General News Thread

[leicsmac]

8 minutes ago, Foxdiamond said:

No because it gives some people the warped justification to bring trouble onto our streets because of events in other countries. 

It does indeed. 

 

But then these events will keep on occurring. 

 

So what to do?

[leicsmac]

Anyhow, for something a little different, a little international news digest:

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx2pmy7m72lo

 

Why is it when some women arise to positions of high political power, it's a case of "doing whatever the men can do as long as you only do what the men do" and not really advancing women's rights at all?

 

https://news.sky.com/story/south-korean-anti-foreigner-protests-self-destructive-and-must-end-says-president-13442582

 

And xenophobic ideas still maintain hold in quite a few places, too. 

[Sampson]

19 hours ago, BKLFox said:

Generic Comments just piggybacking of your post thou blue eyes.

 

I think for most ‘Home’ is where ever your partner and kids are & it’s them that is missed and not a house, neighbourhood or country.

 

Is the UK as bad as portrayed on here, a couple have mentioned moving away ‘because’ but on here it reads like people’s experiences are seen through the prism of social media & news and not personal experience. I bet most posters haven’t had a confrontation with a neighbour in the past 5yrs (or ever) let alone the past 5hrs which SM will have us believe.

 

We all get blinkered sometimes and fail to look over the fence, the EU countries are not all in a euphoric state of sugar and spice and all things nice, a large amount are going through exactly the same issues as the UK but personal experiences poster have had moving away will be very like in Uk & they won’t see the snakes and snails and puppy dogs tails in their area except through the prism of SM but will comment on their neighbourhoods not on what they then see on SM.

 

Every country has its bad areas every country has its f’ing idiots but thankfully it’s the minority rather than the majority so chins up guys n gals don’t let that f’ing minority few grind you down where ever you are in this world.

 

This is it for me. Social media exacerbates misery and amplifies fear to make it sound like Britain is some post-apocalyptic Hell hole, “a failed state” is a popular line of many who are on social media too much, but it’s not something most of us actually recognise in real life if we’re honest with ourselves, unless we’re actively looking for it in any little thing so we can complain about it. 
 

Go outside on a normal evening and you’ll see normal people enjoying themselves, sitting outside with friends or family and drinking or eating and laughing, people walking their dogs or going out on a jog, construction workers out fixing roads - just as they all did 25 years ago at the height of Blair-ite optimism before the Iraq war. Sure there’s some idiots, but the country is hardly some anarchist hellhole. Don’t let it grind you down, Britain is a good country and we only live once, so go out and spend time with friends and family and you’ll see most people who live in Britain are good people, enjoy life, and hope we don’t vote away democracy because social media has tricked us into saying the country has anarchy on its streets.

Edited 4 October 2025 by Sampson

[Foxdiamond]

10 minutes ago, leicsmac said:

It does indeed. 

 

But then these events will keep on occurring. 

 

So what to do?

I don't have the answers but I am suspicious of those that wish to exploit tolerance. 

[leicsmac]

Just now, Foxdiamond said:

I don't have the answers but I am suspicious of those that wish to exploit tolerance. 

Agreed, and I'm suspicious of those who would use that suspicion to be intolerant and generalise themselves. 

 

The whole thing is a bloody mess (often very bloody), but either the civilised world takes on the responsibility of at least getting things to a stage where the killing is lessened or this will keep on happening. 

 

Same goes for other matters with global reach, too. 

[Foxdiamond]

12 minutes ago, Sampson said:

This is it for me. Social media makes it sound like Britain is some post-apocalyptic Hell hole, “a failed state” is a popular line of many who are on social media too much, but it’s not something most of us actually recognise in real life if we’re honest with ourselves, unless we’re actively looking for it in any little thing so we can complain about it. 
 

Go outside on a normal evening and you’ll see normal people enjoying themselves, sitting outside with friends or family and drinking or eating and laughing, people walking their dogs or going out on a jog, construction workers out fixing roads - just as they all did 25 years ago at the height of Blair-ite optimism before the Iraq war. Sure there’s some idiots, but the country is hardly some anarchist hellhole. Don’t let it grind you down, Britain is a good country and we only live once, so go out and spend time with friends and family and you’ll see most people who live in Britain are good people, enjoy life, and hope we don’t vote away democracy because social media has tricked us into saying the country has anarchy on its streets.

Excellent post. Thank you

[Foxdiamond]

3 minutes ago, leicsmac said:

Agreed, and I'm suspicious of those who would use that suspicion to be intolerant and generalise themselves. 

 

The whole thing is a bloody mess (often very bloody), but either the civilised world takes on the responsibility of at least getting things to a stage where the killing is lessened or this will keep on happening. 

 

Same goes for other matters with global reach, too. 

What we don't need are mobs on either side demanding what they want without any care for our democracy

[bovril]

15 minutes ago, Sampson said:

This is it for me. Social media exacerbates misery and amplifies fear to make it sound like Britain is some post-apocalyptic Hell hole, “a failed state” is a popular line of many who are on social media too much, but it’s not something most of us actually recognise in real life if we’re honest with ourselves, unless we’re actively looking for it in any little thing so we can complain about it. 
 

Go outside on a normal evening and you’ll see normal people enjoying themselves, sitting outside with friends or family and drinking or eating and laughing, people walking their dogs or going out on a jog, construction workers out fixing roads - just as they all did 25 years ago at the height of Blair-ite optimism before the Iraq war. Sure there’s some idiots, but the country is hardly some anarchist hellhole. Don’t let it grind you down, Britain is a good country and we only live once, so go out and spend time with friends and family and you’ll see most people who live in Britain are good people, enjoy life, and hope we don’t vote away democracy because social media has tricked us into saying the country has anarchy on its streets.

One of the reasons I think is because our urban areas have become so grim. Shitty pavements, litter everywhere, poor housing. Haven't been to many places west or east Europe that are worse. Gives the impression of a failed state. In general though yes the state still works better here than in many places but there is a general feeling of everything getting slowly worse. 

[st albans fox]

1 hour ago, CosbehFox said:

World is mad. Israel publically inviting Tommy Robinson as a guest of their government 

It’s nuts how politics has moved in some areas

 

the current isr govt are happy to have TR as a guest but the next one likely wouldn’t.  the idea that the Jews are allies of those towards the extreme right just doesn’t compute.   The far right  may appear to have their minds set on the most recent immigrants to our country but history tells us that whilst it starts somewhere, it never finishes there. 

[st albans fox]

2 hours ago, leicsmac said:

As much as this argument is understandable, I have to ask - why not?

 

The UK does not exist in a geopolitical vacuum and some events that happen elsewhere do matter and do play into events in the UK. To ignore that, while avoiding that deep complexity mentioned, is to not only not grasp a large part of the story, but also possibly to miss key elements to prevent terrible events like this from happening again. 

 

The world is a smaller place now, some issues are global, and not treating them as such, while more comfortable for some people, will just allow those issues to snowball into something worse. 

Sadly Mac, too many people in our society can’t be trusted to keep their debates peaceful. (Someone already replied about this )

[leicsmac]

2 minutes ago, st albans fox said:

Sadly Mac, too many people in our society can’t be trusted to keep their debates peaceful. (Someone already replied about this )

And isn't that the damn truth, more's the pity. 

 

It's a difficult balance to strike but I don't see what other choice there is but to try. 

[CosbehFox]

1 hour ago, bovril said:

One of the reasons I think is because our urban areas have become so grim. Shitty pavements, litter everywhere, poor housing. Haven't been to many places west or east Europe that are worse. Gives the impression of a failed state. In general though yes the state still works better here than in many places but there is a general feeling of everything getting slowly worse. 

The reduction in council services defo had impact on this. New Parks Boulevard in Leicester had all the grassed areas cut regularly. Now for the past umpteenth years, it’s all overgrown 

[Mickyblueeyes]

20 hours ago, st albans fox said:

The Finsbury Park mosque attack was indeed on a par although the perpetrator seems to not have the mindset to leave his vehicle and try to kill people one to one. 
I haven’t read up on the motivation for that attack - was it specifically aimed at that mosque because of the negative publicity that had been attached to it over the years? 

 

 

 

https://www.itv.com/news/meridian/2025-10-03/man-jailed-for-carrying-knife-after-shouting-racist-abuse-at-group-at-mosque

 

it happens - probably not as much publicised. Luckily no one was killed. And no, the mosque didn’t have previous reputational issues to suggest any justification for the attack. Just a bastard with a knife. Not sure if he had a vehicle to get in and out of either.
 

Mosques in some areas did have security for Friday prayers and large prayers during ramadan.

[davieG]

Hmmmm.

 

[Foxdiamond]

2 hours ago, bovril said:

One of the reasons I think is because our urban areas have become so grim. Shitty pavements, litter everywhere, poor housing. Haven't been to many places west or east Europe that are worse. Gives the impression of a failed state. In general though yes the state still works better here than in many places but there is a general feeling of everything getting slowly worse. 

I've banged on about the need for more decent social housing at reasonable rents for working people. People that discard litter and fly tip need to be punished as there can be no reason to do it and costs a lot of public money to clear up. 

[bovril]

1 hour ago, CosbehFox said:

The reduction in council services defo had impact on this. New Parks Boulevard in Leicester had all the grassed areas cut regularly. Now for the past umpteenth years, it’s all overgrown 

There's so much low hanging fruit in Britain, so many easy wins for the government. Small, simple things that would make people feel a little more like they live in a relatively prosperous and pleasant society. Other countries with economies much smaller than ours manage to do it. 

[Foxdiamond]

6 minutes ago, bovril said:

There's so much low hanging fruit in Britain, so many easy wins for the government. Small, simple things that would make people feel a little more like they live in a relatively prosperous and pleasant society. Other countries with economies much smaller than ours manage to do it. 

This is the result of short sighted government thinking you can cut to the bone and for it not to affect the fabric of the country. We all need to care and look after our environment  but austerity was and is not healthy. 

[Dahnsouff]

2 minutes ago, Foxdiamond said:

This is the result of short sighted government thinking you can cut to the bone and for it not to affect the fabric of the country. We all need to care and look after our environment  but austerity was and is not healthy. 

Don’t need austerity any more, we have (departments dedicated to) efficiency…

[hejammy]

4 hours ago, st albans fox said:

Shouldn’t events in the U.K.  be separate.?  This is about a domestic terror attack. 

it’s not complicated af all - many Muslim leaders have condemned it as they should.
 

We should try not to conflate events here with those around the world - that way, deep complexity lies and it’s tough enough as it is.  that approach could be used or justify attacks like Thursday. 

 

4 hours ago, Raj said:

Yes it would help....

Lets just concentrate on the events happening here first and try and avoid a potential disaster.

 

Which is fine, but this particular event seems intrinsically connected. If you say the Muslim community should condemn this attack, but let's not worry about what's going on there and not allow the Jewish community the same opportunity, then that becomes an issue. Perhaps if both come out and condemn each thing then it would go a long way to stop the events all together. 

[RobHawk]

3 hours ago, leicsmac said:

Yep.

 

Exactly as the magnificent Sir Terry wrote on the matter. The problem is not any one demographic - it's the malign among them all. 

Seems really deep for Terry Wogan 🤣

[Free Falling Foxes]

1 hour ago, CosbehFox said:

The reduction in council services defo had impact on this. New Parks Boulevard in Leicester had all the grassed areas cut regularly. Now for the past umpteenth years, it’s all overgrown 

It is cost cutting, though the council will argue that these areas are now more wildlife friendly.

They do have a point. Neatly mown grass looks great but isn't ideal for so many creatures. They also leave many areas of our parks without mowing large areas for the same reason.

 

Downside for we humans ironically, is that it seems to trigger lack of respect for the area, with fly-tipping, litter and so on carried-out by too many individuals.

Edited 4 October 2025 by Free Falling Foxes

[st albans fox]

6 minutes ago, hejammy said:

 

Which is fine, but this particular event seems intrinsically connected. If you say the Muslim community should condemn this attack, but let's not worry about what's going on there and not allow the Jewish community the same opportunity, then that becomes an issue. Perhaps if both come out and condemn each thing then it would go a long way to stop the events all together. 

People have no idea what the politics of individual Jews are 

what they think about events elsewhere in the world 

 

is anyone asking the British Muslim community to condemn that tens of thousands of Christian’s have been slaughtered in Nigeria by those who claim to act in the name of Islam?  Of course not - it’s nothing to do with them.  So why ask the British Jewish community to condemn the actions of the Israeli govt ?   FWIW, I would say that support for the Israeli govt amongst British Jews is around 50/50 whereas support for the state is more than 90%.  

 

However, any heinous action of a british Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Sikh or Jew (especially so within this country) is absolutely to be condemned by community/faith leaders within Britain. It is their responsibility to comment upon domestic matters like that. 

 

[Mickyblueeyes]

5 hours ago, st albans fox said:

People have no idea what the politics of individual Jews are 

what they think about events elsewhere in the world 

 

is anyone asking the British Muslim community to condemn that tens of thousands of Christian’s have been slaughtered in Nigeria by those who claim to act in the name of Islam?  Of course not - it’s nothing to do with them.  So why ask the British Jewish community to condemn the actions of the Israeli govt ?   FWIW, I would say that support for the Israeli govt amongst British Jews is around 50/50 whereas support for the state is more than 90%.  

 

However, any heinous action of a british Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Sikh or Jew (especially so within this country) is absolutely to be condemned by community/faith leaders within Britain. It is their responsibility to comment upon domestic matters like that. 

 

Out of interest, do you think there are any (major) differences between the Sikh, Hindu and, less so, the Jewish communities of Britain and the Muslim community ? 
 

 

Edited 4 October 2025 by Mickyblueeyes

[st albans fox]

3 minutes ago, Mickyblueeyes said:

Out of interest, do you think there are any (major) differences between the Sikh, Hindu and, less so, the Jewish communities of Britain and the Muslim community ? 
 

not really

I think 99% of people just want to live their lives 

 

[Mickyblueeyes]

1 minute ago, st albans fox said:

not really

I think 99% of people just want to live their lives 

 

Absolutely. 
 

im talking about the diversity within the community and therefore classing it as the British Muslim community. Take Leicester. Top of Evington Road, you’ve got the large mosque. Most attendees are African/gujarati/Indian background who emigrated here from Malawi/zambia/zimbabwe. Comparing it to the mosque near the railway station, predominantly Pakistani background. Both communities within the Muslim community - no real connection. Both following different  teachings, different cultures, different norms. 
 

Now, take the grooming gangs as an example. Predominantly Pakistani men (should call them bastards), of an alien culture to 90% of Arab, Asian, African etc. Muslims - they won’t eat together, socialise together, worship together, marry within or have any sort of connection to each other but immediately grouped together. For 90% of Muslims who are not Pakistani, they consider Pakistan a rouge state, with no real understanding of Islam in say Arabia or Africa. 
 

The difficulty of the Muslim faith leaders in this country is that there isn’t one size fits all. 
 

As we’ve seen multiple “leaders” within the Muslim community have come out and condemn the actions of yesterday but more so offered support to the Jewish community - a community who, Israel/Palestine aside have always had a sense of common ground. That is absolutely right.
 

However, (as an example) it’s also very hard for the Gujarati,  Muslim living in Leicester to have any sort of understanding of the Pakistani Muslim living in Bradford who they  have absolutely no connection with. 
 

It’s very difficult to group all Muslims together as you would (and I don’t know if that’s correct as someone else can) the other faith groups you listed. It’s like grouping someone from Lancashire to someone from the midlands just because they are white British. 
 

This is not in anyway saying one should deflect but you did ask earlier if there should be a debate, I think this is why it’s difficult for a community which actually isn’t a community in the general sense.