Practical solutions to real problems inevitably annoy some (potentially large) subset of the population. It’s much easier to claim that there is some imaginary solution that will please everyone and comes without the pesky downsides that real solutions inevitably suffer from.
With vim, vigour & an engaging personality you can use this approach to enter the very highest positions of power, so long as you can convince enough of the population that you have the solutions to their problems. That reality will eventually assert itself is not your problem - it’s theirs.
c.f. Trump
It was interesting yesterday, multiple cabinet members 'testified' before congress, and each and every one of them lied their ass off in service of the Mad King
The unanswered question is what these people think will happen in the long run.
Lying to congress is supposed to be a felony. I know the DOJ in its current form will never prosecute them, but they seem to be operating under the assumption that there will never be any blowback, ever.
I am not as confident as they appear to be
They don't expect blowback because they expect to win all future elections, all the usual trickery but x 10, and it's not like the DOJ, courts, or Congress will be doing much to stop GOP malfeasance.
You know who else thought there would be a thousand year Reich...
Not strictly true - it was either going to be a Thousand Year Reich or Gotterdammerung, which was a pretty accurate prediction!
Labour's brilliant No E Gates deal really making a dent in Reform, there
Yes I know the polling date blah blah
So why are you posting this then? Unless your demand is that people are psychic and express a change of voting intention *before* the thing that makes them change is announced?
Seance polls - a whole new industry. Chaired by Mystic Meg.
Bilbao is a fantastic city with the Guggenheim museum, the Michelin-starred restaurants, and a region with a great history of players and managers. And yet a few idiots want to do this, rather than enjoy everything that Bilbao offers.
That's San Sebastian, though the same "Why" applies, they could be sightseeing or surfing if they're not into culture. Hardly going to improve the growing anti-tourism sentiment
If you have a nice home in a nice green area altruism hits the buffers.
The privileged need to realise that things must change, if they want them to stay the same.
What needs to change is for immigration to become either negative, nil, or less than 10K a year, as the majority of people want according to the latest polling.
That's impossible without economic depressiom, which is why first Johnson, and then Farage won't be able to deliver it.
What that would really need is for a rightwing politician to.really commit to something very out of character - cast-iron commitments to lift the education and training budget over a number of years, such that the above can be attempted again after a clearly defined number of years.
The only way out: 1. Migration is unsustainably and absurdly high. Smash the gangs. Rejoin the international accords. Rapidly process and return. Find an off-shore way to process the questionable cases. 2. Migration is needed because we don't have enough doctors care staff factory workers brickies plumbers sparkies etc. If you want to set the level to zero then here's the cost to you tomorrow 3. We're going to invest heavily now to train up the next generation of Brits to fill these critical jobs. This will take 5 years and we're going to need migrants until then. To help fix the crisis in our universities and remove a large flow of migrants we're going to fund universities to refocus on academic and vocational courses we need
Knuckleheads will complain but with an actual plan to move things forward they will be an ever-shrinking minority.
If Farage was shrewder than I've so far given him credit for, this would actually be a realistic sort of plan for him to adopt.
So far I've only seen him look for short-term gains, though.
Our politics has been reduced to absurdist black-and-white binary absolutism. Either you want to close the border NOW and sink the boats, or you want 704m illegals to arrive tomorrow.
Basic maths tells us that the post Boris numbers are absurdly unsustainable. So it has to come down and do so significantly which means a *practical and workable* plan to actually reduce it.
But at the same time we're reliant on migrants because we have a whole stack of jobs we can't fill. Professions we don't train enough people in, geographies where people either don't want to live or can't afford to live, skills we have let go.
Morons equate a lack of people to do job x in place y with unemployed z and say "make them work for benefits". Again, we need a *practical and workable plan*.
Why are we reliant on migrants in the NHS? Because we've made training expensive and difficult, and have an NHS where working conditions are terrible due to the lack of cash. So we need to invest to train people up and then retain that talent. Invest money now to save money later.
Why are we reliant on migrants in the care sector or factories or an endless list of jobs? Because pay and conditions are poor and housing costs are high - Brits can't afford the work and even if they wanted to we've trained a generation that work is crap because you should be a star on Simon Cowell twat tv. Slash housing costs over a period by building a shitton of new houses for rental at set rents not BTL rents
And how do we build? Fund a mass apprenticeship scheme in partnership with industry and universities. With a marketing campaign to make construction cool - "Build our Nation's Future" or something.
It will mean borrowing to invest now. And getting a return on that investment. Delivering long-term savings. Its called CAPITALISM to all the moron Tories who screech on about "who will pay for that" by reflex. You used to be capitalists, what the fuck happened to you?
Friendly advice; I think your mental health would be better if you didn’t throw so many insults around
Disagree - it helps. And its a genuine question - when did the Tories abandon capitalism?
I think the Johnson clear out of the moderates did a lot of damage.
If you have a nice home in a nice green area altruism hits the buffers.
The privileged need to realise that things must change, if they want them to stay the same.
What needs to change is for immigration to become either negative, nil, or less than 10K a year, as the majority of people want according to the latest polling.
That's impossible without economic depressiom, which is why first Johnson, and then Farage won't be able to deliver it.
What that would really need is for a rightwing politician to.really commit to something very out of character - cast-iron commitments to lift the education and training budget over a number of years, such that the above can be attempted again after a clearly defined number of years.
The only way out: 1. Migration is unsustainably and absurdly high. Smash the gangs. Rejoin the international accords. Rapidly process and return. Find an off-shore way to process the questionable cases. 2. Migration is needed because we don't have enough doctors care staff factory workers brickies plumbers sparkies etc. If you want to set the level to zero then here's the cost to you tomorrow 3. We're going to invest heavily now to train up the next generation of Brits to fill these critical jobs. This will take 5 years and we're going to need migrants until then. To help fix the crisis in our universities and remove a large flow of migrants we're going to fund universities to refocus on academic and vocational courses we need
Knuckleheads will complain but with an actual plan to move things forward they will be an ever-shrinking minority.
If Farage was shrewder than I've so far given him credit for, this would actually be a realistic sort of plan for him to adopt.
So far I've only seen him look for short-term gains, though.
Our politics has been reduced to absurdist black-and-white binary absolutism. Either you want to close the border NOW and sink the boats, or you want 704m illegals to arrive tomorrow.
Basic maths tells us that the post Boris numbers are absurdly unsustainable. So it has to come down and do so significantly which means a *practical and workable* plan to actually reduce it.
But at the same time we're reliant on migrants because we have a whole stack of jobs we can't fill. Professions we don't train enough people in, geographies where people either don't want to live or can't afford to live, skills we have let go.
Morons equate a lack of people to do job x in place y with unemployed z and say "make them work for benefits". Again, we need a *practical and workable plan*.
Why are we reliant on migrants in the NHS? Because we've made training expensive and difficult, and have an NHS where working conditions are terrible due to the lack of cash. So we need to invest to train people up and then retain that talent. Invest money now to save money later.
Why are we reliant on migrants in the care sector or factories or an endless list of jobs? Because pay and conditions are poor and housing costs are high - Brits can't afford the work and even if they wanted to we've trained a generation that work is crap because you should be a star on Simon Cowell twat tv. Slash housing costs over a period by building a shitton of new houses for rental at set rents not BTL rents
And how do we build? Fund a mass apprenticeship scheme in partnership with industry and universities. With a marketing campaign to make construction cool - "Build our Nation's Future" or something.
It will mean borrowing to invest now. And getting a return on that investment. Delivering long-term savings. Its called CAPITALISM to all the moron Tories who screech on about "who will pay for that" by reflex. You used to be capitalists, what the fuck happened to you?
Friendly advice; I think your mental health would be better if you didn’t throw so many insults around
Disagree - it helps. And its a genuine question - when did the Tories abandon capitalism?
You know best I suppose. But going from telling everyone you’ve been going through mental health problems that you need to fix to calling people morons and twats whilst generally sounding angry in three days make you appear like someone suffering with poor mental health.
I'm not calling anyone a twat. I posted "Simon Cowell Twat TV". A throw-away descriptor for not just all of the Cowell-led talent shows but all of the dating love island naked type shows - the whole industry, not a person.
And I am calling Tories - collectively - morons when they forget all about the basics of capitalism and reduce everything to "who will pay for that".
There are people on here calling a certain poster names. I am not. Yet you're focused on me because...? I have a different political perspective and can list issues and ideas?
You sound quite.... manic. Intense highs and lows. I wouldn't normally mention this - it's too personal - but you have told us you've been having issues
It's not the insults it's the intensity and the moodswings. And this is just an observation - you are a well-liked member of the PB Regulars!
Genuinely not manic - I am maintaining this ongoing high plateau calm. My aversion to Britain's got X Factor is long-standing - its been great for the likes of Simon Cowell, but now we seem to have raised a generation who think getting cast on Geordie Shore is a career. And lets say nothing of the idiots who post themselves on YouTube
What's the chances we see a poll with Reform in the 30s, and Lab and Con both in the teens, with the LDs?
That will be quite a moment. With every day that this government fucks up - No E Gates Monday, inflation today, Lab go down and down, and it seems only Reform truly benefit (with a small chunk to the LDs and Greens)
Starmer needs to accept the will of the public, and call an election NOW. We Need Big Nige In Number Ten
If you have a nice home in a nice green area altruism hits the buffers.
The privileged need to realise that things must change, if they want them to stay the same.
What needs to change is for immigration to become either negative, nil, or less than 10K a year, as the majority of people want according to the latest polling.
That's impossible without economic depressiom, which is why first Johnson, and then Farage won't be able to deliver it.
What that would really need is for a rightwing politician to.really commit to something very out of character - cast-iron commitments to lift the education and training budget over a number of years, such that the above can be attempted again after a clearly defined number of years.
The only way out: 1. Migration is unsustainably and absurdly high. Smash the gangs. Rejoin the international accords. Rapidly process and return. Find an off-shore way to process the questionable cases. 2. Migration is needed because we don't have enough doctors care staff factory workers brickies plumbers sparkies etc. If you want to set the level to zero then here's the cost to you tomorrow 3. We're going to invest heavily now to train up the next generation of Brits to fill these critical jobs. This will take 5 years and we're going to need migrants until then. To help fix the crisis in our universities and remove a large flow of migrants we're going to fund universities to refocus on academic and vocational courses we need
Knuckleheads will complain but with an actual plan to move things forward they will be an ever-shrinking minority.
If Farage was shrewder than I've so far given him credit for, this would actually be a realistic sort of plan for him to adopt.
So far I've only seen him look for short-term gains, though.
Our politics has been reduced to absurdist black-and-white binary absolutism. Either you want to close the border NOW and sink the boats, or you want 704m illegals to arrive tomorrow.
Basic maths tells us that the post Boris numbers are absurdly unsustainable. So it has to come down and do so significantly which means a *practical and workable* plan to actually reduce it.
But at the same time we're reliant on migrants because we have a whole stack of jobs we can't fill. Professions we don't train enough people in, geographies where people either don't want to live or can't afford to live, skills we have let go.
Morons equate a lack of people to do job x in place y with unemployed z and say "make them work for benefits". Again, we need a *practical and workable plan*.
Why are we reliant on migrants in the NHS? Because we've made training expensive and difficult, and have an NHS where working conditions are terrible due to the lack of cash. So we need to invest to train people up and then retain that talent. Invest money now to save money later.
Why are we reliant on migrants in the care sector or factories or an endless list of jobs? Because pay and conditions are poor and housing costs are high - Brits can't afford the work and even if they wanted to we've trained a generation that work is crap because you should be a star on Simon Cowell twat tv. Slash housing costs over a period by building a shitton of new houses for rental at set rents not BTL rents
And how do we build? Fund a mass apprenticeship scheme in partnership with industry and universities. With a marketing campaign to make construction cool - "Build our Nation's Future" or something.
It will mean borrowing to invest now. And getting a return on that investment. Delivering long-term savings. Its called CAPITALISM to all the moron Tories who screech on about "who will pay for that" by reflex. You used to be capitalists, what the fuck happened to you?
Friendly advice; I think your mental health would be better if you didn’t throw so many insults around
Disagree - it helps. And its a genuine question - when did the Tories abandon capitalism?
You know best I suppose. But going from telling everyone you’ve been going through mental health problems that you need to fix to calling people morons and twats whilst generally sounding angry in three days make you appear like someone suffering with poor mental health.
I'm not calling anyone a twat. I posted "Simon Cowell Twat TV". A throw-away descriptor for not just all of the Cowell-led talent shows but all of the dating love island naked type shows - the whole industry, not a person.
And I am calling Tories - collectively - morons when they forget all about the basics of capitalism and reduce everything to "who will pay for that".
There are people on here calling a certain poster names. I am not. Yet you're focused on me because...? I have a different political perspective and can list issues and ideas?
You sound quite.... manic. Intense highs and lows. I wouldn't normally mention this - it's too personal - but you have told us you've been having issues
It's not the insults it's the intensity and the moodswings. And this is just an observation - you are a well-liked member of the PB Regulars!
Genuinely not manic - I am maintaining this ongoing high plateau calm. My aversion to Britain's got X Factor is long-standing - its been great for the likes of Simon Cowell, but now we seem to have raised a generation who think getting cast on Geordie Shore is a career. And lets say nothing of the idiots who post themselves on YouTube
OK cool. Just checking in! Good luck with the cars and the vids
If you have a nice home in a nice green area altruism hits the buffers.
The privileged need to realise that things must change, if they want them to stay the same.
What needs to change is for immigration to become either negative, nil, or less than 10K a year, as the majority of people want according to the latest polling.
That's impossible without economic depressiom, which is why first Johnson, and then Farage won't be able to deliver it.
What that would really need is for a rightwing politician to.really commit to something very out of character - cast-iron commitments to lift the education and training budget over a number of years, such that the above can be attempted again after a clearly defined number of years.
The only way out: 1. Migration is unsustainably and absurdly high. Smash the gangs. Rejoin the international accords. Rapidly process and return. Find an off-shore way to process the questionable cases. 2. Migration is needed because we don't have enough doctors care staff factory workers brickies plumbers sparkies etc. If you want to set the level to zero then here's the cost to you tomorrow 3. We're going to invest heavily now to train up the next generation of Brits to fill these critical jobs. This will take 5 years and we're going to need migrants until then. To help fix the crisis in our universities and remove a large flow of migrants we're going to fund universities to refocus on academic and vocational courses we need
Knuckleheads will complain but with an actual plan to move things forward they will be an ever-shrinking minority.
If Farage was shrewder than I've so far given him credit for, this would actually be a realistic sort of plan for him to adopt.
So far I've only seen him look for short-term gains, though.
Richard Tice was asked about Reform's migration policy by The Herald, and this is what he answered:
The Herald on Sunday told Mr Tice that the SNP made a positive case for immigration with the party underlining that Scotland needs people coming from overseas to fill gaps in the Labour market.
"We are pro-smart immigration. Smart immigration is welcoming people with high skills, highly qualified, who are going to contribute more than they take out," he said.
"Low skilled immigration doesn't add value because over the life-time they live here, they take out more [in services] than they contribute by way of taxes.
"Why not focus on training young Scottish people to have the right skills coming out of school, not send too many people to university to do useless degrees and coming out with debt? Let's train our own people."
Yougov finds that while 64% of 2024 Conservative voters still oppose rejoining the EU, they are split on rejoining the single market, 37% for and 38% against and Customs Union, 38% in favour and 38% opposed.
Reform voters though much more firmly against either. 81% against rejoining the EU, 55% against rejoining the single market and against rejoining the Customs Union by a 28% margin.
Labour and LDs more firmly in favour of both, 79% of 2024 Labour voters and 74% of LDs favour rejoining the EU, 71% of Labour voters and 70% of LDs favour rejoining the Single Market and 71% of Labour voters and 73% of LDs favour rejoining the Customs Unions.
48% of Tory voters and 46% of Reform voters happy with the current EU and UK relationship, 64% and 67% of LDs opposed to keeping our relationship with the EU as is.
What's the chances we see a poll with Reform in the 30s, and Lab and Con both in the teens, with the LDs?
That will be quite a moment. With every day that this government fucks up - No E Gates Monday, inflation today, Lab go down and down, and it seems only Reform truly benefit (with a small chunk to the LDs and Greens)
Starmer needs to accept the will of the public, and call an election NOW. We Need Big Nige In Number Ten
We don't really want "big nige" in number 10, however what we do want is him to give the normal parties a huge scare so they start doing as they are told rather than doing what they want. They need to learn they are our servants not our masters
One of my colleagues is forever emailing the department to announce whichever day it happens to be (Today - World Tea Day). I'm wagering she won't send the World Sex Day email.
If you have a nice home in a nice green area altruism hits the buffers.
The privileged need to realise that things must change, if they want them to stay the same.
What needs to change is for immigration to become either negative, nil, or less than 10K a year, as the majority of people want according to the latest polling.
That's impossible without economic depressiom, which is why first Johnson, and then Farage won't be able to deliver it.
What that would really need is for a rightwing politician to.really commit to something very out of character - cast-iron commitments to lift the education and training budget over a number of years, such that the above can be attempted again after a clearly defined number of years.
The only way out: 1. Migration is unsustainably and absurdly high. Smash the gangs. Rejoin the international accords. Rapidly process and return. Find an off-shore way to process the questionable cases. 2. Migration is needed because we don't have enough doctors care staff factory workers brickies plumbers sparkies etc. If you want to set the level to zero then here's the cost to you tomorrow 3. We're going to invest heavily now to train up the next generation of Brits to fill these critical jobs. This will take 5 years and we're going to need migrants until then. To help fix the crisis in our universities and remove a large flow of migrants we're going to fund universities to refocus on academic and vocational courses we need
Knuckleheads will complain but with an actual plan to move things forward they will be an ever-shrinking minority.
If Farage was shrewder than I've so far given him credit for, this would actually be a realistic sort of plan for him to adopt.
So far I've only seen him look for short-term gains, though.
Our politics has been reduced to absurdist black-and-white binary absolutism. Either you want to close the border NOW and sink the boats, or you want 704m illegals to arrive tomorrow.
Basic maths tells us that the post Boris numbers are absurdly unsustainable. So it has to come down and do so significantly which means a *practical and workable* plan to actually reduce it.
But at the same time we're reliant on migrants because we have a whole stack of jobs we can't fill. Professions we don't train enough people in, geographies where people either don't want to live or can't afford to live, skills we have let go.
Morons equate a lack of people to do job x in place y with unemployed z and say "make them work for benefits". Again, we need a *practical and workable plan*.
Why are we reliant on migrants in the NHS? Because we've made training expensive and difficult, and have an NHS where working conditions are terrible due to the lack of cash. So we need to invest to train people up and then retain that talent. Invest money now to save money later.
Why are we reliant on migrants in the care sector or factories or an endless list of jobs? Because pay and conditions are poor and housing costs are high - Brits can't afford the work and even if they wanted to we've trained a generation that work is crap because you should be a star on Simon Cowell twat tv. Slash housing costs over a period by building a shitton of new houses for rental at set rents not BTL rents
And how do we build? Fund a mass apprenticeship scheme in partnership with industry and universities. With a marketing campaign to make construction cool - "Build our Nation's Future" or something.
It will mean borrowing to invest now. And getting a return on that investment. Delivering long-term savings. Its called CAPITALISM to all the moron Tories who screech on about "who will pay for that" by reflex. You used to be capitalists, what the fuck happened to you?
Friendly advice; I think your mental health would be better if you didn’t throw so many insults around
Disagree - it helps. And its a genuine question - when did the Tories abandon capitalism?
You know best I suppose. But going from telling everyone you’ve been going through mental health problems that you need to fix to calling people morons and twats whilst generally sounding angry in three days make you appear like someone suffering with poor mental health.
I'm not calling anyone a twat. I posted "Simon Cowell Twat TV". A throw-away descriptor for not just all of the Cowell-led talent shows but all of the dating love island naked type shows - the whole industry, not a person.
And I am calling Tories - collectively - morons when they forget all about the basics of capitalism and reduce everything to "who will pay for that".
There are people on here calling a certain poster names. I am not. Yet you're focused on me because...? I have a different political perspective and can list issues and ideas?
No, because you opened up about having had a mental health dip, and reading your posts makes me think you’re still in it. I don’t mean to sound horrible, I’m not having a dig. I don’t really care about the Lib Dems much anyway
What's the chances we see a poll with Reform in the 30s, and Lab and Con both in the teens, with the LDs?
That will be quite a moment. With every day that this government fucks up - No E Gates Monday, inflation today, Lab go down and down, and it seems only Reform truly benefit (with a small chunk to the LDs and Greens)
Starmer needs to accept the will of the public, and call an election NOW. We Need Big Nige In Number Ten
We don't really want "big nige" in number 10, however what we do want is him to give the normal parties a huge scare so they start doing as they are told rather than doing what they want. They need to learn they are our servants not our masters
I really do want Big Nige in No 10. For the reasons you state. I don't believe the Establishment will really respond to the people until they have been actually battered to pieces, and terrified to death, by a firmly rightwing government in power. Also, only Reform have the cullions to leave the EHRC and all that, and sack all the judges and export all the lawyers and close down all the NGOs
One of my colleagues is forever emailing the department to announce whichever day it happens to be (Today - World Tea Day). I'm wagering she won't send the World Sex Day email.
I will though.
You will probably get had up for sexual harassment if you do
If you have a nice home in a nice green area altruism hits the buffers.
The privileged need to realise that things must change, if they want them to stay the same.
What needs to change is for immigration to become either negative, nil, or less than 10K a year, as the majority of people want according to the latest polling.
That's impossible without economic depressiom, which is why first Johnson, and then Farage won't be able to deliver it.
What that would really need is for a rightwing politician to.really commit to something very out of character - cast-iron commitments to lift the education and training budget over a number of years, such that the above can be attempted again after a clearly defined number of years.
The only way out: 1. Migration is unsustainably and absurdly high. Smash the gangs. Rejoin the international accords. Rapidly process and return. Find an off-shore way to process the questionable cases. 2. Migration is needed because we don't have enough doctors care staff factory workers brickies plumbers sparkies etc. If you want to set the level to zero then here's the cost to you tomorrow 3. We're going to invest heavily now to train up the next generation of Brits to fill these critical jobs. This will take 5 years and we're going to need migrants until then. To help fix the crisis in our universities and remove a large flow of migrants we're going to fund universities to refocus on academic and vocational courses we need
Knuckleheads will complain but with an actual plan to move things forward they will be an ever-shrinking minority.
If Farage was shrewder than I've so far given him credit for, this would actually be a realistic sort of plan for him to adopt.
So far I've only seen him look for short-term gains, though.
Richard Tice was asked about Reform's migration policy by The Herald, and this is what he answered:
The Herald on Sunday told Mr Tice that the SNP made a positive case for immigration with the party underlining that Scotland needs people coming from overseas to fill gaps in the Labour market.
"We are pro-smart immigration. Smart immigration is welcoming people with high skills, highly qualified, who are going to contribute more than they take out," he said.
"Low skilled immigration doesn't add value because over the life-time they live here, they take out more [in services] than they contribute by way of taxes.
"Why not focus on training young Scottish people to have the right skills coming out of school, not send too many people to university to do useless degrees and coming out with debt? Let's train our own people."
I thought they wanted zero net migration . Which is totally unworkable. So saying one thing to Scottish voters and something different nationally . What a surprise!
TSE has a side-hustle writing headlines for the Telegraph's sport section.
One of the factors is that swing is mainly a thing in just two test playing nations - England and New Zealand (probably should include Ireland too). The rest all tend to be too dry and hot for swing, and thus the powers that be in English cricket have been trying to cultivate either very quick bowlers (e.g.Joffra Archer) or very tall seam bowlers in the style of a Glenn McGrath.
If you have a nice home in a nice green area altruism hits the buffers.
The privileged need to realise that things must change, if they want them to stay the same.
What needs to change is for immigration to become either negative, nil, or less than 10K a year, as the majority of people want according to the latest polling.
That's impossible without economic depressiom, which is why first Johnson, and then Farage won't be able to deliver it.
What that would really need is for a rightwing politician to.really commit to something very out of character - cast-iron commitments to lift the education and training budget over a number of years, such that the above can be attempted again after a clearly defined number of years.
The only way out: 1. Migration is unsustainably and absurdly high. Smash the gangs. Rejoin the international accords. Rapidly process and return. Find an off-shore way to process the questionable cases. 2. Migration is needed because we don't have enough doctors care staff factory workers brickies plumbers sparkies etc. If you want to set the level to zero then here's the cost to you tomorrow 3. We're going to invest heavily now to train up the next generation of Brits to fill these critical jobs. This will take 5 years and we're going to need migrants until then. To help fix the crisis in our universities and remove a large flow of migrants we're going to fund universities to refocus on academic and vocational courses we need
Knuckleheads will complain but with an actual plan to move things forward they will be an ever-shrinking minority.
If Farage was shrewder than I've so far given him credit for, this would actually be a realistic sort of plan for him to adopt.
So far I've only seen him look for short-term gains, though.
Richard Tice was asked about Reform's migration policy by The Herald, and this is what he answered:
The Herald on Sunday told Mr Tice that the SNP made a positive case for immigration with the party underlining that Scotland needs people coming from overseas to fill gaps in the Labour market.
"We are pro-smart immigration. Smart immigration is welcoming people with high skills, highly qualified, who are going to contribute more than they take out," he said.
"Low skilled immigration doesn't add value because over the life-time they live here, they take out more [in services] than they contribute by way of taxes.
"Why not focus on training young Scottish people to have the right skills coming out of school, not send too many people to university to do useless degrees and coming out with debt? Let's train our own people."
I thought they wanted zero net migration . Which is totally unworkable. So saying one thing to Scottish voters and something different nationally . What a surprise!
What's the chances we see a poll with Reform in the 30s, and Lab and Con both in the teens, with the LDs?
That will be quite a moment. With every day that this government fucks up - No E Gates Monday, inflation today, Lab go down and down, and it seems only Reform truly benefit (with a small chunk to the LDs and Greens)
Starmer needs to accept the will of the public, and call an election NOW. We Need Big Nige In Number Ten
We don't really want "big nige" in number 10, however what we do want is him to give the normal parties a huge scare so they start doing as they are told rather than doing what they want. They need to learn they are our servants not our masters
I really do want Big Nige in No 10. For the reasons you state. I don't believe the Establishment will really respond to the people until they have been actually battered to pieces, and terrified to death, by a firmly rightwing government in power. Also, only Reform have the cullions to leave the EHRC and all that, and sack all the judges and export all the lawyers and close down all the NGOs
"Sack all the judges"
All the judges? So how would criminal justice work?
If you have a nice home in a nice green area altruism hits the buffers.
The privileged need to realise that things must change, if they want them to stay the same.
What needs to change is for immigration to become either negative, nil, or less than 10K a year, as the majority of people want according to the latest polling.
That's impossible without economic depressiom, which is why first Johnson, and then Farage won't be able to deliver it.
What that would really need is for a rightwing politician to.really commit to something very out of character - cast-iron commitments to lift the education and training budget over a number of years, such that the above can be attempted again after a clearly defined number of years.
The only way out: 1. Migration is unsustainably and absurdly high. Smash the gangs. Rejoin the international accords. Rapidly process and return. Find an off-shore way to process the questionable cases. 2. Migration is needed because we don't have enough doctors care staff factory workers brickies plumbers sparkies etc. If you want to set the level to zero then here's the cost to you tomorrow 3. We're going to invest heavily now to train up the next generation of Brits to fill these critical jobs. This will take 5 years and we're going to need migrants until then. To help fix the crisis in our universities and remove a large flow of migrants we're going to fund universities to refocus on academic and vocational courses we need
Knuckleheads will complain but with an actual plan to move things forward they will be an ever-shrinking minority.
If Farage was shrewder than I've so far given him credit for, this would actually be a realistic sort of plan for him to adopt.
So far I've only seen him look for short-term gains, though.
Richard Tice was asked about Reform's migration policy by The Herald, and this is what he answered:
The Herald on Sunday told Mr Tice that the SNP made a positive case for immigration with the party underlining that Scotland needs people coming from overseas to fill gaps in the Labour market.
"We are pro-smart immigration. Smart immigration is welcoming people with high skills, highly qualified, who are going to contribute more than they take out," he said.
"Low skilled immigration doesn't add value because over the life-time they live here, they take out more [in services] than they contribute by way of taxes.
"Why not focus on training young Scottish people to have the right skills coming out of school, not send too many people to university to do useless degrees and coming out with debt? Let's train our own people."
I thought they wanted zero net migration . Which is totally unworkable. So saying one thing to Scottish voters and something different nationally . What a surprise!
What's the chances we see a poll with Reform in the 30s, and Lab and Con both in the teens, with the LDs?
That will be quite a moment. With every day that this government fucks up - No E Gates Monday, inflation today, Lab go down and down, and it seems only Reform truly benefit (with a small chunk to the LDs and Greens)
Starmer needs to accept the will of the public, and call an election NOW. We Need Big Nige In Number Ten
We don't really want "big nige" in number 10, however what we do want is him to give the normal parties a huge scare so they start doing as they are told rather than doing what they want. They need to learn they are our servants not our masters
I really do want Big Nige in No 10. For the reasons you state. I don't believe the Establishment will really respond to the people until they have been actually battered to pieces, and terrified to death, by a firmly rightwing government in power. Also, only Reform have the cullions to leave the EHRC and all that, and sack all the judges and export all the lawyers and close down all the NGOs
"Sack all the judges"
All the judges? So how would criminal justice work?
Let me do it, during my teabreak
"Flog that one. Taser this one. Send her to Rockall. Deport them all. Next"
What's the chances we see a poll with Reform in the 30s, and Lab and Con both in the teens, with the LDs?
That will be quite a moment. With every day that this government fucks up - No E Gates Monday, inflation today, Lab go down and down, and it seems only Reform truly benefit (with a small chunk to the LDs and Greens)
Starmer needs to accept the will of the public, and call an election NOW. We Need Big Nige In Number Ten
We don't really want "big nige" in number 10, however what we do want is him to give the normal parties a huge scare so they start doing as they are told rather than doing what they want. They need to learn they are our servants not our masters
I really do want Big Nige in No 10. For the reasons you state. I don't believe the Establishment will really respond to the people until they have been actually battered to pieces, and terrified to death, by a firmly rightwing government in power. Also, only Reform have the cullions to leave the EHRC and all that, and sack all the judges and export all the lawyers and close down all the NGOs
"Sack all the judges"
All the judges? So how would criminal justice work?
Let me do it, during my teabreak
"Flog that one. Taser this one. Send her to Rockall. Deport them all. Next"
Were you not once under suspicion of something serious? Would you have preferred (a) flogging (b) taser or (c) Rockall?
Lib Dems to fall back and Tories to stage a mild comeback is what I want to happen, but I have to separate that from what I think will happen.
I still cannot quite see the Lib Dems overtaking the blues though. As someone said, their seat tally is a bit static due to the efficiency of their vote. So the competition all depends on Tory fortunes. Those have been very down for very long, but the tide going out on Labour I think will result in some gains for them. That predicates on them somewhat getting their act together.
F1: Verstappen title odds shortening a little more.
Monaco's going to be interesting (yes, I know, an odd sentence). Same tyres but very different to Imola. Red Bull were the fastest last time out, if they're quickest again on a slow track with high downforce then Verstappen will end up probably being the title favourite. And I'll feel a bit less like a turnip for my (too) early hedging of my Piastri bet.
Given all new build estates are LTNs, that's not true. Reform have already reneged on an election promise by not bulldozing through every cul-de-sac and dead-end.
High inflation on top of everything else is Worst Case Scenario for Labour
Could see them follow the Tories under 20%?
Surprised the inflation figure wasn't higher given the hammering I have had from every single supplier to the house this spring e.g. water up 17% FFS!!!
Average is 26%. So you've done ok.
Southern Water: 46.7% increase. (Bastards)
Our increase from Northumbrian is around 29% over five years with 25% in the first year, bastards.
Mine was up by about 25%, but that's only £4 a month. Compared with gas and electric I don't think it's a big component of inflation metrics
That’s incredibly low. Ours was up by £10 a month.
One of my colleagues is forever emailing the department to announce whichever day it happens to be (Today - World Tea Day). I'm wagering she won't send the World Sex Day email.
I will though.
Countdown invariably opens with banter about whichever World or National "day" it is. It is filmed in advance, five episodes (aka one week) per day, so it makes the programme seem current without needing a crystal ball for future news stories. Yesterday was World Bee Day, apparently.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Labour continue in government, having won an impregnable majority in a general election less than a year ago, with the next one due in 2029.
Far too early in the electoral cycle to be confident about any prediction. I can see a route to 95 seats for the LDs but after that it becomes more difficult.
Yes, they and Reform will face much greater scrutiny if in a strong polling position approaching the election but so will the Conservatives and of course Labour (and the Greens) and that's how it should be.
Farage, Davey and Badenoch don't have to worry about detailed policy at this stage but that will change. For now, the Government is the punch bag.
As for the bet, I wouldn't go near it at this time.
Indeed, More in Common this morning has a seven point gap between the Conservatives and LDs and Labour and the Conservatives in a statistical tie for second place.
Putting those through Baxter, however, and you still get 56 LDs to 53 Conservatives so the bet wins so the LD-Conservative gap isn't as significant to the bet outcome as how the Conservatives are faring against Reform.
Yes, they should face increased scrutiny. That’s all good and proper but the Lib Dem’s, and their supporters, like Reform and their supporters don’t seem to like that.
I think the greens will be glad of the attention once they’ve decided their future direction. Corbynite left or NIMBY centrist. It’s fascinating to see.
Lib Dems to fall back and Tories to stage a mild comeback is what I want to happen, but I have to separate that from what I think will happen.
I still cannot quite see the Lib Dems overtaking the blues though. As someone said, their seat tally is a bit static due to the efficiency of their vote. So the competition all depends on Tory fortunes. Those have been very down for very long, but the tide going out on Labour I think will result in some gains for them. That predicates on them somewhat getting their act together.
Labour need to be in the mid teens before the Lib Dems become a viable option in more than about 100 seats.
One of my colleagues is forever emailing the department to announce whichever day it happens to be (Today - World Tea Day). I'm wagering she won't send the World Sex Day email.
I will though.
Countdown invariably opens with banter about whichever World or National "day" it is. It is filmed in advance, five episodes (aka one week) per day, so it makes the programme seem current without needing a crystal ball for future news stories. Yesterday was World Bee Day, apparently.
Indicated he will improve thresholds but not universal
Fine-tuning. Like the pilot adjusting altitude to miss a spot of turbulence. It's a core skill. You wouldn't want to fly with somebody who doesn't have it.
Indicated he will improve thresholds but not universal
Which, to be honest, is sensible.I know what Mr Eabhal has posted down thread, but a more tailored payment would benefit those who need it while ignoring those like me for whom it's merely nice to have.
Well my Mother and Father in law will be grateful. He will have a few bottles of JD and she will spend the money on the dogs. Work hard young uns. You’re going to be funding this.
Indicated he will improve thresholds but not universal
Fine-tuning. Like the pilot adjusting altitude to miss a spot of turbulence. It's a core skill. You wouldn't want to fly with somebody who doesn't have it.
Except the pilot is from Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 and we are all aboard.
What's the chances we see a poll with Reform in the 30s, and Lab and Con both in the teens, with the LDs?
That will be quite a moment. With every day that this government fucks up - No E Gates Monday, inflation today, Lab go down and down, and it seems only Reform truly benefit (with a small chunk to the LDs and Greens)
Starmer needs to accept the will of the public, and call an election NOW. We Need Big Nige In Number Ten
We don't really want "big nige" in number 10, however what we do want is him to give the normal parties a huge scare so they start doing as they are told rather than doing what they want. They need to learn they are our servants not our masters
I really do want Big Nige in No 10. For the reasons you state. I don't believe the Establishment will really respond to the people until they have been actually battered to pieces, and terrified to death, by a firmly rightwing government in power. Also, only Reform have the cullions to leave the EHRC and all that, and sack all the judges and export all the lawyers and close down all the NGOs
"Sack all the judges"
All the judges? So how would criminal justice work?
Leon's just having a hyperbolic rant. In that sense, he's Reform personified. A sort of slightly wilder Farage.
Indicated he will improve thresholds but not universal
Which, to be honest, is sensible.I know what Mr Eabhal has posted down thread, but a more tailored payment would benefit those who need it while ignoring those like me for whom it's merely nice to have.
Oh I entirely agree on that. Always in favour of targeted policies versus universal, and the cutoff was too harsh (15% of pensioners when about 17% are in poverty).
But that's what they should have done at the time. And now it just feels like we have three parties for pensioners, and the special pleading has yet again been shown to work. We still have universal state pension, and low income pensioners sat on millions in property value.
One of my colleagues is forever emailing the department to announce whichever day it happens to be (Today - World Tea Day). I'm wagering she won't send the World Sex Day email.
I will though.
Countdown invariably opens with banter about whichever World or National "day" it is. It is filmed in advance, five episodes (aka one week) per day, so it makes the programme seem current without needing a crystal ball for future news stories. Yesterday was World Bee Day, apparently.
As Colin Murray pointed out, National Bee Day sounds a lot like National Bidet.
What's the chances we see a poll with Reform in the 30s, and Lab and Con both in the teens, with the LDs?
That will be quite a moment. With every day that this government fucks up - No E Gates Monday, inflation today, Lab go down and down, and it seems only Reform truly benefit (with a small chunk to the LDs and Greens)
Starmer needs to accept the will of the public, and call an election NOW. We Need Big Nige In Number Ten
We don't really want "big nige" in number 10, however what we do want is him to give the normal parties a huge scare so they start doing as they are told rather than doing what they want. They need to learn they are our servants not our masters
I really do want Big Nige in No 10. For the reasons you state. I don't believe the Establishment will really respond to the people until they have been actually battered to pieces, and terrified to death, by a firmly rightwing government in power. Also, only Reform have the cullions to leave the EHRC and all that, and sack all the judges and export all the lawyers and close down all the NGOs
"Sack all the judges"
All the judges? So how would criminal justice work?
Leon's just having a hyperbolic rant. In that sense, he's Reform personified. A sort of slightly wilder Farage.
Indicated he will improve thresholds but not universal
Fine-tuning. Like the pilot adjusting altitude to miss a spot of turbulence. It's a core skill. You wouldn't want to fly with somebody who doesn't have it.
Not sure we missed the turbulence... it was predictable that removing WFA would cause this kerfuffle. The line my MP was given was that it was administratively difficult to set a different threshold. Not good enough really but hopefully Labour have learnt a lesson.
If you have a nice home in a nice green area altruism hits the buffers.
The privileged need to realise that things must change, if they want them to stay the same.
What needs to change is for immigration to become either negative, nil, or less than 10K a year, as the majority of people want according to the latest polling.
That's impossible without economic depressiom, which is why first Johnson, and then Farage won't be able to deliver it.
What that would really need is for a rightwing politician to.really commit to something very out of character - cast-iron commitments to lift the education and training budget over a number of years, such that the above can be attempted again after a clearly defined number of years.
The only way out: 1. Migration is unsustainably and absurdly high. Smash the gangs. Rejoin the international accords. Rapidly process and return. Find an off-shore way to process the questionable cases. 2. Migration is needed because we don't have enough doctors care staff factory workers brickies plumbers sparkies etc. If you want to set the level to zero then here's the cost to you tomorrow 3. We're going to invest heavily now to train up the next generation of Brits to fill these critical jobs. This will take 5 years and we're going to need migrants until then. To help fix the crisis in our universities and remove a large flow of migrants we're going to fund universities to refocus on academic and vocational courses we need
Knuckleheads will complain but with an actual plan to move things forward they will be an ever-shrinking minority.
If Farage was shrewder than I've so far given him credit for, this would actually be a realistic sort of plan for him to adopt.
So far I've only seen him look for short-term gains, though.
Our politics has been reduced to absurdist black-and-white binary absolutism. Either you want to close the border NOW and sink the boats, or you want 704m illegals to arrive tomorrow.
Basic maths tells us that the post Boris numbers are absurdly unsustainable. So it has to come down and do so significantly which means a *practical and workable* plan to actually reduce it.
But at the same time we're reliant on migrants because we have a whole stack of jobs we can't fill. Professions we don't train enough people in, geographies where people either don't want to live or can't afford to live, skills we have let go.
Morons equate a lack of people to do job x in place y with unemployed z and say "make them work for benefits". Again, we need a *practical and workable plan*.
Why are we reliant on migrants in the NHS? Because we've made training expensive and difficult, and have an NHS where working conditions are terrible due to the lack of cash. So we need to invest to train people up and then retain that talent. Invest money now to save money later.
Why are we reliant on migrants in the care sector or factories or an endless list of jobs? Because pay and conditions are poor and housing costs are high - Brits can't afford the work and even if they wanted to we've trained a generation that work is crap because you should be a star on Simon Cowell twat tv. Slash housing costs over a period by building a shitton of new houses for rental at set rents not BTL rents
And how do we build? Fund a mass apprenticeship scheme in partnership with industry and universities. With a marketing campaign to make construction cool - "Build our Nation's Future" or something.
It will mean borrowing to invest now. And getting a return on that investment. Delivering long-term savings. Its called CAPITALISM to all the moron Tories who screech on about "who will pay for that" by reflex. You used to be capitalists, what the fuck happened to you?
Friendly advice; I think your mental health would be better if you didn’t throw so many insults around
Disagree - it helps. And its a genuine question - when did the Tories abandon capitalism?
You know best I suppose. But going from telling everyone you’ve been going through mental health problems that you need to fix to calling people morons and twats whilst generally sounding angry in three days make you appear like someone suffering with poor mental health.
I'm not calling anyone a twat. I posted "Simon Cowell Twat TV". A throw-away descriptor for not just all of the Cowell-led talent shows but all of the dating love island naked type shows - the whole industry, not a person.
And I am calling Tories - collectively - morons when they forget all about the basics of capitalism and reduce everything to "who will pay for that".
There are people on here calling a certain poster names. I am not. Yet you're focused on me because...? I have a different political perspective and can list issues and ideas?
No, you’re clearly referencing to people as twats who like a certain genre of TV. TV that appeals to twats. That’s shitty. TV is not all high brow dramas, such as the one about the Post Office, and stuff like BGT or Hit Parade is cheap to make too.
So what if people like stuff like Love Island and the like. It’s not high brow, doesn’t claim to be, but people enjoy it and should not have people look down their nose at them for doing so.
Quite frankly any of the main broadcasters need any show that draws the punters at the moment. They’re having the net and streamers eating their lunch on a daily basis.
If you have a nice home in a nice green area altruism hits the buffers.
The privileged need to realise that things must change, if they want them to stay the same.
What needs to change is for immigration to become either negative, nil, or less than 10K a year, as the majority of people want according to the latest polling.
That's impossible without economic depressiom, which is why first Johnson, and then Farage won't be able to deliver it.
What that would really need is for a rightwing politician to.really commit to something very out of character - cast-iron commitments to lift the education and training budget over a number of years, such that the above can be attempted again after a clearly defined number of years.
The only way out: 1. Migration is unsustainably and absurdly high. Smash the gangs. Rejoin the international accords. Rapidly process and return. Find an off-shore way to process the questionable cases. 2. Migration is needed because we don't have enough doctors care staff factory workers brickies plumbers sparkies etc. If you want to set the level to zero then here's the cost to you tomorrow 3. We're going to invest heavily now to train up the next generation of Brits to fill these critical jobs. This will take 5 years and we're going to need migrants until then. To help fix the crisis in our universities and remove a large flow of migrants we're going to fund universities to refocus on academic and vocational courses we need
Knuckleheads will complain but with an actual plan to move things forward they will be an ever-shrinking minority.
If Farage was shrewder than I've so far given him credit for, this would actually be a realistic sort of plan for him to adopt.
So far I've only seen him look for short-term gains, though.
Our politics has been reduced to absurdist black-and-white binary absolutism. Either you want to close the border NOW and sink the boats, or you want 704m illegals to arrive tomorrow.
Basic maths tells us that the post Boris numbers are absurdly unsustainable. So it has to come down and do so significantly which means a *practical and workable* plan to actually reduce it.
But at the same time we're reliant on migrants because we have a whole stack of jobs we can't fill. Professions we don't train enough people in, geographies where people either don't want to live or can't afford to live, skills we have let go.
Morons equate a lack of people to do job x in place y with unemployed z and say "make them work for benefits". Again, we need a *practical and workable plan*.
Why are we reliant on migrants in the NHS? Because we've made training expensive and difficult, and have an NHS where working conditions are terrible due to the lack of cash. So we need to invest to train people up and then retain that talent. Invest money now to save money later.
Why are we reliant on migrants in the care sector or factories or an endless list of jobs? Because pay and conditions are poor and housing costs are high - Brits can't afford the work and even if they wanted to we've trained a generation that work is crap because you should be a star on Simon Cowell twat tv. Slash housing costs over a period by building a shitton of new houses for rental at set rents not BTL rents
And how do we build? Fund a mass apprenticeship scheme in partnership with industry and universities. With a marketing campaign to make construction cool - "Build our Nation's Future" or something.
It will mean borrowing to invest now. And getting a return on that investment. Delivering long-term savings. Its called CAPITALISM to all the moron Tories who screech on about "who will pay for that" by reflex. You used to be capitalists, what the fuck happened to you?
Friendly advice; I think your mental health would be better if you didn’t throw so many insults around
Disagree - it helps. And its a genuine question - when did the Tories abandon capitalism?
I think the Johnson clear out of the moderates did a lot of damage.
"moderates" is a highy contentious tag. Second referendemers were not in any way moderate Conservatives.
One of my colleagues is forever emailing the department to announce whichever day it happens to be (Today - World Tea Day). I'm wagering she won't send the World Sex Day email.
I will though.
Countdown invariably opens with banter about whichever World or National "day" it is. It is filmed in advance, five episodes (aka one week) per day, so it makes the programme seem current without needing a crystal ball for future news stories. Yesterday was World Bee Day, apparently.
As Colin Murray pointed out, National Bee Day sounds a lot like National Bidet.
I used to enjoy him doing the darts on the BBC, even though the BDO was utter shit. He was terrific.
Indicated he will improve thresholds but not universal
Fine-tuning. Like the pilot adjusting altitude to miss a spot of turbulence. It's a core skill. You wouldn't want to fly with somebody who doesn't have it.
Except the pilot is from Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 and we are all aboard.
If you have a nice home in a nice green area altruism hits the buffers.
The privileged need to realise that things must change, if they want them to stay the same.
What needs to change is for immigration to become either negative, nil, or less than 10K a year, as the majority of people want according to the latest polling.
That's impossible without economic depressiom, which is why first Johnson, and then Farage won't be able to deliver it.
What that would really need is for a rightwing politician to.really commit to something very out of character - cast-iron commitments to lift the education and training budget over a number of years, such that the above can be attempted again after a clearly defined number of years.
The only way out: 1. Migration is unsustainably and absurdly high. Smash the gangs. Rejoin the international accords. Rapidly process and return. Find an off-shore way to process the questionable cases. 2. Migration is needed because we don't have enough doctors care staff factory workers brickies plumbers sparkies etc. If you want to set the level to zero then here's the cost to you tomorrow 3. We're going to invest heavily now to train up the next generation of Brits to fill these critical jobs. This will take 5 years and we're going to need migrants until then. To help fix the crisis in our universities and remove a large flow of migrants we're going to fund universities to refocus on academic and vocational courses we need
Knuckleheads will complain but with an actual plan to move things forward they will be an ever-shrinking minority.
If Farage was shrewder than I've so far given him credit for, this would actually be a realistic sort of plan for him to adopt.
So far I've only seen him look for short-term gains, though.
Our politics has been reduced to absurdist black-and-white binary absolutism. Either you want to close the border NOW and sink the boats, or you want 704m illegals to arrive tomorrow.
Basic maths tells us that the post Boris numbers are absurdly unsustainable. So it has to come down and do so significantly which means a *practical and workable* plan to actually reduce it.
But at the same time we're reliant on migrants because we have a whole stack of jobs we can't fill. Professions we don't train enough people in, geographies where people either don't want to live or can't afford to live, skills we have let go.
Morons equate a lack of people to do job x in place y with unemployed z and say "make them work for benefits". Again, we need a *practical and workable plan*.
Why are we reliant on migrants in the NHS? Because we've made training expensive and difficult, and have an NHS where working conditions are terrible due to the lack of cash. So we need to invest to train people up and then retain that talent. Invest money now to save money later.
Why are we reliant on migrants in the care sector or factories or an endless list of jobs? Because pay and conditions are poor and housing costs are high - Brits can't afford the work and even if they wanted to we've trained a generation that work is crap because you should be a star on Simon Cowell twat tv. Slash housing costs over a period by building a shitton of new houses for rental at set rents not BTL rents
And how do we build? Fund a mass apprenticeship scheme in partnership with industry and universities. With a marketing campaign to make construction cool - "Build our Nation's Future" or something.
It will mean borrowing to invest now. And getting a return on that investment. Delivering long-term savings. Its called CAPITALISM to all the moron Tories who screech on about "who will pay for that" by reflex. You used to be capitalists, what the fuck happened to you?
Friendly advice; I think your mental health would be better if you didn’t throw so many insults around
Disagree - it helps. And its a genuine question - when did the Tories abandon capitalism?
I think the Johnson clear out of the moderates did a lot of damage.
"moderates" is a highy contentious tag. Second referendemers were not in any way moderate Conservatives.
I disagree. It was perfectly possible to be conservative (in the old sense) and believe that we should stay in the EU. The two are not mutually exclusive. The bigger issue was public trust. Selling the referendum as one thing (you make the decision and we will implement it) and then not doing so would be a huge erosion of public trust, whether or not you agree with the outcome. As 2019 showed, the public just wanted the voted implemented.
There's a danger they win no pensioners back with this while continuing to alienate people like me who are eager for some change.
Yes, I am pretty sure that - with his unmatched skill at fucking everything up in the worst way - Skyr Toolmakersson will get this precisely wrong. He will
1. Partly reverse the WFP cut undermining his Chancellor and worrying Bond Markets
2. Gain zero political benefit as the damage is already done - and he won't reverse it entirely
3. Look weak, vacillating, and clueless, once again
If you have a nice home in a nice green area altruism hits the buffers.
The privileged need to realise that things must change, if they want them to stay the same.
What needs to change is for immigration to become either negative, nil, or less than 10K a year, as the majority of people want according to the latest polling.
That's impossible without economic depressiom, which is why first Johnson, and then Farage won't be able to deliver it.
What that would really need is for a rightwing politician to.really commit to something very out of character - cast-iron commitments to lift the education and training budget over a number of years, such that the above can be attempted again after a clearly defined number of years.
The only way out: 1. Migration is unsustainably and absurdly high. Smash the gangs. Rejoin the international accords. Rapidly process and return. Find an off-shore way to process the questionable cases. 2. Migration is needed because we don't have enough doctors care staff factory workers brickies plumbers sparkies etc. If you want to set the level to zero then here's the cost to you tomorrow 3. We're going to invest heavily now to train up the next generation of Brits to fill these critical jobs. This will take 5 years and we're going to need migrants until then. To help fix the crisis in our universities and remove a large flow of migrants we're going to fund universities to refocus on academic and vocational courses we need
Knuckleheads will complain but with an actual plan to move things forward they will be an ever-shrinking minority.
If Farage was shrewder than I've so far given him credit for, this would actually be a realistic sort of plan for him to adopt.
So far I've only seen him look for short-term gains, though.
Our politics has been reduced to absurdist black-and-white binary absolutism. Either you want to close the border NOW and sink the boats, or you want 704m illegals to arrive tomorrow.
Basic maths tells us that the post Boris numbers are absurdly unsustainable. So it has to come down and do so significantly which means a *practical and workable* plan to actually reduce it.
But at the same time we're reliant on migrants because we have a whole stack of jobs we can't fill. Professions we don't train enough people in, geographies where people either don't want to live or can't afford to live, skills we have let go.
Morons equate a lack of people to do job x in place y with unemployed z and say "make them work for benefits". Again, we need a *practical and workable plan*.
Why are we reliant on migrants in the NHS? Because we've made training expensive and difficult, and have an NHS where working conditions are terrible due to the lack of cash. So we need to invest to train people up and then retain that talent. Invest money now to save money later.
Why are we reliant on migrants in the care sector or factories or an endless list of jobs? Because pay and conditions are poor and housing costs are high - Brits can't afford the work and even if they wanted to we've trained a generation that work is crap because you should be a star on Simon Cowell twat tv. Slash housing costs over a period by building a shitton of new houses for rental at set rents not BTL rents
And how do we build? Fund a mass apprenticeship scheme in partnership with industry and universities. With a marketing campaign to make construction cool - "Build our Nation's Future" or something.
It will mean borrowing to invest now. And getting a return on that investment. Delivering long-term savings. Its called CAPITALISM to all the moron Tories who screech on about "who will pay for that" by reflex. You used to be capitalists, what the fuck happened to you?
Friendly advice; I think your mental health would be better if you didn’t throw so many insults around
Disagree - it helps. And its a genuine question - when did the Tories abandon capitalism?
You know best I suppose. But going from telling everyone you’ve been going through mental health problems that you need to fix to calling people morons and twats whilst generally sounding angry in three days make you appear like someone suffering with poor mental health.
I'm not calling anyone a twat. I posted "Simon Cowell Twat TV". A throw-away descriptor for not just all of the Cowell-led talent shows but all of the dating love island naked type shows - the whole industry, not a person.
And I am calling Tories - collectively - morons when they forget all about the basics of capitalism and reduce everything to "who will pay for that".
There are people on here calling a certain poster names. I am not. Yet you're focused on me because...? I have a different political perspective and can list issues and ideas?
No, you’re clearly referencing to people as twats who like a certain genre of TV. TV that appeals to twats. That’s shitty. TV is not all high brow dramas, such as the one about the Post Office, and stuff like BGT or Hit Parade is cheap to make too.
So what if people like stuff like Love Island and the like. It’s not high brow, doesn’t claim to be, but people enjoy it and should not have people look down their nose at them for doing so.
Quite frankly any of the main broadcasters need any show that draws the punters at the moment. They’re having the net and streamers eating their lunch on a daily basis.
The biggest growing streamer last year was BBC iplayer.
If you have a nice home in a nice green area altruism hits the buffers.
The privileged need to realise that things must change, if they want them to stay the same.
What needs to change is for immigration to become either negative, nil, or less than 10K a year, as the majority of people want according to the latest polling.
That's impossible without economic depressiom, which is why first Johnson, and then Farage won't be able to deliver it.
What that would really need is for a rightwing politician to.really commit to something very out of character - cast-iron commitments to lift the education and training budget over a number of years, such that the above can be attempted again after a clearly defined number of years.
The only way out: 1. Migration is unsustainably and absurdly high. Smash the gangs. Rejoin the international accords. Rapidly process and return. Find an off-shore way to process the questionable cases. 2. Migration is needed because we don't have enough doctors care staff factory workers brickies plumbers sparkies etc. If you want to set the level to zero then here's the cost to you tomorrow 3. We're going to invest heavily now to train up the next generation of Brits to fill these critical jobs. This will take 5 years and we're going to need migrants until then. To help fix the crisis in our universities and remove a large flow of migrants we're going to fund universities to refocus on academic and vocational courses we need
Knuckleheads will complain but with an actual plan to move things forward they will be an ever-shrinking minority.
If Farage was shrewder than I've so far given him credit for, this would actually be a realistic sort of plan for him to adopt.
So far I've only seen him look for short-term gains, though.
Richard Tice was asked about Reform's migration policy by The Herald, and this is what he answered:
The Herald on Sunday told Mr Tice that the SNP made a positive case for immigration with the party underlining that Scotland needs people coming from overseas to fill gaps in the Labour market.
"We are pro-smart immigration. Smart immigration is welcoming people with high skills, highly qualified, who are going to contribute more than they take out," he said.
"Low skilled immigration doesn't add value because over the life-time they live here, they take out more [in services] than they contribute by way of taxes.
"Why not focus on training young Scottish people to have the right skills coming out of school, not send too many people to university to do useless degrees and coming out with debt? Let's train our own people."
I thought they wanted zero net migration . Which is totally unworkable. So saying one thing to Scottish voters and something different nationally . What a surprise!
Why is zero net migration, (a) totally unworkable, and, (b) incompatible with what Tice said?
I advocate for maximum freedom and as few border controls as possible, but you don't win that argument by being less coherent than your opponents.
If you have a nice home in a nice green area altruism hits the buffers.
The privileged need to realise that things must change, if they want them to stay the same.
What needs to change is for immigration to become either negative, nil, or less than 10K a year, as the majority of people want according to the latest polling.
That's impossible without economic depressiom, which is why first Johnson, and then Farage won't be able to deliver it.
What that would really need is for a rightwing politician to.really commit to something very out of character - cast-iron commitments to lift the education and training budget over a number of years, such that the above can be attempted again after a clearly defined number of years.
The only way out: 1. Migration is unsustainably and absurdly high. Smash the gangs. Rejoin the international accords. Rapidly process and return. Find an off-shore way to process the questionable cases. 2. Migration is needed because we don't have enough doctors care staff factory workers brickies plumbers sparkies etc. If you want to set the level to zero then here's the cost to you tomorrow 3. We're going to invest heavily now to train up the next generation of Brits to fill these critical jobs. This will take 5 years and we're going to need migrants until then. To help fix the crisis in our universities and remove a large flow of migrants we're going to fund universities to refocus on academic and vocational courses we need
Knuckleheads will complain but with an actual plan to move things forward they will be an ever-shrinking minority.
If Farage was shrewder than I've so far given him credit for, this would actually be a realistic sort of plan for him to adopt.
So far I've only seen him look for short-term gains, though.
Our politics has been reduced to absurdist black-and-white binary absolutism. Either you want to close the border NOW and sink the boats, or you want 704m illegals to arrive tomorrow.
Basic maths tells us that the post Boris numbers are absurdly unsustainable. So it has to come down and do so significantly which means a *practical and workable* plan to actually reduce it.
But at the same time we're reliant on migrants because we have a whole stack of jobs we can't fill. Professions we don't train enough people in, geographies where people either don't want to live or can't afford to live, skills we have let go.
Morons equate a lack of people to do job x in place y with unemployed z and say "make them work for benefits". Again, we need a *practical and workable plan*.
Why are we reliant on migrants in the NHS? Because we've made training expensive and difficult, and have an NHS where working conditions are terrible due to the lack of cash. So we need to invest to train people up and then retain that talent. Invest money now to save money later.
Why are we reliant on migrants in the care sector or factories or an endless list of jobs? Because pay and conditions are poor and housing costs are high - Brits can't afford the work and even if they wanted to we've trained a generation that work is crap because you should be a star on Simon Cowell twat tv. Slash housing costs over a period by building a shitton of new houses for rental at set rents not BTL rents
And how do we build? Fund a mass apprenticeship scheme in partnership with industry and universities. With a marketing campaign to make construction cool - "Build our Nation's Future" or something.
It will mean borrowing to invest now. And getting a return on that investment. Delivering long-term savings. Its called CAPITALISM to all the moron Tories who screech on about "who will pay for that" by reflex. You used to be capitalists, what the fuck happened to you?
Friendly advice; I think your mental health would be better if you didn’t throw so many insults around
Disagree - it helps. And its a genuine question - when did the Tories abandon capitalism?
You know best I suppose. But going from telling everyone you’ve been going through mental health problems that you need to fix to calling people morons and twats whilst generally sounding angry in three days make you appear like someone suffering with poor mental health.
I'm not calling anyone a twat. I posted "Simon Cowell Twat TV". A throw-away descriptor for not just all of the Cowell-led talent shows but all of the dating love island naked type shows - the whole industry, not a person.
And I am calling Tories - collectively - morons when they forget all about the basics of capitalism and reduce everything to "who will pay for that".
There are people on here calling a certain poster names. I am not. Yet you're focused on me because...? I have a different political perspective and can list issues and ideas?
No, you’re clearly referencing to people as twats who like a certain genre of TV. TV that appeals to twats. That’s shitty. TV is not all high brow dramas, such as the one about the Post Office, and stuff like BGT or Hit Parade is cheap to make too.
So what if people like stuff like Love Island and the like. It’s not high brow, doesn’t claim to be, but people enjoy it and should not have people look down their nose at them for doing so.
Quite frankly any of the main broadcasters need any show that draws the punters at the moment. They’re having the net and streamers eating their lunch on a daily basis.
The biggest growing streamer last year was BBC iplayer.
And ?
They grew from what to what exactly and how does that compare to the big boys ?
Is their growth simply replacing people watching as broadcast. As happens with Dr Who. So they are not net beneficiaries ?
Do you really think the BBC is not under threat from the likes of Netflix ?
How does the gov't easily change the threshold to anything other than pension credit without a fortune on means testing ? Pensioners aren't generally in PAYE systems...
If you have a nice home in a nice green area altruism hits the buffers.
The privileged need to realise that things must change, if they want them to stay the same.
What needs to change is for immigration to become either negative, nil, or less than 10K a year, as the majority of people want according to the latest polling.
That's impossible without economic depressiom, which is why first Johnson, and then Farage won't be able to deliver it.
What that would really need is for a rightwing politician to.really commit to something very out of character - cast-iron commitments to lift the education and training budget over a number of years, such that the above can be attempted again after a clearly defined number of years.
The only way out: 1. Migration is unsustainably and absurdly high. Smash the gangs. Rejoin the international accords. Rapidly process and return. Find an off-shore way to process the questionable cases. 2. Migration is needed because we don't have enough doctors care staff factory workers brickies plumbers sparkies etc. If you want to set the level to zero then here's the cost to you tomorrow 3. We're going to invest heavily now to train up the next generation of Brits to fill these critical jobs. This will take 5 years and we're going to need migrants until then. To help fix the crisis in our universities and remove a large flow of migrants we're going to fund universities to refocus on academic and vocational courses we need
Knuckleheads will complain but with an actual plan to move things forward they will be an ever-shrinking minority.
If Farage was shrewder than I've so far given him credit for, this would actually be a realistic sort of plan for him to adopt.
So far I've only seen him look for short-term gains, though.
Our politics has been reduced to absurdist black-and-white binary absolutism. Either you want to close the border NOW and sink the boats, or you want 704m illegals to arrive tomorrow.
Basic maths tells us that the post Boris numbers are absurdly unsustainable. So it has to come down and do so significantly which means a *practical and workable* plan to actually reduce it.
But at the same time we're reliant on migrants because we have a whole stack of jobs we can't fill. Professions we don't train enough people in, geographies where people either don't want to live or can't afford to live, skills we have let go.
Morons equate a lack of people to do job x in place y with unemployed z and say "make them work for benefits". Again, we need a *practical and workable plan*.
Why are we reliant on migrants in the NHS? Because we've made training expensive and difficult, and have an NHS where working conditions are terrible due to the lack of cash. So we need to invest to train people up and then retain that talent. Invest money now to save money later.
Why are we reliant on migrants in the care sector or factories or an endless list of jobs? Because pay and conditions are poor and housing costs are high - Brits can't afford the work and even if they wanted to we've trained a generation that work is crap because you should be a star on Simon Cowell twat tv. Slash housing costs over a period by building a shitton of new houses for rental at set rents not BTL rents
And how do we build? Fund a mass apprenticeship scheme in partnership with industry and universities. With a marketing campaign to make construction cool - "Build our Nation's Future" or something.
It will mean borrowing to invest now. And getting a return on that investment. Delivering long-term savings. Its called CAPITALISM to all the moron Tories who screech on about "who will pay for that" by reflex. You used to be capitalists, what the fuck happened to you?
Friendly advice; I think your mental health would be better if you didn’t throw so many insults around
Disagree - it helps. And its a genuine question - when did the Tories abandon capitalism?
You know best I suppose. But going from telling everyone you’ve been going through mental health problems that you need to fix to calling people morons and twats whilst generally sounding angry in three days make you appear like someone suffering with poor mental health.
I'm not calling anyone a twat. I posted "Simon Cowell Twat TV". A throw-away descriptor for not just all of the Cowell-led talent shows but all of the dating love island naked type shows - the whole industry, not a person.
And I am calling Tories - collectively - morons when they forget all about the basics of capitalism and reduce everything to "who will pay for that".
There are people on here calling a certain poster names. I am not. Yet you're focused on me because...? I have a different political perspective and can list issues and ideas?
No, you’re clearly referencing to people as twats who like a certain genre of TV. TV that appeals to twats. That’s shitty. TV is not all high brow dramas, such as the one about the Post Office, and stuff like BGT or Hit Parade is cheap to make too.
So what if people like stuff like Love Island and the like. It’s not high brow, doesn’t claim to be, but people enjoy it and should not have people look down their nose at them for doing so.
Quite frankly any of the main broadcasters need any show that draws the punters at the moment. They’re having the net and streamers eating their lunch on a daily basis.
The biggest growing streamer last year was BBC iplayer.
That in spite of the iplayer being very poor. It is not user friendly.
There's a danger they win no pensioners back with this while continuing to alienate people like me who are eager for some change.
Yes, I am pretty sure that - with his unmatched skill at fucking everything up in the worst way - Skyr Toolmakersson will get this precisely wrong. He will
1. Partly reverse the WFP cut undermining his Chancellor and worrying Bond Markets
2. Gain zero political benefit as the damage is already done - and he won't reverse it entirely
3. Look weak, vacillating, and clueless, once again
Indicated he will improve thresholds but not universal
Which, to be honest, is sensible.I know what Mr Eabhal has posted down thread, but a more tailored payment would benefit those who need it while ignoring those like me for whom it's merely nice to have.
The problem is that the payment is small beans, so by creating a tailored threshold they create a lot of expensive bureaucracy which wipes out the savings from restricting payments.
The threshold they decided to use at first - pension credit eligibility - meant that no new bureaucracy was created.
They would be better off making it a universal payment than having a custom threshold. They've literally now chosen the worst possible option. Anything else would be better.
If you have a nice home in a nice green area altruism hits the buffers.
The privileged need to realise that things must change, if they want them to stay the same.
What needs to change is for immigration to become either negative, nil, or less than 10K a year, as the majority of people want according to the latest polling.
That's impossible without economic depressiom, which is why first Johnson, and then Farage won't be able to deliver it.
What that would really need is for a rightwing politician to.really commit to something very out of character - cast-iron commitments to lift the education and training budget over a number of years, such that the above can be attempted again after a clearly defined number of years.
The only way out: 1. Migration is unsustainably and absurdly high. Smash the gangs. Rejoin the international accords. Rapidly process and return. Find an off-shore way to process the questionable cases. 2. Migration is needed because we don't have enough doctors care staff factory workers brickies plumbers sparkies etc. If you want to set the level to zero then here's the cost to you tomorrow 3. We're going to invest heavily now to train up the next generation of Brits to fill these critical jobs. This will take 5 years and we're going to need migrants until then. To help fix the crisis in our universities and remove a large flow of migrants we're going to fund universities to refocus on academic and vocational courses we need
Knuckleheads will complain but with an actual plan to move things forward they will be an ever-shrinking minority.
If Farage was shrewder than I've so far given him credit for, this would actually be a realistic sort of plan for him to adopt.
So far I've only seen him look for short-term gains, though.
Our politics has been reduced to absurdist black-and-white binary absolutism. Either you want to close the border NOW and sink the boats, or you want 704m illegals to arrive tomorrow.
Basic maths tells us that the post Boris numbers are absurdly unsustainable. So it has to come down and do so significantly which means a *practical and workable* plan to actually reduce it.
But at the same time we're reliant on migrants because we have a whole stack of jobs we can't fill. Professions we don't train enough people in, geographies where people either don't want to live or can't afford to live, skills we have let go.
Morons equate a lack of people to do job x in place y with unemployed z and say "make them work for benefits". Again, we need a *practical and workable plan*.
Why are we reliant on migrants in the NHS? Because we've made training expensive and difficult, and have an NHS where working conditions are terrible due to the lack of cash. So we need to invest to train people up and then retain that talent. Invest money now to save money later.
Why are we reliant on migrants in the care sector or factories or an endless list of jobs? Because pay and conditions are poor and housing costs are high - Brits can't afford the work and even if they wanted to we've trained a generation that work is crap because you should be a star on Simon Cowell twat tv. Slash housing costs over a period by building a shitton of new houses for rental at set rents not BTL rents
And how do we build? Fund a mass apprenticeship scheme in partnership with industry and universities. With a marketing campaign to make construction cool - "Build our Nation's Future" or something.
It will mean borrowing to invest now. And getting a return on that investment. Delivering long-term savings. Its called CAPITALISM to all the moron Tories who screech on about "who will pay for that" by reflex. You used to be capitalists, what the fuck happened to you?
Friendly advice; I think your mental health would be better if you didn’t throw so many insults around
Disagree - it helps. And its a genuine question - when did the Tories abandon capitalism?
You know best I suppose. But going from telling everyone you’ve been going through mental health problems that you need to fix to calling people morons and twats whilst generally sounding angry in three days make you appear like someone suffering with poor mental health.
I'm not calling anyone a twat. I posted "Simon Cowell Twat TV". A throw-away descriptor for not just all of the Cowell-led talent shows but all of the dating love island naked type shows - the whole industry, not a person.
And I am calling Tories - collectively - morons when they forget all about the basics of capitalism and reduce everything to "who will pay for that".
There are people on here calling a certain poster names. I am not. Yet you're focused on me because...? I have a different political perspective and can list issues and ideas?
No, you’re clearly referencing to people as twats who like a certain genre of TV. TV that appeals to twats. That’s shitty. TV is not all high brow dramas, such as the one about the Post Office, and stuff like BGT or Hit Parade is cheap to make too.
So what if people like stuff like Love Island and the like. It’s not high brow, doesn’t claim to be, but people enjoy it and should not have people look down their nose at them for doing so.
Quite frankly any of the main broadcasters need any show that draws the punters at the moment. They’re having the net and streamers eating their lunch on a daily basis.
The biggest growing streamer last year was BBC iplayer.
That in spite of the iplayer being very poor. It is not user friendly.
..how did a tiny party with just 50k kroner afford a 1.4 million kroner ad campaign? A Norwegian-born oligarch living in russia, named Atle Berge, who openly finances the mass deportation of Ukrainian children, is the answer. He finances the party and the campaign..
If you have a nice home in a nice green area altruism hits the buffers.
The privileged need to realise that things must change, if they want them to stay the same.
What needs to change is for immigration to become either negative, nil, or less than 10K a year, as the majority of people want according to the latest polling.
That's impossible without economic depressiom, which is why first Johnson, and then Farage won't be able to deliver it.
What that would really need is for a rightwing politician to.really commit to something very out of character - cast-iron commitments to lift the education and training budget over a number of years, such that the above can be attempted again after a clearly defined number of years.
The only way out: 1. Migration is unsustainably and absurdly high. Smash the gangs. Rejoin the international accords. Rapidly process and return. Find an off-shore way to process the questionable cases. 2. Migration is needed because we don't have enough doctors care staff factory workers brickies plumbers sparkies etc. If you want to set the level to zero then here's the cost to you tomorrow 3. We're going to invest heavily now to train up the next generation of Brits to fill these critical jobs. This will take 5 years and we're going to need migrants until then. To help fix the crisis in our universities and remove a large flow of migrants we're going to fund universities to refocus on academic and vocational courses we need
Knuckleheads will complain but with an actual plan to move things forward they will be an ever-shrinking minority.
If Farage was shrewder than I've so far given him credit for, this would actually be a realistic sort of plan for him to adopt.
So far I've only seen him look for short-term gains, though.
Richard Tice was asked about Reform's migration policy by The Herald, and this is what he answered:
The Herald on Sunday told Mr Tice that the SNP made a positive case for immigration with the party underlining that Scotland needs people coming from overseas to fill gaps in the Labour market.
"We are pro-smart immigration. Smart immigration is welcoming people with high skills, highly qualified, who are going to contribute more than they take out," he said.
"Low skilled immigration doesn't add value because over the life-time they live here, they take out more [in services] than they contribute by way of taxes.
"Why not focus on training young Scottish people to have the right skills coming out of school, not send too many people to university to do useless degrees and coming out with debt? Let's train our own people."
I thought they wanted zero net migration . Which is totally unworkable. So saying one thing to Scottish voters and something different nationally . What a surprise!
Nothing inconsistent in what Tice says and a policy of net zero migration. Net zero migration is not zero immigration. Almost half a million people left the UK in the last year for which we have figures, each one of those would be replaced by an immigrant.
Tice is entirely right that a) we should be up-skilling young people to replace the immigrants, and b) we should be filtering the remaining immigration to ensure that every person we let in is a net contributior.
There's a danger they win no pensioners back with this while continuing to alienate people like me who are eager for some change.
Yes, I am pretty sure that - with his unmatched skill at fucking everything up in the worst way - Skyr Toolmakersson will get this precisely wrong. He will
1. Partly reverse the WFP cut undermining his Chancellor and worrying Bond Markets
2. Gain zero political benefit as the damage is already done - and he won't reverse it entirely
3. Look weak, vacillating, and clueless, once again
Same with his resets on economic growth, immigration and welfare reform - hollow positioning that doesn't address the issue and falls apart within days.
A double whammy with bills and inflation going up at the same time.
That interest rate cut last month !!
Reverse it ?
The rate cut feels rather political. If it were Boris, Truss or Sunak at Number 10 I just can't imagine that the Bank wouldn't be raising it with great gusto.
Super way to torpedo any goodwill without any benefit.
The Tories - Johnson --> Truss --> Sunak - had a humungous amount of ordure poured over them for being hopeless at delivering Government. And Truss was so bad she spooked the bond market.
But this lot give no confidence that they have any clue at how to deliver Government. They must be testing the patience of the band market too...
A double whammy with bills and inflation going up at the same time.
That interest rate cut last month !!
Reverse it ?
The rate cut feels rather political. If it were Boris, Truss or Sunak at Number 10 I just can't imagine that the Bank wouldn't be raising it with great gusto.
It was signalled for a long time as a move towards normalisation. Rates have fallen more slowly than originally planned as inflation has remained higher.
The MPC was far from unanimous. There were some advocating a hold and others wanting a 50bp cut. I’d have been on team 50bp (or even 100bp).
Super way to torpedo any goodwill without any benefit.
The Tories - Johnson --> Truss --> Sunak - had a humungous amount of ordure poured over them for being hopeless at delivering Government. And Truss was so bad she spooked the bond market.
But this lot give no confidence that they have any clue at how to deliver Government. They must be testing the patience of the band market too...
The markets are in some sense a relative game. Trump makes the bonds of every other government look like a safer bet in comparison.
If you have a nice home in a nice green area altruism hits the buffers.
The privileged need to realise that things must change, if they want them to stay the same.
What needs to change is for immigration to become either negative, nil, or less than 10K a year, as the majority of people want according to the latest polling.
That's impossible without economic depressiom, which is why first Johnson, and then Farage won't be able to deliver it.
What that would really need is for a rightwing politician to.really commit to something very out of character - cast-iron commitments to lift the education and training budget over a number of years, such that the above can be attempted again after a clearly defined number of years.
The only way out: 1. Migration is unsustainably and absurdly high. Smash the gangs. Rejoin the international accords. Rapidly process and return. Find an off-shore way to process the questionable cases. 2. Migration is needed because we don't have enough doctors care staff factory workers brickies plumbers sparkies etc. If you want to set the level to zero then here's the cost to you tomorrow 3. We're going to invest heavily now to train up the next generation of Brits to fill these critical jobs. This will take 5 years and we're going to need migrants until then. To help fix the crisis in our universities and remove a large flow of migrants we're going to fund universities to refocus on academic and vocational courses we need
Knuckleheads will complain but with an actual plan to move things forward they will be an ever-shrinking minority.
If Farage was shrewder than I've so far given him credit for, this would actually be a realistic sort of plan for him to adopt.
So far I've only seen him look for short-term gains, though.
Farage, as far as I know, has never once in his long career engaged with reality to propose a practical solution to a real problem. It is not his way of doing things. This doesn't seem to be doing him any harm regrettably
Even Johnson engaged with reality when he had to, eg Get Brexit Done, resulting in a deal so bad he later disowned it.
Practical solutions to real problems inevitably annoy some (potentially large) subset of the population. It’s much easier to claim that there is some imaginary solution that will please everyone and comes without the pesky downsides that real solutions inevitably suffer from.
With vim, vigour & an engaging personality you can use this approach to enter the very highest positions of power, so long as you can convince enough of the population that you have the solutions to their problems. That reality will eventually assert itself is not your problem - it’s theirs.
Sarah Pochin (winner of Runcorn) was just on Woman's Hour. She was excellent - really worth a listen. She gave a simple (simplistic?) practical policy - send 10,000 foreign prisoners home instead of letting wife beaters out early. It was one of the most accessible performances of a politician I can remember, hitting numerous hot spots and not coming across as either a nutter or a racist. I still hope she loses the next general election horribly though.
One problem with that is that 1/3 of those - ~3500 - are on remand, so cannot be sent back.
Another is what did she say about those who may just be released when they get there.
I think that perhaps she should have gone with addressing (or also addressing) the ~17k (20% of pop) prisoners who are on remand.
(I'd agree that she sounds like a good addition to the group, and I'll listen to the interview larer,
How does the gov't easily change the threshold to anything other than pension credit without a fortune on means testing ? Pensioners aren't generally in PAYE systems...
I’m not sure about this; my wife has a couple of small pensions in addition to her OAP and over the years has gone in out of tax liability. Makes it difficult to decide whether or not to include Gift Aid when making charitable donations!
Just a briefing message, if they need to make preparations for get-togethers or holidays, that World Sex Day will be coming on June 9th this year.
Thank you.
I'm getting my new Tesla on 7th June - that's Better Than Sex* so is in the diary.
An awful lot planned with this new car - starting with the mea culpa reversion of the YouTube channel back to Just Get a Tesla on Friday. For all of the talk of inflation and thus the cost of money its great to be able to exploit the company by taking its 0% finance deal. Must be costing them a bomb.
*not
They recently calculated that cybertrucks depreciate at a rate of $5.60 a mile
Indicated he will improve thresholds but not universal
Which, to be honest, is sensible.I know what Mr Eabhal has posted down thread, but a more tailored payment would benefit those who need it while ignoring those like me for whom it's merely nice to have.
The problem is that the payment is small beans, so by creating a tailored threshold they create a lot of expensive bureaucracy which wipes out the savings from restricting payments.
The threshold they decided to use at first - pension credit eligibility - meant that no new bureaucracy was created.
They would be better off making it a universal payment than having a custom threshold. They've literally now chosen the worst possible option. Anything else would be better.
And politically they've done it all wrong too. They've now systematically annoyed everyone whatever they think about the WFA.
It's worth remembering why the WFA exists - it was created entirely as a bear trap for the Tories by Gordon Brown - it's a deliberately emotively named handout which was doled out to loads of people who didn't need it, with primary purpose of goading the Tories into cutting it. George Osborne, as the intended victim, had his faults, but even he saw what it was, and wisely left it well alone. Quite why Starmer and Reeves decided to leap into their own well signposted bear trap is a mystery for the ages.
Indicated he will improve thresholds but not universal
Which, to be honest, is sensible.I know what Mr Eabhal has posted down thread, but a more tailored payment would benefit those who need it while ignoring those like me for whom it's merely nice to have.
The problem is that the payment is small beans, so by creating a tailored threshold they create a lot of expensive bureaucracy which wipes out the savings from restricting payments.
The threshold they decided to use at first - pension credit eligibility - meant that no new bureaucracy was created.
They would be better off making it a universal payment than having a custom threshold. They've literally now chosen the worst possible option. Anything else would be better.
The whole thing is at the same time economically inconsequential, and politically disastrous.
Tinkering with it just prolongs the agony for no benefit, and absorbs government time that might be spent on something productive.
Because of the difficult decisions we had to make last year we’ve managed to stabilise the economy and that means we can now help more pensioners with an increase in the threshold .
The above will be the government spin on the WFA u-turn .
Just a briefing message, if they need to make preparations for get-togethers or holidays, that World Sex Day will be coming on June 9th this year.
Thank you.
I'm getting my new Tesla on 7th June - that's Better Than Sex* so is in the diary.
An awful lot planned with this new car - starting with the mea culpa reversion of the YouTube channel back to Just Get a Tesla on Friday. For all of the talk of inflation and thus the cost of money its great to be able to exploit the company by taking its 0% finance deal. Must be costing them a bomb.
*not
They recently calculated that cybertrucks depreciate at a rate of $5.60 a mile
Indicated he will improve thresholds but not universal
Which, to be honest, is sensible.I know what Mr Eabhal has posted down thread, but a more tailored payment would benefit those who need it while ignoring those like me for whom it's merely nice to have.
The problem is that the payment is small beans, so by creating a tailored threshold they create a lot of expensive bureaucracy which wipes out the savings from restricting payments.
The threshold they decided to use at first - pension credit eligibility - meant that no new bureaucracy was created.
They would be better off making it a universal payment than having a custom threshold. They've literally now chosen the worst possible option. Anything else would be better.
And politically they've done it all wrong too. They've now systematically annoyed everyone whatever they think about the WFA.
It's worth remembering why the WFA exists - it was created entirely as a bear trap for the Tories by Gordon Brown - it's a deliberately emotively named handout which was doled out to loads of people who didn't need it, with primary purpose of goading the Tories into cutting it. George Osborne, as the intended victim, had his faults, but even he saw what it was, and wisely left it well alone. Quite why Starmer and Reeves decided to leap into their own well signposted bear trap is a mystery for the ages.
It was a classic case of government politicians still playing opposition politics, I think.
By tying it to the 22bn Black Hole(TM) they hoped people would blame the Tories for the cut. But when you’re in government, people blame you, not the last lot, for the actions you take.
Indicated he will improve thresholds but not universal
Fine-tuning. Like the pilot adjusting altitude to miss a spot of turbulence. It's a core skill. You wouldn't want to fly with somebody who doesn't have it.
Not sure we missed the turbulence... it was predictable that removing WFA would cause this kerfuffle. The line my MP was given was that it was administratively difficult to set a different threshold. Not good enough really but hopefully Labour have learnt a lesson.
We didn't, you're right. It helped Reform a lot in the locals. Yes, they're a single issue party, immigration, but they link it emotively, dishonestly and cleverly to issues like this. Their core message, the one that Labour will be focused on rebutting between now and 2029, is "let's stop throwing money at foreign migrants and spend it on our own people instead".
Indicated he will improve thresholds but not universal
Which, to be honest, is sensible.I know what Mr Eabhal has posted down thread, but a more tailored payment would benefit those who need it while ignoring those like me for whom it's merely nice to have.
The problem is that the payment is small beans, so by creating a tailored threshold they create a lot of expensive bureaucracy which wipes out the savings from restricting payments.
The threshold they decided to use at first - pension credit eligibility - meant that no new bureaucracy was created.
They would be better off making it a universal payment than having a custom threshold. They've literally now chosen the worst possible option. Anything else would be better.
The whole thing is at the same time economically inconsequential, and politically disastrous.
Tinkering with it just prolongs the agony for no benefit, and absorbs government time that might be spent on something productive.
Time spent tinkering with the WFP is time not spent making concessions to Trump/the EU/Mauritius/India/etc. so it's not such a bad thing.
Super way to torpedo any goodwill without any benefit.
The Tories - Johnson --> Truss --> Sunak - had a humungous amount of ordure poured over them for being hopeless at delivering Government. And Truss was so bad she spooked the bond market.
But this lot give no confidence that they have any clue at how to deliver Government. They must be testing the patience of the band market too...
I think this government is more of a curate's egg. But they really don't know how to do retail politics. If the Tories hadn't committed seppuku, they'd likely never have been elected.
Indicated he will improve thresholds but not universal
Which, to be honest, is sensible.I know what Mr Eabhal has posted down thread, but a more tailored payment would benefit those who need it while ignoring those like me for whom it's merely nice to have.
The problem is that the payment is small beans, so by creating a tailored threshold they create a lot of expensive bureaucracy which wipes out the savings from restricting payments.
The threshold they decided to use at first - pension credit eligibility - meant that no new bureaucracy was created.
They would be better off making it a universal payment than having a custom threshold. They've literally now chosen the worst possible option. Anything else would be better.
The whole thing is at the same time economically inconsequential, and politically disastrous.
Tinkering with it just prolongs the agony for no benefit, and absorbs government time that might be spent on something productive.
They have simultaneously failed to pander to the pensioner lobby and failed to take on the pensioner lobby. It's hard to overstate how bad it is.
Labour fully deserve their miserably low polling scores.
Some developments in Lincolnshire, wrt "how will RefUK streamline".
Pages 105 and 106 of the current document pack for the next meeting, changes to the "Flood and Water Management" scrutiny committee, including afaics the removal of District Councillors (a problem in a place like Lincs?) and - it is reported - removal of "development of the Local Flood Risk Management Strategy".
I hope that the local media are up to scratch on this level of detail.
The other thing about the WFA announcement was it was a tremendous act of hubris on Reeves’ part. I think I commented at the time that the tone was odd, and not particularly sensitive or measured. It was very much “I have to take this nice thing away from you now because you can’t have it any more.” It sounded very high and mighty, and I think she was riding on this Iron Chancellor wave that she had been trying desperately to create.
Because of the difficult decisions we had to make last year we’ve managed to stabilise the economy and that means we can now help more pensioners with an increase in the threshold .
The above will be the government spin on the WFA u-turn .
I mean maybe? But the most effective spin has to have some tenuous connection to reality. The government's fiscal situation is even worse now than it was. They really don't want people talking about *that*.
Indicated he will improve thresholds but not universal
Which, to be honest, is sensible.I know what Mr Eabhal has posted down thread, but a more tailored payment would benefit those who need it while ignoring those like me for whom it's merely nice to have.
The problem is that the payment is small beans, so by creating a tailored threshold they create a lot of expensive bureaucracy which wipes out the savings from restricting payments.
The threshold they decided to use at first - pension credit eligibility - meant that no new bureaucracy was created.
They would be better off making it a universal payment than having a custom threshold. They've literally now chosen the worst possible option. Anything else would be better.
The whole thing is at the same time economically inconsequential, and politically disastrous.
Tinkering with it just prolongs the agony for no benefit, and absorbs government time that might be spent on something productive.
They have simultaneously failed to pander to the pensioner lobby and failed to take on the pensioner lobby. It's hard to overstate how bad it is.
Labour fully deserve their miserably low polling scores.
You cannot have your Chancellor announcing on TV the winter fuel payment policy remains and a couple of hours later the Prime Minister effectively saying
' No it doesn't '
Beth Rigby on Sky saying Labour are in disarray and who could disagree ?
Rupert Lowe recorded making antisemitic remark at parliament
In a leaked recording, Lowe can be heard remarking on the size of the camera being prepared to take footage of him. “In days gone by you’d call it a Jewish camera, but that would be politically incorrect. Because it’s so small,” Lowe said.
Indicated he will improve thresholds but not universal
Which, to be honest, is sensible.I know what Mr Eabhal has posted down thread, but a more tailored payment would benefit those who need it while ignoring those like me for whom it's merely nice to have.
The problem is that the payment is small beans, so by creating a tailored threshold they create a lot of expensive bureaucracy which wipes out the savings from restricting payments.
The threshold they decided to use at first - pension credit eligibility - meant that no new bureaucracy was created.
They would be better off making it a universal payment than having a custom threshold. They've literally now chosen the worst possible option. Anything else would be better.
The whole thing is at the same time economically inconsequential, and politically disastrous.
Tinkering with it just prolongs the agony for no benefit, and absorbs government time that might be spent on something productive.
They have simultaneously failed to pander to the pensioner lobby and failed to take on the pensioner lobby. It's hard to overstate how bad it is.
Labour fully deserve their miserably low polling scores.
You cannot have your Chancellor announcing on TV the winter fuel payment policy remains and a couple of hours later the Prime Minister effectively saying
' No it doesn't '
Beth Rigby on Sky saying Labour are in disarray and who could disagree ?
Although to be fair, I think Beth Rigby starts every piece to camera with (insert party here)... are in disarray....
Rupert Lowe recorded making antisemitic remark at parliament
In a leaked recording, Lowe can be heard remarking on the size of the camera being prepared to take footage of him. “In days gone by you’d call it a Jewish camera, but that would be politically incorrect. Because it’s so small,” Lowe said.
Comments
Seance polls - a whole new industry. Chaired by Mystic Meg.
That will be quite a moment. With every day that this government fucks up - No E Gates Monday, inflation today, Lab go down and down, and it seems only Reform truly benefit (with a small chunk to the LDs and Greens)
Starmer needs to accept the will of the public, and call an election NOW. We Need Big Nige In Number Ten
The Herald on Sunday told Mr Tice that the SNP made a positive case for immigration with the party underlining that Scotland needs people coming from overseas to fill gaps in the Labour market.
"We are pro-smart immigration. Smart immigration is welcoming people with high skills, highly qualified, who are going to contribute more than they take out," he said.
"Low skilled immigration doesn't add value because over the life-time they live here, they take out more [in services] than they contribute by way of taxes.
"Why not focus on training young Scottish people to have the right skills coming out of school, not send too many people to university to do useless degrees and coming out with debt? Let's train our own people."
https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/25171466.reform-can-win-hamilton-by-election-take-power-holyrood/
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/cricket/2025/05/20/swing-bowling-facing-extinction-england-zimbabwe/ (£££)
TSE has a side-hustle writing headlines for the Telegraph's sport section.
Reform voters though much more firmly against either. 81% against rejoining the EU, 55% against rejoining the single market and against rejoining the Customs Union by a 28% margin.
Labour and LDs more firmly in favour of both, 79% of 2024 Labour voters and 74% of LDs favour rejoining the EU, 71% of Labour voters and 70% of LDs favour rejoining the Single Market and 71% of Labour voters and 73% of LDs favour rejoining the Customs Unions.
48% of Tory voters and 46% of Reform voters happy with the current EU and UK relationship, 64% and 67% of LDs opposed to keeping our relationship with the EU as is.
42% of Reform voters want to loosen our relationship with the EU even further, in comparison just 31% of Conservative voters, 5% of Labour and 3% of LD voters want even looser EU relations
https://ygo-assets-websites-editorial-emea.yougov.net/documents/Copy_of_Internal_Brexit_250519.pdf
I will though.
All the judges? So how would criminal justice work?
Seems appropriate
"Flog that one. Taser this one. Send her to Rockall. Deport them all. Next"
I still cannot quite see the Lib Dems overtaking the blues though. As someone said, their seat tally is a bit static due to the efficiency of their vote. So the competition all depends on Tory fortunes. Those have been very down for very long, but the tide going out on Labour I think will result in some gains for them. That predicates on them somewhat getting their act together.
Monaco's going to be interesting (yes, I know, an odd sentence). Same tyres but very different to Imola. Red Bull were the fastest last time out, if they're quickest again on a slow track with high downforce then Verstappen will end up probably being the title favourite. And I'll feel a bit less like a turnip for my (too) early hedging of my Piastri bet.
I think the greens will be glad of the attention once they’ve decided their future direction. Corbynite left or NIMBY centrist. It’s fascinating to see.
Indicated he will improve thresholds but not universal
There's a danger they win no pensioners back with this while continuing to alienate people like me who are eager for some change.
In that sense, he's Reform personified. A sort of slightly wilder Farage.
But that's what they should have done at the time. And now it just feels like we have three parties for pensioners, and the special pleading has yet again been shown to work. We still have universal state pension, and low income pensioners sat on millions in property value.
What about the 30% of kids in poverty?
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/may/21/uk-inflation-jumps-higher-than-expected-energy-bills
A double whammy with bills and inflation going up at the same time.
So what if people like stuff like Love Island and the like. It’s not high brow, doesn’t claim to be, but people enjoy it and should not have people look down their nose at them for doing so.
Quite frankly any of the main broadcasters need any show that draws the punters at the moment. They’re having the net and streamers eating their lunch on a daily basis.
Reverse it ?
1. Partly reverse the WFP cut undermining his Chancellor and worrying Bond Markets
2. Gain zero political benefit as the damage is already done - and he won't reverse it entirely
3. Look weak, vacillating, and clueless, once again
Surely it should have been her announcing this, to make her look like she's in charge?
This government is genuinely much worse than the last one, and the last one was the worst in the history of organic life
I advocate for maximum freedom and as few border controls as possible, but you don't win that argument by being less coherent than your opponents.
They grew from what to what exactly and how does that compare to the big boys ?
Is their growth simply replacing people watching as broadcast. As happens with Dr Who. So they are not net beneficiaries ?
Do you really think the BBC is not under threat from the likes of Netflix ?
Pensioners aren't generally in PAYE systems...
The threshold they decided to use at first - pension credit eligibility - meant that no new bureaucracy was created.
They would be better off making it a universal payment than having a custom threshold. They've literally now chosen the worst possible option. Anything else would be better.
1/12 russia launches political party in Norway, using local collaborators/traitors to undermine support for Ukraine through an expensive ad campaign...
https://x.com/joni_askola/status/1925116833192955946
..how did a tiny party with just 50k kroner afford a 1.4 million kroner ad campaign? A Norwegian-born oligarch living in russia, named Atle Berge, who openly finances the mass deportation of Ukrainian children, is the answer. He finances the party and the campaign..
Tice is entirely right that a) we should be up-skilling young people to replace the immigrants, and b) we should be filtering the remaining immigration to ensure that every person we let in is a net contributior.
Super way to torpedo any goodwill without any benefit.
Sky broadcasting an interview with Rachel Reevies confirming the winter fuel policy stands
The interview was this morning !!!
But this lot give no confidence that they have any clue at how to deliver Government. They must be testing the patience of the band market too...
The MPC was far from unanimous. There were some advocating a hold and others wanting a 50bp cut. I’d have been on team 50bp (or even 100bp).
Sometimes people are lucky with their timing.
Another is what did she say about those who may just be released when they get there.
I think that perhaps she should have gone with addressing (or also addressing) the ~17k (20% of pop) prisoners who are on remand.
(I'd agree that she sounds like a good addition to the group, and I'll listen to the interview larer,
Makes it difficult to decide whether or not to include Gift Aid when making charitable donations!
It's worth remembering why the WFA exists - it was created entirely as a bear trap for the Tories by Gordon Brown - it's a deliberately emotively named handout which was doled out to loads of people who didn't need it, with primary purpose of goading the Tories into cutting it. George Osborne, as the intended victim, had his faults, but even he saw what it was, and wisely left it well alone. Quite why Starmer and Reeves decided to leap into their own well signposted bear trap is a mystery for the ages.
Tinkering with it just prolongs the agony for no benefit, and absorbs government time that might be spent on something productive.
The above will be the government spin on the WFA u-turn .
By tying it to the 22bn Black Hole(TM) they hoped people would blame the Tories for the cut. But when you’re in government, people blame you, not the last lot, for the actions you take.
But they really don't know how to do retail politics. If the Tories hadn't committed seppuku, they'd likely never have been elected.
https://bsky.app/profile/paulwaldman.bsky.social/post/3lpokdsjuks2j
Labour fully deserve their miserably low polling scores.
Pages 105 and 106 of the current document pack for the next meeting, changes to the "Flood and Water Management" scrutiny committee, including afaics the removal of District Councillors (a problem in a place like Lincs?) and - it is reported - removal of "development of the Local Flood Risk Management Strategy".
I hope that the local media are up to scratch on this level of detail.
(Link updated)
https://lincolnshire.moderngov.co.uk/documents/g8610/Public reports pack 23rd-May-2025 10.30 Council.pdf?T=10
It could still be her undoing.
' No it doesn't '
Beth Rigby on Sky saying Labour are in disarray and who could disagree ?
In a leaked recording, Lowe can be heard remarking on the size of the camera being prepared to take footage of him. “In days gone by you’d call it a Jewish camera, but that would be politically incorrect. Because it’s so small,” Lowe said.
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/may/21/rupert-lowe-antisemitic-remark-parliament-meeting-reform
I am not sure I get the reference here.