UK Politics Thread (Part 4)

I wouldnt put cold lay anywhere near a highway.

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:+1:t2:

Nor would I on an A Road + it would be a patch repair job.

How about Coldplay?

Maybe Just Chris Martin, and probably in the middle lane.

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I cycle primarily. I feel the potholes more than most of you.

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I feel for you :joy:

Iā€™m more ACDC to be honest.

Highway to Hell kinda feels right

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Around here they have a car rigged out with cameras fitted to a roof rack driving round monitoring the state of the roads.

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You probably should be looking inward on that one at your Tory party: Like the 46% cut in central government funding across the 2010ā€™s.

How well would your business survive with a similar cut in funding?

Now I know everything about repairing potholes

This forum never ceases to amaze me. We have experts on absolutely everything and quite often it is the same peopleā€¦:heart_eyes:

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And the traffic light hire, the council permission to close the carriage way, the signs the surveys and a million other etcs

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Itā€™s nice to have a forum with a spread of industries people work in, and the expertise they can provide to the rest of us from working in that field. Mine is local government Highways infrastructureā€¦ :wink:

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I have copied part of the IFS report you posted for a balanced perspective - already awaiting excuses.

ā€œ## The 2010s: austerity and financial reform

The 2010s saw significant cuts to many areas of public spending as the governments of the time sought to reduce a large and unsustainable budget deficit following the late 2000s financial crisis. Funding for local government was no exception to this, with English councils facing some of the largest cuts seen by any public services over this period.ā€

No one can argue about the funding falling below real terms and a large period of austerity measures.
This Government has now inherited a large budget deficit/black hole. I really hope they have better ideas than cutting spending and are successful in turning the countries fortunes round. I personally feel there will have to be some short term suffering by all, for the government to get the books balanced. :grimacing:

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But not Canadianā€¦

I think we all want that but they may not have a choice on cutting spending. We could be at the mercy of the lenders on this. Labours fiscal rules may also prove to be a sticking point.

Ignoring Truss (which is damn difficult) this is largely the result years of fiscal mismanagement post 2010 and that includes Covid. Killing GDP, while interest rates were so low was a disaster move imo. And when Covid hit, no one gave a second thought to economic recovery afterwards.

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This is what I mean when I say he hasnā€™t got moves. There really isnā€™t a lot he can do.

They canā€™t put up taxes - the average personā€™s tax burden is already eyewatering. They canā€™t borrow money as the UKs rates are not realistic.

Literally the only thing they can do is to cut spending.

The left wingers will shout to tax the wealthy, and Iā€™d agree with that. Except this isnā€™t the fifties and wealth isnā€™t tied to the UK through industry like manufacturing. Itā€™s virtually impossible for the Government to get back the money that has been given away to already really wealthy people.

There are long term things that can be done, like getting us back in Europe (or at least aligned with the single market so that we can start eating into that Ā£100bn a year). But Labour are unlikely to get a second term.

Itā€™s almost as if people want to vote for fairy tales than be realistic about where we are as a country

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You are right, but long term that has to be the strategy or we are truly screwed. They need to find a way somehow. We have essentially given everything away.

Short term spending cuts is their only move I agree.

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Where, though?

After fourteen years of austerity, thereā€™s barely anything left to cut.

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