To think the uk is on its knees

[Ilovemycatalot]

Just this. Every day negativity. No one is happy with life or working conditions. The country is at an all time low. Living standards getting worse by the day people getting poorer. I know we are not in poverty like some countries but honestly can’t see us ever returning to decent living standards unless you’re the few top percent earners. Tell me I’m being dramatic perhaps I am but can’t see much of a way back from this .

@LexMitior Any criminal offence? So you move here with your children when they are 7 and 8 years old. You settle down and when the eldest turns 18 they shoplift and end up with a criminal record so get automatically deported? An 18 year old deported to another country they have not lived in since they were 8 years old and either they are there alone, or their whole family have to move back.

@AllOutofEverything - honestly, can you say that someone, who is not a British citizen, would had decided to steal, should stay in the UK. Why?

At 18, this person is an adult. Btw, this point you cite is actually law already. Legally, the fact that the family may be affected is not relevant. It may affect them greatly, but being in the UK is not a right.

There seems to be a disconnect. If this applies to us

which is now pretty much impossible for many unless fit extremely specific criteria/shortage occupations etc.

it must also apply to people applying for work visas here.

I don’t know what you mean re payments, people have to pay for work visas and I’m not sure why they are less fit.

I think people have to be careful not to see non EU migrants as lesser just due to heritage. As someone who was around non EU migration, but within a strict system, it doesn’t sound right to see people that way.

Don't be so flipping (edited) ridiculous. Or course we don't want the country to fail. We want it to work like it used to. With a higher standard of living and a safety net for the people at the bottom.

Absolutely. Not a level playing field, also attitudes may be different.

'He's doing his best 'FFS. People used to say that about Johnson all the time. It's not little Johnny doing his maths homework, it's running the country. The Prime Minister is supposed to be competent and know what they're doing.

I'd be up for no international students at the top 10 British unis so that they're reserved for our kids

Oh what a fabulous idea! Yes let’s trash the reputation of the top 10 uk universities even further by making them less competitive and sought after globally, let’s diminish their opportunity to receive significant funding from international students - all while lessening the academic standards and richness of the experience of their British students - and while we are at it, let’s all sit in our insular little boxes and deny any acknowledgment of the untold benefits that come from young adults sharing international research, professors, know-how, skills, cultures, languages, leading to professional networks and friendship connections that ultimately enhance the good of humanity in Britain and elsewhere. Wouldn’t that be just dandy?

The Tories gave away billions of our money to their mates. PPE, test and trace, you name it. Kwasi Kwarteng’s mates made a fortune out of the mini budget that’s costing us billions in interest to repay the money he cost the country. This government takes corruption and opacity to new unheard of levels.

Blossomtoes

Somewhat surprisingly - the Bank of England made £3.8bn profit from the mini-Budget intervention;

The proceeds profit will be handed back to the Treasury as part of the Bank’s quarterly transfer process.

www.proactiveinvestors.co.uk/companies/news/1003207/bank-of-england-makes-3-8bn-profit-from-mini-budget-intervention-1003207.html

AllOutofEverything
Internationally our rating as an honest country has been officially downgraded substantially.
The corruption has shocked me.

At least we are not quite as bad as shockingly corrupt France;

www.transparency.org/en/cpi/2022

Our ranking was worse in 2010 - after the expenses scandal;

www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2010/oct/26/corruption-index-2010-transparency-international

tukker
It depends which supplier you are with, if EDF state owned then its capped at 4%.

From January 1st 2023, gas bills can increase by up to a maximum of 15 percent for customers of Engie (formerly known as Gaz de France). For the average consumer this will represent a rise of €25 per month.

From February 1st electricity prices can also rise, again by a maximum of 15 percent. As before, the cap applies only to customers of EDF who are on the base rate tariff. This will represent a rise of €20 per month for the average customer.

There were also energy price rises in France in 2021 (the 4% cap was 2022);
The average cost of household fuel bills in France has risen by €64 per month from December 2020 to October 2021

www.connexionfrance.com/article/French-news/Household-bills-soar-by-64-a-month-in-a-year-new-French-study-shows

And £37 billion to Dido Harding and £200 million to Baroness Mone @Clavinova? Not to mention all the other state sponsored profiteers.

You mean the country that was literally built on the bloody, brutalised, dead bodies of black and brown people? Its not immigration that has trashed this country, its ignorance, laziness and apathy.

GPTec1
Polls gave Lab a very slight lead, they were out by a small amount.
This time round, 20pts plus and a Tory wipe out.
But of course the polling you should have quoted is that of 2013, labour had a 12pt lead and we all know what happened 2 years later.

I was comparing polling in 1990 with 1992. Look again - Labour were miles ahead in Spring 1990 (similar to polling now) - although admittedly that was before Margaret Thatcher resigned.

Britain also has a very different age profile.

Blossomtoes
And £37 billion to Dido Harding

£37 billion was the two year budget and Dido Harding moved on to a different role elsewhere halfway through. Last time I looked, NHS Test and Trace had spent less than £30 billion at the end of the two years. And if Test and Trace was such a waste of money - why did Labour and the Lib Dems make a fuss when the the government announced they were winding down the free testing??

As for Rachel Reeves' PPE contacts - somewhat amateurish to say the least;

order-order.com/2020/04/22/rachel-reeves-sends-government-wild-ppe-goose-chase/

Scraping the barrel again I see Clav.

Blossomtoes

How is the EU bribery scandal going?

2 Feb 2023
www.politico.eu/article/qatargate-corruption-scandal-eu-parliament-lifts-andrea-cozzolino-marc-tarabella-immunity/

No idea Clav. Entirely irrelevant in a thread about the UK being on its knees anyway.

Blossomtoes
No idea Clav. Entirely irrelevant in a thread about the UK being on its knees anyway.

Clearly not irrelevant when you (and others) have just been posting about corruption. The EU have been mentioned quite a few times as well.

@Clavinova We have sunk 10 places in the international corruption ratings, but never mind some countries are worse!"
Maybe some of us aspire to more than that?

@Clavinova You appear to have very low aspirations for the UK.

I haven’t mentioned the EU. Slinging red herrings into the debate makes you look desperate.

Blossomtoes
I haven’t mentioned the EU

Brexit and the EU was quite clearly a topic of discussion this afternoon, if not by you.

We're in the East of England.