To think this is why Reform will win the next election “Epping hotel asylum seeker mistakenly released”

Reform aren't in power yet , yet their speeches bring up the Muslims to more and more hatred which shows up now. Imagine after that , if they win. There will be mini civil wars in places like Birmingham etc

Reform will only bring more chaos because the idl men.will think they got all rights of beating up the foreigner, then the terrorist part between the foreigner will be acting up badly even more.

"No we don't. Income tax has been higher than the current rate much more recently than WW2"

Except I said "taxes" not " income taxes". So called "Stealth" taxes are also a "'tax". This why economists talk about the total tax burden not just " income tax".

We are no longer a low tax economy and it is most likely to get worse rather than better given demographic changes and the annual opportunity cost of Brexit to the economy.

This prisoner is high profile, hence the news coverage and this thread, but prisoners are wrongly released every year. About 6 or 7 per month, last year, I think I heard on the news yesterday.

Some of those will also be dangerous to the public but it tends not to make the news and they tend to be caught pretty quickly due to lack of resources.

Yep and the post before yours doesn’t fit with that.

The total tax burden on this country is the highest since wartime, that is an incontrovertible, uncontested fact.

We're a low tax economy

Farage and his crew gave us Brexit, a complete disaster that is still destroying our economy, and they can't even run the councils they have won.

Anyone who thinks that they could run a country and its economy needs to give their head a wobble...

Other countries have managed it, it’s difficult but possible. Labour won’t do as pledged ‘smash the gangs’ of course that was entirely spin.

But yes policy is possible, it can work, others have done it.

No we don't. Income tax has been higher than the current rate much more recently than WW2.

@HedwigEliza I've come to this exact conclusion but you've articulated it perfectly. The Tories dropped the ball in Labour's court and Labour have realised they can't (and indeed, won't) play ball.

And how exactly do you think they should do that? What's Reform's great plan? Do bear in mind it needs to be legal...

"either the state is monsterously incompetent,"

It's clearly this. Funding has been cut repeatedly under repeated "efficiency drives" with prison and probation understaffed with inexperienced and overworked staff with predictable results and or large swatches of the prison service privatised. We know from the water industry how well this works.

We have the highest taxes since ww2 and the country is still falling apart.

"Both parties have also screwed the economy and no one is happy."

Don't think we can lay that solely on the politicians door. The public voted for Brexit trading economic growth for sovereignty. This makes the country less able to cope with demographic pressures and the economic shock / debt burden of the pandemic.

First the Tories raised taxes to record levels now labour will have to do the same and if reform come in they will have to do it too.

If the sitting government got a grip on people entering the country by boat the whole thing wouldn’t have happened.

There's two possibilities in all this; either the state is monsterously incompetent, or they're playing some unfathomable political game.

This doesn't have anything to do with the sitting government - regardless of who it is. It was a fuck up by the prison service.

Why the emojis?

Labour need to step up to the plate.

You do all know that:

1. the ONS methodology for determining net migration changed after Brexit in 2020 which is when the numbers appeared to start increasing
2. changes to immigration rules mean that net migration halved between 2023 and 2024 (most recent figures)
3. VAWG is a male problem not a migrant problem
4. Reform has consistently voted against laws to protect women's rights and says they will remove the equality act if they get in

😄😄😄😄

I don't think I am a supporter of theirs - I explained in my first post here what my major concern was about them, I don't think I can get past it tbh. I wish they'd join with the Conservatives.

But anyway. You said "both" so here is my perception.

This is how I see it - I don't claim to be an expert

On a practical level, we could be using different types of housing (eg camps, boats), offering different terms, with no freedom to just wander around.

So a bit like the Greeks at the moment. I don't know how things are going there, but it sounds like a deterrent.

Also, if asylum seekers have less freedom, incidents like this wouldn't happen. I think lack of freedom would be a big deterrent. I used to live near one of these in London and the freedom they get must seem hugely attractive, to say nothing of the opportunities they get to work cash in hand. Cash in hand and free accommodation, yeah they're sharing a room, but they are warm and fed and they have a TV to watch. I don't know who's giving them phones but they all seem to have one. It could be made much less attractive to come here.

I think it would be pointless to let them in, refuse to house them, and have them disappearing across the country. They'll get hooked up with traffickers providing them with fake ID and so on.

on a legal level, there would be objections and challenges to any changes that we try to make. I don't know why some people are so determined to house so many people on this small island - but here we are.

The Greeks changed their law, or passed a new one in July I think and it became operational from September. So I would imagine if Reform get in, they will look at changing the law as a matter of urgency.

i realise the conservatives tried this but it was such a half hearted attempt, no one believes them them anymore. And this problem really escalated on their watch.

as always, the question is - who benefits? This gravy train is very very long. Look how much the Irish government paid for the hotel in Dublin.

It's hardly surprising that people will look to non-establishment politicians for a solution to this.

drop them off in international waters and let them make their own way home

Would that be in a boat with some basic life-saving provisions? Careful now: you’d be accused of sending them on a 4 star cruise.

This country needs to grow a pair of balls, stop shitting themselves about upsetting the left wing diversity whiners, and protect the citizens of this damn country. It needs to be a fucking priority.

People are understandably livid. Immigrants have been prioritised over citizens. I am so ashamed of this countries leaders, past and present.

If they have no papers, drop them off in international waters and let them make their own way home.