Local Elections | Thu 7 May 26

threespires said:
Rapid change may not be possible but you can signal your intent without blowing things up; but the current Labour leadership simply don't seem to be interested in really tackling the issues whether that's through timidity or not giving a toss I don't know but the effect is the same.

Here's a small but telling example: in 2025 Marcus Bokkerink was forced to resign by the Government as chair of the CMA, predominantly because in their eyes he wasn't 'pro-growth' enough, his vision for growth was through making markets properly competitive which seems not unreasonable for the head of the competition authority. But that wasn't 'business friendly' enough for the government so he was replaced, supposedly temporarily, by Douglas Gurr the ex head of Amazon UK (that well known champion of competition). Fast forward to the CMAs review of the veterinary industry and instead of actually dealing with the fact that half a dozen private equity firms are hoovering up the entire industry and price gouging (and thanks to lot of lobbying by those companies) there was a few slaps on the wrist and some very weak changes none of which will do anything to encourage meaningful competition let alone growth. Mind you the PE companies themselves were pretty chuffed with the outcome of the review - so you know business friendly eh?

Meanwhile what this translates into for ordinary people is that more and more of them are giving up their pets because they can no longer afford to keep them.

Laughably the CMA's cloud computing review has now determined that AWS and Microsoft can adopt voluntary codes (apparently there was no conflict of interest in an ex Amazon executive being the Chair of the investigating authority).

A step change was always going to be challenging for Labour but the national leadership seem completely disinterested in providing one, in some cases this is because they are way to close to vested interests who in turn are not acting in the interest of functioning markets let alone ordinary people. I feel sorry for many decent Labour councillors who have gone down the road today, the national leadership has singularly failed them and the country so far.
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Totally agree with you - little action and where there is - totally ineffective - the vet thing sums them up across the piece - so easily to put right or at least stop it from getting worse, but somehow they fail to do the obvious !
 
Ban-jani said:
If being against foreign nationals rocking up and claiming benefits off the taxpayer makes you racist then I’ll gladly be called racist.

What a fucking absurd comment.
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How do we stop asylum seekers coming here? Do we solve the problems in the countries they come from? How do we stop all the displacement in the world? We won't, and they'll still come, and people like you will still cry about it.
 
We didn’t have Local Council Elections here, but in their wisdom the Lib Dem council decided to create a network of Town Councils, covering some, but not all wards. Proud to have voted for the one candidate who had no party affiliation. She got the smallest number of votes, and I am happy to avoid taking any blame for what happens next. At least I didn’t spoil my vote.
 
Marklr said:
How do we stop asylum seekers coming here? Do we solve the problems in the countries they come from? How do we stop all the displacement in the world? We won't, and they'll still come, and people like you will still cry about it.
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Easy, stop the benefits. They ain't here for the weather.
 
Reform voters celebrating VE Day by posting memes on Facebook of 'when we had bollocks' etc, just after ticking the box for those that .... err, lost???

You seriously couldn't make it up could you?
 
Marklr said:
They don't get benefits, do they? Do you really believe that that's why we have asylum seekers in the world?
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blueparrot said:
Which benefits are they ?
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It is extremely rare asylum claims get rejected here, one they are approved they are entitled to everything.

As we have recently seen with some people advised to pretend they are gay, many cases are not real asylum claims.
 
Blue Note said:
It is extremely rare asylum claims get rejected here, one they are approved they are entitled to everything.

As we have recently seen with some people advised to pretend they are gay, many cases are not real asylum claims.
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I neve ronce mentioned FAKE asylum seekers. That's what's in your head. What about the genuine ones?
 
Marklr said:
How do we stop asylum seekers coming here? Do we solve the problems in the countries they come from? How do we stop all the displacement in the world? We won't, and they'll still come, and people like you will still cry about it.
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What’s that got to do with what I said? I said foreign nationals shouldn’t automatically get state benefits upon arrival and if that makes me racist then call me one, it’s thrown around like confetti anyway and means nothing.

I’ll answer though if you want.

1. Stop giving handouts to single men who arrive without papers.
2. We don’t, stop supporting foreign wars would help though.
3. How can we possibly do that when we can’t run our own country effectively?
 
Ban-jani said:
What’s that got to do with what I said? I said foreign nationals shouldn’t automatically get state benefits upon arrival and if that makes me racist then call me one, it’s thrown around like confetti anyway and means nothing.

I’ll answer though if you want.

1. Stop giving handouts to single men who arrive without papers.
2. We don’t, stop supporting foreign wars would help though.
3. How can we possibly do that when we can’t run our own country effectively?
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What handouts are you talking about? Are you saying we should accept genuine asylum seekers but not the fake ones? I'm not sure what you mean...how do we know they're genuine until they are processed?
And yeah...immigration will very likely increase in the coming years due to more displacement. It's a worldwide problem, and we have to deal with it the best way we can. We reap what we sow.
 
Marklr said:
They don't get benefits, do they? Do you really believe that that's why we have asylum seekers in the world?
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On average we spend £170 a night in hotel costs for over 30,000 migrants that have arrived, the vast majority are young men.

Surely anyone with half a brain realises this is ridiculous.
 
Blue Note said:
Why are the majority of them young men who have passed through many safe countries to get here?
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www.globalcitizen.org

5 Reasons Why the Majority of Refugees Reaching Europe are Men

Here are five reasons and explanations of why the majority of Syrian refugees who reach Europe are men. The danger of the trip is just part of the reason.
www.globalcitizen.org www.globalcitizen.org
The prevalence of young men among asylum seekers arriving in Europe is primarily driven by families sending one member ahead for safety and logistical reasons, the extreme danger of transit routes, and risks of conscription in home countries. While many travel through safe countries, factors like existing family ties, language skills, or the belief they can better rebuild their lives influence their final destination. [1, 2, 3]
Key Reasons for Demographics & Route Choices
  • Family "Scouts": Dangerous journeys, such as crossing the Mediterranean or illegal channel crossings, often lead families to send a young, physically capable man first. Once established, they aim to bring family members over through safer, legal routes.
  • Physical and Financial Hurdles: The journey is physically gruelling, expensive, and often controlled by smuggling networks. Young men are more likely to survive, manage the physical risks, and afford the costs.
  • Escaping Conflict and Conscription: Many young men are fleeing forced conscription by governments or militia groups, making them a specific target in conflicts.
  • Perceptions of Safety and Opportunity: While they may pass through safe countries, migrants often choose destinations where they have existing social networks, can speak the language, or believe they can work and rebuild their lives.
  • "Safe Country" Complexities: The UNHCR convention does not require refugees to claim asylum in the first safe country they reach, and many face harsh conditions or lack of protection in transit countries, pushing them further
You can so easily learn all of this yourself. There are so many reports on it...
 
Ban-jani said:
What’s that got to do with what I said? I said foreign nationals shouldn’t automatically get state benefits upon arrival and if that makes me racist then call me one, it’s thrown around like confetti anyway and means nothing.

I’ll answer though if you want.

1. Stop giving handouts to single men who arrive without papers.
2. We don’t, stop supporting foreign wars would help though.
3. How can we possibly do that when we can’t run our own country effectively?
Click to expand...

Foreign nationals don’t automatically get state benefits on arrival. I’m not going to go through all the exemptions and qualifications because it’s all out there with a simple Google search.
 
Marklr said:
What handouts are you talking about? Are you saying we should accept genuine asylum seekers but not the fake ones? I'm not sure what you mean...how do we know they're genuine until they are processed?
And yeah...immigration will very likely increase in the coming years due to more displacement. It's a worldwide problem, and we have to deal with it the best way we can. We reap what we sow.
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I’ve said above.

We’re going off topic now and can discuss in a more appropriate thread.
 
Ban-jani said:
On average we spend £170 a night in hotel costs for over 30,000 migrants that have arrived, the vast majority are young men.

Surely anyone with half a brain realises this is ridiculous.
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Tsk. You think we would get a group discount on that rate for block bookings.
 
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