General News Thread

[CornwallFox]

9 minutes ago, Tommy G said:

He was on about the tories mate. 

Haha my bad, that makes more sense 😅

[Zear0]

4 minutes ago, CornwallFox said:

Haha my bad, that makes more sense 😅

What Tommy said! 

[kenny]

3 hours ago, Trav Le Bleu said:

Ok... so apart from feeding people, employing people, managing the countryside, providing construction materials, providing clothing, providing fuel, feeding animals, provided festive decorations and flood management... what has agriculture ever done for us?

Whoosh?

[Zear0]

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/nov/29/donald-trump-venezuela-airspace-closure

 

Wannabe Nobel Peace Laureate in action.

[Md9]

2 hours ago, Zear0 said:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/nov/29/donald-trump-venezuela-airspace-closure

 

Wannabe Nobel Peace Laureate in action.

He needs stopping and putting in an old people’s home before he does to much more damage . 

[Trav Le Bleu]

No doubt your average Daily Mail reading Reform voter will be absolutely livid about this...

 

Government to ban asylum seekers from using taxis - BBC News

 

https://share.google/F8sXRiwkYt8LycbCl

 

Yet if you actually read the article, it's taxi firms taking the government for a ride (sic), nothing to do with the actions of asylum seekers.

 

90% of the challenges (problems if you like) that arise from asylum seekers is caused by the people who profiteer from them.

[kenny]

7 hours ago, CornwallFox said:

The amount of land used for agriculture isn't going to go up

Very true. It's very much the ultimate finite resource.

 

A resource that is already too small for the current population, as well as shrinking due to coastal erosion and rising sea levels.

 

It would foolish to waste it.

 

[leicsmac]

6 minutes ago, kenny said:

Very true. It's very much the ultimate finite resource.

 

A resource that is already too small for the current population, as well as shrinking due to coastal erosion and rising sea levels.

 

It would foolish to waste it.

 

Have a look at what Korea does in terms of rather smaller agricultural area (in fact, around 10% of the area the UK uses) and satisfying the needs of a roughly equivalent population and get back to me on that. 

Edited 29 November 2025 by leicsmac

[kenny]

5 minutes ago, leicsmac said:

Have a look at what Korea does in terms of rather smaller agricultural area and satisfying the needs of a roughly equivalent population and get back to me on that. 

It's a complicated answer. But a large part of it seems to be import 75% of all grain and beef from elsewhere whilst growing lots of rice.

 

What's your point? We could do that, but we are light on suitable areas for rice growing and we grow most of our grain and beef ourselves.

[leicsmac]

4 minutes ago, kenny said:

It's a complicated answer. But a large part of it seems to be import 75% of all grain and beef from elsewhere whilst growing lots of rice.

 

What's your point? We could do that, but we are light on suitable areas for rice growing and we grow most of our grain and beef ourselves.

The point is that the current (or even smaller) agricultural area that the UK utilises would still work well enough for its needs if creative solutions were applied. 

 

It's certainly a finite resource, but it's also one with the potential for better utilisation. 

[kenny]

19 minutes ago, leicsmac said:

The point is that the current (or even smaller) agricultural area that the UK utilises would still work well enough for its needs if creative solutions were applied. 

 

It's certainly a finite resource, but it's also one with the potential for better utilisation. 

We could certainly look at vertical farming, but it's a long way off replacing regular farming in terms of cost. I can't see its that good for the environment unless it allows fields to be rewilded rather than built on.

 

I'm surprised you are so supportive of urban sprawl.

[Salisbury Fox]

1 hour ago, Trav Le Bleu said:

No doubt your average Daily Mail reading Reform voter will be absolutely livid about this...

 

Government to ban asylum seekers from using taxis - BBC News

 

https://share.google/F8sXRiwkYt8LycbCl

 

Yet if you actually read the article, it's taxi firms taking the government for a ride (sic), nothing to do with the actions of asylum seekers.

 

90% of the challenges (problems if you like) that arise from asylum seekers is caused by the people who profiteer from them.

I would put that down to the incompetence of the Home Office.

[leicsmac]

11 minutes ago, kenny said:

We could certainly look at vertical farming, but it's a long way off replacing regular farming in terms of cost. I can't see its that good for the environment unless it allows fields to be rewilded rather than built on.

 

I'm surprised you are so supportive of urban sprawl.

I'm supportive of whatever method is the best and most efficient way or preserving life and comfort - both human and otherwise. That means considering a lot of different possibilities on this one. 

[kenny]

1 minute ago, leicsmac said:

I'm supportive of whatever method is the best and most efficient way or preserving life and comfort - both human and otherwise. That means considering a lot of different possibilities on this one. 

My choice would be densify cities. South Korean cities are 3 times more dense on average than UK ones for example.

[leicsmac]

53 minutes ago, kenny said:

My choice would be densify cities. South Korean cities are 3 times more dense on average than UK ones for example.

Building upward (and downward) rather than outward certainly seems a better general option to me. 

[Spiritwalker]

The US National Bureau of Economic Research estimates UK tax revenues 

are down by as much as £90 billion per year due to Brexit with growth also

down by 8%.

Hopefully Nigel Farage and Reform won’t get to inflict anymore damage 

on the country.

[Trav Le Bleu]

1 hour ago, Salisbury Fox said:

I would put that down to the incompetence of the Home Office.

True, but the taxi firms didn't have to exploit it.

[splinterdream]

4 hours ago, Trav Le Bleu said:

No doubt your average Daily Mail reading Reform voter will be absolutely livid about this...

 

Government to ban asylum seekers from using taxis - BBC News

 

https://share.google/F8sXRiwkYt8LycbCl

 

Yet if you actually read the article, it's taxi firms taking the government for a ride (sic), nothing to do with the actions of asylum seekers.

 

90% of the challenges (problems if you like) that arise from asylum seekers is caused by the people who profiteer from them.

That, and most of them shouldn't be here 

[CornwallFox]

11 hours ago, kenny said:

My choice would be densify cities. South Korean cities are 3 times more dense on average than UK ones for example.

Again though, who will want to live in them? There's plenty of land in the UK to build and farm, it's not an either/or choice.

[kenny]

11 minutes ago, CornwallFox said:

Again though, who will want to live in them? There's plenty of land in the UK to build and farm, it's not an either/or choice.

I'll repeat, why are we the only country in the world that believes a 3 bedroom semi with a teeny tiny garden is the only way to live. The rest of the world lives in apartments in cities. Including families.

 

If the issue is one of choice and preferences, then we clearly don't have a housing crisis.

[Livid]

Rachel Reeves struggling to answer a single question on the BBC. 

[CornwallFox]

22 minutes ago, kenny said:

I'll repeat, why are we the only country in the world that believes a 3 bedroom semi with a teeny tiny garden is the only way to live. The rest of the world lives in apartments in cities. Including families.

 

If the issue is one of choice and preferences, then we clearly don't have a housing crisis.

We're not the only country though are we? The entire premise of your talking point is false.

[Trav Le Bleu]

Haters gonna hate.

 

Doncaster Council's Reform UK leader quits over 'vitriolic' texts - BBC News

 

https://share.google/SI6buDYGqGNflm6HM

 

[deep blue]

5 minutes ago, kenny said:

I'll repeat, why are we the only country in the world that believes a 3 bedroom semi with a teeny tiny garden is the only way to live. The rest of the world lives in apartments in cities. Including families.

 

If the issue is one of choice and preferences, then we clearly don't have a housing crisis.

My personal view is that flat living is extremely undesirable because of noise and other issues of living so close to others.   Also, problems arise with responsibility for the whole fabric of the building (you only have to think of the dilemma caused by cladding).

 

l suspect that most people in this country would agree with that view and that many of those who live in flats do so not out of choice but because their financial situation gives them no other option.

 

But who knows?   It would be interesting to know what percentage of people in this country would prefer to live in a flat rather than the more conventional  housing.

 

 

 

[Trav Le Bleu]

9 hours ago, splinterdream said:

That, and most of them shouldn't be here 

No, I agree.

 

Daily Mail readers shouldn't be here.