Sephiroth

Not looking great so far I don’t rate Lammy that much, I think people on here have touched on the many many problems years of underfunding the justice system have made us reach this point - but these proposals would be problematic even if they were effective in tackling the problem. Which - based on anyone I know involved in the legal system - they won’t https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2025/dec/02/david-lammy-courts-law-starmer-labour-reeves-budget-obr-uk-politics-live-news-updates?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

I’m not denying taxes were raised im saying they weren’t raised just to give it all away on “benefits” and I backed that up by saying if they did the markets would have reacted very differently

That isn’t what the budget did if it did the markets would have reacted very differently but if you believe that’s what the budget did then nothing I or anyone else can say here will persuade you otherwise.

No the leaks came after the apocalyptic of some on here - the whole leak/non leak and obr problem aren’t great - but ultimately a wash and not that relevant. journalists should be analysing what the budget did and didn’t do but as per everything since 2016 is just personal psychodrama and college-boy sniggering

the speed at which critics of labour have switched last week from "the economy is toast because of Reeves!" to "the economy is doing well and it's Reeve's fault!" I don't think it was a great budget and it was tinkering and won't deliver many of the things the country needs - but it wasn't the disaster some people on here have been predicting for months either and they hysterical reaction from the likes of Dan Hodges and cronies is embarrassing

"they are usually built very cheaply" - as I understand it, the consensus is that homes are not being built at all, so not sure how they fit your description. Have NO idea what you are on about with your climate change rules - but I suspect you just think the whole thing is a hoax anyway "no-one who has any choice would want to live in them" - again they aren't being built so not sure how this applies. So if a new street of housing was built somewhere in SE22 - you think people earring 50k, currently unable to get their own home would not want to look at any new houses because of the reasons you describe? I doubt it. And today's cheap housing becomes tomorrows desirable, unaffordable homes - it's snobbery to say houses built before (say) 2000 were great and everything after is cheap and woke "they are built without any thought as to how the new residents will be offered basic services such as GP surgeries, transport links and schools etc," crikey - 15 minute cities are desirable so! Joking aside, I have seen towns expand and not enough thought is given to infrastructure etc - but that's as much to do with the horse trading done with locals to get the things built in first place. (someone will say "they can't have a shop there because it will take business away from someone else. And no pub because, I dunno drugs. Something" also - if you are going to build more surgeries and services (and we should) then you are going to have to tell all the people currently being told to ;eave the country to, erm, not leave because we need their expertise "but we can train brits to do those jobs" - how has that worked out for any country? Need immigration as well folks But one thing we can't do is continue to not provide homes for all the people growing up and as they leaves schools and unis. And if we are not going to provide homes, and the value of your 1M house becomes 2M because of scarcity of housing, maybe don't complain too much if we need to claw some of that unearned income back because "actually, I'm the real victim in all of this"

I think “high rises” and “crime” might be your words not mine “liking the character of an area” is something I imagine mos people feel. But it is subjective. What year was your home built? Should it not have been? To preserve the character of the area at that time? I don’t think building is the only solution. Investment landlords and multiple property owners could also be tackled but simply saying “no. Because character of area” isn’t going to help anyone growing up in the area get a place to live

I think it’s directly related because a major factor in so few houses actually being built despite the demand is a) financial incentives for builders isn’t there. Longer they wait to build the more prices go up. Because too many people want prices to go up b) nimbys. In expensive houses. Don’t build here it will devalue my property Because my property price has to go up

But isn’t that massive construction effort the prerequisite to solve the housing problems? or is there another way?

Fair enough. Perhaps I’m wrong but the country can either have rising house prices or affordable housing. Which means falling house prices right? or is there a scenario where all of the existing housing stock rises in value while the hundreds of thousands of new, affordable homes are somehow immune to the same market forces? How do we build enough affordable houses for our children yet insist on our own houses going up in value? Both can’t be true. Enough new housing stock has to lower existing housing prices if not , where am I wrong?

Tom and Stoppard are Dead real shame - and the names won’t stop coming I remember being 8 or 9 in the 70s when my parents went thru this as a lot of their generation were going time. Is waiting in the wings

I don’t follow this logic at all - I see no connection. I do see a lot of people sitting on a lot of assets bleating about unfairness and then seeing some people support them with some “I will never own a house like that but if they say it’s bad it must be bad” as a country we need more money - this tax will raise relatively little but given the noise from people this well off, it suggests that trying to raise money from any quarter is an uphill battle it’s completely baffling

I think you are making a whole bunch of assumptions there which just don’t stack up - the assumption that inflation will simply keep rising for example as well as a bunch of incomplete statements - I don’t know what point that last paragraph is making?

Historically we don’t pay that much tax compared to comparative countries and current levels aren’t that high https://obr.uk/box/the-uks-tax-burden-in-historical-and-international-context/ and where does the 2031 number come from? Every person complaining about a small amount of tax on homes above £2million is the direct enemy of every voter/government/plan to build affordable housing if any government were to actually build sufficient housing, there wouldn’t be many £2 million houses left and that’s a good thing you can’t have your house value be your pension AND have affordable housing - you have to choose one

I don’t have a sub but the link still works

That’s been there for a while I think anyone remember when GBK first started (long before se22) and what a breath of fresh air. Then they got investor money and became a frozen franchise. Awful as for veggie burgers being banned - you’ll be telling us that Tesco won’t call their Christmas trees Christmas trees next

For it to libellous it would have to be untrue and not in public domain or at odds with his many many public pronouncements over the years of someone calls me a racist fascist I could maybe sue for libel But most people would have no evidence and would be able to look at my history and see for themselves but if you can’t called an actual racist what he is - you have lost your spine sir i mean - is literally no one a racist? Because you are too timid to say so ?

I’m going to have to disagree - if people have made up their mind either way about farage then the future looks bleak He is so filthy, with so much undisclosed, there must be a scenario where more comes out and enough people go “holy cow” So. After Nathan Gill gets jailed for 10 years plus, Farage does have more questions to answer there’s something fundamentally wrong yet under the water about him and his current support levels. People really need to kick those tyres more

As this is the current place to discuss Nige and his party - it seems unlikely, does it not, that Russia would chuck tens of thousands of pounds and just one obscure UKIP MP? can’t wait to see how deeper this goes (specifically I’m looking at more senior politicians such as Farage and Johnson)

Oh he 100% means my post - but Dave is…. Well, his voting history speaks for itself.

I see the usual fluffers (Dan hodges, Andrew Neil. That lot) are calling this a stick up that needs its own enquiry. “Things were moving fast, we had to wait for advice, Johnson acted nobly”) which ignores: - other countries suffered first, warned and we laughed at them “the Italians have nothing to teach us” wrote hodges - other countries were equally bamboozled by events but took the potential far more seriously and took appropriate action - after lockdown Johnson continued to behave as if it was no thing - “let the bodies pile high” People can excuse Johnson if they want - but they too will be judged accordingly

Near perfect encapsulation. Kudos earl

Are you telling me to pack my bags then Dave? have I taken too much from your country already? what about all the English abroad - where you going to put them when the arrive back if they get chucked out by their host countries? grow up man

Brexit - but not simply the act of leaving the EU, as damaging as that is in and of itself But everything around it. - the madness of "taking back control", "they need us more than we need them", the increase in volume and extremity of lies required to get it over the line, the clear denial of reality - all of that has led to the current situation where parties of left and right can win huge majorities and find out the beast of anti-immigration can never be sated the course correction involves acknowledging as a country that we need immigration and lots of it (related: acknowledge we aren't as special case when it comes to asylum and refugees - other countries take proportionally more) We need to be part of the EU. Climate change in and of itself will see global increase in migrations - we need to be building systems that welcome and accommodate the future - not stick our heads in the sand like hobbits If we don't collectively agree around this then the descent into authoritarian right-wing madness will continue

Absolutely mental what Labour have become/are doing because I’m me - I am going to say, it was the denial of reality that was the 2016 referendum, the genuflection of it ever since and the aggressive behaviour of the right wing press ever since that have cowed weak, spineless politicians Until them at shibboleth is defeated, we can replace governments and leaders as much as we want - won’t make a tack of difference we are in bizarro world since 2016 - only the electorate recognising that vocally will we see improvements without that, every government, party and leader will be in hock to fantasists (there are things govts can do regardless of Brexit. Of course there are. But the root - the root problem - will continue to infect)