Bye bye Starmer

[Jobbo]

To be fair it’s not Labour saying the previous government policies were wrong, it’s everyone. Rwanda was binned on day 1. He’s definitely on it straight away.

[V8Granite]

The migrant control people based at Ramsgate are hiring

My colleague has been told to book further in advance as they can’t keep a room for him anymore.

It begins !

Dave!

[Marv]

I really don’t think Starmer is a caretaker. A safe pair of hands would be a better description. He’s filled his first cabinet with sensible and knowledgeable ministers so there is strength in depth.

I agree Jobbo - he’s not going to change the world overnight but he has to start changing things and right away. For the past number of years, there’s been a constant stream of saying Tory Policy is wrong and to blame and Labour policy will get results.

Well now’s your time - in effect, prove it.

I’ll be mighty disappointed if we vote for change but get largely the same

First cabinet meeting held on a Saturday since Covid… he’s sending signals that they’re on it. The challenge will be getting results quickly too.

Yeah, but but, erm... he doesn't work Friday evenings which is unforgivable

[Jobbo]

Funny how actually dealing with migrants rather than talking about sending them to Rwanda seems to be an obvious plan. Will see how effective it is.

Quiet competence may be what the country wants. It’s certainly what it needs. I look forward to not having another constitution-challenging policy from the government every week.

[V8Granite]

Funny how actually dealing with migrants rather than talking about sending them to Rwanda seems to be an obvious plan. Will see how effective it is.

Quiet competence may be what the country wants. It’s certainly what it needs. I look forward to not having another constitution-challenging policy from the government every week.

It’s more about the influx they are expecting, they just fed, clothed and put them on a bus before. If they have an extra bus it’ll be even harder to get a parking space after work now

Sunaks comment about working Fridays was a bit silly, whether Starmer was going to work this Saturday or not I don’t think anyone cared about but of course he was going to now. Some politicians really do set themselves up for ridicule don’t they.

Dave!

[Beany]

It's indicative of how little the Conservatives had to say of any substance, and how woefully lazy and incompetent they've become after knocking on a decade and a half in power and letting loudmouthed populists run the show - they have barely any actual politicians left - just people spouting soundbites fed to them.

Fucking glad to see the back of that shite.

[Simon]

To be fair it’s not Labour saying the previous government policies were wrong, it’s everyone. Rwanda was binned on day 1. He’s definitely on it straight away.

Rwanda wasn't 'binned on day 1' though - he simply said 'we're not going to be sending any immigrants there'. In this instance 'binning' is just a press release or a comment to a reporter. The act hasn't been repealed, and as far as I've heard it won't be.

I'll be interested to hear what his answer is though. Processing the backlog is all well and good, but it's actual removals that he will fail on as we don't have return agreements with most of the countries many claim to be from. Ergo it'll be 'no you can't have asylum, but we can't do anything about it'.

I'm not making light of the situation either - overseas processing centres for asylum applications in France or whatever won't fix anything - those who are approved will come across and those who are denied are more motivated than ever to jump on a dinghy and risk it. 'Smashing the gangs' sounds like a start but requires a lot of international cooperation, and I've always been suspicious of how motivated foreign powers are to stopping the asylum seekers leaving their shores for ours. There's no incentive for them to do so.

[Mito Man]

Thought the answer was to build an extra 40,000 homes a year over what the Conservatives had pledged - which tallies in with the number of immigrants arriving.

[Shlergen]

Maybe I'm oversimplifying it but they all seem to come over and nice new rubber ducks with shiny outboards. Surely stem the supply and it will make crossing harder .

[Shlergen]

Maybe I'm oversimplifying it but they all seem to come over and nice new rubber ducks with shiny outboards. Surely stem the supply and it will make crossing harder .

Edit: Google suggests they have tried that and the smugglers are importing them from Trumps favourite country. Again though they can't be in small boxes when they come through in the post..

[Mito Man]

I thought they just steal small boats from the many various harbours in the region. Regardless, if you have a whole gang network it isn’t beyond anyone’s ability to go a bit further afield to buy/steal one.

[Shlergen]

I thought they just steal small boats from the many various harbours in the region. Regardless, if you have a whole gang network it isn’t beyond anyone’s ability to go a bit further afield to buy/steal one.

From the videos seen - maybe propaganda, they all look new. A quick Google:
Where do the boats come from?

In the past, people would go to Germany, The Netherlands and Belgium and would buy boats there. But that has decreased because it was discovered [by police].

So now people bring the boats from Turkey - they can buy them in bulk and it's cheaper.

It costs around €3,500. So they buy five or six and send them to Germany by post, and then from Germany, cars transport them to France.

[Swervin_Mervin]

I only recently became aware that the Danish have been sending migrants to Rwanda for a few years. Not controversial either apparently.

I've always thought it a fairly abhorrent policy tbh, but to see one of those socialist Scandi countries has been doing such a thing for a while made me pause for thought.

[Simon]

^^ I did not know that either.

Reflecting further on this, the whole situation is exacerbated by the borderless Schengen region. Once migrants are 'in' they can cross to the north France coastline relatively unhindered. The only way you will properly 'stop the boats' is by those migrants being removed from France by their authorities. The end.

[Simon]

And I see that wanker is proposing ID cards again, this time to tackle illegal immigration.

Quite how he thinks that you or me having a digital ID card will deter an ILLEGAL immigrant is beyond me. But then again, thinking was never one of Blairs strong suits.

[DeskJockey]

I only recently became aware that the Danish have been sending migrants to Rwanda for a few years. Not controversial either apparently.

I've always thought it a fairly abhorrent policy tbh, but to see one of those socialist Scandi countries has been doing such a thing for a while made me pause for thought.

Much like here it hasn't actually happened as far as I can see. Lots of talk, policy declarations and whatnot, but from what I've read it never took off.

That's not to say it isn't an abhorrent policy, and I wouldn't be surprised if at the root of it is the lurch to the right created by consecutive governments on the centre-left/centre/centre-right letting the Danish People's Party set the agenda and narrative for nearly 20 years.

Edit: although the policy proposal predates the UK one (I think) it seems like they weren't as advanced as the UK and were waiting to see if it worked.

I'm ashamed of my country.

[Mito Man]

And I see that wanker is proposing ID cards again, this time to tackle illegal immigration.

Quite how he thinks that you or me having a digital ID card will deter an ILLEGAL immigrant is beyond me. But then again, thinking was never one of Blairs strong suits.

If only we had another government issued document that certified a persons nationality and identity.

[Swervin_Mervin]

Ahh - thanks for the clarity Alex. The article I'd read made out like it had happened and was now a non-issue amongst the public i.e. had been forgotten about and they were on with other issues being the focus of their political concern.

Sounds like that article was hugely disingenuous though.

[integrale_evo]

I don’t think anyone actually wanted to send people there, but to be a deterrent and send a signal that you might not end up staying in the uk for free. Ok, so you might have to send a plane with a few on to prove you can do it, which isn’t great. The threat of it was already having an impact from various interviews with various groups both in Ireland and France when the bill was passed.

[Rich B]

I still call bullshit on the "evidence" it was working. Made up reports from made up immigrants.

The reality is, we've spent £370 million on the scheme so far and not a single person has been sent against their will. Thats the equivalent of the amount of tax paid in their whole lifetime for c. 300 average people in this country.

Why they would claim anyone was afraid of such utter incompetence is beyond belief.