This Government

@Mt61 No RR put stamp duty up in April this year, was an almighty rush for house buyers to get things rubber stamped before this date and now the property slump is the worst in ten years people are having to drop house prices ti what they bought it for if they bought it within the past decade.
RR has single-handedly destroyed the property market.

Labour used to be for the working classes and the Conservatives were for the better off who owned their own homes, drove cars and often employed staff to cook and clean for them.

Who voted for Thatcher in 1979, then? Because the 'working class' has by far outnumbered the middle class for many years so a lot must have changed sides.... Thatcher who promptly increased 1 million unemployed to 3 million unemployed and destroyed heavy industry...

And who voted for Cameron in 2010, whose chancellor promptly put loads of them out of work?

Since 1945 tories have been in government for 52 years; Labour for 28 (not including the current government. Not a lot of working class solidarity for Labour in that record...

Did you vote Labour at the last election Primrose53?

Primrose53

The OP by gillsterry is just how I remember things.
Labour used to be for the working classes and the Conservatives were for the better off who owned their own homes, drove cars and often employed staff to cook and clean for them.

Everybody in our street voted Labour and proudly put their posters up. In a rural area most of us lived in council houses or tied cottages and were on low wages as the only employment was working on the land or fishing.

Labour now has all the union members like nurses, teachers etc the champagne socialists and not the low paid. My Dad would not recognise the LP now.

No neither would mine☹️

Babs03

My sentiments entirely. I used to think that Labour represented the working classes and the Tories represented the ‘well-to-dos’, now both parties represent the ‘well-to-dos’ and right now Labour is exceeding the Tories in this.
Putting up stamp duty is another measure that will hit those who are trying to get on the property ladder whereas it will be loose change to those who have lots of money.
I know they have to find funds from somewhere but why not with a wealth or mansion tax?

I thought RR was planning on getting rid of stamp duty?

The OP by gillsterry is just how I remember things.
Labour used to be for the working classes and the Conservatives were for the better off who owned their own homes, drove cars and often employed staff to cook and clean for them.

Everybody in our street voted Labour and proudly put their posters up. In a rural area most of us lived in council houses or tied cottages and were on low wages as the only employment was working on the land or fishing.

Labour now has all the union members like nurses, teachers etc the champagne socialists and not the low paid. My Dad would not recognise the LP now.

Whilst my hairdresser was doing my hair yesterday, she was telling me about her son, aged 18 having just finished the first two stages of a college course in bricklaying. There was a previous expectation to gain the final level 3 for these students, which is practical, on the job through an apprenticeship with a firm of builders The college would have previously secured a place for them with local builders. Now since the NI rises, without any notice, they have been told by the college that they will no longer be doing that and it is up to them to try and get attached to a firm themselves. His continual fob off in ringing round is "you haven't got enough experience" of course he hasn't and he won't unless he is taken on, so he is in that Catch 22 situation of only half completing a course that was supposed to lead somewhere but now won't because he is lacking the experience, experience he was almost guaranteed to get before firms were hit with these hikes. Most firms are going to, have to make economies and not hiring will be one of those. In the meantime, the son who very much wants to work in his chosen trade is probably going to have to sign on. How could this government come in on their mantra of "We're Going for Growth" when they have done this to business. I can't help thinking it will prove to be massively counter productive, money they claw in from the NI hike may well be going out in unemployment benefits once the full magnitude of those extra costs hit business and industry. I often read about mass laying off in the country's larger employers, supermarkets for example, Sainsbury's recently closed their in- store cafes, Morrisons I believe had a mass lay off recently, there may not be jobs in their area that employees made redundant can just walk into. I think some smaller firms may just go to the wall such rises just won't be sustainable on top of all their other outgoings.

Socialist Governments feel the need to be more Tory than the Tories in order to survive.
Blair knew the Welfare budget was too high but didn't do much about it.
Reeves had a go but that all ended in tears.
The working-class always think the rich should pay more but that only leads the wealthy to move their money out of the Country; close their businesses.
If Labour is split by a Corbynite Party, they will be finished at the next election but. then, we all know that and why.

Agree with you Gilsterry, my father a strong Labour supporter and worker would be horrified. Its the party now of the wealthy. All the better if you are a celeb, they love them.
No loyalty, they always waste money, Rachel Reeves is worse than useless, she and Liz Truss cut from same cloth.

LizzieDrip

^Sanctioning people for small errors such as you describe has been going on for long before this government came to power^

Well, of course, MaizieD.

But it’s only an outrage now because we have a Labour government.

I’ve got used to the Labour bashing. It’s boring🥱

Labour bashing?

If only Sir Starmer’s government was a Labour government, not just in name.

MaizieD I gathered that, my issue is that Labour is not concerned about the lower paid or those struggling to work despite what they are saying when they role out Ministers for the morning news programmes.

They are Conservatives with a different name.

I was willing to give them a go, but they have put up our business costs by £1,000’s, there will be no more expansion or any more staff taken on.

Whatever they say, they are not the party for business unless of you are a multinational conglomerate.

Sanctioning people for small errors such as you describe has been going on for long before this government came to power

Well, of course, MaizieD.

But it’s only an outrage now because we have a Labour government.

I’ve got used to the Labour bashing. It’s boring🥱

GrannyGravy13

eazybee

The wealthy classes have always had lawyers and accountants to protect their incomes i.e, Starmer; the middle classes are a sitting target as so many have tax stopped at source and no allowances to claim.
There are also the huge number of people claiming benefits which Labour will protect as they are their key voters.

They are not protecting those on benefits.

They sanction people for the slightest thing, I know of one person who due to mental health issues didn’t sign into their online diary on the correct day.

They were stopped one months benefits, no come back, how are people meant to survive.

Sanctioning people for small errors such as you describe has been going on for long before this government came to power.
Much of the DWP's work is contracted out to private companies. I'm not surprised it's a mess.

They certainly don't want to protect people on benefits.
They wanted to take money away from people who were ill or who had disabilities.
There are still some decent labour MPs who voted against hurting the sick and disabled, but they take a huge risk if they vote against what Starmer and Reeves want to do.

I wonder if anyone who has made a genuine loss on a property sale could be somehow compensated? Somehow I doubt it … also of course whatever Rachel Reeves dreams up is likely to have unforeseen consequences for the housing market? Maybe no houses will be sold and just rented out until there’s a change of government in 4 years? Interesting few months of guessing…

eazybee

The wealthy classes have always had lawyers and accountants to protect their incomes i.e, Starmer; the middle classes are a sitting target as so many have tax stopped at source and no allowances to claim.
There are also the huge number of people claiming benefits which Labour will protect as they are their key voters.

They are not protecting those on benefits.

They sanction people for the slightest thing, I know of one person who due to mental health issues didn’t sign into their online diary on the correct day.

They were stopped one months benefits, no come back, how are people meant to survive.

I have never thought of myself as middle class... I'm working class, and this government are hammering me every which way.

The wealthy classes have always had lawyers and accountants to protect their incomes i.e, Starmer; the middle classes are a sitting target as so many have tax stopped at source and no allowances to claim.
There are also the huge number of people claiming benefits which Labour will protect as they are their key voters.

Yes, Sir Starmer appears to be out to get the middle classes, the SME owners, along with those who have saved for their retirements. We are easy targets, they know were we are, they see what tax we pay (both business and personal) and will probably squeeze us until we squeak.

I never thought a Labour government would be frightened to go after the mega rich, they are leaving the big boys alone just like the Conservatives.

Historically the upper middle classes/aristocracy have always protected their own wealth. The Labour Party doesn’t seem to be attacking this social strata but is in pursuit of the middle classes. Happy to be proven wrong in the next budget….

My sentiments entirely. I used to think that Labour represented the working classes and the Tories represented the ‘well-to-dos’, now both parties represent the ‘well-to-dos’ and right now Labour is exceeding the Tories in this.
Putting up stamp duty is another measure that will hit those who are trying to get on the property ladder whereas it will be loose change to those who have lots of money.
I know they have to find funds from somewhere but why not with a wealth or mansion tax?