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Unless Proportional Representation is brought in they are forever going to be a minor party or a protest vote
Very poor showing again last night
Shame as I think a strong Liberal party within a left of centre opposition would represent a lot of ordinary voters
They may well form part of a coalition with Labour if Starmer doesn't get enough seats
Many would be happy with that as long as it kept out the blue rabble
I don't even know what the Lib Dems stand for. At least with the Tories/Labour it's pretty clear cut: Tories stand for inequality and greed; Labour stands for fairness and justice. But what exactly floats your average Lib Dem's boat? I'm buggered if I know.
Yeah, I had a few mates lose their jobs. One had a House repossessed.
I remember expenses scandals, cut backs, low morale, airlines going bust when people were abroad, a pretty severe recession, lads dying in Afghanistan, house price collapse, negative equity, bank bailouts using our money, unemployment being far higher than it is now.
Was no picnic. The world hasn't been the same since before the 2008 crash really.
2010 I think I voted Lib Dem.
I've just checked..
The economy declined five quarters in a row.
Average wages fell. Not accounting for inflation. The actual average wage fell.
Unemployment was 8%. Youth unemployment 20%. Both pretty much double the last few years.
Consumer confidence hit -40.
Covid aside, 2008-10 were the worst years in recent history in many respects.
Anyone who thought that was automatically fixed by a change of government was wrong. Anyone who thinks that now is the same.
Not to say there aren't other benefits of change, but the fundamentals won't change.
No, the impact of the Truss budget was selfmade, but it hasn't impacted much long term at all. Same with Brexit, despite all the noise.
And you are right.. it did. But from 2008 it didn't. That has set the tone for lower growth across the west since. We've never recovered.
I hope we do if we got a new government but I doubt it.
So, why is it then that probably the most effective line that Labour can come out with at the moment is the simple question "are you better off now than you were thirteen years ago?"
https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/uk...rG60vuEv-jKP_e
Exactly this.
What we do know is that since Brexit (and the end of Covid) the UK has experienced higher rates of inflation, we have a shortage of workers, even Twaaty Tim from Spoons acknowledges this and our economy growth rate lags behind the rest of the G7 countries.
It has absolutely nothing to do with Brexit though?
Luckily for the UK, Liz Truss came to save the day
Because it's political rhetoric. It's obvious why they do it. I would do it. It's a good attack line. But an even better question is are you better off that you were 15 years ago! That's my point. People forget what 2008-2010 was like.
This idea that things changed in 2010 with a new govt. It's wrong. Things changed in 2008.
There has been essentially zero impact on GDP growth of it Vs other comparable countries.
Our inflation did not peak higher.
Our unemployment is noticeably lower
Our wage growth is higher
Our experts to the EU are now far higher too.
It's made some things harder for some businesses thats true. You can put some things in the negative column, that's not in. Dispute. But overall there is no notable impact.