Off Topic The Politics Thread

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Should the UK remain a part of the EU or leave?

  • Stay in

    Votes: 56 47.9%

  • Get out

    Votes: 61 52.1%
  • Total voters
    117
  • Poll closed .
sb_73 said:
I’m sure they will argue that they are paying it back through existing tax. Which is bullshit of course. Easy way to pay some of it off would be a windfall tax on the oil and gas producers benefitting from incredibly inflated prices.
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Agreed mate…..maybe our kids, saddled with vast student debt should use the same excuse.
 
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sb_73 said:
P&O, which claims to be on the edge of financial collapse, owes the Merchant Navy Pension Fund £140 million, after being given a let off last year because of its dire financial position. The year that its parent company dished out £250m in dividends.

What a brilliant opportunity for Grant Shapps, Kwai Kwarteng, Rishi Sunak, Boris Johnson etc to show that they stand up for ordinary Britons against the exploitations of big business.

I won’t hold my breath.
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The same Kwasi Kwarteng who co-authored a book (along with Dominic Raab, Liz Truss, Priti Patel and some other Tory, who somehow didn't make it into Johnson's Cabinet) called Britannia Unchained in which British workers are described as being 'among the worst idlers in the World'? Unlikely.

The book suggests that we should learn from economies like Hong Kong and Singapore, where, of course, workers' rights are far less protected than ours were whilst we were in the EU.
 
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Stroller said:
The same Kwasi Kwarteng who co-authored a book (along with Dominic Raab, Liz Truss, Priti Patel and some other Tory) called Britannia Unchained in which British workers are described as being 'among the worst idlers in the World'? Unlikely.

The book suggests that we should learn from economies like Hong Kong and Singapore, where, of course, workers' rights are far less protected than ours were whilst we were in the EU.
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Let’s not start this again Strolls…….we just go round in circles
 
Staines R's said:
The thing is though Steels, isn’t it still an undeniable fact that if this war continues like it is now, and with Russia seemingly more at ease with using “weapons of attrition” and indiscriminate bombing….that however heroic our Western propaganda states the Ukrainian defenders are…..eventually Russia WILL win ?
Yeah it’s been slower and harder than expected but surely it’s just a matter of time ?
As someone who has far greater knowledge than me in these matters, your thoughts are always appreciated
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The way I read it, and I have no more access to info than anyone else these days, are the sanctions will cripple Russia, but it may be too late to save Ukraine. The Russians have had a change of tactics in the last few days, moving from trying to take the cities to trying to wipe them off the map - a worrying escalation that shows Putin is getting impatient.

Putins demands for peace are a big slap in the face for Zelensky, but I think he'll have to agree to most of them if he wants a country left once this is finished....

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-60785754
 
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Steelmonkey said:
The way I read it, and I have no more access to info than anyone else these days, are the sanctions will cripple Russia, but it may be too late to save Ukraine. The Russians have had a change of tactics in the last few days, moving from trying to take the cities to trying to wipe them off the map - a worrying escalation that shows Putin is getting impatient.

Putins demands for peace are a big slap in the face for Zelensky, but I think he'll have to agree to most of them if he wants a country left once this is finished....

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-60785754
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If I was a Ukrainian, and have seen my friends killed and my cities destroyed…and know facing decades of rebuilding….I would struggle to accept any peace deal that wasn’t completely in my favour
 
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Stroller said:
The same Kwasi Kwarteng who co-authored a book (along with Dominic Raab, Liz Truss, Priti Patel and some other Tory, who somehow didn't make it into Johnson's Cabinet) called Britannia Unchained in which British workers are described as being 'among the worst idlers in the World'? Unlikely.

The book suggests that we should learn from economies like Hong Kong and Singapore, where, of course, workers' rights are far less protected than ours were whilst we were in the EU.
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I agree all those people are ****ers, but I don’t think our Labour laws have changed yet Strolls, sure I would have heard the uproar. It seems that P&O have broken the law, the question is will they just be told off (Shapps has already done it), get a little fine which it makes it worth breaking the law or get properly punished. No prizes for guessing what I expect…..
 
sb_73 said:
I agree all those people are ****ers, but I don’t think our Labour laws have changed yet Strolls, sure I would have heard the uproar. It seems that P&O have broken the law, the question is will they just be told off (Shapps has already done it), get a little fine which it makes it worth breaking the law or get properly punished. No prizes for guessing what I expect…..
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No, our labour laws haven't changed significantly yet, but we didn't leave the EU so that we could offer workers more protection. Fire and Rehire is perfectly legal here, and not particularly uncommon, so I guess P&O just haven't followed the process properly. There'll be no significant punishment. .
 
Staines R's said:
But you get upset when I come back at you. You’re misguided if you think this would be any different if we remained in the EU. It’s a red herring often used by Neo-Liberals
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I don't think you know what Neo-Liberal means. One of the arguments for leaving the EU was to do away with 'red tape' - i.e. Deregulation.
 
Staines R's said:
Do you think the P & O mass sackings would have happened if we were still in the EU ?
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They could have done, but that's not the point I was making. The EU sets a relatively low bar on workers' rights (aka Red Tape), but one that can be raised by individual member States. Several EU members made Fire and Rehire illegal, but we didn't. As I said, we didn't leave so that we could improve workers' rights.
 
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Stroller said:
They could have done, but that's not the point I was making. The EU sets a relatively low bar on workers' rights (aka Red Tape), but one that can be raised by individual member States. Several EU members made Fire and Rehire illegal, but we didn't. As I said, we didn't leave so that we could improve workers' rights.
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So what point are you making then ?
We were never going to have better workers rights under a conservative government….but that doesn’t mean it was better to stay in the EU…which as I’ve said many times, is not a friend of workers and more on the side of big business.

As I’ve said before…..we go round in circles
 
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Steelmonkey said:
@Staines R's couldn't see anything about ambulances, hut I know that you'd be on the first convoy if you could

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We’ve got 10 ambulances going from the LAS, all filled with bandages and medical supplies. I volunteered to go as would be a great adventure but unfortunately for me, the response was fantastic from our staff and the spaces filled quickly. Great to see
 
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