Reform UK - A symptom of all that is wrong?

Not sure about Blairs tenure but Labour closed more mines than the Tories, thats a fact

But not a very interesting one. A few of the usual blowhards in here are very keen on posting 'facts' in isolation. UK coal production peaked in 1913, an endless number of strutctural & societal changes took place since yet here we find ourselves debating poeple who would gleefully make two flies crawling up the wall a Labour/Tory issue. A total absence of nuance or complexity is common currency round here.

Indeed they did - Wilson oversaw colliery closures in greater numbers and at a greater rate than any other PM.

Agreeing with and accepting JagLover's point about how, for a host of reasons, the number of mines in the UK was always going to pretty much dwindle to zero by the end of the century regardless of specific government policy:

Maybe the facts of how Wilson was able to do what he did to shrink the coal industry without the political, economic or social turmoil of the 1980s would be illustrative as to why it wasn't just about numbers?

E: Topic pretty much closed off, and rightly, by the other posts over the past few minutes. I will do the same.

If you mean agree you were stating the b******g obvious yes.

Thats not it either Killboy. Its not a matter of left or right that many people hold the view that Parents should have the primary responsibility for their children. The state needs to be the safety net for those unable to take that responsibility, it does not need to be a blanket to cover all, especially as the reasons for adopting that blanket approach are far from clear. Where does the blanket approach thinking end? OK, school dinners, what about shoes? How about underwear for all? How about pillows for all because some parents don't let their kids have them? What about lunch on saturday and sunday? (and don't say thats silly, because that argument was put forward for school holidays not so long ago)
There are no perfect answers, and it certainly isn't the answer for the state to simply take on the task of feeding everyone's kids regardless of parent's ability or willingness to pay for or provide for their own.
And I say that as a person who had free school meals as a kid.

So how is it helping children in need now?

Scrapping those LTNs isn't going to be popular with locals - 60% of residents and businesses are in favour of hem, according to a report that Sunak commissioned that he hoped would demonstrate their unpopularity and then attempted to shelve when it inconveniently concluded otherwise. This is more culture war bullst that isn't supported by the evidence.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/mar/08/lo...

Rest of it is clearly bks designed to appeal to the sort of people who stand as UKIP... sorry Reform candidates

LTN’s are usually popular with those living in them but not those in surrounding areas where the extra traffic ends up.

I wonder why so many other countries seem to see food as being as important a foundation to education as they do.

Of course the state can't pay for everything but there's something about school meals and punishing kids for the "crimes" of the parents that really seems to trigger you types though isn't there?

Not sure what it is but it's absolute catnip.

Always punching down on those less fortunate.

MP's salaries and pensions do nicely.