UK General Election 2017 - 8 June

[Lewis]

People smoking is good for Our NHS so it's not even a financial saving.

[Waffdon]

You literally said the other day you smoked. Presumably not in the 80s bruh

[Spikey M]

You literally said the other day you smoked. Presumably not in the 80s bruh

I did indeed. Vapes weren't a thing back then though.

[Ben]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-scotland-67009605

Doesn't matter how many shock policies the Tories introduce to win back all the pensioners, they're fucked if this trend continues in Scotland.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Tories all tactically voting Labour up there to keep out the nationalists #proud

[Lofty]

Losing their deposit :D

Reminds me of Swinson losing her own seat after sniffing her own farts for too long.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Jocknats are the lowest level bunch of jokers in the country.


[Stephen Flynn] says the party has had multiple internal difficulties such as when previous MP, Margaret Ferrier, broke Covid rules when she took a train home from London after testing positive for Covid.

Yeah, mate, that was indeed one of the 'multiple internal difficulties'.

[Spikey M]

I think it might have more to do with appointing a sex offender, then a money launderer, as the head of the party, Steph lad.

[Ben]

1710352494054826336

What the fuck is his PR team playing at here? A picture on his private plane. The lack of self-awareness is incredible.

[Kikó]

He's a massive weaselly dickhead.

[Jimmy Floyd]

No one minds him having a private plane, he's the PM. I'm not sure what a 'long-term decision' is, though. Does it mean he takes years to make it?

[niko_cee]

It means you have to live with the consequences of it for a long time.

Like salting the earth.

[Yevrah]

No one minds him having a private plane, he's the PM. I'm not sure what a 'long-term decision' is, though. Does it mean he takes years to make it?

It means they cost nothing and that there's no chance of any of them being enacted.

[Spikey M]

It also means that their think-tanks are telling them that people think they're too reactionary and need to plan for the future.

And, they're probably just getting their opposition arguments in early for when Labour win and don't do any of this shit.

"Well Labour, OR SHOULD WE SAY "THE CANCER PARTY" are quite happy for your children to DIE of lung cancer, so..."

[Lofty]

Luckily for the tories the events in Isreal WERE ALL JEREMY CORBYN'S FAULT as per the papers today, so landslide victory for Rishi incoming. Might even call a snap election whilst the dust is settling and Starmer is pissing blood.

[Ben]

Somehow about Corbyn. The obsession is pathetic.

[Dave.]

I don't get why the Tories and people on the far right continue to obsess over Jeremy Corbyn. He is now an irrelevance.

[Boydy]

1711257671192478087

[Jimmy Floyd]

I don't get why the Tories and people on the far right continue to obsess over Jeremy Corbyn. He is now an irrelevance.

Because his brand of cold war bullshit needs scarifying from the land completely.

Also he's probably going to run for Mayor of London which could be an issue for Sadiq and Labour.

[Ben]

On the list of brands that need scarifying, anything related to Corbyn is currently way down the list.

[Kikó]

1712367360026272218?s=19

Good to see amigo doing well.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Keeks trying to add Iceland to his nationalities now.

[randomlegend]

If there's anyone who can make me wonder if the lizard-people theory has some merit it's Sunak. He is not human.

[Offshore Toon]

1712367360026272218?s=19

Good to see amigo doing well.
Meegs could never pack on weight like that. If he could he'd have squared up to Bam like a man.

[Kikó]

Keeks trying to add Iceland to his nationalities now.

I only have two officially.

[Raoul Duke]

Palestinian and Israeli

[randomlegend]

Tories behaving painfully to type with a cheeky bit of rape cover-up I see.

[Spikey M]

It's not even the most evil thing they've done in the last week.

[Boydy]

Is this a different MP to Crispin Blunt? He was already arrested on suspicion of rape, wasn't he?

[Don]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/F-vAIaRXgAA_JlK?format=jpg&name=medium

RIP hottie.

[Luke Emia]

Once they lose the next election fuck I hope she becomes the new leader. That will then mean they are done for at least two election cycles which is what they need at the minute.

[Shindig]

Gives me more time to spend with her family in Mordor.

[randomlegend]

Government have given up on the waiting list KEY PLEDGE, it appears.

[Ben]

Seems like the pig shagger is back. :eyemouth:

[Yevrah]

I'm really struggling to fathom how this has all come about. I mean, it's been obvious to anyone for years that she held utterly abhorrent views and was a loose cannon, so what was the thinking when she was appointed as to how it would turn out any differently?

[niko_cee]

Is the masterplan here to put D. Cameron in charge of the Ministry of Second Referendums to try and woo back the middle classes or something? Is he a lord?

Got to be old Shappsy for the Foreign Office. :face:

[Spikey M]

Double decker boats en route.

[niko_cee]

Does Foreign Secretary D Cameron get to tour about EU nations hobnobbing with their respective leaders/foreign secretary equivalents now? That should be funny.

[Luke Emia]

It shows how bereft of competent people they are that they are having to bring someone back from the dead effectively.

[Spikey M]

Does Foreign Secretary D Cameron get to tour about EU nations hobnobbing with their respective leaders/foreign secretary equivalents now? That should be funny.

First plane back to Nice.

1724001250990055451?t=Q4wGfWIm74ETTOaLmWr2sQ&s=19

[Ben]

Classic. :D

[Jimmy Floyd]

This is a laughable appointment. Why not bring back Michael Heseltine while you're at it.

That clip is the best. Corbz and David Ginola looking on bemused.

[niko_cee]

Just seen the Sky News Reaction clip of Cameron getting out of the ministerial landrover, love the "what the hell" comment in the background.

:D

[Jimmy Floyd]

To give Rishi some credit he does seem to have swerved all the journos, which is some achievement in this day and age, as well as providing the drama of making Kay Burley shit herself live on air.

[niko_cee]

The BBC guy seemed to know what was going on quite early doors, so he must have good intel.

[Jimmy Floyd]

1723989242097885574

Very on-brand for her to call him fat, too.

[randomlegend]

This is a laughable appointment. Why not bring back Michael Heseltine while you're at it.

That clip is the best. Corbz and David Ginola looking on bemused.

The conservatives are a laughable party.

[phonics]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/F-zYgCcXoAAMSVe.jpg

"Will stop the boats" :D

[niko_cee]

Probably timing his run quite well in that regard as presumably far fewer, if any, 'small boats' make it over during the winter months.

[phonics]

It's like when Viera got sacked off the back of playing all the Top 6 in a row then Hodgson got crowned a great manager off sneaking 1-0's against the dross.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Pig fucker officially in.

[Jimmy Floyd]

I've always quite liked James Cleverley. Fuck knows how he's got any of the jobs he's had, but always seems like a nice man.

[Magic]

Have you seen how they're announcing these changes like footie transfers on twitter? Mental.

[randomlegend]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/F-zYgCcXoAAMSVe.jpg

"Will stop the boats" :D

This is beyond parody.

[Ben]

Is that actually genuine?

[Magic]

Need a fantasy politics game at this rate.

[phonics]

Is that actually genuine?

Yep, just after they began the reshuffle with a tweet that read "Here We Go *fire emoji*"

[Jimmy Floyd]

Doing a 'He's back!' + fire emoji for David Cameron becoming Foreign Secretary is superb content tbh. This is the way you win the youth vote.

[Ben]

Cameron already saying he disagrees with some of Sunak's decisions. :D

Fuck me, if it wasn't killing the country it'd be absolute top tier entertainment. What are the odds Cameron ends up being PM again after Sunak is turfed?

[Jimmy Floyd]

Already talk of Suella launching a leadership bid. The change we need.

[Lewis]

It's pretty bad timing given that what she wrote in her article came true (again) over the weekend, but if the Conservative Party are set on driving every last potential right-wing voter away then it had to be done at some point.

[Ben]

It's pretty bad timing given that what she wrote in her article came true (again) over the weekend

Again with this. I'm sure you're contrarian just for the sake of it sometimes.

I haven't seen any reports or evidence (outside of fringe Facebook nutters) that back up her Times column nonsense. Arguing that 100+ "counter-protestors" getting nicked proves the police are harsher on the right-wing than pro-Palestine groups is bullshit and she knows it, given these groups pretty much signalled their intention to get rowdy at the Cenotaph on their various pages. She called the police "brave" but then spent the rest of the article attacking them. She called every citizen "decent" then immediately proposed that they be "cracked down on" if they so much as have the cheek to turn up to a protest calling for a ceasefire in a war. What she wrote wasn't anywhere close to true and she knows it, but telling the truth wasn't the intention. She's an arsonist who complains about there being too many fires.

You wouldn't even want junior ministers piping up to undermine your biggest police force with 100% unsubstantiated claims, never mind your Home Secretary. Boydy's link a few days ago was bang on; she wanted to leave the Cabinet, so might as well get herself sacked and gain a few fans (such as yourself, if you're not just being contrary) on the way out to back up a potential leadership bid.

[Lewis]

I think the idea of two tier policing and shit policing would have been a pretty uncontroversial point this time last week (even more so on a forum full of match-going football fans). In fact, I'm sure we had an entire month of Sensible People making the exact same point when the police filled that women's vigil in, and more recently when they were pre-emptively arresting people intent on protesting various things relating to the Royal Family. You would have to be blindly pro-police to believe otherwise.

Again, public disorder breeds public disorder. The football wallies wouldn't have felt the need to turn up and 'defend the Cenotaph', as they had never previously done during my lifetime, had people not watched the police stand around and do fuck all about monuments being vandalised during recent protests (unless you think they all got the idea from The Times). If the police were honest they would just say that they don't have the resources and/or political and legal cover to police a hundred thousand ethnics and professional agitators the way that they can a few hundred low-status white men, but they don't, and it would probably be seen - ironically - as political interference, so they just pretend like they were responding to the worse elements.

Braverman has been a crap Home Secretary who has overseen record immigration and appears to have a pretty poor idea of how political power works in the country. However, she does occasionally say things that are true, like multiculturalism being a failure and a disaster, which suggests that she could prove to be more useful than the rest of the idiots around her. Whether that matters within current Conservative Party frameworks I don't know.

[Don]

I've always quite liked James Cleverley. Fuck knows how he's got any of the jobs he's had, but always seems like a nice man.

What the fuck did I just read?

[Jimmy Floyd]

It was admittedly a subtle post, but fortunately ChatGPT is here to break it down for you:


The author of this comment is expressing a positive sentiment towards James Cleverley, but also acknowledges confusion or uncertainty about how Cleverley obtained the various jobs he has had. The phrase "Fuck knows" is a colloquial way of saying "I don't know" or "I have no idea." Despite the uncertainty about Cleverley's career path, the author still perceives him as a nice person. In summary, the comment suggests a mix of admiration for Cleverley's likable personality and curiosity or skepticism about the reasons behind his professional success.

[SvN]

I wonder if there's an "explain this post with ChatGPT" addon for vBulletin. I reckon I'd use it on 90% of Taz's posts.

[Don]

That is one of ChatGPT's great benefits in that it can provide such necessary support to help foster a sense of community among individuals with varying levels of intellectual abilities. Don't ever feel intimidated to ask me also, I'm more than willing to break things down for you.

[Smjffy]

I cant wait for these idiots to be gone.

[Shindig]

It is quite wild how they're running out of MPs to reshuffle.

[niko_cee]

The local MP here has 'gratefully declined' further involvement in the government to focus on local issues, presumably as part of a bacon saving strategy.

Pretty sure the last non-conservative MP for the area might have been a Whig, ah no, sorry, couple of liberals in the 1870s.

[igor_balis]

That sky news clip of him getting out of the car is brilliant, it's like a shock WWE return.

[Magic]

Esther McVey some sort of official anti-woke advisor?

[niko_cee]

That sky news clip of him getting out of the car is brilliant, it's like a shock WWE return.

:D

Someone needs to photoshop him onto the Vincewalk.

[Shindig]

I'm still mesmerised by his forehead.

[Kikó]

Esther McVey some sort of official anti-woke advisor?

600 words on why this is totally needed and McVey is the right person for the job from Lewis in 3..2..

[Spikey M]

Even Lewis has stopped trying to defend the cunts these days.

[Lofty]

Just noticed James Cleverley is in that Danny Dyer clip pissing himself.

[Ben]

That sky news clip of him getting out of the car is brilliant, it's like a shock WWE return.

That's...that's gotta be Kane!

[Jimmy Floyd]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-67407974

I'm sure he's become posher since he's been away. Either that or everyone else has become plebbier.

Also check out how he says 'Rishi Sunak'. Sounds like badly programmed AI.

[Shindig]

From that article.


Mr Hands was appointed a minister in the Department for Business and Trade.

Pig fucker's back and now this. Come the fuck on. :D

[Ben]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-67411550

It's only been seven years? Fuck me, we've endured an entire generation since then.

[Spikey M]

1724164275806085255?t=bv1zmB0TupnxTYRXsojb6A&s=19

[Shindig]

Did they really announce that like a football transfer?

[SvN]

When I saw the video of Cameron getting out of the car, this exact scene came to mind :D

1724028600628695234

[Luke Emia]

1724164275806085255?t=bv1zmB0TupnxTYRXsojb6A&s=19

What does “Will stand up for working people” even fucking mean

[niko_cee]

From that article.



Pig fucker's back and now this. Come the fuck on. :D

From the same bullet points Laura Trott now Treasury Chief Secretary.

Has she knocked riding bikes on the head then?

Yes, yes, I know, that would be Laura Kenny now.

[Spikey M]

What does “Will stand up for working people” even fucking mean

It's just Tory-blurb bingo. It means absolutely nothing, just as it hasn't since about 1987.

[Don]

Niko, if you're not familiar with Laura Trott you're missing out :drool: I see a fellow countryman of mine has secured that poontang too, well in, son.

[Jimmy Floyd]

I often stand up for working people, even when there are seats in first class. Do the working people thank me? Do they heck.

[Lofty]

Did they really announce that like a football transfer?

They even announced one of the others with 'Here we go'

[Ben]

Was there not a bit of outrage when Gordon Brown appointed Peter Mandelson despite him not being an MP (and getting round it by giving him a peerage)? How is this different with Cameron? The media just seem to be reporting on it matter of factly, rather than seething about it too. Not that I really care either way (I don't mind if Cabinet members aren't sitting in the Commons), just wondering if I'm missing something.

[niko_cee]

The outrage probably stemmed from Mandelson being a monumental twat/being viewed as the dark lord himself.

It's been going on for years. I bet every cabinet since has probably had one or two rogue lords in it.

[Ben]

David Cameron literally led us into the biggest act of self-sabotage the country has ever committed. Not sure he's held in a higher regard than Mandelson by most.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Lord Adonis was a long term fixture in the Brown cabinets, Baroness Token also under the Tories, not to mention that Lord Knobhead Tim Fuck or whatever he was called who kept pontificating about Brexit. I think with Mandelson it was more than he was a scheming fuck who had to resign twice in the 90s.

[Manc]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-67411550

It's only been seven years? Fuck me, we've endured an entire generation since then.

Time is a flat circle.

[niko_cee]

Braverman's letter is :drool:

[Lewis]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/F-vAIaRXgAA_JlK?format=jpg&name=medium

RIP hottie.

Luca

[Ben]

Braverman's letter is :drool:

Yeah it’s funny and all but shows her type should be nowhere near power. Thinks acting edgy and aggressive equals strong leadership. She belongs on fucking Twitch with the other weirdos, not the Cabinet. Crying because she thinks her backing Sunak originally gave her carte blanche to go rogue without consequences.

Although if she ends up triggering a leadership contest (again) and consequently probably a general election too, then happy days, because she doesn’t have a cat in hell’s chance of winning votes outside her bubble.

[Boydy]

I hope they do another leadership contest.

https://i.pinimg.com/736x/8d/b7/05/8db705fe08672d105262fb77d0ddd668.jpg

[Ben]

Who’s genuinely left? Greg Hands and that bird that Taz was drooling over earlier?

[Jimmy Floyd]

No good candidates just leads to loads of candidates. What was it last time, 10?

[Shindig]

Next out of the limo is (checks he's still alive) Ken Clarke.

[niko_cee]

Can Cameron run now he's a lord?

Ultimate heel turn.

I'm still holding on for my god knows how many years ago prediction of one day seeing Prime Minister Jeremy Hunt. Not a chance, sadly. Well, not sadly really.

[Shindig]

Conservative Prime Minister Tony Blair.

[Spikey M]

Just call an election for fuck sake. I'm not say Sir Keir Starmers Barmer Armers will be any better, but atleast we get a fresh set of shambles to enjoy.

[niko_cee]

Hunt considering cuts to inheritance tax.

Aside from the merits of that, as my wife pointed out to me, that's a journalistically challenging sentence. Can't see everyone making it through without at least one cunt slipping out.

[Luke Emia]

Hunt considering cuts to inheritance tax.

Aside from the merits of that, as my wife pointed out to me, that's a journalistically challenging sentence. Can't see everyone making it through without at least one cunt slipping out.

The problem with inheritance tax is that the people who should really pay it never end up paying it they speak to a financial adviser and a tax adviser and never get caught.

It catches people who just happen to have bought a house 40 years ago for a certain price and never gave any thought to it.

When I did my financial advice training we were very much told that inheritance tax is an optional tax and any customers should be made aware of that.

[niko_cee]

Yeah, it's a completely pointless tax and, as you say, completely fails to serve what I presume is its purpose, to somehow halt or stymie the transferring of generational wealth.

Just ends up fucking over Mavis' kids when it turns out her tiny hovel in East London is apparently worth a fortune.

What is the rationale behind the state taking 40% of your stuff when you die, stuff you have presumably acquired through monies that have already been heavily taxed?

[Jimmy Floyd]

Because the state can (supposedly) spend that money more efficiently for society than if it all went to your kid.

Its raising is a big favourite of what I would tenderly refer to as the moron left, who would all have it at 100%, as if the family as an socio-economic reality does not exist or should be replaced by some form of faceless administration.

[Ben]

I’m (very) left and I’d bin it off completely.

[Spikey M]

1725612118987145400?t=ef4SOSK5STo1k5_vILZoDg&s=19

Same old Tories.

Anyone supporting the binning of inheritance tax because it doesn't work can't be serious. Make it work. But they won't, because they're the beneficiaries of the loopholes and nothing will change while that remains the case. But yes, let's focus on benefit fraud. Serious stuff indeed.

Britain is finished.

[Yevrah]

You can’t lump avoided and evaded into one column and label the graph evaded, they’re two different things.

And for a board that’s always going on about boomers ruining everything by stealing all the monies, I’d have thought the opportunity for some of that to go back into the state from those that haven’t avoided it would be welcome.

And Britain finished? Have a lie down. Tories have been banging on about benefit fraud since I was in short trousers.

[niko_cee]

How do you make it work? Abolish the system of trusts that most of the economy [the entire pension system] seems to rely on? I'd be all for it but can't help but think it might have somewhat ruinous implications. IHT isn't avoided via 'loopholes', there's a whole field of law built up over hundreds of years dedicated to the mechanisms.

Pensions being outside of the scope of IHT through some weird system whereby you can't tell the pension company to give it to your kids but can 'express a wish' that they do so was news to me, and seems a bit odd.

[Don]

Nuking/Self-defending against Guernsey/Jersey would see those columns drop right off tbf.

[niko_cee]

Not only would it not, but those two also have higher levels of corporate transparency than most EU nations/the UK.

Probably better off nuking Dublin or Luxembourg if it's revenue that you want.

[Offshore Toon]

I always feel like Switzerland gets off so easy in these conversations. Just smack back in the middle of Europe pretending it's fine.

[Jimmy Floyd]

IHT only raises £7 billion a year anyway. Tobacco duties raise £10 billion. Government receipts and spending are mental when you look at it. The NHS costs 20% of all government receipts to run (more than the total of all NI contributions, for example), and this is when the Tories are supposedly underfunding it.

[Lewis]

I always liked that Miliband-era 'statistic' that there is an easy hundred billion quid of avoided tax revenues just waiting to be claimed, but, rather than do so and use it to win every election for a generation by abolishing VAT or doubling health spending, the Conservative Party are too beholden to Their Rich Mates.

[Shindig]

The outright benefit fraud looks tiny on that graph and what counts as benefits unclaimed? Are we talking winter fuel payments? PIP claims where the claimant's deceased and the next of kin can't be contacted?

It's not a good graph.

[Yevrah]

Love also the way the arrows point to the two bars suggesting they’re separate things rather than different estimates of the same things.

[Lofty]

I always liked that Miliband-era 'statistic' that there is an easy hundred billion quid of avoided tax revenues just waiting to be claimed, but, rather than do so and use it to win every election for a generation by abolishing VAT or doubling health spending, the Conservative Party are too beholden to Their Rich Mates.

But then the clowns are always getting caught with their hands in the cookie jar so can't be a compelete fantasy.

[Spikey M]

I'm not an economist / accountant / whothefuckever and I couldn't really care less about the "hows" of stopping rich cunts dodging tax, or whether they've avoided or evaded it. They haven't fucking paid it, whatever you call it and we should be stopping that shit a long time before we point the finger at Brenda for not telling UC that she has a new boyfriend and they should be on a joint claim.


Tories have been banging on about benefit fraud since I was in short trousers.

Correct. And it somehow still works to deflect attention from their rampant corruption.


And Britain finished? Have a lie down

Britain (probably the West as a whole) absolutely is finished, yes. Aging population, people have stopped having kids, wages stagnant, homes unaffordable, society constantly at each others throats. Our population is due to start declining within the next 10-15 years with less and less people paying more and more tax to keep the shrivelled old fogies (us) alive in our unfunded care/torture homes. The future is bleak.

[Don]

On the other hand, Richard Curtis has a new Christmas variety show called Christmas Actually.

[niko_cee]

International breaks send people to dark places.

[Yevrah]

Not much more than 100 years ago we were eating mud and children were working 60 hour weeks. The idea that we’re ‘finished’ is genuinely laughable and I realise I say that from a position of privilege, but this narrative of doom that’s festered from social media really does need to be pulled into check.

[Spikey M]

International breaks send people to dark places.

No international break here. Instead we have the league leaders, with 3 international call ups when we only had 14 first teamers in the first place. And you too can enjoy our pummelling, LIVE on BT Sports.

[niko_cee]

Exactly, dark places.

[Jimmy Floyd]

What international teams are calling up Southend players? Sealand?

[Spikey M]

Afghanistan, Sierra Leone and erm... "Sao Tome and Principe", wherever and whatever the fuck that is

[Lewis]

The country shouldn't be finished insofar as what is finishing it could be fixed relatively easily - make it easier to build things, close half the universities, induce a few million foreigners to leave, etc. - but it won't be so it is.

[Manc]

Britain (probably the West as a whole) absolutely is finished, yes. Aging population, people have stopped having kids, wages stagnant, homes unaffordable, society constantly at each others throats. Our population is due to start declining within the next 10-15 years with less and less people paying more and more tax to keep the shrivelled old fogies (us) alive in our unfunded care/torture homes. The future is bleak.

Parklife!

[Shindig]

What international teams are calling up Southend players? Sealand?

If Angola decides Marcus Dinanga is good enough for them, Gateshead are knackered.

[phonics]

I always feel like Switzerland gets off so easy in these conversations. Just smack back in the middle of Europe pretending it's fine.

Switzerland deals with the Arabs and the Americans. The English money is in the Caymans, why expose yourself to moving money abroad when there's a sovereign nation to funnel it through.

The core issue is that once you get to a certain level, 99% of your wealth isn't made by your income which is the only black and white and easy to follow paper trail. Once you move past that any individual investigation requires resources to pursue and the people with resources worth persuing can use said resources to jam the works for years. It's cheap and easy to go after some bint with 6 kids on welfare because they've not got an entire industry created to prevent her from getting caught.

[7om]

The country shouldn't be finished insofar as what is finishing it could be fixed relatively easily - make it easier to build things, close half the universities, induce a few million foreigners to leave, etc. - but it won't be so it is.

Why is the amount of universities finishing the country?

[phonics]

He thinks it turns people woke because he’s a weirdo that thinks education has been perverted by communists generational goal to corrupt the population against the ideas that would save the nation. Those ideas just happen to be ‘agreeing with this loser on every subject’.

[Lewis]

I think it's a large-scale misallocation of human resources, acts as a visa machine for pointless foreign students, screws half the people who go there with debt, and leaves the taxpayer with a massive liability since half of it never even gets paid back.

[phonics]

This from a guy who did a PHD in History.

[Lewis]

And, after my period of unemployment, currently works in a job that requires me to know enough about history to decide what historical information is released to historians.

[phonics]

So you're saying after your 8 years of higher education followed by near enough a decade of sponging off your Mum that you consider yourself useful to society in ways that wouldn't show up on a stats sheet? Sounds like a good argument for accessible higher education.

[Lewis]

My experience isn't particularly representative, so your previous post was stupid.

[phonics]

‘I’m special’ is such a perfect summation of your world view.

[Lewis]

I am fortunate to have found a job that my qualifications are perfect for. This is not typical of most people (and wasn't for me for long enough). Therefore, generally speaking, it is not a controversial idea that university does not necessarily - whether by that or the financial side of it - work for most people. Why can't you read and understand anything you massive retard?

[Offshore Toon]

You only ever got a decent job because of your mum's name, Phonics. As soon as you left her teet you were stuck working behind the bar of a flat roof pub.

[Shindig]

International breaks send people to dark places.

Oh, it can get darker. :D

[phonics]

If that’s aimed at me, I’m lost.

[Magic]

I think it's a large-scale misallocation of human resources, acts as a visa machine for pointless foreign students, screws half the people who go there with debt, and leaves the taxpayer with a massive liability since half of it never even gets paid back.

The problem isn't the unis it's the total lack of jobs and prosperity in this shite country. The quals would be very relevant otherwise.

[niko_cee]

Wasn't the whole idea of sending everyone to university in the first place to pad the unemployment stats?

I don't really get the current system. The government pays the high fees, cheques are immediately cashed by the higher education institutions and most people get to live their lives under a cloud of debt which the government never gets paid back. Seems the system only really exists for the benefit of the bloated university sector.

[Shindig]

A mentality probably needs to shift, whilst we're at it. There's a prestige still attached to your kids going to university.

[Magic]

Nowhere else would you get qualified uni students stacking shelves because their degrees are useless.

[niko_cee]

Isn't that because traditionally those people have come over here to work in Pret?

[7om]

Nowhere else would you get qualified uni students stacking shelves because their degrees are useless.

Isn't that their own fault, though, for doing wank degress like sociology and sports science?

[Shindig]

And what if they weren't doing it for vocational benefits? Maybe they just wanted to learn something?

[Magic]

Isn't that their own fault, though, for doing wank degress like sociology and sports science?

No because even getting a degree in the first place requires ability which should be recognised by a decent employer.

[niko_cee]

:happycry:

[Offshore Toon]

It might require some effort, but you're a mong if you did a shit degree at Bolton Met. It's less effort over three years than an actual job, so it shows you're thick and you're happy to take the easy route.

[Magic]

It might require some effort, but you're a mong if you did a shit degree at Bolton Met. It's less effort over three years than an actual job, so it shows you're thick and you're happy to take the easy route.

Or you have a passion for learning and want to better yourself rather than GRAFTING for someone else's company?

[Yevrah]

When you look at the breakdown of degrees by subject these days it's incredible the shit some people are wasting their time with and absolutely the reason they can't get a decent job afterwards.

[niko_cee]

Or you have a passion for learning and want to better yourself rather than GRAFTING for someone else's company?

Get a job in academia?

[randomlegend]

Or you have a passion for learning and want to better yourself rather than GRAFTING for someone else's company?

:D

Dots

[Spikey M]

I have been looking forward to this mini budget and the early details are pretty lol as expected. A 9.8% increase in minimum wage is great, but it does undermine the idea that they want to get businesses growing. I'm not sure how you cut taxes by enough to account for a near 10% increase in their wage spending.

[Jimmy Floyd]

It's a desperate bid to make people's pockets feel fuller in an election year. Fuck businesses.

[Magic]

All the SME owners on GriftIn are on their pedal stools today. Pricks.

[Luke Emia]

I have been looking forward to this mini budget and the early details are pretty lol as expected. A 9.8% increase in minimum wage is great, but it does undermine the idea that they want to get businesses growing. I'm not sure how you cut taxes by enough to account for a near 10% increase in their wage spending.

It's also madness when you think they are panicking about inflation. but they have banged the around 15% on the minimum wage in the past two years which means that not only does the minimum wage go up but so do everyone else's in higher paid jobs to compensate. I'm not saying it's wrong to do it but it seems to completely counter the whole inflation thing especially when they won't give that wage rise to a lot of public sector workplaces.

[Ben]

Sounds like NI is being cut from 12% to 11%.

[phonics]

Fingers crossed this National Living Wage Rise is true because then I can badger my boss for a raise I probably don't deserve.

[Ben]

The Triple Lock lives on.

[Don]

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/nov/23/james-cleverly-stockton-remark

:D

[niko_cee]

In fairness, on the audio it didn't sound like him saying it was a shithole.

[Ben]

Stockton North is a mega shithole to be fair.

[Don]

1728058508539531392

[Boydy]

Was just coming here to post that. Ffs. :D

[niko_cee]

:D

That has to be some sort of wind up. What is wrong with that guy? It's the look on his face as much as anything. Having the time of his life.

[Jimmy Floyd]

I've watched that a few times now looking for mitigation / an explanation, but nope. There go another five red wall marginals.

[Lewis]

Prince Philip lolling in his grave.

[Spikey M]

Prince Philip lolling in his grave.

:D

[Lofty]

Is that better or worse than bacon sandwich gate, votes wise?

[Lewis]

1728072528906604766

He probably still loses seats for letting a woman tell him what to do.

[7om]

I’ve been on the fence regarding whether we’re a finished country. This seals it.

[Lofty]

Argie Bojo with his chainsaw will have a massive erection for another bash at the Falklands having seen that.

[Shindig]

Woah. Imagine the circumstances you'd need to be 43 and not know how to hammer.

[Magic]

Did she not tell him to use the side bit.

[niko_cee]

She did. Sad times.

[Boydy]

1728789650381193380

[Pepe]

What, exactly, is the current point? Because lol at that arrow just going up like that.

Also, didn't some sort of health event occur at around 2020?

[Lewis]

The point appears to be that an inherently crap system can only function with unsustainable spending rises and a more favourable median age profile.

[Jimmy Floyd]

NHS spending has rocketed in both those blue periods, particularly the second one. What do you need to do, spend a trillion quid a year on it?

[randomlegend]

NHS spending has rocketed in both those blue periods, particularly the second one. What do you need to do, spend a trillion quid a year on it?

UK spends (significantly) less per capita on healthcare than most comparable European countries. It also has terrible staff/patient ratios.

The idea the NHS has some wildly out of control budget compared to other healthcare systems is simply untrue.

[Magic]

There's always enough money for dodgy shit and never enough money for worthwhile, caring services. Fuck off UK.

[Spikey M]

UK spends (significantly) less per capita on healthcare than most comparable European countries. It also has terrible staff/patient ratios.

The idea the NHS has some wildly out of control budget compared to other healthcare systems is simply untrue.

Tell that to your 28 managers.

[Spikey M]

There's always enough money for dodgy shit and never enough money for worthwhile, caring services. Fuck off UK.

"So Doris can have all the open heart surgery she wants, but I can't get a pack of padded chairleg covers on prescription? Broken Britain."

[Shindig]

Yeah, that graph's a bit bollocks. Covid has had an astonishing effect on, like, everything.

[Lofty]

Also, er, Brexit.

[Boydy]

Disregard covid, it was fucked before 2020. It had basically doubled before covid hit.

[Lewis]

It got its bus slogan money under Theresa May/Philip Hammond and nobody even noticed. The only comparable European countries to the United Kingdom are France, which spends more, and Italy, which doesn't. The others are all smaller and/or wealthier than stagnation island, and then you have countries like Australia and Canada, destinations of choice for disgruntled NHS heroes, whose governments spend the same as us but then expect their citizens to top up individualised coverage as part of an apparently superior system.

[Ben]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-67604830

I'm sure the Labour core voters will be delighted with this.

[Jimmy Floyd]

She won three elections for a reason.

[Lewis]

Why would 'Tory voters' be more inclined to vote for the opposition because they offered qualified praise of Margaret Thatcher? Why does that entire ecosystem of dickheads still operate on 1996 settings?

[Spikey M]

She won three elections for a reason.

So did our current set of retards.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Why would 'Tory voters' be more inclined to vote for the opposition because they offered qualified praise of Margaret Thatcher? Why does that entire ecosystem of dickheads still operate on 1996 settings?

If you swap 'Tory voters' for 'the white working class who voted for Thatcher in the 80s or their parents did' then it makes sense as mood music. Everything he's done since taking over has been geared towards moving away from the disastrous Corbyn metro-internationalist positioning, and if you believe the polls and by-elections it's been successful to date.

[Spikey M]

I honestly think he could go seal clubbing and he'd still win the next election.

[Lewis]

Those people are classic 'floating voters', and I find it hard to believe that simply stating 'Margaret Thatcher did things' is going to change any minds. He is such a gimp. The Conservative Party hates its voters and deserves to die, but the idea that the alternative is going to be any better is probably going to be what kills the current set up and ushers in something drastic.

[Boydy]

Lewis :shakinghandsemoji: me

Keir Starmer won't change a fucking thing.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Those people are classic 'floating voters', and I find it hard to believe that simply stating 'Margaret Thatcher did things' is going to change any minds. He is such a gimp. The Conservative Party hates its voters and deserves to die, but the idea that the alternative is going to be any better is probably going to be what kills the current set up and ushers in something drastic.

It's not about changing minds with one statement. If such a voter sees him say 10 similar things over the course of two years then they have a picture on their mind about what he represents and whether or not it's 'safe' to vote for him, from their point of view. It's the way to win an election.

What he does after winning the election is another question.

[Lewis]

I think you've bought into the pundit brain wibble where these things make any difference. He is going to win in spite of himself, probably on the lowest turnout in twenty years, because the Conservative Party has run out of (largely negative) reasons to vote for it and would rather lose than do what its voters want.

[Spikey M]

Yeah, Starmer doesn't need to do anything. And what he is doing is... stupid, to be honest. He risks alienating his actual voters in an effort to win over Tory voters, who - as Lewis says - are going to sit at home with crossed arms and grumpy faces on election night anyway.

It would be quite funny if he carried on down this road and the Lib Dems won.

[Jimmy Floyd]

I think you've bought into the pundit brain wibble where these things make any difference. He is going to win in spite of himself, probably on the lowest turnout in twenty years, because the Conservative Party has run out of (largely negative) reasons to vote for it and would rather lose than do what its voters want.

Individually they make little difference but together they present a picture to voters. How do they know he's any different to Corbyn? Would Corbyn win next time? (absolutely no chance)

[Jimmy Floyd]

Yeah, Starmer doesn't need to do anything. And what he is doing is... stupid, to be honest. He risks alienating his actual voters in an effort to win over Tory voters, who - as Lewis says - are going to sit at home with crossed arms and grumpy faces on election night anyway.

It would be quite funny if he carried on down this road and the Lib Dems won.

If 5% of his 'core' (which is students and immigrants) have a paddy and vote for the Greens or something it will cost him around zero seats, maybe one or two maximum. 2019 Tory voters are where the election is decided.

Remember when Tony Blair alienated the left and lost all those elections? That.

[Lewis]

Individually they make little difference but together they present a picture to voters. How do they know he's any different to Corbyn? Would Corbyn win next time? (absolutely no chance)

In 2017 Jeremy Corbyn almost did win against a similarly crap, directionless government, so I think he probably would at this point. The 2019 election was won and lost on clear Brexit lines, which were Keir Starmer competencies.

[Spikey M]

If 5% of his 'core' (which is students and immigrants) have a paddy and vote for the Greens or something it will cost him around zero seats, maybe one or two maximum. 2019 Tory voters are where the election is decided.

Remember when Tony Blair alienated the left and lost all those elections? That.

The 2019 Tory voters were just Northern Labour Voters that voted Leave on Brexit. They were always going to revert to Labour afterwards.

[Don]

I'm hearing a backlash against that fucking treacherous cunt I once misguidedly threw a few :drool:s towards could see Lib Dems do bits. Inshallah, the muslim brotherhood and those with a conscience can avenge for Corbyn's treatment.

[Jimmy Floyd]

The 2019 Tory voters were just Northern Labour Voters that voted Leave on Brexit. They were always going to revert to Labour afterwards.

13.9 million voted Tory in 2019, they are a lot more than just that.

Muslims, the bunch of narcissist weirdos, only live in about 10 seats in any numbers so they're not a factor either.

[niko_cee]

Finally an asylum policy (https://uk.news.yahoo.com/rishi-sunak-considers-sending-lawyers-095739640.html) that will meet with widespread public support across the political spectrum.

Note: I haven't read beyond the headline.

[Spikey M]

Chuck in Doctors Receptionists and Estate Agents and he has my vote.

[randomlegend]

https://i.imgur.com/JrCDuxB.png

https://media.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPTc5MGI3NjExZjlwOHlqa3FvcjF5ZGJod3NyMjd3bnF qaTdxbWJtdHJybnp1eGllYiZlcD12MV9pbnRlcm5hbF9naWZfY nlfaWQmY3Q9Zw/2dK0W3oUksQk0Xz8OK/giphy.gif

[Don]

"You do not need to come in" :uhoh:

[niko_cee]

Aren't you 'off' anyway, RL?

[randomlegend]

Dunno, I'll go back as soon as I can drive.

[Spikey M]

Convenient dates.

[Don]

This move to hike up the minimum salary to £38,700 for a visa seems like another stroke of genius. Those migrants earning £15K above who are now banned? Good riddance.

[Spikey M]

In fairness, why do we need immigrants for unskilled labour? We have plenty of unskilled people sat at home all day, we just need to find a way of getting them off their arses. It's not going to be easy though. I visited someone last week that has had their benefits suspended since August. Since then they have been begging in the highstreet, shoplifting and just not bothering to pay their bills. Some of them will do anything, absolutely anything to survive... apart from getting a job. It's almost impressive.

[randomlegend]

FY1 doctor is classed as unskilled labour based on the salary cutoff.

[Jimmy Floyd]

In fairness, why do we need immigrants for unskilled labour? We have plenty of unskilled people sat at home all day, we just need to find a way of getting them off their arses. It's not going to be easy though. I visited someone last week that has had their benefits suspended since August. Since then they have been begging in the highstreet, shoplifting and just not bothering to pay their bills. Some of them will do anything, absolutely anything to survive... apart from getting a job. It's almost impressive.

Come on, explain to a naive middle class ponce like me. Why don't they just get a job? Shoplifting and begging are far more effort and much more dangerous.

Is it some kind of cultural aversion to getting into bed with The Man? If you can shoplift, you're not natively lazy.

[Shindig]

With some of them, it's as simple as "I DON'T WANT TO LOSE ME BENEFITS!" And there's an accountability with actual work that probably scares the shit out of them.

[Lofty]

Come on, explain to a naive middle class ponce like me. Why don't they just get a job? Shoplifting and begging are far more effort and much more dangerous.

Is it some kind of cultural aversion to getting into bed with The Man? If you can shoplift, you're not natively lazy.

You can't smash the drink and drugs all night and be a general horror then sleep in til dinnertime everyday if you have to turn up at a job. Like prostitutes make more money in 15 minutes than they would working 4 hours in McDonalds.

[Spikey M]

Come on, explain to a naive middle class ponce like me. Why don't they just get a job? Shoplifting and begging are far more effort and much more dangerous.

Is it some kind of cultural aversion to getting into bed with The Man? If you can shoplift, you're not natively lazy.

I think it's cultural. Grafters come from long lines of grafters and the professionally unemployed do too. I honestly don't think the idea of getting a job will have even occurred to them until I brought it up. Similarly, there are loads of people that just will not claim benefits at all. They will just struggle through and accumulate debt until they get a new job.

[Lewis]

FY1 doctor is classed as unskilled labour based on the salary cutoff.

121290 'Health and Care Worker' visas issued last year. Anyway, what's this about the state health monopoly slowly eroding your working conditions?

[Pepe]

Getting a job probably involves being able to fill out a job application, which rules out a lot of people.

[Don]

The fucking football banter between Starmer and Rishi at PMQ :sick:

[Jimmy Floyd]

They should show that kind of banter the red card.

[Spikey M]

The trouble with Starmer is he always tries to walk it in.

[niko_cee]

:D

Still, preferable to Boris always trying to slip it in.

[Ben]

1732781753448726918

Yeah it’s lolololol but even their own MPs are in the comments asking for it to be taken down, which it hasn’t yet.

They’re not a serious party anymore, whatever the alternatives they need completely dismantling and starting over.

[Luke Emia]

1732781753448726918

Yeah it’s lolololol but even their own MPs are in the comments asking for it to be taken down, which it hasn’t yet.

They’re not a serious party anymore, whatever the alternatives they need completely dismantling and starting over.

Why would you be flagging something up whereby you have so demonstrably failed over the last 13 years in the first place? Labour might not be forthcoming with a plan but if not as if any of the crackpot ideas they have come up with whilst they have been in power have actually worked.

[Spikey M]

We are country with a fuck tonne of coastline. There is no workable solution to illegal immigration.

Well, I mean, other than turning us into a third world shithole so people end up fleeing from us, rather than to us. Which, you know...

[Shindig]

There was probably a whiteboard somewhere with:

1. Mines in the channel.
2. Coastline armaments.
3. ???
4. ZERO IMMIGRATION!

[Boydy]

https://cdn.waterstones.com/bookjackets/large/9780/5712/9780571298730.jpg

[Ben]

I see we’ve slid Rwanda another £100m, taking the total to £240m.

Yet we’ve sent more cabinet ministers there than migrants so far.

[Shindig]

I forgot, "PISS OFF WE'RE FRANCE" written on the white cliffs.

[Alex]

1732781753448726918

Yeah it’s lolololol but even their own MPs are in the comments asking for it to be taken down, which it hasn’t yet.

They’re not a serious party anymore, whatever the alternatives they need completely dismantling and starting over.

Twitter really is a fucking hell hole, isn't it?

This need to have some sort of "top banter" social media presence has been growing increasingly tiresome for a while now, but it seems to have pervaded the business world to the extent that the government think it's acceptable now too.

You're not running fucking Bet365 or Ryanair. You're running the country.

[Magic]

I see we’ve slid Rwanda another £100m, taking the total to £240m.

Yet we’ve sent more cabinet ministers there than migrants so far.

This is what I was on about. Always money for stuff like this. Gross.

[Lofty]

How the fuck is this Baroness Mone saying she has considered handing her title back, it should have already been stripped from her.

[niko_cee]

Well, you see, when I said that, what I meant was the exact opposite of that . . .

[Ben]

The amount of corruption connected to the Tories in recent years is absolutely astonishing. But it works out well for Mone that it’s just one in a long line of things so the public aren’t outraged by it anymore.

[Kikó]

Yeah but Labour.

[phonics]

Boasting about using HS2 money to repair roads in London is top, top stuff.

[Ben]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-67993306

It ain't going to save you, Tories.

[niko_cee]

The change follows a long campaign by World War Two veteran Harry Shindler, who left the UK to live in Italy around 40 years ago.

Speaking to the BBC in 2011, he said: "There was a war to bring the vote to the people of Europe. We won the war, but some of the people who took part in the war, me included, are not allowed to vote themselves."

Presumably he could vote in fucking Italy?


In 2021, he welcomed the news that the government was changing the rules calling it an "important day for freedom".

However, he did not live long enough to see the rule come into force, dying in 2023 at the age of 101.

lol

[Raoul Duke]

Sounds like it's more for the donations than the voting

[Spikey M]

Harry Shindler sounds like a complete retard.

[niko_cee]

Someone needs to set up an online ticker for people sent to and received from Rwanda under the Rwanda Asylum Policy.

2 sent, although both Home Secretaries and returned.
6 received is it?