Something positive about this government

I used to be a member of the Labour party. I left when Blair showed his true colours.
I am back again and support Corbyn.
Nice to be called young and idealistic.

So what good has this government done?

Nonnie, I expect people would be delighted, because they're very keen to claim that they care and help the vulnerable.

(Or maybe not!)

I don't know, Day6. It worries me greatly.

Have you never needed to claim any benefits?

I'm interested in why the people who have never claimed never have. I'm not sure whether they've been lucky in life or have never been in the situation where they just couldn't cope.

I'm not sure whether to congratulate them on their luck or resilience.

DH was in Labour Party Headquaters 50 years ago during the election supporting them strongly. He was young and now sees things differently. Today on the radio I heard that JC's rise in the ratings is largely down to all the young who have jumped on his bandwagon. I can't remember a saying about voting Labour when young and changing later but pretty sure it would fit now.

It appears that Day6 is not alone in changing allegiance as she matured and saw the world beyond the unachievable idealistic.

How would this thread be going if GO had announced in the budget that taxes were to rise by 3p in the £ to pay for the extras suggested above?

Daphnedill, I'd quite like you to answer your own questions, because I am not quite sure what you are getting at.

How are you planning on getting by when you are older and may be in need of support?

It is obviously not possible for any Government to fulfil all the promises that won them the election. Years of experience have taught us that. In the same way every new Government has probably unseen problems to cope with when once it takes office. Like most Governments this one has done some good and some bad, and if you are anti-conservative then you will find all the faults. You can please some of the people all of the time, you can please all of the people some of the time, but you can't please all the people all the time. (or if you anti whatever Government is in office, you can change the word "please" to "fool"). To quote.

Not kind to mention pasties on a thread for positive things about this government, Osbourne has a thing against pasties

The benefit system is a life style choice? People tick a box and choose benefits not work?

Anyone who claims a previous generation involved in the Labour Party wouldn't now be involved , will you give the decades of the involvement please?

Bonjour rosessontrouges!

I love the historical revisionism ;-)

Now you have mentioned Cornwall Ana I feel the urge to eat a pasty ( or should that be a pastie?)

Well said Day6. I too come from a working class background, my father was a union official and actively campaigned for the Labour party but he would not support the party of today. He also believed that people should work hard and support themselves whilst those who were unable to should be helped, he would not be happy with the benefit culture so common today. The welfare state was set up as a safety net - not a life style choice.

I once spent an entire week in Keswick wearing a rain poncho, it just never let up!

Could the previous posters clarify something, please?

Are you saying that you've never needed support from outside, because you've never been destitute, ill or disabled? Or are you saying that you have suffered destitution, illness and disability, but somehow found inner resources to cope?

Do you have enough put by, in case you need support in the last years/months of your lives? Or are you reckoning on dropping dead instantly so that you don't need any support?

Now if only we could combine the warmth and sunshine of Lanzarote with the scenery of The Lake District, that would make a worthwhile destination.

Oh well, at least Cornwall can breathe a sigh of relief...

Could be Jamila, could be he is concerned too many from the UK will choose to join him in Lanzarote

Cameron has said we should visit places like the Lake District during the Easter break, it will help the economy , that's a positive.
Does he mean visit the M6 motorway services just to get away from the traffic jam?

Oops, there I go again - agreeing with someone!

Well said Day 6 and roses.

GE not CE.

Day6 you have written exactly what I think, ( but you have done it better than I would have done.)
The Reason Labour lost the CE under Miliband wasn't just that people could not see him as PM material ( though that didn't help) but that he constantly spoke as though only the poor mattered.He and the party miscalculated badly, Joe Soap is not doing badly thanks to high employment, low interest rates etc and is aspiring to do even better.People thought Labour winning would usher in a high benefit bill, plus they would further ruin the economy.
They did not lose because they were not left wing enough..... And now they have Corbyn and McDonnell et al.How the Labour Party has shot itself in the foot.

Day6 says it all!

Threads like this are always strange and you see posters in colours either to your liking or not.

For me? This government is giving the people a referendum on the EU, is letting the electorate decide whether we should stay or go, and for that alone, they deserve great praise. Cameron kept his promise.

Another good thing is that quite simply, as someone who has had no hand-outs in life, as someone who has grafted and taught her children to do their best, I feel Corbyn and company will never represent us, no way. My Dad was a Union man and as a working class family we used to believe Labour represented us.

It doesn't any more and hasn't for a long time.

We aspire to better things, through graft, not inherited wealth and I think the modern Labour party would want to take from us, or make us pay more to support all-comers and those without aspirations who take but have no intentions of ever giving back.

I support a welfare state, the one created for those in need, for the sick, the frail, the weak, the disabled, the elderly and for those who find themselves suffering hard times.

I'll hold my hands up and say our welfare system does need a huge shake up. It's a brave party which will do this and I hope we see more fairness and less waste.

Our NHS and benefits system IS being abused. I am happy to pay my taxes and NI, and have done, all my working life, but I suspect Corbyn's Labour party would allow abuses to continue, no questions asked, and bring on board the hard left who are likely to damn people who do graft, who have aspirations.

This Conservative government has supported working people, those on low incomes and as for the NHS, I was treated wonderfully when seriously ill in 2014, but abominably when similarly ill in 2005 under a Labour government. The NHS delivered under a Conservative government.

I lost my allegiance to the Labour party then, when in a time of great need, physical and financial, I was told I was entitled to nothing, because I'd paid into a private pension over the years. My income fell by three quarters yet Labour left me to rot. I lived on the breadline under Labour, having an income much lower than many who'd never worked.

I and many like me, have become the enemy of Labour today. We are their 'fat cats,' despite having very little, despite a life-time of graft. My family would be penalised under Labour for doing our best. The Conservatives have recognised effort and struggle and given us breaks and in my experience have shown more compassion to the sick, given I have been unwell for more than a decade.

Yup, unashamedly anecdotal and personal, but I fear what would become of our nation under the extremely intolerant left wing and the fervent but politically naive youngsters who are jumping on the Corbyn bandwagon. I can look back now and smile at my idealised view of the world from the perspective of a 6th former or student happy to join in any sit-in, anywhere, for 'justice'.

Labour would be more concerned with propping up those who are able to abuse the system, a system which HAS become unfair and to our cost, supportive of those coming into the country and able to tap into the NHS and the benefits system.

Something has to be done. I believe the Conservative party has taken the poisoned chalice, one no other party has dared to inspect over the years, and is appraising it.

I am aware that is not a popular notion, but I am prepared to stick my head over the parapet and say a shake up is long overdue and those who support a proper functioning welfare state/NHS will get a better, healthier, fairer one.

Jane10, It seems you're the one making stereotypical judgements.

Anyway, it's good to hear that you're one of the kindly souls who don't mind paying a few pounds extra in taxes to support the most vulnerable.