Portsmouth this evening

[Shmoigel]

Has anyone else seen the news about what’s happening in Portsmouth this evening
A boat has arrived in Hampshire and the protesters from Dover are currently in the sea blocking passage with hundreds more on the quay blocking coaches waiting.

People really do believe though. And I think would be voting for Polanski. Unlikely to be PM but concerning as part of a coalition, should it happen.

It’s rainbow sales stuff (with some snake oil), but it gets some traction.

No

I’m not! I’m saying mitigation of the worst of climate change by putting the work in now, not leaving it as a horrendous mess for our kids. And it will be unspeakable. Those forced out of their countries due to famine and unbearable heat will come armed. This is why we must fight Reform and its accompanying thugs off.

Here are some of the “blokes wanting a punch up and a shout”

Rev Chris Wickam. He was clearly after a bit of fisticuffs

I would imagine that's more like the actual experience of most women

Rhiannon Whyte’s sister, obviously she hasn’t experienced enough violence in her life and is hoping for some more

Sadly, I can’t remember last (first?) time Polanski said anything useful about ecology. I’d like to be proven wrong. But I would not uninvite the Greens to a LibLab coalition to keep Reform our.

This grandma in a canoe, clearly spoiling for a fight

This guy in a wheelchair clearly hoping it would all kick off so he could get some punches in. He looks like a bloke who’d be able to hold his own in a fight

ClIr George Madgwick, looks like a right thug

It’s just blokes wanting a punch up and a shout

“Rev” Chris Wickland you mean? The Vexed Vicar. 😂 Racist who witters about white people being bred out. Needs his ordination removed. And as for others? Very likely frightened or sad people wound up by gibberish on X or GB news or similar. They need to get out the way of the workers.

Thanks tamade and those others who have spoken up in defence of my comments. RedTagAlan took my comment out of context and ignored the preceding comments by other posters that I was replying to.

Someone else mentioned maybe the Navy could force the boats to turn back. They could try, however I do think some of the boat's occupants would simply jump into the sea, thereby necessitating a rescue operation, so even that tactic might not work. There are days I despair of this situation and see the UK filling up with more and more of these arrivals, even if it's 'less' than last year, it's still way too many people and the UK doesn't have the infrastructure to support such rapid growth.

It's not just the UK facing this crisis of course, but all Europe and even further if you add in Australia and even the tiny island of Mayotte which is a French territory off the coast of Africa. Apparently thousands of Africans take small boats across the 70 km to reach Mayotte, because it has better conditions than where they are coming from, although it is 'poor' in comparison to mainland France. In 2018 there was civil unrest against the undocumented immigrants and resulting economic crisis, from the Wiki page-

The protests involved roadblocks, a general strike, and demonstrations, with residents expressing concerns over pressure on healthcare, housing, and education services due to the growing migrant population.

Sounds familiar doesn't it! In Mayotte around half the population is immigrants. Makeshift homes were set up in slums and the French authorities began demolishing these and expelling illegal immigrants and trying to crack down on the increasing gang crime. This is still ongoing and again there doesn't seem to be an easy solution.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024_Mayotte_crisis

You've only to read this news article about it to see there are no simple solutions, which is very much the situation the UK (and the rest of Europe) is in.

https://www.democrata.es/en/international/france-tightens-control-in-mayotte-and-makes-aid-to-africa-conditional-on-migration-cooperation/

Your posting style is fascinating (not in a good way). I think you believe you are presenting as discussing the issue in a calm, rational, non-emotional, non divisive, fact based way, but apart from the fact you have absolutely no idea of the UK’s GDP and clearly mucked up your copy and pasting (if you knew what you were talking about you would have spotted your mistake), you come across as unbelievably patronising and your main argument against the protestors seems to be that you think they are thick. You see, to me that’s not a rational, intelligent way to approach political differences.

I'm not sure what you find funny about this situation. What do you mean by sad people? Are you using that in the derogatory sense meaning pathetic?

If you look proportionally against the population the
UK has 1.5 refugees per 1000 and Switzerland has 23 per 1000

On GDP we are 3/5s of Switzerland but per capita 3/46ths

GDP isn’t a bad metric, but shouldn’t be the only one
Our GDP can afford people, and could do with determined people who are seeking a new life willing to work or form their own business
The tax and pensions systems could do with them

Population is another fair metric

Asking for an absolute figure is a known bad argument in debating

It is replacement theory nonsense designed to scare people.

There is no conspiracy to replace white people with people of differing races.

This is rhetoric being driven from the far right.

Very likely frightened or sad people wound up by gibberish on X or GB news or similar.
**
Those forced out of their countries due to famine and unbearable heat will come armed.

“People who are demonstrating against uncontrolled illegal immigration by sea and the government’s failure to deal with it are sad, deluded idiots. I’m aware that eventually the illegal immigrants will come armed”

You don’t think she’s a ‘thug’ do you @SevenYellowHammers?

Well, I'd argue it's going to happen, conspiracy or not, just from simple arithmetic of the reproduction rate of the native population here (which is now below replacement rate) and the influx of migrants from other backgrounds. Replacement is inevitable. It's happened before in our history.

Asking for an absolute figure is a known bad argument in debating

This is the problem.

We are talking about real lives and real situations here.

You are looking at it through the lens of a student debating club.

You’re going to have to put more forward than we can’t say if you want voters to buy in to anything.

No, as far as I know he’s moved to become a Pentecostal pastor. But as an active member of the Anglican Church I will be writing to them to raise my concerns about him.