- This topic has 691 replies, 19 voices, and was last updated 2 years, 11 months ago by
.
- Topic
I thought I would make a thread on what caught you eye in the news good or bad. This follows on from last week when I posted about the MP Lee Anderson who suggested we could cook a meal from scratch for 30p and foodbanks weren’t needed if we could cook.
So today another Tory MP Racheal Maclean the safeguarding minister has said “That people struggling with the cost of living should take on more hours or move to a better-paid job”
How does a comment like this help the most vulnerable in society. Those that can’t work, the disabled pensioners or even those that can only take up low paid work for what ever reason. I find Mp’s and ministers are so out of touch with with the public, the comments they come out with are beyond nonsense.
- Replies
I have turned the alert off, in the settings on two of our phones. Hearing the alert on one phone, is more than enough!
How to turn off the emergency alert off in your phones settings:
Search your settings for ‘emergency alerts and Turn off ‘severe alerts’ and ‘extreme alerts.
You will also not receive an alert if:
Your phone is turned off or in airplane mode
You’re connected to a 2G or 3G network
You’re using Wi-Fi only (so not connected to a network)
Only phones and tablets running iOS 14.5/Android 11 or later will receive the alert!!MP’s to debate the effects of Brexit on Monday.
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/mps-set-crunch-brexit-inquiry-29762761
Enyaq EV
All politicians should be forced to read this and then say how they’re going to fix it. And throwing borrowed money at it isn’t the answer.
Thanks for being an antidote to the drivel being peddled on some other threads. Few people realise how morally bankrupt the Tories have made the UK. How they have deliberately degraded the NHS as a precursor to privatisation as part of a trade deal with the USA.
When shown in such stark terms it shows a future of nothing more than continuing decline. For what they have inflicted on British Society the Tories should never be allowed the chance to do so again. They are a parasitic infection that should be banished to the extremities hopefully for good!
I contracted to a company in 2008 working in the basements of parliment. What I can say is the floors are meticulousy clean, dedicated pipe racks doned the walls to individually hold the pipes. In areas with not alot of space service cables data telephone cables and fire were bunched indvidualy. In no way would I have said it was damp down there and far better than many of the places I have worked.
The bit where it said the “pipes go nowhere” is actually a manifold and several dotted about down there and of course the pipes go somewhere, branching out into smaller pipes to prove heating and ventalation to the rooms above!
There are some high walls doned with holes that have glass “hats” ontop, that use to provide ventilaton in the victorian times, along with other unusual fixtures.
We all know these stories, but it seems so much worse when you read them all together in an article written by a foreign journalist with no axe to grind.
Enyaq EV
A “distraught” Boris Johnson declared “we’ve got no plan” when he realised Vote Leave would win the Brexit referendum, a new book claims.
Mr Johnstone who is widely credited with delivering the slim majority for Brexit, is said to have walked around his living room “looking ashen-faced and distraught”, muttering: “What the hell is happening? … Oh s***, we’ve got no plan.
Anybody surprised that neither Boris or any of the other Brexiteers had a clue what to do having won the vote?
“Anger’ as more people turn to Trussell Trust food banks than ever before”
Headline from Big Issue, highlighting the usual result of a Tory Government!
“Anger’ as more people turn to Trussell Trust food banks than ever before” Headline from Big Issue, highlighting the usual result of a Tory Government!
Interesting read back from 2015..
However my point still stands, that wherever theres a politician theres corruption and what one party gives the next takes it away…
Local elections 2023: Tories tell people in Labour stronghold they don’t need ID to vote
The Conservative Party has been forced to withdraw a campaign leaflet in Norwich after it told voters they do not need to prove their identity to take part in next week’s local elections, despite a new law requiring everyone to produce ID at polling stations…
I suspect no-one in a Labour stronghold would believe anything the Tories told them, if they read the leaflet at all.
@Kezo wrote
“However my point still stands, that wherever theres a politician theres corruption and what one party gives the next takes it away…”
I honestly don’t think any other UK party does corruption quite like the Tories. I know your enjoying yourself on the SNP thread but compared to the harm the Tories have done to the UK, their efforts are minor league.
Their desire to steal from the poor to subsidise the rich is quite breathtaking.
I did read that a couple of days ago and one I don’t agree with. Pubs and clubs have been on the demise for years. The start of the demise can go back to when smoking was banned, more recently Covid and the cost of living crisis and high running costs saw many of these businesses close their doors alone and had very little if anything to do with brexit. The majority of folk who work in these venues are students. Away from the big town centres and locals its highly unlikely to see EU workers.
I’ve read a lot of clubs and restaurants are only able to open a few days a week due to staffing. You are correct Kezo, a lot of workers in the nighttime economy are students, I worked in a pub myself when I was a student. But the fact so many EU workers have left other low paid jobs like crop picking, hospital ancillary and care home work means there’s a knock on effect as there are less people to service the low paid jobs.
Enyaq EV
One of the long standing problems in the UK is its press and its bias to which side of the fence they sit, rather than telling the “whole truth and nothing but the truth”. I always try to find the facts from industry sources if possible.
According to a report by Indeed (2022), the exodus of EU workers mainly affected the south of the country, however there has been a steady rise from non-EU countries, led by Commonwealth nations such as India and the former British territory of Hong Kong, although not entirely in the lower paid sector. The farming industry is still reporting shortages of crop pickers. (perhaps the boat people should be made to earn there keep whils’t here ?)
I found this an interesting read: Nearly half of care homes have closed their doors to new residents and two-thirds of home care providers are turning down requests for home care, due to staff shortages caused by Covid and the mandatory vaccine, according to the National Care Forum…
https://www.carehome.co.uk/news/article.cfm/id/1663313/staff-shortages-care-homes-close
Of cause may smaller businesses ceased such as yoursunfortunately, due the mountainous of paper work and high costs involved trading with the EU. The divorce was somewhat more bitter than it should of been and the EU’s intention to punish the UK didn’t help. However relations seem to be on the up recently and I only hope you and other small businesses will beable to start back up and trade again in the somewhat near future. For me, I never though thought leaving would be an over night success story, just like Rome wasn’t built in a day – nor could it have come at a worse time, with Covid and the cost of living crisis upon us.
Kezo
Whilst I think optimism is an admirable trait, the weight of opinion on Brexit is pretty much unequivocal. No one is saying there weren’t problems prior to Brexit however what is becoming increasingly clear is that Brexit has made things far worse. As I’ve mentioned previously Bloomberg estimate that Brexit is costing the UK £100 Billion per annum and has had a far greater impact on the economy than Covid.
We didn’t have crops rotting in the fields or supermarket shelves devoid of produce before Brexit did we? Its estimated that 500,000 EU workers left the country after Brexit, is it any wonder that sectors of the economy have been badly affected? You may not have thought that Brexit would be an overnight success but many of the leaders of the movement certainly gave the impression.
Liam Fox said “the free trade agreement that we will have to do with the European Union should be one of the easiest in human history.”
Boris said “there is no plan for no deal because we’re going to get a great deal.”
Michael Gove said ” The day after we vote to leave, we hold all the cards and we can choose the path we want.
John Redwood said “Getting out of the EU can be quick and easy, the UK holds all the cards.”
I could go on but I think you can get the gist. The fact is that like it or not Brexit has been the greatest act of self harm in this Countries long history and has directly contributed to the mess we are in at the moment. I say that because all of the other Countries in the world were also affected by Covid etc, the UKs economy has been singularly badly affected and the common denominator is without doubt, Brexit.
What concerns me greatly is that at the moment there is no light at the end of the tunnel and because we are so weak since Brexit the normal turbulence that all Countries go through are proving to be insurmountable. In short this appalling Tory government and Brexit has brought this Country to its knees.
Hello @Daf
Ive already given a response to the Bloomberg report on an earlier comment – it was a “guesstimate” so basically we could be loosing nothing to say 500bn who knows.
The ecdc also has reported, Between 3 December 2022 and 1 March 2023 highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) A (H5N1) virus, clade 2.3.4.4b, was reported in Europe in domestic (522) and wild (1,138) birds over 24 countries.
Then there the bad weather seen across Europe and north AFica that has seen shortages of frut and veg and delayed shipments (March 2023)
Production problems in Morocco – one of the largest exporters of tomatoes to the UK – began in January with unusually cold night-time temperatures affecting tomato ripening. Heavy rain and flooding followed, destroying crops.
The unsettled conditions have also affected suppliers, as ferry cancellations meant produce failed to make the crossing to Europe, leaving lorry drivers unable to make deliveries.
Supplies from Britain’s other major winter source of fresh produce, Spain, have also been affected by unsettled conditions.
High temperatures in the autumn and early winter, followed by a sustained cold spell, have caused shortages across product ranges.
In the Almería region, volumes of tomatoes have been down by nearly a quarter, according to Coexphal – the Association of Organisations of Fruit and Vegetable Producers of the province of Almería.
Cucumber production has fallen by 21 per cent, while peppers and aubergines are down 25 per cent.
However, there are also longer-term issues. Farmers throughout Europe – (including in the UK) – have been affected by increased costs over the past 12 months, driven by rising energy prices following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Research published by the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) in November found the cost of growing a tomato increased by 27 per cent between 2021 and 2022.
Similar increases were found with other crops, including lettuce, broccoli and potatoes, due to the cost of having to heat greenhouses.
It meant growers in Britain and northern Europe planted fewer vegetables for the winter harvest, increasing the UK’s reliance on produce from warmer climates such as Spain and northern Africa.
“Growers simply didn’t put them in the ground. They’d rather wait on warmer weather when they don’t have to rely on heating,” said Jack Ward, chief executive of the British Growers Association.
“Not only did we not plant, but great swathes of the Netherlands did not plant for exactly the same reason.
“So we’ve become overly dependent on Spain and Morocco and probably there was never enough capacity in those countries to do what they were already doing, let alone make up for the shortfall in northern Europe.”
Resourses from both the ECDC and the NFU, which has also said UK growers have been hit by a rise in labour costs and to a lesser extent shortage of high skilled workers.
Since when has the weather or rising costs aslo seen across Europe got anything to do with brexit.
Why do you assume and incline on this thread or the other, I must be a Tory voter to vote leave?
Your comments about Bloomberg do not hold water. According to LinkedIn “Bloomberg is the world’s primary distributor of financial data”, and as such cannot afford to make wild “guesstimates”. The figures provided by Bloomberg merely echoed the figures of the OBR and confirmed the accuracy of those figures. A 4% hit to the UK economy would account for the £100 Billion figure.
Whilst I agree there have been weather and other problems causing restricted supplies of fruit and vegetables, the UK was the only major economy to have such shortages, just as they are the only major economy not to have recovered from the effects of Covid.
I know it’s difficult to find anyone of note to give backing to Brexit but to quote Ron Desantis the man who refuses to denounce the Nazi supporters that regularly attend his political gatherings really is scraping the barrel. I think you will find that other racist supporting Republican Trump also thinks Brexit is a good idea, need I say more.
As you appear to be a supporter of Brexit perhaps you could share with us what you regard as its successes and why it is that the the main proponents of Brexit have been so wrong about its effects?
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.