[agentorange]

Originally Posted by Wills2

Indeed, although we need to understand that the next incumbents will be given the same empty bank account so the decline will continue. (that's not a political point but economic reality)

I was born in the 70's and there was an awful lot of urban decay across the UK it feels like we're heading back to that era, it's quite depressing.

As a child of the 60s, I know of what you speak. However, in London, much of the apparent decay was in fact damage from WWII that still hadn't been fixed. I'm quoting my grandad from about 1973 who lived in Newham across a main road from an empty field that had been bombed out in the blitz.

Now, round the back of his place where the Stratford shopping center now sits and the London stadium was built, that was different deal. It defined urban decay for me as a kid.

[Pond]

Originally Posted by Wills2

Indeed, although we need to understand that the next incumbents will be given the same empty bank account so the decline will continue. (that's not a political point but economic reality)

Nonsense. They have a MASSIVE bank account (the sixth or seventh largest in the world). Our Governments are just useless at using it wisely or getting VFM. They have absolutely no clue, either on a National, County or local level.
Always the same in the public sector, has been for decades.

It is VERY easy to waste other people's money, especially if you have no personal comeback. Education, NHS, roads, local services, benefits....you name it; they waste it. It has been getting worse for years, as power, the media backlash and politics are more important to them than providing decent public services.

Governments contracts have been a 'licence to print money' for many years. It's not going to change by voting differently.

[Wills2]

Originally Posted by Pond

Nonsense. They have a MASSIVE bank account (the sixth or seventh largest in the world). Our Governments are just useless at using it wisely or getting VFM. They have absolutely no clue, either on a National, County or local level.
Always the same in the public sector, has been for decades.

It is VERY easy to waste other people's money, especially if you have no personal comeback. Education, NHS, roads, local services, benefits....you name it; they waste it. It has been getting worse for years, as power, the media backlash and politics are more important to them than providing decent public services.

Governments contracts have been a 'licence to print money' for many years. It's not going to change by voting differently.

It's not nonsense did you misread the post? They've already wasted all the money, massive bank account? Well yes if you think being massively overdrawn is the same thing.

Have a look at our GDP to debt ratio (85%) budget deficit (23 years and counting), trade deficit (27 years and counting) you seem to think that GDP = cash in the bank it doesn't, then have a look at the forward liabilities the government/country has vs the cash it can raise.

And please don't point to other countries like Japan who also run large GDP to debt ratios as you'll just double down on your ignorance of the matter, Truss found out just how broke we are when she tried to borrow a few billion...the market said no, interest rates soared and the pension funds needed a bail out, that's how far we've fallen.

There isn't one facete of our national life that isn't going backwards or crumbling to dust (literally) massive bank account lol

[TodmordenLad]

Originally Posted by Pond

Nonsense. They have a MASSIVE bank account (the sixth or seventh largest in the world). Our Governments are just useless at using it wisely or getting VFM. They have absolutely no clue, either on a National, County or local level.
Always the same in the public sector, has been for decades.

It is VERY easy to waste other people's money, especially if you have no personal comeback. Education, NHS, roads, local services, benefits....you name it; they waste it. It has been getting worse for years, as power, the media backlash and politics are more important to them than providing decent public services.

Governments contracts have been a 'licence to print money' for many years. It's not going to change by voting differently.

I'd agree that govt departments are poor at getting vfm, particularly in the IT space, which was my specialism for most of my career - software development, specifically. But incompetent implementation/execution of large projects/programmes is dwarfed by the idiocy of so many of the policies themselves. Take Rwanda as a fine example 😱

[KRS_SN]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-englan...e-68666426.amp