General News Thread

[urban.spaceman]

5 minutes ago, Tommy G said:

Imagine picking two examples of people that lost their jobs off the back of a ''scandal'' to back someone else justifying not losing their job. 

Actually it was more of a point about the Two Tier Outrage when it comes to one working class woman who is accused of avoiding £40,000 in tax vs the absolute silence around the £20m+ avoided by a multi millionaire mister of the previous government and the former Prime Minister's billionaire wife over the best part of a decade while he was in office.  

[leicsmac]

In other news, Tice choosing SEN kids as the next Reform target. 

 

Well, it was either that or the LGBT community as a whole, I guess. 

[Tommy G]

1 minute ago, urban.spaceman said:

Actually it was more of a point about the Two Tier Outrage when it comes to one working class woman who is accused of avoiding £40,000 in tax vs the absolute silence around the £20m+ avoided by a multi millionaire mister of the previous government and the former Prime Minister's billionaire wife over the best part of a decade while he was in office.  

Standards are standards regardless of the amounts in question. If we start to maintain standards based on whether people are deemed working class, or the amounts involved are more than somebody else's in past government then where does that leave us? Even a dyed-in-the-wool red can see her position is untenable - please take your blinkers off. 

 

[Voll Blau]

2 hours ago, Tommy G said:

Surprising from the Guardian to even run that story.

 

She isn't popular and this coming out will make her popularity nosedive. Begs the question, how can she afford an additional £800K property on her £160K a year salary - which she's only been on for the past 12 months? 

 

Maybe she inherited it. 

Why? Say what you like about all the Guardian stereotypes but it's never been a mouthpiece for a government of any colour.

Edited 3 September 2025 by Voll Blau

[JonnyBoy]

3 hours ago, Bilo said:

That's not what I'm saying. Obviously. 

 

It's saying that the likes of Farage and the populist right are exploiting those without strong critical thinking skills by spinning them soundbites, simplistic narratives and easily identifiable enemies for their own ends.

 

For all of your parody degrees, any degree imbues its holders with a set of skills that aren't found elsewhere. Same as a plumbing course gives plumbers skills I don't have.

 

What's your degree in?

Not sure, I have a degree but wouldn’t say it has taught me any more life skills than someone who has done an apprenticeship or worked from 16. 

[Muzzy_no7]

15 minutes ago, urban.spaceman said:

Actually it was more of a point about the Two Tier Outrage when it comes to one working class woman who is accused of avoiding £40,000 in tax vs the absolute silence around the £20m+ avoided by a multi millionaire mister of the previous government and the former Prime Minister's billionaire wife over the best part of a decade while he was in office.  

Except there isn’t two-tier outrage though is there. 
 

Public were and are outraged at both 

[Guest Bilo]

6 minutes ago, JonnyBoy said:

Not sure, I have a degree but wouldn’t say it has taught me any more life skills than someone who has done an apprenticeship or worked from 16. 

Are you working in a profession that uses it? 

[Muzzy_no7]

Does he EVER answer a question in the commons? 

[JonnyBoy]

Just now, Bilo said:

Are you working in a profession that uses it? 

Yes and no, but personal experience wouldn’t say uni has made me what I am today through academia or life skills versus someone who has worked from 16. I don’t regret going, but I would encourage my kids if I have them not to go to uni unless they needed the degree to be a doctor, dentist etc. 

 

I would be pushing them into an apprenticeship in engineering or something hands on but that’s going off topic 

 

[leicsmac]

9 minutes ago, JonnyBoy said:

Not sure, I have a degree but wouldn’t say it has taught me any more life skills than someone who has done an apprenticeship or worked from 16. 

 

2 minutes ago, Bilo said:

Are you working in a profession that uses it? 

And we come back again to the definition of life skills and how they are applied. 

 

There's so many wooly words, I wish people would define what they mean when they use them a bit more. 

 

[Foxdiamond]

17 minutes ago, leicsmac said:

In other news, Tice choosing SEN kids as the next Reform target. 

 

Well, it was either that or the LGBT community as a whole, I guess. 

Tice and anyone agreeing with his comments about SEN kids and their parents is a disgrace. The lack of empathy and sheer ignorance is appalling. I have some experience as my Grandson is autistic.

[leicsmac]

2 minutes ago, Foxdiamond said:

Tice and anyone agreeing with his comments about SEN kids and their parents is a disgrace. The lack of empathy and sheer ignorance is appalling. I have some experience as my Grandson is autistic.

Yes. 

 

And yet, apparently a statistically significant proportion of people in the UK are willing to write off decent lads like your grandson as collateral damage in order to make a point about another issue. 

[Muzzy_no7]

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cpwywkn9pr0o.amp
 

Are these the comments people are referring to? 

[Guest Bilo]

2 minutes ago, JonnyBoy said:

Yes and no, but personal experience wouldn’t say uni has made me what I am today through academia or life skills versus someone who has worked from 16. I don’t regret going, but I would encourage my kids if I have them not to go to uni unless they needed the degree to be a doctor, dentist etc. 

 

I would be pushing them into an apprenticeship in engineering or something hands on but that’s going off topic 

 

It's not a binary decision. I have academic skills and I have life skills in terms of organisation, communication, empathy, flexibility, creativity, critical thinking, assertiveness and resilience.

 

Far from it being academia or life skills, I would argue that education has enhanced the latter. I'm organised because I have long had to balance multiple tasks at once, my communication skills are better than they would be without my degrees, university life means that I have spent a lot of time with a diverse range of people and my critical thinking skills are strong because they have to be.

[urban.spaceman]

5 minutes ago, Foxdiamond said:

Tice and anyone agreeing with his comments about SEN kids and their parents is a disgrace. The lack of empathy and sheer ignorance is appalling. I have some experience as my Grandson is autistic.

Tice and his ilk are genuinely evil, sub-human scum. 

[urban.spaceman]

Guys I think we need to appreciate that we've made it 5 pages in this thread today without it getting deleted. 

 

We all deserve a pat on the back. 

[Guest Bilo]

5 minutes ago, Foxdiamond said:

Tice and anyone agreeing with his comments about SEN kids and their parents is a disgrace. The lack of empathy and sheer ignorance is appalling. I have some experience as my Grandson is autistic.

He's a deplorable **** who does **** all for the constituency and spends more time on X and in Dubai than he does doing the job he's paid for. 

 

As someone who's midway through a qualification to be a SENCO, I can tell you he has no idea the hoops that parents have to jump through to get an EHCP and SEND support. The reason there are more kids with recognised SEND needs is that we're getting better at identifying and supporting needs now, not parents taking the piss. 

[Guest Bilo]

4 minutes ago, urban.spaceman said:

Tice and his ilk are genuinely evil, sub-human scum. 

 

[Tommy G]

1 minute ago, Bilo said:

He's a deplorable **** who does **** all for the constituency and spends more time on X and in Dubai than he does doing the job he's paid for. 

 

As someone who's midway through a qualification to be a SENCO, I can tell you he has no idea the hoops that parents have to jump through to get an EHCP and SEND support. The reason there are more kids with recognised SEND needs is that we're getting better at identifying and supporting needs now, not parents taking the piss. 

Finally something I can wholeheartedly agree with you on, bravo. 

[Foxdiamond]

5 minutes ago, Muzzy_no7 said:

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cpwywkn9pr0o.amp
 

Are these the comments people are referring to? 

Yes. My grandson is a lovely intelligent boy but simply couldn't cope in mainstream school. He is now at a wonderful school but this is the other side of his county. He couldn't get there without taxi provided. His progress since the new school is outstanding. Much more likely to be able to participate in society and hopefully get a job and pay his way 

[Guest Bilo]

4 minutes ago, Tommy G said:

Finally something I can wholeheartedly agree with you on, bravo. 

My daughter doesn't have SEND needs I'm aware of yet, but it terrifies me that she's at school in a county that's controlled by Reform if such needs arise. 

 

I can't imagine what a mess they're going to make of SEND provision here before they get kicked out.

[leicsmac]

8 minutes ago, Foxdiamond said:

Yes. My grandson is a lovely intelligent boy but simply couldn't cope in mainstream school. He is now at a wonderful school but this is the other side of his county. He couldn't get there without taxi provided. His progress since the new school is outstanding. Much more likely to be able to participate in society and hopefully get a job and pay his way 

 

5 minutes ago, Bilo said:

My daughter doesn't have SEND needs I'm aware of yet, but it terrifies me that she's at school in a county that's controlled by Reform if such needs arise. 

 

I can't imagine what a mess they're going to make of SEND provision here before they get kicked out.

Again, "collateral damage" to "stop the boats", apparently. 

[Tommy G]

5 minutes ago, leicsmac said:

 

Again, "collateral damage" to "stop the boats", apparently. 

On balance you can want controlled immigration whilst at the same time wanting a satisfactory level of SEND provision for all children, and you don't have to be a reform voter either, unless I've misunderstood your point. 

[leicsmac]

6 minutes ago, Tommy G said:

On balance you can want controlled immigration whilst at the same time wanting a satisfactory level of SEND provision for all children, and you don't have to be a reform voter either, unless I've misunderstood your point. 

You can want that, sure. 

 

But it's clear from their platform and what Tice has said that you can't have it. 

 

People should know what they're voting for in terms of policy when they pick a party and own all of it - not just the bits that they wanted to vote for. 

 

And that's my point - too often people disingenuously look to disavow horrible things with "that's not what I voted for". Yes, as long as it is quoted policy, when you put vote in, you did. Own the responsibility. 

[Guest Bilo]

10 minutes ago, Tommy G said:

On balance you can want controlled immigration whilst at the same time wanting a satisfactory level of SEND provision for all children, and you don't have to be a reform voter either, unless I've misunderstood your point. 

The point is that Reform voters don't seem willing to do a deep dive beyond the 'stop the boats' schtick. Not only are their plans to do this unworkable from a legal standpoint, their policy platform beyond it is either half-baked, idiotic or downright despicable.