on the money the Tories know they have lost millions and millions of voters. What worries me is they are not going to vote labour-they will vote reform or ukip giving Labour the edge. We think it is bad now-wait to this mob get control. This country is unrecognisable now-it will be a country that I would not want to live in if I was starting out in life.
I’d hate to be starting out now, no chance of getting a place of your own, and rents are crazily high.
its deeper than that Close by me is a housing ASSOC: area. initially 40 years ago it was part of the farmers agreement to supply affordable homes to young couples. When right to buy kicked off some have been bought, this increased the stock value and rents rose in line with council rates. Now young locals etc cant afford the rents when one becomes available...often allotted before they get a chance to apply ... but it is becoming an area that is now unpleasant to live in and someone has to be paying the rent for the non working over crowded occupants most of whom do not speak English and do not appreciate we like to keep things tidy and hygienic in the uk. Latest is at least 2 families [ members ] go around on a Monday / Tuesday night after dark going through the bins and recycling.. I hope they get soaked tonight!
Absolutely, I’ve no idea what the answer is. Build more houses seems far too simplistic, I’m sure it would help, but not the complete answer I wouldn’t have thought.
Spot on People are fed up with the mess the Tories have made of the last 12 years, but people are also so fed up with politics in general that it’s likely to be the lowest ever turn out at the next election Labour will screw up for the next x number of years and all it will do is see the rise of the Reform party, and if in years to come the centre right come to power here just like in Sweden and Italy, then it will serve the other parties right for being totally out of touch with the vast majority of the population and the man on the street want and value in life.
I agree Building more houses, building new roads, destroying more irreplaceable British countryside, more congestion, drop in air quality, loss of wildlife habitat All of our native wildlife is in serious decline and building more houses just makes things worse Limit the population explosion from foreign sources would be a step in the right direction Our own indigineous population is in decline, which in the short term is actually good news for now
My concern though is for the time being at least, the balance of the population is off kilter, there’s going to be lots of us older people, with fewer younger ones paying taxes etc to pay for our pensions, our hospital needs etc.
I agree largely After Covid, more people in their 50's and early 60's just retired early, and that has contributed to the void in the employment sector, which is good in some ways with virtually no unemployment, but is bad longer term. A recent poll suggest that more than 10% of young people between the ages of 18 and 24, never intend to get a job, so that's a factor in the years to come. And millions upon millions of people have chosen to live a life on multiple benefits rather than work and pay their way in life by contributing to Tax and NI. So any UK Government really needs to start validating these people soonest and weed out the non genuine claimers and offer them the choice of either find a job (there's thousands on offer) of your benefits will stop.
For allowing Lineker to return to his vastly overpaid job, what's the betting that someone high up in the BBC will have to stand down because of it ?
As my previous post elsewhere regarding need for integrating illegals [ concentrated all from last 2 -3 years WOULD BE into a city environment size of BATH! You and I Angelic live in an area that has [ HAD] a lot of green space and a wildlife corridor. The old railway that led from Bristol to Pensford has slowly been nibbled away, but still a fantastic green space that runs from West town lane to Stockwood/ Whitchursch boundary at the old Horses home with a river, it extends around the golf course to the Bath road almost as Stockwood open space. Whitchurch did have a open space opposite what is now the Bottle factory and where the new "hospital" business estate is. I informed AVON WILD LIFE TRUDST before they[ developers put in the new roads and buildings on Dundry side of the Whitchurch Lane their was a crested newt pond . 3 attempts ... no response... road was put in and the pond was bulldozed.. sad thing is where the pond was is now just a bit of flat rough ground no pond! BUILDING IS NOW OUT OF CONTROL ...PLANNING OF IT IS. The old Horses home land has been developed with minimal sized rooms [ smallest building regs allow ] squashed in with minimal area around them .. 2 car families, well 1 car has just enough room on their "drive" the other 50/50 on the pavement.. wheel chair access.. drive off path skirt round the on pavement cars and face danger before getting back onto pavement! I am a supporter of Butterfly conservation trust/ woodlands trust/ rspb/ and as one employee of a ???? nature trust said a welcome "guerilla of the countryside" [ myself and mates ] in so much as we tend to things that need doing without damage and they dont have time or money to do [ opposed to volunteers that is. Over the years I have from records noted the decline of many species, in past 3 years it is noticeable in our area [ just one of many I frequent ] serious drops in butterflies and birds. Bird table used to be a "punch up" to get the food put on it .. now food can last for 2 days or more recently last just hours as pigeons and Starlings devour it in minutes. DONT ADD TO IT NOWADAYS [ the list of ] unless I come across it, in 1983 started a list of birds seen in my garden .. it totalled 41 different at last time I recall 50 was/is my target! Butterflies used to be 8 or 9 [ not bad for my situation] Admirals still 3rd species but last year single figure sightings. In the past tortoishells/ painted lady/ common blue used to be up there with the 2 whites ..... used to be plenty of woodmice/ field mice .. but now it is foxes from midday onward ... Magpies one for sorrow 2 for joy .. wonder what 27 is [ biggest grouping in field at bottom of garden ] and pigeons 23 highest count ....
Less birds, Bees and Butterflies in the garden that's for sure. My Grandmother used to live on the Wells Road just down from the Yeoman on the other side of the road. From the bedroom that I occupied during my frequent stays there (on the third floor) I could watch trains - steam and diesel on the horizon going towards and coming from Whitchurch Halt and then to beyond. Whitchurch has expanded a lot since I was young and my playground of 'the canyon' one entrance to which was almost opposite where my Gran used to live is now divided up and fenced off beyond the viaduct whereas when I was a kid you could, and I did, walk it from end to end, before going through the tunnel and emerging wet and dirty on Sturminster Road. Used to be a pub there called the Antelope. I still have access to the canyon these days via a footpath in Ridgeway Lane, close to where I live now, and during better weather I use that footpath to come out in Maggs Lane on my way to visit the family graves in St Nicholas, and have a couple of pints in the Black Lion. During some ancestry investigations, it's also come to light that members of my dim and distant family owned the bakery in Whitchurch, and there is still a plaque on the wall where it once stood saying 'The Old Bakehouse' which is on the LHS heading towards Pensford, just up from Stephen Maggs and co.
The threads about Lineker nit Sunak. Im still thinking you sort of agreed with me maybe not. but here the sketch again this seriously wealthy Lineker is tax dodging. He has multiple homes. companies abroad to dodge taxes. He works for the qataris who do all the things he claims he is against ??? Your thinking he is some sort of free speech martyr. he worked for the qataris!! Linekers isnt standing up for the free speech of others in the UK or anywhere really. Frew words about Qatar before the WC but he had already took cash from them! So this being a free speech thing is a bit rich like Lineker!!!
The thread and my comments are actually about Lineker and whether he should be allowed to voice his opinions on Social media or whether by doing so he’s in some way brought the BBC into disrepute and has gone beyond the boundaries of his contract. You broadened it include his tax affairs, which is why I then drew a comparison to Sunak’s tax affairs, a perfectly reasonable comparison. To be clear I’m not defending his tax affairs I really don’t know enough about them, if he’s breaking tax laws then I will line up with anyone else who criticises him, I’m merely saying imo he, along with the rest of us, should be able to benefit from free speech, regardless of how wealthy, or not, he may be.
Free speech is an overused concept. It only exists in the minds of those who believe they're unaccountable for what they say in a democratic system. Of course Lineker can say what he wants in our society as can we all, but the fact that he carries such a following through his sporting history and current broadcasting position also makes him responsible. I don't believe for one minute that he didn't realise the political effect of his evocative tweet. God help him if he'd been a Russian sporting presenter or he'd have fallen out a hotel window by now.
Exactly, my point really is no system is perfect, but I prefer ours, to one where if you disagree with the government of the day, you may take a fall from a very tall building, or even worse be forced to watch Cardiff at home for a full season
Your the one saying this is a freedom of speech issue. well lets chuck that about a bit. Lineker worked for the qataris so doesnt support freedom of speech when there is money to be made. Linekers using his position to advocate for open borders more immigration? what? this puts a burden on our society. GL meanwhile uses the BBC to avoid paying tax and doesnt want to pay for the burden he supports ??? and we the tax payer are paying his massive wages at the BBC. Right there is a reason why the BBC should be impartial there has to be some restraint on what this fake lefty tax dodging ex employee of human rights abusers constantly politically and a major player at the BBC on the screen a top face on the biggest bucks out of all the biggest stars paid by the public chucks around right?
