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Back on topic, of course there are problems abroad as well as at home. Just look at the inter-related nature of international business, and the way issues effortlessly cross borders at the click of a mouse – inflation, recession, shortages… Look at the human side too – migration, homelessness, homophobia, racism and the rise of the far-right. And then of course, there’s the environment and global warming.
Fact is, you can’t get away from any of this. You can’t just withdraw and lock your door and go back to the 1970s, or was it the 1950s or 1850s, and say ‘that’s it, it’s done with’. No, the only way is forward, and tackling these global problems effectively means forming strong international alliances and co-operating to defeat these challenges together, just as this country and others did during times of world war.
It’s so obvious to all that it almost doesn’t need saying that Brexit has been a catastrophic mistake. The UK was conned and allowed itself to be led by liars, clowns and donkeys and now we’re all poorer for it, except for a few very wealthy media people and far right Tories who wanted it all along. But hey, the rest of us have got our fish and blue passports.
Internationally, the country has become a joke, and it ain’t funny. Still not sure? Thirty years to decide if it’s been worth it? Imagine if people were saying the same about Swann.
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There’s certainly plenty of evidence/activity across the EU to indicate that all may not be well in coming years.
Well that’s true of pretty much every economy everywhere, JI! But it’s an argument for caution, rather than taking reckless decisions with consequences as disasterous, profound and far-reaching as leaving the EU.
And, we’re not just talking about the economic aspects. The lies that were told have divided the country, communities and families, from Northern Ireland to our own back yards, not least because of the racism this has brought to the fore.
It was a stupid, stupid plan but it worked because of the lies about some kind of promised land that were put about, not least by some so-called Christians on here, lies and liars which have now been exposed and debunked.
I hope your op went well and you do find this post clear and concise.
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The country’s EU membership was like membership of many clubs/associations/organisations – it requires you to abide by the rules, as well as take part in the making of them through your own representatives.
It’s a bit like a football club being a member of the F.A. or the Football League. If you want to compete with other clubs, you can’t just make up your own rules on say, the size of the goal, the application of the offside rule, or choose who you want to play against.
Sometimes the EU rules seem unfair or unfavourable for Britain, other times it’s just the opposite, and other countries complain.
While it wasn’t always to Britain’s benefit, overall and without doubt there were way more advantages than disadvantages to membership than being alone in the universe, as we’ve seen since leaving.
It’s important not to let ‘perfect’ be the enemy of the good. Unfortunately, that’s what Farage and the Tory far-right managed to do, getting the country where it is today – completely out of control.
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And for ‘delivering’ a country that’s fallen into a death spiral just like the club.
That is a disgrace!1 user thanked author for this post.
Poor old BI tries turning every which way in a bid to appear credible and the result is a word salad full of unconnected points. The one about lack of growth is familiar tho’ – Tory MPs are currently using this one in media interviews, but rather more accurately they claim that stagnation goes back to 2010 or so, in which case they have a point. Any further and they don’t, as Heathy points out above.
This problem of low growth is no surprise when we consider how those on no and low incomes have been used as a petri dish for free-market economics. The question has been ‘would free markets lead to growth and provide an escape route from austerity?’ Well, no, they’ve conspicuously failed. Those of us who inhabit reality know that untrammelled wealth and raging free markets does not mean everyone will get rich. It does not mean a few small crumbs of Thick Lizzie’s wealth will come tumbling down onto your little table, BI, as we’ve seen.
To keep thinking otherwise is to treat free market economics as a religion, a matter of belief. But, the fetishizing of markets is a dangerous thing. Reality won’t adapt to your desires, as we’ve seen with Brexit. This statement of the obvious is obvious to all except the fanatics. The ‘invisible hand’ of Adam Smith is the dead hand of zero growth in 2022.
But if there’s any cold comfort in ‘dead hands’, it’s that we are witnessing the last dying throes of this zombie government. It will probably stagger on, kicking and wretching its way from crisis to crisis for the next few months, but then it’ll be over.
These crises has been largely self-inflicted because the party has no idea what it stands for these days. We’ve seen how 2011-2015 there was a loss of direction of travel. Faced with egregious market failure, the party didn’t know what to do – turn left, turn further to the right, or steer a middle course. The loonies grabbed the wheel, lurched further right and blamed Brussels, rather than their own mistakes. And post-2015, everything was couched in terms of ‘leave or remain’, no matter how economically illiterate, unfair or bonkers.
There was also progressively poor leadership, going from bad to worse, and a loss of self-discipline in the party, from Cameron to May to Johnson… and now Truss.
Some say Truss should’ve crushed the wets in her party, Thatcher-style. But that would have exacerbated the Tory problem. Silence all diverse opinions, promote the yes-men, surround yourself with equally myopic loyalists (like Johnson did), and you’re doomed to failure (like Johnson was). It’s what Prawn did with the SUFC board. And as we’ve seen with country and club, you end up going off a cliff.
There’s a business lesson here for you Bucksiron, one F.O.C. And it ain’t pretty.
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The downside is that this (immigration) inevitably puts a lot more pressure on public services, including the NHS, and that is a problem.
You wilfully miss the point.
Once again, you repeat the myth about migration putting pressure on public services, particularly the NHS.
It’s a frequently used argument which tries to conceal racism under the cloak of a legitimate concern, while suggesting there’s something inherently ‘bad’ about making provision for the public; that somehow decent public services are an abberation that shouldn’t happen.
It’s also false argument about elderly migrants, because most migrants tend to be young, single, healthy and wanting to work and pay tax. The stats are in my OP.
You rightly point out that around 20 per cent of the UK population is over 65, (that’s 20 per cent of 67 million) and around 12 per cent of migrants are 65 or over. But, that’s 12 per cent of the 9.5 million who were not born in the UK, not 12 per cent of 67 million!
And, the reality is that almost all the 12% of 65+ non-Brits, are citizens who have lived and worked here most of their lives, starting families and paying taxes just like anyone else.
Alas, in true Mail style, you try to create a fearful impression of elderly men and women ‘illegals’, scrambling up the beaches, straight to the front of the queue in the nearest hospital.
It’s an ancient trope guaranteed to anger the elderly, who really depend on our broken-down, under-funded public services.
Indeed, wasn’t it Teresa May and her climate of hostility who very publically went round Brixton and elsewhere in a bid to round up elderly, long-retired Windrush migrants and send them back after decades of living and working here, simply because they had never applied for a British passport? It must have looked terrific to the racists in the party, a real piece of populist politics aimed at drawing Kippers back into the blue fold! The nasty party indeed.
As for the “big impact” you claim elderly immigrants have had on public services, they certainly have. They’ve been propping up the public services since the 1950s, driving buses, cleaning trains, streets, hospitals, doing a lot of jobs Brits thought were beneath them…. And that’s while putting up with years of racism, abuse, arrogance and passive hostility from the populist press and people like yourself, probably while looking after your elderly mother, and now or in future, yourself. You should be ashamed.
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I have no problem at all with immigration and believe it to be a good thing. The downside is that this inevitably puts a lot more pressure on public services, including the NHS, and that is a problem.
This was one of the biggest lies put about during the Brexit campaign.
In fact immigrants tend to be young, single, and compared to Brits, they don’t access public services very much, yet pay tax which contributes to the those services needed most by the elderly and low-paid of this country, particularly social and health care, as many on this board know too well.
You really need to support what you say with some facts BI, instead of spreading around rumours and lies in the manner of a demented Daily Mail.
https://www.health.org.uk/news-and-comment/blogs/immigration-and-the-nhs-the-evidence
The problems really began after Maastricht and, more recently, Lisbon.
No, the problems began when Cameron and Clegg conspicuously failed to deal with an economic crisis. So, they needed an excuse, a distraction, and nicked UKIP’s USP’s, blaming immigrants, blaming “unelected bureaucrats”, and offering a referendum on EU membership.
Most papers/broadcasters went along with it, conveniently forgetting about all the unelected rulers and direct drains on the public purse of this country – the monarchy, aristocracy and lords to name but a few, not to mention the democratic deficiency of the first-past-the-post voting system.
And thanks to an orchestrated campaign across social media with fake identities, bots, trolls etc. the campaign worked. For a brief moment the country lost its collective senses and went mad, dividing families, friends and neighbours, and voting to impose economic sanctions on itself in the name of blue passports and foreigners.
Now, most have woken up (pun intended) and realised the extent to which their pockets have been picked, while Downing St. boasts of opening up chicken markets in Mongolia or similar, and BI still tries to sell the dated view that everything’s fine and dandy.
All so tired, so out of time, so out of place. And sad.
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IMO the keeper is the most important position on the pitch.
A good keeper who commands his area instills confidence throughout the defence, and this spreads into the rest of the team. An inexperienced keeper, who is prone to mistakes instills a nervousness across the defence, and by extension to the rest of the team.
It is no coinicidence that SUFC have struggled defensively over the last few seasons. If we ever want to progress and return to the EFL we need to find a good keeper.
This.
It should have been sorted pre-season, along with the centre back position. Build a team from the back, and you’re on your way to keeping the point you start with.Aye, excellent point, Heathy. What do you think, JI??
As for BI’s comment on parties not being interested in growth for the past 20 years, it was never more starkly demonstrated than when the racists, cheats, liars and Dominic Cummings came in and effectively torched growth by withdrawing from the EU, in what was the biggest act of economic sef-harm in the history of the country, one enthusiastically supported by, erm… BI.
Poor old BI. The old ideological zealot has still got that blue scarf tied tightly, despite the country being fked sideways by plummeting wages, soaring inflation, poverty, hunger, foodbanks, homelessness, a collapsing NHS, under-resourced rescue services, overflowing sewage, and as if that weren’t enough, now we have skyrocketing energy prices and the return of polio.
But, never mind blaming the EU, Brussels, the Russians, the Chinese, Covid, the immigrants, lazy British workers… Bin Laden and his terrorist cells have inflicted less harm on the UK than this so-called ‘government’.
So, has BI learnt a lesson and decided never to support them again? He was of course wrong about the “very good deal” with the EU, and how Brussels would cave in over everything because “they need us more than we need them” etc. etc. Oh, and then there were comments about Trump being a good pm, and the laughably wrong comments denying climate change. Remember that guy whose ‘research’ he mentioned, whose website was a total fabrication? How we laughed!
Disingenuity has become his trademark over the years. So what of his latest act? Incredibly, he tries to gaslight others into thinking that the current crises are all down to… wait for it… drumroll…… Johnson’s pursuit of net-zero!! (cue more hysterical laughter!)
But, should anyone be in any doubt, here’s a good piece not funded by the Downing St, or any shady think-tank based at 55 Tufton St. It explains how net zero means warmer homes, cleaner, healthier lives, and more jobs (especially around Yorks and Humber), while dismissing the bluster of ex-kippers and far-right Tories who want to cut back on environmental protection due to both the financial cost and – incredibly – its usefulness as some kind of weapon in ‘war on woke’. This is the rock bottom to where the Tories and people like BI have got us in 2022.
https://www.economicsobservatory.com/how-is-the-cost-of-living-crisis-affecting-net-zero-policies
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/55_Tufton_Street
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