To think this, is how the Tories could win?

[madamreign]

Sunak is setting out his stall as pro-car:

www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/sep/28/rishi-sunak-expected-to-limit-powers-of-councils-in-england-to-curb-car-use-20mph-speed-limit-traffic-camera-fines

This could actually swing it for him. People sink vast amounts of time and money into their cars, they're aspirational status symbols. The UK loves it's cars.

Countries aren’t going to ‘play nicely’ when they have 11,000 arrivals in one week on a small island.

It’s beyond naive to suggest this just needs a tidy treaty between all countries and job done! Italy now have a far right government in place as a result of the dire situation there.

Is that how you want it to go here? Spain is heading the same way and Sweden. Much of Europe are becoming very anti immigrant as a result. We have to face this head on. We can’t absorb millions of economic migrants indefinitely can we? You at least agree with that surely. So now it has to be about working solutions.

Chica are you actually reading peoples opinions before arguing with them?

No one says we don't need to do something about the mass flow of asylum seekers.

But so far we have ....:

The Rwanda plan. It's cost £140m and that doesn't include court costs to get it going. It's a reciprocal arrangement so doesn't decrease migration. It also requires use of planes which adds to climate change - one of the things that's been said will increase this mass migration of asylum seekers.

The barge. Again £millions to house people on a barge that actually isn't housing people as it's unsafe so we are paying for the barge, to make it safe AND to house the asylum seekers in hotels.

The issue isn't that we want mass migration of asylum seekers risking their lives at sea.

The issue is that so far the Tory's have spent a sun total of millions of pounds to achieve the sum total of NOTHING.

Obviously I don’t. How did you miss the ‘your’ one line above it in the post I was responding too

It’s annoying for everyone as the pp recognised

And no I won’t stick anywhere

Maybe you should stop watching other posters so much and add to the discussion

Returns are not going to happen willingly

France have scoffed at this already and rightly pointed out they have their own problems to deal with

We might be more protected atm as movement flows through Italy but it is naive to think this isn’t the start of a shift in politics in response to the climate pressures

When France and Germany say no, and set the tone for other EU countries and Italy still receive thousands and increasing its going to become very difficult

It’s a good investment - and other European countries are watching closely.

Rwanda and other countries eventually will work. We have a bigger problem coming down the track with climate change creating even more pressure.

We don’t allow people to be homeless here in the U.K. like other European countries. A warm clean bed on a barge is better than sleeping outside. Where do you suggest we put everyone??? We only have so much space unless you can magic free accommodation! We have an acute housing crisis because of the incoming numbers.

I find this handwringing futile.

@itsgettingweird France also stated on moving people

According to Darmanin, Paris told Italy it was "ready to help them return people to countries with which we have good diplomatic relations," giving the example of Côte d'Ivoire and Senegal. But France "will not welcome migrants" from the island

Looking outside the U.K. policies are changing

What bathe is providing that warm clean bed then? Because I was under the I,press ion it was closed for Maintenon after they moved people there when it has legionnaires?

Please do correct me if I'm wrong?

and no, over £2m on failed headlines that would only house 400 asylum seekers and is housing ZERO isn't a good investment.

It's not even an investment. No one is getting anything in return.

There is nothing wrong with delaying it’s opening and ensuring it is safe 🙄

It doesn't take many weeks to clean up the hot n cold water systems.... So why aren't Tory supporters demanding answers?

Sunak paid millions to have this ship refitted but the bigger question is how many barges will it take to reduce the reliance (& costs) on hotels?

Threadkiller below:

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/oct/01/as-a-business-leader-i-can-no-longer-support-the-tory-party

I am glad they are being so careful with the health of migrants personally.

There is nothing wrong with delaying it’s opening and ensuring it is safe 🙄

Except they didn't and you full well know that. They opened up and gave asylum seekers legionaries.

They opened up knowing they didn't have the results of the tests require to deem it safe.

I know you want to dind good in everything they Tory's do but you cannot ignore fact because it doesn't suit your agenda.

Perhaps convince us to vote for them finding some good they've done. What's working better, how our economy has grown, how much healthcare and education has improved. I'd love to hear about these things and what they've done and will continue to do to improve them.

Good luck

ha ha no you re not, you just can't bring yourself to criticise the Tories.

Would you like the Govt to be equally careful about the safety of migrant children? 100s of whom have gone missing from Govt provided accommodation.

No, thought not.

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

Most "economic migrants" come as a result of visas that we grant them. 1.2 million last year.
You do realise, don't you, that climate change and war are a big driver of why people leave? That people risk their lives to come to Europe because their situation in their home country is so dire?

If climate change continues as predicted, a lot of countries are going to become uninhabitable. So when you say we can't "absorb them" you are basically saying you are fine for other humans to be left to die, because they had the misfortune to be born outside Europe.

It is a grotesque attitude in my opinion.

Levelling up, if you live in a Tory constituency

https://news.sky.com/story/rishi-sunak-announces-the-uk-areas-set-to-receive-1bn-of-levelling-up-funds-12973870

Or soon to be former Tory constituency.

£22m average over 10 years is def Jam Tomorrow!

Its peanuts compared to the issues many towns and regions face but they might get a re paved High Street, which you can admire as you walk past the To Let signs.

Or in our local town, took away the 30mins free parking and replaced it with a £2 charge... footfall has plunged.... Tory led council, in a county with only Con MPs, another example of Penny wise, Pound Foolish Tory policies.

Oh

https://twitter.com/OilSheppard/status/1708392374651560089?t=QtkQo_xvAbia5a5vNtLckg&s=19

Sunak’s backpedaling on climate has collapsed the UK carbon price, just as the EU soft launches its carbon border tax

As a result UK exporters (including wind farms!) will eventually transfer £££££ to the EU that once would have flowed to the exchequer

"Levelling Up" has always made me inwardly sigh. It suggests financial handouts from the South East to the rest of the UK, principally the west, midlands and north-west.

These are not 'gifts'. These are loans being paid back. You only have to walk down the high street of many UK towns to understand that in the 19th Century, powered by the Industrial Revolution and labour, the UK in most areas was rich in asset terms. Certainly richer in real terms than today. Look at some of the buildings from Bristol to Barnsley to Leeds to Cardiff to Penzance. Ornate buildings workings that once housed banks and scientific societies, local family department stores, museums and galleries provide tangible evidence of the wealth these countries contributed to the British Treasury. Now those buildings house pound shops, charities, pop-up pizza parlours and mobile phone stores.

Technically it is Levelling Up, but I prefer Re-Levelling Up. It seems more appropriate. London seems to have gained critical mass through its financial centres and universities, but over the 75 years of the former right through Big Bang and second place only to NY as a major financial trade centre, the South East has a duty to pay back to the regions. There should be no gratuity here.

Other UK governments managed it. Why is this one so shit at everything?

I don't think you can compare what happened in times when things were different compared to now. Infrastructure has been fucked for some time, through several governments. Migration is at a different level, health care continues to be a problem, in many countries with socialized systems, because of changes in use and costs, and the changes in the nature of industry have been significant. The last Labour government managed to kick the can down the road, particularly with health care, which is being paid for now, when Blair is well out of it.

The Tory plans seem largely uninspiring. On the other hand, plans from other parties don't seem to really offer any solutions either, not realistic ones.

The flow of migrants is only going to increase, and it is I think going to require an integrated approach in Europe - but it won't be what those who think the Tories are being mean will want, it may well be quite harsh indeed.

Similarly on climate issues and cars, no one with any kind of realistic idea of what it would mean to replace our current transportation needs with electric thinks that is a good solution. And renewables are not going to solve it either. Reducing pollution in city centers is a great idea, necessary even, but people are at the breaking point in terms of their family economies and that is not unique to the UK and not something voting in a new party is going to solve.

I think who will win the next election is very up in the air. Things are too volatile to make accurate predictions. Labour has the big advantage of not being in power now, they can try and give some plans that look like they might work, and don't have too much baggage around failures like the Tories do. But they are going to struggle to balance dealing with things like environmental issues, migration, the NHS, because it ill be very difficult to please those members of their voting base who want to address these whatever the cost to citizens, and reassure those same citizens that they aren't going to be personally fucked. And they just haven't managed to build much trust in general which will make that harder.

I’m waiting for someone to blame austerity on Labour. So many government departments cut to the bone and then ironically because of Brexit huge amount of unnecessary bureaucracy.

@derxa I live in a shit area. So far waiting to be levelled up, still no sign of it.
I have concerns about immigration but still think the tories are shit and have no answers.
One of the reasons my town voted for Brexit was because as a place very much forgotten by central government, the number of migrants from far flung places arriving here and needing to be accommodated has increased dramatically putting a strain on already scarce resources. Back around 2016 we had an influx of Roma gypsies, now it’s refugees from Somalia and Eritrea. Austerity hit hard here. Our council has had to make cuts of £428 million per year since 2010, budget has dropped by 28%. Combination of crumbling public services and hundreds of vulnerable but extremely visible refugees has created a really toxic environment. Again I don’t know what the answer is, being humane and considering the needs of the local community.

I don't think you can compare what happened in times when things were different compared to now. Infrastructure has been fucked for some time, through several governments. Migration is at a different level, health care continues to be a problem, in many countries with socialized systems, because of changes in use and costs, and the changes in the nature of industry have been significant. The last Labour government managed to kick the can down the road, particularly with health care, which is being paid for now, when Blair is well out of it

There are alw.ays problems, its a Govts job to steer a course around them, even Tory MPs are questioning why, after 13 years, they ve improved nothing, raised taxes and have no vision... aprt from removing Inheritance tax...

Name any comparable European country with almost 8m on waiting lists and such low numbers of Dr's, Nurses and Equipment, like Scanners per head of population?

You may not agree with PFI but imagine an NHS without those new hospitals? plus, in terms of Govt borrowing and NHS spend, its small, PFI repayments in 2023 will reach £2.1 billion

https://www.nuffieldtrust.org.uk/resource/making-sense-of-pfi#:~:text=This%20year%2C%20total%20repayments%20will,to%20nearly%20%C2%A382%20billion.