Another $100 billion down the bog.

[SydneyRover]

''UK economy £100bn smaller because of austerity – thinktank

Cumulative effect since 2010 has left each person £1,495 a year worse off, analysis shows''

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/feb/21/uk-economy-100bn-smaller-because-of-austerity-thinktank

Together with the $80 billion lost in 2 years due to Brexit, vote 1 for conservatives the economic managers.

[bobjimwilly]

you look at stats like these and it's begs they question why anyone who is working class votes Tory - it just baffles me?

[glosterred]

you look at stats like these and it's begs they question why anyone who is working class votes Tory - it just baffles me?

Because Labour have got Corbyn, obviously

[DonnyOsmond]

you look at stats like these and it's begs they question why anyone who is working class votes Tory - it just baffles me?

Because Labour have got Corbyn, obviously

Lol

[foxbat]

Unfortunately the Tories have always been able to cynically manipulate aspirational working people aided  and abetted by  right wing controlled newspapers.

[BillyStubbsTears]

Labour had a traditional centre-left leader in 2015 though and they got hammered.

One hint as to why they did came on Newsnight last night. A bright young thing from Momentum persuasively and passionately explaining that she couldn't vote for Milliband's Labour in 2015 because they were offering the same Austerity as the Tories. Whereas Corbyn is offering true socialist economic policies.

It's utter, pure, top quality b*llocks.

In the 2015 GE, the IFS pointed out that Labour was planning to borrow and spend £90bn more than the Tories, in order to boost the economy. In 2017, Corbyn's party had pretty much identical fiscal policies to Milliband's.

I cannot find words to describe how much I f**king hate these entryist t**ts from Momentum who didn't support Labour when they didn't control it, are destroying Labour now that they do control it and are re-writing the past to justify it.

Give it 4 or 5 years. Enough people in Labour will come to their senses to drive these ideological zealots out where they belong. But the damage they will have done by then will be enormous.

[The Red Baron]

The events of the current week suggest that it's more likely that those who can't stand Momentum will leave the Labour Party. The same seems to be happening in Tory Party, btw.

[BillyStubbsTears]

They may TRB, but we all know that, unless it is spectacularly successful, a centrist 3rd/4th party is doomed to failure.

Big, big mess at the moment. Tories and Labour are both moving to the extremes, but most voters see themselves as relatively central in their views and there's no one to represent them with any chance of getting power.

[wilts rover]

Going back to Sydney's original post - I think it fascinating that the politicians who support the austerity politics that has caused so much personal misery and done so much damage to the economy are 'centrist' whilst those who support nationalisation of public utilities are 'extremist'.

It's a funny old world.

[keith79]

Record numbers in work.

[BillyStubbsTears]

Keith

Aye. The numbers in work have been increasing impressively for 8-9 years.

And in that time, our national wealth has grown at a slower rate over such a long period than any time since the 1800s.

Have a think about what that means.

[SydneyRover]

Record numbers in work.

K79, the truth behind the headlines is the numbers of people underemployed and on zero hours contracts which is why the economy is tanking, people have less money in their pockets.

https://www.businessinsider.com.au/uk-underemployment-since-the-great-financial-crisis-of-2008-2018-4?r=US&IR=T

[rich1471]

The government will pay £33m to Eurotunnel in an agreement to settle a lawsuit over extra ferry services in the event of a no-deal Brexit. here is another £33m wasted

[BillyStubbsTears]

The sum is peanuts in the big scheme of things. Less than 0.005% of the Govt's budget.

But it's the excruciating embarrassment of how it came to this that really shows how f**king useless Grayling is.

He wanted to show that we could survive No Deal. And to do that, we'd need a lot more capacity for cross-Channel freight. Because the additional paperwork means fewer lorries will get onto each boat.

So he decided to give out contracts to shipping companies to prepare to get more ferries in. (I say "shipping companies". Course, one of them had never run so much as a rubber dinghy.)

Anyway, Eurotunnel said this was unfair practice. They could have provided more freight trains if Grayling had bunged them some cash. And subsidising shipping companies have them an unfair advantage over the Tunnel.

Grayling's department answer makes me cringe. They said Eurotunnel couldn't have bid for money to provide more freight service, because the tender only covered sea vessels. It's like they weren't even aware that we'd built this amazing thing UNDER the Channel that can...like...carry freight.

So they quite rightly get sued by Eurotunnel. And fess up that they are f**king clueless and give them £33m for providing precisely zero extra service.

And the man responsible doesn't even consider resigning as a matter of personal pride.

That's our Govt in 2019.

[SydneyRover]

The government will pay £33m to Eurotunnel in an agreement to settle a lawsuit over extra ferry services in the event of a no-deal Brexit. here is another £33m wasted

We're up to 180,033,000,000 Billion pounds plus a bit of loose change.