[Andy McDandy]

[Malcolm Tucker]

For fuck's sake, who the cunting fuck thought this one up. You see that? "Get rid of stupid stuff"? Yeah, and I know just where to start. What do you think people are going to be phoning in to report? Some overworked NHS staff doing their best against a tidal wave of Friday night cuntfuckery in A&E? Or are they going to be calling in and saying "Ha ha, you know who's stupid and needs to be got rid of? That Wes fucking Streeting!". Well fucking done, you've just reinvented the Cones Hotline for the Reddit generation. Now fuck off before I shove a hot cone up your line."

[/Malcolm Tucker]

[Bones McCoy]

It looks like "eliminate waste" with a new coat of paint.

While eliminating waste is commendable, we've been at it for at least 20 years.
We've won most of the easy bonuses.

It is important to avoid introducing new nonsense like the VIP lane.
Sunak / Shapps' 72,000 civil servant cull will create more opportunitiess for "I know a chap, who can get you a deal" spivvery.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Who are these goons? Anything to do with Labour? And anyway, London is liberal because it's more diverse and younger. Hardy anybody is "media luvvy".

[Andy McDandy]

On the breadline, people tend to club together. If you're looking for the troublemakers, try the market towns where if you're not gone by age 18 you're stuck there for good, where there's nothing to do except drink, fuck and fight, and where the folks using it as a dormitory town have priced you out of a house.

[The Weeping Angel]

Surprised this hasn't been mentioned on here.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/20 ... g-to-power

Labour will fully nationalise the train network within five years of coming to power, with a pledge to guarantee the cheapest fares as part of “the biggest reform of our railways for a generation”.

One of Labour’s first major acts in government will bring all passenger rail into national ownership under Great British Railways as contracts with private operators expire, a plan endorsed by the architect of the Conservatives’ own rail plan.

Labour will announce it plans to cut waste and claw back shareholder dividends, saving £2.2bn. It will establish a watchdog, the Passenger Standards Authority, to scrutinise the new system. Passengers will be offered best-price ticket guarantees, automatic delay repay and digital season tickets across the network.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Those £2.2bn savings sound very optimistic. But the current system is only clinging on, with management contracts that don’t have the advantages that franchises did.

[Bones McCoy]

On the breadline, people tend to club together. If you're looking for the troublemakers, try the market towns where if you're not gone by age 18 you're stuck there for good, where there's nothing to do except drink, fuck and fight, and where the folks using it as a dormitory town have priced you out of a house.

Imagine making it in the city, then moving out to a dormitory town where the locals only want to drink, fuck and fight (and maybe rob your gaff while you're on your 3 hour commute).

Is this how low the "British dream" has sunk?

[mattomac]

Surprised this hasn't been mentioned on here.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/20 ... g-to-power

Labour will fully nationalise the train network within five years of coming to power, with a pledge to guarantee the cheapest fares as part of “the biggest reform of our railways for a generation”.

One of Labour’s first major acts in government will bring all passenger rail into national ownership under Great British Railways as contracts with private operators expire, a plan endorsed by the architect of the Conservatives’ own rail plan.

Labour will announce it plans to cut waste and claw back shareholder dividends, saving £2.2bn. It will establish a watchdog, the Passenger Standards Authority, to scrutinise the new system. Passengers will be offered best-price ticket guarantees, automatic delay repay and digital season tickets across the network.

It’s positive…

[The Weeping Angel]

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Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour party is set to unveil a weakened package of workers’ rights in the coming weeks in its latest softening of radical policies ahead of the upcoming general election, according to people familiar with the matter. 

Labour has vowed to include in its manifesto a long list of employment policies ranging from higher sick pay to ending employers’ use of “fire and rehire”, and reversing anti-strike legislation as part of its “New Deal for Working People”.

The package, first outlined in 2021, has been billed by Starmer as the biggest increase in workers’ rights for decades, with the Labour leader warning business chiefs in February it would “not please everyone in the room”.

But behind the scenes, shadow ministers have been discussing how to tone down some of the pledges to ease employer misgivings as the party tries to boost its pro-business credentials, the people familiar with the matter said.

Those talks, along with a period of focused outreach to business on the policies, have concluded and the finessed package of measures is set to be published in the coming weeks, the people added.


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The move is likely to anger some trade union leaders but please business groups, which have become more vocal in raising concerns since Starmer’s February speech.

“The whole tone of everything they’ve been saying on workers’ rights has been attempting to be constructive compared to a couple of months ago,” said one lobbyist.

One business leader said that after several meetings with the party, they were now “pretty relaxed” about its plans.

Shadow ministers will hold a meeting with union general secretaries in the coming weeks to seek their approval for the new version of the workers’ rights package, or at least minimise their resistance to it, according to Labour figures.

The renewed New Deal will emphasise that many of the policies will be subject to formal consultation with business, allowing for dilution of the promises when turned into practice and the potential for significant delay.

Labour originally said it would bring forward legislation within its first 100 days in office to enact the reforms. Some of this could come in the form of “draft legislation” that will be subject to consultation before it begins the formal process of becoming law, according to Labour officials. Other policies could come in later through secondary legislation.

One Labour official said: “While we want to hit the ground running, some policies will take time to implement and deliver.”


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At a meeting with business groups last week, deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner and shadow business secretary Jonathan Reynolds said there would be consultations on many of the employment policies.

Reynolds and Rayner told businesses they wanted to “raise the floor of employment standards and to get rid of unscrupulous employment practices” rather than eliminate flexibility, according one attendee.

The shadow ministers said there would be opportunities to raise any concerns around the workability of the plans, the attendee added.

Rayner, who has spearheaded the New Deal, in March pushed back against former Labour cabinet minister Lord Peter Mandelson after he criticised the pledges. She likened his complaints to the “squealing” by business over the introduction of the minimum wage a generation ago. The deputy leader could now face a backlash from union leaders.

“It won’t be an easy sell for Angela but . . . this is still a substantial package of reforms which will improve life for workers,” said a second Labour official.

“There’s a clarification going on,” said a third person close to the process. “There will be far more consultation than before.”

A Labour spokesperson said the New Deal would remain a “core part of Labour’s offer to the country” at the general election expected this year.

“Our commitments to bring forward legislation to parliament within 100 days to deliver the New Deal and to consult widely on implementation have not changed,” they said.

People familiar with the updated version of Labour’s programme said it would include a promise to consult on its plan to create a “single status” for all workers except those who are genuinely self-employed.

There will also be a review of parental leave within the first year of a Labour government, they added.

The original New Deal envisaged “fair pay agreements” in all sectors, which would see collective bargaining in each different industrial sector. This will become a promise to consult on a fair pay agreement only in the social care sector.

Plans to give workers a “right to switch off” will not be enshrined in law but instead will be in a code of practice overseen by the government’s Acas employment arbitration service, with the smallest companies exempted.

Although Labour will still vow to give workers basic job protections from day one of employment, companies under the revised plans would be able to use probationary periods and staff could still be dismissed for “fair reasons”. 

Labour will also clarify that its promised ban on zero-hours contracts will be a right to a contract reflecting a worker’s regular work pattern over the previous 12 weeks, the people said.

The New Deal is the latest Labour policy package to be dialled down after the party in February slashed its previous pledge to borrow £28bn a year for green investment.

[Dalem Lake]

I honestly don't give a fuck what Labour put in the manifesto at this stage. So long as it gets them into power and the Tories in the fucking bin.

[Philip Marlow]

As someone who’s been both in and out of work while in receipt of PIP, I too wish they’d stop bloody doing this.

I’m also faintly amazed that Ryan hasn’t had the Dawn Foster treatment yet. Happy mind, but surprised.

[Tubby Isaacs]

https://www.ft.com/content/fe1608d1-3a6 ... nts-anchor

Good thread on it here. This was reported last year too, and not much happened.

[Tubby Isaacs]

As someone who’s been both in and out of work while in receipt of PIP, I too wish they’d stop bloody doing this.
.

She seems to be talking about what used to be called Incapacity Benefit there, rather than PIP. The policy actually a good one, that people who've received it can try work and not lose that benefit.

But I agree, it's her job to get this right, and it's possible she's doing this on purpose.

[Abernathy]

Lordy, but Bridget Phillipson looks absolutely flawlessly gorgeous on TV. And also in the flesh, I can verify.

[Crabcakes]

Granted all the results aren’t in, but I hope this morning a few Corbynistas are realising that:
A. Starmer has delivered the sort of extinction-level event to the Tories that they have always dreamed of, with more to come, and that
B. Once elected with what - barring some kind of shitty reverse miracle - will be an eye-watering majority, the opportunity will be there to govern far more progressively than was possible during campaigning, a la Biden

It’s not even the long game. It’s simply realising that - shit as it is - you have to play *a* game if you want to be in a position to actually do something to help those who need it rather than just constantly burnish your credentials.

[Abernathy]

Amen to that. It has now been irrefutably demonstrated that the Corbyn experiment was an unmitigated, disastrous failure.

Onward and upward. I'm afraid I don't hold out much hope that many Corbynistas will be experiencing Damascene conversion moments this morning, though.

[Malcolm Armsteen]

More like Gadarene...

[davidjay]

It doesn't matter. Starmer is an Establishnent stooge and they'll let him win because he won't change anything. Blessed St Jez was a threat so he was crushed.

[Watchman]

Amen to that. It has now been irrefutably demonstrated that the Corbyn experiment was an unmitigated, disastrous failure.

Onward and upward. I'm afraid I don't hold out much hope that many Corbynistas will be experiencing Damascene conversion moments this morning, though.

I had mine after 2019 election

[davidjay]

They're doing their best: