Gransnet forums

News & politics

Performance politics but empty words

(204 Posts)
PoliticsNerd Tue 21-Jan-25 07:41:12

Much of today's display of 'performance politics' may appear to yield results, but ultimately, it's unlikely that these promises will come to fruition. Signing public documents or holding photo opportunities in no way guarantees the passage of these bills and policies. However, this facade is what Trump supporters will initially remember. Like many Brexit supporters who have come to realise that getting what they wanted has not improved their lives or, in fact, led to nothing being done, some may eventually move towards authoritarianism.

Winston Churchill famously said that a democracy requires an informed voter. Unfortunately, too many people are either misinformed or uninformed. Those who are uninformed are, by default, the most susceptible to manipulation. My initial optimism about the potential of Citizens' Juries to empower citizens and foster informed debate now seems misplaced, as they have become mired in the complexities of government.

So, how can we, as individuals and as a society, work towards becoming better informed?

Whitewavemark2 Sat 25-Jan-25 12:04:29

😄😄😄

maddyone Sat 25-Jan-25 12:06:47

Why does Trump get brought into every thread?

LizzieDrip Sat 25-Jan-25 12:10:02

There is a Yorkshire Party who want independence … so watch out🤣🤣🤣

LizzieDrip Sat 25-Jan-25 12:11:38

That’s to WW - nothing to do with Trump. Don’t think the Yorkshire Party intends to take over the USA (not yet anyway)🙈

Elegran Sat 25-Jan-25 12:15:43

Because he is the most influential figure in the world today. The effect of his election for a second term as the president of the Unites States of America is evident all over the place. That is because he is more infamous than famous, but it will still affect us. To ignore that fact is to bury our heads in the sand and hope that the storm will leave our wheelie bins standing sedately at the roadside and throw only our neighbours' bins into orbit.

Whitewavemark2 Sat 25-Jan-25 12:18:32

Actually I’ve heard a whisper that there are plans afoot to forcibly repatriate all immigrants and make Celtic Britain great again.

Motherduck Sat 25-Jan-25 12:18:57

eazybee

Whitewavemark2
Your assumptions about the beliefs of people who admire Trump are not only immensely patronising but also display an extremely narrow view of the electorate.

I couldn’t agree more.

Whitewavemark2 Sat 25-Jan-25 12:20:01

Ooh -er 😄😄😄

LizzieDrip Sat 25-Jan-25 12:39:04

Actually I’ve heard a whisper that there are plans afoot to forcibly repatriate all immigrants and make Celtic Britain great again

Wouldn’t bluddy surprise me WW🙈🙈🙈

Mamie Sat 25-Jan-25 12:42:07

Well if the Normans get sent home, I will be living in the right place. 😂

Elegran Sat 25-Jan-25 12:46:31

Whitewavemark2

Actually I’ve heard a whisper that there are plans afoot to forcibly repatriate all immigrants and make Celtic Britain great again.

If we were to elect a leader who could trace their ancestry directly back to the Western European Hunter Gatherers (WHG) who inhabited Britain and Ireland around 7000–4000 BCE, perhaps they would also deport those invasively immigrant Celts (Indo-European descent). After all, the Celts have only been here for about 3,000 years - mere newcomers.

MaizieD Sat 25-Jan-25 12:50:16

Mamie

Well if the Normans get sent home, I will be living in the right place. 😂

Oh dear. I had a Great Uncle who paid for genealogy research which traced his family back to William the Conqueror. Not that the connection did them much good. From my genealogy research they seem to have spent the 19th C as skilled artisans in Ipswich..

I have everything in my 'line' except Celtic... Given a choice can I be deported to the Caribbean please?

MaizieD Sat 25-Jan-25 12:51:47

OTOH, we do have shares in a place in Normandy... that's my 2nd choice, please.

LizzieDrip Sat 25-Jan-25 12:55:11

Oh dear, I think I’m doomed. Yorkshire through & through.

My only hope is Independence for Yorkshire!!!!

David49 Sat 25-Jan-25 12:55:55

MaizieD

^The argument is about should we have an open border policy where anyone can come to the UK.^

Not it isn't, David.

Nobody on this thread is advocating an 'open border' policy.

Others are sympathizing with the poor in other countries, we should allow them to come here. Millions would come if they could, their plight is not our problem, we cannot solve their problems, those who are genuinely seeking Assylum should apply and be processed before they reach the UK.

If an Assylum centre were set up on France and all the migrants picked up from boats were taken there, the genuine Assylum seekers would be allowed in the rest denied, that would stop the boat crossings.

Targeting the smugging gangs is a waste of time, like the drugs war, stop one gang another takes over

MaizieD Sat 25-Jan-25 13:00:54

Sympathising with the poor from other countries is not the same as advocating an open borders policy, David. That's making unjustified assumptions.

NB asylum seekers are not always 'the poor'.

maddyone Sat 25-Jan-25 13:41:36

Those who choose to arrive on a dingy, presumably because they wouldn’t be eligible to arrive via a visa, obviously have money. At around £4000 - £5000 (as has been reported) for a ‘ticket’ it’s hardly cheap.

PoliticsNerd Sat 25-Jan-25 14:30:19

Whitewavemark2

Actually I’ve heard a whisper that there are plans afoot to forcibly repatriate all immigrants and make Celtic Britain great again.

Love it grin

Chocolatelovinggran Sat 25-Jan-25 14:51:07

Some years ago, Mr Farage did suggest a policy of offering anyone with a grandparent born abroad a sum of money to return to that country ( no, honestly).
I'm the granddaughter of an Italian immigrant- a nice little holiday home in Italy would be much enjoyed by my friends and family.
Now - where's that Teach Yourself Italian book...?

David49 Sat 25-Jan-25 18:02:53

I know quite a few Italians, they visit their origins regularly to pay respects to the head of the family, their Grandfathers came over as POWs, they were peasants from the south and Sicily. Nothing for them there except sunshine.

M0nica Sun 26-Jan-25 08:13:33

maddyone

Those who choose to arrive on a dingy, presumably because they wouldn’t be eligible to arrive via a visa, obviously have money. At around £4000 - £5000 (as has been reported) for a ‘ticket’ it’s hardly cheap.

But in many cases these people have not paid this money fromtheir own resources. Often families, even villages, living in direst poverty, circumstances of frightening insecurity, will collect the money among themselves to give one person a chance to go because of the benefits the village/family will get from the money they get back.

And even if they can afford the fare to cross the channel, why would they want to pay it, if their home conditions were even slightly liveable.

Let me turn the story round. Supposing that South East Asia was economically booming (which it is) and had high welfare and justice systems, how bad would things have to be here for you to embark on an illegal journey there. First smuggling yourself across the Channel in a leaky inflatable, then travelling across Europe, avoiding passport controls and any bureacracy, walking, climbing mountains, often short of food, relying on people smugglers to hide you in lorries, warehouses, entirely at their mercy while they gradually, spending nights sleeping in forests and hills. Travelling for three or four months, to then get to a country where, because you are there illegally you can only work in the black economy, at well below approved wages, struggling to get by.

If someone is prepared to undego all that, whether they ahve the money or not, doesn't is suggest that the conditions they are leaving behind are almost unliveable?

Iam64 Sun 26-Jan-25 09:05:10

MOnica, thank you for once again setting out the reality behind the small boats. I expect this won’t be the last time posters need a nudge towards reality

Oreo Sun 26-Jan-25 09:16:43

The thing is, that we can’t lump all these migrants and their living conditions together.The countries and their individual stories are all different.Some are really escaping persecution from hardline authorities, for political views, or being gay for instance, most are wanting to come West for a better economic life.Vietnam is the country that more and more economic migrants come from to the UK.

David49 Sun 26-Jan-25 09:19:40

“Travelling for three or four months, to then get to a country where, because you are there illegally you can only work in the black economy, at well below approved wages, struggling to get by.”

If the alternative is a life working in paddy field in rural Thailand or Vietnam even working for an agency in the black economy is better. They all have smartphones and tell their friends at home what it’s like, they dont need cash many are “indentured” and work their passage.

maddyone Sun 26-Jan-25 10:45:12

Oreo

The thing is, that we can’t lump all these migrants and their living conditions together.The countries and their individual stories are all different.Some are really escaping persecution from hardline authorities, for political views, or being gay for instance, most are wanting to come West for a better economic life.Vietnam is the country that more and more economic migrants come from to the UK.

Yes, this.