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Post by bracknellboy on Apr 28, 2024 14:14:32 GMT
Has everyone sorted out their Voter ID for the elections
I'm a postal
also postal. Plus the only election round here is for the PCC, which I view as the biggest waste of money and sinecure since, I don't know, being made a Peer. I have voted though: and not for the incumbent because of ^^
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Post by bracknellboy on Apr 28, 2024 14:20:24 GMT
I see the Sunday papers - at least my one - are full of rumours that Tory "rebels" are plotting to oust Sunak (again) and go on a 100 day policy blitz to win back support for the party. With the headline policy being "to curb immigration".
Has anyone explained to loonies who seem to now make up a large portion of the PCP that the Tories recent history of having revolving door of leaders is a good chunk of their problem. The next big chunk of their problem is the endless stream of unfit to be in office retrobates that they seem to have, with the endless sequence of scandals of financial or personal propriety implications.
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Post by captainconfident on Apr 28, 2024 14:58:46 GMT
I see the Sunday papers - at least my one - are full of rumours that Tory "rebels" are plotting to oust Sunak (again) and go on a 100 day policy blitz to win back support for the party. With the headline policy being "to curb immigration". Has anyone explained to loonies who seem to now make up a large portion of the PCP that the Tories recent history of having revolving door of leaders is a good chunk of their problem. The next big chunk of their problem is the endless stream of unfit to be in office retrobates that they seem to have, with the endless sequence of scandals of financial or personal propriety implications. You don't think as they do, 'anything might be better than the current situation'? Penny with her big sword got the old boys all worked up. Maybe they are right. Bozza wasn't a lot more than a barrow load of slogans. Flash of publicity for the fresh and statuesque leader and her "New ideas" expressed in three word phrases, straight to election. I think it's plausible. Problem, she is more likely to want to lead the opposition for 5 years than chuck herself on the funeral pyre in a few months.
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michaelc
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Post by michaelc on Apr 28, 2024 15:31:17 GMT
I see the Sunday papers - at least my one - are full of rumours that Tory "rebels" are plotting to oust Sunak (again) and go on a 100 day policy blitz to win back support for the party. With the headline policy being "to curb immigration". Has anyone explained to loonies who seem to now make up a large portion of the PCP that the Tories recent history of having revolving door of leaders is a good chunk of their problem. The next big chunk of their problem is the endless stream of unfit to be in office retrobates that they seem to have, with the endless sequence of scandals of financial or personal propriety implications. If you think their MPs are loons you should see who they field locally.
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Post by bracknellboy on Apr 28, 2024 17:27:17 GMT
I see the Sunday papers - at least my one - are full of rumours that Tory "rebels" are plotting to oust Sunak (again) and go on a 100 day policy blitz to win back support for the party. With the headline policy being "to curb immigration". Has anyone explained to loonies who seem to now make up a large portion of the PCP that the Tories recent history of having revolving door of leaders is a good chunk of their problem. The next big chunk of their problem is the endless stream of unfit to be in office retrobates that they seem to have, with the endless sequence of scandals of financial or personal propriety implications. You don't think as they do, 'anything might be better than the current situation'? Penny with her big sword got the old boys all worked up. Maybe they are right. Bozza wasn't a lot more than a barrow load of slogans. Flash of publicity for the fresh and statuesque leader and her "New ideas" expressed in three word phrases, straight to election. I think it's plausible. Problem, she is more likely to want to lead the opposition for 5 years than chuck herself on the funeral pyre in a few months. I agree that Penny The Sword Bearer would make a reasonable - certainly better - next leader of the Conservatives. though lets face it the bar has been set pretty low. I think she will have greater appeal to the wider electorate than other candidates. But problem is: would they even choose her ? Priti Patel seems to be quite high in the list of who is being touted as a 'straw person' (yes that was deliberate). If they want to make 'stopping the boats' number one in their list, they might even think that Suella would appeal to the masses. The problem is they seem to have not a clue who the 'masses' actually are, despite their certainty about knowing what they think. I'm also with you that Penny would be much more sane to wait until after the possible  defeat at the coming election before stepping forward. The idea of being the chief swordswoman going into the next election seems like insanity. Unless one takes on the role much closer to a required election date when even the most loonie of the clan can't envisage a 'late surge'.
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Post by captainconfident on Apr 28, 2024 17:44:03 GMT
You don't think as they do, 'anything might be better than the current situation'? Penny with her big sword got the old boys all worked up. Maybe they are right. Bozza wasn't a lot more than a barrow load of slogans. Flash of publicity for the fresh and statuesque leader and her "New ideas" expressed in three word phrases, straight to election. I think it's plausible. Problem, she is more likely to want to lead the opposition for 5 years than chuck herself on the funeral pyre in a few months. I agree that Penny The Sword Bearer would make a reasonable - certainly better - next leader of the Conservatives. though lets face it the bar has been set pretty low. I think she will have greater appeal to the wider electorate than other candidates. But problem is: would they even choose her ? Priti Patel seems to be quite high in the list of who is being touted as a 'straw person' (yes that was deliberate). If they want to make 'stopping the boats' number one in their list, they might even think that Suella would appeal to the masses. The problem is they seem to have not a clue who the 'masses' actually are, despite their certainty about knowing what they think. I'm also with you that Penny would be much more sane to wait until after the possible defeat at the coming election before stepping forward. The idea of being the chief swordswoman going into the next election seems like insanity. Unless one takes on the role much closer to a required election date when even the most loonie of the clan can't envisage a 'late surge'. You can see an argument for Patel or Braveman among worried Tories on the right. If Reform is likely the spoiler in your constituency, how about grabbing their policies and heading for the election under a pedigree right winger? I can write the new slogan: "Leave the ECHR!". Obviously this looks better on paper than said out loud. Needs a rethink. "No Net Zero!" "Get Brexit Done Properly!". I'm on a roll here. Think they'll hire me? I would guess the danger would be a proper splinting of the party with defections, a poor look to present to the public when you need their votes. It seems there is no way to turn, and by default, Rishi will be the captain on the bridge when the ship sinks.
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michaelc
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Post by michaelc on Apr 28, 2024 18:10:28 GMT
If they are so hard-nosed right wingers, why did they come up with the Africa policy at all? Why didn't they set up a military-esque branch of the Border Force to patrol in force and simply turn boats around ? If they'd done that they'd probably be looking at election victory in the summer.
If the concern is what to do if the migrants are at risk in the sea, why not take a leaf from most land borders? I wouldn't for example try and cross from Poland into Ukraine or into Belarus outside of a border post as I would know there would be serious risk of being shot or at least attacked by a guard dog.
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Post by captainconfident on Apr 28, 2024 18:47:28 GMT
If you think immigration is the main problem facing the country, or maybe for Tory MPs "the only think we could remotely credibly promise to fix", . . Lost my train if thought....
Oh yes, if immigration is the main problem then its not the hundreds in small boats, its the tens of thousands of yearly post Brexit immigrants. The government gets an easy ride with its sleight of hand concerning solving the boat problem while playing down its failure to honour other promises. And the solution to the boats would have been speeding up the asylum system and making a show of expelling failed asylum seekers. Instead they give hope to would be boaters by providing seemingly indefinite accommodation, however shoddy. They keep the small boats coming deliberately so they have an issue the can loudly pretend to be 'solving'.
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michaelc
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Post by michaelc on Apr 28, 2024 18:54:53 GMT
If you think immigration is the main problem facing the country, or maybe for Tory MPs "the only think we could remotely credibly promise to fix", . . Lost my train if thought.... Oh yes, if immigration is the main problem then its not the hundreds in small boats, its the tens of thousands of yearly post Brexit immigrants. The government gets an easy ride with its sleight of hand concerning solving the boat problem while playing down its failure to honour other promises. And the solution to the boats would have been speeding up the asylum system and making a show of expelling failed asylum seekers. Instead they give hope to would be boaters by providing seemingly indefinite accommodation, however shoddy. They keep the small boats coming deliberately so they have an issue the can loudly pretend to be 'solving'. Don't disagree with a lot of that. I wonder what the technical (not resource-wise) issues are with deciding on immigration status being slow. Is it simply waiting for an interview or is it case officers sending out questions to 3rd parties in different countries waiting for an answer? I wonder....
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Post by captainconfident on Apr 28, 2024 19:11:24 GMT
If you think immigration is the main problem facing the country, or maybe for Tory MPs "the only think we could remotely credibly promise to fix", . . Lost my train if thought.... Oh yes, if immigration is the main problem then its not the hundreds in small boats, its the tens of thousands of yearly post Brexit immigrants. The government gets an easy ride with its sleight of hand concerning solving the boat problem while playing down its failure to honour other promises. And the solution to the boats would have been speeding up the asylum system and making a show of expelling failed asylum seekers. Instead they give hope to would be boaters by providing seemingly indefinite accommodation, however shoddy. They keep the small boats coming deliberately so they have an issue the can loudly pretend to be 'solving'. Don't disagree with a lot of that. I wonder what the technical (not resource-wise) issues are with deciding on immigration status being slow. Is it simply waiting for an interview or is it case officers sending out questions to 3rd parties in different countries waiting for an answer? I wonder.... Well the obvious answer is and always has been an arrangement with the French and Belgians for offshore processing. Neither of these governments enjoy having camps of people waiting to jump lorries or picking them up from the sea. The failure to take this approach from the start points to how valuable stoking the small boats issue is to this government.
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adrianc
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Post by adrianc on Apr 28, 2024 19:20:45 GMT
2023:
"Small boats" arrivals - c.44,000
Asylum applications - 84,000 (81,000 in 2022)
Asylum decisions - 42,000 (16,500 in 2022)
Asylum application backlog - 129,000
Net migration - 672,000
Immigration - 1,180,000
Rwanda scheme's annual capacity - 200
Rwanda scheme contractual cost - £370,000,000 fixed plus contractual £120,000,000 once 300 people have been relocated.
Cost per head for first 300 across 18 months - £1,630,000
Amount paid to date - £240,000,000 to end of 2023
Number of people relocated to date - 0
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Post by captainconfident on Apr 28, 2024 19:37:19 GMT
After Brexit, this government ran out of ideas. They don't raise enough money to cover spending year on year and so public services got cut to the bone and started failing. Because the only bone they think the public likes is "cut taxes" and without money they can't fix the problems they created, they stalled completely. Liz Truss demonstrated the problem perfectly.
So they have no direction, scarcely are able to fill a queen/King's speech except with trivia. But with immigration, they can keep the focus away from their economic paralysis. Its their one shield, their attention deflector. If the small boats stopped, they would be naked in the publics gaze, no direction, no viable policies, nothing to say.
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Post by bracknellboy on Apr 28, 2024 19:50:13 GMT
I struggle to take any politician seriously on the subject of 'controlling illegal immigration' if they don't a) actively support a national ID card scheme b) talk sensibly about how more 'in country' visa processing will either help or credible reasons why it wouldn't c) talk credibly about increased holding facilities coupled with faster processing of asylum claims.
Of course the beauty of the channel crossings from a politician's perspective is that it allows them to dog whistle about immigration AND the dastardly French all in a single topic. Perfect. Or should that be Per-farage.
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michaelc
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Post by michaelc on Apr 28, 2024 20:03:07 GMT
2023: "Small boats" arrivals - c.44,000 Asylum applications - 84,000 (81,000 in 2022) Asylum decisions - 42,000 (16,500 in 2022) Asylum application backlog - 129,000 Net migration - 672,000 Immigration - 1,180,000 Rwanda scheme's annual capacity - 200Rwanda scheme contractual cost - £370,000,000 fixed plus contractual £120,000,000 once 300 people have been relocated. Cost per head for first 300 across 18 months - £1,630,000 Amount paid to date - £240,000,000 to end of 2023 Number of people relocated to date - 0 Where does that come from?
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adrianc
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Post by adrianc on Apr 28, 2024 20:15:37 GMT
2023: "Small boats" arrivals - c.44,000 Asylum applications - 84,000 (81,000 in 2022) Asylum decisions - 42,000 (16,500 in 2022) Asylum application backlog - 129,000 Net migration - 672,000 Immigration - 1,180,000 Rwanda scheme's annual capacity - 200Rwanda scheme contractual cost - £370,000,000 fixed plus contractual £120,000,000 once 300 people have been relocated. Cost per head for first 300 across 18 months - £1,630,000 Amount paid to date - £240,000,000 to end of 2023 Number of people relocated to date - 0 Where does that come from? The Home Office. www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-67656220
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defeat at the coming election before stepping forward. The idea of being the chief swordswoman going into the next election seems like insanity. Unless one takes on the role much closer to a required election date when even the most loonie of the clan can't envisage a 'late surge'. 