Also, point of order Mister Angry Weather Cashless Guy, the entire conversation about "boffins" has been PB at its bestGet some sleep.Whereas you are fascinating and enchanting, 24/7Jesus you are a boring sod when you have jet lag.There you go again, weirdly overwrought - I believe my theory is correctI can see what the weather is doing now, by looking out of the window. I can see what it’s doing in the next few days, by looking at my weather app.I’ve mentioned it once today. Its 3.30pmNot angry, just utterly bored with you droning on about it day after day, hour after hour.You get weirdly ANGRY when people moan about the weather. Given that you live in Britain, where "moaning about the weather" is a national pastime, you must be angry most of the day. Not healthyEaster weekend looks pretty nice in London. Showers kinda fizzling out tomorrow then mostly fine and mild Saturday and Sunday.It’s hideous. I’m still in bed. I’ve had three solid months of pure blue skies and sun. It is so easy to get out of bed when it is warm and sunny - you WANT to sit on the balcony with your coffee. BlissI think this is my favourite sentence of all the sentences I’ve ever written on PBYes a truly dire day across the country today. Some slight improvement saturday i think but friday and monday look awful. Oh well roll on May Day.
“If America could borrow some of Britain’s Malvern Army of Top Off Duty Drugs Boffins they’d fix the Fentanyl thing within a fortnight, after several days of being baffled”
That’s poetry. Also it’s more fun to write that than stare out of the window at the incomprehensibly awful weather
This shit? You want to hide away. Duvet day is every day
Stop whining.
I have a theory. I think you get upset by shit British weather but you try and live in denial of it, and say it’s all good. So if someone points out that actually it’s pretty shit, that kicks away the denial leaving you exposed. And angry
Just a theory
Your tedious posts on the subject add nothing to the gaiety of the nation.
Top Anabobazina Boffins No Longer Baffled
Go back to bed.
We don't build enough houses because it's not the private house builder's job to solve the housing crisis. They just build enough houses that they can sell at prices they want to sell at. It's capitalism, innit?The reason that more properties are not built is that, in effect, local monopolies are granted in house building, in many areas.
The government should be building affordable semis, terraces, flats and apartments to rent. Nationalise affordable housing and employ trades, have apprenticeships and construction capability owned by the government that delivers affordable, quality housing for the population. It might even help to bring house prices down.
Don't contract it out. It'll just go way over budget and under deliver.
It'll kill private landlords, but tough.
Some things just need to be nationalised.
Thank you for that YouGov polling - interesting! I note YouGov track what people say are the negative impacts of immigration, but several of these are mythical. We’ve discussed before that crime is, if anything, lower in immigrant groups. Recent immigrants are less likely to receive benefits ( https://www.ucl.ac.uk/economics/about-department/fiscal-effects-immigration-uk ). So, why are people saying things that aren’t true?Its obviously complicated and a lot of related factors mixed up together.Do you have evidence that this is why? I think immigration is mostly unpopular because some voters have racist/xenophobic tendencies or just don’t like change, and because some politicians/commentators/newspapers blame immigration for numerous ills.I disagree with that - it is mostly unpopular because we don't build the infrastructure and houses at a rate that matches expected immigration. At best we build it to match the level of immigration the politicians promise which is very innaccurate and always too low for reality.Oh, absolutely - that's exactly my point. It is *only* unpopular in the racism sense, not the practical sense.Immigration is unpopular.Good morning."Immigration" is unpopular. "Illegal" is the "I'm not a racist" shield.
Here is the nub of the issue. What sort of immigration is unpopular?
Arguably it is the "illegal" sort - but how is this defined and how is it counted?
It is far too easy to look at ever increasing gross numbers and project those onto the segment of immigrants we don't like.
Anyway good news for the Tories in the figures quoted. Only 2% of those polled generally don't like the Government so 98% up for grabs.
Immigration for nurses is not unpopular.
Immigration for care home workers is not unpopular.
Immigration for highly skilled roles generally is not unpopular.
Immigration for Ukrainians invaded by Russians is not unpopular
Immigration for Hong Kongers escaping the Chinese is not unpopular.
Immigration from students improves our already bad balance of payments by £40bn and saves the taxpayer a lot in university funding.
So yes immigration is unpopular but that doesn't mean stopping it would be popular either.
Concern around immigration in topic polling tends to be driven by the amount politicians are talking about immigration, I suggest.
Is lack of infrastructure was the problem, you’d expect anti-immigration polling to be higher in areas of high immigration and high housing costs, like London. But it isn’t.
Yougov track negative impact of migration and the top 3 (currently all about the same) are:
Benefits
Demand for Public Services
Increasing Demand for Housing
Allowing people with extreme views and terrorist sympathisers is next, and at a similar level to the above.
Damaging our culture and traditions, which would be the big racism/xenophobia marker is about half that level.
I think that ties in with experience that most of the country is not particularly racist, and its only a smallish group (5-10%?) that are strongly racist.
https://yougov.co.uk/topics/politics/trackers/what-are-the-main-negative-effects-of-immigration
Complete with involvement in Black Knight too! I hadn't realised. Definitely a boffin as you say.I 'think' the term boffin relates to scientists that are rather detached from the real world (perhaps the scientist in the Simpsons, for instance). All the scientists I know and work with are not at all like that. Most are complex souls with families and hobbies the same as the rest of the population.This guy was definitely a boffin
Of course the really good profs can be a bit extreme. To make it in academia you often need to put in a lot of out of hours work (evenings and weekends writing grants, papers etc). Those who are really driven excel at doing this and reach the top. They often find it hard to retire, as they have less outside interests. But even for them, most are thoroughly grounded.
I once had a conversation with a lay person (a neighbour) about creativity. I told her I think the scientists are some of the most creative people I know. New discoveries don't just happen.
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2024/mar/08/stephen-salter-obituary
And a damn fine engineer (and professor)
The olive oil is running low. I may have to brave the mean streets of north London this afternoon.Yes, I pity the poor benighted people of Blackheath, Wimbledon, Chiselhurst, Buckhurst Hill etc, in their semi third world conditions. I'd deliver them food parcels were I not cowering in my home, fearful of Khan's hooded mobs of You Les Enforcers.Yes i have. I lived there for quite a few years too. The nice areas of london are basically a crescent running from richmond in the sw up the river to central london then out to north london primrose hill hampstead etc. Thats where the upper middle class live. Outside that is the real London a mix of semi third world shittiness intermixed with some better areas.Have you ever been to London?Bear in mind though many people arent honest with their views on this. And you wouldnt expect anti i.migration sentiment to be high in london as london is predoninantly full of ethnic minorities and the upper middle class who can insulate themselves from the problems.Its obviously complicated and a lot of related factors mixed up together.Do you have evidence that this is why? I think immigration is mostly unpopular because some voters have racist/xenophobic tendencies or just don’t like change, and because some politicians/commentators/newspapers blame immigration for numerous ills.I disagree with that - it is mostly unpopular because we don't build the infrastructure and houses at a rate that matches expected immigration. At best we build it to match the level of immigration the politicians promise which is very innaccurate and always too low for reality.Oh, absolutely - that's exactly my point. It is *only* unpopular in the racism sense, not the practical sense.Immigration is unpopular.Good morning."Immigration" is unpopular. "Illegal" is the "I'm not a racist" shield.
Here is the nub of the issue. What sort of immigration is unpopular?
Arguably it is the "illegal" sort - but how is this defined and how is it counted?
It is far too easy to look at ever increasing gross numbers and project those onto the segment of immigrants we don't like.
Anyway good news for the Tories in the figures quoted. Only 2% of those polled generally don't like the Government so 98% up for grabs.
Immigration for nurses is not unpopular.
Immigration for care home workers is not unpopular.
Immigration for highly skilled roles generally is not unpopular.
Immigration for Ukrainians invaded by Russians is not unpopular
Immigration for Hong Kongers escaping the Chinese is not unpopular.
Immigration from students improves our already bad balance of payments by £40bn and saves the taxpayer a lot in university funding.
So yes immigration is unpopular but that doesn't mean stopping it would be popular either.
Concern around immigration in topic polling tends to be driven by the amount politicians are talking about immigration, I suggest.
Is lack of infrastructure was the problem, you’d expect anti-immigration polling to be higher in areas of high immigration and high housing costs, like London. But it isn’t.
Yougov track negative impact of migration and the top 3 (currently all about the same) are:
Benefits
Demand for Public Services
Increasing Demand for Housing
Allowing people with extreme views and terrorist sympathisers is next, and at a similar level to the above.
Damaging our culture and traditions, which would be the big racism/xenophobia marker is about half that level.
I think that ties in with experience that most of the country is not particularly racist, and its only a smallish group (5-10%?) that are strongly racist.
https://yougov.co.uk/topics/politics/trackers/what-are-the-main-negative-effects-of-immigration
Many boomers got a massive windfall from housing despite only working pretty average jobs. They interpret this windfall as due to their "hard work"It's not practical. No government would be bold enough for a start. But it would improve people's lives immeasurably.We don't build enough houses because it's not the private house builder's job to solve the housing crisis. They just build enough houses that they can sell at prices they want to sell at. It's capitalism, innit?I don't know about the practicality but I share the sentiment. A shift in the perception of residential property from 'personal wealth creating asset' and 'getting on the ladder' to 'an affordable place to live' would be a very positive development. The warped way we view 'houses' is imo one of the biggest root causes of the problem.
The government should be building affordable semis, terraces, flats and apartments to rent. Nationalise affordable housing and employ trades, have apprenticeships and construction capability owned by the government that delivers affordable, quality housing for the population. It might even help to bring house prices down.
Don't contract it out. It'll just go way over budget and under deliver.
It'll kill private landlords, but tough.
Some things just need to be nationalised.
I know capitalism is the only game in town, but events like Thames Water prove time and again that our current form of capitalism just ain't working for the little guy.
Some things just need to be nationalised....
Seeing as it is quite regularly the number one topic, it doesn't seem to have been a very effective or impactful attempt......In thecae of immigration, there has been a definite attempt make any opposition, to any level of it, beyond political discourse.That seems to me like a lopsided characterisation. A huge amount of modern democracy is directed at stopping change: see NIMBYs! The ruling party for the last 14 years has been a party called the Conservatives, a name that describes their feelings towards change.It's a combinationYes, I think lots of people don’t like change. There’s plenty of change I don’t like. I’m not saying there’s anything necessarily wrong with not liking change.If immigration were spread evenly across the country, it would be less of an issue. But it isn't. It is still uncommon to see a non-white person in the SW outside Bristol and to a lesser extent Exeter, where non-white faces are often students rather than family groups. It's further from London, very limited rented accommodation, fewer opportunities for black economy jobs ties for them to take advantage/be taken advantage of - and no familiar communities to be part of. Immigration is generally not a doorstep issue down here - housing is though, despite no pressure to compete with immigrants. Schools are far less affected, hospitals more so - but that is incoming oldies fighting for a hip or knee replacement with other incoming oldies.Do you have evidence that this is why? I think immigration is mostly unpopular because some voters have racist/xenophobic tendencies or just don’t like change, and because some politicians/commentators/newspapers blame immigration for numerous ills.I disagree with that - it is mostly unpopular because we don't build the infrastructure and houses at a rate that matches expected immigration. At best we build it to match the level of immigration the politicians promise which is very innaccurate and always too low for reality.Oh, absolutely - that's exactly my point. It is *only* unpopular in the racism sense, not the practical sense.Immigration is unpopular.Good morning."Immigration" is unpopular. "Illegal" is the "I'm not a racist" shield.
Here is the nub of the issue. What sort of immigration is unpopular?
Arguably it is the "illegal" sort - but how is this defined and how is it counted?
It is far too easy to look at ever increasing gross numbers and project those onto the segment of immigrants we don't like.
Anyway good news for the Tories in the figures quoted. Only 2% of those polled generally don't like the Government so 98% up for grabs.
Immigration for nurses is not unpopular.
Immigration for care home workers is not unpopular.
Immigration for highly skilled roles generally is not unpopular.
Immigration for Ukrainians invaded by Russians is not unpopular
Immigration for Hong Kongers escaping the Chinese is not unpopular.
Immigration from students improves our already bad balance of payments by £40bn and saves the taxpayer a lot in university funding.
So yes immigration is unpopular but that doesn't mean stopping it would be popular either.
Concern around immigration in topic polling tends to be driven by the amount politicians are talking about immigration, I suggest.
Is lack of infrastructure was the problem, you’d expect anti-immigration polling to be higher in areas of high immigration and high housing costs, like London. But it isn’t.
The only time you hear it is people who have moved down here, usually from the West Midlands. Retirement migration to the SW has been going on for decades. They would have come anyway, but claiming Brum or the Black Country is "not what it was" gives some rationale for upping sticks. Whilst you will find the occasional out-and-out racist, most of those who feel edged out have no personal beef one-on-one with immigrants. Their beef is change, the rapid rate of that change, and the loss of what they knew before. It gives them a reason on their own terms for doing what they would have done anyway: move.
Again, though, is the change experienced largely due to immigration, or is it due to diverse other factors and immigration is the convenient scapegoat? It’s easy to blame change on the people moving in.
1) Change
2) The repeated emphasis on "You are not allowed to stop the change. You are not allowed to oppose the change. If the change has any negative consequences, then that's your problem"
2) is especially the problem in a modern democracy.
But, yes, there is a lot of change, of multiple types, economic, social, and different political groups have differing views on what change is good or bad.