Mandelson

[man in the corner shop]

What does Earnest think about that

A question of the most importance

[baggy1]

Cabinet VoC has now started in earnest.

What makes you say this Jacko?

[Borin' Baggie]

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.

FFS.

Yes, I'm comparing the market response before and after the Mandelson fallout. What the hell are you even on about? What other frame am I supposed to compare against?

You've just inadvertently proven GP wait times aren't falling. And this is because there isn't available GP capacity due to primary care shortfalls not falling because the current government haven't replaced the lost funding. Cause and effect.

And planning reform is moot if Reform get in before it comes into effect and tear up the changes, isn't it? That only works if Labour are in government after 2029 which does not look very likely.

Jesus wept.

[Jacko]

Cabinet VoC has now started in earnest.

What makes you say this Jacko?

Several supportive X posts/public statements within about 30 minutes of the Sarwar comments.

[baggy1]

Jesus wept indeed - I'll simplify the 1st bit for you - there has been stability for over a year as shown by the markets, there has been instability for a week due to the error made, admitted and apologised for. We now have two choices, accept the apology and return back to getting on with work and stability or having a leadership contest which will cause more instability. Added to that no-one is coming up with a credible alternative for anyone to consider.

As for the data, you disingenuously compared summer data with winter data, that's bullshit and you know it. I said I can get a GP appointment easier than I could a couple of years ago, I've backed that up with figures showing 5m more appointments in comparable months two years apart. I've also shown your 20% was just made up and the real figure is 17% over two weeks compared to 16% over two weeks. 5 million more appointments with 4 million of those within 2 weeks evidences I can get an appointment quicker (my original statement that you called bullshit)

And the planning reform is not moot as you appear to want something rushed through rather than done right - that makes no sense.

And then you have the brass balls to cry out 'Jesus wept' - sometimes it just takes a fair enough especially when you call someone out for bullshit and then compare summer GP stats with winter ones.

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Cabinet VoC has now started in earnest.

What makes you say this Jacko?

Several supportive X posts/public statements within about 30 minutes of the Sarwar comments.

From who Jacko, I don't do Twitter

[Jacko]

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Cabinet VoC has now started in earnest.

What makes you say this Jacko?

Several supportive X posts/public statements within about 30 minutes of the Sarwar comments.

From who Jacko, I don't do Twitter

[Borin' Baggie]

You're trying to justify the market resilience in the face of the fallout of Mandelson and McSweeney going based off a period before they left and excluding what's happened since they left in a reversal of a trend. Your position is illogical.

I used percentages, not nominal figures. That is how you compare over timeframes. This methodology has then been confirmed inadvertently by yourself. Again, your position is illogical. And the 20% is because I was going off the top of my head, between 3 and 4 people out of 20 waiting two weeks or more for a GP appointment being steady between December 2023, December 2024 (17.3%) and December 2025 is not GP appointments being met timely as you asserted which has been outed as a bare faced lie. Your claim that you can get a GP appointment easier now doesn't hold the mustard if the same number of people are waiting the same amount of time for a GP appointment.

And something that hasn't fucking happened yet and likely won't ever happen because the condition needed for them to happen relies on something extremely unlikely. If it's not happened and it's not likely to materialise then that isn't a win, this needed to happen 12 months ago so there was some impact by 2028. This isn't rushing policy, this is the result of delaying it by not including it in the bloody Kings Speech.

There's spin and then there's undermining your own argument. You're talking out of your arse.

[baggy1]

That looks like most, if not all, of the cabinet coming out in support. Thanks

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You're trying to justify the market resilience in the face of the fallout of Mandelson and McSweeney going based off a period before they left and excluding what's happened since they left in a reversal of a trend. Your position is illogical.

I used percentages, not nominal figures. That is how you compare over timeframes. This methodology has then been confirmed inadvertently by yourself. Again, your position is illogical. And the 20% is because I was going off the top of my head, between 3 and 4 people out of 20 waiting two weeks or more for a GP appointment being steady between December 2023, December 2024 (17.3%) and December 2025 is not GP appointments being met timely as you asserted which has been outed as a bare faced lie. Your claim that you can get a GP appointment easier now doesn't hold the mustard if the same number of people are waiting the same amount of time for a GP appointment.

And something that hasn't fucking happened yet and likely won't ever happen because the condition needed for them to happen relies on something extremely unlikely. If it's not happened and it's not likely to materialise then that isn't a win, this needed to happen 12 months ago so there was some impact by 2028. This isn't rushing policy, this is the result of delaying it by not including it in the bloody Kings Speech.

There's spin and then there's undermining your own argument. You're talking out of your arse.

Ok lets use % then over a wider timescale. As the data only goes back to Jul 23 I've averaged 6 months of 2023 and the 12 months of 2025. The average number of appointments over 14 days in 2025 was 18.75% compared with the six months of 2023 coming out at 18.01%. Add that minimal increase with the actual number of appointments increasing by a greater % then you have more chance of getting an appointment as there are simply more appointments to get.

[Borin' Baggie]

So it's basically the same. And this is because the underlying issue has not been fixed - primary care cuts haven't been reversed and there's still a huge GP shortage as surgeries do not have the funds to hire GPs. This government have identified the issue, they've said they're looking into it but they're not making any progress to fixing this. This is a recurring issue in so many areas and then this crap has happened with Mandelson which has undermined trust. The people most fond of Starmer right now are middle aged Lib Dem voters in the south of England and they're not voting Labour.

Read this - https://www.ft.com/content/2e804ab3-6548...pe=nongift. That is the problem with this government, convention isn't working due to how broken the country is systematically and the pressures needed to fix what is broken and there has been a loss of trust that Starmer is capable of being the one to lead. In the meantime, the clock is ticking as it's looking exceedingly unlikely there will be another 5 years after 2029 to fix things which Labour are desperate for and lurking in the loom is the pro-Russian populist bullshitter and the pitfalls of FPTP ready to ruin it. We are in desperate need of a Campbell-Bannerman-type to aggressively undermine rent-seeking.

[baggy1]

You are correct that basically the % are the same whilst there are more actual appointments. The % of total appointments has gone up more that the % of appointments waiting over two weeks therefore I am reporting that not only am I more likely to get an appointment (as there are more) I actually have found it easier.

And as for Reform then time will tell, the BJs of this world will disappear when their council tax bills go up above the 5% regularly and they can't get any services locally. My point stands, the more drama we cause with leadership elections and media self indulgence the more we play into Reforms hands. Starmer made a mistake, he recognised it, apologised and now we move on.