mistermack wrote:Brian Peacock wrote:
Name any hard-left Labour policy.
Lots more power to the Unions.
So you think workers should have fewer rights? You do know that the rights you have now were fought for by union members, rights that made the employment contract just that, a mutual contract, and stopped employees being the chattel of their employers? The unions are fighting a rearguard action to protect the rights workers currently have, so again, do you think workers -- which is like everyone - should have less rights, freedoms and protections?
Borrow lots of money and end "austerity". (also called, loading debt on your kids)
Why the scary quotes? You know that Austerity is just the popular term for the consequences of certain political choices, among them the choice to quickly pay back the money borrowed to bail out the banks on top of the recession which the banking crisis and the slashing of public services which paying that money back quickly made inevitable. At the moment every man, woman and child in Britain is in debt to the tune of c.£7000 to cover the cost of c.£460bn QE, bond issues, and other measures to support the financial sector, and Tory chancellors since 2010 have overseen the national debt rising from c.65% of GDP to c.83% of GDP.
Lots more tax on everyone.
You can have a US- or Monaco-style tax code but you can't have essential services as well. A progressive taxation system to pay for essential services seems the only reasonable alternative to shifting the burden directly to the individual at a higher cost. Do you really want a healthcare system that kicks you out of hospital before your treatment is complete if the costs run up to the limit of your insurance? Having said that, progressive taxation means that those who can afford to pay more pay more than those who can't. The idea that cutting taxes for the wealthy trickles down into the economy has be so soundly debunked that it's almost laughable - though it doesn't stop the wealthy from repeating the mantra does it?
Spend spend spend.
Approached wisely, public sector spending acts as an economic multiplier. Latest figures show total government spending at 45% of GDP. Perhaps if that £7000 each had been spend in the public sector both the national debt and government spending would be more manageable in a more buoyant economy.
Scrap the Nukes.
Why not? Why pay billions over years for a weapon that can never be used in good conscience? Does the UK even have a nuclear capability even at that price, what with both our nuclear subs being in dry dock and the last test firing being a dud?
Shitloads of immigrants.
Ah, you don't like foreigners. But who else is going to wipe your arse or lift you out the bath for £3 ph when public service spending is cut along with taxes, and your pension has been syphoned off into some off-shore corporate slush fund due to deregulation of the markets?
Political correctness gone mad.
But don't you think that your politics is correct? That's what a charge of 'political correctness' stands for these days, "You have the wrong politics and the wrong attitude." It's an easy slur, but essentially meaningless.
I'm sure we could have an interesting discussion on any of these points if you were prepared to abandon sloganising in favour of reasonable discourse. So, still waiting for some 'hard-left' Labour policies rather than The Daily Mail strawman versions you've offered here. Perhaps the Labour party have moved a little to left under Corbyn--frankly, it's quite hard to tell what their position is on many issues atm--but only in the context of them moving back towards the centre from their previous right-leaning Tory lite position under Blair, Brown, and wotzizface.
I'm not a Labour supporter by the way - generally I vote Green, though I have tactically voted LibDem here and there (though I won't be doing that again!).
