| Andy Burnham 09:46 - Jul 20 with 18182 views | SaintNick |
Nice guy, everyone says that, but he seems to be called that because he tells people what they want to hear all the time.
Can he make big decisions ? But more to the point, here we are an hour before he is going to be Prime minister and we don't actually know what he is going to do when he takes charge, will he continue with the Labour party manifesto that got them elected or will he change course, in which case many say he should go to the polls.
If that happens I don't think any of the other parties are in any better condition.
We really are in a mess at the moment |  |
| Satisfying The Bloodlust Of The Masses In Peacetime |
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| Andy Burnham on 11:57 - Jul 29 with 1312 views | Ifonly |
| Andy Burnham on 18:31 - Jul 28 by solent_toffee |
The amount of NEET’s we now have in this country is staggering. There has to be a cross party agreement on it, otherwise generations of people are going to be screwed.
I’ve been working in government employability contracts for the past few years. The low aspiration of so many people, happy to stay on benefits, getting sick notes from their GP when there is very little wrong with them is also massively worrying. Any government in the past who have tried to challenge this has been called out by the opposition party (from both major parties) and we now have a situation where families just don’t work, therefore they spend and don’t contribute to taxes/NI etc but do access health services (often on a regular basis). The government shouldn’t have to continuously intervene in people’s lives but they do now need a different approach to increase opportunities and support for younger people to success and support themselves. |
Yes we need opportunities for young people, but they need to be genuine jobs. We can create those by taking the brakes off the private sector so that the economy goes back to its old growth rate.
But we also need to take away the incentives for people to be, as you say "happy to stay on benefits, getting sick notes from their GP when there is very little wrong with them". So long as that is a viable option people will choose to do that. We have a much higher percentage of people signed off as long term sick, compared to the rest of Europe. It's highly unlikely that we're really sicker. For example, smoking is the leading cause of preventable illness and disability, and about 13% of people in the UK smoke, while the average for Europe is 25%. So it's highly unlikely that we're really sicker, we just make it too easy to claim sickness. Of total disability claims, 44% are for mental health. What used to be normal, and people just got on with their lives, is now treated as a reason to be off work and on the sick.
This week it was widely reported that Burnham was warned by Labour MPs not to make cuts to benefits or they would rebel, like they did against Starmer. Meanwhile the numbers of claimants and the level of spending keeps on increasing. It's unsustainable. |  | | |
| Andy Burnham on 12:00 - Jul 29 with 1298 views | Ifonly |
| Andy Burnham on 10:33 - Jul 29 by Gennaro_Contaldo |
Absolutely spot on. I could move to the US with work and my salary would double, but, yes, everything you've listed.
No thanks.
(Side note: I don't care what colour party are in power here from blue, red or yellow - they are all infinitely better than the dross in other countries, notably the US) |
As I said above, there's no reason we can't have both the higher standard of living and the benefits of the UK. For example, the lower life expectancy in the US is caused by their gun laws, their unsafe roads, higher obesity rates and fentanyl addiction. There's no reason we should want any of those, or any reason we have to get them. But there are plenty of reasons we would want the average family to have a 50% higher standard of living. | | | |
| Andy Burnham on 12:36 - Jul 29 with 1209 views | solent_toffee |
| Andy Burnham on 09:08 - Jul 29 by SaintNick |
The problem is that when whoever is in government tries to do something, they never get it done because the opposition protest so much and it goes through court hearings etc, nothing gets done
Cue a change of government and the new set try to implement something similr to the old lot who then suddenly thing this is the worst thing in the world and protest etc etc.
Hence we are now in continual limbo.
As a nation we have 60 years of youth culture coming to roost, your 80 year old pensioner is no longer a quaint OAP, but a n ex 60's skinhead or hippy who grew up anti establishment and brought up children in the same way to have no respect for society or anyone else for that matter |
Completely agree, it needs to be a cross party agreement that has the country’s long term future at heart and not political point scoring, the same with Social Care.
The scary thing is we could have generations where there are loads of people who don’t work and in 20/30 years time will expect to receive care without ever paying a penny into it, in fact taking away money from the state. | | | |
| Andy Burnham on 13:20 - Jul 29 with 1164 views | franniesTache |
| Andy Burnham on 12:00 - Jul 29 by Ifonly |
As I said above, there's no reason we can't have both the higher standard of living and the benefits of the UK. For example, the lower life expectancy in the US is caused by their gun laws, their unsafe roads, higher obesity rates and fentanyl addiction. There's no reason we should want any of those, or any reason we have to get them. But there are plenty of reasons we would want the average family to have a 50% higher standard of living. |
but they don't have a higher standard of living by 50%, there's literally no evidence to back this up.
Yes salaries are higher, but that's because they have to pay for their own healthcare - and if you lose your job you're sh*t out of luck.
By nearly every measure life in Europe is better |  | | |
| Andy Burnham on 14:15 - Jul 29 with 1098 views | Ifonly |
| Andy Burnham on 13:20 - Jul 29 by franniesTache |
but they don't have a higher standard of living by 50%, there's literally no evidence to back this up.
Yes salaries are higher, but that's because they have to pay for their own healthcare - and if you lose your job you're sh*t out of luck.
By nearly every measure life in Europe is better |
GDP per capita (income per person) is now 50% higher in the US e.g. see here:
https://www.worldometers.info/
GDP per capita is the single biggest driver of "reported life satisfaction" (i.e. happiness) e.g. see here:
https://ourworldindata.org/dat
That is, in part, because it translates to higher living standards. Exactly how much is up for debate, but as an example see this from the left of centre Social Market Foundation:
https://www.smf.co.uk/publicat
The gap has become wider since they wrote that report, and I don't agree with all of their analysis, but I do agree with their conclusion: "Ultimately, as long as the UK’s productivity remains below peer countries, it is likely to continue to suffer from lower living standards." | | | |
| Andy Burnham on 20:34 - Jul 29 with 969 views | UTS1885 |
Manc this Manc that,,, he wont last long with that get up or this crazy idea of having another office up north.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Db [Post edited 30 Jul 10:48]
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