General British politics discussion thread

VinLieger

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119521466#Comment_119521466

Currently the UK is expected to have annual bills by April of 6500 pounds, when converted that is equal to 7700 euro so if you can show me evidence of irelands forecasts getting anywhere close to that I'll admit I'm wrong.

hotmail.com

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119520814#Comment_119520814

Careful now. You'll be asked to provide sources.

Posters here just want to bang on about Brexit, the Daily Mail, Nadine Dorris, Nigel Farage etc. Stuff that most people dont really care about. Write up how bad the Mail is will get likes. I've now read they're expecting riots in England.

Funny now we're getting posts about poverty levels increasing since Brexit. Since when does anyone give a toss about poverty levels?

Seth Brundle

Since when does anyone give a toss about poverty levels?

Spoken like a true Tory!

As for your other points, do you really think British people don't care about things that affect them daily and which are pushed by those you refer to?

FraserburghFreddie

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119521949#Comment_119521949

I have no idea whether Ireland has energy caps or not but as Ireland is a member of the Eurozone it would appear prices will rise according to this link.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-08-23/european-gas-jumps-on-concerns-of-winter-supply-shortages

breezy1985

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119519950#Comment_119519950

It's all bollix. The gaslighting about how people in the UK don't care and how anyone who doesn't love the Tories and Brexit is some bomb planting RIRA sleeper agent.

Itssoeasy

https://twitter.com/pa/status/1562827936545243136?s=21&t=qS5MxkuwBtXOMnvT8a9Mtw

I know it’s one person heckling one government minister but I wouldn’t be surprised if this doesn’t start happening more.

VinLieger

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119522333#Comment_119522333

Hilarious so you admit you've no idea what you are talking about. FYI we don't have price caps YET but they are being talked about at an EU level specifically for countries like ourselves and Cyprus with no direct connection to the main EU supply networks.

And yes our prices will of course be rising nobody has claimed otherwise but there is no forecast that puts our rises anywhere close to what the UK is looking at.

amacca

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119519861#Comment_119519861

No...we are offering her the purely ceremonial but distinct position of tee-sock!

ancapailldorcha

Jesus. Maybe I'm spending too much time reading history or playing Hearts of Iron IV but words truly fail me.

https://twitter.com/IanDunt/status/1562893429968818176

BonnieSituation

And some wonder why some Irish people are sick of them?

pixelburp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119522677#Comment_119522677

But it's the clapping that's worse, because it means that rhetoric is working with some. Truss really telegraphed her answer.

The question being asked alone is asinine and representative of the rot of antagonistic politics. Oh those pesky French up to their snail-eating tricks. Never partners. Never neighbours. God forbid friends. Only opponents.

Maybe it's just a question of context and historical perspective because nobody would dream of asking that question here. But then we're not the dying embers of a once global empire, combing over the bald spots, sucking in the gut and pretending the world still cares they helped win WW2. Or cared at all about the Falklands.

Nody

Yay; lets have an energy cap that we leave uncapped in practice for the energy companies...

Energy cap - live: Bills to soar as Ofgem fixes prices at £3,549 a year

Experts warn the price hike will only soar as time goes on, with the price cap forecasted to peak at £6,823 by next April

Remember this was changed to be done twice a year to make sure the energy companies can get even better profits; I mean what's the point of a cap if you keep raising the cap to make sure people will never hit it (and remember the cap is ONLY for individuals and not companies, hence this is purely about protecting the people or rather not as is the case).

I'm sure Truss will come up with a brilliant policy to resolve this along with her Tory government; the answer is clearly that the public should get a hussle to keep warm by moving instead to reduce the bill and make more money to pay for it all...

ancapailldorcha

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119523302#Comment_119523302

It's working with some of course but it's a tiny, toxic portion of the country's population as a whole. Jesus, the cretinous way in which she delivers it as well. She thinks she's spouting insight or something....

The only comparable post-colonial power in Europe is France and while I'm no expert on that country's politics, they seem to be much more able to debate sensibly and possess a degree of cultural maturity that's absent here. Prior to the referendum, I'd lived in Oxford, Manchester and Brighton & Hove. I very, very rarely saw an EU flag and the EU development investments almost seemed like a dirty secret the government preferred to hide.

Maybe France's fall in the war prompted some soul-searching or maybe it's their enthusiasm for attempting literally every form of government known to man but it's sad to see that the UK is now reduced to the level where its next leader thinks it's terribly clever to slag off the leader of one of the UK's most important historical allies.

Sam Russell

I wonder if that question about Macron was planted to enable such a witty staged response that would get the Tory frightfuls to clap and holler like seals.

ancapailldorcha

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119523680#Comment_119523680

Undoubtedly. It's the closest modern conservatism comes to intelligence. The funny thing is, by engaging in this sort of nonsense, Truss is only proving to the wider public her complete ineptitude with the most basic, simple political tasks.

hotmail.com

British and French leaders exchanging insults. Hardly a news flash. They've been doing it for decades. It's part of the theatre of politics.

Pussyhands

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11147521/Ukraine-hits-RMT-boss-Mick-Lynch-claiming-Kyiv-provoked-invasion-Nazi-imagery.html

So Mick Lynch is a Brexiteer, blames the EU and Ukraine for Russias invasion and also engaged in whataboutery when asked about Uighers slave labour in China.

He was put on a pedestal here in Ireland, invited to Cork City matches, on podcasts, Irish heritage bigged up.

He's not much different from the likes of Clare Daly.

I'm all for fair pay and stuff but Unions often overstep the mark and seek the absolute best they can squeeze out of a company with no regard for the well being of the company itself or its future.

The train driver wages in the UK are eye watering. Plus overtime.

https://www.cashfloat.co.uk/blog/personal-finance/train-driver-salary/

breezy1985

Train driver wages go from £24k to £65k depending on experience.

A City of London banker goes from 29k to 193k with the average being 94k

Why should a train driver get less than the people that rely on them to get to their jobs ?

Sam Russell

Mick Lynch is not a politician, he is a union official, and of course is all for furthering his union member interests.

If he was an MP, he would 'earn' substantially more than the train drivers averages shown, plus very generous expenses like funds to maintain the odd duck pond, and plenty of (off the record) perks - there is no question MPs can earn a bit on the side - that is beyond question.

If those train drivers were airline pilots, they would earn substantially more, with fewer hours worked, and much better conditions to work in. Now why do airline pilots earn more than train drivers? Train drivers have to know every signal, every requirement to sound the horn, every speed limit, every risk, etc., on the routes the drive the trains on. Do airline pilots have the onus? Maybe.

ancapailldorcha

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119523877#Comment_119523877

The strikes were about the lowest paid workers like the station staff and cleaners as I recall. Nobody was striking to get the drivers more money.

ambro25

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119523806#Comment_119523806

Truss hasn’t been insulted by Macron.

Truss is the UK’s current Foreign Secretary, supposedly aware of diplomatic convention.

Truss is likely the UK’s next PM, unless the Conservatives membership gets the 10k signatures to repeal Johnson’s resignation.

This theatre of politics you refer to, is the Conservatives’ own and only, and that particular play has been burning every last bridge, domestic and foreign, for the past few years.

There’s a price tag to that, you know?

It would do you good to try and gain some perspective, rather than endlessly engage in whattaboutery in defence of that theatre’s actors. They’re less than untalented, and the playwrights really don’t have your best interests at heart.

Sam Russell

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119523984#Comment_119523984

They were striking, afaik, to try to maintain safe staffing levels on moving trains - that is guards or conductors - whatever they call them now.

Having a train travelling at over 125 km/hr with perhaps a dozen or more coaches full of passengers with just the driver in a closed cab as the only employee on the train is not safe.

The are so many scenarios where it is obviously not safe that it is just nuts that such a system is even considered let alone allowed.

Pussyhands

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119523984#Comment_119523984

No the train drivers salaries were also included.

The whole point of unions is to protect workers rights, not demand the best possible benefits package.

breezy1985

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119524039#Comment_119524039

They want inflation linked pay rises just like the MPs have. Why are they not allowed ask for something plenty of others get ?

Rich people : " Its poor peoples fault they are poor"

Workers : "we are gonna fight to get more money "

Rich people : "disgusting behavior. Know your place"

Sam Russell

Quote: The whole point of unions is to protect workers rights, not demand the best possible benefits package.

Is there a difference between 'protect workers rights' and 'the best possible benefits package' - are they not identical?

I cannot imagine anyone going into any negotiation of any description saying 'I am not looking for the best possible deal here - just looking for ......'

That can only be BS. I did not see where your quote came from as it could be a quote from somewhere with a well known bias.

pixelburp

Deleted due to the irony in complaining about posters with nothing to contribute.

Pussyhands

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119524066#Comment_119524066

https://www.rmt.org.uk/news/rmt-wins-inflation-busting-two-year-network-rail-pay-deal/

According to this, the wages were linked to the retail price index.

I also believe there were pay rises down through the years despite practically 0% inflation.

ancapailldorcha

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119523806#Comment_119523806

Standard fact-free whataboutery.

Insulting the French President, even in this petty manner to please people with some of the most toxic views in this country is going to add that little extra humiliation to a country already heavily debased by the conservative party. The UK was once the world's leader in soft power and now it's a laughing stock.

awec

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119523680#Comment_119523680

I think you give Truss too much credit, it was just a moment of stupidity from her IMO.

ancapailldorcha

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119524159#Comment_119524159

You get a real snapshot into how her mind works in just a second though.

For comparison, during the pandemic my landlord moved a bloated, drunken racist into our house. One day he was chatting to an Italian lad who used to live here. The Italian lad said "What" which the racist took as a slur for people of southern European origin. His cretinous little face lit up when he thought he could say the word to the Italian lad who couldn't make it out.

Truss may be of low intelligence but her instincts for climbing the ladder are remarkable. We're somehow in a world where Rishi Sunak is the remainer candidate despite Brexit having happened years ago.

The other thing is that we've had Macron as the French president for over 5 years now and the former foreign secretary thinks the jury is out.

I can't imagine a better demonstration of what a malevolent dullard she is.