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Reply | More hotels needed
at 10:14 18 Oct 2024
Agree with most of this. The Blair and Brown governments did underestimate the scale of immigration from the Eastern EU countries, and one factor there was the poor advice coming from immigration studies research groups, especially the one led by Christian Dustmann at UCL. Their various "findings" over many years about trends in numbers arriving and beneficial economic impact mostly look very shaky now. I think the Tories bought in too much to the economic benefits claims, and listened too much to what big business wanted, Johnson recently admitted that after the pandemic fears about labour shortages and inflation led the government to make wrong decisions about numbers of visas granted. I also think we faced difficult times internationally and that the three nationality-specific immigration schemes for Afghanistan, Hong Kong and Ukraine added to our problems. I broadly supported all three, but if we went with these we needed to tighten up in other areas. The criminal justice system is a mess, but I'd say the civil law system is even worse, especially the use of judicial review to limit what government and public bodies can do in areas such as deportation. Of course, that links up to current debates about the relationship between domestic law and international treaty obligations. |
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Reply | Councillor’s wife pleads guilty over race riot tweet
at 08:13 18 Oct 2024
One way to look at this is that prompt, tough action had the desired effect and a line has been drawn under recent civil disturbances. Others will say (or think in private) that the line between what people can say or not say has moved, that this is increasingly different from the way the line is drawn in some other countries such as the United States, that there are issues about relativities in sentencing and a selective focus with a political aspect, and that this adds a new dimension to the culture wars. We'll have to wait and see who is right, but I would not be surprised if there are unintended consequences. |
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Reply | Councillor’s wife pleads guilty over race riot tweet
at 17:13 17 Oct 2024
Sentenced today to 31 months in jail. That is a very substantial sentence for an online social media post. We shall have to see how sentences for cases coming through for people on the Left/Palestinian side, like Ricky Jones, compare. |
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Reply | Plaid Cymru on Israel
at 15:58 17 Oct 2024
Best to remember that nowadays people skate on thin ice when they discuss a proscribed terrorist organisation.
Terrorism Act, 2000. Section 12, Support
(1A) A person commits an offence if the person—
(a) expresses an opinion or belief that is supportive of a proscribed organisation, and
(b) in doing so is reckless as to whether a person to whom the expression is directed will be encouraged to support a proscribed organisation.
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Reply | Our Foreign Secretary
at 22:45 16 Oct 2024
He always gets this wrong. Months ago he was listing Ireland rather than Northern Ireland as his fourth country within the two islands. Sometimes the four UK territorial areas are described as the "home countries". The problem there is that many question whether N. Ireland (the six counties) in particular can be described as a country. Writers on UK devolution mostly avoid the country term, and instead refer to territories or devolved administrations. The BBC is the last place to look for clarity with their misleading use of the idea of the "four nations", when they are clearly not nation states. None of these terms feature in the devolution legislation. The only sovereign nation covering the land area where we live is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. None of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, or even England, can have their own Foreign Secretary because foreign affairs is a matter reserved to the competence of the UK Parliament. [Post edited 16 Oct 22:52]
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Reply | Any PC/Gaming PC experts on here?
at 18:52 16 Oct 2024
My only experience is as a dad who has funded both a PS4 (in the distant past) and a custom-built PC starting 4 years ago. My son's current system is not top of the range but still cost around 2K with the monitor, and gives more impressive performance than the consoles. It also still has a slight edge on two more recent ROG gaming laptops that were not cheap. The first of these is very heavy, and I got conned into buying a second light-weight one because it was needed to handle the graphics and CAD programmes needed for a uni engineering course. I think with the PCs the graphics card is more critical than the main processor as long as the latter is reasonable. One downside with consoles is that you cannot play most games without a subscription - Playstation Plus or X-Box Game Pass. For Playstation, this also applied to online multiplayer games, but I think X-Box now allows some of these to be played free. |
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Thread | More hotels needed
at 17:59 16 Oct 2024
It seems only a few short weeks ago that the Labour Party promised to phase out the use of hotels for "irregular" migrant accommodation, which they said would be possible when they "smashed the gangs". This was initially presented as something that could be achieved in about a year. At the same time, senior party figures stated that the use of migrant barges and military bases to house migrants would be discontinued. More recently, Ministers have conceded that three years is a more realistic time scale for phasing out hotels. The letting of new five year contracts to run two migrant processing centres also suggests that the realisation is dawning that illegal immigration will be a long-term problem. Now an investigation by Times journalists has revealed that the recent influx of cross-channel migrants has used up most of the "buffer" of vacant hotel beds that government finances as a reserve, and that the Home Office is seeking to contract anew with hotels the Tories had stopped using and find new hotels to put to this use. Quite where this leaves all the billions Labour promised to save is a matter of uncertainty. In the French camps the policies of the "friendly one" seem to have been very helpful to the people smugglers.
https://www.lbc.co.uk/news/asylum-seekers-immigration-bibby-stockholm-hotels/#:~ |
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Reply | Tony Blair
at 22:09 15 Oct 2024
I am not a fan of PFI, or the relabelled version one finds in Wales and Scotland (which has more projects of this kind than Wales). Rather, I am suggesting that in a period when public finances are tight and the NHS is in dire straits, Labour will be tempted, especially given what Streeting has said. His main thing to begin with will be NHS patients in private hospitals. As I said, this would be an example of Blair/Brown policies resurfacing.
I said I am not automatically against all public/private partnerships because there may be some cases where they work. One local example which provided dialysis services for West Wales over many years when alternative funding seemed very difficult is the kidney unit at Glanwily run in partnership with Fresenius Medical Care. As you say most such deals are dreadful value. [Post edited 15 Oct 22:25]
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Reply | Iran attacking Israel
at 15:43 15 Oct 2024
I'm another who would argue that no definitive agreement ever existed. However, the other angle on this concerns how much sense it makes to argue that agreements between power blocs should determine the fate of weaker sovereign nations. Given the way Russian politics has changed since the days of Gorbachev and Yeltsin, it is unsurprising that several states that were in the Soviet sphere of interest did their best to forge links with western countries. Should that be blocked if it is shown that James Baker or Hans Dietrich Genscher said something about Nato's ambitions to Gorbachev off the record? |
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Reply | Tony Blair
at 15:27 15 Oct 2024
Can't comment on that particular change, but I was thinking back to possible parallels between the Starmer and Blair governments when it comes to unexpected changes of direction, and one example is the use of the private sector to deliver NHS work. That policy surfaced a couple of years into Blair's first term, and under Milburn and others there was a move to create a market in which any hospital provider willing to do the work at the NHS tariff, and meeting required quality accreditation standards, could join in. As far as I can see, Wes Streeting is still talking very much along the same lines as in this article from 2022.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-59910107#:~:text=Mr%20Streeting%20told%20
Will we see increasing numbers of patients channelled through private hospitals and even a new wave of PFI contracts for capital developments? The WG are doing some of the latter, albeit relabelled as Mutual Investment Model (MIM) schemes. If so, I don't myself automatically condemn all such arrangements, but many on the left will be unhappy. |
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Reply | 🏴 Wales v Montenegro 🇲🇪 : Nations League Qualif
at 21:49 14 Oct 2024
Good in parts, but reminded me of the Swans in some ways. The national team lacked a goalscorer upfront, and were always going to need a mistake or a pen to get on the scoresheet. Held on well, and the Swansea lads all did okay. Some of those who couldn't play will give us a bit more as an attacking force. but the squad is thin in some positions. Pity about the late Turkish goal in the other group game. |
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Reply | Plaid Cymru on Israel
at 20:49 14 Oct 2024
Don't seem to understand the meaning of genocide either. Perhaps they should read the 1988 Hamas Charter to refresh their memories. |
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Reply | Fuel
at 16:19 14 Oct 2024
Interestingly, a specialist on the Russian economy interviewed on Times Radio yesterday suggested that the GDP growth figure needed to be treated cautiously because growth is based largely on the production of war-related products by state industries. The GDP calculation includes an inflation component (based on the value of the goods) that can be decided by fiat between the central state and the state enterprise. The expert suggested that inflation was over-estimated by about 2%, so that real GDP growth was closer to 1.9% than 3.9%. |
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Reply | For those who think the rich should pay more tax
at 10:56 14 Oct 2024
He has boasted in the past of his properties and his virtue as a responsible landlord. One could argue that he is right in line for a bit of extra tax, I have certainly been paying my share on money generated through work. |
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Reply | Death rate in Russian prisons
at 10:51 14 Oct 2024
There have been several examples of Russians shooting prisoners (based on drone video footage) posted on Telegram and this has happened a couple of times in the last week. I don't know how to post extracts from Telegram threads here, but here is just one example from Twitter/X.
https://x.com/search?q=Russians%20shoot%20prisoners&src=typed_query
I have to say that I find myself recoiling in revulsion when people deny the reality of something for which clear proof exists. Also a look at the emaciated condition of Ukrainian prisoners returned under exchange deals tells you all you need to know about how well the Russians treat them. [Post edited 14 Oct 11:02]
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Reply | Let’s hope Vipotnik gets splinters today.
at 16:16 13 Oct 2024
Came on in the 71st minute. Didn't seem to do much although he provided an assist for one shot that was off target. No info on any injury or problem. Slovenia won 1-0. [Post edited 13 Oct 16:17]
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Reply | Iran attacking Israel
at 15:58 13 Oct 2024
There is an angel positioned at the Pearly Gates tasked with picking out deceased gynaecologists experienced in hymenoplasty, such is the need to refresh supplies.  |
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Reply | The illegal immigration capital of Europe?
at 11:32 13 Oct 2024
Au contraire, I made the group I was referring to clear in my first sentence: "most irregular migrants come from countries where public health services are quite limited."
Incidentally, the data used by the Oxford group (your link) for foreign-born persons (of whom only a minority are irregular immigrants) are self reported data. For example, they state that only 5% report serious mental health problems compared with 10% of UK-born persons. What one really needs is utilisation data on actual service use. This leaves me unsure about validity of the findings. Work in Germany shows that immigrants (i.e. in this case both legal and illegal immigrants) have poorer health than nationals.
Becker J, Faller G. Workload and health of workers with a migrant background. Bundesgesundheitsblatt - Gesundheitsforschung – Gesundheitsschutz. 2019;62(9):1083–91. 10.1007/s00103-019-02992-0. 10.1007/s00103-019-02992-0
Brand T, Samkange-Zeeb F, Ellert U, Keil T, Krist L, Dragano N, Jöckel K-H, Razum O, Reiss K, Greiser KH, Zimmermann H, Becher H, Zeeb H. Acculturation and health-related quality of life: results from the German National Cohort migrant feasibility study. Int J Public Health. 2017;62(5):521–9. 10.1007/s00038-017-0957-6. 10.1007/s00038-017-0957-6
Brzoska P, Ellert U, Kimil A, Razum O, Sass AC, Salman R, Zeeb H. Reviewing the topic of migration and health as a new national health target for Germany. Int J Public Health. 2015;60(1):13–20. 10.1007/s00038-014-0617-z. 10.1007/s00038-014-0617-z
One would imagine, given the influx of non-European migrants into Germany under Merkel, that the demographic profile is more similar to that of our own recent irregular migrants.
Of course, those who make themselves known to the UK authorities are entitled to the full range of NHS services. Those who don't are entitled to A & E, treatment of communicable diseases, GP treatment at the discretion of the GP, and given the lax state of recording and charging overseas visitors (the problem the electronic tags in patient records is meant to mitigate) might anyway get other treatments without paying in some cases. [Post edited 13 Oct 11:45]
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