It seems that if we had stayed in the UK our electricity bills would have been lower… wait a minute… We did and they’re not.
Does that mean they lied to us?
Highest!
Lowest.
New analysis from the International Monetary Fund attributes our high prices to Britain’s reliance on gas. 85% of UK homes are heated using gas, and up to 40% of our power is generated using gas each year – the second highest in Europe (after Italy).
Reliance on gas is exacerbated by energy inefficient homes – again, far worse than most other European countries.
However, we can be grateful that we were dragged out of the EU by virtue of us being in the UK, because food, wine and clothes prices are down by 20%. This will make the increased fuel prices more managable for the ordinary Scot.
Maybe they got that wrong. I guess anyone can make a mistake, but with food inflation at 16% it is a worrying margin of error.
UKOK, eh?
One might almost say world beating?
And don’t think for a minute that we’re not grateful. It’s just that we were an awful lot more grateful when the EU was doing the giving and our own government was doing the distribution.
***********
Has the Bully Boy got a stone in his shoe?
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La plus vieille maison de France. On le trouve en Aveyron. Il a 700 ans, il a été construit au 13ème siècle. Le rez-de-chaussée est un peu plus petit que l’étage car à l’époque on ne payait que des taxes sur les terrains occupés!
The oldest house in France. It is in Aveyron. It is 700 years old, it was built in the 13th century. The ground floor is a little smaller than the upper floors because at the time people only paid taxes on the ground space!
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MUNGUIN'S NEW REPUBLIC 
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Yes this is actual news…the new ‘normal’ is however terrifying.
Great article Tris, thanks. Sadly Scotland was ignored ridiculed and laughed at usual, when any mention of a poss EngUk/ref would be held to take us out of the EU.
Yes many were fooled in England, too many but they don’t give a damn about fact that Scotland voted hugely to remain in the EU.
Brexit is being brought up more now by the SNP, good, it needs saying it needs repeating every minute of every day…how catastrophic England’s Brexit is for Scotland.
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I respect the votes of the English people, and those of the Welsh* too, but one of the things I wondered about, Hetty, was if there could not have been some sort of consideration for the countries which voted overwhelmingly to remain in the union.
Theresa May should, in my opinion, have looked at how to deal with Scotland’s and the North of Ireland’s, not to mention Gibraltar’s, wishes, democratically expressed, to be members of the EU.
There was, if you will, a mismatch in the UK’s enthusiasm for the will of the Scottish people in the 2014 referendum approx 55-45%, and it’s lack of enthusiasm for the 62, 38 divide in the EU referendum.
I suppose I might have been placated by the “we voted as one unit” argument, had it not been for seeing a more mature way that it could have been dealt with, perhaps by following the Danish model.
In this, Denmark is a full member of the EU. The Faroes, a part of the Kingdom of Denmark has never been a member of the EU and Greenland was a member but voted to leave a long time ago.
In the end of course, special arrangements have HAD to be made in the case of Gibraltar and the North of Ireland for various reasons of practicality and law.
None of the many prime ministers we have had inflicted upon us since 2016 have given any consideration to Scotland’s situation.
It might have presented problems that don’t occur in the Kingdom of Denmark because they are not on one island and of course they have proper devolution, but, as far as I know, no real attempt was made to respect our wishes… as expressed in every single constituency of Scotland (and espoused by ALL party leaders prior to the referendum).
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And this in the Irish times today with a photo of Sunak and Zelinsky having a laugh together apparently Mr Zelinsky was in London today meeting Sunak and the King
We had a spare £2.3 billion that we have already given to Ukraine for weapons to fight Russia but zero to pay our own workers or make food banks unnecessary here in U.K.
Why are we getting involved in a war nearly two thousand miles away risking retaliation and war with a much stronger nation like Russia we have immense problems of our own here in U.K. that need funding
Sunak said he may yet authorise the issue of jet fighter planes to Ukraine
If he does
Russia will have cause to attack U.K.
this is a step too far
We the people have no say
Sunak and his bunch of fools can zip off somewhere else if it gets too heated but we can’t
“ Mr Sunak said on Wednesday evening that “nothing is off the table” in talks with Ukraine about providing military hardware, and jets were “part of a conversation”. Britain has so far provided almost £4 billion (€4.5 billion) of aid to Ukraine since the Russian invasion that began last year, including £2.3 billion of military aid.”
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Agreed.
This is dangerous stuff to get involved in and you have to wonder what Sunak is up to?
Is this a desperate attempt to show Britain as a world power, because that’s laughable…
Is it some sort of distraction?
Does he want to get involved with a war, because, at least there used to be a sort of spirit of “we’re all in this togetherwe who are cold and hungry and you who live in palaces and stately homes.”?
Does he think that it we go to war they won;t be able to have a general election and they can stay in their self enriching jobs?
As you say, the super rich Rishi can escape to safety while the Russians bomb our nuclear bases.
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Because if we don’t help Ukraine and Putin takes Ukraine do you really think he’ll stop there?
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Russia ( and Putin ) have no intention of occupying Ukraine that is clear.
What they are doing is ensuring that NATO cannot occupy Ukraine.
They are destroying Ukraine infrastructure this has led to Ukraine fighting back and deaths on both sides.
You see it was Ukraine that threatened Russia first
by inviting USA to plant NATO missiles on the border of Ukraine and Russia
a mere 400 miles from Moscow.
That was threatening.
USA controls what NATO do because they finance what NATO do.
If England invited China to put missiles on the border of England and Scotland facing Edinburgh would I be happy, NO , would I do something about it ,YES.
Any country in the world would react to such a threat.
Should Russia have moved into Ukraine NO
But blaming the first aggressor for the reaction of those threatened is a bit insincere.
Russia have no intention of attacking any other country .
Some EU countries were of the opinion mistakenly that Ukraine could get away with threatening Russia with NATO , big mistake and now they are in the silly position themselves of feeling threatened by Russian forces in Ukraine
Ukraine border to Warsaw 300 miles
Ukraine border to Berlin 500 miles
Ukraine border to Paris 1000 miles
EU and USA step back from giving Ukraine jet fighter planes with missiles
Sunak on behalf of U.K. said yesterday that he is willing to give Ukraine jet fighter planes with missiles
Russia has a nuclear capability its a country with a huge land area their nuclear weapons are probably mobile and will be difficult to find
U.K. has a nuclear capability its a country with a small land area
and would be disabled by one nuclear strike
and completely destroyed by two nuclear strikes
I am so angry that Sunak an idiot with zero experience of warfare is so readily bragging about facilitating air strikes against Russia
Look at your history
Check how many countries U.K. and USA have attacked or gone to war with in your lifetime
Then check how many countries Russia has attacked or gone to war with in your lifetime
Hands down USA and U.K. are warmongers it is they who are the risk to world peace and at this moment in time European peace.
Every country in the world has its dark corners
But U.K. and USA and worse than most everyone else they love to bomb other countries and spread propaganda saying they are the policeman of the world protecting other countries from ….from what ? ….themselves ?
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Russia is destroying Ukraine infrastructure so it cannot put NATO or should I say USA missiles on its border with Russia just 400 miles from Moscow.
If Ukraine didn’t say it was allowing USA to put NATO missiles on its border just 400 miles from Moscow we would not have this war.
Russia has no interest in expanding it can’t support the huge area it is at present.
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But they already took Crimea, back in 2014.
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How far back do you want to go though, Crimea was originally Greek then Roman , Turkish , after WWI it joined USSR then after WWII it was repossessed from Germany and in the 1950,s it was given over by Russia to Ukraine to bring Russia and Ukraine closer together when the USSR disbanded the Pereiaslav agreement actually made Crimea a republic but Ukraine dumped that after just a few years and incorporated it in with Ukraine, Crimea lost its perceived independence.
2014 is when Zelinsky came on the scene the golden boy of those who wanted closer ties with the West and in particular the EU.
The old president was firmly in the Russian camp of support and actually lives there now and it was a shock for Crimeans when he was voted out , they protested , but were overrun by Ukraine forces .Crimeans then held elections and voted to become independent from Ukraine.
Ukraine didn’t agree .
Russia stepped in and Ukraine forces moved out.
Crimea then decided to be part of Russia.
Let’s face it , it’s all about the Black Sea access that’s why Sevastopol exists and has been a trouble spot for a long long time.
Russia isn’t expanding
It’s destroying Ukraine,s ability to threaten Russia with NATO
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They also started a war in Donbas in 2014. They’ve been bombing that part of Ukraine for 9 years now.
There was also an invasion of Georgia back in 2008.
Russian troops are everywhere – Nagorno Karabakh, Transistria, Ossetia, Chechnia.
Does this sound like imperialism?
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If you believe in self determination, then you believe in Ukraine making its own choices.
“That’s not my self determination” is not a good look.
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Self determination for Ukraine seems to be very important for the British government, and in that much, I agree with them, even if I doubt the motives for their enthusiasm.
It’s sad they are less enthusiastic about democracy in these islands.
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I do not believe U.K. is interested one bit in Ukraine self determination , let’s face it Ukraine self determination was never threatened , it was not a threat to Ukraine determination that led to this war with Russia , it was the threat to Russia security that was presented to Russia in the form of NATO missiles supplied by USA that would be situated on Ukraines border facing Moscow just 400 miles away .
If you place missiles on the border of your neighbours it’s as close to a declaration of war as a declaration of war
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You really think that a war in Europe is not a pressing concern for European political leaders?
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Russia was no threat to Ukraine before Ukraine decided to allow USA to put missiles and USA troops on the Russian border .
There was peace in Europe for 70 years before this started
If Ireland decided to allow Russia to put missiles and Russian troops on the coast of Ireland facing England i can assure you UK armed forces would have not allowed that to happen.
If Cuba allowed Russia to put missiles and Russian troops on Cuba facing USA I can assure you the USA armed forces would not have allowed that to ……hang on
THAT ALREADY HAPPENED !!
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I don’t doubt the motives for their support for Ukraine.
After years of taking easy money from Russia, long-standing foreign policy and security concerns have once again surfaced. It’s never too late to do the right thing, no matter how many other wrong things continue.
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It has, nonetheless, been a distraction that most of us could get behind.
There may be some decency in Westminster’s actions, but this was kind to Johnson and he’s milked his relationship with Zelenski for publicity.
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Maybe he milked it but I cannot imagine any PM failing to do what the UK are doing. The wish, obviously, is that they’d done this back in 2014. To be fair, the UK has been training Ukrainian troops for some years now but they were simultaneously up to their oxters in Russian money.
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Maybe I’m a little unfair to them.
My experience of them over the years has been that they rarely do or say anything that isn’t for THEIR good.
I think they are right to help Ukraine, although putting the son of a KGB spy (OK he’s retired but, they never really retire) in the House of Lords because he forked out loads of money for the Tories does make you wonder. As does the fact that whenever there was a difficult situation to be faced at home, Boris milked Ukraine for all he was worth.
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I believe in Ukraine making its own choices but it made a poor choice to put NATO missiles with USA troops on its border with Russia a threat that led to war and has put Europe in danger.
Europe had a choice support USA in providing weapons to Ukraine that it will use against Russia or not support USA and suffer the calamity and trade war USA would inflict.
USA and Norway destroyed the gas Nordstream pipeline Russia had built then Germany built gas storage facilities on the Baltic to receive USA gas by ship so between them all I think the war between Russia and Ukraine was planned a few years ago or at the very least predicted.
Step one offer Ukraine trade deals
Step two persuade Ukraine to invite NATO to site missiles in Ukraine
Step three offer to supply the missiles
Step four persuade the EU to offer membership of the EU to Ukraine in the future if they comply
Step five once Ukraine comply and provoke Russia get EU to offer weapons
Step six EU buy gas from Norway and USA instead of from Russia
Step seven USA and Norway bomb Russian gas pipeline
What you have now is the resurrection of the Cold War
East against West
Hungary Bulgaria the more Eastern European countries are not arming Ukraine
As I keep saying to people such as yourself terryentoure ,
if England agreed with China that China would put missiles on the border of England and Scotland , facing Glasgow or Edinburgh I would be very unhappy indeed , i would conclude that there was evil intention , you don’t put missiles on your border facing another country unless you are looking for trouble
I think Russia acted too soon , I think that if they had waited a wee while they might have found that the siting of NATO missiles and troops on the border with Russia did not actually happen , but , Russia thought the risk of wait and see too great .
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So you’re happy with a country making its own peaceful choices but as soon as you don’t agree witih them its ok for them to be invaded, bombed and killed.
Hungary is not a good example of a democracy. I use my words carefully. When I pointed out that European democracies are arming Ukraine, I meant European democracies are arming Ukraine.
There is no justification for invading a country with the intent to change its leadership. That’s as true of Iraq and Afghanistan as it is of Ukraine. That’s why we use the term “act of agression” to describe it. Despite this, you repeatedly attempt to justify the invasion of Ukraine.
As you said yourself, there weren’t actually any NATO missiles in Ukraine. Ukraine is not a member of NATO. It did not apply to join NATO before the “special military operation”. NATO did not seek an application from Ukraine. It is still not a member of NATO.
What happened here is that Ukraine democractically reoriented itself westwards out of Russia’s orbit. That’s why Russia invaded Donbas and Crimea back in 2014. Further democratic reorientations triggered a full invasion. There is no justification for Russia’s response.
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You miss , no , avoid the elephant in the room terryentoure ,
The cause of this war was not Russia trying to take away Ukraine,s peaceful choices as you put it.
The cause of this war was Ukraine,s warmongering choices in agreeing to let USA put missiles on the border with Russia 400 miles from Moscow now you can call them NATO missiles but we all know USA calls the NATO shots , completely.
Ukraine would not have done this without the backing of the USA
Ukraine would not have done this with just the backing of the EU
Ukraine would not have done this with just the backing of U.K.
They did it to threaten Russia , that is obvious but why ?
USA feel they are losing the lead in world trade , they are not sure they want to tackle China just yet so they are taking on Russia to embroil the EU it’s other world trade competitor
The threat was responded to quickly , too quickly in my opinion but Ukraine were already intent on teaming up with USA to threaten Russia so they would without doubt have carried forward the positioning of USA missiles facing Moscow.
Other than Russia which is not a member of NATO
Ukraine has a border with Belarus Poland Slovakia Hungary Romania and Moldova
four of them are members of NATO the other two participate in NATO exercises but are not members.
So the only country that borders Ukraine that is not already participating in NATO exercises is Russia
Russia does not want USA weapons and armed forces on Russia it does not want to be in NATO
Russia wants to keep its access to the Mediterranean Sea through the Black Sea its an important trading route for them that would be irreplaceable
Their navy is based there in Sevastopol which is where Ukraine had its navy base too until 2014 when it moved to Odessa.
Ukraine allowing USA armed forces under the guise of NATO to control the Black Sea is not going to happen
Of the countries that border Russia
Azerbaijan, Belarus, China, Estonia, Finland, Georgia, Kazakhstan, North Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Mongolia, Norway, Poland, and Ukraine.
Only Georgia , North Korea and China are not in NATO
The members of NATO are
Albania, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Montenegro, the Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Turkey, USA , U.K.,Finland.
ALL controlled by USA
European countries not in NATO
Austria, Cyprus,Ireland, Malta, and Sweden.
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Do you really think Norway is controlled by USA? That’s the kind of thing that Kangaroo would say, although he’d swap USA for the Illuminati or something like that.
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Norways involvement in NATO is controlled by USA
The question is , do you really think it’s not ?
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https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2023/02/sy-hersh-and-the-way-we-live-now/
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It’s almost as thought there is a lesson to be learned from 20th Centrury European history.
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And that lesson you learn from history is ?
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“with a much stronger nation like Russia”
I would dispute that.
Despite its land mass and population, Russia GDP is less than that of Italy.
It has about 2% of global wealth. This wealth is poorly distributed.
Corruption in Russia is ranked as one of the worst in the world.
The security of Europe affects the security of Britain. Every country in Europe, apart from Belarus, shares this concern about European security. That’s why its hard to find a European democracy that is not arming Ukraine.
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You do know that GDP is not a great sign of how a country is performing ?
Today for example the newspapers are full of the story showing U.K. GDP levelling out but what GDP does not do is show that most of that income that achieved the levelling out came from a tiny percentage of the population of the U.K. that has seen its income bloat hugely whilst the 99% stagnate
Russia has great wealth , it is an oil and gas producing country , it’s drawback is it’s size , it’s size is also an obvious reason why it has no intention of occupying Ukraine .
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GDP is certainly a reliable sign of how a country is performing.
GDP per capita is an even more reliable sign of how a country is performing for its own citizens.
If you had to move to Italy or Russia which would you choose? Would you really say, “oh, GDP is not a good guide” and move to Chelyabinsk on the basis of an unspecified metric?
Russia is not a wealthy country. It is a poor country with a concentration of wealth in a small number of Muscovites. If you think that the UK suffers from wealth inequalities, you should take a look at Russia.
Do you remember when Russian tanks almost encircled Kiev? That was an attempt at occupation. I am very glad it failed. Russia even published maps of what Ukraine woud look like after the successful completion of the “special military operation”. The capital of Ukraine would have been Lvov.
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https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2023/02/10/anyone-who-seriously-thinks-gdp-measures-prove-that-the-country-is-succeeding-economically-is-seriously-economically-deluded/
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Until USA said Ukraine could join NATO there was little risk of war in Europe basically because of the existence of the EU.
How could you get the EU to face off against Russia ?
Very difficult considering the new pipeline Russia had just built going through St Petersburg and the Baltic bringing unlimited supplies of gas to Europe.
Why would EU want to fall out with Russia , it wouldn’t , it might cause a fuel shortage ?
Hang on a minute ….if you wanted to you could bomb the new Russian pipeline
( who would benefit ? Ahh yes USA and Norway supplying their gas )
Then you invite Ukraine to join NATO but why would they want to upset Russia
( ahhh yes …revenge because Russia rerouted their gas to EU via St Petersburg )
But why get EU and Ukraine to face off with Russia ?
USA it’s a win win , get someone else to fight Russia
USA don’t want any wars on their own turf
Sell USA gas at hugely inflated prices
USA sell NATO weapons to Ukraine and EU countries
USA and EU become closer trading partners whereas previously there was contention
U.K. do whatever USA tell them to do that’s why U.K. agreed to sell its gas in U.K. to us at a high price so as not to undercut USA gas
I think there is every possibility that USA might be taking a step back from the local politics in Ireland and Scotland too , as a gesture of thanks to Westminster for their Ukraine offensive support
Remembering though that there was already a gas pipe bringing gas from Russia to Europe but it went through Ukraine and Ukraine kept on bombing it because
(1) Russia supported Crimea disengaging from Ukraine control
(2) Russia refused to increase the already huge amount of money it paid to Ukraine for the privilege of transporting its gas through Ukraine.
This war has been planned by the west , by USA and U.K.
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Russia invaded Donbas and Crimea back in 2014 after Ukraine elected a pro-EU government. This is 100% about the scope of Russia’s influence.
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You say
“ Russia invaded Donbas and Crimea back in 2014 after Ukraine elected a pro-EU government“
But you missed out the bit about Crimea having elections to determine if they should remain part of Ukraine or not.
They decided NOT.
Ukraine sent in troops and said they were not accepting the decision.
The people in Crimea protested
The Ukraine troops fired
Russia sent in troops and restored the order which was Crimea independent of Ukraine
Crimea then formed a government which decided to rejoin Russia , not surprising given that Sevastopol was the biggest employer and housed most of the Russian navy
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Yeah, that completely democratic referendum that they had in Crimea.
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A majority to rejoin Russia because so many Russians live there because the Russian naval base is there !
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Supreme Court uphold Good Friday agreement and Brexit agreement with eu but the unionists in Norn Iron say they will not return to Stormont until the Brexit arrangements in Norn Iron are the same as mainland U.K. in other words they want the border with Republic or Ireland restored.
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Well, there’s a thing. If their BRITISH Supreme Court rules against them, they go in the huff, although it’s as red white and blue as the Butcher’s Apron.
If Sinn Fein wins an election they go in a strop and refuse to do their job.
They aren’t very good at democracy, are they?
I’d say that they need to all be sacked. Why are they being paid for refusing to do a job they were elected to do.
They’ll can have a Tory government from London. This will go down like a ton of bricks with republicans, and moderates.
And perhaps the troubles will make a return.
And it’s down to the Dinosaur Unbelievers Party.
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It’s a pity more of the DUP crowd aren’t a bit more accommodating. Like Iris Robinson and Paul Berry.
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Ah yes. They are most ‘accommodating’.
An example to all.
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What’s Iris Robinson got in common with a can of Tango?
Both orange and popular with teenagers.
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He he he he he he he he
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Love the clip of the unionist Allister, he complains about the court causing them to be ruled by foreigners, unelected by NI Unionists.
Strange that he wants a different set of similar foreigners to be the rulers.
Even auld lord in the lords quotes from the bible, forgive them as they didn’t know what they were doing with Brexit.
Meantime a new face is put on the ‘NEWS’ propaganda chats, the englandersare to get family shops where you can get advice for your children up to the year Nineteen, things like brest feeding and contraception, 75 new family health shops with £300m funding in areas of depredation.
Wow only 75 areas of englandland are to get support.
They are definately better together in englandland.
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Ummm, ruled by foreigners?
Of course they don;t see Englishmen as foreigners in the North of Ireland, but I wonder if they can tell us the last time they had a DUP government in Westminster or a NofI Secretary of State who hailed from the Province?
The British government is not elected by people in the North of Ireland.
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Things must be bad in Yookay when they have to beg President Zelensky to visit them.
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I think we can pretty much agree that things ARE bad here! 🙂
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Another oxymoron for your list
Caring Conservative
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That takes oxymoronicy to a whole new level, although to be fair, many of them care deeply about their offshore accounts and that they don;t get caught like the ex-chanellor.
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Just received new passport.
On inside page it says ” Her Britannic Majesty’s Secretary of State requests and requires etc etc ”
Since there is no “Her” anymore is my passport actually valid???
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Maybe Charlie’s a cross-dresser 👑
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You never know.
I can see him in a long white frock getting ink all over it as he falls out with yet another fountain pen.
Note to self, buy the old soul a biro. He’s past coping with proper pens.
I don’t know why but I’m foreseeing a cartoon with the snarly one in a frock. I always though queen Mrs Parker Bowles wore the pants thin their house…erm I mean houses… ugh, I mean palaces!
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Good point.
I imagine that, despite it being hopelessly out of date upon issue (do try to keep up Britain…she went during the Truss years, erm, I mean weeks) it will continue to get you stuck in queues all over the world.
I’m reminded of the verse:
Your faces are red
Vos passeports sont bleus
No go and stand in that very long queue.
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I voted remain .. But now we are out
Free movement allowing swarms of Eastern Europeans unfettered entrance to the United Kingdom.
Is to absolutely NO I’d sooner starve .
Now this not in anyway a benefit to me but to all those peoples who are now finding they are not competing.
Against incomers driving down wages
As they are desperate enough to work for lower and lower wages.
I realise many in the snp would much prefer to replace a YES voting stranger from a foreign land .
Than a born and bred NO Scots citizen.
That’s my position and will never change .
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I’m surprised that you blame other people for low wages.
But don’t worry, Niko. All these largely hard working people are leaving. That’s why the service everywhere is so crap.
And soon Brits will be trying to get to Eastern Europe because poor people in these countries are better off than they are in the Britbin.
https://www.ft.com/content/837a7b40-f534-11e3-91a8-00144feabdc0
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British jobs for British workers and all that.
“swarms” is the kind of language Farage uses.
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One of the huge problems is that we don’t have the right British workers, Niko.
We had some unemployed people for sure while we had the Europeans working here.
But our unemployment numbers were relatively low.
The exodus of foreign workers left gaps which, in theory, the people claiming unemployment benefits could fill.
Unfortunately (and I speak as someone who has worked with unemployed people), many of the long term unemployed were unemployed because they were more or less unemployable for a wide variety of reasons.
Amongst which:
Lack of suitable education/skills for the kind of jobs available; backgrounds that included spells in prison; drug addiction; alcohol addiction; references that said “do not employ”; lack of fitness; and lack of interest.
Not everyone can work with sick people; not everyone can handle cash; not everyone can learn IT skills; not everyone can manage customer contact without putting 3 F words in every sentence.
It is complex but more and more jobs require skills which people don’t have. It has been going on for years.
Mrs Thatcher got rid of all the financial incentives to train people (ie the Training Boards with levy powers.). And gone are the days of mass numbers of unskilled jobs in factories.
I promise you, politically incorrect it may be, but I’ve had lads say, just get me a f’kin’ man’s job. They don’t want to work in shops.
If that’s all you want, working in Weatherspoons or Lidl isn’t going to cut it.
My local Lidl now employs people who shouldn’t be anywhere near customer service jobs, as opposed to a few years ago when the staff were superb.
Great example, because it’s quite funny:
I suddenly needed a garden incinerator for the grounds of the Towers. I had seen one in Lidl only a week or so before. So I walked round and asked one of he staff stacking shelves if they still had any.
“Nuh,” he replied without looking at me, “sold oot”.
“OK, thanks for your help”, I replied a tad sarcastically!
But before leaving I went to the back of the shop to get some bread, and en route, I passed 3 incinerators…which were very clearly NOT sold out but very much stacked on the “Middle of Lidl” shelves.!
That wouldn’t have happened if the shop staff had been in the least interested in customer service.
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The UK isn’t the only country experiencing a workforce shortage. Even Switzerland with its enviable currency, Schengen membership, high quality of life and FoM treaties with the EU is concerned about a looming shortfall.
The UK, however, is the only country that is shutting itself off from its most immediate source by making it as hard as it can possibly be to move there for work.
Brexit has meant that the UK shares the problems faced by many other countries but none of the solutions.
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England’s importance as a global power has been in decline since the two global wars it was involved with.
All that Thatcher and her poisonous philosophy did was to impoverish most of the UK in order to create an image of prosperity and success in the SE of England.
The English establishment live in this economic bubble and unfortunately for the rest of us,still believe they are a global power.
Given their recent intention of throwing NI under a bus in order to get the split from Europe they so desired,it is clear that the only other nation they view as being essential to the continuing UK state is Scotland.
They are correct.
Without us,they will no longer be able to maintain the illusion of being the Great British nation/country/state so beloved in England’s Tory heartlands,they will simply be England.
There will always be an England but not a Greater England.
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Yes. I think they would probably ditch the Irish to get their Brexit if they could.
But they seem desperate to hang on to Scotland, which according to them costs the UK an arm and a leg.
Why?
If it’s loss of status they really need to look at how they are already seen around the world. I suspect it has more to do with what they can take from Scotland.
But answers on a postcard to Munguin, Munguin Towers, The World.
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30p Lee wants the death penalty back.
The interview was given before he was appointed to the deputy post, but presumably Sunak knew his feelings before he appointed him.
I mean, Sunak’s staff will have done a search into his appropriateness for the position, won’t they?
So they take into consideration all his pros… and “cons” when they appoint him…
https://www.ft.com/content/aec4f4fa-16ca-45a3-b596-4980e89ef48d
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