General Election - 4th July 2024

[west didsblue]

How was it that Boris Johnson was described?

"Educated well beyond his intelligence"

That’s a perfect example of a counterpoint to Rayner.

 

[Churchlawtonblue]

The German situation is nothing new. Back in the day it was Turkish workers they grumbled at. Modern day Germany was built on the back of the guest worker program and still needs immigrant labour. As do all European countries. Might as well grumble at water for being wet.

Whether it's new or not is surely a moot point?

Can I ask you this Bob, if a person in whatever country, just thinks the rate of net immigration into their country is simply happening too fast, due to services schools health care and housing not keeping up with demand, does that make them a racist?

 

[SkyBlueFlux]

It's very dissapointing isn't it. I know there is an undercurrent of it in our society and Farage definitely expoits those sentiments. I got called out at a Christmas due last year by a chap who was a white english barber, when I said I went to a local Turkish barber. He wasn't happy at all and I was a bit stunned.

But I would like to think it's not as bad as some European countries. France, Spain Portugal, Italy and Germany. We have some German friends and they have told us there is deep resentment by many Germans at the amount of immigrants that have arrived in recent years but many don't think they can speak out.

My wife grew up in Portugal, it’s definitely way worse there. She says it’s a different kind of problem though, the racism there is just very… overt - which is why the Bernardo/Mendy thing was totally unsurprising, that is the level of normal discourse over there. Here it’s rarely quite as in your face (though sometimes it is).

 

[Brewster's millions]

For someone who purports to be knowledgeable about economics and finance, that comparison is just bizarre.

In the post I was replying to, which you’ve failed to read properly, the actual relevance of Sunak’s contribution to RBS’s downfall (lack of) was deemed irrelevant; he was simply alleged to have made the country poorer.

So where do you draw the line on this, because lots of things happened during this period which aggravated the situation and ultimately increased the cost of the bailout? Simply deriding somebody for ‘making the country poorer’, irrespective of what they actually did, is the bizarre thing.

 

[Churchlawtonblue]

I sense that both might be more popular with their party faithful. Maybe I'm wrong.

Probably right.

 

[BobKowalski]

Mid-Essex where we live is probably a bit worse than most places, in fairness. Ironically my wife is a doctor of psychology who works a few days a week in Clacton (as well as other parts of the Essex trust)… Her English is better than mine but probably won’t surprise you to hear she has had patients who refuse to be treated by her. Now she works with adolescents who are an easier demographic in that respect.

Things were definitely better living in Manchester and London, but we moved out here to be able to afford to buy a house. We’ll definitely move at some point but it’s hard to know where and when given we both have family to consider.

We’re closer to London which I think makes a difference. Has a more cosmopolitan vibe. Parents moved to Lincs, near Boston. Essex is ‘woke central’ by comparison.

 

[west didsblue]

In the post I was replying to, which you’ve failed to read properly, the actual relevance of Sunak’s contribution to RBS’s downfall (lack of) was deemed irrelevant; he was simply alleged to have made the country poorer.

So where do you draw the line on this, because lots of things happened during this period which aggravated the situation and ultimately increased the cost of the bailout? Simply deriding somebody for ‘making the country poorer’, irrespective of what they actually did, is the bizarre thing.

You draw the line by not comparing someone being proactive in causing a situation that costs the country a fortune with someone being reactive to the situation that’s been caused. It’s not difficult.

 

[bluenova]

I supose that this depends to a degree on whether you judge everyone who thinks that the UK is allowing too many immigrants in is a racist? Do you think that?

I'm certain it's not everyone - but there's a pretty strong connection.

I posted this yesterday. Voters were allowed to choose just the three most important issues that affected their vote.

With Reform, immigration is a massive outlier. And of all the parties, they're least concerned about the economy, healthcare, housing and education.

Yet, the seats where Farage, Anderson and Tice are standing, are some of the whitest in the country. At the last census, they were all around 96% white, compared with 81% for the UK as a whole.

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commonslibrary.parliament.uk

There may be many explanations why people, who don't mean many immigrants, believe immigrants are the biggest issue in their lives, but racism would certainly be up there.

 

[Scottyboi]

I'm more aligned to the green party than the rest, but in the current climate wanting to scrap Trident is a no no for me. But it's easy to promise the world when you know you have fuck all chance of being elected.

 

[SkyBlueFlux]

Was in Southend earlier this week. And it was definitely quite racist.

Honestly all the Essex coastal areas are depressing. They are the perfect demonstration that the quality of a neighbourhood has very little to do with how many immigrants live there. 96%+ white British, some of the least diverse places in the country and yet also some of the worst places to live.

People complain about places like Tower Hamlets but I feel much safer walking through there than in places like Jaywick.