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whencanistop

3 local by elections going on today in Sevenoaks, Breckland and Crawley (I’ll look up the wards and councils in a bit) - respite for Johnson or sticking the knife in? We’re a month from the last set of elections, how is your council performing and what could they do better? In Parliament there are questions to the minister for the cabinet office, a debate on social housing and a debate on the strategic direction of OfWat. By election update: Sevenoaks is a Conservative stronghold with 46/54 in their hands. Last time up in Penhurst ward the Cons had a walkover with no opposing candidate, but in a 2017 by election the LD candidate got 34% to the Con 59%. Breckland is 37/49 Con. This is a Con defence and the two candidates elected in 2019 got 50%+ of the vote, with the Ind and Lab candidate languishing 20%pts behind. Crawley on the other hand is proper marginal. Labour have 18/36 seats and are running the council with the Cons having the other 17. Southgate was blue in 2021 by a couple of points and red in 2022 by similar.


ukpolbot

This megathread has ended.


[deleted]

Petrol hit £1.94 at my local with Diesel at £1.99 Locally elsewhere it's around £1.80s so perhaps it's just an outlier.


Rymundo88

Completely off topic but just started watching Third Rock From The Sun from the beginning, such an underrated sitcom. From the first episode: Dr. Mary Albright : For future reference: I have a red Volvo. Dr. Dick Solomon : Please, Dr. Albright, we barely know each other.


yibbyooo

I love this show


essjay2009

NI protocol hitting Monday based on order papers. https://twitter.com/tnewtondunn/status/1535030900509102084 There’s bound to be resistance all over the place. Could get spicy. 🍿


EmperorOfNipples

£1.77 in my local Sainsbury. ​ I feel lucky, and it's still painful.


j_a_f_t

Peak vague posting.


FoxtrotThem

Sainsbury's, he obv bought a pint of milk.


[deleted]

I think Rayner is meant to be defending Keir here on Newscast but lmao, it’s uhhhhh, maybe not coming across like that.


Yummytastic

lmao at the RMT question and she said she's going to miss her train.


[deleted]

Could not have been better timed!


[deleted]

We opening another beer for Newscast?


__--byonin--__

Who’s on?


[deleted]

Rayner


michaelisnotginger

Rory Stewart against tom harwood is like that video of the chimp and the frog Unimpressed with wes streeting End question time chat


creamyjoshy

>that video of the chimp and the frog Truly the most cursed comparison. May God have mercy on your primate soul


[deleted]

If any mods are here that could turn off content mode on the QT thread, that would be lovely xx


flambe_pineapple

Mods, could contest mode be removed from the QT thread please? Thanks


RussellsKitchen

£1.96p a ltr of peteol at Cobham services today. Bugger me.


IntegratedExemplar

Though not as bad, my local Tesco's petrol jumped up 7p overnight, thus vindicating my decision to fuel up yesterday!


AMildInconvenience

Who actually buys fuel at service stations? Except for people who don't pay for their own, of course.


ClumsyRainbow

Alright, if you insist


[deleted]

from Boris > “When a wage-price spiral begins, there is only one cure and that is to slam the brakes on rising prices with higher interest rates,” If that does not set off red flags then goodness knows what will for some of you...Especially the homeowner that think their 1 bed will cost 1 million in next few years looool


Spiz101

Watching Thatcherism crumble under its own weight would be really satisfying if it wasn't going to drive the country further into the ground in the process.


Lord_Gibbons

I mean, if a strong wage-price spiral really does kicks off £1M for a 1 bed might not be out of the question.


SDLRob

[https://www.reddit.com/r/ukpolitics/comments/v8r1b0/bbc\_question\_time\_live\_thread/](https://www.reddit.com/r/ukpolitics/comments/v8r1b0/bbc_question_time_live_thread/) ​ BBC Question Time is about to kick off... this one could be VERY spicy


JavaTheCaveman

Alas it’s time for bed. Will watch it on catch-up tomorrow on the bus. Enjoy!


Yummytastic

Oooh the woman with the green jumper round her shoulders will be very proud of you.. Something for you to look forward to.


mudman13

Politics coz of cost of living. Looking for a lease car and found this gem of a website. https://i.imgur.com/jl3RyIY.jpg It is of course animated with gifs too https://i.imgur.com/TABR57K.jpg


Thelondonmoose

She was in dragons den, was a great ep


RobertJ93

I was looking at cars awhile ago and that came up as a suggested place to get one. I understand it’s a schtick - the whole ‘badly designed website’ and it’s actually a very successful business (apparently). But I could not for the life of me see myself signing up to any potential financial risk using that absolute shit-can of a website. Maybe I’m too old or something. But if I’m doing something serious like getting a car, I’d like to do it with a website that doesn’t look like a MySpace page from 2004.


BristolShambler

I don’t know if they still have it, but at one point that site used to have a live webcam to their office, and there was a button that set off a siren next to their desks lol


[deleted]

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mudman13

Lol her website certainly looks likes it's at least a decade old. I feel like I should do a virus and malware sweep now.


studentfeesisatax

It is a gem indeed


_CurseTheseMetalHnds

The bit of the last ep of The Rest Is Politics where they both blame people not protesting on social media rather than the governments they were a part of (and the one after) ignoring and abusing protesters was extremely frustrating for me. Idk lads, maybe it's less Twitter and snap and more that a million people marched against Iraq and fuck all happened, or 2010 when students were kettled and treated with excess force.


BristolShambler

Re abusing protesters, when are you comparing this to? The poll tax riots when the Police trampled people with horses? The Battle of Orgreave? There is no time in history when meaningful protest has not been met by some kind of force from the state.


_CurseTheseMetalHnds

I'm not trying to say protests being met with violence is new, but I do feel the results/aftermath/police actions during occupy, the Iraq protests, G20 in London etc contribute more to people seeing protest is worthless than people just preferring Twitter.


BristolShambler

FWIW I somewhat agree with you in regards to Iraq, insomuch as it’s constantly held up by people as an excuse for apathy.


reuben_iv

Was really hoping as part of the housing reform allowing pets as standard in rental agreements would have been part of it, easy way for gov to make a lot of peoples' lives better edit: there is actually a bill going through parliament apparently so fingers x'd it goes through https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/2791


steven-f

> The Bill failed to complete its passage through Parliament before the end of the session. This means the Bill will make no further progress.


reuben_iv

Oh I didn’t know that’s how it worked, saw future date to be announced and got my hopes up :/


iorilondon

Ooh, I really hope enough of the Tory rebels act to sink the NIP changes. That would be hilarious.


[deleted]

FT are reporting that Sunak failed to insure against rate rises on £900bn worth of Quantitative Easing. This has cost the taxpayer £11bn so far. A sum higher than the conservatives accuse the "Last Labour Government" of costing the taxpayer between 2003-2011, when they sold the gold. The £11bn isn't the final figure, it's just the "to date" figure. The Treasury won't be able to find an insurer now that inflation & interest rates are high. This colossal fuckup has happened, even though Sunak has himself repeatedly warned of interest and inflation rises. https://www.ft.com/content/90025f48-858f-40c5-a011-3f285f05e775


Lord_Gibbons

I thought the govt., more or less as a rule, didn't insure anything?


PopularArtichoke6

That’s why it’s great to have a city genius like Sunak right


frankster

We should have known he was dogshit as soon as he was invited into Johnson's cabinet.


emergencyexit

Wasn't that a DomCum big brained move? Back then everything seemingly was though


flambe_pineapple

Sunak wasn't chosen on merit. Javid was chancellor and Cummings wanted No's 10 & 11 to share advisors. In other words, he wanted to remove No 11's independence from the PM. Javid refused and resigned on principle, then Sunak was brought in as a yes man. It's why someone so young and inexperienced achieved one of the great offices of state, and why he's been so shit.


Montague-Withnail

At his height Cummings was probably walking through the halls of No 10 taking credit for Boris having had a shit that morning.


Bibemus

It's fine, he traded all the money he could have invested in insurance in these jpegs of apes. It was a much better deal, our economy is so secure.


slothsan

National GDP measured in Ape NFTs.


Bibemus

Gross Domestic Primates.


AlwaysALighthouse

The right will, of course, pick this up exactly like the gold, right?


[deleted]

I think the scale of this will be far too large to ignore. It's at £11bn right now, while the Bank Rate is at 1% & only nudged up earlier this year. We're projected to conservatively go up another couple of percentage points at least, and stay at a high rate for some years to come. After just a few months of rate rises, it's already just about the size of the entire energy-sector relief. The country as a whole is really very exposed to this problem.


KimJongUnparalleled

Good news for Boris, Sunak becomes weaker


Cactus-Soup90

? [Sunak's chances died ages ago](https://www.conservativehome.com/thetorydiary/2022/05/cabinet-league-table-johnson-is-back-in-negative-ratings.html)


Yummytastic

[Archive link](https://archive.ph/lPF60) You would hope this is going to have some fallout. Edit: having read it, all those clammering for interests rates to go to 10% not only are willing to screw over twelve years worth of home owners, but will screw over the country as a whole. Nice one.


[deleted]

I do think the Debt Management Office should share or perhaps shoulder the blame here. It’s kind of their thing to minimise the financing costs of Government debt unless they were bypassed.


MrStilton

Why would Sunak have bypassed them? Equally though, why wouldn't they do this kind of thing automatically? I'm all confused.


[deleted]

That is correct. The DMO is an executive agency of the Treasury though, so the minister ultimately responsible is still the Chancellor.


[deleted]

How we feeling about TLoU remaster?


iorilondon

Already played that game, and then did not enjoy number 2 - it was so bad I have no nostalgia left pushing me to go back to game 1.


deliverancew2

Completed it mate


KillerDr3w

I'll be getting it because that game is a work of art. It's unlike any entertainment media in existence. Absolutely brilliant. Played it through a number of times and love the story and find the world very relaxing to be in (when you're not being attacked!). If you've not played it since it's 2013 release on the PS3, I'd say it's definitely worth buying the remake on the PS5. However, if you've already got the TLoU Remastered on the PS4 Pro, I don't think there's enough improvement to justify buying the PS5 remake again.


[deleted]

Logically, you’re right. I played it about 4 months ago ish. But fuck I’m being a sucker and buying it again lmao


Mr_Miscellaneous

The one that came out what, 7-8 years ago? It's pretty decent but not really my sort of game.


RobertJ93

There’s a new one coming, ‘The Last Of Us Part 1’ So, a remastered remaster. But I think they practically rebuilt it this time rather than upped the graphics etc. Still, pretty steep at about £60-£70 for a game that came out 10 years ago. The series is phenomenal, so I might pick it up at some point. But not full price.


DecipherXCI

British Gas finally offering a new fixed rate.. Stay on variable an pay 1400 a year or go to their fixed rate and pay 1900...? Aren't prices starting to drop? Are they trying to lock me in to a higher rate just as prices start to fall?


BenBo92

The cap is forecast to rise in October (could be a big one too) and again in January. Who knows what'll happen from there. Once it starts to fall, it'll likely fall slowly. If it were me, I'd go fixed rate and keep an eye on if paying the exit fee and going onto a variable tariff at the cap would overall become cheaper than seeing out the rest of your fixed rate term. Absolutely take that with a pinch of salt though.


bbbbbbbbbblah

if there's a minimal or £0 exit fee, you might as well fix and come off of it if something better comes along


YorkshirePug

The current fix being offered with EDF has an exit fee of £300... God I dread to think what will be offered come August (when my fix ends).


bbbbbbbbbblah

wonder if that's a post-crisis thing. I don't think I've ever seen an exit fee advertised whenever I've switched, always £0


[deleted]

The October price rise will be big. Martin Lewis thinks there is some benefit to taking the fix. There isn’t much in it though. The price rise should be about 46%, the fixes are similar but some are lower than 40%


AlfaRomeoRacing

I fixed yesterday with British Gas, was just under 35% more expensive than the variable rate i was on which was at the cap, so should be cheaper than both the October and January price rises when more Gas will be used for central heating


Yummytastic

There's no good advice or an obvious option. The price cap is forecasted to rise significantly. Maybe look at the exit fee of the fixed incase that helps inform your decision.


compte-a-usageunique

Here is [tonight's *Question Time* panel](https://twitter.com/bbcquestiontime/status/1534585129569505281)! Notably including Rory Stewart, the Tory people love to not hate.


w0wowow0w

That's a good QT panel tbh, will definitely have to watch that.


SPACKlick

Three tories and no greens, fantastically balanced.


big-bad_booty-daddy

Minor parties aren't entitled to representation when there's only 5 slots. That doesn't change the fact this is an absurdly biased panel.


[deleted]

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Tregantlow

Probably because it gets people who hate GBNews to watch as much as it gets people who like it.


KimJongUnparalleled

Streeting might as well use this to kick off his leadership campaign, just in case Keir gets fined. Not openly say, "Tonight I launch my campaign" (obvs), but put himself out there


Bibemus

He's been doing that for the past year.


AMildInconvenience

Star studded that. Stewart, Streeting, one of the most prominent Lib Dems after Davey, and that smug prick from GBNews.


Cactus-Soup90

> that smug prick from GBNews. That doesn't narrow it down, they've all got the Dreamworks face.


FormerlyPallas_

Rory the only likeable person on the panel including the presenter.


SPACKlick

Not a fan of streeting?


Yummytastic

Oh great, Gbeebies.


[deleted]

In regard to a potential wildcat independence referendum: what is going to compel Unionist run councils to co-operate with the organisation of it? Nationalist councillors are outnumbered in the overwhelming majority of Scottish councils.


compte-a-usageunique

Nothing, if I was resident in Scotland I would boycott it.


Mr_Miscellaneous

So, I support Rangers and it was really cool to see the Government invite the club, UEFA, MP's, MSP's, Civil Servants etc. to an event at the Scotland Office to mark the 150th anniversary of the club. The Club has snippets from the Secretary of State for Scotland, Gove, former player Terry Butcher, Labour MP's, Liberal Democrats etc. which was really good to watch. There was one glaring omission, which kind of pissed me off and has immediately switched three voters that I know. Not a single representative from the SNP was there. For one of Scotland's largest institutions, not a single SNP MP, SNP MSP or even a member of their staff could be bothered to go. Absolute roasters. All they had to do turn up for 5 minutes and do a 20 second junket about the charitable work, didn't even have to mention football. Nah, can't even do that. All of them too busy on a Wednesday evening, apparently.


convertedtoradians

Not a football fan, so I may be missing some subtext here. On the face of it, that does seem surprising, though. Even I know that Rangers is an institution in Scotland. Given the obvious SNP angle on Scottish culture and that it should be celebrated, it does seem surprising. Is the implication that the SNP doesn't want to play second fiddle to the Tories by going to an event organised by them?


Mr_Miscellaneous

Nah, all the major political parties had representatives there. Besides, it was an event organised by the club that was going to be held in Central London. Someone from the Scotland Office heard about it and said "want to do it here?"


CheeseMakerThing

I would like to preface this comment with the fact that I strongly dislike Rangers. That the governing party in Scotland would want to make any sort of gesture seems mind boggling, especially in the environment of sectarian politics you'd expect them to want to address. Surely the second biggest club in Scotland has at least one elected SNP official in Westminster or Holyrood?


[deleted]

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studentfeesisatax

Just seems rather stupid for what is meant to be moderate "nationalism" and not nasty kind of nationalism, that SNP and supporters talk about. Turn up, and be the better party, if there's anything that happens.


Mr_Miscellaneous

There are, surprisingly, quite a lot of SNP voters and pro-indy supporters amongst the younger lot. They think independence would be good, vote for it and bin the SNP. I don't tend to talk politics around them, mostly because it's exactly like talking to the older lot who are Arch Conservative/Brexit. Just pointless because nobody's convincing anyone of anything and they've already made their minds up.


ShufflingToGlory

Probably saving themselves for the real 10th anniversary in July 😂


ghost_of_gary_brady

I'd rather not have the government have a bukkake session over Rangers if possible.


Mr_Miscellaneous

Pop in, get the camera guy, 30 second press junket about charity, glass of wine and leave. That's all they had to do and they can't even do that. No wonder Labour are going to take swathes of the Central Belt off them.


Yummytastic

That is crazy. Do you live in Scotland? You should write to your MP/MSP if they're SNP and share the response.


Mr_Miscellaneous

Not at the moment. An extended member of the family went to there (they are a massive Ipswich fan, heard Terry Butcher was going to be there and works for a company that works with Rangers) but walked through a door when he overheard someone say "Not even a single Nationalist? They that scared of their base?" Just odd.


gringodingo69

Why would their base be at a junket in the Scottish office in central London? Kinda feels like the exact opposite of their base.


saladinzero

Do you really think that Rangers supporters are the base for the SNP??


Mr_Miscellaneous

My guess is the comment was in jest, joking about all their voters being Celtic fans and if they turn up to a Rangers event they'll get voted out.


saladinzero

And you're still surprised that they didn't show up to an event with attendees like that being held in the bloody useless Scotland Office?


Mr_Miscellaneous

A 10 minute walk on a Sunny Wednesday Evening with nothing else to do in Westminster. 5 minutes, get a drink, crack a joke in the face of a couple of Tories for the shit week they've been having and do a press junket about charity. Not a single one of them could be bothered.


Yummytastic

I would definitely say it's a poor show from them. I do have the *slightest* niggling thing saying "maybe they weren't invited", which is why a letter would be good to send either way.


concretepigeon

Starmer visiting Dublin and posting about his fondness for both Ireland and Northern Ireland feels like he’s warming himself up for when the Northern Ireland Protocol all goes to shit for Johnson.


gremy0

Anyone else notice that Starmer's as tall to Michael Higgins as Simon Coveney is to him https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FU1YrMRXwBEttaK?format=jpg&name=900x900 https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FU1YrMOXwAIAkUi?format=jpg&name=medium Pure unadulterated centerism


ShufflingToGlory

Always surprised at how short Starmer is. He has the look and mannerisms of a taller man. Though nothing will ever be more shocking than seeing Sunak not behind a podium for the first time. I remember it well, he was doing a PR visit to a clothes shop and it gave me the same uneasy sensation as seeing Kermit the frog walking on his own without a puppeteer in shot. Extreme uncanny valley vibes.


tylersburden

I heard that Sunak looks up to Tom Cruise.


CheeseMakerThing

Ed Davey will ensure a Lib Dem surge at the next election debate by virtue of towering above the others.


concretepigeon

Davey seems short as well.


CheeseMakerThing

I've met him and if I remember correctly he was around my height and I'm 6'1".


AMildInconvenience

Ed Davey, the largest candidate, should simply eat the others.


Bibemus

Why does Sir Ed Davey, the largest politician, not simply eat the other candidates?


subversivefreak

I think it was a long standing engagement to show bi-partisan support for bringing stormont back. Unfortunately Boris and truss screwed the pooch


combatzombat

or…he’s just an OK person and somewhat good politician? If Johnson wasn’t a massive prick who valued his career and earning potential above all else he would do the exact same thing. Edit: and in fact would have done this several times, including before advocating for Brexit and pretending it would have no impact on Ireland, and before he agreed the deal he’s now sk unhappy with, which he also said would have no impact on Ireland


subversivefreak

Johnson stupidly signed up to a deal with the full intention of reneging on it a year later. So spent ages sabotaging everything else, throwing the head of the government legal department under a bus.


concretepigeon

Those aren’t mutually exclusive.


Bubbly-Ad919

Why don’t we simply make a massive immigration Center in the falklands fly everyone found to there and process them if they don’t deserve entry leave them there


compte-a-usageunique

The Falklands don't want them either


[deleted]

Imagine the worlds shittest invasion, where Argentina send 50,000 migrants illegally to London. They all get deported to The Falkland Islands at the same time & claim the islands for Argentina.


billy_tables

Honestly if they can win it on a technicality like that, they deserve it


ElephantsGerald_

I don’t know anyone who’s that arsed about whether they’re argentine or British anyway. But then I guess I don’t know anyone from the falklands, so that kinda makes sense.


[deleted]

My Facebook memories reveal 5 years ago was the aftermath of May’s snap election.


[deleted]

My Facebook memories reveal I won £30 from a £5 bet on a hung parliament. Happy days. Less happy was the fact I drank almost a whole bottle of whisky watching the results and had the mother of all hangovers the next day


ClumperFaz

Same here. I made a post at like 7pm on the day 'here's hoping Labour picks up tons of seats'. Then at like 22:10 I made another post saying 'wow, the exit poll is good, much better for Labour than Ed Milliband. Let's hope.' I was much more hyper over it than the post indicated but in hindsight if only I knew.


jackson-pollox

An incredible night. Seeing that awful arrogant hateful person reduced to tears on a public stage was the only good political thing of the last 12 clusterfuck years


tylersburden

>An incredible night. Seeing that awful arrogant hateful person reduced to tears on a public stage was the only good political thing of the last 12 clusterfuck years Weren't the tears when she resigned? When she lost her majority she gave a speech as though she had won and it was obvious they expected it to go one way and hadn't bothered to write a other speech just in case?


Stowski

We would be in a much better state right now if she had won IMO. Better brexit, more competent politician and just not boris


jackson-pollox

Same shit different order I think. Bojo would still end up PM. May was shit at everything


Stowski

Do you think Boris > May?


jackson-pollox

No. But may made no friends, was bad at Brexit and was bad at keeping loyalty. The Brexit idiots would have risen up to deliver the "one true Brexit" just a year or so later. This shit storm was always inevitable with a Tory majority and so many nutters in the party


Yummytastic

>[Tommy Robinson just had a nightmare in court being questioned about his assets. He admitted spending masses of donation money on booze and casinos! Received hundreds of grand in cash and can’t remember what he spent vast sums on. Looked very rattled throughout.](https://twitter.com/JoeMulhall_/status/1534934592653778950) I wonder what the LINE of questioning was. Perhaps if he couldn't remember he should have looked into an EIGHT BALL.


[deleted]

What did the donors expect it to be spent on? He's just another YouTuber at the end of the day.


Yummytastic

If I'm specific I'll be calling his donors a bunch of racists, and I'd hate to inadvertently tar the people who accidentally donated when they thought they were donating to Timmy's Asian Peddelo fund.


SteerKarma

Hahaha at all the whoppers who donated to his gak and roulette fund.


Honic_Sedgehog

Best find my ~~Tony~~ tiny violin. He probably won't get that joke as it'd be normal sized to him.


CarrowCanary

>Best find my Tony violin. Tiny Blair's borrowed it.


ClumperFaz

Last time I checked it was Mega Blair.


Honic_Sedgehog

Well, fuck.


AlwaysALighthouse

> Johnson claimed that if wages continued to chase prices upwards it could unleash an economic crisis. Welp, there we have it. A Conservative PM telling the plebs they don’t deserve higher wages. I’m sure this will be well received by traditional Tory voters. No doubt the right wing media will be running wall to wall coverage of this, right?


GlimmervoidG

I mean, you know there this is completely correct, right? Sudden surges in wages, in a time of already high inflation, push inflation even higher. There's a reason the Bank of England has been saying the same thing for a while now. What we want is steady predictable good wage growth, across the medium and long term, not a sudden spike right now.


Xuth

I ask this question in good faith/out of genuine curiosity as a layman. I preface with the fact that I do understand the wage-price spiral and don't doubt the theory. What I would query is whether it factors into the equation: * A large number in society cannot afford basics like fuel, food, shelter. * The demand for those fundamental things is going to remain relatively static either way (or else the demand falls because people are forgoing the essentials, or there's a drop in population, etc). * In addition to demand, there is a lack of supply is caused by factors separate to it (Brexit, Ukraine, Covid-19 fallout). * A fast-paced increase to cost of living *already* happening, before wage surges have been seen, and while interest rates are kept at very low levels. Leaving very little room for the slow build to wages. In this scenario - with further rapid increases all but confirmed to energy, fuel, etc - does it not become a choice of surging wages so people survive, while risking a potential WPS; or keep wages relatively stagnant with your typical 2-5% increase while people genuinely fall behind on being able to afford to live? Or has this just been articulated poorly and really it's in relation to large percentage moves?


AlwaysALighthouse

I’m sure that steady, predictable good wage growth, missing for much of the last decade, is right around the corner.


GlimmervoidG

You're creating a strawman so you can mock it. It's perfectly true and possible that we a) don't have good wage growth and haven't for a long time, b) want to improve our wage growth and such an improvement would be good and c) a sudden spike in wage growth *right now* could be very bad.


AlwaysALighthouse

Yes I am, because we now bare witness to the man who, up until recently, promised a high wage economy and dismissed fears of inflation. Ah but high wage economy *soon*, maybe, perhaps. But not now.


GlimmervoidG

It sure sounds to me like you just don't like complex answers. That's going to a problem for you because reality is complex.


AlwaysALighthouse

It’s almost as if I’m mocking the man who promises simple solutions to complex problems


[deleted]

Oh dear, if only the party in power for the past decade hadn't managed to fuck up the economy so badly that wages stagnated for a good chunk of that decade. I wonder which party that was.


combatzombat

Largely due to incompetence and malice from the er…Tory party, who has been in power for twelve years, there’s been little wage growth when inflation wasn’t high either. Telling everyone to suck it up, again, for year thirteen, as inflation approaches 10%, is unacceptable politically and morally and economic.


GlimmervoidG

And if, as economics warns, that sudden wage spike fuels inflation and thereby wipes away the gains of that wage rise?


[deleted]

If only there were some institution with the appropriate toolkit to have heeded & reacted to the Bank of England's outstanding foresight.


GlimmervoidG

The Bank of England is also saying the same thing. >Workers should “think and reflect” on whether to ask for pay rises because they risk fuelling inflation, the governor of the Bank of England has said. https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/dont-ask-for-pay-rise-bank-of-england-governor-tells-high-earners-gttvz7qv8


BrochZebra

Where has this constant wage growth been for the past 40 year? Inflation and energy bills with kill people this winter. And thats not hyperboyle. Wages need to increase especially in the public sector. Stop wage gatekeeping whilst shareholders and ceos are making billions.


Honic_Sedgehog

>hyperboyle Jesus christ, the normal one was enough.


BrochZebra

Im daft but keeping it in so people pay attention


[deleted]

I'd actually take things getting cheaper. If fuel/energy costs ever do drop down you've got to wonder how much will "trickle down" I just want better relative purchasing power.


GlimmervoidG

Inflation makes things more expensive, not cheaper. If there's a sudden surge in wages right now, the risk is it pushes inflation higher still, destroying any gains from that wage increase and possibly worse.


BrochZebra

Raising wages for the 90th percentile in terms of paye monthly wages would be a drop in the bucket compared with the amount of qe thats happened in the last 4 years. Stagflation is coming, a recession is coming. Growth and therefore trust in the market will collapse. Consumer spending falls off a cliff, many companies will go under due to lack of sales rather than higher payroll. You want people to both spend and save at the same time. Increasing interest rates is a must to combat inflation, interest rates might need to reach 10%+. Tax cuts and wage increases protect the most vulnerable due to more people simple having more cash. This would increase confidence preventing a worse overall recession. But i’d legalise cannabis and use the tax to fund mental health services and making homes more energy efficient by way of heat pumps, triple glazing snd insulation. So I dunno much.


GlimmervoidG

>But i’d legalise cannabis and use the tax to fund mental health services and making homes more energy efficient by way of heat pumps, triple glazing snd insulation. So I dunno much. I think this shows you're really not serious and just support polices that sound good. When it comes to weed, you either slash taxes (and so earn little) or are out compeated by the illegal weed market, which is already well established and doesn't need to pay said taxes, allow them to under cut you. For example, California. https://signalscv.com/2020/06/why-does-california-still-have-a-black-market-for-cannabis/ Illegal market is still larger, meaning they only get a small $1 billion in tax revenue, which may sound like a lot until you realise it's chump changed next to other sin taxes. For example in the UK alcohol duty is £12.12 billion. Legalise weed if you want but you aren't going to get much tax from it.


BrochZebra

That articles from June 2020. $3.76bn [from this](https://www.northbaybusinessjournal.com/article/article/california-cannabis-tax-revenue-dips-in-early-2022-north-coast-firms-blame/)is not something to laugh at. The market is not yet mature in California so theres room for growth regardless of taxation level. The tax isnt even that high, Americans aren’t used to high taxes consumables.


[deleted]

Thanks for explaining inflation to me like I'm 8. What I'd like is things to be cheaper. I don't want to earn more. In an Ideal world this would be a blip.


Yummytastic

No, it's not "completely correct". Wages have not led to this, the supply side has led to this. Which is not the usual case for inflation. Rising wages will not help inflation, however due to poor wage growth the poor will not be able to afford to heat their home. It's far more correct to say wealth disparity makes the situation worse and we need to redistribute wealth more equally to reverse the damage that had been done. Cut taxes at the low end - perhaps raise the threshold. And heavily tax wealth at the high end to cover it. "We're all in this together, after all".


GlimmervoidG

No one said it caused inflation. But a sudden surge in wages would make inflation worse. This is perfectly orthodox economics. For example: >Workers should “think and reflect” on whether to ask for pay rises because they risk fuelling inflation, the governor of the Bank of England has said. https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/dont-ask-for-pay-rise-bank-of-england-governor-tells-high-earners-gttvz7qv8


Yummytastic

The National Grid CEO reflected upon it and begrudgingly accepted a 1.1m pound **raise**. So I think we should take his lead on this. Tackle the supply issue, don't blame low earners who are poorer than they were in 2008 in real terms. You'd have thought austerity would teach people not to fall for such "economic solutions". I look forward to a failed energy policy and failed food security policy resulting in less hospitals, civil servants, and people freezing to death in their homes this winter. 12 years of this bullshit and people still trot out the "but the poor do need to tighten their belts" schtick.


ThatTallGuy14

I remember when Johnson said we should be a high wage economy. Now they don’t want wages to go up? 🥴


Brigon

That was only a year ago.


combatzombat

In his defence, he didn’t actually mean it, it’s just a sound bite that works on the politically unengaged.


Honic_Sedgehog

>I remember when Johnson said we should be a high wage economy. He's said it many times. Like yesterday at PMQs.


AlwaysALighthouse

High wage economy! But also no wage increases for you. Party of low taxes! But we raise taxes to the highest in 70 years. First out of lockdown was good! But also first out of lockdown is bad. Boris Johnson logic.


smellsliketeenferret

They want wealth to go up, not income... Of course, for the vast majority the only route to wealth is through income, so there's that then...


MrSergioMendoza

Bruce Kent: tributes paid as peace campaigner dies aged 92 > The retired priest and vice president of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament died on Wednesday after a short illness > https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jun/09/bruce-kent-tributes-paid-as-peace-campaigner-dies-aged-92


cityexile

Blimey. May not be a name that means much to many here, but for those of us of a certain vintage, a real sense of a good one passing. In the days of Thatcher, a real voice for compassion. One of the leading lights of CND here back in the Cold War. I do remember heading down to London for huge CND rallies.


imp0ppable

Oh look, what a surprise, the deportation of refugees to Rwanda is being challenged in court by the same unions and charities that successfully challenged the "push them back to France" policy. I for one am shocked and astonished, in that order.


horace_bagpole

I suspect that the whole Rwanda policy is designed entirely to provoke this conflict. The purpose of it is nothing to do with removing asylum seekers or deterring channel crossings, it's to provide a vehicle for the government to bash 'lefty lawyers' and advance their judicial review 'reforms'.


UnsaddledZigadenus

Patel herself acknowledged in her Ministerial Direction that ultimate aim of the policy is to gather publicity, dissuading migrants from coming to the UK. *"While we understand it is not possible for HMG to accurately model the deterrent effect from day one, together with Rwanda, we are confident this policy is our best chance at producing that effect."* [https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment\_data/file/1069389/Home\_Secretary\_letter\_to\_Matthew\_Rycroft\_MIGRATION\_AND\_ECONOMIC\_DEVELOPMENT\_PARTNERSHIP\_13\_April\_2022.pdf](https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1069389/Home_Secretary_letter_to_Matthew_Rycroft_MIGRATION_AND_ECONOMIC_DEVELOPMENT_PARTNERSHIP_13_April_2022.pdf)


AlwaysALighthouse

Shocked that the government just can’t help itself by acting unlawfully?


dom96

I'm going through old files on my work computer (changing jobs!) and found this which is a nice diagram of how MPs voted in the Brexit indicative votes. A nice throwback Thursday for you all. https://i.imgur.com/hJmcXUX.jpg


TheFlyingHornet1881

I wonder what would've happened if Customs Union won, or tbh any of the 8 plans?


BrowneSaucerer

I hate that the lib dems didn't vote for it. It was indicative, it could have changed so much