| General Election Thread 17:46 - May 22 with 185442 views | loftboy |
This will be the first election that I have no idea who to vote for, will never vote Tory again after the lies during covid where my dad lost his life, don’t trust starmer, would never vote for a bunch of racists like reform , anyone give me a clue?
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| General Election Thread on 09:29 - May 31 with 2312 views | dmm |
What worries me about pensions in the future is that statutory pension contributions are not put into a pension fund as such but simply spent by the present Government. This puts the ability of future Governments to pay pensions at risk because of potentially decreasing tax receipts.
And the UK state pensions are not particularly high in comparison to other European countries. Nations like Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cyprus and others all pay out substantially higher amounts. |  | | |
| General Election Thread on 09:47 - May 31 with 2231 views | Watford_Ranger |
| General Election Thread on 09:29 - May 31 by dmm |
What worries me about pensions in the future is that statutory pension contributions are not put into a pension fund as such but simply spent by the present Government. This puts the ability of future Governments to pay pensions at risk because of potentially decreasing tax receipts.
And the UK state pensions are not particularly high in comparison to other European countries. Nations like Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cyprus and others all pay out substantially higher amounts. |
If I make it to that age I really doubt pensions will be a thing in 35-40 years. Probably scrapped under the guise of “putting more money back into your pocket”. |  | | |
| General Election Thread on 10:03 - May 31 with 2185 views | JPC |
The thing with fraud is that we tend to focus on what the media tell us to focus on rather than the sleight of hand that those at the top table keep quiet.
I came across this real-life example recently and had never really considered it. My Son has significant learning difficulties and lives in assisted accommodation in Twickenham with other adults of similar abilities. There are full time carers supporting them. The accommodation and the carers are of course what our taxes go towards paying for, and I'm profoundly grateful - without that I have no idea what his life would look like.
These carers get paid about 23k a year. It's a pretty tough gig. They struggle to recruit. So they get Agency staff in to fill in the vacancies. These are paid exactly the same, yet are charged at 48k a year. Someone is pocketing 25k a year for absolutely no benefit. We're told that paying carers a small increase is unacceptable as it leads to wage inflation - but this is an industrial sized con.
Boils my piss - it really does [Post edited 31 May 12:00]
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| General Election Thread on 10:59 - May 31 with 2040 views | SheffieldHoop |
| General Election Thread on 10:03 - May 31 by JPC |
The thing with fraud is that we tend to focus on what the media tell us to focus on rather than the sleight of hand that those at the top table keep quiet.
I came across this real-life example recently and had never really considered it. My Son has significant learning difficulties and lives in assisted accommodation in Twickenham with other adults of similar abilities. There are full time carers supporting them. The accommodation and the carers are of course what our taxes go towards paying for, and I'm profoundly grateful - without that I have no idea what his life would look like.
These carers get paid about 23k a year. It's a pretty tough gig. They struggle to recruit. So they get Agency staff in to fill in the vacancies. These are paid exactly the same, yet are charged at 48k a year. Someone is pocketing 25k a year for absolutely no benefit. We're told that paying carers a small increase is unacceptable as it leads to wage inflation - but this is an industrial sized con.
Boils my piss - it really does [Post edited 31 May 12:00]
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Bit more complicated than that
Any agency member of staff worth their salt will be offered a full-time permanent position fairly quickly, more security for them and cheaper for the employer. Some people prefer the flexibility of agency only. Some have to carefully manage their hours so as not to interfere with working tax credits.
You also need some element of agency/temporary staffing to cover absence, which since covid has stayed at remarkably high levels
They were actually doing quite well with reducing agency spend in the years prior to covid but as with many other sectors covid was used as an excuse and everything has gone back to shit
There is nothing actually stopping you from starting your own agency, I know people who have done it, it's harder than it looks [Post edited 31 May 11:14]
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| "Someone despises me. That's their problem." Marcus Aurelius |
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| General Election Thread on 11:07 - May 31 with 2024 views | SheffieldHoop |
| General Election Thread on 23:20 - May 30 by DannyPaddox |
We all have a quintessential post - and here’s yours - you’re literally a shît apologist. |
I'd rather be an apologist for bad weather than a Hamas apologist or a gender cult apologist, which we have our fair share of on here.
I've asked for more info - I'm fully aware that my echo chamber (We all have one) is telling me that the idea our toilets flush directly into the Thames is absurd. I've opened the manhole cover outside my house before and not much sign of the Thames down there.
We're saying there's been no investment in water infrastructure but we've literally in the last year or 2 completed the largest sewer in Europe. We all sit here pretending not to know why our infrastructure is overloaded, but knowing full well we're not having kids and importing 700k people a year. Anybody who points out the obvious truth is a pariah. | |
| "Someone despises me. That's their problem." Marcus Aurelius |
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| General Election Thread on 11:59 - May 31 with 1959 views | JPC |
| General Election Thread on 10:59 - May 31 by SheffieldHoop |
Bit more complicated than that
Any agency member of staff worth their salt will be offered a full-time permanent position fairly quickly, more security for them and cheaper for the employer. Some people prefer the flexibility of agency only. Some have to carefully manage their hours so as not to interfere with working tax credits.
You also need some element of agency/temporary staffing to cover absence, which since covid has stayed at remarkably high levels
They were actually doing quite well with reducing agency spend in the years prior to covid but as with many other sectors covid was used as an excuse and everything has gone back to shit
There is nothing actually stopping you from starting your own agency, I know people who have done it, it's harder than it looks [Post edited 31 May 11:14]
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Fine if that's how they use agency staff - that's really not the case here. I've spoken to a number of the carers and the managers and they all say the same thing. None of them want / can afford to be full time in what is a very demanding job. The agency staff are used full time - not as cover. Most of them are from overseas. paying full time staff a rate of pay that is fair and meaningful would actually reduce the cost - but no-one is incentivised to do this. | | | |
| General Election Thread on 12:06 - May 31 with 1915 views | SheffieldHoop |
| General Election Thread on 11:59 - May 31 by JPC |
Fine if that's how they use agency staff - that's really not the case here. I've spoken to a number of the carers and the managers and they all say the same thing. None of them want / can afford to be full time in what is a very demanding job. The agency staff are used full time - not as cover. Most of them are from overseas. paying full time staff a rate of pay that is fair and meaningful would actually reduce the cost - but no-one is incentivised to do this. |
Huh? None of the staff want or can afford to be full time, but they are using overseas agency workers on a full time basis to cover vacancy?
The full time agency workers should be made permanent to fill the vacancy. Simple. They evidently already have the right to work in the UK, so what's the problem? Whoever is managing the service has an incentive to make that happen because it's their service they are managing. If you are suggesting fraud is taking place, who are you suggesting is the beneficiary of that? The service manager or A.N.Other Tory party donor? | |
| "Someone despises me. That's their problem." Marcus Aurelius |
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| General Election Thread on 12:38 - May 31 with 1816 views | dmm |
| General Election Thread on 11:07 - May 31 by SheffieldHoop |
I'd rather be an apologist for bad weather than a Hamas apologist or a gender cult apologist, which we have our fair share of on here.
I've asked for more info - I'm fully aware that my echo chamber (We all have one) is telling me that the idea our toilets flush directly into the Thames is absurd. I've opened the manhole cover outside my house before and not much sign of the Thames down there.
We're saying there's been no investment in water infrastructure but we've literally in the last year or 2 completed the largest sewer in Europe. We all sit here pretending not to know why our infrastructure is overloaded, but knowing full well we're not having kids and importing 700k people a year. Anybody who points out the obvious truth is a pariah. |
That bastion of left wing politics, the Evening Standard, yesterday reported sewage was discharged into London’s waterways for more than 12,000 hours over the last year. The mechanics of how that happened aren't too important. That it happened and continues to happen all over the country absolutely is. And, while this happens, multi million pound dividends are paid out to water company shareholders rather than invested in creating safe and clean water services.
Privatisation not immigration is to blame. Our water services must be brought back into public ownership. | | | |
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| General Election Thread on 12:46 - May 31 with 1770 views | SheffieldHoop |
| General Election Thread on 12:38 - May 31 by dmm |
That bastion of left wing politics, the Evening Standard, yesterday reported sewage was discharged into London’s waterways for more than 12,000 hours over the last year. The mechanics of how that happened aren't too important. That it happened and continues to happen all over the country absolutely is. And, while this happens, multi million pound dividends are paid out to water company shareholders rather than invested in creating safe and clean water services.
Privatisation not immigration is to blame. Our water services must be brought back into public ownership. |
"The mechanics of how that happened aren't too important. That it happened and continues to happen all over the country absolutely is."
Doesn't this just sum up the current problem with the left? Detail is not important to you guys. Headlines & soundbites are. People are tired of it. We want details, not liars putting out Trumpesque "Trans women are women" soundbites that we all instinctively know are utter bullshit. | |
| "Someone despises me. That's their problem." Marcus Aurelius |
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| General Election Thread on 12:55 - May 31 with 1740 views | ted_hendrix |
| General Election Thread on 12:38 - May 31 by dmm |
That bastion of left wing politics, the Evening Standard, yesterday reported sewage was discharged into London’s waterways for more than 12,000 hours over the last year. The mechanics of how that happened aren't too important. That it happened and continues to happen all over the country absolutely is. And, while this happens, multi million pound dividends are paid out to water company shareholders rather than invested in creating safe and clean water services.
Privatisation not immigration is to blame. Our water services must be brought back into public ownership. |
The UK’s largest water company Thames Water is scrambling to find extra cash, as it handed out millions of pounds worth of dividends to shareholders and bonuses to top bosses in recent years.
The stark update highlights the deepening financial woes for the firm which is sitting on a debt pile of £14.7 billion.
The stark update highlights the deepening financial woes for the firm which is sitting on a debt pile of £14.7 billion.
It has come under pressure from water regulator Ofwat to improve its financial performance amid mounting concerns over its future.
Despite the troubles, Thames Water revealed in December that it paid a £37.5 million dividend to a parent company.
When asked to explain the move by Ofwat, Thames said the money had been moved to help pay its debts.
In the year to the end of March 2023, it paid out about £45 million in dividends, and the previous two years it handed out a combined £53.9 million.
But the firm stresses that it has not paid a dividend to “external shareholders” for at least the past five years.
Thursday 28 March 2024. |  |
| My Father had a profound influence on me, he was a lunatic. |
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| General Election Thread on 12:57 - May 31 with 1725 views | dsw2509 |
I’m no great fan of Starmer but the Tories have to go. Labour it is. I don’t need to spell out the reasons in full, but how about these;
Inflicting Brexit and telling porkies on an epic scale.
They partied, people’s relatives died.
Use the Rwanda outrage as ludicrous alternative to a fair and well run asylum policy (with legal routes to enter the U.K. to address the small boats issue).
Hollowing out the public realm so that nothing works any more.
Pretending that climate change is someone else’s problem.
I could go on. Just do it and throw the rascals out!! | | | |
| General Election Thread on 12:57 - May 31 with 1725 views | dmm |
So the functional detail of how sewage is being discharged into rivers is more important than the fact that water companies are illegally polluting our waterways? Bizarre. As is your attempt to deflect this onto Trans issues. | | | |
| General Election Thread on 13:02 - May 31 with 1705 views | QPR_Jim |
| General Election Thread on 11:07 - May 31 by SheffieldHoop |
I'd rather be an apologist for bad weather than a Hamas apologist or a gender cult apologist, which we have our fair share of on here.
I've asked for more info - I'm fully aware that my echo chamber (We all have one) is telling me that the idea our toilets flush directly into the Thames is absurd. I've opened the manhole cover outside my house before and not much sign of the Thames down there.
We're saying there's been no investment in water infrastructure but we've literally in the last year or 2 completed the largest sewer in Europe. We all sit here pretending not to know why our infrastructure is overloaded, but knowing full well we're not having kids and importing 700k people a year. Anybody who points out the obvious truth is a pariah. |
Loads of new houses are getting built as well (housing some of those extra people) which put extra stain on the system, but they pay water rates so should expect for some of that money to be re-invested in the infrastructure. Instead billions of pounds flow out of the water companies and into the pockets of private individuals. Did they not know that they would need to increase their capacity, did they not think it was worth having a robust system that can deal with a few extra turds and some rain?
Thames Tideway is a great improvement but lets not pretend that it's not long overdue, it's replacing a 150 year old system. It also probably wouldn't have happened if it weren't for the EU rules around water pollution when the project started, if it was to be reviewed today I guess that the water companies would just lobby the government to change the standards.
My water company has sent me a marketing e-mail today to explain the difference between pollution and algal bloom, so I don't mistake the two when wondering why the waters brown. They weren't necessarily forthcoming in their communication that algal bloom is caused by excess nutrients in the water (normally feterliser or effluent). |  | | |
| General Election Thread on 13:06 - May 31 with 1657 views | SheffieldHoop |
| General Election Thread on 12:57 - May 31 by dmm |
So the functional detail of how sewage is being discharged into rivers is more important than the fact that water companies are illegally polluting our waterways? Bizarre. As is your attempt to deflect this onto Trans issues. |
Like saying we should stop doing autopsies on murder victims, the fact they are dead should be enough to prove there has been a murder. Bizarre.
We can all call each other names. I asked for more detail and nothing more than "It's happening" has been forthcoming. Even in the South (Where I regard the water quality as being: Fcking shit) our water quality is remarkably better than most other places on earth.
Also not deflecting anything onto "Trans issues" - I'm critiquing the left. [Post edited 31 May 13:25]
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| "Someone despises me. That's their problem." Marcus Aurelius |
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| General Election Thread on 13:08 - May 31 with 1659 views | Stainrod |
| General Election Thread on 14:54 - May 30 by SheffieldHoop |
Isn't this partly why Brexit was/is so important?
The fact they're still doing it after Brexit is why people like me argue Brexit still hasn't actually happened. |
Respectfully wrong on every count.
The EU wants to outlaw cherry-picking of tax jurisdictions. Brexit Britain doesn't feel strong enough to do so on its own (doubt a Labour govt would have the strength either).
People like you argue that Brexit still hasn't actually happened because the Brexit you all dreamed of was impossible and never will happen:
We can't have frictionless trade with the EU
We can't do without immigration because we have an ageing, unhealthy and under-educated population
We can't do a trade deal with America because they don't want one
We can't sell more to countries further away than Europe because leaving the EU doesn't bring us any closer to countries on the other side of the world
We can't turn Britain into a "Singapore-on-Thames" with flat tax rates, no safety net for the poor, no NHS free at the point of delivery - for the very simple reason that the British people don't want it. [Post edited 31 May 13:09]
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| General Election Thread on 13:11 - May 31 with 1635 views | SheffieldHoop |
| General Election Thread on 12:55 - May 31 by ted_hendrix |
The UK’s largest water company Thames Water is scrambling to find extra cash, as it handed out millions of pounds worth of dividends to shareholders and bonuses to top bosses in recent years.
The stark update highlights the deepening financial woes for the firm which is sitting on a debt pile of £14.7 billion.
The stark update highlights the deepening financial woes for the firm which is sitting on a debt pile of £14.7 billion.
It has come under pressure from water regulator Ofwat to improve its financial performance amid mounting concerns over its future.
Despite the troubles, Thames Water revealed in December that it paid a £37.5 million dividend to a parent company.
When asked to explain the move by Ofwat, Thames said the money had been moved to help pay its debts.
In the year to the end of March 2023, it paid out about £45 million in dividends, and the previous two years it handed out a combined £53.9 million.
But the firm stresses that it has not paid a dividend to “external shareholders” for at least the past five years.
Thursday 28 March 2024. |
If it's really this straightforward, why don't you guys just buy some shares in all of these massive dividend-paying companies?
Why are shares in Thames Water today worth almost 50% less than they were 10 years ago, if it's making so much profit?
I'm not arguing with you, I'm genuinely asking | |
| "Someone despises me. That's their problem." Marcus Aurelius |
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| General Election Thread on 13:22 - May 31 with 1610 views | SheffieldHoop |
| General Election Thread on 13:08 - May 31 by Stainrod |
Respectfully wrong on every count.
The EU wants to outlaw cherry-picking of tax jurisdictions. Brexit Britain doesn't feel strong enough to do so on its own (doubt a Labour govt would have the strength either).
People like you argue that Brexit still hasn't actually happened because the Brexit you all dreamed of was impossible and never will happen:
We can't have frictionless trade with the EU
We can't do without immigration because we have an ageing, unhealthy and under-educated population
We can't do a trade deal with America because they don't want one
We can't sell more to countries further away than Europe because leaving the EU doesn't bring us any closer to countries on the other side of the world
We can't turn Britain into a "Singapore-on-Thames" with flat tax rates, no safety net for the poor, no NHS free at the point of delivery - for the very simple reason that the British people don't want it. [Post edited 31 May 13:09]
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Errrrrrrm, trying to avoid tit for tat but.....
The EU wants to outlaw cherry-picking of tax jurisdictions. Brexit Britain doesn't feel strong enough to do so on its own (doubt a Labour govt would have the strength either). - Bit late now, should've done it before ROI nicked all the Corporation tax. (Fair play to them) I see it as being outside the tent pissing in, we have an opportunity to do something to our advantage here
We can't have frictionless trade with the EU - So? We're just as able to create friction as they are.
We can't do without immigration because we have an ageing, unhealthy and under-educated population - Stop being selfish and have some kids then? I'm 31 and have 2, I'm doing my bit. Why won't people like you? Unhealthy....Undereducated......We've got universal free at the point of use healthcare and we're still unhealthy......while 37.5% of Brits complete Higher education ffs! That's far more than in the MENAT region that we're sourcing our migrants from.
We can't do a trade deal with America because they don't want one - Only temporarily, when Trump comes back we'll see
We can't sell more to countries further away than Europe because leaving the EU doesn't bring us any closer to countries on the other side of the world - We've already done trade deals with some further away countries so that's another lie. I'm not saying you're deliberately lying here - But I think you are being lied to by the media
We can't turn Britain into a "Singapore-on-Thames" with flat tax rates, no safety net for the poor, no NHS free at the point of delivery - for the very simple reason that the British people don't want it. - Speak for yourself. I do. What actual evidence have you got to back up this claim? Did you hear it on Sky news or something?
Anyway, lets save Clive the aggro of a back n forth [Post edited 31 May 13:44]
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| "Someone despises me. That's their problem." Marcus Aurelius |
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| General Election Thread on 17:08 - May 31 with 1417 views | Lblock |
| General Election Thread on 13:02 - May 31 by QPR_Jim |
Loads of new houses are getting built as well (housing some of those extra people) which put extra stain on the system, but they pay water rates so should expect for some of that money to be re-invested in the infrastructure. Instead billions of pounds flow out of the water companies and into the pockets of private individuals. Did they not know that they would need to increase their capacity, did they not think it was worth having a robust system that can deal with a few extra turds and some rain?
Thames Tideway is a great improvement but lets not pretend that it's not long overdue, it's replacing a 150 year old system. It also probably wouldn't have happened if it weren't for the EU rules around water pollution when the project started, if it was to be reviewed today I guess that the water companies would just lobby the government to change the standards.
My water company has sent me a marketing e-mail today to explain the difference between pollution and algal bloom, so I don't mistake the two when wondering why the waters brown. They weren't necessarily forthcoming in their communication that algal bloom is caused by excess nutrients in the water (normally feterliser or effluent). |
I worked for Thames Water for about 5 years on a sort of secondment when the COmpany I was with won a Term Contract to oversee maintenance and repairs across their property stock.
If you think TW is in a bad state then you're wrong..... it's far, far, far worse than that.
The Aussies and the Chinese have bled them beyond dry.
It was almost frightening the state of their buildings
One thing I learnt -- Slough STW had (has) three of these great big machines that separate shite from fluid and basically keep a vast area of West London from becoming flooded with our own crap. The bloke running the facility told us that number 3 had been off line for years and had gradually been stripped for parts although it was a back up previously.
So we asked why only one machine was working at the moment - this was because the other one now the back up but he was having to use that for spares as the Head Office wouldn't sign off on keeping him stocked. His words were (with no irony)... "we're one serious breakdown from being right in the shit"
Scandalous and that's from me who is a capitalist to the hilt. |  |
| Cherish and enjoy life.... this ain't no dress rehearsal |
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| General Election Thread on 17:21 - May 31 with 1400 views | BazzaInTheLoft |
| General Election Thread on 17:08 - May 31 by Lblock |
I worked for Thames Water for about 5 years on a sort of secondment when the COmpany I was with won a Term Contract to oversee maintenance and repairs across their property stock.
If you think TW is in a bad state then you're wrong..... it's far, far, far worse than that.
The Aussies and the Chinese have bled them beyond dry.
It was almost frightening the state of their buildings
One thing I learnt -- Slough STW had (has) three of these great big machines that separate shite from fluid and basically keep a vast area of West London from becoming flooded with our own crap. The bloke running the facility told us that number 3 had been off line for years and had gradually been stripped for parts although it was a back up previously.
So we asked why only one machine was working at the moment - this was because the other one now the back up but he was having to use that for spares as the Head Office wouldn't sign off on keeping him stocked. His words were (with no irony)... "we're one serious breakdown from being right in the shit"
Scandalous and that's from me who is a capitalist to the hilt. |
Are these the Australian and Chinese states that have invested LBlock or private companies?
Both scenarios terrible IMO, but particularly egregious if it’s the state of those countries that have invested bearing in mind we are told the private sector is the most efficient way of running things and governments aren’t capable.
This is the case with the railway, with Abellio and Deutsch Bah (Dutch and German state owned rail) making profits on UK services. |  | | |
| General Election Thread on 17:41 - May 31 with 1370 views | Northernr |
| General Election Thread on 17:08 - May 31 by Lblock |
I worked for Thames Water for about 5 years on a sort of secondment when the COmpany I was with won a Term Contract to oversee maintenance and repairs across their property stock.
If you think TW is in a bad state then you're wrong..... it's far, far, far worse than that.
The Aussies and the Chinese have bled them beyond dry.
It was almost frightening the state of their buildings
One thing I learnt -- Slough STW had (has) three of these great big machines that separate shite from fluid and basically keep a vast area of West London from becoming flooded with our own crap. The bloke running the facility told us that number 3 had been off line for years and had gradually been stripped for parts although it was a back up previously.
So we asked why only one machine was working at the moment - this was because the other one now the back up but he was having to use that for spares as the Head Office wouldn't sign off on keeping him stocked. His words were (with no irony)... "we're one serious breakdown from being right in the shit"
Scandalous and that's from me who is a capitalist to the hilt. |
Very good piece in the Economist last issue about particularly the Australian private investors into Thames and how, as you say, they just bled every penny they could out of it while the whole thing rotted. |  | | |
| General Election Thread on 18:01 - May 31 with 1323 views | SheffieldHoop |
Doesn't China also interfere with Australia's water on an industrial scale? I can believe they're doing it to ours. I don't think profit is their true motive, though.
What I struggle with is, why can't we just say this stuff? Why does it have to get to the point where we're all pretending we've got brown water running out of our taps and we're living through The Great Stink? Why can't we just say that Chinese ownership of British water companies is a problem?
Why do we let bullshit like Temu, Shien, or Wish trade here? What do they do for us? I'm definitely more of a capitalist than a socialist - I have first-hand experience of the corruption and bloat public services suffer when their funding is guaranteed for decade upon decade - Which I have no doubt was the case with the water companies prior to privatisation - But selling it to Chinese (Govt or "investors") is just dumb.
The chancellor of our exchequer is allegedly a Chinese asset. Just saying. | |
| "Someone despises me. That's their problem." Marcus Aurelius |
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| General Election Thread on 18:04 - May 31 with 1322 views | BazzaInTheLoft |
| General Election Thread on 18:01 - May 31 by SheffieldHoop |
Doesn't China also interfere with Australia's water on an industrial scale? I can believe they're doing it to ours. I don't think profit is their true motive, though.
What I struggle with is, why can't we just say this stuff? Why does it have to get to the point where we're all pretending we've got brown water running out of our taps and we're living through The Great Stink? Why can't we just say that Chinese ownership of British water companies is a problem?
Why do we let bullshit like Temu, Shien, or Wish trade here? What do they do for us? I'm definitely more of a capitalist than a socialist - I have first-hand experience of the corruption and bloat public services suffer when their funding is guaranteed for decade upon decade - Which I have no doubt was the case with the water companies prior to privatisation - But selling it to Chinese (Govt or "investors") is just dumb.
The chancellor of our exchequer is allegedly a Chinese asset. Just saying. |
Haven't you literally just said it? | | | |
| General Election Thread on 18:14 - May 31 with 1294 views | SheffieldHoop |
| General Election Thread on 18:04 - May 31 by BazzaInTheLoft |
Haven't you literally just said it? |
Yeah, about 27 pages after the water thing was first mentioned. | |
| "Someone despises me. That's their problem." Marcus Aurelius |
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| General Election Thread on 18:27 - May 31 with 1269 views | BazzaInTheLoft |
| General Election Thread on 18:14 - May 31 by SheffieldHoop |
Yeah, about 27 pages after the water thing was first mentioned. |
This is a thread about the general election though. It's not going to be on page one, and I don't think it's reasonable to expect it to be.
Everyone has agreed with you, as does the mainstream media. There is no censorship here.
GUARDIAN
'China’s role in UK infrastructure has been under the spotlight since telecoms groups were forced to strip out Huawei equipment from the UK network and Chinese backers of the Sizewell C nuclear power project were eased out amid security fears'
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/apr/04/thames-water-owner-kemble-debts
FINANCIAL TIMES
'Now, the UK has moved to restrict Chinese investment in critical infrastructure and has recently used national security powers to intervene in deals involving Chinese buyers'
https://www.ft.com/content/84a7eb93-9007-47cc-b06b-165e878e65e1
Those were the first two hits on Google, but there is a long list of articles with critical coverage of the ownership issue. [Post edited 31 May 18:29]
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| General Election Thread on 18:34 - May 31 with 1252 views | Stainrod |
| General Election Thread on 13:22 - May 31 by SheffieldHoop |
Errrrrrrm, trying to avoid tit for tat but.....
The EU wants to outlaw cherry-picking of tax jurisdictions. Brexit Britain doesn't feel strong enough to do so on its own (doubt a Labour govt would have the strength either). - Bit late now, should've done it before ROI nicked all the Corporation tax. (Fair play to them) I see it as being outside the tent pissing in, we have an opportunity to do something to our advantage here
We can't have frictionless trade with the EU - So? We're just as able to create friction as they are.
We can't do without immigration because we have an ageing, unhealthy and under-educated population - Stop being selfish and have some kids then? I'm 31 and have 2, I'm doing my bit. Why won't people like you? Unhealthy....Undereducated......We've got universal free at the point of use healthcare and we're still unhealthy......while 37.5% of Brits complete Higher education ffs! That's far more than in the MENAT region that we're sourcing our migrants from.
We can't do a trade deal with America because they don't want one - Only temporarily, when Trump comes back we'll see
We can't sell more to countries further away than Europe because leaving the EU doesn't bring us any closer to countries on the other side of the world - We've already done trade deals with some further away countries so that's another lie. I'm not saying you're deliberately lying here - But I think you are being lied to by the media
We can't turn Britain into a "Singapore-on-Thames" with flat tax rates, no safety net for the poor, no NHS free at the point of delivery - for the very simple reason that the British people don't want it. - Speak for yourself. I do. What actual evidence have you got to back up this claim? Did you hear it on Sky news or something?
Anyway, lets save Clive the aggro of a back n forth [Post edited 31 May 13:44]
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Er, so you want to avoid tit for tat but you want the last word. Right...
Friction with the EU: half our exports go to the EU. Only 8% of theirs go to us. The Brexiteers never got their head round the fact it was an unequal fight. The Europeans accept they will sell a few less BMWs and bottles of Proseco to us because its much more important to them to protect their single market and customs union. The friction is already starting, both ways. Both lose but we lose more. The real customs checks etc are only just now starting so watch this space. Our exports to the EU already well down.
You demand to know why I'm not doing my bit by having kids? Bizarre. Assume you are joking. For the record I also have two. But many couples can't afford to with rising property, food and energy prices. Or maybe they don't want kids! A higher birth rate would in any case increase the population which you seem to consider damaging. Or maybe its just "some" types of people you don't like.
Immigration - I have already pointed out that EU immigrants were much better educated (you know, the ones we now don't want) compared to the ones from outside the EU we are now bringing in. Net migration is at a record high despite the Tories pledging to cut it, so what's the excuse, you can't blame those evil Europeans now?
American trade deal - very unusual for one party to have the presidency and both houses of congress. We couldn't get a trade deal when Trump was president. And in the very unlikely event we ever did get one, the Americans have already told us some of the things we would have to accept and it caused a national outcry in the UK.
Trade deals with other countries - the one with Japan was a cut and paste of the one we used to have when we were in the EU so no trade boost there. The one with Australia has just helped Australia export loads of stuff they couldn't before. They are delighted - British farmers etc less so.
Turning Britain into Singapore on Thames - you may want it. But why do you think we are almost certainly heading for a more left wing govt? Why do you think even the Tories didn't dare implement those kind of measures like slashing NHS spending? Because they know the public wouldn't stand for it. What's popular in your right wing echo chamber isn't necessarily as popular with the average voter as you may think.
NOW I'm happy to leave it... | | | |
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