UK Politics now

Whether they can win the next election is debateable and also 5 years away. Protocol determines that they need a leader and this is what we've got. Both of them out of touch with ordinary people. Badenoch thinks she was working class for a few months when she worked at MacDonalds!!! Jenrick has never made any such claim. He lives in a Grade 1 Listed Manor house and has two other townhouses in London, he also rents a property in his constituency that we pay for.

Both are married to very wealthy people. Jenrick like Starmer is married to a wealthy Jewish woman and their children are brought up in that faith. Strange that they have this similarity but purely coincidence. Badenoch's husband is of Scots/Irish descent.

Down to the last two in the Tory leadership. I disagree with Hildie to an extent that you have to be an 'ordinary' person to be an MP or even leader/pm. All you need is a sound mind and reasoning and in respect of both parties (all parties at the mo in fact) that is a quality sadly lacking.

As for Tory leader, I have never rated Jenrick but used to think Badenoch was alright. The more you hear of her though, the sound mind/reasoning quotient seems low. Like today, it's obvious she wants to reduce the benefits bill and claimant numbers (fine) but that woman understands nothing about autism...

I repeat, house, wealth etc bother me not in the slightest but sound reasoning does.
You rarely see it.

Pensioner's attacked again?

[Labour’s shadow chancellor, Rachel Reeves, is being urged to reform inheritance and capital gains taxes to help address the UK’s growing fiscal deficit, with proposals from think tank Demos outlining potential changes that could raise up to £2.6 billion annually.
Research by Demos suggests a new banded inheritance tax system, which could bring in £16 billion over the next parliament, closing loopholes and ensuring a fairer distribution of the tax burden. The proposed changes include introducing a 30% inheritance tax rate for estates below £1 million, rising to 45% for those worth over £2 million, alongside imposing capital gains tax on inherited assets.

With Labour needing to find £16 billion in additional revenue to avoid austerity measures, Reeves is under pressure to explore such reforms, especially after ruling out increases to VAT, income tax, or national insurance. The reforms are also seen as a way to ease the tax burden on working families while addressing the growing value of estates.]

Rob Peter to Pay Paul politics, completely lacking innovation.?

The irony of this is that the truly wealthy (who is presumably who they want to target) pay creative advisors and consultants to ensure they don't pay it (or very little) so it's ordinary folk who, through no fault of their own, find themselves living in a house greatly augmented in value because of other rich people's investment in property. 

In relation to the Assisted Suicide Bill going on today (is it?). There was a representative from the Humanist Society on the Radio this morning who also has serious reservations. One because this bill does nothing to ensure people are getting the right care and support to live as best they can, it does nothing to ensure people get as pain free a death as possible, and ultimately it is not a choice once it becomes an expectation. Both he and the doctor who has worked in countries where this happens commented that what they have seen is in some cases withdrawal or even no offer of alternative treatments in elderly people, just the choice of death. The doctor noted that there are cases of older people who are not offered cancer treatment they would have expected before such a bill became law. They are offered palliative care and suicide. That's not a choice.

I know that people are saying this is only for the terminally ill, but that is about 50% of disabled people who have life limiting conditions that mean they will inevitably die younger, but they want to live as much as they can before then. It's not just about cancer, this would cover MS, MND, Parkinson's and many other conditions, even acute asthma or epilepsy where there is an expectation that the person could die with the next serious attack or seizure. All of these people and many more would fall into the terminally ill. Okay they might want this option, but I am sure they don't want it at the expense of less care now.

In Oregon they give you the drugs and take no further part in you ending your life. There are no doctors or nurses there helping you and you are supposed to be still capable of doing it yourself when you take them, but anecdotally they advise family members to wear gloves when handling the medication!!

I want an End to Dying in Pain Bill rather than this.

Sadly a lot of people think this will apply to their Gran in a care home with dementia. Of course it won't, she wouldn't have the capacity to consent. It won't resolve that issue at all. Unless and of course the Social Worker or GP suggests it when first diagnosed. Oh no, that's coercement!!!

Is democracy dead in England, as only 33.7 %voted for the labour party.?

It is democracy Rikki. 66% voted for a combination of other parties, none of whom got more than 37%.

Sometimes I think we should try thinking about what it's like to live in a country without democracy. I mean Starmer got some suits and tickets and we all knew about it. He hasn't diverted taxes to build a castle in Switzerland has he!