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 .
So Israel dragged the US into a war with Iran and is now preventing them getting out of it.
 
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A serious country shoots these people with rubber bullets well before they get to the steps. An unserious country shoots them with real bullets. In the UK just do what you want.

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After Vance went to Hungary to campaign for Orban, Trump comes up with this...

My Administration stands ready to use the full Economic Might of the United States to strengthen Hungary’s Economy, as we have done for our Great Allies in the past, if Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and the Hungarian People ever need it. We are excited to invest in the future Prosperity that will be generated by Orbán’s continued Leadership! President DONALD J. TRUMP

Orban is Putin's eyes and ears in NATO and his veto in the EU. Why would Trump want him to remain in place, I wonder?
 
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Brexit

UK starts crackdown on EU citizens’ post-Brexit rights​

Concerns raised over use of travel data in determining if people are ‘continuously’ in Britain after HMRC fiasco

Lisa O’Carroll
Sat 11 Apr 2026 13.44 BST
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UK ministers are to start removing post-Brexit residency rights from EU citizens who are no longer “continuously” living in the country.

The initiative is legal under the 2020 Brexit withdrawal agreement, but the decision to use travel data to partly determine absences has raised concerns after the HMRC fiasco in which almost 20,000 parents were stripped of child benefits because of inaccurate Home Office border data.



The Home Office said the crackdown was aimed at those who had received “pre-settled status” to remain in the UK before Brexit, a status that applied to anyone who had been in the UK for less than five years.

Officials will start with those believed to have left the country more than five years ago and there will be safeguards including consideration of reasons for prolonged absences.

The Home Office said the crackdown protected public services and was aimed at preventing unlawful immigration by abuse of the system. “In line with the withdrawal agreement, status will only be removed where it is proportionate to do so,” it said in its statement on a government website.

The latest Home Office data shows that of the 6.2 million who applied for UK immigration status after Brexit, 1.4 million are still on pre-settled status.

The Migration Observatory at Oxford University said it was difficult to say for certain how many of the 6.2 million remained in the country, but a combination of census and other data suggested it could be between 3 million and 4 million.


Under the rules those with settled status can be out of the country continuously for up to five years and still retain the right to live in the UK under the Brexit withdrawal agreement of 2020.

For those with pre-settled status, the Home Office said absences can be of any length, as long as they do not collectively amount to more than 30 months in the most recent five-year period.

The Independent Monitoring Authority for the Citizens’ Rights Agreements (IMA), a statutory body, said it had “expressed concerns” to the Home Office about how the removals would be implemented. It said it was “difficult to know how caseworkers will make individual decisions in practice”.

The3million, which campaigns for the rights of EU citizens in the UK, expressed concern that “unsafe” decisions would be made on the basis of travel data. In a letter to the Home Office, it cited an individual who had applied to upgrade their pre-settled status to settled status who was then questioned by the Home Office on the basis of “obvious inaccuracies” in their travel data.

“Travel data contain journeys that were booked but not taken,” the3million said, adding that the Home Office’s letter to the individual did not recognise the inaccurate travel data even where the “inaccuracy is clearly and easily detectable”.

Their data included “two outbound journeys without any inbound journey between them” and journeys that were made on the same date but with different destinations.

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Ten years after Brexit, this is the UK: a divided nation frozen in time
Aditya Chakrabortty
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Miranda Biddle, the chief executive of the IMA, said: “We recognise the concern, stress and uncertainty that this situation may cause for affected citizens. We have been engaging with the Home Office to secure assurances about the safeguards it is putting in place and the robustness of its decision-making. The IMA will continue to closely monitor how it implements the new guidance.”


The National Audit Office is investigating HMRC’s use of Home Office data despite clear flaws in their travel records.

An investigation by the Guardian and the Detail found that Home Office data did not always record return journeys by holidaymakers and business people. It also included airline manifests that did not take account of no-shows, a regular occurrence on low-cost airlines who make it difficult to cancel bookings.

The Home Office said it would start with those who had been out of the country the longest. A spokesperson said: “We have been clear that if an individual with pre-settled status has spent less than 30 months in the UK in the most recent 60-month period, they will have ceased to meet the eligibility requirements and may have their status removed.

“The vast majority of pre-settled status holders are completely unaffected by this change and only those with long absences from the UK will be asked to evidence their ongoing eligibility.”

This article was amended on 11 April 2026. A previous version said that an individual with pre-settled status could have absences from the UK of up to six months in any one year. In fact, absences can be of any length, as long as they do not collectively amount to more than 30 months in the most recent five-year period.
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PoliticsIran

‘This is the last warning.’ Iran threatens U.S. warships after they throw down the gauntlet for winner-take-all Strait of Hormuz​

By Jason Ma
Weekend Editor
April 11, 2026, 6:39 PM ET
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A U.S. Navy destroyer in the Strait of Hormuz on April 11, 2026.U.S. Central Command

U.S. Navy ships sent an unmistakable signal Saturday as they crossed the Strait of Hormuz, challenging Iran’s control over the narrow waterway that will likely determine the outcome of the Middle East war.

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The USS Michael Murphy turned on its automatic identification system as it and another destroyer, the USS Frank E. Peterson, transited the strait, breaking the typical protocol of Navy ships sailing with their AIS turned off.

“You just don’t throw AIS on by accident on a Navy ship,” Campbell University professor Salvatore Mercogliano, who specializes in military and maritime history, said on his podcast. “This is purposeful. They wanted to turn this on on the far side of the Strait of Hormuz to demonstrate that they have sailed through.”




U.S. Central Command said the destroyers had begun setting conditions for clearing mines that had been placed by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

It added that more U.S. forces, including underwater drones, will join the clearance effort in the coming days, pointing out that the strait is an international sea passage and an essential trade corridor.

In a statement, Admiral Brad Cooper said Central Command is “establishing a new passage” for the maritime industry for the free flow of commerce.

Iran’s grip on the strait, through which one-fifth of the world’s oil and liquid natural gas flowed before the war, has triggered a global energy crisis and represents the regime’s main form of leverage over the U.S.




The destroyers’ crossing of the strait comes as the U.S. and Iran began ceasefire talks in Pakistan this weekend. But if the Navy creates a safe avenue for tankers that doesn’t require getting Iran’s permission and paying a toll, then talks would shift in America’s favor.

As a result, the IRGC challenged the Navy destroyers as they transited, according to a radio conversation recorded by a civilian ship that was shared with the Wall Street Journal.


“This is the last warning. This is the last warning,” the IRGC said.


“Passage in accordance with international law. No challenge is intended to you, and I intend to abide by rules of our government’s ceasefire,” the U.S. ship replied.




Iranian media said the destroyers turned around after being confronted by the IRGC, which reportedly launched a drone in the direction of the destroyers. The IRGC also said any attempt by military ships to cross the strait would be met with a “firm and forceful response.”

Until now, U.S. warships have avoided the strait as Navy officials previously have described it as an Iranian “kill box” filled with numerous threats, including anti-ship missiles, drones, fast-attack boats, and mines. And given how narrow the strait is, projectiles can be fired from close distances and provide little time for a defensive response.

Meanwhile, the U.S. military continues to send more combat power to the region. A third aircraft carrier as well as thousands of Marines and paratroopers are expected to arrive later this month. More long-large cruise missiles are also flowing to the Middle East.

Mercogliano said there were earlier signs the Navy resupplied its ships via the island of Diego Garcia, potentially to replenish munitions. Littoral combat ships, which are equipped with mine-hunting underwater drones, may also be in the mix.



While it’s not clear if the destroyers entered the strait alongside those ships or without them, it still marked an important milestone for the oil trade.

“One of the things that commercial ships were waiting to see was whether or not this strait was clear, and sailing two destroyers in is a big one,” he added.

Despite the ongoing ceasefire talks, another military clash between the U.S. and Iran may be looming soon. Rapidan Energy founder Bob McNally told CNBC on Thursday that he thinks the U.S. is “getting ready for round 2.”

As the U.S. weakens Iran’s ability to threaten ship traffic, Iran’s leverage will erode, and conditions for a lasting ceasefire with a full reopening of the Strait of Hormuz could be in place later this month, he said.




McNally compared neutralizing Iran’s threats to a game of whack-a-mole, noting the variety of its weapons, and pointed out that the U.S. has reduced Iran’s stockpile of underwater mines.

“It may not be widely reported, but I believe the U.S. military in the last week or so has been focusing on whacking those moles, degrading Iran’s ability,” he added. “You may not perfectly get rid of it, but degrading Iran’s ability to interdict shipping down to a manageable level—and that’s when insurance can come into play and escorts, and folks can start to move through.”


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trump and putin didnt get their man


'A truly historic moment': BBC reports from Hungary as Viktor Orbán concedes election​

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has conceded defeat in the Hungarian election after 16 years in power, with the opposition on course for a landslide win.

Péter Magyar is set to be the country's new prime minister, after record numbers turned out for an election which was seen as pivotal to the future of Hungary and Europe.

With two thirds of the votes counted, Magyar's party is set to win a massive majority in parliament. Vote counting will continue in the coming days.

The BBC's Rajini Vaidyanathan broadcasts from outside Hungary's parliament as crowds hear about the prime minister's concession.
 
kiwiqpr said:
trump and putin didnt get their man


'A truly historic moment': BBC reports from Hungary as Viktor Orbán concedes election​

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has conceded defeat in the Hungarian election after 16 years in power, with the opposition on course for a landslide win.

Péter Magyar is set to be the country's new prime minister, after record numbers turned out for an election which was seen as pivotal to the future of Hungary and Europe.

With two thirds of the votes counted, Magyar's party is set to win a massive majority in parliament. Vote counting will continue in the coming days.

The BBC's Rajini Vaidyanathan broadcasts from outside Hungary's parliament as crowds hear about the prime minister's concession.
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Excellent.
 
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Do the Greens come up with mad **** because they and their members are varying degrees of mental or because it gets headlines?

10:1 pay ratio is just so obviously stupid on paper and will be got round with some creative accounting by big companies anyway. I can’t believe even Hypnotits genuinely thinks it’s a sound idea.
 
kiwiqpr said:
greens come up with mad **** because they know that they will never be in charge
Click to expand...
They’re as short as 7/2 to get the most seats at the next election. Terrible bet but it’s not implausible they’ll at least have a say as part of a coalition.

Not that I’d be wanting to tie money up for however many years but 4/6 on nobody getting a majority seems a great bet to me.
 
Mandelson failed his vetting process but the Foreign Office overruled the decision, this was after Starmer had told Parliament that 'due process had been followed'. Misleading Parliament is a resignation matter but Starmer will doubtless blame someone else (again)...

www.theguardian.com

Revealed: Mandelson failed vetting but Foreign Office overruled decision

Guardian investigation uncovers decision by UK security officials to deny clearance before Mandelson took up role as US ambassador
www.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com
 
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