General News Thread

[Jon the Hat]

Slam down before she even starts from the Deputy Speaker.  Phew.

[Jon the Hat]

Does anyone in Labour not have a really bloody annoying voice? 

[Trav Le Bleu]

3 hours ago, Greg2607 said:

I'm not sure I said that it was. 

Fair enough.

 

It's a shame we don't have entrepreneurs like that now though.

[Trav Le Bleu]

1 minute ago, Jon the Hat said:

Does anyone in Labour not have a really bloody annoying voice? 

The soothing Brummie tones of Jess Phillips?

Edited 26 November 2025 by Trav Le Bleu

[Ian Nacho]

This sign language bloke is properly going for it. 

[CornwallFox]

18 minutes ago, VLC86 said:

Wild, it’s probably not but if there was outside interference aimed at destabilising our politics they couldn’t have done a better job than the government themselves have managed.

The obr have released it not the government

Edited 26 November 2025 by CornwallFox

[ealingfox]

This needs to be used as the opportunity to increase the distance between the OBR and HMT and the budget setting process. Completely disgraceful what they've done there and far too often they are the tail wagging the dog.

 

We should also move to one budget event per year, doing it every six months generates too much short-termism.

Edited 26 November 2025 by ealingfox

[CornwallFox]

16 minutes ago, Jon the Hat said:

Does anyone in Labour not have a really bloody annoying voice? 

Reeves sounds horrendous to listen to doesn't she? 

And the stupid fake smile she started doing after some mild criticism a year ago is also annoying.

[Trav Le Bleu]

7 minutes ago, ealingfox said:

 

We should also move to one budget event per year, doing it every six months generates too much short-termism.

Have it before the start of the financial year, so everyone knows where they stand, with no changes halfway through.

[CornwallFox]

Although her voice is annoying I do enjoy the level of distain in carries when talking about Tory austerity 😅

[Livid]

I really shouldn't be bothered by it as I don't drive an electric car, don't live in a £2million house and don't pay into my pension via salary sacrifice but they are doing absolutely nothing to improve my lot in life either.

 

The continued NI and Minimum wage increases just translates to lower salary increases for the rest of us where at work, the continuous freezing of tax thresholds mean what increase I do get is fully taxed. The child benefit thing doesn't have an effect.

 

The NHS seems worse than ever, It's took 6 weeks to get into a NHS dentist a couple of months ago, it took a friend nearly 6 months to get a cancer diagnosis.

 

I just don't see any green shoots of improvement, personally or the country as a whole. 

[VLC86]

53 minutes ago, CornwallFox said:

The obr have released it not the government

I know, probably should have made it clear I was talking about 2 different shambles’.

[CornwallFox]

33 minutes ago, Livid said:

I really shouldn't be bothered by it as I don't drive an electric car, don't live in a £2million house and don't pay into my pension via salary sacrifice but they are doing absolutely nothing to improve my lot in life either.

 

The continued NI and Minimum wage increases just translates to lower salary increases for the rest of us where at work, the continuous freezing of tax thresholds mean what increase I do get is fully taxed. The child benefit thing doesn't have an effect.

 

The NHS seems worse than ever, It's took 6 weeks to get into a NHS dentist a couple of months ago, it took a friend nearly 6 months to get a cancer diagnosis.

 

I just don't see any green shoots of improvement, personally or the country as a whole. 

I think the issue is they seem to be genuinely trying to fix the foundations but that is a long term approach. Plus some of the issues will take sustained efforts, like cancer times as you mention them. They seem to be happy to work to the parliamentary and electoral cycle with the aim of having really positive results by the time of the next election, but that doesn't give the short term answers people tend to want. 

I'm not giving a view either way on that, but I think that's what's happening.

Edited 26 November 2025 by CornwallFox

[Lionator]

38 minutes ago, Livid said:

I really shouldn't be bothered by it as I don't drive an electric car, don't live in a £2million house and don't pay into my pension via salary sacrifice but they are doing absolutely nothing to improve my lot in life either.

 

The continued NI and Minimum wage increases just translates to lower salary increases for the rest of us where at work, the continuous freezing of tax thresholds mean what increase I do get is fully taxed. The child benefit thing doesn't have an effect.

 

The NHS seems worse than ever, It's took 6 weeks to get into a NHS dentist a couple of months ago, it took a friend nearly 6 months to get a cancer diagnosis.

 

I just don't see any green shoots of improvement, personally or the country as a whole. 

It’s called managed decline, we have peaked and are declining, the winners will be the party who makes the landing softest. 

[CrazyKopCorner]

She's ****ing horrendous for small businesses and for those of us in the middle. 

 

Horrendous awful Chancellor with a huge chip on her shoulder.  

 

The sooner these ****ers are out the better 

[danny.]

Labour doing great work for pushing electric cars.

 

Only a few years ago it was zero VED, BIK 0% and now we're at full price VED, BIK goes up every year and now it costs 4.6/mile vs 1.6p/mile, which percentage-wise is huge.

 

Probably won't bother going electric again for my next car, not sure it's worth the initial extra outlay and inconvenience on long journeys anymore vs savings.

 

RIP plug-in hybrids too, they are not worth it at all any more.

Edited 26 November 2025 by danny.

[splinterdream]

I find politics really interesting, a like to call myself a patriot and i'm proud of what Britain has done for the World in the past but my god, I listen to the commons now and realise its everyone for themselves, those MPs having a cheer and a laugh whilst they subjugate us workers and savers to misery.

Can we really say those people care about the Countries future and that of our citizens? Our kids stand little chance, but they stand absolutely no chance under Labour, when they take money off the working person, and share amongst 10 people on benefits, they gain 10 voters, but where is the Country heading? 

We need some very clever people who want to get into politics, less of the lawyers, more of the economists and entrepreneurs 

[StanSP]

Just seen the fires in Hong Kong. Stark reminders to what happened at Grenfell, seeing the footage. 

 

Absolutely devastating

 

[AjcW]

9 minutes ago, StanSP said:

Just seen the fires in Hong Kong. Stark reminders to what happened at Grenfell, seeing the footage. 

 

Absolutely devastating

 

Bamboo scaffolding!!! 

[Dahnsouff]

3 hours ago, CornwallFox said:

I think the issue is they seem to be genuinely trying to fix the foundations but that is a long term approach. Plus some of the issues will take sustained efforts, like cancer times as you mention them. They seem to be happy to work to the parliamentary and electoral cycle with the aim of having really positive results by the time of the next election, but that doesn't give the short term answers people tend to want. 

I'm not giving a view either way on that, but I think that's what's happening.

I really want to believe you, but there is so much to disincentivise the individual in this budget I struggle to see a plan for the longer term.

Salary sacrifice getting a laughable limit, such that it is worth considering stopping. Have a future off ramp for those with private pensions is then removed as a Governmental choice.

Why get an EV? It is no longer beneficial to do so, and this is further setting the ecological agenda back.

These are but two beneficial societal changes an individual can choose to make, but they are now financially and in the case of EV's ethically questionable.

[leicsmac]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c3r7xr94ln8o

 

US President Donald Trump has defended special envoy Steve Witkoff as doing the "standard thing" after a leaked recording appeared to show him advising a Russian official on how to appeal to the president.

 

Yes. Standard. 

[leicsmac]

1 minute ago, Dahnsouff said:

I really want to believe you, but there is so much to disincentivise the individual in this budget I struggle to see a plan for the longer term.

Salary sacrifice getting a laughable limit, such that it is worth considering stopping. Have a future off ramp for those with private pensions is then removed as a Governmental choice.

Why get an EV? It is no longer beneficial to do so, and this is further setting the ecological agenda back.

These are but two beneficial societal changes an individual can choose to make, but they are now financially and in the case of EV's ethically questionable.

And regrettably to add to the ecological trouble, the decision to further open the North Sea to exploitation. (Unless it can be proven that whatever is extracted is not used in any direct power generation/emission causing capacity whatsoever.)

[CornwallFox]

35 minutes ago, Dahnsouff said:

I really want to believe you, but there is so much to disincentivise the individual in this budget I struggle to see a plan for the longer term.

Salary sacrifice getting a laughable limit, such that it is worth considering stopping. Have a future off ramp for those with private pensions is then removed as a Governmental choice.

Why get an EV? It is no longer beneficial to do so, and this is further setting the ecological agenda back.

These are but two beneficial societal changes an individual can choose to make, but they are now financially and in the case of EV's ethically questionable.

I the only thing I'd really thought about is the fact I'm not sure why most salary sacrifice schemes have any tax incentives. Why should people get money off fridges just because it comes out their salary? I find it bizarre. 

[foxes1988]

I thought the budget had a very Phillip Hammond/George Osbourne('after' austerity feel)

 

Lots of little bits and bobs here and there raising the tax. Think really if we are raising taxes would almost prefer them just to go ahead and raise income taxes rather then this.

 

For a growth government don't think there's enough policy in for the growth at all.

 

The markets reacting well to it is very good news though. Hopefully there's more confidence and in turn investment generated through it.

[Dahnsouff]

50 minutes ago, CornwallFox said:

I the only thing I'd really thought about is the fact I'm not sure why most salary sacrifice schemes have any tax incentives. Why should people get money off fridges just because it comes out their salary? I find it bizarre. 

Because it incenticizes people to look after their futures and prepare for the inevitable squeeze on the public pension purse. You are no using Salary Sacrifice for a,fridge, that feels extremely disingenuous, you are funding your own old age.