Labour and Austerity 2.0

Is Labour planning austerity 2.0? Who is in the running to be the next Conservative leader? Should politics play a role at the Olympics? Join Rory and Alastair as they answer all this and more on today's episode of The Rest Is Politics.

Join Rory and Alastair as they answer all this and more on today's episode of The Rest Is Politics.

Podcast episode: 294

00:00 Intro
01:32 Rachel Reeves’ massive black hole in the finances
09:34 How can the Tories respond to Rachel Reeves’ allegations
15:55 Where can Rachel Reeves get the money from?
19:38 Who’s in the Tory leadership contest?
35:21 The Olympics opening ceremony
39:48 History of the Olympics
51:04 Latest on Bangladesh
56:56 Tribute to James C. Scott

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[rhydderc]

It’s hard to exaggerate how little I care about the Tory leadership race

[PaulMcCaffreyfmac]

I'd rather have bad news face to face from Rachel Reeves than be sneered at by Tories behind my back who then give my money to Michelle Mone.

[juliangilbert]

Labour didnt say they wouldnt put up taxes. They said they wouldn't put taxes up on workìng people.

[Ahrimas]

The OBR has confirmed the Tories witheld information from them. I think tbh we're arguing semantics, we all knew it was going to be bad, but only the Tories knew exactly why and how.

[FrozoneZA]

"Always polite."

Rory shows who he rubbed shoulders with all his life. The uppercrust is always polite but they can still be utter monsters. Being polite means nothing if you are part of a duplicitous oligarcy that is the conservatives. Does he even hear himself sometimes?

[iancraig]

When politicians quote numbers like £22 billion, my first reaction is prove it.
Show me the numbers and how you got those figures.
Otherwise I assume these politicians are lying.

[Notmehimorthem]

Rory that old line about "much of the income from the government comes from the top" won't cut it. They get wealthy by using the working public, keeping down wages or exploiting the system and elite contacts to give themselves huge advantages over ordinary people who are constantly told to tighten our belts whilst welfare health and education suffer. They do not "earn" their money. Bezoz for example, does not work 43, 000 times harder than the person who empties his bins (minimum US wage).

[Jaaj]

Disappointed to hear Rory talk about the fear based line about Rich people leaving the country if we tax them. Many rich people hold substantial assets in the UK that are based in the UK, geography of the owner should not matter when it comes to taxing these assets. The wealthy have benefitted immensely under the Tories with changes like the Lifetime pensions allowance cap, that Labour have failed to roll back (despite pledging to do so). They pay far less tax than the average worker in terms of % on their income. Unlike normal workers who are suffering, the wealth benefit most from inflation and the rising of rates. Even if the wealthy move country, they will not sell all their assets unless government policy is very extreme, its not like they earn their income from income tax anyway. They should be paying more to fix the country they benefit from while things are such a mess

[avs]

As someone who joined the long, long fight to get Pension Credit many years ago, can I point out that far from the rich gaining the winter fuel payment, there are thousands who are on the borderline by a mere few pounds a week over the qualifying threshold. With the predicted higher prices for fuel coming this winter, plus ever increasing food costs, the memory of 1999's horrendous figure of 49, 000 excess winter deaths seems only too repeatable.

An example we found over and over again was a pensioner being released from a hospital bed - sent home to recuperate to a cold home and an empty fridge, to be readmitted just 24 hours later. Yes, means testing is needed but the actual costs of administrating any efficient scheme can outweigh money saved.

[rancid]

At some point the penny is going to drop amonst Labour voters - that the UK is just not rich enough to afford good public services - not even close.Growing the economy by building more houses may (possibly) be a short term boost, but will probably throw up more problems than it solves and certainly won't alleviate the housing shortage because immigration is so high. When government expenditure is £1.1Trn a year, £20bn is a mere rounding error.

[thomassharmer]

With the income tax threshold frozen for three more years, the state pension itself will soon be taxed. That will mean a 20% reduction in its value. For many people, the state pension is the major component of their income in old age. If your private pension is not linked to inflation ('final salary pensions are now rare as hens teeth outside the public sector, thanks Gordon Brown, and many so called 'workplace pensions' are worth a pittance), then you face a steadily diminishing income year on year with less and less earning capacity and soon none at all.

[chrisjordan]

The big story here is that two people from opposite (all be it less extreme) ends of the political spectrum can discuss politics using facts and no rhetoric and no insults. They happily play together in these videos. Surely this is the way politics should be conducted? How nice would it be if parliament worked like this?

[squeakyproductions]

Rory's description of the Tory candidates is frankly bizarre. They are not rude to him for a reason, they are all self serving monsters.

[MK-]

I believe I'm right in thinking that James C Scott was the author of a very influential book called 'The Moral Economy of the Peasant' in the late 70s. He'd studied societies in southeast Asia that relied on subsistence agriculture and, from memory, discovered or concluded that they demonstrated a surprising degree of collectivism and even altruism considering the harsh conditions in which they existed. This moral economy was severely disrupted by colonialism - a very potent conclusion in the wake of the Vietnam War. A sad loss indeed.

[laundryday]

Of course all the revenue comes from the rich. They have all the feckin money. Jeez.

[samworrall]

“Do you think you could get away with borrowing more money than putting up taxes”. Response - “Yes, definitely”. Perfectly describes why the very system we elect officials by needs to change. It’s ’kick the can down the road’ politics and economics and is extremely dangerous.

[herbertdaly]

Basically you can't win an election saying you are going to raise taxes... That's it. That's the game.

[satnav]

We need a podcast asap. Britain is on the map for racism and idiocy. Time for some analysis!

[drdreel]

We know why the election was called for July: every month more people were remortgaging at higher interest rates and the Tories were going to be unable to sustain their fiscal policy with the next budget (in particular, the NI cutting proposal was unsustainable). Potential Tory voters would be feeling worse if they waited than if they went early. A spending review was also becoming unavoidable which would have brought the state of the public finances into sharp focus.

[robbryant]

Every new government blames the previous government for the mess they have to sort out ...