An Impossible Job or Grounds for Optimism?

Labour have a big majority, but what kind of economy do they inherit?

0:53 Problems Facing Government
3:44 Reasons for Optimism
7:00 Reasons for Pessimism
9:42 Questions on Housing
10:36 Question on Min Wage

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ABOUT
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[de]

Personally I think business in the UK has pushed down on workers so hard now they have devalued them to nothing. Now the workers are just reflecting that same behaviour back to the companies.

[luke]

Labour got 1.5% more of the total vote than they did in 2019.

Our voting system is broken.

[winthorpe]

We have been in a per capita depression since 2008. Remove £15 billion deficit spending per month and there is zero gdp growth.

[uham]

Lack of supply in housing is caused by the broken planning system. The cost of putting a roof over your head has a significant effect on the cost of living. The new government could radically change this if they actually realised the magnitude of the problem.
If supply met demand it would be a factor in reducing the cost of living. Land would be available more cheaply, therefore housing would be cheaper to build. More housing would get built and there would be real market competition driving prices down. Planning reform is the key to it.

[xtcv]

About 10 years ago the cost of an acre of agricultural land was about £4, 000 an acre. So a 40 acre plot would cost £160, 000. Back then, with planning permission, a farmer near me sold 40 acres for just over £ 7 million. Planning permission is a massive windfall for land owners. Labour should introduce a windfall tax of 60% to 70% on the rise in value due to the issue of planning permissions and use those millions to subsidise building the 1.5 million homes. This would not only be a tax on rich asset holders but avoid Labour running up yet more government debt

[buntyjoy]

Isn’t it incredible Tories were fine with first passed the post until it doesn’t work in their favour. `Now they won’t stop whinging

[ecognitio]

It's pretty simple outside of a few niche value add areas such as bio-science and aircraft engines and parts (often reliant on foreign precursor chemicals and metals) the UK isn't competitive in the slightest. And it's services breadwinner of financial tinkering is facing stiff competition from Paris, Frankfurt and Geneva post Brexit. Unless you change the very fundamentals nothing will change.

[matthewharding-ewts]

We will be in exactly the same position in 5 years time but with even more national debt.

[themindgarage]

The UK's tax burden is higher than ever and higher than many countries in Europe that some are quick to labe as "socialist", yet our public services are so much worse and there is so much more poverty. Over 14 years, the Tories have managed to simultaneously massively increase debt, slightly increase the overall tax burden and kneecap public services. The math isn't mathing. Where's the money going? Chumocracy.

[Ziolek.]

Problem is we have a real stupid way of spending money in this country. Everything is so much more expensive even whennit doesn't need to be. Eg even the example between the London bridge plans costing more than fully building a 27km tunnel in Norway (a more expensive country than UK) for 1/3 the cost of the UKs plans for a bridge. You need to get rid of wasting money and start spending it moee sensibly.

[Makalon]

The massive court wastage on the war on drugs in the court and prison system

At the very least cannabis being legalised would be a good thing

[gerhard]

Labour has its mandate to govern, but it's far weaker than it looks at first glance.

Starmer's own vote in Holborn and St Pancras has pretty much halved since 2019 from 36k to 18k.

[anthonyinglis]

What a great fun way to start the day, watching this doom and gloom.

[Vroomfondle]

Would a workers revolution that transferred the ownership of the means of production to the proletariat be helpful?

[PKSiAMiAM]

It would be good to see some graphs overlapped with trends and what's been projected and see the growth trend needed to meet the target.

[johndover]

Their first job, in the new parliament, will be to agree on an inflation-busting pay increase for all MPs.

[mikez]

I do not agree with you at the slightest that the benefits are the way to lower house cost.
Exactly.the opposite in fact - I had this discussion with my landlord myself when he was telling me to apply for benefits, he's gonna put my rent up, and essentially take the taxpayer money for himself
So he could have me (non benefit claimant, as im not eligible) in that room paying him 700. Or he could have some benefit claimnant there and get 860 between what tenant and government would be paying. 700<860.
I gather this was a common practice - in essence this was housing benefits fuelling rent increases. Which was especially unfair to anybody not eligible for benefits.

[bomberbolton]

AI reducing costs yes, but also reducing jobs I would think.

[marumaru]

Taxes just take money from other areas of the economy so sure we can waste more on the public sector but there will be even less private sector to pay for it.

[g.p]

Society has to change. The end of the two parent family unit is the root cause of most poverty. What are the stats for single parent families since WW2? I guarantee its been climbing and has never been higher!