This government and their direction of travel, frightens me.

[Kendodd]

Teressa May (last government, but same party) with her 'go home immigrants' vans and hostle environment.
Immigration and Borders act.
Transportation to Rwanda.
Bringing laws in trying to limit our right to protest.
Lying to the queen to prorogue parliament.
Lying in the house of commons.
Trying to change the law to get one of your MPs off.
Pretty much ripping up the ministerial code.
Windrush.
Admitting that they're just going to break international law.

I bet they will come after the human rights act and try to get us out of ECHR.

Worse, I think a great many of the public love the fact they've done all the above and would cheer loudly at the ripping up of the human rights act and ECHR membership (wtaf?)

How did we get to this?

@Florenz

We don't even have the money or housing to adequately house our own people, let alone every person in the world that would like to claim refugee status and come here.

How much tax would you be willing to pay? How much rent or mortgage are you willing to pay?

We need to decrease the population, not increase it.

Why is the UK "an insignifant little island" (less than 1/2000th of the world) when it suits and yet we are a major power, responsible for most of the world's problems and it is disgusting that we aren't happy to take on all the world's refugees ? It's ridiculous.

If those who are significantly richer than you, paid the same proportion of their income in tax as you do, how much more would we be able to afford?

@lemmein

How about we start with the less fortunate of this country before we try to solve the problems of the rest of the world?

We could do both? But no, people insist on voting for a government which will do neither!

The best way of solving the problems of the underprivileged is to elect a government whose sole focus is on making the rich richer at the expense of the underprivileged. Surely you know that?

@HoleLottaLove

We bomb countries for our own financial gain, Iraq, Libya, Syria etc. Displace people and then wonder why some of these desperate people rock up on our shores. There is no connecting of dots. And as OP pointed out, we have a populace that are quite ignorant and not capable of critical thinking.

I haven't been able to get access to free health care over the last couple of years. Which is shocking. But understandable given the pandemic. The pandemic and Brexit has made the general populus very selfish and quite nasty. The cost of living crisis exacerbates this.

Boomers that have done very well during the pandemic financially and those that could afford the Brexit gamble are so disconnected from the younger generations and clueless.

We have a horrible Government, that are ruining a once proud nation. Our national debt was off the scale pre-pandemic, way, way worse than the Blair years, but goes unnoted. Those that voted or championed Tory or Brexit won't back track.

The more we are down trodden, the more spiteful and resentful we are likely to become. It's classic divide and rule. They get the mansions, we get the ruins. Same old story.

Selfish and nasty are two key aims of the Nasty party. Goes without saying really and they are being very successful.

@Florenz

There is no shortage of workers, there's a shortage of employers willing to pay decent wages.

So you think there is a large pool of skilled, educated & motivated people, sitting around on UC of £76 per week, just dying to step up and start work?

We are an aging workforce, with a falling birthrate, which is why we cannot attract enough nurses, airport staff, police, factory workers... the list is endless.

Meanwhile the the UK is 25th out of 38 countries for female life expectancy in w/c areas, lower than Columbia :( on top of women fleeing domestic violence living in appalling conditions.... but the Tories know what a woman is..... oh yes they do... when it comes to fucking us over.
www.theguardian.com/society/2022/apr/17/women-in-englands-poorest-areas-die-younger-than-in-most-oecd-countries

..and all of this has been going on long before some poor sod got in a dingy....

What a nasty little post

You know where the door is if you don't like it

Said without any hint of irony.

One of the foundations of democracy and freedom is the ability to critique the minority leadership tasked with serving the public and holding so much power.

‘Leave then’ betrays a lack of defence against a statement that’s touched a nerve. ‘Leave then’ is the refuge of the fascist.

@Cornettoninja

What a nasty little post

You know where the door is if you don't like it

Said without any hint of irony.

One of the foundations of democracy and freedom is the ability to critique the minority leadership tasked with serving the public and holding so much power.

‘Leave then’ betrays a lack of defence against a statement that’s touched a nerve. ‘Leave then’ is the refuge of the fascist.

Trouble is, even that has been removed from those who might wish too, thanks to the Tories.

@bellac11 We havent got a tidal wave of illegal immigrants

Depends on the area. There are certain towns with schools with almost 100% EAL (most are international new arrivals). Down south its mainly white. I am ethnic but my family members arrived here legally and worked all their lives. I think it’s disgusting that people think “oh poor Ukrainians” but they have zero sympathy for the horrors in Yemen and how the US have destroyed the lives of millions in Asia over the past 100 years. Why is this? Because Ukrainians are white.

@Florenz

There is no shortage of workers, there's a shortage of employers willing to pay decent wages.

Indeed employers love immigration. It gives them a cheap source of labour as it depresses wages. Mervyn king Tony Blair Gordon brown and Alistair Campbell used the flood of eastern European immigration to deptess wages to avoid raising interest rates in 2004.

www.politicshome.com/news/article/former-bank-of-england-governor-encouraged--blair-to-open-the-door-to-eastern-european-immigration

Immigration drives down wages.

@Cornettoninja

What a nasty little post

You know where the door is if you don't like it

Said without any hint of irony.

One of the foundations of democracy and freedom is the ability to critique the minority leadership tasked with serving the public and holding so much power.

‘Leave then’ betrays a lack of defence against a statement that’s touched a nerve. ‘Leave then’ is the refuge of the fascist.

Same poster started then wanting on about how we are a compassionate country which engages in such amazing charity work

Again, not seeing the irony that charity and food banks are a metric of a failing economy that only serves the rich. What a time to be alive. I feel like I'm living in the twilight zone.

Indeed employers love immigration. It gives them a cheap source of labour as it depresses wages. Mervyn king Tony Blair Gordon brown and Alistair Campbell used the flood of eastern European immigration to depress wages to avoid raising interest rates in 2004

Immigration drives down wages

Yet despite massive shortages in the Labour market post Brexit and Covid, wage increases are half what inflation is and all wage increases have done is move the pool of available workers around e.g. Care workers being attracted into higher paying industries.

Average wage rises under Labour were 4% (until GFC) but from 2010, when the tories got in, the average was 2%, so it was Austerity that caused the collapse of wages, not migration.

Genuine asylum seekers? Fine.

Problem is those who want to allow everyone in very rarely have to see the effect on local communities. The number of foreign languages on the playground.

The council being felt to give the newcomers massively preferential treatment. The fallacy of the "race card".

No money for normal services but always money for diversity.

The explosion in house prices caused by ever increasing demand but immigrants get housing "immediately".

This may or may not happen but it's the view from the ground level that's being ignored.

All the current policies seem to do is endanger lives and enrich smugglers. But rather than give alternative policies, it's smear time.

As for the Church, it's very easy to spout it when you aren't dipping your hands in your very deep pockets. (I'd love to see just how much tax the various churches actually pay)

And yes, I would love to know just how much of posters own money they'd be willing to pay. If you're only willing to spend other people's money, you're not helping.

Immigration drives down wages

I’d worry more about what in-work benefits that support employers paying less than a living wage does over the impact of immigration on wages personally.

But you do you.

I would love to know just how much of posters own money they'd be willing to pay. If you're only willing to spend other people's money, you're not helping

Whose money is in the UK’s treasury? It’s ours, quite literally the property of every single citizen. ‘Other peoples money’? What are you on about? Unless you believe that every citizen hasn’t got the right to voice over how our finances are managed?

Personally I think paying another country, particularly one with an utterly appalling human rights record, a very recent one, and a leader that would give putin a run for his money, is sickening.

Trouble is, even that has been removed from those who might wish too, thanks to the Tories

Dampened down, yes, but there are still avenues to publicly hold the government to account.

It’s absolutely less than we deserve and yet another act of suppression by this spineless cabinet but we are not voiceless.

We don't even have the money or housing to adequately house our own people

Yes we do, we choose not to. I have absolutely no idea why as a nation we make that choice, but we do. Not only that, we then demonise the poor for being victims of our political choices. Worse, some poor themselves then vote for more of the same and believe the lie that some innocent foreigner, with zero power to do anything, they can't even vote, is somehow to blame for the fact you can't feed your family instead of the politicians who could actually do something about the situation.

Another thing the Tories are trying to do btw.
Make it harder for people to vote. Introducing ID requirements under the lie that itll prevent voter fraud.

Can you get a GP appointment?

Yes. I needed to see the GP last week for a non-urgent issue. I rang up on Thursday morning and left details with reception, GP called me back around 10am, I had an appointment at 3pm.

I could even see a GP today if I urgently needed to. My practice runs an out of hours hub with three other practices, you just ring up and give details then they get the GP to ring you back and either resolve it over the phone or give you an appointment.

Do you have a dentist?

Also yes and it's an NHS dentist. Had a checked up in February and next one is booked for August. DH recently changed practices to one nearer his work for convenience, they are also NHS.

Can your kids find a house to rent at a sensible price?

Social housing is in decent supply if they need it or for private rent a three bed new build house in our village is currently going for £725 a month and there is an older three bed for £695.

Are there more housing developments being put in near you?

Yes, new housing is being built right now both private and housing association. A condition of sale on recent land purchases is that a minimum percentage of the properties need to be given over to social housing so there are a lot of new build social housing properties here too.

Not everyone lives in a crowded area and a big problem with "overcrowding" is because people thing the UK begins and ends in South East England.

There are 78 million refugees in the world, this number will increase due to climate change of which are lifestyles are hugely responsible. Outsourcing it does not solve this problem

@Hospedia

1500 houses built for social rent in uk in 2021, just 14000 new builds were part of any affordable schemes.

I ve never had a NHS dentist, neither has my DD despite it being a legal right until she was 18, so i had to pay for any treatment, waiting lists are many years in Cornwall.

BUT none of this has anything to do with immigrants, its Govt policies not to provide these things, just as its Govt policy not to train enough GP's, nurses etc and to have a NHS with 6m waiting and now, a volunteer group to drive critically ill patients to AE because govt policy is not to have sufficient ambulances.

I'm sure young people would like to have more dc but childcare and housing are so expensive and it makes it much harder for them.

Plus the green agenda which is very apparent at the moment

I think the mass migration of EU citizens did keep,wages low especially in the building industry when some of them may have worked cash in hand. .

We do need to keep training our young people and making it worthwhile for the long term unemployed to work without it messing up,their benefits which I know can be a problem with seasonal jobs

I've never had a NHS dentist,

I used to have an NHS dentist, she was brilliant, from eastern Europe, left UK after Brexit (I'm sure to the delight of many). The practice has now gone private, I'd say about 50% of the dentists there are from overseas. Don't know why they have taken the decision to stop doing NHS work. Can't find another NHS dentist anywhere. I'm in the south west.

Yep, getting an NHS dentist is very difficult. I will be down 2k as a result.

We had an emergency, and the ambulance failed to show for at least four hours. The NHS has been run into the ground, thanks to central government. The move to private health care is frightening.

Just hope the housing market doesn't next go the same way as the US.

You can love your country and criticize your Government. I would leave this island if I could afford to and if I didn't have family ties. No country would want this old has-been though! Given better central government I would be happy to stay. Sadly the Brits are down-trodden so much that we can't even be bothered to burn down the house. We ultimately know we'll be the ones paying the price.

I can't see the direction of travel changing either.
I have three teenage children, two are hoping to do medicine at university, hopefully this will be their ticket out.

@Cornettoninja

Immigration drives down wages

I’d worry more about what in-work benefits that support employers paying less than a living wage does over the impact of immigration on wages personally.

But you do you.

I also agree here and would reduce working tax credits or uc but I bet if the government reduced the generosity of in work benefits and also out of work to ensure working does pay there would be howls of derision here about it.

I also agree here and would reduce working tax credits or uc but I bet if the government reduced the generosity of in work benefits and also out of work to ensure working does pay there would be howls of derision here about it

It would depend on how it’s done.

Hacking at the benefits system with no responsibility placed at the door of commercial businesses would be a bloodbath, implementing measures to ensure that the value of the workers contribution to profits is properly remunerated would look differently.

But then we’d experience a deluge of cries that businesses couldn’t afford to operate, businesses would leave the country etc. all desperate to keep a system that allows them a profit at the expense of the people generating those profits for them.

There’s a huge readjustment needed but far too many people getting extremely rich off the back of exploitation. It’s greed pure and simple. There is still profit to made, just less if it’s distributed with an ounce of fairness. That’s what trickle down economics is meant to promote. A working economy so reliant on in-work benefits works directly against that.