Mandelson

[Borin' Baggie]

That's funny. GP wait times are the same or worse and there's a GP employment crisis due to funding cuts. House building is down. NHS waiting lists are rising for people waiting 18 weeks or more and are only decreasing for those waiting one year or more. Exchequer income is flat and there will need to be more cuts in the next budget given growth forecasts are down. Interest rates are steady and cut forecasts have been pulled after the last BoE issue last week. And I don't give a shit about immigration. And the markets have just reversed trend because of Starmer's complete idiocy. You are stating things wholly contradicted by every quantifiable measure.

There is a reason why Labour are polling at their worst level since the 1930s and Starmer has worse popularity ratings than Liz Truss. This is basically the same as it would have been under Sunak.

This government are pants, we are sleeping walking into a Reform government and you are too blind to see it. If this was a Tory government you'd be cursing them to the sun and back.

[baggy1]

Selective answering - has Proth got your log in? I give up BB, you win. Let's get someone else in, that should solve it.

[Borin' Baggie]

You have just stated a bunch of bullshit to defend this government contradicted by data which you have obviously not bothered to check and now you're upset that you've been called out on it.

Someone's acting like Proth here but it's not me.

[baggy1]

You selectively choose a week of market downturn after a year and more of growth.

You selectively choose a waiting time measure and not the full picture.

I comment that I can get a GP appointment easier than I could a couple of years ago, you say I can't and throw some stats in. I can and have due to the new online system btw.

I say that planning reform has gone through that should lead to increased housebuilding and you say it hasn't happened yet.

You are being selective

[Borin' Baggie]

Yes, I selectively chose the week of the Mandelson fallout to highlight the market response to the Mandelson fallout. What's your point exactly? That I should use a statistic completely irrelevant to my point because you're upset it contradicts your assertion?

And anecdotes aren't data. 20% of people waiting for a GP appointment are still waiting more than 2 weeks for one at the end of 2025, that number was 18% in July 2024.

The planning bill wasn't included in the first Kings Speech, it has not been prioritised through Parliament and the result of those delays are that house starts are down and the effects of planning reform won't be felt until after the next general election if ever because of those delays. They are going to catastrophically miss their 1.5 million houses target.

You are talking complete nonsense.

[baggy1]

You highlight a blip in the stock market caused by 1 bad decision and ignore the previous year of growth as evidence of stability, and instead of wanting to get past the blip to move on you want to prolong it. I can only assume for political reasons because who would want to prolong something that damages the economy?

And lets look at GP appointments - you're comparing a winter stat with a summer stat. Seriously is that a good measure? Dec 25, 30.865m appointments compared to Dec 23 of 25.772m. 46% of those were same day appointments. Over 2 weeks in Dec 25 were 5.2m (17%) compared with Dec 23 of 4.2m (16%) so another figure incorrect and out of context. More appointments and less waiting time over two weeks. https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-informat...ember-2025

So they've got the planning reform in place to benefit the future and you are moaning it wasn't quick enough. Maybe they are prioritising getting it right for the good of the country rather than making it about hitting the short term benefit of one parliament.

Edit - had a nagging doubt that i'd picked up the wrong stat for Dec25 and have edited. Point still stands, more appointments delivered with a marginal increase in % waiting time.

[Jacko]

Scots Labour leader calling for Starmer to go...

[baggy1]

Scots Labour leader calling for Starmer to go...

Trying to distance himself after saying he had full confidence last week and thought Mandelson was the right choice previously. Usual politician bollocks.

[Jacko]

Cabinet VoC has now started in earnest.

[tHEgLASSdOORS]

What does Earnest think about that