Just heard Hunt say they made the right decision to pay down the covid debt

Lmfao. Does he even look at his own government’s finances?

Covid spending 20/21 created – out of thin air = 319-430bn (varies due to Government accounting.) Which created a shortfall of about 300bn in tax receipts on the balance sheet. Of course the economy was mostly on shutdown.

From Parliament.uk publications:

Allegations of deficit financing

72.In 2020, the Bank of England conducted three rounds of quantitative easing, which raised the total amount of Government debt owned by the Bank from £425 billion to £875 billion (an increase of £450 billion). Minutes published by the Monetary Policy Committee set out the Bank of England’s explanations for each round of quantitative easing since March 2020:

That means no covid debt ever existed in plane language because the BoE purchased a suspiciously similar amount of  ‘debt’ in the same period to what the government spent – with brand new money creation.

The whole tax cutting debacle has just become farcical, and nowhere near the truth.

Presumably the BofE will want the debt re-paying on the due dates though?

Or does it cancel it?

Autumn statement what autumn statement !!!!! An inverse dead cat ? or Dead cat to beat all dead cats ?

An inverse dead cat ? or Dead cat to beat all dead cats ?

A budget to **** over Labour if/when they win the next election and have to undo it all. That’s all it is. Re-do the tax stuff, they’ll be accused of raising taxes the second they’re in power. Keep it as is, they’ll be accused of leaving the economy to ruin.

It is solely a budget to make sure that Labour have a tough time undoing the mess.

This is the final throes, the full scorched earth policy. Take everything that isn’t bolted down. Burn the rest.

it was kind of a reference to net migration figure upgrade raining all over the chancellors parade.

https://imgur.io/a/YWRnOcv

Our Prime Minister, ladies and gentleman, demonstrating on national TV that he doesn’t know how to use a hammer.

Added to card machines and petrol pumps on the list of ‘things I’ve never encountered before in my life’

Flaperon
Full Member
https://imgur.io/a/YWRnOcv

Our Prime Minister, ladies and gentleman, demonstrating on national TV that he doesn’t know how to use a hammer.

F*** me. That’s incredible. How sheltered a life must he have lead?

Most 5 year olds could work that out.

Jesus **** Christ…….how are these total **** **** allowed to rule our country 

somafunk
Full Member
Jesus **** Christ…….how are these total **** **** allowed to rule our country

I know it’s a little thing in reality but it’s so bloody telling isn’t it? He has and always will live in a parallel universe to most of us.

How much did his education cost I wonder?

He wants to be a Tech Bro too…

some post autumn statement polling

“We are locked in a death spiral, nothing seems to be able to turn things around with this leadership. The poll ratings have been awful.”

This never happens to me but I just got back from Tesco and overheard someone say “at least prices will come down now that Sunak’s got inflation beaten”. I thought these stories were all made up. Obviously I didn’t say anything witty or convert them to leftyism, I just died a bit more inside

OTOH while we’re talking “things that happened today” I did use a ratchet as a hammer earlier so maybe he’s my guy after all.

^^ You have to wonder what they think when they notice that prices are still rising?

“Must be immigrants driving up the cost luv.”

OTOH while we’re talking “things that happened today” I did use a ratchet as a hammer earlier so maybe he’s my guy after all.

Yeah but you know it’s a bodge and we all appreciate a good bodge.

He however was happy as Larry that he had worked out how to use the “handle with hitty bit on it that poor people use to make stuff with”.

^^ You have to wonder what they think when they notice that prices are still rising?

My brother lives in the ****’ EU and is convinced that all the problems with the UK are down to uncontrolled immigration.

This never happens to me but I just got back from Tesco and overheard someone say “at least prices will come down now that Sunak’s got inflation beaten”. I thought these stories were all made up.

You just met the average voter, they are not bright and easily fooled.

My brother lives in the ****’ EU and is convinced that all the problems with the UK are down to uncontrolled immigration.

Well he’s kind of right – there’s been uncontrolled immigration of ****, chancers, spivs and crooks into the House of Lords and House of Commons.

"sorry lads, they said they didn't have any tartan paint" pic.twitter.com/SGMTUWidax

— Dan from DPA Design (@dpadesign2020) November 23, 2023

im not sure what Sunak is thinking here

looking childish & petty instead of having a tough conversation with a prime minister

is not going to close a 20pt poll gap

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-67549044

im not sure what Sunak is thinking here

Having another culture war – quite literally in this case – it’s all the Tories know.

I was jus t watching the Greek PM on ITV news. No combative language used all very diplomatic.

Sunak just comes across as a petulant child.

eeessh

no wonder the Greeks were insulted

‘talks with Oliver Dowden’

No 10 says UK/ Greek relationship is “hugely important” & that they’d offered talks w Oliver Dowden instead.

“From our work together in NATO, to tackling shared challenges like illegal migration, to joint efforts to resolve the crisis in the Middle East and war in Ukraine.”

— Pippa Crerar (@PippaCrerar) November 27, 2023

^^ You have to wonder what they think when they notice that prices are still rising?

“Must be immigrants driving up the cost luv.”

Well the noise from both Sunak and Starmer is exactly the same…  too much imigration. Both are going to get tough on it, though. Apparently.

Talk about ignoring many problems and attacking a perceived symptom…

Reminds me of that rap song, “I’ve got 99 problems and imigration is all of them. Stop the boats!”*

*lyrics may have been changed for artistic purposes.

For Sunak, the priority for everything is ‘how will this play to the far right wingnuts on my own backbenches?’

It doesn’t matter who he upsets in the process to placate those who, to quote Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton ‘won’t take yes for an answer’

The tail has been wagging the dog since 2016 but never so much as now because Lil Rishi is ****ing terrified of the headbangers so just goes along with their ludicrous demands

How many ***s do you reckon the average person presently gives about some stolen sculptures? Abut the Torygraph will go into meltdown

The funny thing is, immigration figures have actually skyrocketed since brexit, percantage wise…

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/sunak-rwanda-plan-delayed-cleverly-tories-b2454271.html

And now the government and opposition wants to get tough on immigration? Again? tougher than last time, or the time before that?

It’s almost as if Brexit was just a smokescreen for government inaction. But the smoke is now clearing and whether you want more or less immigration, is pretty irrelevant… one thing is crystal clear…

The government and opposition (starmer seems to have jumped onto the ‘stop the boats’ bus)… are less about governing, and more about making loads of money for themselves out of the british public, and the brexiteers fell for it, hook, line, and sinker.

Hell, some of the voting public are so scared about admitting they were wrong that they still willingly play along with the greatest charade in British history, even when it puts them into poverty, because they can handily blame immigrants for decades of government failiure.

Play that one at the christmas family game of charades! :-)

starmer seems to have jumped onto the ‘stop the boats’ bus

So you think there is nothing wrong with people risking their lives, and sometimes dying, making perilous sea journeys in unsafe crafts?

Of course Labour wants to stop the small boats. So too do the Liberal Democrats, a party which you claim to support.

“Get here anyway you can” is not an acceptable controlled immigration and asylum process for any civilised society.

If you want a free for all immigration policy I suggest that you might want to consider supporting the SWP.

Unbelievable.
Does lil rish! think that many of his backbenchers or, more importantly, their constituents have any knowledge of or thoughts about the Elgin Marbles?
Most of them could’t find Elgin on a map, know what or where the Parthenon is or have ever been inside a museum.
If we refer to the acquisition of the sculptures as ‘cultural theft’ which, in truth, this was, the reaction from backbenchers and constituents would likely be…wtf is that?

If that’s the best sunak can come up with, the tories are truly shagged.

I can fully understand why the offer of a meeting with dowden was rejected.

How about broadening the debate about historical artefacts being returned to their country of origin – that would substantially empty many of the UK’s museums.
Anyone for colonial misappropriation?

This one feels more like it’s aimed at one particular guy he met in his local. Especially the attempt to make attacks on Starmer out of it, since Starmer’s position is pretty much “yeah there’s a specific law about this stuff and we’d not change it”

So you think there is nothing wrong with people risking their lives, and sometimes dying, making perilous sea journeys in unsafe crafts?

Absolutley not… you take me out of context, a particular trait of yours for the purpose of scoring cheap points.

For the record, I think anyone desperate enough to pay thier life savings for an unsafe sea journey, to let’s face it, a bunch of criminals capitalising on them are truly desperate, and deserve full compasion, and a fair asylum process. No iff’s, no butt’s.

The point I was trying to make (possibly in a clumbersome way) is that the immigration system in the UK is utterly broken and mis-managed. That’s not the fault of people coming in on small boats, that’s a fault due to a lack of goverance and fair process in the UK.

People are arriving… no matter what your political persuasion, that’s just a physical fact.

Another fact is there is no proper process for this…a long drawn out debacle

So far, we have rusty flotillas or fly them off to some random country in Africa in exchange for a few (very fat) brown envelopes, or just ignore it and let them loose into the general population with no control whilst demonizing them, all at huge expence to the UK public purse* just to kick them whilst they are down.

You can’t blame the EU for that one, as much as I’m sure you’d love to.

Here’s a thought… why don’t we (as the UK) spend a lttle bit of time and compassion to process these arrivals both fairly, and quickly?

Surely that would be cheaper on the public purse in the long run, whilst also being fair.

*Unless you own a very big boat or an airline, or you can whip up a cheeky .LTD in the caymans called ‘ImmigrantProblemsOver.lol’

I’ll be voting the same way I have since I was in my early 20’s in the next GE…Liberal Democrat.

Of course Labour wants to stop the small boats. So too do the Liberal Democrats, a party which you claim to support.

Well you know the easiest way of doing that, allow any asylum seekers to come freely into the country by picking them up from France and then processing their claims within days and sending any non successful claimants back to their country.
Is Starmer suggesting assisting their crossing to ensure safety and remove the need for illegal assistance? Do you think he would dare to do that? Does he really care about it?

A dignified quote from the Greece Prime Minister –

“The Greek prime minister told reporters on Monday evening he was disappointed the meeting had been cancelled “mere hours before its slated time”, saying: “Those who firmly believe in the correctness and justice of their positions are never hesitant to engage in constructive argumentation and debate.”

More posturing from  Sunak to supposedly appeal to his “base”, an appropriate word to describe his supporters. There is no reason to stop the stolen Parthenon Marbles going back on loan – this avoids the 1963 Act of Parliament getting involved.

It’s just pathetic and embarrassing at this point. The sad little twerp is simply desperate for any culture war talking point.

So much for Britannia Unchained, our international reputation is trashed for a generation.

our international reputation is trashed for a generation.

now known as U Karen

I don’t think there are many who would argue that we need to have a workable policy on immigration, and 750k net immigration is too high.

What to do about it is where the parties then differ. Starting Culture Wars certainly isnt the answer. Training our own key workers rather than pillaging the third worlds staff would be a good start. Having an adult conversation in government would also help.

So in 2023 small boat crossings brought less than 30,000 people in whereas 600,000 came in via other routes.

Last night on LBC Andrew Bowie stressed Ukrainian, Syrian and HK immigration – this was circa 150,000, approximately 1/3 HK and 2/3 Ukrainian and not-to-no Syrians.

If you voted Leave in 2016 and/or Tory in 2019 for less immigration, how are you feeling?

you take me out of context, a particular trait of yours for the purpose of scoring cheap points.

LOL that is exactly what you have done with Labour’s position on the ‘small boats’!

“starmer seems to have jumped onto the ‘stop the boats’ bus” suggests that there is currently no problem and presumably the “bus” is the same one as the Tories.

The current situation is horrific and intolerable.

Labour does not support a policy of sending asylum seekers who arrive in small boats to Rwanda, which is the centrepiece of the Tory policy, and presumably ‘the bus’.

The solution to the problem obviously include more resources to deal with the current situation and safe means of asylum applications.

In that respect I know of no significant differences between Labour and the Liberal Democrats. Can you point to some, or prove that the LibDems haven’t jumped on the small boat bus?

Or was it just cheap party political point scoring?

And whilst we are on the subject of scoring cheap points, which you raised, I love your hypocrisy!

You can’t blame the EU for that one, as much as I’m sure you’d love to.

I almost never talk about the EU, I certainly haven’t brought it up on this thread, and definitely didn’t in the context of party policy on the small boats.

But you obviously thought you would score a cheap point by completing out of context reminding everyone that I don’t support EU membership.

To be fair though pathetic as it might have been it probably had the desired effect.

I don’t think there are many who would argue that we need to have a workable policy on immigration, and 750k net immigration is too high.

I agree with the first part, in that a workable policy on immigration is preferable to an unworkable one (although how you measure what is workable and what is not workable is a bit vague).

The second part, nope.

Maybe most people would agree but that just shows how much this is about the culture wars and not about the needs of the country.

You can’t in one breath say you want a workable policy and then in the next boil what is a very complex question that takes into account a multitude of societal and economic factors down to a single number.

Any solution is going to be complex and changeable depending on circumstances.

So in 2023 small boat crossings brought less than 30,000 people in whereas 600,000 came in via other routes.

This. Small boats are trivial in terms of numbers. As for the 600,000, many of them are here to do the jobs we’ve asked them to do.

I don’t think there are many who would argue that we need to have a workable policy on immigration, and 750k net immigration is too high.

Politicians have failed to be honest with us about immigration for decades , we have a huge skills shortage and an ageing population, we are reliant on immigrants for the lowest paid of jobs; care, farming, cleaning etc etc, but also big gaps in higher paid jobs, – doctors, IT etc etc

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/skilled-worker-visa-shortage-occupations/skilled-worker-visa-shortage-occupations

the nuts thing is Sunak, Braverman etc etc will all be well aware of this but theyll keep banging the same drum 

And, while they won’t be “banging the drum”, any other party that wants to be in power at the UK level needs to be very careful not to upset our aging voters when it comes to immigration.

They’ve painted themselves into a corner by following Farage into the wilds of anti-immigrant populism.

They offered Brexit as the panacea for the countries ills and we all know how that’s gone, so now there’s nowhere left for them to go but Bravermans extremism.

They closed off all sensible and workable options when Johnson purged the party of non-believers

Now they’re just UKIP. The problem with that being that UKIP is essentially a campaign group, not a political party. You can’t run a country on three word slogans, as the last 5 years have proved