The owner of @Kopstar Refridgerated Transport must be in with a shout I’d have thought.
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The link to the full YouGov survey is here:
I think the one bit that I took from that entire sample is just how unrepresentative Conservative Party members are of the UK as a whole (predominately over 50, male and Brexity). Obviously it’s their leader that they are choosing but it is also the UK prime minister. It seems to be yet another flaw in the democratic system.
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So… when will this mess be decided, and the new big Numpty of the Nation consecrated?
5th September, apparently. Quite why it takes that long when a general election can be done and dusted in around 3 weeks is anyone’s guess.
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I joked earlier about wanting Truss to get in just because Sunak underestimated her, but Jesus. For purely selfish reasons, like Leavers did in 2016,I want Sunak in. He has the better chance of stopping the British pound tanking - though he’s probably only marginally better - because I need the GBP to not suck. All predictions suggest the pound is going to continue to fall through to late 2023 so I’m probably fucked either way.
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I don’t think it is particulary selfish not to want the economy to tank. If the currency turns to crap it’s always the poorest in society that suffer because their income will be in cash. If you are very wealthy it doesn’t have anything like the same impact because their wealth will be in assets - shares, property etc.
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Can you explain this one please? I read it as people voted BREXIT for purely selfish reasons. Is that your stance?
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Of course it is. That’s the stance of the majority of those on the other side of the debate who still, six years further on, have done nothing to recognise/appreciate the multitude of reasons people had to vote leave.
See Starmer has apparently abandoned corbyns plan to nationalise the rail, water and energy companies.
Labour really has left it’s working class roots well an truly behind
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Unless I’m missing something, that isn’t news?
How does not wanting to pursue nationalisation imply leaving its working class roots behind? There could be a myriad of reasons behind why this policy would not be feasible, starting with electoral maths, and then following on with legal and financial feasibility…
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I’d suggest that financial would be the main reason. The country’s finances are a mess. Private monopolies can be regulated. If any of the companies go into administration they could be put into public ownership at that point (as has happened before with rail franchises).
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Further to what @redalways has already said. Rachel Reeves announcement wasn’t that they had completely abandoned plans, only that they weren’t going into the next election committing to nationalisation and for the reasons @redwhippet gave which is financial. (Maybe the maths behind it can work, but we don’t yet know the rest of their spending plans yet, or what else needs fixing first)
Also, nationalisation from what I recall actually wasn’t all that popular a proposal ahead of the last election (that’s not to say it may have become more so since but that’s a different argument).
Maybe it’s just me and my interpretation of what labour should stand for as traditionally the utilities such as rail , water, gas & electric etc being nationalised was always a thing that labour use to believe in, the fact that we are getting hammered on pretty much everything to me shows the greed of the private sector to maximise profits at the cost of the public is sickening, and again it’s only my opinion but fuck the shareholders and every corporate suit that exploits essentials for the working class /and those not working.
I’m sorry but the private sector having control of the railways , gas ,electric etc never sat well with me, and the fact that the NHS is probably going down this route soon is also telling
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The Atlee government in 1945 did nationalise them along with introducing the NHS, reducing the proportion of national debt and turning around a completely decimated and war damaged economy. It also went along with a very austere financial regime. That last bit doesn’t really buy too many friends.
You can tackle natural monopolies by having them in common ownership or by regulating them and having anti-trust laws which is more common in the United States. I don’t think there is any strictly right or wrong way of doing it but budgets are ultimately constrained by what you can gain from taxation or finance in bonds.
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My recollection was that nationalisation of the railways was backed by a huge percentage of voters.
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It’s fantasy economics and it always has been.
The idea that you can take a natural monopoly like railways, give it to the private sector, allow them to extract a profit, and expect that service to get better is absolutely insane.
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It was 4 years ago:
These surveys often depend on how the question is framed. “Would you like to own a Porsche?” is probably going to get a more positive response than “Do you want to buy a Porsche?” Same thing but different emphasis.
Interestingly Scotrail has been nationalised by the Scottish government but it is only the running of the trains, not the track which is still under Network Rail.
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