Council Elections

[OneTealShaker]

The first declared seats going to Reform.

Reform +2
Labour -1

Buckle up people.

Tinkering? Actually, it's chipping away and it makes the UK less attractive to come stay.. And half the amount of visa controlled immigration is tinkering? OK. For the record, we do actually need some immigration where our skills are lacking or jobs we won't do..

Increasing staff to deal with the massive backlog of claimants isn't a good thing?

If you're only thinking of asylum seekers, well, if you have the solution to this problem, please let them know so they can get on with it asap. Cheers.

Ah, so you want them all sent away on a boat somewhere? Lol, ok.

Welcome to logical fallacies

Personally, I’m quite relaxed about Reform taking loads of council seats because they deserve a crack at the whip. Labour and Conservatives are almost indistinguishable now and between them, have brought the country to their knees.

At least we now have a chance to see whether Reform can translate words into actions locally, before the next GE, so we can judge whether or not they actually have any credibility. If they screw up on local councils, then at least the electorate gave them a go.

And this is why so many people are turning to reform. Denial… denial… denial! lol, ok

Labour got in with a solution to the problem, some bought in to ‘smash the gangs’.

And again, remind me of how “smash the gangs” is going?

Yes there are ways to automate elements of the work done by these professionals. Surely, you can work that out for yourself given that UK wages and productivity have been lagging other developed countries.

They got in because the Tories gifted it to them for so many reasons. Not just smash the gangs.

Remind me of your solution if so easy?

Greens aren't doing so well - shame as all those potential Green lunatics councillors were going to solve all the Gaza/Middle East issues.
There will be tears in the ME tonight.

My family is ethnically Indian. Largely working in the NHS as either Doctors or Nurses. Could you please explain how you automate healthcare and social care? I will save you time by confirming that largely you cannot, it is Labour intensive skilled work. Outside of healthcare the biggest legal inward migration area is for IT and technical skills. Also largely from India. These skills are not available locally and cannot be created quickly. To grow, importing these skills is a necessity. Your assumption that lots of UK people will suddenly have the capacity to become key medical workers and particularly carers is quite flawed.

It's not cut but this year's increase is lower at 3.99 than in every other year I der Labour it was always 4.99

Labour have one apparently. If they got it wrong they’ll lose votes.

No, it's realism.

Honestly, why can you not see that this problem is world wide, caused by world-wide problems, not easy to solve? Why are you unrealistic?

Why do you think Reform will have the answer? Please tell me what they plan to do? Because what I see is Reform making life a lot harder for the rest of the UK while still failing to stop any boats.

Your lack of answer speaks volumes.

You tell me! You’re claiming Starmer has got the migration figures down. You’re clearly standing up for a party who bleated “smash the gangs” so tell me how he has done that? Or was it just another piece of manipulative bullshit he spew to try and win over votes?

More gaslighting bullshit! I haven’t said reform have the answer. I said it’s not surprising that more people are turning to reform when all people like you can do is deny there’s a problem and claim figures are down!

It’s your party who pledged to smash the gangs. If they fail to do that it will lose them votes.

Ik you can’t see this but as a starter look at last night and what comes in this weekend. People are voting for anyone else.

You must be in Worcestershire. Don't know why it's so high there. Other Reform led councils are lower than previous Labour council tax increases.

You're not wrong but of 5 candidates, only one in my area had anything in their leaflets to say about the local area and didn't go on about national policies and / or how horrid all the others were. Along the lines of 'we're the only ones who can beat insert party they don't like most here'

He was Conservative and he got my vote. What he had to say on local issues agreed with my experience so he at least has some sense. Unlike the others.

Starmer was the one claiming repeatedly Labour was going to 'smash the gangs'. No one else needs to provide a solution - they are the party in power and are expected to deliver on their promises. It really is very simple.

Are you mixing up migration and people on boats?

I am not standing up for a party, I am being realistic. I applaud most of Labours things they are doing because it's making the UK less appealing to make the journey for. I am applauding their increase in processing and removing failed asylum seekers, miles better than under the tories when it pretty much stopped completely. What I do understand is this is a very difficult problem to solve.

What I am most concerned about is people in the UK voting reform because of this issue, while we end up losing the things that are great about the UK. Our human rights, our sense of fairness. Reform don't like women, they don't like the NHS, they want to get rid of the Equalities act, which protects us women. I think all of these things should be taken into account rather than just the immigration problem - and immigration is NOT the cause of all the issues in the UK anyway.

Apparently Starmer is furious because he was not told local elections had taken place yesterday.

He has ordered an enquiry into why the elections had gone ahead without his knowledge and will sack all civil servants in charge...

So did you expect it to happen overnight? Really? OK.