General News Thread

[Parafox]

9 minutes ago, Trav Le Bleu said:

Exactly, and they're fine with marrying cousins, or even closer!

@Aus Fox

[Clogger_]

25 minutes ago, CornwallFox said:

Any evidence that a contract is being awarded for a scheme that hasn't been debated or enacted? 

Of course no evidence, but I'm interested where the OP heard about this from. Seems quite... niche

 

Used to be simpler when MattP lifted opinions straight from "Guido Fawkes"

[RobHawk]

1 hour ago, danny. said:

Labour was the protest party last time, and now they are one of the most hated governments in history. Neither them or the Tories have a chance in 4 years. Which leaves Reform.

 

I don't think your average person cares about stuff like this.

Are they really the most hated government in history though? Or is that just what you want people to believe? 

 

I'm all for saying there's still improvements to be made but I think you might be over exaggerating slightly.

[Wymsey]

3 minutes ago, Clogger_ said:

Of course no evidence, but I'm interested where the OP heard about this from. Seems quite... niche

 

Used to be simpler when MattP lifted opinions straight from "Guido Fawkes"

Reckon he has made a new account on here..

[Libertine]

[bovril]

20 minutes ago, Wymsey said:

Reckon he has made a new account on here..

'MattP' was actually a six year sociological experiment by Leicester de Montford University. 

[st albans fox]

2 hours ago, danny. said:

Where do you think the votes will go? And what do you think is going to happen in the next 4 years to shift the polls so much?

As someone once said ‘events dear boy, events’ ……..

[leicsmac]

8 minutes ago, st albans fox said:

As someone once said ‘events dear boy, events’ ……..

Exactly.

 

A (relatively in terms of death rate) mid-level pandemic turned everything upside down very, very quickly just a little while ago. And that is merely a taste of what's out there in terms of consequence.

[lcfc sheff]

https://www.cityam.com/gen-z-will-need-at-least-3m-to-retire-comfortably/

 

what chance have we got, I'm 28; think I've done okay but I'm about £3m short!

[CornwallFox]

18 minutes ago, lcfc sheff said:

https://www.cityam.com/gen-z-will-need-at-least-3m-to-retire-comfortably/

 

what chance have we got, I'm 28; think I've done okay but I'm about £3m short!

Just need to stop the Starbucks orders lad, easy. 

[ajthefox]

3 hours ago, danny. said:

Labour was the protest party last time, and now they are one of the most hated governments in history. Neither them or the Tories have a chance in 4 years. Which leaves Reform.

 

I don't think your average person cares about stuff like this.

 

3 hours ago, danny. said:

The only way that would make sense is for a new party to arise. I can't see Labour improving anything enough to turn things around, the Tories are likely done for decades if not ever.

Tories done for decades and labour one of the most hated governments ever, are you serious or on the wind up? Pretty sensationalist stuff.

[Clogger_]

32 minutes ago, ajthefox said:

 

Tories done for decades and labour one of the most hated governments ever, are you serious or on the wind up? Pretty sensationalist stuff.

danny. seems to wish this to be so. As ever, time will tell. I'd only reflect that we are a very long way from an election, and nobody has engaged with what a Reform government would really mean for us

[Tommy G]

16 minutes ago, Clogger_ said:

danny. seems to wish this to be so. As ever, time will tell. I'd only reflect that we are a very long way from an election, and nobody has engaged with what a Reform government would really mean for us

I don’t suspect Starmer will be PM by the next election but if he is Farage will completely bury him in tv debates and will have plenty of material to do so - the average Brit will love that despite the reform manifesto having a load of holes in it - Gaz the Brickie won’t care. 

[leicsmac]

9 minutes ago, Tommy G said:

I don’t suspect Starmer will be PM by the next election but if he is Farage will completely bury him in tv debates and will have plenty of material to do so - the average Brit will love that despite the reform manifesto having a load of holes in it - Gaz the Brickie won’t care. 

If this is indeed true (and it may well be so), then as per above it shows a weakness in the system that requires looking at, rather than simply accepting. 

[Tommy G]

Just now, leicsmac said:

If this is indeed true (and it may well be so), then as per above it shows a weakness in the system that requires looking at, rather than simply accepting. 

Well there is no requirement to read a manifesto back to front nor an IQ test to vote, so I’m stumped. 

[Trav Le Bleu]

6 minutes ago, leicsmac said:

If this is indeed true (and it may well be so), then as per above it shows a weakness in the system that requires looking at, rather than simply accepting. 

The politics of personality.

 

Ant and Dec would ace any general election.

[leicsmac]

17 minutes ago, Tommy G said:

Well there is no requirement to read a manifesto back to front nor an IQ test to vote, so I’m stumped. 

Yep, and so am I, and so has every thinker on the topic since Plato. Not a simple problem.

 

Of course, the difference is today the stakes are higher in terms of the degree and consequences of the problem than they've ever been. 

 

11 minutes ago, Trav Le Bleu said:

The politics of personality.

 

Ant and Dec would ace any general election.

To follow on from the above though, I'm not sure that slick con artistry has been as much of a problem in the past as it is now, but perhaps that's recency bias. 

[danny.]

1 hour ago, ajthefox said:

 

Tories done for decades and labour one of the most hated governments ever, are you serious or on the wind up? Pretty sensationalist stuff.

Just going off recent polls. Starmer is the most unpopular PM in history. Labour are not liked with either the left or right. I don’t know anyone that would vote Tory again, but could be wrong on this one. Not many happy with how they ran the country for 14 years. 
 

57 minutes ago, Clogger_ said:

danny. seems to wish this to be so. As ever, time will tell. I'd only reflect that we are a very long way from an election, and nobody has engaged with what a Reform government would really mean for us

Nope. I have no stake in this. I’m not a Reform voter. I’ve previously voted Labour, Green and Lib Dem and am currently politically homeless. 

[worthosoriginals]

41 minutes ago, Tommy G said:

Well there is no requirement to read a manifesto back to front nor an IQ test to vote, so I’m stumped. 

Well of course it's easy to see you will vote for who you think will stop the boats, other policies don't matter

[Trav Le Bleu]

Can anyone unequivocally prove that illegal migration is the biggest problem this country faces?

 

To my mind, it's relatively minor.

 

People will say that they're putting a strain on public services, but, for instance, I think that every Tom, Dick or Harry (good English names) who turns up at A&E cos they've got a sore throat and it's the weekend and the GP is closed - there's far more of those than illegal immigrants.

[Jon the Hat]

19 minutes ago, Trav Le Bleu said:

Can anyone unequivocally prove that illegal migration is the biggest problem this country faces?

 

To my mind, it's relatively minor.

 

People will say that they're putting a strain on public services, but, for instance, I think that every Tom, Dick or Harry (good English names) who turns up at A&E cos they've got a sore throat and it's the weekend and the GP is closed - there's far more of those than illegal immigrants.

Day to day illegal migration is of course not the problem.  The problem is the defacto open borders experiment of the last 25 years which no one voted for, no government ever admitted, and only the better off really benefitted from.

[Trav Le Bleu]

3 hours ago, Jon the Hat said:

Day to day illegal migration is of course not the problem.  The problem is the defacto open borders experiment of the last 25 years which no one voted for, no government ever admitted, and only the better off really benefitted from.

Yeah, the cheap labour.

 

Having said that, companies shifting production abroad equates to the same thing.

 

Who needs to import slaves anymore when you can just get people to slave away in a foreign land (where it's also cheaper to feed and house them - genius!) and just import their produce.

 

Now I sound like Trump

 

All hail the tariff!

[leicsmac]

5 hours ago, Trav Le Bleu said:

Can anyone unequivocally prove that illegal migration is the biggest problem this country faces?

 

To my mind, it's relatively minor.

 

People will say that they're putting a strain on public services, but, for instance, I think that every Tom, Dick or Harry (good English names) who turns up at A&E cos they've got a sore throat and it's the weekend and the GP is closed - there's far more of those than illegal immigrants.

No. Because it's not. 

 

But then, this is the era where perception overrules proven facts, so unfortunately the question is irrelevant. 

 

Interesting times, eh?

[Tommy G]

8 hours ago, worthosoriginals said:

Well of course it's easy to see you will vote for who you think will stop the boats, other policies don't matter

Who’s “you”?

[The Guvnor]

15 hours ago, WigstonWanderer said:

I do seem to remember something similar in the 80s with the gang of 4 (David Owen, Roy Jenkins, etc) being fawned over by the media and riding high in the polls. Eventually petered out and they merged with the Liberals. Their politics was in no way similar to Farage’s mob though, of course.

Different times different issues, that was when the mainstream parties were not as unpopular as they are now.