What is it that Boris and top Tories don't get?

[Omegstrat6]

Continuing the Tory theme of deflecting criticism of their response to the current cost of living crisis Boris now says that the way out of poverty is work. Certainly, everyone should be encouraged to get off benefits and into work to try and support themselves but his comments follow on from others made such as saying people should take on extra jobs or learn to batch cook and budget to live off 30p meals. The Tories keep going on about how the country has new better levels of unemployment and a higher minimum wage than ever before but seem oblivious to the fact that this is all relative and that it's no good putting up the minimum wage if cost of this is passed on to consumers and feeds back into increase in cost of living.

Plenty of people who are facing financial hardship are already working and working hard and some of these do more than one job. It's all about a "living" wage, not a "minimum" one. Tone deaf as usual !

[westcountryvillain]

When you don't know what it's like to be impoverished you can never claim to get it in my view, Bojo is an intelligent man & this isn't complicated. He and his ilk don't care, there are already people working 2 or 3 jobs just to keep their heads above water with no more capacity to do anything else.

There are more vacancies than people which will push wages up as someone has to do the work if automation cannot, this in turn raises prices so the only winner is Sunak through higher tax revenues (VAT and PAYE).

[mickd1961]

I’m so fed up with the lack of basic nous and the complete stupidity of the Tory Party at the moment.

You only have to look at what’s happened in Australia with a complete rag tag of Labour, Wokies, Greens etc overturning the 10 years of Scott Morrison’s coalition.

People ( the public ) get tired of a party after a decade or more regardless of the performance so if you add to that crass stupidity like our lot are showing it becomes a self fulfilling prophecy.

Our next government will be a hideous mess of Labour, Liberal, Green and a helping hand from the SNP seeing as Labour can’t win in Scotland.

If people think it’s bad now wait until that cabal get their hands on the tiller.

[Lindenbaggie]

When you don't know what it's like to be impoverished you can never claim to get it in my view, Bojo is an intelligent man & this isn't complicated. He and his ilk don't care, there are already people working 2 or 3 jobs just to keep their heads above water with no more capacity to do anything else.

There are more vacancies than people which will push wages up as someone has to do the work if automation cannot, this in turn raises prices so the only winner is Sunak through higher tax revenues (VAT and PAYE).

And more being allowed to enter illegally every week. Only a matter of time (say 2025) before all those in hotels at the taxpayers expense are pardoned and allowed into the job market. I'm just waiting for "We have so many unfilled jobs and these people will of course be able to fill many of them, and will therefore bring in added revenues for the Exchequer. We shouldn't forget that this will of course bring huge relief for taxpayers who have previously contributed towards their well being since their arrival the UK".

[WBA123]

I’m so fed up with the lack of basic nous and the complete stupidity of the Tory Party at the moment.

You only have to look at what’s happened in Australia with a complete rag tag of Labour, Wokies, Greens etc overturning the 10 years of Scott Morrison’s coalition.

People ( the public ) get tired of a party after a decade or more regardless of the performance so if you add to that crass stupidity like our lot are showing it becomes a self fulfilling prophecy.

Our next government will be a hideous mess of Labour, Liberal, Green and a helping hand from the SNP seeing as Labour can’t win in Scotland.

If people think it’s bad now wait until that cabal get their hands on the tiller.

I have zero idea why the Tories seem to get this tag of being good with the economy. We have the worst inflation rate in the G7, £4bn+ written off in Fraud from the pandemic, £37bn wasted on track and trace, Billions more spent on faulty PPE contracts to Tory linked businesses. And to top it off, a disastrous Tory-led Brexit which has made the country poorer, and is undoubtedly a contributory factor in the cost of living crisis.

I'm really confused as to how you or anyone else think a coalition Labour/Lib Dem/Green and possible SNP Government can be any economically worse than the one we have?

[kettering_baggie]

The sad fact of the matter is that we are badly served by politicians of all persuasions. I suspect that the Tories have the more economically able people but also they are the ones that are more likely have nests to feather in their own interests. Labour does not have a good record on the economy. In our capitalist system it is probably true that policies that favour the middle classes are the policies that will also do best for the lower end of society; I’m not saying that this is how it should be but it is, I believe, reality. Economic policies that overtly favour the poorer end of society do not sit well with the middle classes or the business community, which is liable to damage their money making opportunities. The capitalist system requires investment and if those with the finances to invest don’t like the economic climate, they will invest elsewhere. Where is the politician that delivers policies that favour no section of society over any other? I can’t see one. The Scandinavian countries seem to have a good socio-economic system but their population and society is very different to ours. If there were to be a general election tomorrow, I really don’t know which party I would vote for; perhaps the best we could do is vote for the candidate in our own constituencies that have the best vision for those constituencies, rather than blindly vote along party lines.

[Dubbag]

I have zero idea why the Tories seem to get this tag of being good with the economy. We have the worst inflation rate in the G7, £4bn+ written off in Fraud from the pandemic, £37bn wasted on track and trace, Billions more spent on faulty PPE contracts to Tory linked businesses. And to top it off, a disastrous Tory-led Brexit which has made the country poorer, and is undoubtedly a contributory factor in the cost of living crisis.

I'm really confused as to how you or anyone else think a coalition Labour/Lib Dem/Green and possible SNP Government can be any economically worse than the one we have?

Good post '55.....but I also agree with Mick....no matter how well you do, if you are in power for along time...people just want a change.
But I do agree...The Cons are just that...CONS!!
But as in most democracies around the world....atrocious choices are to be had nowadays.....republican-democrate........tory-labour......left-right......all the same and most have been well and truly corrupted by the archaic system in place in western democracies.....

[Omegstrat6]

I think that the whole pandemic/lockdown has at least made many more people aware of just how big the issue of uneven distribution of wealth is in the country but doubt the situation will sadly change much. Ketts is right in that it is very difficult for any party to appeal to all because of this level of diversity in wealth.

Job opportunities and salary potentials remain as uneven as ever. There are plenty of those who are wealthy enough still to purchase their regular new cars/continue with a couple of holidays abroad a year and for whom the impact of the cost of living rises will be felt but will be relatively small compared with others. On the other end of the spectrum there are also far too many on either poor wages or zero hour contracts who will find their financial struggles almost insurmountable.


A recent report states that about 59% of "higher skilled" employees amongst the generation Z and millennial age group are looking to change employer to seek better wages and positions to allow them to work from home more. Good luck to them, but they are amongst the group on better wages in any case. As for sectors such as the care industries where salaries are low, these will find it increasingly hard to recruit -especially as they face competition for potential employees from areas such as the hospitality sector which has had to raise its salaries to attract staff.

The furlough scheme failings highlighted other issues too and-whilst not acting illegally-some took advantage of the scheme to protect their own profit margins at the expense of their staff. Some of these rich owners could easily have afforded to pay their staff out of their own profits but chose not to. Many smaller businesses on the other hand tried to use the scheme in the spirit intended to ensure their staff got paid and the business survived. Many others fell between the cracks and lost both their businesses and savings.

The majority of "key workers" during the pandemic were amongst the more poorly paid-care workers/nurses/retail workers/couriers etc- and many of these had to work extra hard over this period and certainly had a more stressful life than those who were able to sit at home taking full advantage of the scheme. In fact many of these were little worse off financially as the savings in not having to travel to work made up for being paid 80% of their wages. Many of these now want the right to continue to work from home although all the evidence seems to point to a reduction in productivity with such home working. The key workers may have won some measure of salary increases since but this has simply been swallowed up by the cost of living rises.

The challenge for any government is to protect the poorest and most vulnerable whilst still appealing to the rest of the electorate and trying to encourage business and economic growth. Sadly, the Tories are currently very much for protecting the rich and doing little for anyone else but, perhaps sadder still, Labour seems to be unable to offer a viable. People are fed up of Boris and co. but don't trust Labour hence the recent success of the Lib Dems and others in local elections. Personally, I don't begrudge anyone their wealth if it is made through their own hard work and abilities just as long as it is not built upon the exploitation of others and that includes paying a decent wage. Money certainly seems to beget money and I also believe that the super-rich should pay more taxes as they seem adept at finding legal loopholes to avoid doing so. The current vast divide in this country in equalities is something that needs addressing by more than just empty rhetoric about "levelling up" from a government made up of too many of the privileged elite.

[Leicesterbaggie]

Who to vote for is a problem that many of us will have to face at the next election. All parties to my mind are now virtually unelectable. I've voted Tory for the majority of my life and I do think that they have more capable individuals than the other parties. However, the antics and selfishness of many Tory MP's plus Boris and his 'porkies' is not an edifying sight. As for Labour, well I think Starmer is 'grey' with very little imagination or vision and as for their Deputy Leader, Angel Raynor, words fail me. They are also still far too influenced and reliant on the far left. The Liberal Party always do well in bi-elections but when it comes to a General Election are nowhere to be seen. As for the Green Party, half of them are 'are away with the fairies' and don't live in the real world. This is the problem. Things might change before we have to vote but this is how I feel at the present moment. Just my opinions though.