Quote Originally Posted by Eric Cartman View Post
The broadband pledge is a great example. Obviously if you want infrastructure to cover the country then you can't rely on private companies to do so willingly because enough of the network would be unprofitable to build. The two options are 1) you force them or 2) you build the network yourself as a public asset. Network built, rural communities reached and job done. Why then does the service need to be provided by the government? They have identified a need and then dragged that example to its ideological endpoint.

I have no real issue with nationalisation but it needs to be in the interest of the public to do so and not driven by ideology alone. The majority of it meets that requirement in my opinion.

The waspi pledge got on my nerves too. The figure they are saying appears to include almost every woman who had their pension age moved regardless of the notice they were given. This isn't costed, so what we are saying in effect is, either current working people pay for this pledge through taxation or we increase the debt and someone pays for it in the future. I am all for helping people who had the rug pulled out from beneath them and are struggling because of a poor transition but this is just vote buying pure and simple.
Re. The Waspi promise, ok it’ll cost a lot of money but shouldn’t a few subtractions be made? What about the women who’ve passed away since the age increase? What about the extra tax and N.I. that’s been paid into the system by women who’ve had to carry on working from the age of 60 to 65? What about pension top up schemes that the women in this age group haven’t been able to claim as they aren’t now of retirement age? These women deserve it a bit more than bankers who were bailed out for much, much more than the cost of this. How much did this evil government pay to the DUP to shore them up? How much did the ridiculous referendum cost when the in or out should have been decided by people who we pay to make these vital, life changing decisions, our elected MPs? Money is wasted left, right & centre but this isn’t a waste if it’s reimbursed, it’s a moral duty by a country that has failed & conned human beings, very important to remember the people, they do matter.