UK General Election 2024 (or 25)

[Derek27]

Returnng to the issue of food banks. I thought that only people that are referred by other organisations can get food.
I quicky found this but it may not be accurate.
"The prerequisite to benefit from food banks is getting a referral from a social worker, general practitioner doctor, the police, a housing officer or somebody from the Citizens Advice Bureau.".

That doesn't sound like someone living high on the hog. I volunteered a while back in another sphere but the community organisation did run a food bank. I asked the boss about who used the food bank and he said "people in genuine need, they are all vetted and referred from people who know the individual's situation".

My current view is like Gordon Brown's - food banks are filling in the gaps that have opened in our social security net.
For those that think we're being over generous to the poor, go look at Germany. They spend MORE than us.

Blaming the poor for being poor kind of misses the elephant in the room.

I'm pretty sure anyone can go, would nurses be referred? For many, the stigma and inconvenience would put off people who can afford to shop.

Having said that, if there was one near me, I would have used it a couple of days ago to get a carrot. They only sell them in large bags at the supermarket.

If that's the case CS has a point. It should not be a free for all. It should be reserved for those in need. If nurses are using them then they should be applying for universal credit or whatever it is.
The onus should be on the government we elected to deal with these issues, not this kind of Victorian "hand-me-down" generosity from the public and volunteers.
It's the 21st century! Why are so thick as a species sometimes?

Reverend CS has no point. Nothing wrong with trusting people and if you have the time to queue up for an hour to get a can of beans you' probably need it.

Full-time nurses won't qualify for UC, part-timers might, or tax credits but I guess the bar's quite high. Basically you have to have a very low income to qualify for benefits. On a decent income, in theory you shouldn't need them, but in practice rents are astronomical leaving even hard working middle-income workers struggling. But Archery, and even more shockingly, the man who preaches Christianity and the teachings of Christ thinks it's their fault that Liz Truss has put their mortgages up £500 a month!

[greenmark]

I'm pretty sure anyone can go, would nurses be referred? For many, the stigma and inconvenience would put off people who can afford to shop.

Having said that, if there was one near me, I would have used it a couple of days ago to get a carrot. They only sell them in large bags at the supermarket.

If that's the case CS has a point. It should not be a free for all. It should be reserved for those in need. If nurses are using them then they should be applying for universal credit or whatever it is.
The onus should be on the government we elected to deal with these issues, not this kind of Victorian "hand-me-down" generosity from the public and volunteers.
It's the 21st century! Why are so thick as a species sometimes?

Reverend CS has no point. Nothing wrong with trusting people and if you have the time to queue up for an hour to get a can of beans you' probably need it.

Full-time nurses won't qualify for UC, part-timers might, or tax credits but I guess the bar's quite high. Basically you have to have a very low income to qualify for benefits. On a decent income, in theory you shouldn't need them, but in practice rents are astronomical leaving even hard working middle-income workers struggling. But Archery, and even more shockingly, the man who preaches Christianity and the teachings of Christ thinks it's their fault that Liz Truss has put their mortgages up £500 a month!

Well, yes and no.Yes full-time workers should not need food banks or state benefits. It's how the much-vaunted tech revolution has failed in delivering reduced working hours and increased leisure time.
And no, sorry, capitalism un-regulated does not nice stuff.
We have a problem that no-one is addressing. How we divide up the benefits of tech progress. We're doing a rubbish job ATM.
It seems to me that right wingers are the new looney's. But their strategy is to think the unthinkable. Lie, skew democratic systems in their favour to enhance their chance of re-election, give govt contracts to their chums, bluster their way out of any situation that would see a leftwinger dumped in seconds. It's all a bit crap.
Biden looks more and more sensible - decrying the nonsense of "trickle down" and trying to build from the bottom up and the centre out seeems like a decent strategy after the last 35-40 years. Expecting people at the top to drop crumbs to the lowest is just cobblers, they have to be compelled to do it.

[Derek27]

It seems to me that right wingers are the new looney's.

They're not the new looneys, they're just looneys.

[Michael5482]

If that's the case CS has a point. It should not be a free for all. It should be reserved for those in need. If nurses are using them then they should be applying for universal credit or whatever it is.
The onus should be on the government we elected to deal with these issues, not this kind of Victorian "hand-me-down" generosity from the public and volunteers.
It's the 21st century! Why are so thick as a species sometimes?

Reverend CS has no point. Nothing wrong with trusting people and if you have the time to queue up for an hour to get a can of beans you' probably need it.

Full-time nurses won't qualify for UC, part-timers might, or tax credits but I guess the bar's quite high. Basically you have to have a very low income to qualify for benefits. On a decent income, in theory you shouldn't need them, but in practice rents are astronomical leaving even hard working middle-income workers struggling. But Archery, and even more shockingly, the man who preaches Christianity and the teachings of Christ thinks it's their fault that Liz Truss has put their mortgages up £500 a month!

Well, yes and no.Yes full-time workers should not need food banks or state benefits. It's how the much-vaunted tech revolution has failed in delivering reduced working hours and increased leisure time.
And no, sorry, capitalism un-regulated does not nice stuff.
We have a problem that no-one is addressing. How we divide up the benefits of tech progress. We're doing a rubbish job ATM.
It seems to me that right wingers are the new looney's. But their strategy is to think the unthinkable. Lie, skew democratic systems in their favour to enhance their chance of re-election, give govt contracts to their chums, bluster their way out of any situation that would see a leftwinger dumped in seconds. It's all a bit crap.
Biden looks more and more sensible - decrying the nonsense of "trickle down" and trying to build from the bottom up and the centre out seeems like a decent strategy after the last 35-40 years. Expecting people at the top to drop crumbs to the lowest is just cobblers, they have to be compelled to do it.

You've kind of touched on one of the main issues with modern day politics the left have gone to far to the left and the right have gone to far to the right and there's a massive void in the middle where a common ground can be debated and found.

[greenmark]

Reverend CS has no point. Nothing wrong with trusting people and if you have the time to queue up for an hour to get a can of beans you' probably need it.

Full-time nurses won't qualify for UC, part-timers might, or tax credits but I guess the bar's quite high. Basically you have to have a very low income to qualify for benefits. On a decent income, in theory you shouldn't need them, but in practice rents are astronomical leaving even hard working middle-income workers struggling. But Archery, and even more shockingly, the man who preaches Christianity and the teachings of Christ thinks it's their fault that Liz Truss has put their mortgages up £500 a month!

Well, yes and no.Yes full-time workers should not need food banks or state benefits. It's how the much-vaunted tech revolution has failed in delivering reduced working hours and increased leisure time.
And no, sorry, capitalism un-regulated does not nice stuff.
We have a problem that no-one is addressing. How we divide up the benefits of tech progress. We're doing a rubbish job ATM.
It seems to me that right wingers are the new looney's. But their strategy is to think the unthinkable. Lie, skew democratic systems in their favour to enhance their chance of re-election, give govt contracts to their chums, bluster their way out of any situation that would see a leftwinger dumped in seconds. It's all a bit crap.
Biden looks more and more sensible - decrying the nonsense of "trickle down" and trying to build from the bottom up and the centre out seeems like a decent strategy after the last 35-40 years. Expecting people at the top to drop crumbs to the lowest is just cobblers, they have to be compelled to do it.

You've kind of touched on one of the main issues with modern day politics the left have gone to far to the left and the right have gone to far to the right and there's a massive void in the middle where a common ground can be debated and found.

Well in this country I don't see Stalmer as some left-wing messiah that will sort it all out, but he's streets ahead of BJ and Truss. Sheesh! What a shocking period for UK politics. I just want someone that can grow our economy and boost the FTSE. 6 years of stagnation and blithering idiots.

[Michael5482]

Well, yes and no.Yes full-time workers should not need food banks or state benefits. It's how the much-vaunted tech revolution has failed in delivering reduced working hours and increased leisure time.
And no, sorry, capitalism un-regulated does not nice stuff.
We have a problem that no-one is addressing. How we divide up the benefits of tech progress. We're doing a rubbish job ATM.
It seems to me that right wingers are the new looney's. But their strategy is to think the unthinkable. Lie, skew democratic systems in their favour to enhance their chance of re-election, give govt contracts to their chums, bluster their way out of any situation that would see a leftwinger dumped in seconds. It's all a bit crap.
Biden looks more and more sensible - decrying the nonsense of "trickle down" and trying to build from the bottom up and the centre out seeems like a decent strategy after the last 35-40 years. Expecting people at the top to drop crumbs to the lowest is just cobblers, they have to be compelled to do it.

You've kind of touched on one of the main issues with modern day politics the left have gone to far to the left and the right have gone to far to the right and there's a massive void in the middle where a common ground can be debated and found.

Well in this country I don't see Stalmer as some left-wing messiah that will sort it all out, but he's streets ahead of BJ and Truss. Sheesh! What a shocking period for UK politics. I just want someone that can grow our economy and boost the FTSE. 6 years of stagnation and blithering idiots.

To fully turn the country round will take around 10-15 years of consistency (maybe more) and will need all party's working together for the good of the people but that won't happen because of our outdated voting/political system, unqualified MP's working in areas of Government they have no knowledge of before 3 months later moved on and self centered MP's who basically don't care about anyone other than themselves.

For a kick off governing party's should be measured on there manifesto promises with monthly KPI's and when they don't deliver fine them. Things like Covid and Ukraine war are not excuses for bad governance like the Tory's are using to excuse their incompetence. A good organized governing party would have been prepared for all this pandemics and war are nothing new.

[greenmark]

You've kind of touched on one of the main issues with modern day politics the left have gone to far to the left and the right have gone to far to the right and there's a massive void in the middle where a common ground can be debated and found.

Well in this country I don't see Stalmer as some left-wing messiah that will sort it all out, but he's streets ahead of BJ and Truss. Sheesh! What a shocking period for UK politics. I just want someone that can grow our economy and boost the FTSE. 6 years of stagnation and blithering idiots.

To fully turn the country round will take around 10-15 years of consistency (maybe more) and will need all party's working together for the good of the people but that won't happen because of our outdated voting/political system, unqualified MP's working in areas of Government they have no knowledge of before 3 months later moved on and self centered MP's who basically don't care about anyone other than themselves.

For a kick off governing party's should be measured on there manifesto promises with monthly KPI's and when they don't deliver fine them. Things like Covid and Ukraine war are not excuses for bad governance like the Tory's are using to excuse their incompetence. A good organized governing party would have been prepared for all this pandemics and war are nothing new.

Dunno. The disruptions like covid, ukraine from left-field (not left-wing) are hard to deal with for sure.
We get caught out in some winters because we don't generally have bad winters. So the question is do you prepare and spend money for 10 years for a 10 year event? Or just wing it and deal with the crisis when it arrives?
But for sure Brexit is a self-inflicted wound that I demand the Tory's sort out pronto or they are toast IMO.

[sionascaig]

There was a pandemic plan & a test of it had been conducted a couple of years before co-vid struck (think it was based on a MERS type attack). It had a whole pile of recommendations including sorting out the lack of protective equipment & improving testing capabilities.

Unfortunately none of the recommendations were taken forward (in the case of testing, capacity was reduced) and when co-vid struck the plan was thrown out the window as political considerations took over.

Its does grate a bit when you hear some politician blaming the pandemic for a lot of problems given that context. What about taking some responsibility for the lack of contingency plans?

edit - if they could just admit they made mistakes it would certainly improve trust in them

[Michael5482]

Well in this country I don't see Stalmer as some left-wing messiah that will sort it all out, but he's streets ahead of BJ and Truss. Sheesh! What a shocking period for UK politics. I just want someone that can grow our economy and boost the FTSE. 6 years of stagnation and blithering idiots.

To fully turn the country round will take around 10-15 years of consistency (maybe more) and will need all party's working together for the good of the people but that won't happen because of our outdated voting/political system, unqualified MP's working in areas of Government they have no knowledge of before 3 months later moved on and self centered MP's who basically don't care about anyone other than themselves.

For a kick off governing party's should be measured on there manifesto promises with monthly KPI's and when they don't deliver fine them. Things like Covid and Ukraine war are not excuses for bad governance like the Tory's are using to excuse their incompetence. A good organized governing party would have been prepared for all this pandemics and war are nothing new.

Dunno. The disruptions like covid, ukraine from left-field (not left-wing) are hard to deal with for sure.
We get caught out in some winters because we don't generally have bad winters. So the question is do you prepare and spend money for 10 years for a 10 year event? Or just wing it and deal with the crisis when it arrives?
But for sure Brexit is a self-inflicted wound that I demand the Tory's sort out pronto or they are toast IMO.

I think Sionscaig has eloquently answered better than I could. My preference is after we spend millions on reports/inquires we listen to the professionals. Covid for example we have some of the best scientists in the world who previously advised the government on pandemics. We could have had the correct PPE procured under market price via bulk buying and stored but we ended up overpaying by hundred's millions for worthless PPE whilst Tory's like Michelle Mone pocketed millions form the deals.

People like pensioners dying because of a bad winter and the government getting caught out is completely unacceptable and should be a crime. Corporate manslaughter. Unbelievable how MP's/Lords/Baronesses etc seem to sit outside the law.

[greenmark]

To fully turn the country round will take around 10-15 years of consistency (maybe more) and will need all party's working together for the good of the people but that won't happen because of our outdated voting/political system, unqualified MP's working in areas of Government they have no knowledge of before 3 months later moved on and self centered MP's who basically don't care about anyone other than themselves.

For a kick off governing party's should be measured on there manifesto promises with monthly KPI's and when they don't deliver fine them. Things like Covid and Ukraine war are not excuses for bad governance like the Tory's are using to excuse their incompetence. A good organized governing party would have been prepared for all this pandemics and war are nothing new.

Dunno. The disruptions like covid, ukraine from left-field (not left-wing) are hard to deal with for sure.
We get caught out in some winters because we don't generally have bad winters. So the question is do you prepare and spend money for 10 years for a 10 year event? Or just wing it and deal with the crisis when it arrives?
But for sure Brexit is a self-inflicted wound that I demand the Tory's sort out pronto or they are toast IMO.

I think Sionscaig has eloquently answered better than I could. My preference is after we spend millions on reports/inquires we listen to the professionals. Covid for example we have some of the best scientists in the world who previously advised the government on pandemics. We could have had the correct PPE procured under market price via bulk buying and stored but we ended up overpaying by hundred's millions for worthless PPE whilst Tory's like Michelle Mone pocketed millions form the deals.

People like pensioners dying because of a bad winter and the government getting caught out is completely unacceptable and should be a crime. Corporate manslaughter. Unbelievable how MP's/Lords/Baronesses etc seem to sit outside the law.

I'm curious about how we fall on the right or left of the political fence. It's really quite weird. Slice society (in term of combined intelligence, sympathy, empathy, charity, generosity, humanity) in half. Thereby diminishing all those good things because people are staring at each other across the divide, rather than thinking of the benefits for all if we all work together.

[Archangel]

As long are ye arent silly enough to believe we live in a democracy

[Derek27]

Braverman denies her policies are xenophobic, bigoted or racist.

[sionascaig]

Braverman denies her policies are xenophobic, bigoted or racist.

I see at least 4 law associations have reported her for possible breaches to their ethics & bringing the profession into disrepute for being xenophobic, bigoted & racist.

I think they agree with Mr Lineker...

[Derek27]

Braverman denies her policies are xenophobic, bigoted or racist.

I see at least 4 law associations have reported her for possible breaches to their ethics & bringing the profession into disrepute for being xenophobic, bigoted & racist.

I think they agree with Mr Lineker...

When you have to keep denying being xenophobic there must come a day when you question why you need to keep denying.

[Derek27]

Don't the Conservative party vet their members turning up to the conference?