Who Are The Tories ACTUALLY Helping In The Cost Of Living Crisis? | The Russell Howard Hour

[@PandoraFoxxBurlesque]

Very fitting that this came out today, they day MPs decided they've been very good and need another payrise - putting them at over £86k a year plus expenses. But Nurses and Firefighters having to use food banks don't deserve one, despite putting much more good into the world. Would MPs not be happy with us just clapping for them instead? Not that they've done anything to earn it... Just like their payrise!

[@alphaomega1328]

And you just know their going to turn round and say that due to the fact their pay increase was only 3% then nurses, teachers etc can make do with that as well, oh and the money has to come from the already established budget. Independent commission my bum. They haven't failed to give a pay rise yet. Disgusting they have received almost 31% increase since 2010 and during this living cost they get yet another one. They earn over 4 times yearly salary for some (and double london average which is higher than most anyways) yet minimum wage workers don't get one (in just as bad positions as nurses and co as well if not worse, whilst they get free food, huge salary and hundreds of thousands of expenses. Not to mention the House of Lords.

[@hannahcallow6374]

How much longer can this go on? If they talk for a living, can we pay them by words with penalties for not being constructive

[@korisx]

I'm always flummoxed as to why people keep voting in the torries then i remember Ruppert Murdoch is good at what he does.

[@James-bc1jk]

What today?

[@_____alyptic]

They did what!? So they acknowledge inflation needs a wage rise in response? It's the damn big businesses like BP & Shell that need to stop trying to make more money instead of living in the same world as the rest of us that causes higher prices.

[@ChrisWood]

Here's a thought, maybe instead of giving more money to the rich to supposedly "trickle down" to the poor, why don't we give more money to poor people, who actually will use that money to buy things, thus keeping the economy moving?

[@SamuelBlack84]

They're giving money to their rich pals

[@wonder528]

You, sir, are anarchist and a troublemaker. Unfortunately our World needs as many of you as we can get.😱😩😡

[@peytonpupstar7931]

Don't be ridiculous!! You can't give the peasants more money!! Perish the thought!

[@danellis-jones1591]

Absolutely correct. This is what rightists don't understand. It's not politics of envy, it's basic bloody economics. Trickle down is actually siphoning up.

[@jennycarter4813]

Probably because that's logic. But you know....

[@daniellambert1217]

i do believe trickle down economics is the polite way of describing the feeling of urine running down your back while sweating blood to feed loved ones , while people who are worth more than their human value sit by and tell us to keep calm and carry on and screw up anything that benefits those who truly need help .

[@TheQueenRulesAll]

Well said. It has been a scam for too long.

[@mariaharrison7228]

STOP LETTING THEM DECIDE THEIR OWN WAGE RISES, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD HOW IS THIS ALLOWED?????????

[@TheQueenRulesAll]

Same in the US, no other employees get to decide it. Supposedly they work for us, we should get to decide.

[@davebloggs]

the billionaires keep the politicians in office and the politicians make the tax laws that is the problem. just remember you pay taxes so that billionaires dont have to.

[@DrWatson4]

Where’s Guy Fawkes when you need him 😂

[@JargonMadjin]

Hacking people on the internet?

[@TigerLily12345]

I've been saying that for months now. GUY FAWKES WE FORGIVE YOU, COME BACK!!!

[@williamfowles2940]

Probably buggering children like the catholic clergy....

[@danielhowe3393]

U should watch v for vendetta

[@DrWatson4]

@@TigerLily12345 😂😂😂

[@GeorgiaGeorgette]

I'm severely disabled and confined to bed almost all of the time. I now can't afford to heat the mouldy council flat I live in. I'm on the top floor, up several flights of stairs, and there are additional sets of steps outside as the apartments are on top of a storage facility, meaning the ground floor isn't actually at ground level. The building is also at the highest point of the steepest hill in the area. I'm a wheelchair user when I have to go to hospital. I can't afford to move but the housing association won't let me apply for a bungalow as their policy prevents tenants from applying for one until they are pensioners. I am thirty-nine years old. I invite any Tory MP to live my life for a week and see if they're complaining about their own lives by the end of it.

[@garyrutter3163]

Tories always say they will have to make difficult decisions. Yeh on the poor

[@lewisg7614]

Must be hard coming up with the number of poor they want to kill off this time...

[@michaelkemp6857]

Send the ******* to Russia!!

[@MMR_LM]

"Some of you may die, but that is a sacrifice I am willing to make"

[@timwoodger7896]

@@MMR_LM Thatcher actually said that in 78 just before she introduced trickle down economics and everyone was ok with it 😂

[@thejuiceking2219]

'we spend more on immigrants than we do on the homeless, why aren't we helping the homeless?' 'okay then, go and help the homeless, invest in public housing' 'why would we do that? what have they done to deserve it?'

[@corison]

As I always say, this absolutely wouldn’t be happening if Labour won in 2019. It’s horrible, but this is what people voted for. Every tory voter, or those who abstained due to “Corbyn’s a bit too left for me” have consented to this hell. The UK must never ever EVER vote tory again!

[@paulgibbon5991]

Corbyn was a bit of a disaster, though. Kept handing the right-wing press easy goals (like the national anthem), then he hard botched the anti-Semitism scandal.

[@corison]

@@paulgibbon5991 Yeah, he made some errors whilst navigating a horrendously aggressive smear campaign by the media. And? Does that make him unelectable? Does that mean he's an immoral person? Does that mean that Boris was the better choice?

[@joejanota707]

@@corison Nope, nope and nope. What it means is finding a politician worth a damn is in itself damn near impossible. I liked Corbyn, he had some good points in his manifesto, you know, he actually had one. Don't blame abstained votes though. We need the abstain so they know none of them are good enough. You have to actually write it on the paper though. I think there was some misinformation, I know shock horror, that lead people to believe the absence of a vote is an abstain when it really isn't. The voting system needs a complete rework as is. Want a fix? Revolution. Once families start losing their children, heads will roll.

[@B-A-L]

Go on, do tell us what would be different if Labour had won in 2019 then!

[@corison]

@@B-A-L I don't have a crystal ball, so I can only speculate, but as Corbyn's entire mantra was based on supporting poor and vulnerable members of society, I can't fathom a reality where he would allow the cost of living crisis to wreak havoc at the scale it currently is. And taking Labour's manifesto into account, Nationalised Railways (helping reduce ticket costs, which are currently extortionate) and a properly funded/managed NHS would no doubt ease the strain for many families.

[@AllyStrikesBack]

"The rich are getting richer" We've been saying that since 2010.

[@AllyStrikesBack]

@@2WheeledPatinaThomasC well what are you doing to about it then?

[@ozzie2612]

@@AllyStrikesBack he's learning English by the looks of it .

[@wonder528]

I've been hearing that phrase since the mid 70s.

[@michaelkemp6857]

Long before that!!

[@ozzie2612]

@@michaelkemp6857 whenever the torys are in power

[@Max_Rowley]

The fact mp’s get their food for free yet families still have to pay for kids school dinners blows my mind

[@fairyprincess911]

😿😿😿

[@nerdychocobo]

and then they'll complain about kids wanting free meals too

[@fairyprincess911]

@@nerdychocobo 😩😩😩

[@Zeyev]

We started with the theory in the USA under the Reagan administration and we still have advocates. We are doomed to never learn. I believe most economists (personal belief) think that giving money to poor people will encourage them to spend on necessities and THAT will improve the economy.

[@writerinprogress]

Kevin Bridges does a BRILLIANT stand-up on that very subject - well worth watching. Typing in 'Kevin Bridges the UK Deficit' should bring it up in a search.

[@SamuelBlack84]

The necessity is staying alive

[@bubzilla6137]

@@writerinprogress better yet, here's the link for anyone interested: kzbin.info/www/bejne/iaPJm3ecgZWZrrM It's only about 7 minutes long. Enjoy! 🙂🙂🙂

[@SoberOKMoments]

Joe Biden has managed - despite huge opposition from the Republican (ie: Tory) party - has manged to stop trickle down economics during his term and the economy is surging upward.

[@DennisMoore664]

It's wild how many modern US (and even some international) problems can be traced back the the Reagan administration.

[@carlchapman4053]

Originally MP's were not paid on the assumption that anyone who volunteered their time freely would do so to help other people, unfortunately they quickly realised that they could change the laws and voted themselves a good wage, then a year later voted themselves a pay rise and again a year later, then again the next year ...ETC!

[@daniellambert1217]

i would definitely vote for a hard reset on that , especially since the positions they hold are misused to siphon funds into personal buisness schemes which practically means they`re getting paid twice . bring back altruism !!!!

[@blandoatmeal1273]

That actually kinda helps us though, cause if it went back to low wage or volunteer work the only people that could afford to work as a MP would be people rich enough to work for no/low pay. So by having a decent wage it means more people can afford to work as a MP.

[@Joeink100]

@@blandoatmeal1273 need to have some sort of balance though, MPs not allowed other income sources and get the average wage. That way MPs would have to work on increasing everyone's wages to up the average

[@blandoatmeal1273]

@@Joeink100 absolutely agree that all money (aside from the base salary) should be taken out of politics. Like no second job, insane scrutiny around donations and who MPs are talking too.

[@terranovarubacha5473]

@@Joeink100 I like the way you think! Edit: Although maybe not the average. Averages can get tricksy. You can get a very high wage out of a pool of low wages, just by dropping in a few very very high wages. The mean would be better than an average

[@tonybaker55]

Went into my local Co-op the other day and we were looking for some meat. No meat in the fridges and we thought that's odd. Then we saw the sign. "Due to increased theft of meat, please contact a member of staff if you wish to purchase something". We live in a reasonably affluent village in southern England. Goodness knows what it is like elsewhere.

[@hesterwright3674]

That's weird. I live in one of the most deprived towns in the UK and I've never seen that in any shop. The meat just has those metal security tags that make alarms go off

[@nzd3742]

Yeah, there's nothing like this where I live in working class east London. Can we assume from this that rich people are the biggest thieves? 🤔

[@skootergirl22]

That they have to lock away meat better put some plant based instead

[@scrummpybear]

clearly not that great as the meat on the shelves by me is still there... im gonna guess you live in a shithole.

[@Snaily]

Just remember, if you see anyone stealing daily essentials from a big chain supermarket, no you didn't.

[@sally_campbell]

Russell is a hero 👏🏻

[@BobGnarley.]

We've already lost tons of pubs thanks to Wetherspoons. In my town alone 3 pubs with a massive history have shut down/ been paved over. This doesn't feel like the country I grew up in anymore. If I could leave I would in a heartbeat, there seems to be no light at the end of the tunnel.

[@McfcMancs]

It’s not just because of Weatherspoons. We had none near us but at least 15 pubs shut down and been turned into apartments or shops.

[@terranovarubacha5473]

@@McfcMancs any theories as to why?

[@soaruk3697]

Left years ago when the rigged vote to leave the EU went through - the UK is the shithole of Europe now............. a laughing stock.

[@rowandoespoi153]

@@terranovarubacha5473 high levels of tax, rising bills, low employment / Career opportunities

[@mtbmike6676]

It started with the smoking ban and then the higher tax on alcohol. Alot of people can't afford to go out drinking like they use too (probably a good thing in some ways lol) and are more likely to have social gatherings with drinks at someone's home instead

[@scorpiouskrimson]

"There are only so many smoked salmon or prawn and crayfish salads one can take!" Are you KIDDING ME!? If I was getting served that on a daily basis, I'd never complain again!

[@SamuelBlack84]

I'd prefer Kelly Brook on a plate

[@WhiteDieselShed]

You not going to become an MP and get rich with that attitude. :)

[@ddlee84]

Hell if they offered me a Salad a bag of crisps and a mars bar a day for FREE i'd be bloody happy. MPs and Lords have no clue about anything even vaguely normal. A salary at 86k a year, plus claiming for expenses like your rent to be closer to parliament, while letting your actual house out(in some cases) and free food and drink each day.....there isn't a single person I know who wouldnt accept that and they act like its a hard life.

[@Dranime-tv9qm]

Just give em cheese burgers from McDonald's or soma

[@davidlomax4028]

You would.. you'd end up with gout!

[@nexussever]

Every American who thinks that the trickle-down theory is either successful or just an American thing needs to see this.

[@nicosmind3]

Trickle down isn't an actual theory that anyone advocates for or pushes, trickle down is a straw man of supply side economics. And last time that happened was at the end of WW2. Reagan certainly didn't do it as he increased spending, and then had 2 (maybe 3) bills which increased taxes. What's really ironic about Reagan is by his actions (not his words) the left should love him and the right should hate him. Instead everyone wants to ignore the full story, focus on a fraction pretending it's all that happened, then declare either victory or defeat on that. It's way more about rhetoric with Reagan than anything else

[@Frostfly]

@@nicosmind3 Wow. you need to read some actual history. Reagan Cut taxes on the rich MASSIVELY and raised taxes on everyone else. He spent Gobs of money on the military and cut services for other people. Reagan was the worst, stop sucking off his dead body.

[@SamuelBlack84]

They do love their fancy phrases

[@korisx]

Why? So Rupert Murdoch can get his flying monkeys to convince you a moment later that it's a non-issue?

[@nexussever]

@@nicosmind3 Yes, thanks to Regan, our social security payments are now taxed. Gosh, thanks.

[@Phuc_Yhou]

When Bob Geldof and Band Aid asked us to feed the world I didnt realise it would include my own country 39 years later...

[@skootergirl22]

Charity begins at home

[@lunarose9]

the joke is that we are actually in a state of over production of food we have 1.5x the ammount of food we need as a world. we have an extra half of what we need. People are only starving because food exists to be sold, not eaten. The extra food just goes in the bin.

[@Phuc_Yhou]

@@lunarose9 So true, I even hate going out to eat only to watch greedy people over order then throw half of it away, especially meat.

[@B-A-L]

Geldof and co are the reason why Africa is so overpopulated now and they are all trying to get into Britain!

[@randystone4903]

Royalty and serfdoms have returned under a different name. In the US my blue color retirement fund buys half as much as I planned in 1990. We have billionaires because our wages did not keep up with inflation. Minimum wage over here should be at least $22 an hour to have the same purchasing power minimum wages of $1.60 in 1970. The inflation of wages from 1970 to 2015 stands at about 458 percent, and the U.S. dollar itself has inflated around 511 percent. Meanwhile, groceries have inflated almost 400 percent from their previous costs, gas has inflated 567 percent, and rent has inflated 800 percent. England has probably suffered worse inflation than US

[@Phuc_Yhou]

@randydstone Yeah buddy, same shit different country, the goverment always fucks you whoever is in power,

[@terranovarubacha5473]

Not sure how this fits into your numbers but Canadian papers are saying that 45 years ago, a dollar had 8-9 times the purchasing power of a dollar today. This is why my dad could put himself through uni with what he made over the summer - that's all expenses, and he bought a new car! I spent my young adulthood being asked why I wasn't applying myself and only recently have boomers begun to feel these effects themselves as they're retirement will be too expensive for them even after solid saving

[@ddlee84]

To give you an idea of the state of somethings here in the UK. My parents bought a 3 bedroom terraced house in an ok area for around £20,000 in 1986....that same house is now worth between £286,000 and £311,000. My dad had multiple pensions that would have been worth £120,000 to keep him during his retirement. Now if he hadnt have passed away during Covid at the age of 60, and had started pulling his money at 65 and lived till 85 his pension would have been £6,000 a year....He saved as much as he could in to pensions for his working life and it would have been worth £6,000 per year which being honest now wouldnt even cover council tax, heating, electric and water bills. Even with the state pension adding to this he would never have lived comfortably with the way things are going. What makes things worse, is my generation (around 40 yrs old) in a lot of cases were never told how important pensions were, so I didnt start paying in to one at all until I was in my late 20's and even then its basic salary sacrifice as I cant afford to pay in any more because of the expenses in cost of living. The UK is broken, you have old people who worked 40+ years saving as much as they could, not being able to afford to heat their homes or eat. You have people working full time jobs who cannot save for a time when they won't be able to work because of the cost of everything. You have young people just enterring their working lives who won't ever be able to own a house without help or luck. And what makes all of this worse.....is at the top is normally some rich twunt Tory supporter who rents out 4 houses, eats beluga caviar as a snack while drinking expensive Sancerre. I know people from all walks of life and I'll be honest I know more nice poorer people than I do rich.

[@mazusky7713]

I can't recall the exact figures or calculations but I saw somewhere recently that if the minimum wage here had kept up with inflation since the mid 70s then it should be around £35 / hour currently It's actually under £10 / hour

[@alfsmith4936]

@@mazusky7713 In the early 2010s I was cleaning boats for a short time. The owner of the buisness put the price of my jobs up by £25 a boat and I got a 50p an hour payrise. He was offended and said "It's a good job and you're lucky to have it" when I told him to shove his job up his arse too. He actually told me once he needed to charge what he did so he could keep his wife in the manner she was accustomed to and his kids in boarding school. 🤣🤣

[@Totorh03]

I’m European but moved here from South Africa where the country doesn’t provide enough electricity so they buy it off neighbouring countries but also, the country has this thing called load shedding. Essentially scheduled powercuts but it never helped and now they pretty much have daily powercuts and they can last over 12 hours. I never thought this would happen in Britain

[@roymillsjnr5172]

Love russels take on things 👍👍

[@einundsiebenziger5488]

Russel's* take ...

[@Caaine]

Scandalous! We need to all unite and fight this together!

[@yaaaaasfire9621]

Amazing how he explained expectations vs reality of trickle down economy in such a simple way

[@James-bc1jk]

Love how the bonuses for the bankers has stayed and we do nothing about it

[@TonymanCS]

While transiting through Heathrow I've seen rows of propaganda message describing British achievement and beauty of British culture instead of normal ads and wondered whether I was in UK or Vietnam.

[@missliese7343]

this just makes me so unbelievably angry, and I'm all the way in Australia! solidarity to UK workers!

[@TheeRyanBrice]

The fact that this hits home to me more than anything else is beyond a joke. Yeah, I miss a lot of meals due to the rising price of everything else. I can't exactly complain because nothing NOTHING ever gets done. You request more help and we're looked at as selfish and yet the government are the biggest, most selfish robbing bastards in the world is what I'm most frustrated about. They complain complain complain about not having meals that look like they're served out of a 5* hotel while a tonne of us British folk are missing meals because we can't afford it. Nothing will ever change.

[@davebloggs]

It will change ,food riots are not far away, then the proverbial crap will hit the fan because that will affect votes and that is the only thing they care about.

[@TheRealHelenaDeluca]

The pie thing reminds me of Greg Davies and his cab driver hahaha "PIE IS MADE UP OF CONSTITUENT PARTS" 😂

[@Tom-ed-w]

amazing! i remember watching russell live in the swansea theatre !!

[@thesteampunkmachine9077]

I think it's time for change ✊

[@kbrock9146]

"Trickle-down economics?" I thought when we showed the world how horrible that worked during Reagan's time in office, people would have gotten the hint.

[@phiksit]

Conservative ideology spreading like a cancer to the rest of the world it seems.

[@robertcowan7610]

They never give up. It's the definition of insanity. It was implemented again in the US state of Kansas a few years ago and a decent economy was thoroughly destroyed in one governor's term of office. That governor was voted out in a landslide loss. But it can take two to three times as long to recover from an economic crisis than it takes to cause it to begin with. Yet they never learn - because the policies still benefit and enrich the rich whilst everyone and everything else suffers. If it made them enough profit they'd happily burn down the entire society. Why care? They can afford to escape virtually any disaster they cause. That's their attitude about it. They can destroy the lives of most families and remain perfectly content.

[@sarangistudent8614]

Don’t worry about us subsidising their food, we subsidise the bars/pubs in the Houses of Parliament, all 8 of them, and they don’t just stock cheap plonk. We subsidise some really expensive tipples in there like £200-300 bottles of whisky and top of the range champagnes, all free for these pissed up shysters.

[@ArtyFactual_Intelligence]

It's not free. They pay Duty Free. And guess who sets the duties? A Hunt and a Sunut

[@DKTeddyBear]

She was talking to the rich peeps, we will give you money (growth), don't worry, I know it was hard but there will be growth (for you rich people, oh yes we won't let YOU down)

[@danielsantiagourtado3430]

Love you russel!

[@jane-gz1oo]

bet you don`t love him as much as I do

[@jasonmaidment1103]

You would get my vote 👌🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

[@andyhatton1285]

They talk about levelling up! But what they are really doing is making the devide between the rich and the poor even greater an absolute disgrace to those in society who are in need most.

[@Aaa-vp6ug]

They’re levelling themselves up by stealing our EXP candies (money)

[@laestrella9727]

The Wallace and Gromit jokes 😂💀

[@odettepross2435]

😂😂😂😂😂 the dent in the car..i almost choked on my coffee

[@theinvisibleblogger1087]

"Vonit on my butler" love it

[@einundsiebenziger5488]

Vomit* ...

[@raymondgalbraith983]

1:40 - Give this guy some credit. It did work

[@m.haslam8495]

OMG, watching this has given me a load of laughs and stomach cramps on a different level. Absolute amazing content. I'm still laughing now as I'm talking about it and writing this comment. Haven't laughed like this in many months.

[@lizfuller400]

I say we should unite twice or three times a week as a nation and stand outside our homes, and boo the Tories. Get the TV cameras and radio around.

[@iamjustamomdoingthebestica6999]

We here in America also dont eat much in order to feed our kids and animals. Or to afford a Dr. Visit or GAS or to heat the house for a month. Out here in Valdez Alaska we have to pay rent, electricity, propane and diesel just to keep the home working and warm with MOVING water in the pipes! That's just basic home utilities

[@skootergirl22]

Soon the UK will get the American health care system

[@Au_196]

I'm an Aussie, and even though I live on the other side of the world from Britain, I'm still shocked by the government's handling. In my opinion, there are three options: 1. The situation remains the same 2. Overthrow of the Torres and installation of a centre-left government. 3. The Torres get their act together.

[@terranovarubacha5473]

I feel like voting for individuals would be better than voting for parties; there would be more room for positive interactions. I'd also like to see an end to pre-election debates; I'd rather see how well they could manage to come together on tricky issues

[@snr0n]

As another Aussie, I'll just point out that there's a difference between the Torres (strait) and the Tories (crooked) 😉

[@terranovarubacha5473]

@@snr0n what's the difference?

[@snr0n]

@@terranovarubacha5473 My comment was just an opportunity for a silly pun, but it does also already answer your question. I definitely don't mind explaining things when people ask (much better to ask than to pretend you already know it all), but are you sure you don't wanna just take another crack at figuring it out yourself? Reckon that's more rewarding than having me wring all the joy out of it 😅

[@terranovarubacha5473]

@@snr0n I was kidding too but good job being patronizing to someone who you thought was asking a sincere question

[@DennisMoore664]

It would only be surprising that governments keep doing the "trickle down" thing if they were actually there to help the poor and middle-class people and not the owner-class.

[@christopherbennett5858]

I didn’t know you could get dents out of a car like that. Life hack.

[@wonder528]

Imagine if something, some related act caused the dent in the first place?🤔

[@JargonMadjin]

I won't even ask how they figured that out

[@danb4282]

Suction is a powerful tool 😂

[@tonycampbell1010]

“Pay for your own f**king wine.” 😂😂😂

[@shijoejoseph2011]

You don't see this level of roasting on any other national television. Now, that is democracy, liberty and freedom! 😂🤣

[@christinewoolley6903]

Typically everything goes to the rich. Just let the main chunk of the people down. Help them selves rich people, shaft the poor. It's already a struggle to survive, now it's even harder. Thanks to the people who "look after" this country. Well done Tories 👏👏👏

[@kalim3238]

Tears to our eyes damn right. It's making us get In more debt

[@lilou955]

I cannot express how much I detest our government

[@Tiddler754]

Can't wait to to see you next month

[@willjohnboy]

And yet most of the country votes for these 🤡

[@jamesben1]

British public votes for Tories, because they know BNP can’t win.

[@willjohnboy]

@@jamesben1 I wouldn't vote for them either they are just as bad.

[@jamesben1]

I wouldn’t either, my point was that the British public are way more morally bankrupt than the Tory party. They’ll complain when Tories screw them over, but will happily cheer them on whilst they’re screwing over the immigrant family next door.

[@mydogeatspuke]

No they don't. Less than a third of the voting public chose Tories at the last general election.

[@paulgibbon5991]

Most of the country doesn't vote for them. They coast in a small minority of "I'm not racist but--" boomers, because too many people fail to vote. Why do you think the Tories rushed through measures to make it harder for young people to vote? Like the Trumplicans in the US, they know apathy works in their favour.

[@Paul-jl3nf]

I love this guy! 😁😁😁😁

[@Lord_Ralph]

Dude, Truss was 2 PM's ago! Oh wait: it's GB: That's a no time at all.

[@Sabina-lo8fv]

Fantastic!!

[@leighbowen7041]

The country i grew up in has gone backwards thanks to trickle down economics and privatisation, we are supposed to be the 6th richest country on the planet and yet public sector workers are using food banks (of which i believe there are more of than branches of McDonalds), more homeless are on the streets, people are unable to see a Doctor/Dentist or have to spend 24 hours in A&E waiting to be seen, energy prices through the ceiling, you would struggle to go for a pee in my hometown as we can't afford to keep public toilets open and the streetlights were turned off a long time ago, recently the Police station was closed and we have potholes you could lose a tractor in and all the while the rich keep getting richer thanks to the Tories and their buddies in the right wing media trying to scare you into believing anyone but the Tories would be even worse, voting for the Conservative party if you are anything but a Millionaire/Billionaire is voting against the interests of the nation.

[@jezlawrence720]

My missus works at a food bank and she has to excuse herself from "events" put on for corporates and MPs and councillors and such - those kinds of events are critical for awareness and fundraising and she gets that but its just so distasteful to her that she can't bring herself to be photographed and smile whilst food they could be giving out to people who need it gets troughed down. Which I don't say to cast shade on the VIPs who go to those events: it IS critical to awareness and fundraising to have those folk feel welcome and make it as easy as possible for them to come along if it means they go away and grease the wheels a bit to ensure the whole issue stays on the radar and the food banks stay open. Every charity has to do this. The scandal is that food banks exist at all in a western democracy, not that MPs help themselves to food at a publicity/awareness event.

[@katharineeavan9705]

MPs don't do it for the publicity of the food banks. They do it for their own publicity. They know the public is seeing them more and more as the blue blooded parasites they are and want a good photo op where they can look as though they care about the people they consistently vote to starve and demean.

[@Manu-Official]

Meanwhile MPs getting a £2.400 increase...

[@AndromedaD]

The explanation about Trickle Down economics also explains why replacing federal income and other taxes with a flat sales tax is such a stupid idea, by the way.

[@GeraldParchester]

Expense accounts should be scrapped, but they won't be because of the super greed of the MPs

[@medievalladybird394]

Already seen this. By now the situation is even worse, I believe

[@scott8964]

It's just as bad if not worse in Australia 🇦🇺

[@nickistuart1565]

"Wanky socks"? That'll make my bro happy cuz our mom cleaned his room when he was a teenager and he told me she'd took his wank sock for wash...25 yrs later and I'm still sharing that story round the family 🤣🤣🤣 I told our dad when mom's cancer came back - it certainly made for a few chuckles - especially when we had to explain what a wank sock is - it got us through a difficult time (I managed not to share the story during her funeral and wake last April, but I continued to share to cheer people up in the last 11 months!) RIP mom - wank sock was deffo not the most embarrassing thing we had to explain to you ♥️

[@schindlerteejay94]

Themselves. they’re helping themselves to more money, even the UK just narrowly avoided recession.

[@patriciamcnamara9821]

Recession not avoided. It is coming for most of Europe.

[@skootergirl22]

We need a Robin Hood and this one would be a hacker

[@cheekykitten25]

£186 bill I just got for a property I haven’t even moved into yet. Boiler has been turned off for over a month. Wtafff

[@ADgamingHD]

In my household we are having 1 meal a day and my 67 year old uncle has gone back to work because we can't afford to the energy bills

[@LiterallyAllNamesAreTaken]

same situation here. I have no idea how I’m ever supposed to move out and live independently. I’d be on the streets after a month

[@DRAG0NSPIRIT10]

@@LiterallyAllNamesAreTaken Honestly I feel like independent living, owning a house and being able to retire one day is nothing but a pipe dream for people my age now (mid 20's). I imagine it feels even worse for students who've been in the final or starting the last few years of their education during the pandemic madness.

[@LiterallyAllNamesAreTaken]

@@DRAG0NSPIRIT10 yep at this point I have no idea what I’m supposed to do. I’m 19 next week; I remember being 13 thinking everything was going to be great at my current age. I had plans on moving out, having a good job and being happy in my own space- like everyone I can imagine. now I’m just clueless. I get a job but it only helps me afford necessities. I’d need a second job and maybe a side hustle if I wanted to save up for anything meaningful. ridiculous. how did we get here in 20 or so years? I watch a lot of influencers and they talk about moving to a bigger home to accommodate for their 3 offices while I have no idea how to even move into my first home at this rate.

[@vattmann1387]

@@DRAG0NSPIRIT10 That's rough dude. As a millennial in their late 30's only 25% of us have our own places, while the rest of of us are in with family or family properties or renting:( It sucks not being able to be idependant despite earning more than the boomer generation.

[@skootergirl22]

You'll he working until you die and yet they'll reanimate your body for zombie you to keep working forever

[@carlaspinall7418]

I miss this guy on tv cause russell talks a lot of sense📺

[@MrSatnavatron]

I am amazed Russell is still alive

[@tsibris]

Why?

[@Indyghurl]

@@tsibris because he speaks the truth

[@jennifervoet5265]

Welcome to Load Shedding, UK! 😁

[@NewMessage]

The poor can't rise up and eat you if they can't afford forks... * taps temple and nods *

[@JargonMadjin]

They'll use plastic forks so that it lasts longer

[@Phuc_Yhou]

Over a third of the worlds population do not use cutlery to eat food and its a majority including the elites depending on the country, bread in its many forms is the most used food carrier.

[@vattmann1387]

Due to cost cutting I'll damn well use a spork for harm as needed!

[@skootergirl22]

Striking and rioting is the best option

[@niamh-qn7zs2iq1t]

Hearing the laughing at the cheese in a security box is more dystopian than it is funny

[@c.t5136]

I wish that they would do the social experiment of giving every poor person a thousand pounds and told to go out and spend it and see how the economy is affected! That's what works!

[@paulgibbon5991]

You could look at Norway, they did something very similar. The results were universally positive for quality of life AND the economy.

[@everlonging3207]

We keep voting them back in

[@_____alyptic]

BP & Shell with Negative Tax Rates.

[@mallow173]

Right on sir!! Thank Goodness Liz is gonzo!!

[@duncanbryson1167]

1.45: I always wondered what these were for 😏 2.19: cheese is being locked up? This is a disgrace 😡 3.17: I guess he won't be competing in the Olympic gymnastics. Maybe he won't even be competing in the bedroom gymnastics. Trickle down was called Reaganomics in America because that's what he advocated. 😉

[@manujohn99]

I don't understand who are the Tories???

[@duncanbryson1167]

@@manujohn99 The Conservative and Unionist Party is the correct name often abbreviated to the Conservatives. Tory is an old name which is still used colloquially. It's the UK right wing party. I suggest you Google the above for more information.

[@SamuelBlack84]

I hate cheese

[@samiecarr1885]

I wish they can go to their food cupboard like I do, and learn what "fuck all in" really means. Not a dash to Waitrose to buy their favourite steak, but to wonder what you can make with the wood the cupboards made of and some salt. Then 2 days with no food until foodbank day. On top of having organ failure and being stuck in a wheelchair. But I think that's too much of a stretch for their imagination. My mum is a non striking ambulance technician, she doesn't believe it is fair to strike after a pensioner nearly died of hypothermia after breaking her arm and leg after a nasty fall last month, thankfully her neighbour found her and saved her life with hot water bottles and blankets. So when they say the strikes will not affect life threatening calls, they mean heart attacks, strokes and severe car crashes. But what that really means is our elderly will be left on the floor for days after a fall, diabetics/epileptics like myself dying of seizures, and people waiting 8hours for an ambulance. I'm not saying they shouldn't be striking, I'm saying Tories fucking pay them what they deserve and give the NHS some money!! My mum shouldn't spend 6 out of 12 hours in a corridor (half her shift to hand a patient over to a bed!!)

[@letsdoitnow121]

They only help friends, donors and their pub landlord!

[@maciej9280]

not helping weatherspoons much from what i've heard over last few weeks

[@keithwigley1256]

Brilliant..

[@FlareBlitzed]

"Who Are The Tories ACTUALLY Helping In The Cost Of Living Crisis?" Only themselves and their cronies, including the Kremlin.

[@phiksit]

You can't convince me the kremlin played no part in Brexit.

[@skootergirl22]

They're helping themselves

[@ukdnbmarsh]

Politicians are delusional, every single one of them should be paid an average salary by law, that will soon change matters.

[@1111MJR]

Who are they helping? Themselves.

[@Ag3nt0fCha0s]

Expat living in Greece here. The averag3 Greek spends less on energy than we do. Like 75% less.

[@rinaandersen7515]

is it just me, or does it feel like the people you put in, to rescue a ship in distress. just emptied the safe and just ran?

[@beverlyhitchon4901]

Only Russell can you make you laugh when things are so desperate that the only thing you can do is cry! Well done Russell for showing everyone what these corrupt, self-entitled wanks are really about, through humour. 💖

[@jakejbarnett]

I skip meals and showers so my wife doesn't have to know how bad it is.

[@ross4681]

Trickle-down economy didn't work in New Zealand. In the 90's The Government of the day tried this. The rich bought new / more cars , house, investment properties, nothing trickled down and NZ entered into a low wage economy.We are still trying to claw back a lot of employee entitlements that were lost.back then, some will never return.

[@stavrosbrando7845]

need a modern day guy fawkes

[@einundsiebenziger5488]

Guy Fawkes was basically a terrorists. Had his plan worked, he would have killed hundreds of people and destroyed millions worth of buildings. Nothing would have changed and the successors of the politicians killed would have taken even more taxes from the poor to rebuild all the blown-up buildings.

[@captaincairoPT]

Hard disagree with Russell here - "Trickle down economics" actually does work as intended. A multi syllabic word that confuses the avarage Joe so they stfu and dont complain about being poor peasents.

[@chloelnd]

Russel Howard for PM

[@johnmccann5104]

Got to be a better bet than the current shower of shite 😉🇬🇧

[@OOK11]

It's ridiculous. I work in community care and I drive to clients in their home. Petrol and bills are killing me, my wages haven't moved. The clients I'm seeing have existed in one room all winter that they can barely heat, sitting in bed with gloves on its heartbreaking. Some can afford to put heating on but have been scared to.

[@terranovarubacha5473]

Scared to? Why?

[@skootergirl22]

Better just walk them home

[@OOK11]

@@skootergirl22 there already in their home lol

[@skootergirl22]

@@OOK11 oh

[@playz452]

We deserve to be treated like this by the rich because we do nothing to stop it 🤣

[@laestrella9727]

Exactly. Stop blaming the vultures and blame the cowards.

[@paulgibbon5991]

Too much empty grumbling, not enough political self-education, voting, or mobilising everyone you know to vote.

[@katharineeavan9705]

@@paulgibbon5991 vote for who? The last two elections for PM were Tory party members only. The last one was Tory MPs only. They're changing constituency boundaries, introducing legislature to limit access to voting, criminalise strike action and peaceful protests, and have successfully made it so that we have no real alternatives to vote for. It's them or it's Blue Labour, one just a slightly slower slide into hell than the other. Not to mention, who the hell has time to protest and risk police kettling or arrest while trying to pay the bills right now? We're in a precarious situation where people are clinging to hope that things will 'go back to normal', as we've been pretending since the first days of the pandemic. Protests and strikes do jack in the current climate, and people can only afford to sacrifice to much to participate in something so futile. Things will get worse. And worse. And worse still. And then there'll be people unrest that'll make the Tories long for the days when we passively stood outside buildings with jokey protest signs and didn't make a fuss.

[@paulgibbon5991]

@@katharineeavan9705 Easy, whoever has the best chance of winning that is not a Tory. Right-wingers love "they're al as bad as each other!" and "Why vote, it only encourages them." angry-apathy like yours. It keeps people away from the voting booths and lets them coast by on their motivated base who will reliably come out and get the votes in. Fume, riot, despair, do anything you like. Just so long as you also vote.

[@GeraldParchester]

Pure greed is dragging this country down...

[@McfcMancs]

This isn’t just a Tory problem. Even if we get a labour government, we the working class will still be struggling. Trickle down economics really means flood up. When people say “tax the rich” this depends on how this person earns that money. Someone on a high salary will pay a huge amount in taxes, the big corporations pay next to nothing and funnels that money off shore, this is what’s wrong with our system. What we should do is make these corporations pay a fair amount in tax and stop them having off shore accounts to funnel money to.

[@lars_larsen]

Politicians should really try not screwing over their constituents for their own personal gain.

[@chloefoster5973]

You know who needs a pay rise 19-20 year olds on minimum wage only earning £6.83 p/h you can’t live off that

[@skootergirl22]

You could get a McDonald's for that much

[@Hondanissanman]

This is exactly true and shows what a bo--ocks is being made of this country.

[@hannahcallow6374]

Interestingly, I looked into wages. 31k (median). It's higher for mean. I'm not on that much...

[@hammerofolympia3716]

Where I am average income is like 12k lol.

[@carlaspinall7418]

I miss this guy on tv cause he talks a lot of sense