Apologies for the inconvenience. But I’m going to close the thread - just for an hour or two. Call it a well-being break.
4 Likes
I can see both sides to coin, I am lucky to earn decent wage. Before I left the UK I worked fucking hard. In essence I would count the days to the next holiday (as soon as I had arrived back home from being abroad)
It took me being taken to hospital in an ambulance with suspected heart attack in my 30s to realise I was dumb. I had bought into a concept that working hard = money = happiness. It wasn’t it was killing me.
Took a big pay cut, moved to NZ and have a much nicer life. Much happier.
I see parallels here at a national level. I can see why people are reluctant to give up money. They have worked hard (to point nearly killing them), and that is what we have been told to believe you deserve and that what will make you happy. Why should I give up my money/happiness ? The societal contract has been broken. Years of corruption means in the UK you often get shit healthcare, schools and other public services.
However, it is shortsighted similar to how I was.
As a society it is better if wealth is more evenly distributed. You have less crime, litter, you have a happier environment, things work as they should. You don’t need to worry about nutters as they are being cared for. You can live in a mansion, but if the environment around you is a shit, you’re just top of the shit pile.
It’s not about broad shoulders, taking the strain. More that it is better investment for yourself investing around you. First and foremost the UK needs to close tax loopholes from exploitative businesses. Break up monopolies who only care about their own gain. Enough money flows through the UK for it to be rich. That’s the easy part. The next is re-educating the public on the importance of society and the direct benefits to everyone. The opposite of thatchers I am all right Jack which persists.
There is no reason the UK can’t have a good NHS, good schools, clean streets, low crime. It’s not a lot to ask to not have a shit floating past you when you go to the beach. It should not be cheaper to fly to Greece than catch a train to London. The country is broken and has been gas lit to accept it as normal or something that is unsustainable.
It’s as much of a mind set shift that needs to occur as a money shift.
9 Likes
Outstanding post… which has to be a first from a mod. 
In particular, this part:
Unfortunately, too many people don’t realise that money does not equal happiness.
3 Likes
I think before people get too excited over this they should wait and see what tax rises/ spending rises/cuts are actually being proposed by the government - and what the spending gaps they are trying to fill are, and not simply go by what the papers are currently reporting or jump to conclusions.
2 Likes
Evidence? Genuinely interested.
The evidence against the current tories is pretty substantial given they wrecked the country in 14 years. And I do mean wrecked every service, the environment, industry, welfare, education, health, and so on and on and on. And they divided the UK population as well.
3 Likes
But then you’re expecting people not to be fuckwits. 
2 Likes
Yay…
Starmer removes ‘unsettling’ portrait of Margaret Thatcher from No 10
Story by Amy Gibbons
Sir Keir Starmer has had a portrait of Margaret Thatcher removed from No 10 Downing Street weeks after moving in.
The Prime Minister found the artwork “unsettling” and asked for it to be taken down, according to his biographer.
The portrait of Baroness Thatcher was commissioned by Gordon Brown and unveiled to the Iron Lady at a private reception in 2009. Painted by Richard Stone, one of Britain’s leading portrait artists, it was intended for permanent display in Downing Street.
The decision to take down the painting, first reported by The Herald, was revealed by Tom Baldwin, Sir Keir’s biographer, at an event organised by Glasgow’s Aye Write book festival.
The former journalist reportedly said the Prime Minister delivered the news while the pair viewed the painting hanging in the former No 10 study, unofficially known as the Thatcher Room.
Sir Keir had taken Mr Baldwin up to the room, describing it as a “place where we can go and have a quiet talk”. The biographer said: “We sat there, and I go: ‘It’s a bit unsettling with her staring down as you like that, isn’t it?’” According to Mr Baldwin, Sir Keir replied: “Yeah.”
Asked whether he would “get rid of it”, the Prime Minister allegedly nodded. Mr Baldwin said: “And he has.”
The decision has sparked a backlash from Conservatives, with Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg describing it as “petty-minded”. He said it was “unbecoming of a Prime Minister who has a role representing the nation, not just his political faction”.
Greg Smith, a Tory MP, condemned what he described as “utter pettiness from Starmer”, claiming the move showed he had “no respect for our history and previous prime ministers”.
Murdo Fraser, a Scottish Tory leadership candidate, said: “It seems like a churlish move, but perhaps Sir Keir Starmer was intimidated by the gaze of a world-renowned leader whose achievements he will never come close to matching.”
Meghan Gallacher, who is also running to be leader of the Scottish Tories, said: “It’s disgraceful that Keir Starmer would remove a picture of Britain’s first female Prime Minister. Regardless of your opinions on Margaret Thatcher, she paved the way for women in politics and tackled sexist stereotypes head on.
“She’s an inspiration for many, a defining figure in British politics, and she deserves to be recognised for her many achievements. Her legacy should be honoured, the portrait should be returned.”
3 Likes
We’ll see.
2 Likes
Removed it? I’d have had it fucking burned.
5 Likes
@klopptimist in a comedy skit
If only he were funny.
1 Like
I’d cut it up to tiny pieces and send it to Farage 1 piece per week
That would be his weekly wank sorted.
2 Likes
Hard is different for people. For example, getting up to get your unemployment benefits is for some, while choosing the colour for the guest bedroom in the 2nd holiday home in Trinidad is for others… I’ve met so many people who say they have worked hard to get where they are and for me it is always the same story of « I’m special and so is my story ». For me, everyone’s story is unique and, yes, worthy - from Trump’s to Gandhi’s. Living to keep up with (or going past) the Jones’ is is a path to misery…
Ultimately there seem to be two things in play.
- We carry the misery we want.
- There’s never enough money and there’s never too much money.
3 Likes
I don’t know about her portrait, but I would have her voice banished, a bit like they did with Gerry Adams in the 1980s. Starmer should bring it in a law banning her voice from being broadcast.
Seriously, there was a clip of her on the telly the other week and it is like fingers down a blackboard. I was so glad when some actress started overdubbing her in German.
2 Likes
I accept I’m probably the rare exception, but I’d actually be more inclined to go to pubs and spend more time at them if I could sit outside and not have to deal with smoke.
3 Likes
There is a pub in Liverpool, somewhere near Moorfields, that has an open square in the centre with covered tables that still have ash trays on them. It’s within the letter of the law, but I find the smoke gets everywhere.
I can see that you may still want somewhere for smokers to go but it should be away from other staff and customers.
Interestingly, when I last went through Charles de Gaulle airport, I noticed that there was a large glass box inside the terminal for all the smokers to go. It struck me, that when I was a kid, they used to design these things to test cigarettes on beagles. Now they do it on Frenchmen.
7 Likes
And seen as the devil incarnate by many more.
My personal opinion is that he is free to use whatever portraits he wants where he deems they best fit, as long as he doesn’t destroy the ones he chooses to remove from being on display.
4 Likes
I was not at my best yesterday. Apologies all.
14 Likes