Cheers, Tom ! No doubt Farage is flavour of the month but I just feel that any current momentum will be thwarted by the press. I am convinced they are happy to build his profile upwards but also think they will go to town against him ahead if the next election. I am staggered that Starmer has started so poorly. I cannot see him lasting to front Labour in the next campaign. So what are your predictions?
My predictions; Starmer will be gone before the next election unless Labour are sure they are gonna be sunk anyway at which point no-one will want to be the losing PM at the next GE and will leave him in position Farage will be next PM either by majority or supported by Tories and possibly DUP. I think the talk of "media putting him under the kosh" ignores the fact that the legacy media is becoming less and less relevant by the day as well as the whole "MSM blah blah" meaning that each attack is just a "see, see" example of the "establishment throwing mud." It didn't work against Trump, it won't work against Farage. Labour will have to agree to team up with Corbyn's lot. they cannot beat Reform, let alone a Reform-Tory tie up without Corbyn's guaranteed 15% Last prediction is Labour will continue to be oblivious to how people do not believe their lies or how their idealogical attacks on "the haves" are not actually hurting "the haves" at all. It is hurting the aspirational middle and that is where the votes are! As seen with the private school fiaso. The very rich paid up front. The ones that scrimped and scraped to give their children an advantage have added to the state school numbers costing the taxpayer more money! See if they learn from that with this tax on private healthcare! People that go private don't get a rebate for not using the NHS so they are actually contributing 100% for a service they do not use. The very rich will still pay. Companies will think about dropping any schemes they have if that costs a load more. Companies that are already having to pay workers a shedload more because of employers NICs and NMW increases. Labour's timing is terrible. They make it more expensive to employ people at just the time when Europe is pretty much in recession in real terms. Just when we need employers to support jobs and retain their workers they push the price of employment up!
HIGNFY Cash for access scandal: people paying £9.5k to access 'influential government policy makers', although so far they've only met Labour MPs. please log in to view this image
The often talked about Entry Exit System (EES) will be going live from October 2025, alllegedly. It will be a gradual rollout, I guess to iron out problems, but it is expected to be fully operational by April next year, and will include all EU entry points, land, sea and air. Those who hate big brother will be incensed at having to give biometric data which will be a facial image and some fingerprints. That doesn’t bother me as I had it done for my residential identity card, but I am keen to know if I will need to take any action. I already show my identity card when going in or out of the country, with my passport, so hopefully that will be enough. Worth looking at the drop down information in the link as it explains everything, such as how you won’t be able to use self scan passport control unless you have a biometric passport. A guy who does a podcast, out here, will be investigating this in more detail and will hopefully share what he learns in a few weeks. If it’s any good I will post it on here, for information. https://travel-europe.europa.eu/en/ees/faq#which-biometric-identifiers-will-ees-store
People outside of the UK will obviously be more accepting of this. To be honest I have no problem with it. Its a moan about nothing IMO
And there will be moans, especially as there will be delays at the borders when the biometric data is initially collected. The facial image won’t take long but 4 fingerprints, 2 from each hand iirc, could take a couple of minutes depending on how quickly someone can follow instructions. It’s no big deal having an identity card and it has helped me jump queues at Spanish airports as I use it to go through the EU channels.
"Who’s behind the Centre for Migration Control? This so-called “research organisation” has been cited in The Sun, The Telegraph, The Times and Express - but it appears to be run by one man with a Brexit campaign past, publishing opaque and selective data and wild claims about migrants. The Eye asked the Centre for Migration Control for more information regarding its employees, funding, research methodology and third-party validation, but received no response. Full story in the new Private Eye, out now." please log in to view this image
Labour would have walked into government with a blank manifesto last year. Yet they still managed to promise stupid ****e and gonna look stupid when doing yet another u turn
Reeves shot them in the foot with her OTT strict 'fiscal rules' which likely made absolutely no difference at the polls in the end but she is now having to tie herself in knots to stick with them.
Here is a simple manifesto promise they could have used: We promise to reduce the tax burden on the poor. That’s all they needed.
I think two big vote winners for the next election would be to:- renationalise water by using loopholes to put the current owners into administration, giving the government the right to take over for very little money. Rejoin the single market and the Dublin Protocol. Leaving the single market is estimated to be costing the government £40 billion a year in lost tax revenue and costing individuals £1000 a year. People would complain about the freedom of movement for EU citizens but that argument could be countered by the Dublin Protocol allowing us to return asylum seekers more easily than we can now. And for the extremists like the Farage followers, just explain that the EU immigrants would be mainly white and would be entering the country for work purposes. They would still be angry at the foreigners but that is just their default position in many cases. Edit. The figures used are often quoted in reports and in videos. Google it.
Add rejoining the customs union and eventually the EU propper. We left as a respected, albeit with reservations, and influential member to become a sidelined rule taker. Worth noting in most EU countries someone coming from another member state has to register with the authorities a show proof of medical cover, usually an EHIC, and means of support. https://european-union.europa.eu/priorities-and-actions/actions-topic/customs_en "The EU Customs Union, established in 1968, makes it easier for EU companies to trade, harmonises customs duties on goods from outside the EU and helps to protect Europe’s citizens, animals and the environment. In practice, the Customs Union means that the customs authorities of all EU countries work together as if they were one. They apply the same tariffs to goods imported into their territory from the rest of the world, and apply no tariffs internally." Single market description. https://european-union.europa.eu/priorities-and-actions/actions-topic/single-market_en "The EU aims to enable EU citizens to study, live, shop, work and retire in any EU country and enjoy products from all over Europe. To do this, it ensures free movement of goods, services, capital and persons in a single EU internal market. By removing technical, legal and bureaucratic barriers, the EU also allows citizens to trade and do business freely. The EU is also building a capital markets union, to make it easier for small businesses to raise money and to make Europe a more attractive place to invest. In addition, the digital single market will digitalise the EU's single market freedoms, with EU-wide rules for telecommunications services, copyright and data protection."
