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Post by riponstokie on Feb 3, 2024 17:04:44 GMT
Years of decline. Heading towards league 1. Recruitment a disgrace. Giving the keys to the city to each manager to bring in their mates. Allowing tricky Ricky to run the club.
It’s time we as supporters stopped hoping we get lucky or eventually we appoint the right manager. You plan for success, and unfortunately our owner isn’t fit for purpose.
Before the ‘best owners in the world’ brigade show up, of course it’s great the owners care & that they invest in the club. But it counts for nothing when the decision making is as poor as it’s been at this club since 2016.
We either keep swirling around the plug hole and go next year, or we drop this year. But we can have no complaints. We need people who know how to run a football club. Unfortunately Jon couldn’t run a bath.
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Post by riponstokie on Aug 5, 2023 18:30:55 GMT
What Jacob offers us is an important outlet when we are being pressed, so we can go longer to him & play off him. His touch at one point 2nd half from a king ball from Travers was immaculate. Not only does he combine that with his running & hard work (which will be important in a team getting to know each other), but his movement is key in creating that space for Hoever out wide. Let’s not forget it was those two on the right when Hoever was performing brilliantly last season. Hope he stays, long old season & having a JB in the squad will be a benefit.
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Post by riponstokie on Jul 5, 2023 9:35:10 GMT
So it's your belief he's coming in as filler and not a starter? I’m honestly not sure mate. To have his experience in the championship with Tymon is nice to see though, if Tymon stays. Agree solid pro to have around for a year…any whispers Chopper? Hoped we’d have Pearson through the door by now, any updates?
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Post by riponstokie on Jul 16, 2022 18:15:16 GMT
At the end of last season disappearing before the season ended to get his hip op- conveniently as support turned against him. Now Delap & Holden sent out to do every press interview. Is O’Neil being shielded / protected / hiding from damaging an already factious relationship with the fans? As we head into a new season after 2 years of utter apathy & underwhelm, I can’t help but feel MON should be speaking about his vision, what he feels needs to change for a positive season & how we as a club are moving towards that. Instead it feels like he’s hiding. The club seems precariously placed & honestly would be surprised if he’s still manager come new year. Hope to be proved wrong, but the leadership we need appease nowhere to be seen.
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Post by riponstokie on Jan 30, 2022 17:25:21 GMT
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Post by riponstokie on Oct 29, 2021 20:42:31 GMT
Lifelong Stoke supporter, Dad, and Grandad. Teacher and Headmaster of Hassell Street Primary School, 1954 -1990. Passed away age 90, sunday 24th of october, would love to hear any memories anyone may have of him or his late wife Christine Lucy Rowley xx UTP xxx
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Post by riponstokie on Aug 10, 2019 15:54:30 GMT
We’ve been shit for over 3 years now. You think a different bloke in the technical area is gonna make a difference? Fuck off. Our club utterly stinks & it’s nout to do with the manager.
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Post by riponstokie on May 6, 2019 12:43:36 GMT
Superb post. Anyone who believes 3 years on the slide are going to be stopped & converted into a simple promotion push are deluded. Next season is about stopping the rot, moving forward & progress. In my view, the season after is where we will tear this league apart. People calling for Jones' head if we aren't running away with the title are deluded, and ignorant of the colossal regression & negativity this club has been defined by the last 3 years. Give NJ time & we'll have a club to be proud of.
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Post by riponstokie on May 6, 2019 9:05:08 GMT
8.5* Got the players fired up for a nothing game & the end of a shit season, and we utterly dominated 1st half. Started the 2nd slowly, but he adapted well to their changes through an alteration in our formation.
Plenty of Shef U fans I spoke to after the game were impressed with us. UTP.
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Post by riponstokie on May 5, 2019 18:45:06 GMT
Not sure I agree. He’s not commenting on where we’re having the promotion party like Rowett or simply believing bringing in a few players will see us romp our way to promotion. Jones knows there is years of problems stored up in the walls of the club & we need a total uprooting of the energy & negativity within the club. For Jones it’s mroe than just on the pitch, it’s transforming the entire club. Rowett was naive enough to think all that wasn’t necessary. Jones knows & is ready for the challenge. He seems to have a straight down the line belief that if you do certain things the outcome is inevitable ..... sadly I don’t believe that is necessarily so in the football business. Probably reflects his personality and his faith and is quite endearing in its own way. I still think the reality will be messier than he predicts. I think he knows in football that to win anything you need a positive & determined atmosphere. That isn't any spiritualistic idealism, or hopefully naivety, its the nature of the beast. Whether it be us getting promoted under TP or Pep winning Man City the league, you need an entire system on & off the pitch pulling in the same direction & fostering positivity. The reality will be messy, there will be highs & lows, but we need to back this guy & give him time. I'll tell you one thing that is inevitable, if we don't change the atmosphere & toxicity in this club & we as fans call for NJ's head if its not all roses, we'll continue to rot & an endless cycles of managers will ensue. Its a process, and without the changes he needs time to implement it is 100% guaranteed we will continue to regress.
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Post by riponstokie on May 5, 2019 15:51:48 GMT
Watched both Nathan’s interview with Radio Stoke & the club website. Very impressive. So fired up & hungry, he’ll give everything to ensure we have a team to be proud of. Let’s not kid ourselves into thinking 3 years of shite & collapse are going to be easily turned around and automatic promotion is inevitable next season. We just need to stop the rot, stop the regression and start moving forward. Let’s all be fucking positive, get behind this transformation of the club and back the manager’s vision. It may not be next year, but I’m confident if we maintain support & patience Jones will take us up. WBWY. The irony is that I think he thinks it’s going to be more straight forward than the rest of us do. There is a certain naivety about his comments. However god loves a trier so let’s hope Nath is right at the front of the queue with the almighty and gets a few lucky breaks that we will need. I like his willingness to put himself squarely in the firing line. Not sure I agree. He’s not commenting on where we’re having the promotion party like Rowett or simply believing bringing in a few players will see us romp our way to promotion. Jones knows there is years of problems stored up in the walls of the club & we need a total uprooting of the energy & negativity within the club. For Jones it’s mroe than just on the pitch, it’s transforming the entire club. Rowett was naive enough to think all that wasn’t necessary. Jones knows & is ready for the challenge.
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Post by riponstokie on May 5, 2019 15:37:06 GMT
Watched both Nathan’s interview with Radio Stoke & the club website. Very impressive. So fired up & hungry, he’ll give everything to ensure we have a team to be proud of. Let’s not kid ourselves into thinking 3 years of shite & collapse are going to be easily turned around and automatic promotion is inevitable next season. We just need to stop the rot, stop the regression and start moving forward. Let’s all be fucking positive, get behind this transformation of the club and back the manager’s vision. It may not be next year, but I’m confident if we maintain support & patience Jones will take us up. WBWY.
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Post by riponstokie on May 3, 2019 14:46:14 GMT
Top man is Nathan. He is utterly devoted to driving this club to being where it belongs, with a team that represent our area & do the red and white proud. Given time, patience & support from all of us, Jones will take us places. Keep the faith. WBWY.
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Post by riponstokie on Apr 13, 2019 16:18:44 GMT
Fundamentally disagree. Bojan was by no means ripping it apart nor creating chance after chance, but the one thing he did do was keep the ball, provide a link between the midfield and forwards. The second Afobe came on, the control of the game we showed for the last 20 of the first half was thrown away. We inevitably became scrappy as we couldn't play through the thirds, and therefore invited pressure on. This isn't about Bojan groupies, its about understanding football & seeing what is obviously in front of you. We were shit today, but after the 2 goals we were in control and could keep the ball. Hooking Bojan, reducing the numbers in midfield & bringing on Afobe cost us the game. Its that simple im afraid. In control? What fucking game were you watching? We were never in control when he was on or off the pitch. Maybe you need to re-watch it so you can see what was "obviously in front of you" If you re-read my original post & see what is obviously in front of you, you would see that I said we were in control after the 2 goals, for the remainder of the 1st half - which we were. They completely dropped off us and we looked in cruise control, but second half we started slowly, made the sub and invited pressure on.
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Post by riponstokie on Apr 13, 2019 16:08:40 GMT
He will always draw defenders/defensive midfielders' attention to him, so when he goes off, one or more of those players can offer more going forward. And they have. Plus even on a bad day, he can still conjure up something when you least expect it. Again, he achieved none of that first half so why would we have hope he'd have managed it if he'd stayed on? Like i said, i'm not slating Bojan or saying he was any worse than the rest but this pathetic insistence that if we lose it's because Bojan didn't play, or if he does play and then we play badly then we'll suddenly re-write the game completely and pretend we only played badly after he went off is just teenage bollocks. He didn't influence the game in any way today, neither did anyone else. In short they were ALL largely shit including Bojan. Him going off didn't effect our attack (apart from 1 minute in the first half we didn't have one) and it most ceetainly didn't effect our defence. He had a very mediocre game at best (like the rest). It is allowed to actually say that about Bojan isn't it? You know, the truth rather than spun shit people make up simply because they feel some need to absolve him of any of the criticism that the rest of the team are seemingly completely justified in getting? The team were shit today, Bojan included. The Bojan groupies are starting to sound more and more like fucking Trump supporters by the day! Try being football fans rather than teenagers with a crush Fundamentally disagree. Bojan was by no means ripping it apart nor creating chance after chance, but the one thing he did do was keep the ball, provide a link between the midfield and forwards. The second Afobe came on, the control of the game we showed for the last 20 of the first half was thrown away. We inevitably became scrappy as we couldn't play through the thirds, and therefore invited pressure on. This isn't about Bojan groupies, its about understanding football & seeing what is obviously in front of you. We were shit today, but after the 2 goals we were in control and could keep the ball. Hooking Bojan, reducing the numbers in midfield & bringing on Afobe cost us the game. Its that simple im afraid.
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Post by riponstokie on Apr 13, 2019 16:03:20 GMT
Truly shite management there. The second he took Bojan off he removed any control we had over the game, made our play inevitably scrappy & invited them on. Not saying Boj was tearing it up by any stretch, but the way he effortlessly keeps the ball, recycles possession & links the play up between defence and the forwards is fundamental to our performance. Him getting hooked brought us down to their scrappy level, and is the first time I'm thoroughly fucked off with Nathan. Rank lower league management and unsurprisingly saw us lose any foothold we had in the game.
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Post by riponstokie on Feb 16, 2019 17:55:17 GMT
Is it just me or was today & last week Jones doing his best Gary Rowett impression? The season is dead, rather than playing the negative, shitty 433 that saw Rowett get the chop, NJ should just back himself, play the diamond and start working towards next season. Trying to shithouse a 1-0 away at Ipswich when you're scrapping for survival or pushing for promotion is fine. But given this season is dead, I can't help but feel NJ should do his own thing, and start building long-term, rather than mirroring the same shite Rowett excreted just to scrape a few extra points, which come May will mean nothing anyway. The only game since NJ has come in where I was gobsmacked & confused by the line up was Leeds, and what happened there? Jonesy is a good manager who needs time, and he will improve us. But please just use the free pass that is the rest of the season to apply your methods in preparation for a (hopefully) somewhat less shit next season.
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Post by riponstokie on Feb 13, 2019 23:42:23 GMT
6.5*
Correct to go to the 433, defence looked better & 2nd half we showed a bit of fight and intent that we’ve been lacking. Be patient, today showed shoots of improvement (however small). In NJ we trust.
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Post by riponstokie on Feb 13, 2019 10:30:30 GMT
Not sure mate, but heard Galloways pies are the go to.
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Post by riponstokie on Jan 26, 2019 17:07:34 GMT
Think there is an eery similarity between the free falling nature of our club, the toxic atmosphere within the SCFC walls and the utmost (justified) frustration of supporters. Don't know if anyone has watched the Sunderland documentary - don't think you necessarily have to have watched it to understand the correlation between cycles of shite. Be it Hughes, Lambert, Rowett or NJ, the same issues are perpetuating. Lack of leadership, dicking around over penalties, weak as piss mindset. This all stems deeper than whoever is in the dugout; not too dissimilar to the shitshow at the Stadium of Light.
How did Sunderland (eventually) try to turn it around? Fucking of the COE, changing the board, the owners and gutting the club from the inside out. This is what we need to do, and to have any hope of getting our club back to its rightful place, we as fans need to do everything to fuck these toxic bastards out of our club.
I am confident NJ is the man to take this club forward, and we know he will work tirelessly to get it right - he needs time. Yes, the players are shite, arrogate, lazy and need clearing out, but the issues run far deeper than that too. Be it Jese and Charlie, or Etebo and Clucas, the penalty farce is indicative of deep issues in the mentality snd very structures at this cub, and I believe with my whole heart an utter clear out is a necessity.
Starting with Teflon Tony. Get out of our club.
Keep the faith, support Jonesy, and fight to see the back of that utter prick Scholes. UTMP.
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Post by riponstokie on Jan 18, 2019 16:24:27 GMT
This bloke is a top man who is going to give everything at driving our club towards success. You can't help but feel he understands the area, what we as a club are about and (unlike previous managers) he seems genuinely proud to manage Stoke City FC. Give Nathan time, support him through the journey, and i'm confident he will take this club where it belongs. WBWY
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Post by riponstokie on Nov 28, 2018 19:17:53 GMT
Been patient with Rowett, I’ve always been considerate of the colossal mess he’s inherited and thus never expected a quick fix. However I think that team & squad selection tonight has just about done it for me. The team has been bereft of quality or any creativity in the final 3rd, and the midfield 3 is ponderous, lacks any attacking flair and is without any physicality. The refusal to start Bojan for a run of games, let alone drop him from the match day squad, underlines the utterly cluelessness of our manager. Moveoever, Rowett’s arrogate insistence on playing 433 despite its evident failure is Mark Hughes levels of ignorance & incompetence. We’ve no plan, no identity & the manager is to blame for this. The clock is certainty ticking Gary.
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Post by riponstokie on Nov 3, 2018 20:56:44 GMT
Excellent Reception for the great man and a class post match interview from Stoke City's joint greatest ever manager. One Tony Pulis!!! I can't help but think how different this particular homecoming feels different from previous one's....... probably because GR has the utmost respect for what TP achieved at Stoke and the fact that the lazy, negligent twat that is Mark Hughes wasn't involved....... but hey ho, he did take us to the next level..................Thanks again Tony....forever grateful....... C'mon STOKE!
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Post by riponstokie on May 6, 2018 15:55:48 GMT
I’d love a little chant of “what all the fuss about, what’s all the fuss about, what all the fuss about”...and so on. To the tune of ‘what times your aeroplane’
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Post by riponstokie on May 5, 2018 21:24:03 GMT
Coates has done great things for our club and city. These last couple of years, he's failed to ensure Scholes and the recruitment staff do their job. He failed to ensure Mark Hughes avoided complacency. He failed to sack Hughes in the summer when he needed to go. He failed to give our number one management choice the money he was after. He then failed to appoint a manager good enough to keep us up. As a result, it is fair to ask for his removal. He has torn apart all that he has built up, and all the rivers of failure, be it Scholes penny pinching or Hughes' prolonged tenure, Coates is the source. Says the bloke who thinks Pulis did no wrong even though Coates backed him to the hilt but when the purse strings were pulled it was Hughes fault ,....yet you now want Coates fucked off Truly priceless Actually Werrington, both me and my son (who is a very intelligent articulate young man with strong views) very occasionally post on here and he gave his opinion, a very valid opinion about Peter Coates. . My view is that Coates needs to take a good long hard look at himself and the debacle that he has overseen before making some big decisions. Having recently had a conversation with Tony Scholes, I am alarmed and deeply concerned on a number of levels. Firstly, his arrogance. I can see why he & Hughes got on so well and why he would have kept Hughes on as manager. He thought the sun shone out of his sorry arse and they are both arrogant beyond belief .Hughes was far too comfortable and Scholes was given far too much trust and power and I believe that he has abused that. It was very much an old boys club. I accused him of complacency, negligence and being in denial. And of course knowing how much he loved Mark fucking Hughes and despised Tony Pulis, I took great pleasure in telling him a few home truths such as Hughes dined out on TP's foundations, the spine, the core of his squad. I always questioned (knew) whether Hughes was capable of building his own and he of course has answered that - is he fuck. Scholes said that we aim to perform a Newcastle and come straight back. How? I asked because they kept their team together more or less. We will sell Butland, Shawcross, Allen & Shaq. He couldn't wait to say yes. We're closer to Sunderland which he strongly refuted of course. We are in a mess from top to bottom and it's going to take some very strong leadership to sort this. I personally do not believe Coates should go but I do think that he should get rid of Scholes, Cartwright and sadly Lambert who inherited the appalling mess left by Mark arrogant, complacent, negligent, lazy, incompetent Hughes. Regarding Tony Pulis. My son is far more objective than me when it comes to the legend Tony Pulis. I am not and I never will be. Coates should have never parted company with Tp. He got rid of the wrong Tony and today is the result of that I'm afraid. What he should have done was back Tp properly and build an Everton under Moyes kind of Premiership club. Anyway, we've certainly reached that next level that certain people were crying out for haven't we? Unfortunately, it's a level down. Well done Mark, you arrogant bastard. Thank you Tony Pulis - LEGEND forever & always.
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Post by riponstokie on May 5, 2018 19:06:05 GMT
I don't know pal, as I said in the above post, there is evident lack of interest for this government to do anything...... As a matter of interest, which post is that? Here's one: "Find it farcical and deeply troublesome when watching PMQs & simply of utter contempt the tories have for British people. When questioned about serious problems like increasing poverty, homelessness, food bank usage etc. they merely disregard the issue. Rather than genuinely recognising their failings and holding their hands up & saying this is wrong, lets find a solution, they instead switch the conversation to different fact, like about employment increasing (due to 0 hrs contracts and their changing definition of employment). The total ignorance and lack of any compassion or economic engagement in these issues from the government never ceases to disturb me. Its almost as if they don't care, and that these little side affects are merely the accepted consequences of the broken economic system they have created, to aid their wealthy friends." Read more: oatcakefanzine.proboards.com/user/13537/recent#ixzz5Eeid1DrA
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Post by riponstokie on May 5, 2018 14:00:23 GMT
With every passing day this government reminds me more and more of John Major's from 1990 onwards. Riven by infighting over Europe, scandal after scandal, ministers who are clearly not up to the job etc etc, the parallels are obvious. Where the parallels break down is in the lack of a particularly effective opposition. In short, the country is in a right mess and no-one has a coherent strategy to get us out of it. The future does not look bright imo. PMQs is just a pantomime really, the real work of parliament goes on behind the scenes at all the various committee stages of drafting legislation, where they do, generally include any MP of any party who has a knowledge and interest in the particular bill being drawn up. We don't get to see that very often so we don't really know much about it. Which does beg the question - if you want to raise the incredibly low estimation of the public when it comes to politicians' worth, ability and reputations, why show them in their worst possible light at PMQs! PMQs is important and should be valued as it is a forum within which the lowliest of backbenchers can put question directly to the leader of the government in full view of their peers and the public, and expect a reply back from the Prime Minister. Sadly though, it has been hijacked and has become the embarrassing spectacle that it is today. Shock, Horror though – I agree with just about everything you say in your post. This government, the Prime Minister and virtually every other minister are clearly not up to the job. But what is the alternative? A look across the chamber of the house shows no better options. I don't know pal, as I said in the above post, there is evident lack of interest for this government to do anything. Across the dispatch box you see a programme that seems to be transparent, there's policies that actually seek to change the economy and country we live in, which evidently needs to happen. What draws me in, is rather than seeing these nationalisation of increases state economic involvement through the eyes of the media, I look across to Europe where the polices are seen as moderate, and work with great success. In Germany and Scandinavia you see reasonable policies that genuinely make a difference, that is what is echoed by the current opposition. In contrast, the media claims it is marxism and far leftism, and instead advocate a government sitting on their hands and being seemingly content with growing inequality, poverty & homelessness. I dont know, its worth thinking about these things more objectively and even handily, rather than jumping on board the 'oh the opposition can't be considered' bandwagon.
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Post by riponstokie on May 5, 2018 13:52:32 GMT
Heartbroken. This is worse than a break up. Coates out and new management before the new season. Completely fucked us. Get some perspective, man. Also, show some damned respect. 'Show some darned respect'?! Where was Coates' respect? "I dont know what all the fuss is about" When we could all see Stoke were plummeting towards the Championship, and showing genuine concern for the club. And what did Coates do? respond with utter contempt for the fans, the arrogance to merely brush off reasonable fans concerns. I question his worthiness of respect. Irrelevant of what he's done in the past, his utter failure these last couple of years & disdain shown to the fans leaves him wide open to criticism.
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Post by riponstokie on May 5, 2018 13:39:08 GMT
Coates has done great things for our club and city. These last couple of years, he's failed to ensure Scholes and the recruitment staff do their job. He failed to ensure Mark Hughes avoided complacency. He failed to sack Hughes in the summer when he needed to go. He failed to give our number one management choice the money he was after. He then failed to appoint a manager good enough to keep us up. As a result, it is fair to ask for his removal. He has torn apart all that he has built up, and all the rivers of failure, be it Scholes penny pinching or Hughes' prolonged tenure, Coates is the source.
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Post by riponstokie on May 2, 2018 15:20:57 GMT
Find it farcical and deeply troublesome when watching PMQs & simply of utter contempt the tories have for British people. When questioned about serious problems like increasing poverty, homelessness, food bank usage etc. they merely disregard the issue. Rather than genuinely recognising their failings and holding their hands up & saying this is wrong, lets find a solution, they instead switch the conversation to different fact, like about employment increasing (due to 0 hrs contracts and their changing definition of employment). The total ignorance and lack of any compassion or economic engagement in these issues from the government never ceases to disturb me. Its almost as if they don't care, and that these little side affects are merely the accepted consequences of the broken economic system they have created, to aid their wealthy friends. I think they do care, they just aren't being very successful with their policies at the moment. No government will admit that in public. I watched PMQs today for the first time all the way through and found it utterly depressing. It's little more than a Punch and Judy type farce really and a complete waste of time, other than letting the viewers see their MPs which is a good thing. It would amuse me if the Speaker, when calling a government backbencher (and this applies just as equally when Labour were in power) would shout "Toadying questions" or something similar. Half the time is wasted with such teeth-grinding sycophancy. I like the optimistic tone to what you've said, and I too thoroughly despair about PMQs; what should be the place for serious political debate regarding issues that dictate people's lives, instead turn into petty jeering, probably straight out of the Eton common room or something. However, I can't help but feel, when consulting voting history etc. the government, whilst not necessarily actively seeking to worsen people's live, seem apathetic & disinterested about addressing the same old problems that have simply worsened since 2010. These statistics of rising poverty are a product of the government's labour market failures & austerity; hardly surprising as the number of 0hrs contract workers increase, as does in work poverty parallel to it. Similarly, it seems economically illogical, when recovering from a recession & struggling for growth to insists on cutting spending, which is often the key driver in growth. Indeed, it seems these cuts in budgets, in people's wages and in investment have perpetuated throughout the economy, leading to this endemic of homelessness and poverty, not to mention frightening levels of inequality. Meanwhile, the government seems incredibly content with its work, and is continuing with the same failing policies, suggesting they are either incompetent, immoral or potentially both.
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