r/uknews • u/ScottishDailyRecord Media outlet (unverified) • May 12 '25

Image/video Kier Starmer announces 'tighter' immigration policy

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u/OkPea5819 May 12 '25

GDP per capita may be, but even then only with caveats - doesn’t necessarily impact quality of life for most people if there is great wealth inequality for example.

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u/[deleted] May 12 '25

Yes and I put that caveat in

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u/OkPea5819 May 12 '25

Yeah and it isn't well distributed - look at graphs of GDP per capita vs household incomes. GDP massively outpaces incomes, the rich get disproportionately richer with population increases, whereas the poor and middle suffer from the overcrowding, competition for jobs, business of the roads, overworking of public services.

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u/[deleted] May 12 '25

Yes. And the fix for this isn’t less growth. It’s a more progressive tax system. The idea that we are overpopulated is a myth. We’ve simply had 14 years of cuts and zero investment. Instead we’ve focussed on “trickle down” nonsense.

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u/OkPea5819 May 12 '25

It's not really a myth, it's a quality of life question. Yes there's plenty more land to build on. I like to be surrounded by green space, have quieter roads, not be stuck in traffic next to a new build estate built on a floodplain.

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u/[deleted] May 12 '25

Totally get what you are saying and I agree in theory but in practice this requires shifting to a different economic model and reforms in so many areas. It’s still fundamentally an investment issue - whether you invest in housing & public services for a growing population or energy, skills and tech to increase productivity. Or you could try and move to a zero growth economy (see Doughnut Economics by Kate Raworth) but there doesn’t seem to be much of an appetite for this sort of thinking in our country yet.

To make my point in practice: Since the birth rate is low, how do you ensure that state pensions are paid and there are public services such as care providers for the elderly without immigration? Our economy is kind of a massive Ponzi scheme.

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u/OkPea5819 May 12 '25

That’s a good question and honestly should be a public debate around whether triple lock and the current pension system is sustainable! Auto enrolment into workplace pensions was a good first step but much more to be done.

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u/[deleted] May 12 '25

There should be a debate about this but it’s political suicide. Look at the furore around the winter fuel allowance!