[Closed] What was the last reasonable thing that a political party did?

Banning smoking in pubs. Sorting out Northern Ireland.
Was going to mention fox hunting but the amount of poo they leave in my veg patch and their cocky arrogance means they have it coming to them.

tax credits - made a huge difference to a lot of people

closing the mines meant all those folk didnt come home dirty and saved the world from drowning in soap suds.

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I can't think of a single good idea that hasn't been negated by some massively bad ones in a long time. While the previous administration came up with tax credits, we had the abolition of the 10% band which hit low earners unduly hard.

All governments that I can remember have been utterly brilliant at creating wealth if you're a high earner but utterly useless at closing the social mobility gap.

I have to stick my neck out and suggest that encouraging people to give up their cars is an idea for the greater good, totally and utterly negated by the swingeing increases in public transport costs. Idiots.

zippykona - Member
Banning smoking in pubs. Sorting out Northern Ireland.
Was going to mention fox hunting but the amount of poo they leave in my veg patch and their cocky arrogance means they have it coming to them.

NI is far from sorted out.

a bit OT, but...

Oliver Cromwell Speech - Dissolution of the Long Parliament
Dissolution of the Long Parliament by Oliver Cromwell given to the House of Commons, 20 April 1653

It is high time for me to put an end to your sitting in this place, which you have dishonored by your contempt of all virtue, and defiled by your practice of every vice; ye are a factious crew, and enemies to all good government; ye are a pack of mercenary wretches, and would like Esau sell your country for a mess of pottage, and like Judas betray your God for a few pieces of money.

Is there a single virtue now remaining amongst you? Is there one vice you do not possess? Ye have no more religion than my horse; gold is your God; which of you have not barter'd your conscience for bribes? Is there a man amongst you that has the least care for the good of the Commonwealth?

Ye sordid prostitutes have you not defil'd this sacred place, and turn'd the Lord's temple into a den of thieves, by your immoral principles and wicked practices? Ye are grown intolerably odious to the whole nation; you were deputed here by the people to get grievances redress'd, are yourselves gone! So! Take away that shining bauble there, and lock up the doors.

In the name of God, go!

The Outdoor Access code.
Well....for some who have one.

Geting rid of thatcher , and then puting up care home fees, so she has to sell her house to fund her care.

gusamc - that looks like a great speech.

Increase everyone's income tax threshold

Minimum wage?
NI peace process [ both govts labour and tory]- not cured but a hell of a lot better.

Politicians are like nappies, they need changing often for the same reasons

I despise them all

Didn't the last Labour government at some point pay back the war bonds outstanding from WW2 .

What iDave said.

Better that they live on coupons during their term in office and the voters decide on how much pay they get once their term is up.

Didn't the last Labour government at some point pay back the war bonds outstanding from WW2 .

No, War Loan 3 1/2% is still outstanding. Paying back debt wasn't really their thing.

Tax Credits - just a complicated way of doing benefits, which makes reforming the whole system even more complex. Main benefit was to flatter Brown's numbers as he claimed it was negative taxation rather than spending. Enron had nothing on him.

Lost

Sorting out Northern Ireland.

To be fair the fact that previous political parties/politicians/governments screwed up played a rather large part in why it needed "sorting".

.

Didn't the last Labour government at some point pay back the war bonds outstanding from WW2 .

[b]"No, War Loan 3 1/2% is still outstanding. Paying back debt wasn't really their thing"[/b]

Well as most of the time since the end of WW2 we've had Conservative governments, then it would seem that paying back debt hasn't really been a Tory thing either.

Would be nice to have a radical alternative beyond the dumb racists and associated mentalists. The fact that politically one size seems to fit all smacks of a lack of imagination on the part of those who seek to govern us.

I despise Tory and Labour equally, neither are to be trusted and both should have been long consigned to the history books IMHO.

tax credits - made a huge difference to a lot of people

I'm amazed that you'd support these. To me they're one of the worst things done recently (after the discounted sale of council housing stock). Why should tax payers support the profits of big business rather than them paying an actual living wage?

The fact that politically one size seems to fit all smacks of a lack of imagination on the part of those who seek to govern us.

Consumer demand I fear - political parties tailor their policies to ones which are more likely to get them elected. And as a consequence you end up with remarkably simular policies which only really differ in emphasis.

And it works rather well ...... the combined votes of the Tory, Labour, and LibDem parties, all of whom have very simular policies, amounts to almost 90%.

Wait while I check out my old copies of Blackadder, but I think there was mention of something to do with pigs in series 3.

Like TJ said, tax credits.

NHS

Minimum wage was about the best thing labour did.
Tax credits are useful, but if excessive can prop up poor paying companies. Very handy though for those on very modest incomes with kids to look after. Having generous tax credits for low paid families with school kids is a good thing.

Tax credits, far more complicated than they need to be and very stressful for anybody that have been overpaid through no fault of their own and then asked to pay it back. Know some people that don't claim them for that very reason.

Just realised I didn't post anything positive so that's be increasing the income tax threshold which helps everyone on a lower wage rather than just those kids.

Tax credits are an absolute pig. Complex to administer and easy for people to make mistakes with awful consequences when identified. Just spend two mins on a site like money saving expert.

Minimum wage has been a disaster. UK is not all London / south west, so setting a nationally based minimum wage simply means businesses in less well off areas can't afford to take on staff. Businesses stall, as does growth, and people remain unemployed.

Not sure the minimum wage has been without [url= http://brackenworld.blogspot.com/2012/01/left-wing-boogeymen-labour-market.html ]consequences[/url]...

Minimum wage has been a disaster. UK is not all London / south west, so setting a nationally based minimum wage simply means businesses in less well off areas can't afford to take on staff. Businesses stall, as does growth, and people remain unemployed.

Bollocks. The minimum wage is still too low to give even a megre standard of living even up north. I'd personally barely be able to live on it, it'd cover my rent (on a one bed house), utilities, and food, with very little left over, certainly not enough to even run a car.

the minimum wage has been without consequences

yes we had no unemployment when we did not have a minimum wage and if we removed it we would have now ....ah the market it is perfect

Not sure the minimum wage has been without consequences...

Your link goes to someone who doesn't like the minimum wage......the consequence of the minimum wage is that some unidentified person doesn't like it ? 😕

BTW it would have been a complete failure if the minimum wage had been without consequence.

Going back to the OP. From the point of view of the Political Party or from your perspective, bearing in mind under our current system you need to get twunts to vote for you?

Recently, the Leveson Inquiry seems to be a fair and decent move.
CMD instigated it, knowing some of the sh1t being flung could easily stick to him, so I respect him for that.
I think it is generally in the interests of the public, not any political party or organisation.

Only skimmed this thread - but find it extraordinary that no one has mentioned the main areas where political parties [b]are meant to make a difference[/b] - health, education etc. Instead we talk about tax credits and the minimum wage. How strange? Are we really saying that political parties (and I stress the plural) have done nothing reasonable in these more important areas. If so, that's quite telling!

If this general disdain for political parties is correct and representative of the nation as a whole, then perhaps we should recognise that the last reasonable thing that all parties have done and continue to do is to make us thankful that we don't live in a republic - exists quickly for bed 😉

Abolition of slavery by the Whigs in 1833? I'm finding it hard to think of anything more recent.

Recently, the Leveson Inquiry seems to be a fair and decent move

Depends what it comes up with. If it leads to new laws that restrict the freedom of the press then it could well not be a good thing, IMHO.

Minimum wage? even the CBI have had to admit its scaremongering was unjustified. It does not hold back growth and jobs at all.

I remember one owner of a security business in Glasgow - an industry where wages were notoriously low welcoming it - because it meant he could offer his staff a more reasonable wage without being undercut by companies paying less.

I would like to see minimum wage raised significantly - then tax credits become redundant

Abolition of slavery by the Whigs in 1833? I'm finding it hard to think of anything more recent.

So no law passed since 1833 has been any good ?

It's starting to look far worse than I imagined.

😐

The current lot are proposing to open up all of the NHS patient data to medical research in an anonimised way.

That is an incredibly sensible thing to do with almost zero downsides.

That is an incredibly sensible thing to do with almost zero downsides.

Possibly the best thing since 1833 then ?