Off Topic The Politics Thread
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What a laugh this whole exchange has been. All the gammon snowflakes squealing that their far right and fascist heroes have been told (temporarily) that they can't spread their bile in a run down Brussels suburb. The Belgian high court overturned the decision of the local jobsworth mayor because it aimed to stifle free speech, as guaranteed under the country’s constitution - not something that applies in Orban's Hungary.
Get over it.
Congratulations to you both on joining Toby in completely missing the point.
Laughable.
It was amusing to see the man who thinks some of those that vote differently to him to be of inferior intelligence (and therefore shouldn’t be allowed anywhere near a ballot box) spring to the defence of the guy who thinks those with a different opinion shouldn’t be allowed the platform to express it.
I think you may have mistaken me for someone who gives a ****. I don't think you quite understood what I put Colin.
Some backbench Tory no one has heard of caught spending someone else’s money on gear and brasses or something. BUT RAYNER.
No idea what the story is but it sounds about right
The Tory person getting money to spend from someone else and the labour person getting money from leeching of the taxpayer
Magic money tree for both
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I didn't miss any point, Col.
I suspect that might be aimed at me somehow, but I can't quite see how or why.
I personally dont think the conference should have been shut down. Each to their own as far as I'm concerned. Both sides have certain extreme views which we all have opinions on. Nobody on here changes anyone else's views so it's all a load of ****e. Politics is ****ed, has been for a long time under various parties but even more so since the Johnson era.
I don't think it should have been shut down either Bob, and ultimately it wasn't. What I found amusing was all those on the far right squealing about the likes of Orban (who runs a country where free speech doesn't exist) and Braverman (who wants to ban legitimate protest in the UK) being denied their right of free speech. The irony seems to have been lost on them.
Someone's got a tad confused then over claims of defending Toby's posts/missing the point.
It's all just a huge merry-go-round. Some far east country attacks another, weapons are sold, countries decimated, people displaced, migration en mass, terrorist cells are born, more people killed and displaced. Oh what a wonderful world we live in!
There's nothing more profitable than war!
There's nothing more profitable than war!
So Sunak had known about the Mark Menzies affair (using campaign funds to pay off the criminal associates of his illegal immigrant rent boy partner) since January. Yet the Tory client media have meanwhile been firing all their guns on Angela Rayner regarding a 'possible' unpaid tax bill of £1,500.
Nadim Zahawi anybody?
Nadim Zahawi anybody?
have they blinked
EU proposes some free movement for UK young people
3 hours ago
By Paul Seddon,Politics reporter
Share
The EU wants to agree a deal with the UK that would make it easier for people aged between 18 and 30 to study and work abroad in the wake of Brexit.
This would be a limited arrangement, not a restoration of free movement of people, the European Commission says.
The UK already runs schemes with some non-EU countries to allow people to come to the UK for up to two years.
It says it is open to extending that to individual EU member countries, rather than throughout the EU.
Downing Street says it prefers country-by-country deals to an agreement that would apply across all 27 member states.
And Labour has said it has "no plans for a youth mobility scheme" if it wins the general election later this year.
A party spokesperson said it had already pledged "no return to the single market, customs union or free movement" if it takes office.
It added it wanted to improve the UK's relationship with the EU by agreeing new arrangements for recognising work qualifications, trading food and agricultural products, and touring performers.
The proposed EU scheme would not exactly replicate the regime, as the freedoms would be time limited and UK participants would only be able to stay in the EU country that accepted them.
But it would significantly reduce immigration controls on young people moving between the UK and EU, with the commission suggesting no quotas on overall numbers.
In a policy document, the European Commission said it was stepping in after the UK approached several unnamed EU countries last year to discuss individual deals.
It said this risked "differential treatment" of EU citizens, and instead there should be a bloc-wide deal to ensure they are "treated equally".
Instead, the commission wants to negotiate a new international agreement, tagged on to the post-Brexit trade deal with the UK, which came into force in 2021.
It would be the first such mobility deal the bloc has struck with any country outside the European Economic Area (EEA), except Switzerland.
Fee cut urged
Any decision to open negotiations with the UK would ultimately be a decision for EU governments, which would also have to agree on the terms to be negotiated. A date for them to discuss the proposal is yet to be set.
The UK already has a youth mobility scheme visa allowing young people from 10 countries including Australia, New Zealand, and Canada to study or work in the UK for up to two years. However, it is not open to EU applicants.
The European Commission is proposing an EU-UK deal that would go further, lasting up to four years with no restrictions on time spent working, studying, training or volunteering.
It also says EU applicants should not have to pay the annual UK charge towards the NHS, which ranges from £776 for students and under-18s to £1,035 for workers.
And EU students should pay the same tuition fees as UK students, rather than the higher fees they have had to pay since Brexit, and have rights to reunite with family members, under the proposals.
'Valuable route'
In a statement, the Home Office said its existing youth mobility programmes had been "successful" and it remained "open to agreeing them with our international partners, including EU member states".
"Our agreements provide a valuable route for cultural exchanges providing partner countries are also willing to offer the same opportunities for young British people," the department added.
Levels of immigration from the EU to the UK have declined since freedom of movement rules ended in 2021, requiring EU citizens to get a visa to live the UK, study, or get a job.
The deal proposed by the commission is likely to have an impact on official immigration figures, with immigrants living in the UK for longer than a year showing up in the official statistics.
The UK turned down an offer to continue participating in the EU's Erasmus student exchange scheme after Brexit, and has put in place a replacement, called the Turing Scheme.
EU proposes some free movement for UK young people
3 hours ago
By Paul Seddon,Politics reporter
Share
You must log in or register to see images
Getty ImagesThe EU wants to agree a deal with the UK that would make it easier for people aged between 18 and 30 to study and work abroad in the wake of Brexit.
This would be a limited arrangement, not a restoration of free movement of people, the European Commission says.
The UK already runs schemes with some non-EU countries to allow people to come to the UK for up to two years.
It says it is open to extending that to individual EU member countries, rather than throughout the EU.
Downing Street says it prefers country-by-country deals to an agreement that would apply across all 27 member states.
And Labour has said it has "no plans for a youth mobility scheme" if it wins the general election later this year.
A party spokesperson said it had already pledged "no return to the single market, customs union or free movement" if it takes office.
It added it wanted to improve the UK's relationship with the EU by agreeing new arrangements for recognising work qualifications, trading food and agricultural products, and touring performers.
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- Turing Scheme: What is the Erasmus replacement?
- A quick guide to what's in the Brexit deal
The proposed EU scheme would not exactly replicate the regime, as the freedoms would be time limited and UK participants would only be able to stay in the EU country that accepted them.
But it would significantly reduce immigration controls on young people moving between the UK and EU, with the commission suggesting no quotas on overall numbers.
In a policy document, the European Commission said it was stepping in after the UK approached several unnamed EU countries last year to discuss individual deals.
It said this risked "differential treatment" of EU citizens, and instead there should be a bloc-wide deal to ensure they are "treated equally".
Instead, the commission wants to negotiate a new international agreement, tagged on to the post-Brexit trade deal with the UK, which came into force in 2021.
It would be the first such mobility deal the bloc has struck with any country outside the European Economic Area (EEA), except Switzerland.
Fee cut urged
Any decision to open negotiations with the UK would ultimately be a decision for EU governments, which would also have to agree on the terms to be negotiated. A date for them to discuss the proposal is yet to be set.
The UK already has a youth mobility scheme visa allowing young people from 10 countries including Australia, New Zealand, and Canada to study or work in the UK for up to two years. However, it is not open to EU applicants.
The European Commission is proposing an EU-UK deal that would go further, lasting up to four years with no restrictions on time spent working, studying, training or volunteering.
It also says EU applicants should not have to pay the annual UK charge towards the NHS, which ranges from £776 for students and under-18s to £1,035 for workers.
And EU students should pay the same tuition fees as UK students, rather than the higher fees they have had to pay since Brexit, and have rights to reunite with family members, under the proposals.
'Valuable route'
In a statement, the Home Office said its existing youth mobility programmes had been "successful" and it remained "open to agreeing them with our international partners, including EU member states".
"Our agreements provide a valuable route for cultural exchanges providing partner countries are also willing to offer the same opportunities for young British people," the department added.
Levels of immigration from the EU to the UK have declined since freedom of movement rules ended in 2021, requiring EU citizens to get a visa to live the UK, study, or get a job.
The deal proposed by the commission is likely to have an impact on official immigration figures, with immigrants living in the UK for longer than a year showing up in the official statistics.
The UK turned down an offer to continue participating in the EU's Erasmus student exchange scheme after Brexit, and has put in place a replacement, called the Turing Scheme.
Didn’t this happen ages ago and we said no? Can’t be letting our youth do fun, casual work somewhere like Barcelona or a ski resort. To Kent to live in a caravan picking strawberries you ungrateful oiks.
UK citizens can already do temporary work in EU states. They just need a job offer and a visa