How do you think that Ukraine might be able to defeat Russia? It can't without direct involvement by NATO countries - i.e. NATO effectively declaring war on Russia (something that Russia pretends has already happened). NATO would win a conventional war, but we would be reliant on Putin not resorting to nuclear weapons. Do you want to take that chance? I don't.
Good discussion here, but Ukraine's goal (and NATO's) is not to defeat the nation of Russia outright, per se, but to "encourage" them to exit the territory of their own sovereign nation. With all his various nuclear threats I believe this "sabre rattling" is simply bluster for home consumption and he thinks Ukraine's allies will turn into scaredy cats.
As a kid growing up in Andover, Hampshire we had a WWII air raid shelter on my grandfather's property that backed onto ours. Was located just behind a rather rundown grass tennis court that had a heavy roller to press the turf down (had seen better days). He passed away before I was born and was a building contractor and I expect had his men build it. Great place to play around in as kids. We lived in a.home that my grandfather built for the mayor of Andover that had a large entrance hallway that the various doors led into (dining room, lounge, kitchen area) I remember once when the "Mummers" came and entertained us. No central heating however so could be cold and damp in winter. Every room upstairs/downstairs had a fireplace some of which had been updated to gas fireplaces. I recall the "coalmen" arriving and lugging heavy sacks of coal and coke (for the hot water furnace) and dumped into a room that exited the kitchen into the backyard. Also the chimney sweep was a regular visitor. We had no refrigerator, used a.cold room off the kitchen, daily milk deliveries, cream used off the tops of the gold foil capped bottles.
That was about it from my memory. No domestic staff at our home per se, but Mrs. Raymond helped out with the housework (and babysitting), her son was the drummer in an early version of The Hollies and The Troggs (Wild Thing) also hailed from Andover. Mr. Mundy also came Sunday (morning only) to help Dad out with the gardening chores, later us kids. He drove one of those little three-wheeler cars where the whole front hinged forward, not the Messichsmit I believe, we called them "Bubble Cars". Near to our home my grandfather had built a large home next to the golf club with a glassed in conservatory, a summer house and several "saddle stones" in the backyard, plus an apple orchard.
apparently it can be done Expelled the same day: Ireland hardens illegal immigration response 1 hour ago Share Save Fergal Keane and Larissa Kennelly BBC News please log in to view this image 0:45 WATCH: Irish police stop a bus that has crossed the border from Northern Ireland The three Gardai - Irish police officers - walk down the rows of passengers on the bus, a few kilometres south of the border with Northern Ireland. Observing this is the head of the Garda National Immigration Bureau, Det Ch Supt Aidan Minnock. “If they don't have status to be in Ireland, we bring them to Dublin,” he explains. “They're removed on a ferry back to the UK on the same day.” Asylum applications in Ireland have risen by nearly 300% so far this year compared to the same period five years ago. A spike in arrivals from the UK has been driven by various factors, among these the UK’s tougher stance post-Brexit, including the fear of deportations to Rwanda, as well as Ireland’s relatively healthy economy. Most asylum seekers coming from the UK to the Republic of Ireland enter the country from Northern Ireland, as - unlike the airport or ferry routes - there is no passport control. The Garda checks along the 500km-long (310 miles) border are the only means of stopping illegal entry. Det Ch Supt Minnock told the BBC that 200 people had been returned to the UK this year as a result of these checkpoints, thought to be only a small fraction of those crossing the porous border illegally. More than 2,000 people who arrived in Ireland illegally have been issued deportation orders so far this year, a 156% increase on the same period in 2023. However, only 129 of those people (just over 6%) are confirmed to have since left the state. The government has said it will begin chartered deportation flights in the coming months, and free up more immigration Gardai from desk work. Advertisement please log in to view this image Det Ch Supt Aidan Minnock says he understands what motivates people to seek asylum Onboard the coach near the border, the Gardai question a young man about where he lives. He is Algerian - a student, he says. The police are suspicious and he is taken to the detention vehicle while his identity is checked. A veteran of war crimes investigations in post-war Bosnia - as part of an EU police team - Det Ch Supt Minnock knows well the violence and poverty that drives migration. “This is growing at such a scale because of the conflict and instability right across the world,” he says. Public concern over immigration is closely linked to Ireland’s chronic housing problem. The Republic now has the worst record in the EU for housing young people. The CEO of the Irish Refugee Council, Nick Henderson, says the crisis is a “perfect storm”, created in part by the failure to build enough housing stock over decades, and a government unprepared for the upsurge in asylum seekers - known in Ireland as International Protection Applicants (IPAs) - needing help with accommodation. “[The government] is only able to provide accommodation through private contractors. That, coupled with an increase in the number of people seeking protection in Ireland, and against the background of a housing crisis has meant, in effect, that Ireland's asylum reception system has really collapsed.” In nearly three years, the number of asylum seekers accommodated by the state’s International Protection Accommodation Services (IPAS) has more than quadrupled - from 7,244 to 32,649 people. Over 100,000 Ukrainians, who were given a separate status, also sought refuge in Ireland during that time. Tens of thousands of international protection applicants - some already with asylum status in Ireland, others waiting to be processed - have been sent to communities around the country, accommodated in hotels, former schools, apartments, even large tented camps. Ireland’s housing shortage means that even those granted asylum are struggling to leave the temporary system as others arrive. Nearly 1,000 people are now living in tented accommodation. Advertisement please log in to view this image Getty Images Rows of tents housing asylum seekers pitched along Dublin's Grand Canal in May this year This makeshift response has generated resentment. In the village of Dundrum, County Tipperary - population 221 - a group of locals attempted to block the arrival of asylum seekers at the gates ofa former hotel in August. The proposal to house up to 277 people at Dundrum House, which hasn’t operated as a hotel since 2015, would double the local population. Locals worry that it will be a permanent fixture. “How can our government not engage properly with us?” asks Andrea Crowe, a local teacher and protester who has frequently spoken in public. She cites concerns over housing, health and education provision for the community. Advertisement please log in to view this image Protester Andrea Crowe feels the government failed to consult with the community before sending the asylum seekers to Dundrum House please log in to view this image The protest outside Dundrum House has been there for more than 180 days Advertisement Since July, there has been a 24-hour protest outside the hotel. Ms Crowe, whose family once owned the Dundrum House hotel, accuses the government of failing to consult with the community - a common complaint around the country. “How can we not be concerned?” she says. The IPAS community currently living at Dundrum House is made up of about 80 women and children. There is also a separate group of Ukrainian families, welcomed after the Russian invasion in February 2022. Several locals told us they feared that single men - who make up 35% of asylum seekers arriving in Ireland so far this year - would eventually replace the women and children, although there so far is no evidence to suggest this is planned in Dundrum. Local builder, Martin Barry, cites the housing crisis as a key reason for his protest, particularly the plight of his eldest son. “My own young fella, he can't afford a place to rent,” he says. please log in to view this image Martin Barry is one of a rotating group of about a dozen people who have been protesting outside Dundrum House Advertisement But Martin Barry also speaks to deeper fears of change in some rural communities. The dance hall where he met his wife has closed. The local pub is for sale. There were hopes Dundrum House would be reopened and used by the local community. “It’s just the worry of what's coming down the line,” he says. We meet two South African women given refuge at Dundrum House. Both were sent from their accommodation in Dublin - 180km (110 miles) away - to make way for newer arrivals into the capital, some of whom were sleeping in tents on the streets. The women ask to remain anonymous. “Lerato” had been in Dublin for a year. “I had integrated with society, and made friends. My child was attending school and I was comfortable.” Her friend “Kayla” speaks of being isolated in Dundrum, a farming community with limited transport amenities. please log in to view this image These two women say they were moved to Dundrum from Dublin at five hours' notice Advertisement Far-right parties show scant support in opinion polls. Immigration worries are likely to be expressed in support for independent candidates. But online, far-right agitators stoke fear. There have been violent riots and arson attacks on sites meant to house, or rumoured to house, asylum seekers, and refugees have been attacked in their tents on Dublin’s streets. A common conspiracy theory is that migrants are being “planted” in Ireland as part of a plot to dominate Irish people and destroy their culture. We saw two posters referring to a “plantation” at the Dundrum House protest. The now-closed online GoFundMe Page for Dundrum referred to Ireland’s “indigenous” population fighting “for our very existence” and the government “flooding communities with asylum seekers”. The page - which raised more than €3,000 (£2,500) - was set up by a local businessman. He turns out to have posted antisemitic, Islamophobic and anti-vaccine conspiracist material on social media. We ask Andrea Crowe, one of the prominent voices of the Dundrum protest, if she is comfortable with such a person being involved? Ms Crowe says she does not “follow social media much” and it is not up to her to manage other people’s reactions. But she says she’s “not comfortable with it”. please log in to view this image “Stop the immigration plantation of Ireland” reads one poster at Dundrum Advertisement Others in CountyTipperary welcome asylum seekers. Some 17 groups came together under the slogan “Tipperary Welcomes” after the Dundrum protest began. John Browne, a member of the community council, says the issue divides people. “I don’t have a problem with it because we're relatively wealthy, and the situation is pretty bad in parts of Africa and where most of these people are coming from.” But he disagrees strongly with the numbers involved in small places like Dundrum. “It imbalances the community. And it's no good for the people coming in, because there's nothing here for them.” We caught up with Ireland’s Minister for Integration, Roderic O’Gorman, while he was campaigning in Dublin for the General Election, due to be held on 29 November. He now canvasses votes with two police guards after being assaulted by a man protesting against immigration. please log in to view this image Ireland’s Minister for Integration, Roderic O’Gorman, says the state is engaging more with local communities Advertisement Mr O’Connor says many areas welcome asylum seekers. “There are communities all over the place who are actually embracing and supporting,” he says. But he accepts some failures. “I recognise in the initial parts of our response, there were times where there wasn't that level of engagement that we need,” he says. There are now Community Engagement Teams responsible for liaising with residents, although the protesters we spoke to in Dundrum say they have had only one meeting with a team and are still no wiser about the long-term plans for the hotel. please log in to view this image The dance hall in Dundrum has now closed - the village pub is for sale Advertisement Official policy is hardening. Ukrainian asylum seekers who arrived amid widespread public sympathy and were given special benefits, recently saw these slashed from €232 (£190) to €38.80 (£32) per week - a cut of 83%. South Africans now need visas to enter the country. A visa loophole which allowed Jordanians - at one point the largest group of asylum seekers in Ireland - to enter fromthe UK has been closed. Concern over immigration has so far not translated into electoral support for far-right parties. Nick Henderson at the Refugee Council believes this need not be inevitable in Ireland. “Communities want to welcome people, but they need resources. They need communication.” The Republic’s image as a stable and progressive democracy won’t change in this electoral cycle. But the rise in far-right populism internationally is a warning for the future – of how concern over immigration can be made a focus for other discontents and create turbulent politics.
Yes. Hundreds of illegal migrants deported on biggest flights ever as Keir Starmer gets 'war on gangs' win - Mirror Online
about time too Will the irish method of sending them back to the last country of exit on the next ferry be used Are there 800,000 illegal immigrants in the UK? 15 November 2019 Share Save Dominic Casciani Home affairs correspondent please log in to view this image Getty Images It's a truism that if something can't be seen, it can't be easily counted. But this hasn't stopped statisticians when it comes to illegal immigrants. The latest attempt is a fascinating paper on the European Union (EU) picture from the Pew Research Centre. The Washington-based think tank has a global reputation for interpreting the trends that shape the modern world - and so its findings will always make headlines. The claim in the Pew paper is simple: there may have been between 800,000 and 1.2 million unauthorised migrants living in the UK in 2017. Pew's definition of an "unauthorised" migrant is anyone living in a country without a residency permit. Some politicians would refer to the same group of people as "illegal migrants". Others use the phrase "undocumented migrants". ADVERTISING Here are some examples of who could be counted: a temporary worker who stays on after their visa has expired. someone who has paid a smuggler to help them enter the country someone who has sought asylum and had their case rejected How did Pew come up with the figure? Experts have debated for years the best way to count unauthorised migrants. One approach involves asking people with potential insights - such as construction managers who check identity documents - for their informed view. Another, known as "snowballing", relies on researchers finding unauthorised migrants and using them to identify others - thereby gathering more and more data. For the UK, Pew used the "residual" method. It's an attempt to estimate the number of migrants who are left over when everyone who can be counted has been. Advertisement please log in to view this image Firstly, Pew took UK figures on the number of non-EU nationals living in the country. Then, it gathered separate data on non-EU people with recorded and legal residency. Here's the 2017 data for the UK: The Office for National Statistics said there were an estimated 2.4 million non-EU citizens living in the UK. The Home Office separately said 1.5 million non-EU citizens had some form of legal residency, such as work visas. It then subtracted the number of non-EU citizens with legal residency from the overall estimated number. And, after some further tweaks to the data explained in the paper, Pew came up with its 800,000-to-1.2 million range. Advertisement But here's the problem. That estimate... is built on estimates. As we have reported before - the UK has absolutely no idea how many people from abroad are actually in the country at any one time. Secondly, the Home Office doesn't even know how many of the people it thinks are in the country are legally resident. For instance, it has no means of knowing for sure whether someone has left for another country or died. The Windrush scandal further exposed that the government had lost a vast number of its own records of grants of permission to reside in the country. Advertisement Pew notes all these shortcomings - but hopes its data is as close as it can get to a useful figure to help inform policy-makers. How does it compare with other estimates? Given what we know about the general trend in migration over the past 20 years, and previous attempts to calculate the number of unauthorised migrants in the UK, the paper is not inconsistent with other estimates. The Home Office published its first best guess in 2005. The figure ranged from 310,000 to 570,000. A later study developed the data and concluded that by the end of 2007 the range was between 417,000 and 863,000 people, including children born in the UK. In the years since, the UK and the EU have experienced repeated periods of high immigration. So Pew's 2017 range is not at odds with the bigger story.
legal emigrant thank you still have family in the country do you not care how many illegal people are there great that it keeps wages down i spose would you like sugar with your soy latte
I really can't. You and your sad little mini-me seem a little pre-occupied with my posts, though. Whatever.
As Starmer's approval rating plummets, Farage is on the rise: Can Labour turn things around? As Sir Keir Starmer's approval rates plummet, Nigel Farage's are on the rise. Pollsters and strategists tell Sky News what the Labour leader needs to do to turn things around before it's too late. Faye Brown Political reporter @fayebrownSky Saturday 23 November 2024 07:23, UK please log in to view this image Why you can trust Sky News "We are in uncharted territory." Sir John Curtice understands polling like few others, but you do not have to be an expert to see the Labour government has had a rough start. Sponsored link please log in to view this image Top 10 Coolest Gifts for Grandchildren in 2024The Little Learners Journal What is Outbrain It's been less than five months since Sir Keir Starmer's landslide election victory and already two-thirds of Britons say they feel worse off. That's according to a new poll from Ipsos, the latest survey to assess public opinion of the new occupants of Downing Street. And while the prime minister's favourability rating plummets, Nigel Farage's is on the rise. please log in to view this image "We have never previously had a government starting with quite as low a share of the vote Labour got in July," Sir John tells Sky News, referring to the party's 174-seat majority despite a modest vote share of just 33.7% "It's also difficult to find a government that has slipped as much in the polls as this government has so quickly." More on Labour please log in to view this image 'When you hit profits, you hit growth': Business criticised biggest budget tax increase in decades please log in to view this image Bar staff to be trained to deal with incidents of drink spiking please log in to view this image The UK is not obliged to have a deputy PM - but John Prescott's legacy shows it's a job worth having Related Topics: Labour Sir Keir Starmer Labour are being made to pay for unpopular decisions such as the means testing of the winter fuel payment and PR nightmares like the freebies row. While "the Conservative party is not that popular", we are in a new world of multi-party politics where "people have plenty of options, Reform UK is gaining traction", Sir John adds. It's an "unprecedented situation", and against it Labour face two fundamental difficulties - a leader who "hasn't got a particularly strong political antenna" and a party "that doesn't do narrative". "Voters are looking for them to fix the country," Sir John says. "Inevitably, they can't in a matter of three to four months but they don't have a positive narrative to explain why they have done what they have done. "Their only argument is the Tories hid things and it's worse than we thought. That's a debatable proposition." But how detrimental is bad polling early on, and is it possible to shift the dial once a perception sets in? 'They have certainly got time' According to Keiran Pedley, director of UK Politics at Ipsos, "there's not a hard and fast rule". please log in to view this image He says: "If you look at past prime ministers, there are some that start at a certain level, and they fall gradually over time, and they lose an election or get replaced, like Rishi Sunak or Theresa May. "But there are other examples where it's not as linear - Margaret Thatcher, Tony Blair, David Cameron, their popularity ebbed and flowed." To some degree, this was all circumstantial. Thatcher was bolstered by the Falklands War, for example, while the perceived weaknesses of then Labour leader Ed Miliband helped Cameron bounce back from his austerity-hit approval ratings to win the 2015 election. "These things are all relative to how competently the opposition are seen as well," Mr Pedley says. "Given Labour are not six months into what might be a five-year term they have certainly got time." 'Public is giving Labour a chance' Indeed, some Labour insiders are not fazed by the polls, hoping the public will stick with them over time as they start to feel the benefits of the government's longer-term pledges like growing the economy and investing in the NHS. According to Luke Tryl, director of thinktank More in Common, there is evidence the public is giving them some grace on this front. The polling might be grim, but in focus groups, he says people seem willing to "give them the benefit of the doubt". He said: "They will say 'I am not that happy with what they have done so far, but I am willing to give them a chance'." That does not mean being complacent, however. Mr Tryl says the next election is likely to come down to three metrics: Do people think the weekly shop is more affordable, can people get a GP appointment more easily, have the small boats stopped or at least reduced? Read more: Public sector pay rises help drive up government borrowing Rayner criticises 'scaremongering' over inheritance tax changes for farmers Mr Tryl says Labour will want to start making some progress on those issues long before voters next go to the polls - perhaps even within a year - or else the mood against the party could "crystalise". "They could find themselves in a situation like Joe Biden, who actually had lots of popular policy but [by the election campaign], the mood had crystallised against him, it was too late." please log in to view this image 2:52 Play Video - How the polls 'got it wrong' How the polls 'got the US election wrong' 'Learn lessons from America' James Matthewson, a Labour spokesman during the Jeremy Corbyn era, also urged Starmer to learn lessons from across the Atlantic. He believes the prime minister "absolutely can turn things around", but that requires "defining what a centre-left government should look like". "They cannot look like the same old establishment. They need to look sensible and moderate but at the same time show they are different." That's not an easy task he admits, and one Starmer’s predecessor, Mr Corbyn, failed to pull off with his huge fiscal spending programme that was rejected at the 2019 election. Image:Labour need to learn from the Democrats' losses, say pollsters With even less room for manoeuvre on public spending than then, Mr Matthewson says Labour need to define their values with policies that are bold and socially progressive - but don't cost the earth. "The private school tax policy is a clear example of this kind of thing," he says. "Most people don't send their kids to private schools, and most people like that. It's a thing of values." Drug reform and democratic reform are other areas Labour could tap into to distinguish themselves from the Tories, he adds - warning Mr Farage will be "emboldened" by Donald Trump's victory, and that poses a huge risk at the next UK election. please log in to view this image 2:07 Play Video - 100 days of Starmer 100 days of Starmer Their "core narrative", he says, is "there is a left-wing establishment ruling the world". "It’s nonsense, but it’s the narrative that works. And the more you look like that, the more you’re trying to be responsible and fill the shoes of the previous government, the more you fall into that trap." please log in to view this image Get Sky News on WhatsApp Follow our channel and never miss an update Tap here to follow Can Labour bounce back? Of course, while Mr Biden had four years, Mr Starmer has five - so for now at least, time is indeed on his side. As Sir John reminds us, there’s only really one event a leader cannot recover from - which Liz Truss knows all too well. "If you preside over a market crisis, it's game over - you are dead," he says. “Other than that, it's delivery, delivery, delivery."
I reckon the people signing this ridiculous petition for a new General Election are largely the same people that voted for Brexit. We had an election and Labour won. It's the WILL OF THE PEOPLE. You can have another go in four years, chumps.
And what about all those remainers who wanted the Brexit Referendum overturned because they didn't like the result, wasn't that THE WILL OF THE PEOPLE? Agree that nothing will happen with this petition but it does show how quickly this Government has become unpopular..... Saw some of Rachel from Accounts CBI interview yesterday and she doesn't instill confidence, almost robotic in her presentation and repeats the same mantra over and over again..... almost a game of Rachel Bingo..... Starmer & Co have spent the last 4 months talking the Country down it's now difficult for them to reverse this and start getting people onside.....
