Welsh Labour MP clashes with think tank he used to run over benefit cuts

Torsten Bell MP was very poor and unimpressive on Newsnight last night. Running with the hare and the hounds.

Don't forget that young Torsten has "a mortgage to pay" sic. Like a tragic hero in a Wagner opera. And after being suddenly parachuted in from on high and unfortunately landing not on his heels but on his head, suffered severe concussion and awakened as Norman Tebbit. As the former Labour party tracks evermore to the right he is determined to be at the front of the bus. What was politically offensive and grossly immoral yesterday is now morally correct and a duty today, with even more malignance promised for tomorrow. From a war on poverty to a war on the poor, it's a one term trip and the lad is determined to suck up the maximum career sap from whatever branch presents.

I’m sorry, but the pepple of Swansea and Cymru only have themselves to blams for voting in these tories. They were warned what to expect

It seems to me the Labour Party has been highjacked by right wing neo liberal monetarists whose main concern is sucking money up from the poorest and most vulnerable to the already well heeled. There are obviously so many other ways for the government to boost the coffers from a wealth and land tax to closing tax dodging loopholes to printing money to invest in infrastructure. Taking money off the already poor and vulnerable is a political choice.

There is not much difference between Conservative and Labour anymore.

Parachuted in to a welsh constituency he has zero connection with by Labour hq in London and now betraying everything he ever believed in on the instruction of the same labour hq in London - Bell is scum of the earth.

The irony is. The very Labour politicians like hypocrite Torsten Bell parachuted into Swansea West by authoritarian ruler Labour responsible for pushing through these Draconian benefit cuts affecting the most poorest and vulnerable in society, themselves are claiming thousands in perks & benefits even though receiving £91k a year, one of many jobs they have. The likes of Torsten Bell get a second home on the public purse. Subsidised food. Travel allowance. Help with Council Tax. Gas. Electricity. Free alcohol in the House Of Commons bar. Discounted food, where they only pay £10 for a three course meal at the Westminster restaurant where you or have to pay for our meals when working. I suggest these Labour freeloaders instead of claiming £25 a day food allowance make their own bloody sandwiches saving us the taxpayer money rather than attacking those less fortunate in society like those on PIP & Universal Credit. Oh, but these are classed as "expenses" not benefits to aid them in serving their constituents those Labour MPs cry. You know, bit like when you avoid paying tax not evade. One means you are clever enough not to pay tax by hiring expensive accountants to use loopholes , the other, you hide your earnings from HMRC by squirreling your ill-gotten gains under the proverbial bed or offshore in the tax havens like the Cayman Islands or Switzerland. Sorry but both examples are one and the same in my opinion. Below contempt. As are those Champagne socialist Labour MPs who are screwing the system by claiming when they could pay their own way.

Him and his brother a senior Civil Servant have been raised in an environment that leads them to these career paths, there are many in political ranks have family that arranged these career paths. Until these are seen as for what they are, nepotism plain and simple it will go on.

If you look at the PIP's categories it is now possible for someone who needs prompting to cook a meal, needs assistance with cutting up food, needs supervision for their medical therapy of over 3 hours a week, needs help washing from the waist downwards, needs assistance to dress their lower body, and needs supervision to use the toilet - to not qualify for this benefit. Just think about that, and how disabled someone could be to be expected to get a job! These people will be left destitute under these plans. With the impact of AI removing vast numbers of office jobs, there simply won't be work for these people. Torsten Bell well knows this. However he has decided that his own career is more important. I would suggest the good people of Swansea might like to choose another party next time round! Besides the cruelty, it is political suicide for Labour to go after one of the few groups still voting for them. It is also economically inept. Poor people spend in the local micro economy, which keeps local jobs and small businesses going. The wealthy either hoard their money or spend it on foreign luxury goods. So when you add the cost to local jobs, businesses, and the added burden on the NHS and social services these cuts will have, you won't be saving 5 billion. You might even cost the tax payer more. So how could you raise money. What about charging the crown estate corporation tax as they are keen to emphasise that they are a business when challenged over millions being taken from the NHS for rent. How about a 2% tax on the largest land owners? Or how about making multinationals pay tax on their profits in the country of sale? Those measures combined would raise many, many more billions than this cut to benefits and the winter fuel allowance. I believe, as someone born in England now living in Wales, that it is time for a serious push for Welsh independence. The neoliberal banking elite that Torsten Bell is working for has robbed Wales of rail funding with the utterly indefensible HS2 theft. They are going to put Wales in the same pricy energy band as London, and then expect Wales to export renewables, water and food to England for free. Now benefits are being slashed, exactly what does Wales get from the English political elite? I would suggest very little. Its time for a kinder, socialist Wales without the overhead of the English ruling class creaming off the money. Its time we stopped getting involved in foreign wars to keep the bankers in the City of London happy. Do we need a minerals deal with Ukraine ? No. Do we need to import vast numbers of migrants to keep wages down? No. Do we need to let the incredibly rich hoover up all the gains from AI and new technology? No. Its time for change. And getting rid of Labour, the Tories, and Reform is the change that's needed! I will be voting Plaid next time around, and independence if we get a vote, hopefully Scotland will do the same.

The man is a non entity. PPE at Oxford, editor of a student newspaper, columnist, chief executive of a think tank and then parachuted into a seat he has no connection with. Where is the real world experience? This is the person who is telling/advising pension funds where to invest (preferably in the UK). Spouting off from his ivory tower on a cool £90,000+ per year with expenses. Has he and his fellow Labour mps invested heavily in UK equities?

'I couldn't live on £70 a week but I'm not one of the poors.'

final para - did you mean 'per month'?

You ain't no socialist, bruv!