Angela Rayner

Asked if she could become prime minister, Rayner said: “Absolutely. Because I can make decisions, and I can look at the evidence… I feel a great sense of responsibility to do my homework, because I didn’t have a formal education.” Rayner, who left school at 16, asked of her critics: “How can I be thick, and be one of the most successful politicians in the UK?”
Link

It is going to be fun when they get into power

not as thick as some on here who put their trust in a bunch of hooray henry,s . god forbid they win the next election .

The only people who are thick are those who think that hooray henry's are only in the Tory Party.

When you pay your gas and electricity bills remember who got us in this mess,

he,s so thick he doesnt understand the question colin . and anyone who wants this lot who are prepared to let them die is as thick as they come & deserve everything that,s coming to them .

As Rab C. Nesbit describes her..."Pucker Moothed Troot".

Ock Aye de Noo

Whupsy

What is going to be in the Labour Party manifesto ??

how do i know . wots in ukip manifesto .

Norra Cloo

If labour get in brace yourselves for strikes and not a clue how to run a country because they could never give an alternative to the Tories policies...

if the torys get in brace yourself for another non caring sunak & let the bodies pile up , just hope your not 1 of them . so you reckon after 13yrs of tory mismanagement that you think they have done a good job ? . where the rich get richer & the poor get poorer . that,s a really great assumption frecky . wot a wally .

Whups

The only thick people are the likes of yourself and Colin who are still living in the days of long ago when people were living in real hardship and poverty!

Two up and two down were the houses for many and owning a car was out of the question for the majority of people!

you need to grow up & smell the coffee . maybe it would do you good to help out in a food bank & see how real people are living . your an "i,m ok jack" & have no sympathy for anyone including children . tell us todger how do you sleep at night ? .

Whups

I sleep very well in the knowledge that things even for children as not as bad as what yourself in your sad lonely life think things are now.

Anyone would think that we still had hovels, workhouses, no benefits and real poverty with your level of your thinking of what life is like in our country of today!

Frecky regards strikes have you been living on mars for the last couple of years

yes you will sleep well knowing i,m alright jack . typical of jokers like you who care not of anything but yourself . try stepping out in the real world for a change instead of puffing up your shirt like a pompus peacock .

HM...you think it's bad now, wait till labour get in and the unions start to dictate how much they want. They'll keep reminding them that without their backing they'd be out of power forever.....

OC.There are plenty people struggling in this country to get by.

And plenty of deaths from hypothermia over the winter months.

Maybe Mr Sunak will pass a law to declare that all poor folk are wealthy, and then the problem will go away.

Frecky are you another pathetic Tory with nothing positive to say about this inept government ,come on tell us something that's improved over the last 13 year of Tory mismanagement

HM, I've already said on other threads they are tearing themselves apart and have had some disastrous decisions, they don't deserve to be in govt., but the point I'm making is if labour get in do you seriously think you'll see any major changes. Look back over the years of elections, both parties saying if you elect us we'll change this and change that then they get in and practically nothing changes......they are politicians which is a byword for legalised gravy train and robbery. HM if you want to believe that the problems will go away because of a change of govt. then I fear you'll be disappointed. BTW if you insist I'm a pathetic tory then by the same token you must be a pathetic labour mon...

are you upset coz your not on that gravy train ? .

Seeing as whoopsie is on ignore I'll presume he has spouted some stupid idiotic crap .. he seems to confuse me with someone who gives a flying f*** about anything he says whether political or his has been utd team.... have a nice day whoopsie...

so your a coward too & try & keep the football comments to the appropriate section .

Frecky

Ignore him as judging by his comments at all hours of a day, he is a sad lonely man with a obvious social problem who is egged on by a few others who like him live in a fantasy world that everything will improve if the other lot get into power.

If history over the last seventy years or so is anything to go by, things will be no different for the majority of we ordinary people irrespective of who is the government or the council.

All as bad as each where being on a gravy train and looking after number one is concerned!

Exactly OC....

Whups is in a world of his own, he thinks New Labour is the same as in John Smihs day.

really domin0 . it,s not called "new labour" anymore & smith is spelt like this & not smihs. anyone backward it,s you isnt it .

how come most on here have the same opinion of you todger , a complete IDIOT & your posts confirm that . your mate freeky is a coward .

Whichever party wins the next election the financial situation will severely restrict the room for manoeuvre on public spending. In this financial year government revenue from taxes etc. will be £37,000 per household. Government spending will be £42,000 per household leaving a structural deficit of £5,000 per household (£132 billion in total).
Debt interest payable will be £94 billion. That’s more than we spend on education,£81 billion or defence,£32 billion.

is that because the torys have broke the country gaffer on failed enterprises such as hs2 & the ppe scandal ? .

Frecky I doubt the mess this inept government has made of this country will be put right in my life time but a Labour government might just stop the rot and I am still waiting for you and IF to tell me something th is current bunch of lying spiv s have improved over the last 13 year

Sorry IF should read OC.on a different thread can anyone tell me how to stop predictive texting

Whups

The loss on PPE was £9 billion. The cost of furlough was £70 billion. The cost of paying out of work benefits for the increase in people of working age who have not worked since Covid is running at £22 billion yearly.
HS2 was a project initiated by Lord Adonis when a member of the last Labour cabinet. It was more to do with reducing air travel throughout the EU, in conjunction with HS1, rather than UK railways. Had a realistic finished cost been presented at the outset it would never have seen the light of day. The money should have been spent on improving the railways in the northern half of the country.

Your definitely right on HS2 gaffer

I agree about HS2.

and wots wrong in spending money on our own people ? . why are this government not retrieving that ppe money back & taking issue with those who were in the "vip" lane who robbed the country blind . maybe it,s because sunak,s own wife was 1 of those ? .

The debate about HS2 has nothing to do with the many other improvements taking place on the railways nationwide, even in the North of England.

New locomotives, units, stations, improvements to existing stations, track replacement, new modern signalling, new routes, lines closed by Beeching being re-opened where possible etc.

It never ceases to amaze me how those who do the most commentating and moaning about the railways are more than likely the people who never travel on them, because if they did, they would see what I have described.

And what I have said will continue, even with the reduced HS2 if Labour get into power in order to bring what was a out of date railway system up to the level of many other countries.

OC are you really saying the railways have improved over the last 10 years ,you really are in gags land ,try a change of medication

I think there is a difference between the train companies who are franchised to run train services and Network Rail who look after and upgrade the infrastructure.

The train companies are struggling, for a variety of reasons, Network Rail are not, the difference being that Network Rail are financed by the government and the train companies are not, but things are going to change as the railways are brought back under government control

Hope so because if british rail had been given the same funding in real terms that these private companies are getting they would have run the railways far better

OC

Regular rail users are faced with cancellations on a regular basis mainly because of lack of drivers. A problem entirely down to poor top management, a group of highly paid individuals who couldn’t hold a candle to their equivalent in the old BR.
The driver shortage is down to a clash of two pension systems. In the BR days drivers started as apprentices and worked their way up to driver status doing a variety of non driver tasks. In the franchise system drivers are recruited from a much older cohort and trained to drive the locos plus route learning and signalling etc. The exception being Virgin who poached drivers from other companies.
A few years ago a sizeable number of BR apprentice trained drivers and a sizeable number of trainee recruits in the franchised system came up for retirement simultaneously. With hindsight it was obviously a problem not foreseen by the current ‘semi skilled’ top executives of the railway companies.
Covid put a stop to training thus exacerbating the problem.
It will now take years to get to a sufficient number of train drivers to deliver regular on time services with a minimum of cancellations.

Handsomeminer

Are you saying that the British Rail days of public ownership with inefficient British made locomotives, units, mk 4 coaches were better than the present modern locomotives, diesel and electric units imported from Canada, German. Italy, Spain etc and the units being built by the Japanese company of Hitachi in County Durham. Not to mention the out of date stations, some of which were dismal and dirty which have been replaced or being replaced on a programme of modernisation of the railways.

Perhaps the reason why more people are using the railways again!

If so, it is yourself who neeeds to take some medicine as you obvously no little or nothing about what is happening on the railways in the country.

Gaffer,

Another reason for the cancellations is because the railways like many other companies and industries is because employers are facing a ongoing problem of a constant turn over of staff caused by many today not wanting to work for a living. A situation which is not helped when some can get more on the numerous benefits than what can get on a low paid minimum wage job.

at least they turned up .

More rubbish OC rail companies have no trouble recruiting the problem with driver numbers is the rail companies have chosen over the last 20 years have chosen to run with minimum staff levels and relied on overtime as paying overtime is far cheaper than employing people.now over the last 10 years or so undoubtedly encouraged by this inept government they seem to have chosen to try and cut drivers wages and conditions of employment and they've lost all good will and most of those rubbishy old type rolling stock you mention managed to clock up about 2 million miles so they wernt that bad

Handsomeminer

Aslef agreed a pay deal with the train companies months ago. The sticking point is about changing some working practises such as making Sunday a working day. Unfortunately the management side committed the cardinal sun of negotiation.They agreed in principle to changes but when the confirmation of those changes was put in writing they were totally different. A mistake the old BR management would never have made.

Gaffer I am well aware of what's going on

Gaffer I am well aware of what's going on

Gaffer I am well aware of what's going on

Gaffer I am well aware of what's going on

Gaffer I am well aware of what's going on

Are you aware of what's going on, HM?

I industrial disputes suit the Tories it deflects attention and gives them excuses for their pathetic performance over the last 13 years

Hansomeminer

The reason the old locomotives and units clocked up your 2 million miles was because unlike today, the loss making British Rail under public ownership could not afford to replace them with new more modern rolling stock at regular intervals.

For somebody who claims to have worked on the railways, you don't seemed to know much about the progress that has being happening since the end of the loss making public ownership.

That was a pathetic performance for nearly 50 years.

Mr Sunak could pass a law stating that UK's railways are first class, and the problem would be solved.

Come to think about it, he could pass a law declaring that our old Victorian infrastructure railways are hi speed rail.

May as well make the most of this Alice in Wonderland world we are finding ourselves in.

More rubbish OC

ena malcup

It could be just as bad with Starmer in charge and a world of Peter Pan and Neverland

Might even put the Fat Controller in charge of the railways and bring back the steam world of Thomas, James etc to make yourself and Handsomeminer happy!

Even Hogwarts Express as well!

O C yet more rubbish and conjecture ,it might be worth you having a word with matron to change your medication

i could be but it,s the torys making the laws & they was the ones who sold it off in the 1st place .

Whups

You are indeed correct in saying that the Tories sold off our railway industry to the private sector, but since the decision, Labour have been in power during which time never reversed the decision and from what I understand have no plans to do so again if they win the next general election!

So it looks if private sector which includes investment by the French and German State Railways is here to stay, be it by the present franchise system or new individual companies floated on the stock exchange.

Either way, it appears that as far as both the two main political parties are concerned, public ownership of our railways is now a dead duck!

OC

Whoever succeeds the current government could turn out to be better, or could turn out to be worse.

It is an unknowable.

What is the alternative?

Do you propose we sit and wait for the messiah, whilst allowing a continuing regime to be increasingly corrupted by power?

Democracy fails in many ways, but at least it allows us to remove power from at least a select group of those in charge. We do usually return governments, and set a high threshold for kicking them out.

Maybe a spell in opposition will deliver us a less irresponsible Conservative Government in future.

Or, maybe we will get a repeat of Dim Lizzy: borrow money and give it to those who already have plenty!

Unknowables.

The general trend in the world at the moment is towards repressive government, so until the underlying dynamics change, maybe we are in for some pain no matter whatever our choice might be.

ena malcup

Why the sudden outburst at me when earlier in the topic, I made it clear that as far as I am concerned, both the Tory and Labour parties of today are as bad as each other in running the country and feathering their own nests.

While the more recent comments including my own have only been about the railways.

More rubbish OC please explain how you know that the Labour party are as bad as the Tories at running the country

It is amusing Todge.

The fact you choose to stick your head above the parapet time after time with the obvious intention of provoking a reaction then objecting when you get shot at!

OC

I do not believe that you have made clear that you "believe, both the Tory and Labour parties of today are as bad as each other in running the country and feathering their own nests".

You may say that, but the content of your many posts belies what you state.

You constantly attempt to deflect criticism of this government by evoking your contention that were the opposition in charge they would be no better.

What you claim to believe offers you no camouflage: your record in respect of this seems to be 100% attempts to invalidate any criticism of this government.

Only one party ever seems to attract any criticism from yourself, and it is not the one currently making the executive decisions or policy.

What I don't understand is how you can be so partisan, but totally unwilling to own that you are.

that,s quite right ena ,all he ever does is aim his bile at labour as his posts bare out . i,d like to ask why the railways ? & i,d like to ask when he last traveled on one . no doubt it will be last week .

I am not the only one who comes on Wigan World saying that the present Labour Party is no longer the party it used to be prior to Blair and now is full of politicians both at national and local level who like the Tories are more interested in looking after number one and not the people who keep voting for them.

After the next general election, it will be the same frying pan but with fresh lard!

Is that fact or just the opinion of another desperate tory

Whups

I actually did not make one last week because of Chrismas Shopping, but I do make regular train journeys in persuit of my hobby which allows me to see all the great improvements that are taking place on our railways with the only downside being the fares which the government of whatever party need to do something about as it is costing me a b***** fortune!

Mind you, It could be worse if I spent the money on alcohol like some do!

That right ena and Colin?

Hamdsomeminer.

Just the opinion of a former member of the Labour Party of many years who faced the fact!

Posted by: Owd Codger
"Mind you, It could be worse if I spent the money on alcohol like some do!"

I recall the EX tory prime minister doing that during lockdown. Throwing a party for all his cronies whilst the rest of the country were confined to house arrest and could not even invite their own friends without breaking the rules

Cheshire Puss

Yoo are wrong

The EX tory Prime Minister didn't throw the party or even parties, it was other people, particularly the civil servants who arranged the boozing, Boris thought that they were abiding by the 'work bubble' rules, and he was made a scapegoat for it.

maybe if you wer,nt bleating on about it the price might be lower & a train that turns up if it wer,nt privitised like you seem to want todger? .

Whups

Are you on the pop again?

Tommy.
YOO are wrong. In fact, yoo are horribly wrong But it's not the first time yoo have been wrong. And it certainly won't be the last time yoo are wrong. Because yooo are very good at being wrong

"LONDON — In a scathing report, Boris Johnson's colleagues in Parliament concluded Thursday that the former British prime minister repeatedly and deliberately lied to them about breaking COVID lockdown rules, and recommended the harshest possible punishment."

The committee's report was never expected to be easy reading for the former prime minister. But it has proved even worse than that.

The damning 30,000-word paper details how Johnson repeatedly and deliberately misled Parliament about parties he hosted in Downing Street while the country was under COVID lockdown.

It says his denials "were so disingenuous that they were deliberate attempts to mislead the Committee" and talks about the "frequency with which he closed his mind to the truth."

^^^^
Not my words. They are freely available on line

Which one OC

Cheshire Puss

Meow

But like I said "Boris was made the scapegoat" for what happened in Number 10

Only Boris's number 10 was a boozy joint. No other PM encountered boozy behaviour from the staffers.

Now we know why.

It has come out that Boris has absolutely zilch leadership skills.

His only control came from acting like a war lord: retaining support of his accolades by having them share in the spoils, and we have seen what a dysfunctional administration emerged from that.

no i,m not unlike your hero boris johnson .