or people with mental health issues, addiction issues or even suffering homelessness who turn up at A&E as a last resort and you can see why there's a problem.

We have got to sort the GP service out to get anywhere. IMO it needs to be 7 days a week and more than 9-5. I'd also look to encourage more large pharmacies and health centres that can deal with common conditions on a walk in basis without the need to wait hours.

The problem is that everything is privatised in one way or another and they're only really interested in low effort, large return parts of the system.

There's another problem with how you get bounced around from person to person with no continuity of care. Back in the day my family doctor treated me, my parents and my grandparents. He knew me by sight and had a grasp of family history. Now I rarely see the same GP twice and they often seem to have little grasp on history. You can turn up for a follow up appointment the surgery has requested and they still have little clue why you're there! The number of wasted GP and hospital appointments I've had is ridiculous, wouldn't have happened if I regularly saw the same GP.

Do you want to discuss boring politics? (12 Viewers)

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