FWIW mate, i think you've been presenting arguments in a non-hostile way

And I have no problem with that at all. So to come back on the substance.

On your point re: deficit (not debt) of 10% versus 2.5%, I haven't checked whether these are accurate, I trust they are. What I will say though is that this is deficit versus GDP, so there are two ways to improve the ratio (something I agree we need to do as a nation). One is to reduce the quantum of the deficit. The other is to grow faster (or a combination of both). I would not have followed the Tory prescription of cutting the deficit by cutting state spending, but would have tried to grow my way out of trouble by undertaking targeted expenditure to boost the economy. Skills/training and expanding affordable housing would have been my two key policies, rather than going to war on the fabric of social welfare. The social cost is enormous. The Tories don't care.

I also utterly loathe both options that we have as to how to move the country forward.

On the one hand we have the Tories "hard Brexit". This is basically using the cloak of Brexit to have a bonfire of rights, in terms of health/safety/employment standards and corporate taxation. This may well offset most of the harm that the corporate sector may face from hard Brexit (and that harm is very substantial), but the average person in this country will in consequence work longer for less. How the press can sell this dystopian vision as "the will of the people" is beyond me, and if you think Hard Brexit is a great thing then you're either "one of the top 1% and rather selfish" or "someone who believes rather too much of what Boris/David/Liam tells them".

And as for Labour, their policies are likely to be highly destructive to the future of the country, replacing free enterprise and commercial incentives with wide spread state ownership and heavy handed market regulation (all while also exiting the EU and harming trade/competitiveness). This does not work and will not work and financial markets will hammer the country if we try. The pound will plummet and borrowing costs will increase as capital flies the country. The harm to the people that these policies claim to serve will be enormous.

Posted By: Under soil heating, Oct 2, 15:32:38