Westminster Politics 2024-2029

Dobba said:
Basically Starmer is everything we said he'll be but it's our fault for pointing it out too early.
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A tale as old as time

Step 1 - Starmer leadership campaign is funded and staffed by right wingers.

Labour voter - This is conspiracy nonsense. Look at the pledges.

Step 2 - Starmer has dropped all his pledges after winning the labour leadership.

Labour voter - He has only dropped the pledges to win over the right wing press and to not scare voters so labour can win power and then pivot.

Step 3 - The labour government isn’t doing any left policy.

Labour voter - Left wing policies aren’t possible and in fact austerity is needed to fix the country.
 
Dobba said:
Basically Starmer is everything we said he'll be but it's our fault for pointing it out too early.
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Starmer could be a competent placeholder to steady the country after the last lot but he's surrounded himself with idiots who look determined to drag him down.
 
11101 said:
Starmer could be a competent placeholder to steady the country after the last lot but he's surrounded himself with idiots who look determined to drag him down.
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He hand selected every person on his front bench. He chucked the previous leader out the party, everyone there now is because he wants them there. He also hand selected a fair proportion of the new MPs too.

This is his vision, you can't blame anyone else.
 
Vernon Philander said:
why are pre Covid promises being resurrected as a Gotcha moment. The landscape has changed materially. You’re merely doing the gutter right wing press’ job for them
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Starmer was talking about waspi women in 2022, saying they must be compensated.

I don;t know what reality you are working in, but in this one, that is post covid.
 
I struggle with the WASPI women thing. I know when we talked about equalising pension ages and rights at Labour Party conferences in the 70s and 80s we thought that meant everyone retired at 60. Indeed the good workplace pension schemes used that.

A lot of things about pensions have changed since then. Some women are struggling because they only worked part-time or paid the "Married women's stamp". Some because they were part-time or full-time informal carers for long periods. Lots have incomplete NI years - because of home and family demands. There was an assumption that they could rely on the husband's pension, but that assumption often breaks down.

A lot more worked in low paid jobs, often in places that had no private pension scheme or where opt-outs were encouraged (or necessary depending on how far that low pay has to stretch). Again, the instability of some of those jobs often meant incomplete NI years as well as no private pension.

Does that affect the actual issue though? The pension age has gone up for everyone. I'm not sure how getting personal letters earlier (the Ombudsman report's main finding) would have changed that.

A lot of the WASPI generation find themselves becoming informal carers of both parents and grandchildren. Some remember their mums doing the same, "but she'd already retired." Nostalgia, guilt and money are a powerful blend - emotionally many of us want to retire at 60. It will always feel like a promise made in our 20s got broken in our 60s - we're only human.

I'm massively sympathetic to people who've done badly in their pension because they tried to do the right thing or even the default thing at the time.

Do I think giving out compensation for not notifying people individually, for stuff that was advertised and discussed for a long period on national news, makes sense - no. We don't notify everyone individually of every law change that might affect them.

Would it be a good use of government money - no. If we want to fix pensions for a generation of women - focus on NI contributions and minimum years and why in general women still have worse occupational pensions than men.

In general though, the best thing for most of us (young, old, WASPI) will be better spending on adult social care and NHS services.

Tldr - I wouldn't have minded getting free money personally, but nationally I want government to spend the money on the bigger issues.
 
TwoSheds said:
So Thames Water gets to put their bills up by £35 a year every year over the next five years so we can all pay off their monstrous fecking debts, well done Labour. That'll really get the economy moving. Nationalise the fecking company you idiots and do not pay out their thieving shareholders.
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Yup. Unfortunately, they don’t want to. They’re in the pockets of big business.
 
jojojo said:
I struggle with the WASPI women thing. I know when we talked about equalising pension ages and rights at Labour Party conferences in the 70s and 80s we thought that meant everyone retired at 60. Indeed the good workplace pension schemes used that.

A lot of things about pensions have changed since then. Some women are struggling because they only worked part-time or paid the "Married women's stamp". Some because they were part-time or full-time informal carers for long periods. Lots have incomplete NI years - because of home and family demands. There was an assumption that they could rely on the husband's pension, but that assumption often breaks down.

A lot more worked in low paid jobs, often in places that had no private pension scheme or where opt-outs were encouraged (or necessary depending on how far that low pay has to stretch). Again, the instability of some of those jobs often meant incomplete NI years as well as no private pension.

Does that affect the actual issue though? The pension age has gone up for everyone. I'm not sure how getting personal letters earlier (the Ombudsman report's main finding) would have changed that.

A lot of the WASPI generation find themselves becoming informal carers of both parents and grandchildren. Some remember their mums doing the same, "but she'd already retired." Nostalgia, guilt and money are a powerful blend - emotionally many of us want to retire at 60. It will always feel like a promise made in our 20s got broken in our 60s - we're only human.

I'm massively sympathetic to people who've done badly in their pension because they tried to do the right thing or even the default thing at the time.

Do I think giving out compensation for not notifying people individually, for stuff that was advertised and discussed for a long period on national news, makes sense - no. We don't notify everyone individually of every law change that might affect them.

Would it be a good use of government money - no. If we want to fix pensions for a generation of women - focus on NI contributions and minimum years and why in general women still have worse occupational pensions than men.

In general though, the best thing for most of us (young, old, WASPI) will be better spending on adult social care and NHS services.

Tldr - I wouldn't have minded getting free money personally, but nationally I want government to spend the money on the bigger issues.
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Despite my wife being in this age group, I too do not see why that group of women should be compensated because they say they were not better informed.
There are a number of changes to various government policies that directly affect people. But the government doesn't necessarily write to each of us who are affected.

And it is not that difficult to request your pension statement from DWP.
 
thisisnottaken1 said:
Yup. Unfortunately, they don’t want to. They’re in the pockets of big business.
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Or... the govt doesn't want to add another £18 billion to the public debt pile, wipe out a shareholder like the university lecturer pension scheme, and be on the hook for all the infrastructure investment that is going to be needed, at a time when the govt's investment pot is limited. There are reasons for this kind of decision that aren't rooted in cynicism.
 
nickm said:
Or... the govt doesn't want to add another £18 billion to the public debt pile, wipe out a shareholder like the university lecturer pension scheme, and be on the hook for all the infrastructure investment that is going to be needed, at a time when the govt's investment pot is limited. There are reasons for this kind of decision that aren't rooted in cynicism.
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The USS scheme also should take some blame here. They were warned consistently by university staff and the unions not to invest in Thames Water, and the investors did so anyway, and then invested even more.

They have effectively helped tie the government's hands, much more so that the £18bn in my view, given the state of the HE sector.
 
This is only being pushed by the BBC and Daily Mail right now, so not sure how serious it actually is. She's another of starmers chosen quality candidates though. It is times like these the entire 'life is a simulation' thing seems more plausible than anything. Because if you wrote this as a screenplay, nobody at all would take you seriously.

 
Nogbadthebad said:
This is only being pushed by the BBC and Daily Mail right now, so not sure how serious it actually is. She's another of starmers chosen quality candidates though. It is times like these the entire 'life is a simulation' thing seems more plausible than anything. Because if you wrote this as a screenplay, nobody at all would take you seriously.

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Okay, let's be fair here. She was elected in 2015 in the same intake as Starmer. She was a Regent's Park councillor before (Camden Council is a sort of finishing school for prospective Labour MPs) and therefore it was Miliband's Labour Party apparatus that selected her and prepared her to become an MP.

She is the niece of a former Bangladeshi PM and granddaughter of the first Bangldeshi President and as such had a very privileged upbringing, basically as part of one of the most important families in that country.

Also, if you look at her controversies (lifted from Wiki, forgive me), she has been involved in some 'questionable' politics related to Bangladesh for a while:

In November 2017, Siddiq apologised for offensive remarks towards a pregnant Channel 4 producer after she was asked about a perceived failure to challenge her aunt, Sheikh Hasina Wazed, the now deposed Prime Minister of Bangladesh who had been accused of widespread human rights abuses and authoritarian rule, about the imprisonment of a British-trained barrister in Bangladesh.[93] A year later Siddiq praised her aunt as a "great role model" for her daughter.[94]

In 2019, Siddiq, though she denied involvement in Bangladeshi politics, was accused of using supporters of the Awami League to campaign for her in Hampstead and Kilburn. [95] Footage emerged from a 2017 meeting with Awami League supporters in which she had said: “I want to thank you because without your support, I would not have been able to win my seat.”

In July 2024, it was announced that the Parliamentary standards watchdog was investigating Siddiq for failing to declare income from a rental property, for which she got clearance from the watchdog.[96][97]

In August 2024, it was revealed that Siddiq was living in a house owned by a businessman with close ties to the Awami League.[98] Two years previously she had come under scrutiny for living in a home of the tycoon, and Awami League minister, Salman Rahman. The property was owned by Rahman's son via an offshore company registered in the Isle of Man.

In December 2024, Bangladesh's Anti-Corruption Commission named Siddiq in a probe into a 2013 deal with Russia for a nuclear power station, in which it is claimed £1bn was embezzled.[99][100][101] Siddiq's current parliamentary brief includes regulating corruption in the financial sector.[99]

You can question Starmer's choice for her as a minister, but she was also Shadow Minister for Children and Early Years under Corbyn. I guess both have made an error here?

It just looks like someone enriching themselves on the back of who they are related to, and as a result someone who should not really be a Government Minister at all, and probably not an MP either to be honest.
 
nickm said:
The basic reason we are in this mess is because the economy is not growing and has not been growing. Taxes are going up because costs are increasing yet without the growth or the borrowing headroom to pay for it. It's not because we aren't taxing enough.

We have to start growing again, but labour are in a dangerous position where they need to tax more, because growth is low, but when they tax more they slow growth even more. And they can't borrow more because that means interest rates rise, slowing growth even more. I'm not sure how they will break out of this.
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The only way out is to tax more where there is disposable currency, i.e. people or companies benefitting from the current situation with excess profit.

You can't tax people until you spend and create the currency to tax, and then its pointless trying to claw that back from people who don't gain any benefit from it...so you have to go to the people who you've been allowing to fleece all of the benefit for the past 20 years, or who have been benefitting from covid, austerity, price hikes that go beyond covering tax increases, etc.

I don't see any other option tbh. Again I might be naive here but the whole system only works by looking out for the people at the bottom, because that's where the growth comes from.

A lot of government spending money during and since covid has disappeared straight into the pockets of a very small numbers of individuals, with little or no benefit to anyone else, and that is why the system is now not working.

Labour have been complicit in this by just twiddling their thumbs so I don't see what they are gaining by crying about it or playing hardball over money they owe people
 
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Sweet Square said:


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I'm sorry but now you're just nitpicking. Yes, he might be a lying, double speak, backtracking tosser that I wouldn’t even trust with a bag of my cat's shit, but what is the value of tracking his hair loss?

Oh, it says badly. My apologies. Carry on.
 
First Piers Morgan, then James Corden and now this. We are doing a great job at sabotaging the Special Relationship.
 
jojojo said:
I struggle with the WASPI women thing. I know when we talked about equalising pension ages and rights at Labour Party conferences in the 70s and 80s we thought that meant everyone retired at 60. Indeed the good workplace pension schemes used that.

A lot of things about pensions have changed since then. Some women are struggling because they only worked part-time or paid the "Married women's stamp". Some because they were part-time or full-time informal carers for long periods. Lots have incomplete NI years - because of home and family demands. There was an assumption that they could rely on the husband's pension, but that assumption often breaks down.

A lot more worked in low paid jobs, often in places that had no private pension scheme or where opt-outs were encouraged (or necessary depending on how far that low pay has to stretch). Again, the instability of some of those jobs often meant incomplete NI years as well as no private pension.

Does that affect the actual issue though? The pension age has gone up for everyone. I'm not sure how getting personal letters earlier (the Ombudsman report's main finding) would have changed that.

A lot of the WASPI generation find themselves becoming informal carers of both parents and grandchildren. Some remember their mums doing the same, "but she'd already retired." Nostalgia, guilt and money are a powerful blend - emotionally many of us want to retire at 60. It will always feel like a promise made in our 20s got broken in our 60s - we're only human.

I'm massively sympathetic to people who've done badly in their pension because they tried to do the right thing or even the default thing at the time.

Do I think giving out compensation for not notifying people individually, for stuff that was advertised and discussed for a long period on national news, makes sense - no. We don't notify everyone individually of every law change that might affect them.

Would it be a good use of government money - no. If we want to fix pensions for a generation of women - focus on NI contributions and minimum years and why in general women still have worse occupational pensions than men.

In general though, the best thing for most of us (young, old, WASPI) will be better spending on adult social care and NHS services.

Tldr - I wouldn't have minded getting free money personally, but nationally I want government to spend the money on the bigger issues.
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A good assessment. I'm half and half on the issue, and suspect there are better ways of targeting help to the most vulnerable of these women.

That said the sanctimonious posturing of the Labour politicians, to use the cause for there own benefit, only to completely discard them when they were no longer of service is deeply damaging to an already decaying system.

I see it as a bigger betrayal than Nick Clegg with the students.
 



“We are determined to have a welfare system that encourages and supports people into work, while providing a vital safety net for those who need it most.”

So began the Department for Work and Pensions’ (DWP) consultation into changing disability benefit assessment rules – changes that are predicted to cut the financial support given to around 450,000 disabled people by 2029, but which the consultation presented entirely as helping them.

But contrary to this rose tinting, internal DWP documents revealed at a High Court hearing last week suggest the proposals were at least as much about the Tories’ determination to cut benefitsspending as they were about helping disabled people into work.

In fact, DWP officials warned that evidence was needed to justify their line that the measures were about supporting disabled people rather than saving money, while the government rushed the consultation through in time for the savings to be counted in last year’s Autumn Statement.

DWP officials were also aware of the potential mental health impact of cutting benefits to some claimants who would be affected by the measures.

And while an official impact assessment into the plans has still not been published, the court disclosures suggest up to 100,000 disabled people could be pushed into absolute poverty by the changes – although the exact basis of this figure is uncertain.

The revelations came as a result of a judicial review into the legality of the consultation that was heard last week. The case has been brought by disability campaigner Ellen Clifford, a member of Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC).

And while the consultation took place under the last government, the current Labour government has not dropped the planned cuts – and has fought the judicial review at every step.
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More leaks. Read the 4th image showing stella creasy's comment, which talks about the broader consequences of ignoring the ombudsman verdict as I mentioned earlier in this thread.

Also, leaks like this come because people are worried for their careers. Because they know how wrong it is and how badly it is being recieved.
 
A record number of people who have taken part in protests will be in prison in the UK this Christmas, raising concern about the ongoing crackdown on dissent.

Forty people, aged from 22 to 58, will be behind bars on Christmas Day for planning, or taking part in, a variety of protests relating to the climate crisis or the war in Gaza. Several of them are facing years in prison after courts handed down the most severe sentences on record for direct action protests.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...otesters-will-be-in-uk-prisons-this-christmas
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Sweet Square said:
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But mandelsson, who had to resign twice for dodgy financial deals that would likely see you or I in prison, gets to represent the country abroad. Never mind his close and personal relationship with putin, and having to resign as an EU comissioner after removing duties on aluminium imports, coincidentally at the time he was spending time on Oleg Deripaska's boat. An oligarch that made a fortine from aluminium.
 
Nogbadthebad said:
More leaks. Read the 4th image showing stella creasy's comment, which talks about the broader consequences of ignoring the ombudsman verdict as I mentioned earlier in this thread.

Also, leaks like this come because people are worried for their careers. Because they know how wrong it is and how badly it is being recieved.
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Labour MP’s still trying to blame the jam man in 2024

GfObxbcXAAARlCi


Nogbadthebad said:
But mandelsson, who had to resign twice for dodgy financial deals that would likely see you or I in prison, gets to represent the country abroad. Never mind his close and personal relationship with putin, and having to resign as an EU comissioner after removing duties on aluminium imports, coincidentally at the time he was spending time on Oleg Deripaska's boat. An oligarch that made a fortine from aluminium.
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Yep Labour are mostly a parody of the Blair years. Mandelsson in 2024 is like a reanimated corpse coming back at the end of a horror movie.
 

Full list of new peerages announced by No 10​

Here is the full list of new peers announced by No 10. Here is the list as published by Downing Street.

Nominations from the leader of the Labour party

1) Professor Wendy Alexander FRSE – Vice Chair of the British Council, former Member of the Scottish Parliament for Paisley North and previously Labour Leader in the Scottish Parliament.

2) Sir Brendan Barber – former General Secretary of the Trades Union Congress and former chair of the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service.

3) Luciana Berger – former Member of Parliament for Liverpool Wavertree and current Chair of the Maternal Mental Health Alliance.

4) Mary Bousted – formerly the Joint General Secretary of the National Education Union (NEU), and education policy adviser.

5) Kevin Brennan – former Member of Parliament for Cardiff West and former Minister of State at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Children, Schools and Families.

6) Lyn Brown – former Member of Parliament for West Ham and former Shadow Minister.

7) Dinah Caine OBE CBE – Chair of Camden STEAM, formerly Chair of Goldsmiths University and CEO and Chair of Creative Skillset.

8) Kay Carberry CBE – former Assistant General Secretary of the British Trades Union Congress (TUC).

9) Margaret Curran – former Member of Parliament for Glasgow East and formerly Minister within the Scottish Executive.

10) Thangam Debbonaire – former Member of Parliament for Bristol West and former Shadow Secretary of State.

11) Julie Elliott – former Member of Parliament for Sunderland Central and former Shadow Minister.

12) David Evans – former Labour Party Regional Director, Assistant General Secretary and General Secretary of the Labour Party 2020-2024.

13) Sue Gray – former Chief of Staff to Prime Minister and former Cabinet Office Second Permanent Secretary.

14) Theresa Griffin – former Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for North West England.

15) Anji Hunter – Senior Advisor at Edelman, and former Head of Government Relations in Downing Street.

16) Carwyn Jones – former Member of the Senedd (MS) for Bridgend and First Minister of Wales.

17) Mike Katz – National Chair of Jewish Labour Movement and a former Camden Councillor.

18) Gerard Lemos CMG CBE – Social Policy expert and Chair of English Heritage, Chair of National Savings & Investments (NS&I), and Chair of London Institute of Banking and Finance.

19) Alison Levitt KC – Master of the Bench of the Inner Temple. Previously Principal Legal Advisor to the Director of Public Prosecutions and a Circuit Judge specialising in serious crime, including rape.

20) Anne Longfield CBE – Campaigner for children and formerly served as the Children’s Commissioner for England. Founder and Executive Chair of the Centre for Young Lives.

21) Deborah Mattinson – former Director of Strategy to Sir Keir Starmer. Co-founder of BritainThinks.

22) Steve McCabe – former Member of Parliament for Birmingham Hall Green and Birmingham Selly Oak, and former Government Whip.

23) Claude Moraes OBE – former Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for London and chair of the Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs Committee.

24) Wendy Nichols – UNISON Yorkshire and Humberside Regional Convenor and Branch Secretary and Labour Councillor.

25) Simon Pitkeathley – Currently the Chief Executive of Camden Town Unlimited and Euston Town, formerly the Mayor of London’s ‘Champion for Small Business’.

26) Dame Anne Marie Rafferty DBE FRCN – Professor of nursing policy and former President of the Royal College of Nursing.

27) Krish Raval OBE – Founding Director of Faith in Leadership.

28) Marvin Rees OBE – former Mayor of Bristol and Head of Bristol City Council. Former journalist, voluntary sector manager and NHS public health manager.

29) Revd Dr Russell David Rook OBE – Partner at the Good Faith Partnership and Anglican priest.

30) Phil Wilson – former Member of Parliament for Sedgefield, and former Opposition Assistant Whip.

Nominations from the leader of the Conservative party

1) Nigel Biggar CBE – Regius Professor Emeritus of Moral Theology at the University of Oxford and Anglican priest.

2) Joanne Cash – Co-founder of Parent Gym and barrister serving as the Southeastern Circuit Junior and a member of the Bar Human Rights Committee.

3) Rt Hon Dame Thérèse Coffey PhD – former Deputy Prime Minister and former Member of Parliament for Suffolk Coastal.

4) Roger Evans – former Deputy Mayor of London and former member of the London Assembly for Havering and Redbridge.

5) Rachel Maclean – former Member of Parliament for Redditch and former Minister of State for Housing and Planning.

6) Toby Young – founder and director of the Free Speech Union, and an associate editor of The Spectator.

Nominations from the leader of the Liberal Demorat party

1) Cllr Shaffaq Mohammed MBE – former Sheffield City Councillor and chair of the Liberal Democrat Carers Commission.

2) Dr Mark Pack – former President of the Liberal Democrats.

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How new peerages will affect numbers in House of Lords​

The Conservatives will still have considerably more peers than Labour even when all the people on today’s list (see 3pm) have taken their seats.

Here are the numbers for four main groups in the Lords, now and with the new peers

Conservatives

Now: 271

With new peers: 277

Labour

Now: 185

With new peers: 215

Crossbenchers

Now: 184

With new peers: 184

Liberal Democrats

Now: 78

With new peers: 80

There are also 83 other members of the House of Lords who are either non-affiliated, bishops or from smaller parties
 
Sue Gray - for contributions to British intelligence services
 
Dobba said:
Good to see Marvin Rees get rewarded for being so utterly shit at being Bristol's mayor that not only did his electorate vote him out but they voted to get rid of the entire position.
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He can hang out with Nigel Biggar who will tell him that he shouldn't have been so mean about Edward Colston.
 

New Tory peer nominated by Kemi Badenoch says Britain should leave European convention on human rights​

In his Telegraph article published today Nigel Biggar, who has just been nominated for a peerage by Kemi Badenoch, also says he favours leaving the European convention on human rights. He explains:

I’ve come to the view that it would be best for the UK to withdraw from the European Convention of Human Rights and the jurisdiction of the Strasbourg court. While its defenders protest that the convention was largely a British creation, the truth is that the British government subscribed to avoid political embarrassment – and against the strong advice of the chief justice, who warned that subscription would hand a host of political hostages to judicial fortune. If the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand can manage without the supervision of an international court, I am confident Britain can, too.
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Toby young used to spend his days tweeting about the size of some celebs teenage daughter's chest.

Now he gets £325 a day to make our laws.

However, he is most famous for getting into oxford simply because his dad moaned to his mates that run the place oafter simpleton toby failed the entrance exam.

Also sickening just how many ex MPs are shoved in there. People voted them out for a reason, this is the political class sticking two fingers up at voters.
 
jojojo said:
Do I think giving out compensation for not notifying people individually, for stuff that was advertised and discussed for a long period on national news, makes sense - no. We don't notify everyone individually of every law change that might affect them.
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This is really at the heart of it; changes in law that effect peoples benefits, tax, pensions, etc. are nearly always announced in advance, but with things that seem to be a way off, there are many people who tell themselves , " I will get around to examining how that effects me and what I need to do, later" ....then they don't.

In the mid 1990's I had decided to take advantage of an early retirement from my employers, I started to pay Additonal Voluntary Contributions to safeguard the pension arrangement. Then twice in one year the government changed the rules, I escaped the first deadline but got caught up in the second one and eventually lost a third of the voluntary payments I had made.

It didn't matter how much notice I had received, (actually less than 3 months) there was no compensation arrangements. At least these ladies did get much more notice than I, and I suspect many others in the same position, got... so sympathy yes, compensation no.
 
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