[spireitematt]

Corbyn is a disaster for Labour, he is unelectable!!  May knows this and she also knows this might be the one and only chance she has to actually win an election!!  Assuming that leaked manifesto is real then for me that would be the final nail in the Labour coffin as regards my vote, if I was able to vote!!  In the past I have mainly voted Labour but have also voted Tory and Lib Dem depending on the situation but Corbyn and that manifesto looks to me like something to take Britain back to the Winter of Discontent in the late 70s, and that is essentially what led to Thatcher gaining power!!  Of course we will have to wait to see how Labour intend to fund all these initiatives, as well as tackling the budget deficit in 5 years without there being a major impact on the economy.  Its very noble to make the highest earners pay more tax and to make companies that are successful pay more tax, but post Brexit I would think the last thing we want to do is add to the business tax companies have to pay!!

What's wrong with renationalising the railways again? Ticket prices on railways are too expensive, the trains are dirty and not kept clean and they are owned by German and French companies and those same companies put our ticket prices up to subsidise there own NATIONALISED railways to keep them going is that fair?

Our Energy companies are owned again by French and German companies and they put the prices sky high and people don't bother changing suppliers because there is no point as it would cost more money in the long run.

We have no industry anymore in Britain. Jobs are few and far between, there's far too many temporary jobs and zero hour contracts where the employee has no rights. How people meant to live off zero hour contracts? Yes there alright for Students or if someone wants a bit of extra cash but they don't work for people who have a mortgage and bills to play.

We've have foodbanks in Britain and they are on the rise.

Everyone is saying its going back to the 1970s but you do realise this will be done on a modern economy not the economy of 40 years ago. Look at the Scandinavian model they have a lot of what Labour is suggesting and they are light years ahead.

We can't keep going with austerity and Dickensian economics and keep making cuts to public infrastructure. Austerity is not working.

We live in a selfish society where everyone is thinking what they can get out of it, not what is best for everyone but themselves its the i'm alright Jack, sod you mentality. Where if its not affecting them then its not true and its not happening but when it finally does affect them they are outraged and it will affect them sooner or later.

Matt, I don't know how old you were but the railways now are far better in terms of just about every feature than they were when they were Government owned!!!!!  The railways were a disaster when the Government controlled them and that is one of the reasons that they were privatized.  Yes, prices need to be kept in check but thats a regulation issue, not a reason to privatize it again!!  In the past year I have been on trains in Italy, France and the UK, and with regards to comfort, cleanliness and overall service there was very little to choose between them.  Difficult to compare prices as the journeys I did were all different, but I didn't find any of them particularly expensive.

Out of curiosity, if the German and French railways are nationalized, how is a private French or German company who owns part of the UK rail network even involved or subsidizing the nationalized service in their own country??  The railways there are either private or Nationalized, which one is it??

Likewise with energy, when they were nationalized industries they were not efficient, had little investment and did not provide a great service.  They were consistently at the mercy of Government Workers Unions and power outages or shortages were relatively common, there is no way the Government was going to ever be able to keep up with technological improvements in this industry let alone be able to pay for it!!  Again, keeping check on prices is a matter of regulation.

As with all government initiatives and programmes, the problem is always how you pay for them.  Other countries such as France have tax rates on individuals and companies that are significantly higher than the UKs, yet their higest rate of tax is the same as the UKs.  They operate on the basis that everyone needs to pay for these services and that is reflected in theit tax rates.  So the only way to really pay for these services is for the average guy in the UK to pay more tax and for the company they work for to pay more tax, if that is acceptable to the bulk of people in the Uk, then it could work, if it isn't then we will go back to the 60s/70s of industrial disputes and poor nationalized services.

I'm in my early twenties.

In Germany, Switzerland and majority of other European countries they have one dominant publicly owned train operator and one publicly owned rail infrastructure manager. Where as Britain has 23 different train operators all privately owned.

Germany, Switzerland, Netherlands, Sweden, Italy, Spain and France there fares are much cheaper on trains where as Britain's are substantially higher. Also the rail networks in the countries I have mentioned above are over 80% publicly owned.

Also the East Coast Main Line spent several years in public ownership and it raised £1 billion in fees for the treasury before it was sold off in 2015.

What you could do is create a National Rail company owned by the people and put it up against the private franchises and give the British public a choice and you never know if the National Rail company does well maybe the private franchises will take note and lower train fares to win back the competition. Same could be done with Energy, Have one National company which serves, Gas, electric and water and put it up against the private energy firms.

Problem is though if we want to Nationalise the Railways we will have to leave the European Union that means not being in the single market because the First Railway Directive which was reviewed and changed in 2012 said that they wanted to stop monopolisation of the railways to create a competitive market which is contradictory seeing as majority of rail networks in Europe are 80% publicly owned.

[hibeejim21]

May is just lying to the electorate,and blatantly so.

This election will not strengthen her hand with brussels,that is a lie. She’s maxed-out on the idea that this election is all about competence, and has virtually nothing to say on policy, how she’d actually run the country, or deal with the contradictions brought about by Brexit: access to the single market, the damage to the economy, the Irish border. Nor will she guarantee the triple lock for pensioners....the people most likely to vote for her. She has been a disaster on immigration as home secretary and seems to want to keep compounding here errors. Undeniably so.

I'd actually consider voting labour this time,because their policy on education,zero hour contracts,pensions,the environment,NHS and rail nationalisation are broadly in line with where i would like scotland tp be anyway and i actually like corbyns more measured stance on things instead of theresas 'wrap a turd in a union jack' approach.

But people don't vote just on policy alone,and the public are so crazed about brexit now they can't see the wood for the trees. Evidenced with some of the mail-esque language used on here. Dacres,murdoch and co have really done a number on the english and theresa is very much their choice.

[0762]

Hence the Labour vote is 'turfed oot the windae' in Scotland by the majority of Scottish voters because 'we can see the light through the trees' and an awareness of all the detrimental factors that you mention and will bizarrely provide Theresa May with a 'strong hand' to win. IMO had it been Nicola leading the Labour Party campaign on said decent policies, it would definitely have been a close run affair! We are again witnessing an election where the English electorate have the choice of electing one of two fairly unimpressive unionist leaders - no wowww factor whatsoever and the real tragedy will be the likely outcome being a majority Tory win that is not justified based on their appalling record in govt!

[hibeejim21]

Yeah but good ideas are good ideas,and they deserve supporting sometimes. I'm sick of elections being driven on personality instead of ideas.

Take the investment bank proposal. The english press are talking down something that actually invests in public infrastructure and works like a sovereign wealth fund. The UK fucked up when the Tories squandered the North Sea oil but if the idea of a national investment fund/bank is good enough for Norway (and almost every other developed country on earth) why can't the UK have one too?

This isn't going to be money squandered on vanity projects or fed to big business and corporations in subsidy, it's taxpayers money spent on taxpayers. We have monetary autonomy, so it's not up to the markets. If we deliver growth and productivity then there is very little to moan about. We accepted successive governments pouring more and more cash into the RBS black hole, but we're sceptical about a plan to create a bank that actually invests in public infrastructure.

Public debt can be reduced as a result of focusing government spending on things that produce more economic benefits than they cost. Its simple but it could be so effective,we would get our return back with the workforce. Ironically its political ideas like this that could end up saving the UK if they got just a chance.

I predict the tories will probably nick the idea for 2022.

[St Charles Owl]

I agree with that Jim, that was one part of the manifesto I liked the sound of. Government money for infrastructure projects is one of the things that Obama did to help get the economy back on track and it certainly did its job on that front over here.

[hibeejim21]

Policies like that SCO which would work for the WHOLE Uk,could actually save the union between scotland and england. Its supported by economists on both sides of the debate.

There is actually much to like in their manifesto,its being framed as back to the 70s socialism but i don't think it is. Under Tory rule the UK spends 1.7% of GDP on infrastructure and innovation compared to the 3% plus norm in other developed nations. We are going to be left well behind unless we start making these kind of choices. Good jobs don't just magically appear out of nowhere, they have to be created via investment. Unfortunately that might cost a bit of money short term but the alternative is just more austerity which has very observably failed to reduce the debt or deficit and has brought the country down in many, many despicable ways.

I'd also be in favour broadly of increasing corporation tax.It might just give small and medium size business a chance to thrive. Major corporations are withholding £26 billion through late payment, which is responsible for an estimated 50,000 small businesses going bust every year. That's shocking and so far i've only heard labour talking about doing something about it.

The inconvenient truth for centrists,tories and even SNP supporters like myself is that the Labour manifesto is actually rather good and at least attempts to provide solutions to the nations problems.

[0762]

However, as a Scottish voter there's absolutely no way that I and the majority of block Scottish voters  will gamble on voting for Labour in a FPTP election scenario - no chance! I'm already watching the same, shameless tactics of all the allied unionist parties focussing on the possibility of Scot Indy, the threat to the constitution and the 'people don't want it'??? Correction to that crap - the majority of the Scottish people want the option to go for Scot Indy if forced to do so and these unionist 'clowns' are just pulling out the same shameless comments and exaggerations as observed in referendum year 2014!! Today there was a Tory who shamelessly commented that the SNP vote had been eroded in the local elections - in reality, the SNP vote was up by 160k votes mainly because all these unionist clowns have been sussed out a long time ago by a politically aware Scottish electorate - these unionists are still 'out of touch' with the majority Scottish perception of them and the implications of brexit together with a possible consequent 'positive mood change' towards Scot Indy 2. Re the worst unionists, the Scot Tories, many perceptive Scots who’ve been following the ongoing avalanche of disturbing revelations about bigotry, sectarianism and racism among the ranks of Scottish Conservative politicians probably won’t need to be told that the party’s talent pool is desperately shallow. More than a quarter of its Scottish candidates for the forthcoming UK general election actually already hold elected office – nine of them as councillors, four as MSPs, one as an MEP and of course the sole defending member, David Mundell (the wee weasel who 'came oot the cupboard' last year!). Several of these councillors have only been in their jobs for a matter of a few days and are already looking to scurry off to London for new ones!!!! There's no doubt that lots more of this unionist shit will unfold as the clock 'ticks down' and I hope most Scottish voters will stand firm, as expected, and don't concede to this nonsensical talk!! Deja vu and there's still no credible option to the SNP although I find the creation of the Scottish Independence Referendum Party to be an intriguing one particularly when represented in the Tory targeted Edinburgh West ward - another option instead of the SNP? So just vote SNP anyway eh!

[0762]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-politics-39906665
The Labour manifesto unveiled today and noticeable that certain policies are already in place north of the border - no tuition fees, no bedroom tax and various other proactive policies well established in Scotland and set up by the SNP govt! So what's new Jeremy and you are also at odds with the anti view of Scot Labour over Trident and certainly 'out of touch' with critical Scottish opinion re Trident and it's renewal!!

[hibeejim21]

I like the labour manifesto personally,it says all the right things that should have been said years ago. Not a chance you would have got those ideas presented with some blairite running the party. Obviously this manifesto faced extreme hostility from the UK press whilst the tory one has been waved straight through.

Talking of the tory manifesto it has not been so popular among their core vote,especially their plans for social care. A lot of unhappy daily mail readers out there.

[0762]

The Tory manifesto not even costed, unlike the Labour one! As you say,the Tories/May being hit with criticisms of social care and to a lesser extent even bothering about fox hunting at all. However, we still have 3 weeks until election day and we all know the Tory press/media 'blitzkrieg' of Corbyn will happen in the final week and, as usual, the damage will be done to him - deja vu!.
Up here in Scotland, the Tory con artist, Davidson, marrying up with her unionist leader, May, presenting her Scot Con manifesto and pleading for disenfranchised Labour supporters to cross over to 'save the union' (note this is prob because of that 'car crash' of a Labour leader, Dugdale, making an absolute erse of herself in parliament and ranting about a fake homophobic accusation against the Rev Stuart Campbell of Wings over Scotland who is now suing her in court and he'll win that lawsuit while Sturgeon dismissed her and fingered Dugdale's deliberate 'smokescreen' to deflect from her embarrassing out of control Labour councillors in Aberdeen!!!) - this usual shit beggars belief as they go through their stage-managed exercise in Edinburgh of presenting themselves in front of their selected audience at the International Conference Centre - these people never mix with the Scottish public, Cameron and other senior Tories exactly the same behaviour and I'm sure the block Scottish vote will stand firm and hold with the SNP and the Scottish govt who are not perfect btw but they are far superior to these shameless allied unionists who seem to hold to this premise of union, queen and country and also listening on the radio to unionist hypocrites like the libdem leader, Willie Rennie, espousing the idea that a final referendum remain vote on the conclusive Brexit deal should be allowed but being challenged on his view that Scots should not be given that same privilege re voting for Scot Indy 2 and dodging the question (why a difference Willie?) 'big time'!!! Call it the second class citizen philosophy with unionist undertones. I'll be voting SNP and all my family members will be doing likewise because we sussed out this shit a long time and we 'won't be sold a pup' by the Labour Party either and still watch another unwanted UK govt take it's place in power without any solid backing vote coming in from the Scottish electorate AGAIN!!!