Brexshit was national self harm, originally across party lines but becomes the mantra of the right as migration policy.
It’s arguable that Rwanda is a direct consequence of Brexit, because Brexit didn’t achieve what the right wing wanted in terms of reducing immigration. The latest anti-immigration strategy will make life in this country a lot worse for anyone in need of health or social care, anyone wanting to eat in a restaurant, or pretty much anyone else. Just to satisfy a tiny minority of frothing racists.
The purpose of the Rwanda bill failing is to make the Tories look as if they were trying to do the correct thing, but they were thwarted at every turn by, ooh, let's see: Labour, Liberals, SNP, The House of Lords, EU Human Rights Legislation, Labour again, in fact everyone who isn't absolutely committed to removing foreigners (apart from rich ones). This will mean that they can call a general election, and the right wing press will be able to say that everyone MUST vote Conservative, just to be absolutely sure that the small boats will be stopped. Cynical? Moi?
Sounds like a rerun of Brexit. Hardly anyone gave a **** about the EU prior to 2016, and likewise immigration is way down the list of things people actually care about in 2023. Somehow the Daily Heil will have to pull all the stops out to make 2024 the immigration election. Time for Cambridge Analytica and the associated AI bots on TwiXter to step in.
Cambridge Analytica and the bots are currently busy trying to get Farage to win in the jungle, aren’t they? As for Rwanda, this has to be the longest, most drawn out distraction from the things that everyone should be watching and talking about, since the right wanted us out of the EU to “stop 90 million people from Turkey coming to the UK”. Economy still ****, inflation predicted by some economists to likely go up again next year, utility costs too high and Thames Water about to pay off £37 million in dividends despite its poor service and, if I am correct, being laden with debt. How is it possible for a company to pay dividends whilst carrying debt? I expect it goes on across the whole business spectrum but WTAF!
Not only common but apparently encouraged by poor regulation and little in the way of consequences. The owners of Wilko paying themselves millions in dividends while scrabbling around to secure loans to keep the company going the most recent example. I was fascinated by the Rover story a couple of decades ago where it reached fantastic levels fancy accounting and greed. The only punishment when exposed was a ban from being a company director for a few years, no problem as you can always get you wife/husband/dog to front your next project. It's called "light touch".
A further comment on the Rwanda scheme, because the Tories are still banging that drum which claims the scheme will deter asylum seekers from crossing the Channel to reach the UK. The numbers I have seen, that will be sent to Rwanda, is something like 150-200 asylum seekers. Given that the number arriving by boat this year, as of 13th November (according to the BBC) is just over 27000, where is the deterrent? Asylum seekers who are desperate enough to climb into a small and often overcrowded and unsafe small boat, will hardly be deterred by the miniscule threat that they might be one of the 200 asylum seekers selected to be sent to Rwanda, should the scheme ever get underway. It only becomes a deterrent if the plan allows for all of them to be sent to Rwanda. 200 as a percentage of 27000 is around 0.74% and that percentage will likely reduce as more asylum seekers arrive. It would be good if the media challenged the rhetoric with simple facts like this.
I've been living overseas for more than 15 years having left in June 2007 and new draft legislation the Elections Act 2022 if passed, will allow me to vote from early 2024, which means I'm likely to be able to exercise my right to vote in the next General Election.
An interesting joint statement from several Scholars in Holocaust and Genocide Studies https://contendingmodernities.nd.ed...dEWlitJiGCTQR1PPKxbCYgNrKsnF7gQs294u2PcWVHvPA
The Good Law Project are continuing their good work and have found that VIP PPE contracts were inflated to the tune of £925 million, when prices were compared with non VIP suppliers. Complete and utter corruption. https://goodlawproject.org/vip-lane-contracts-inflated-by-925m/
Absolutely spot-on Tejon . If it ever worked, it would certainly not be Braverman's promotional dream sequence of skies full of planes taking off to Rwanda. Such facts pull-back the curtain. Michael Walker on Novara Media (YT) was making a similar point last night, very much recommended.
I consider myself generally a lefty and I wouldn’t recommend Novara Media to anyone. Poison almost akin to GB News or the right wing talking head channels but just a left wing variant. Indeed GB News is an apt comparison because NM has a far bigger staff and seemingly production budget that a channel of its viewership and subscribers can really afford. So like GB News is is almost certainly loss leading in it’s own right and being propped up. Their unrelenting attacks on Starmer and Labour before he has even gained power in an echo system where all the main newspapers are already against him is profoundly unhelpful at best and truly terrible for country and anyone even slightly to the left at worst. They represent unelectable viewpoints and are like Momentum in that they would rather lose on their principles than win by compromising in any way. Well I’m fed up with people like this. The country is basically not working. Nothing is working. Even right wing channels have noticed (but blame different / the wrong things a lot of the time). Kneecapping the best chance of a change of government is so unfathomably stupid I’d be tempted to go full tinfoil hat when trying to theorise who is actually funding that channel
The rise of social media has definitely given a disproportionate voice to more extreme views and our political parties and media have pandered to opinions which can look like they’re popular or important, but in reality are probably only supported by a tens of thousands of “active” people amongst the 70million of us. Our political parties should really all be seeking a middle ground and as long as Labour ignore the noise from Owen Jones etc then they’ll be on course for power next year.
Its a few people in their rooms over skype (founder Arron Bastani broadcasting from Gosport of all places), the production values are minimal, while they only produce a 1.15hs podcast a day. They probably have somebody to edit them into segments on YouTube and somebody to man the website. They're to the left of me, but what's wrong with that? I often read right leaning publications too. Labour is a centralist party at present, Novara folk seem savvy enough - as we all are left of Tory - that political expedience is required at present, not like the headbangers of GBNews. I'm really not seeing what you're seeing Greg. The comparison is truly bizarre, but that is built up on the straw which is your suspicion that the serious money it takes put an hour long video every day on YouTube, is reason to seriously question how this minimalist approach to a news bulletin is being funded (which is stated as being from donations, under the banner of "people powered media"). How much are Tory MPs being paid to host regular shows from London studios (where the lovingly tickle other Tory MPs) on GBNews? Left Wing media notoriously struggles for funding, in comparison to the right's media lungs, the countless grifting conservative internet "personalities" , along with the limp noodles of the manosphere. While I doubt Bastani is currently scoping out The Guardian as Paul Marshall is looking to acquire the Telegraph. If we think GBNews is bad now, wait until they're in opposition it with be an insistent war footing and funding will snowball. I didn't admire Starmer's politically convenient pandering to Zionist lobbyists; or the ensuing moral panic/witch-hunt where being critical of Israel's ultra nationalist government's treatment of the civilian population of Gaza = antisemitism. So I'm with Novara very much there, not that they bang on about it, GBNews weaponize grievances, as we're currently seeing with the sinister Rwanda farce. What do you feel are their extreme positions? What news outlets could you recommend?
What I have learned today, and it’s not even 09.30 where I am. The Commons Public Accounts Committee has reported that of the 235 big contracts awarded by the government, in 2021/2022, 20% were awarded to businesses/people with no competition, which the committee believes cost the country £7.7 billion more than it would have cost if a more robustly competitive system had been used. Although 29 Tory MPs abstained from the Rwanda vote, not one Tory MP voted against it, showing them to be both heartless and wasteful of taxpayers money on a scheme that will not work. And on the topic of last night’s vote, the Climate Minister flew 3400 back from Dubai to cast his vote, before flying another 3400 miles back to Dubai, which even if he took a scheduled flight comes as a cost to the taxpayers. 8 million adults and millions of children face health risks as a result of substandard housing and fuel poverty, reminiscent of a “Dickensian” Christmas. As the last words in A Christmas Carol say “God bless us, everyone”.
