General News Thread

[Greg2607]

Me and my wife earn roughly £140,000 between us... Based on house price inflation, we could no longer buy the house we live in as lenders wouldn't give us a mortgage big enough.   

 

We recognise how fortunate we are with our combined incomes against the general population, but it's a sobering thought! 

[Sampson]

15 minutes ago, Foxdiamond said:

Wonder if you would be so sympathetic if another 89 year old was holding a placard supporting a right wing group 

Absolutely I would. I hate this wave of authoritarian populism much more than I care about left or right wing divide, I dislike both Corbyn and Farage for that same reason and I absolutely hate all this slow creep towards shutting down protests, I said it on here several times since the crime act got pushed through years ago - the right to peaceful protest should be sacrosanct in a democracy and all we’re doing by eroding away these freedoms is setting up laws and powers which if some populist does get into power will be so incredibly easy to abuse. If someone is not whipping up violence then of course I’d be saying the same if some peaceful right wing 89 year old was arrested for holding a placard that said “reduce immigration” or “cut funding to the nhs” or something - we should all hope those rights are protected in a democracy. 

Edited 10 August 2025 by Sampson

[Guest TamworthFoxes]

14 minutes ago, Sampson said:

Someone posted about it being hard to hire new policemen and you have to wonder what’s going through the policemen’s heads when they’re forced to arrest an 89 year old woman sitting peacefully with a placard, no wonder people leave the force, they’d need to be not human to actually not have second thoughts about whether this is the right thing to do - and if they don’t then what kind of humans are we making in our police force? I always thought our police felt much more human and friendly than say US police for example, I don’t think it’s good for our society to try and change that and try and turn our police into mindless, inhuman drones.

 

The government making the law don’t have to deal with the human contact on the ground like the police do - and history has shown that “I was just doing my job/following orders” is neither a legitimate legal nor moral excuse. 

Let me 100% reassure you as someone who knows quite a few serving police officers. 
Probably the last reason they would leave would be worrying about locking up some  soap dodging left wing protesters!

More likely to make them leave would be having to refer to trans men rapists as she when arresting/dealing with them.

Trust me on this. 😂

[Foxdiamond]

1 minute ago, Sampson said:

Absolutely I would. I hate this wave of authoritarian populism much more than I care about left of right wing divide, I dislike both Corbyn and Farage for that same reason and I absolutely hate all this slow creep towards shutting down protests, I said it on here several times since the crime act got pushed through years ago - the right to peaceful protest should be sacrosanct in a democracy and all we’re doing by eroding away these freedoms is setting up laws and powers which if some populist does get into power will be so incredibly easy to abuse. If someone is not whipping up violence then of course I’d be saying the same if some peaceful right wing 89 year old was arrested for holding a placard that said “reduce immigration” or “cut funding to the nhs” or something - we should all hope those rights are protected in a democracy.

Thank you for clarification. For me the protests are not the problem. More that the group sabotage national assets

[Alf Bentley]

11 hours ago, Super_horns said:

Do they need to arrest elderly people etc as they are hardly terrorists in reality?

 

It's an offence against justice and free speech, as others have pointed out - and an absurdity. Such arrests should be limited to people inciting or engaging in violence (whatever their cause) or committing criminal damage or whatever - protesters accept that as a consequence if they commit such acts as part of a protest.

 

It's also enormously stupid at a time when the police are short of numbers and unable to deal with real crimes (minor crimes, but ones that really affect people - burglary etc.), when the courts are already unable to cope with a backlog of cases and when there's an ongoing prisons crisis.... 

[Trav Le Bleu]

18 minutes ago, Greg2607 said:

Me and my wife earn roughly £140,000 between us... Based on house price inflation, we could no longer buy the house we live in as lenders wouldn't give us a mortgage big enough.   

 

We recognise how fortunate we are with our combined incomes against the general population, but it's a sobering thought! 

Where do you live? Belvoir Castle?

[Trav Le Bleu]

19 minutes ago, Greg2607 said:

Me and my wife earn roughly £140,000 between us... Based on house price inflation, we could no longer buy the house we live in as lenders wouldn't give us a mortgage big enough.   

 

We recognise how fortunate we are with our combined incomes against the general population, but it's a sobering thought! 

More seriously, does the interest rate cut make much of a difference?

[Zear0]

1 hour ago, Lionator said:

Not saying what they’ve stated is wrong but institute of war is not a good source, it’s ran by rabid war hawks who want America to invade Russia. 

It's an article from BILD. 

[Greg2607]

28 minutes ago, Trav Le Bleu said:

Where do you live? Belvoir Castle?

🤣🤣 No, we live in Ashby.  We bought our house for £489,000 in 2021.... It's now worth 

£650,000.  

[BKLFox]

12 hours ago, Super_horns said:

Do they need to arrest elderly people etc as they are hardly terrorists in reality?

In the same way as groups of women dressed in pink stood/sat outside “hotels” raising concerns whilst singing Neil Diamond songs aren’t far right fascists, but… 

[Brizzle Fox]

4 hours ago, StanSP said:

He just seems very useless and incompetent. He doesn't give off the vibe that he knows what he's doing or what he's capable of. 

The thing you have to remember about Lammy and Vance is that they are genuinely mates. A proper bromance. 

 

No wonder really as they're the same, 'shape shifters' as I've seen them called. Zero principles and if they had any they'd soon find different ones if it suits.

 

I know it's not unusual in politics, but they are only interested in power. Simple as that.

[leicsmac]

16 minutes ago, Brizzle Fox said:

The thing you have to remember about Lammy and Vance is that they are genuinely mates. A proper bromance. 

 

No wonder really as they're the same, 'shape shifters' as I've seen them called. Zero principles and if they had any they'd soon find different ones if it suits.

 

I know it's not unusual in politics, but they are only interested in power. Simple as that.

I'm finding it hard to pin down Vance tbh. I honestly don't know whether he genuinely buys into the Trump cult of personality, or is more interested in the self interested death-worship that embodies a lot of the Trump base, or whether he's just attached himself to it all as a means to gain personal power. Or a combination of the above.

 

The man is certainly more enigmatic and gives off more mixed signals than his master, that's for sure. 

[JonnyBoy]

1 hour ago, Greg2607 said:

To my mind, the deposit is Less of an issue... It's the multiple of income required to get a mortgage of size to afford the house.  

 

If you are single and earning £60k, you could only borrow £240,000.....  that doesn't buy much house in a nice area. 

 

 

isn’t it 4.5 with some lenders not 4? I know mine was 4.5 when I bought my first house 
 

there’s a loads of terraced houses for 180k out there in Leicestershire. That means a 10% deposit means you need to earn £36k based on 4.5 (if single buyer) a lot less if buying with someone else. 

 

36k is very different to 60k - (yes, still not high enough earning for a lot of people) Your first house doesn’t need to be the really nice dream home, that will come in time. 
 

I know it’s really hard for a lot of people but I don’t buy the narrative you have be earning 60k+ to even consider getting on the property ladder 

[leicsmac]

5 minutes ago, JonnyBoy said:

isn’t it 4.5 with some lenders not 4? I know mine was 4.5 when I bought my first house 
 

there’s a loads of terraced houses for 180k out there in Leicestershire. That means a 10% deposit means you need to earn £36k based on 4.5 (if single buyer) a lot less if buying with someone else. 

 

36k is very different to 60k - (yes, still not high enough earning for a lot of people) Your first house doesn’t need to be the really nice dream home, that will come in time. 
 

I know it’s really hard for a lot of people but I don’t buy the narrative you have be earning 60k+ to even consider getting on the property ladder 

And for those (roughly) 50% of people who earn below that amount?

[JonnyBoy]

1 hour ago, leicsmac said:

Yep.

 

If the average (mean, median or mode?) salary in the UK is 38k, that gets you (at a generous 4.5x) roughly 170k. 

 

Even if you pair that with a 30k deposit you're still at about 200k, which rules out pretty much anything freehold south of Northampton and even in the Midlands you'll struggle to get much more than a 2-bed terrace in good nick for that. 

why do you need more than  two bed terrace for your first house? That’s exactly my point

 

(aside for south of Northampton) there are loads of good starter homes for 180k. Are you saying you need at least 200k and more than two bed? 

[JonnyBoy]

1 minute ago, leicsmac said:

And for those (roughly) 50% of people who earn below that amount?

I think you are getting confused or not understanding my original points mac 

[leicsmac]

Just now, JonnyBoy said:

why do you need more than  two bed terrace for your first house? That’s exactly my point

 

(aside for south of Northampton) there are loads of good starter homes for 180k. Are you saying you need at least 200k and more than two bed? 

Certainly not. 

 

However, it does reduce the choice to an area 40% the size and with perhaps 25% of the population of the overall UK and even within that area reduces one to a very particular house type. 

 

How right that is, is clearly up to the beholder. 

 

1 minute ago, JonnyBoy said:

I think you are getting confused or not understanding my original points mac 

Possibly so. 

 

To clarify, I believe that you're making the argument that getting on the housing ladder is possible for the vast majority of people in the UK with some effort. 

 

While I'd tentatively agree with the general statement, it does appear at the moment to come with a lot of restrictions on where and how one can live that are no fault of theirs. 

 

Again, how right that may or may not be is clearly up to the beholder. 

 

[JonnyBoy]

6 minutes ago, leicsmac said:

Certainly not. 

 

However, it does reduce the choice to an area 40% the size and with perhaps 25% of the population of the overall UK and even within that area reduces one to a very particular house type. 

 

How right that is, is clearly up to the beholder. 

 

Possibly so. 

 

To clarify, I believe that you're making the argument that getting on the housing ladder is possible for the vast majority of people in the UK with some effort. 

 

While I'd tentatively agree with the general statement, it does appear at the moment to come with a lot of restrictions on where and how one can live that are no fault of theirs. 

 

Again, how right that may or may not be is clearly up to the beholder. 

 

the problem from speaking to a lot of people trying to sell is they are struggling to sell their 2 bed terrace because there are loads in the market due to landlords selling up and people going straight into new builds - maybe due to shiny new house and. 5% deposit incentives. I know near me there are so, so many up for sale (Charnwood) 

 

my original point was for SOME people they have to take responsibility by making some alternative choices I.e car on finance, eating out a lot, holidays, beers down the pub etc who are in the bracket of 36k+ earnings.

 

Standard foxestalk - This has now been construed by various posters that if you cancel your Netflix subscription and stop your coffee runs to Starbucks you can afford a house because I mentioned those two specifically amongst an exhaustive list.
 

I have never ever, stated that the majority of people should be able to buy a house. I know the struggle for a lot of people. But that isn’t my argument - that is the problem with forums people will pick parts of your argument, and change it to suit a certain narrative. 
 

I have no idea how people who earn less than 36k are going to get on the property ladder anytime soon - I’m not disagreeing with that. I genuinely don’t know what can change for that to happen 

[Brizzle Fox]

26 minutes ago, leicsmac said:

I'm finding it hard to pin down Vance tbh. I honestly don't know whether he genuinely buys into the Trump cult of personality, or is more interested in the self interested death-worship that embodies a lot of the Trump base, or whether he's just attached himself to it all as a means to gain personal power. Or a combination of the above.

 

The man is certainly more enigmatic and gives off more mixed signals than his master, that's for sure. 

I think he's genuinely highly intelligent unlikely Trump, and being a bit of an enigma probably suits him.

 

Probably best to read Hillbilly Elegy to get more of a genuine sense of the man, but that in itself fires off mixed messages!

 

His intelligence and rampant ambition probably makes him more dangerous than Trump, but let's see.

[Sampson]

11 minutes ago, Brizzle Fox said:

I think he's genuinely highly intelligent unlikely Trump, and being a bit of an enigma probably suits him.

 

Probably best to read Hillbilly Elegy to get more of a genuine sense of the man, but that in itself fires off mixed messages!

 

His intelligence and rampant ambition probably makes him more dangerous than Trump, but let's see.

Agree. Rory Stewart & Alistair Campbell did a good podcast series on him recently that’s worth a listen.
 

I can’t work him out either, Vance was on record calling Trump a fascist back in 2016 and having some sympathy with immigrants and was more of a “pull yourself up by the bootstraps” type Conservative of the stop blaming everything on immigrants and circumstance go out and get a job type. His wife is also a 2nd generation Indian immigrant ex-Democrat who got birthright citizenship that the MAGA crowd are trying to stop. He is clearly smarter than Trump as said too. I do wonder whether he’s genuine MAGA or is just following the way to wind blows to get power - I also wonder whether he’s more of a “tech bro” Republican who just want a Libertarian economy and the ability to let their algorithms run free but deep down probably actually quite like the cheap labour of mass undocumented immigration. 

[leicsmac]

56 minutes ago, JonnyBoy said:

the problem from speaking to a lot of people trying to sell is they are struggling to sell their 2 bed terrace because there are loads in the market due to landlords selling up and people going straight into new builds - maybe due to shiny new house and. 5% deposit incentives. I know near me there are so, so many up for sale (Charnwood) 

 

my original point was for SOME people they have to take responsibility by making some alternative choices I.e car on finance, eating out a lot, holidays, beers down the pub etc who are in the bracket of 36k+ earnings.

 

Standard foxestalk - This has now been construed by various posters that if you cancel your Netflix subscription and stop your coffee runs to Starbucks you can afford a house because I mentioned those two specifically amongst an exhaustive list.
 

I have never ever, stated that the majority of people should be able to buy a house. I know the struggle for a lot of people. But that isn’t my argument - that is the problem with forums people will pick parts of your argument, and change it to suit a certain narrative. 
 

I have no idea how people who earn less than 36k are going to get on the property ladder anytime soon - I’m not disagreeing with that. I genuinely don’t know what can change for that to happen 

Appreciate the clarification, and fair enough.

 

It's certainly a problem of complexity.

[Lionator]

2 hours ago, Zear0 said:

It's an article from BILD. 

Even less credible then, BILD is the German version of the Sun 

[leicsmac]

52 minutes ago, Brizzle Fox said:

I think he's genuinely highly intelligent unlikely Trump, and being a bit of an enigma probably suits him.

 

Probably best to read Hillbilly Elegy to get more of a genuine sense of the man, but that in itself fires off mixed messages!

 

His intelligence and rampant ambition probably makes him more dangerous than Trump, but let's see.

 

34 minutes ago, Sampson said:

Agree. Rory Stewart & Alistair Campbell did a good podcast series on him recently that’s worth a listen.
 

I can’t work him out either, Vance was on record calling Trump a fascist back in 2016 and having some sympathy with immigrants and was more of a “pull yourself up by the bootstraps” type Conservative of the stop blaming everything on immigrants and circumstance go out and get a job type. His wife is also a 2nd generation Indian immigrant ex-Democrat who got birthright citizenship that the MAGA crowd are trying to stop. He is clearly smarter than Trump as said too. I do wonder whether he’s genuine MAGA or is just following the way to wind blows to get power - I also wonder whether he’s more of a “tech bro” Republican who just want a Libertarian economy and the ability to let their algorithms run free but deep down probably actually quite like the cheap labour of mass undocumented immigration. 

Would agree with both of these. Guess only time will tell.

 

The one thing I think I could add is that I don't think he can play to the gallery of bigoted prejudice in the same way that Trump can and that might have an effect on the landscape in a few years time. 

[Lionator]

54 minutes ago, Brizzle Fox said:

I think he's genuinely highly intelligent unlikely Trump, and being a bit of an enigma probably suits him.

 

Probably best to read Hillbilly Elegy to get more of a genuine sense of the man, but that in itself fires off mixed messages!

 

His intelligence and rampant ambition probably makes him more dangerous than Trump, but let's see.

Yeah Vance actually believes in something rather than himself. America First would likely be an actual thing if he became president. I think Rubio will be the Republican nominee in 2028 though. 

[leicsmac]

7 minutes ago, Lionator said:

Yeah Vance actually believes in something rather than himself. America First would likely be an actual thing if he became president. I think Rubio will be the Republican nominee in 2028 though. 

It is difficult to tell whether or not Vance's added smarts would be more dangerous (as in he's more effective at xenophobic nationalism) or less (in that he would actually be inclined to listen to voices of reason and cooperation and be talked round by them).

 

Hopefully we won't have to find out.