Quote:
Originally Posted by Damien
Reform is the same as the Lib Dems. They never need to budget anything because they know they won't win. 20k tax-free allowance isn't going to happen.
I am surprised Labour, who you think are naturally predisposed to nationalisation, haven't understood it would probably be quite popular now. They're still chasing an imaginary voter from 10-15 years ago who is wary of government ownership of anything and believes in privatisation unreservedly. In reality, I think voters are far more sceptical of private multinational companies and would welcome government ownership of utilities and rail. It would be an act of populism to give these things 'back to the people' from the hands of foreign ownership, which Farage and the left have understood but the main parties have not.
Labour is chasing a moderate free-market Thatcher voter from the early 2000s, which doesn't exist, and the Tories are chasing a British Trump voter, which doesn't exist.
Do either of them know who their voters are?
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The privatisations of the 1980s were sold on the premise that the shares would be owned by Sid (assuming anyone ever told him). Middle Class Thatcherites all bought in to the idea that these privatisations were true public ownership because Joe Public was buying all the shares.
That wasn’t entirely true in the 1980s, and it certainly isn’t true now.