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Farage. Well he’s Top of the Pops right now! šŸ˜‚

(502 Posts)
FriedGreenTomatoes2 Thu 06-Feb-25 20:59:23

This tonight, from the ā€˜i’ newspaper (that I also now subscribe to, not just The Telegraph!) ….

ā€œNigel Farage stood up at Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday to hostile silence. Squashed together in the Commons, MPs from other parties glowered at him, and then delighted as he appeared to fluff his lines when asking a question about the Chagos Islands.

Behind the scenes it is a different story, with individual MPs from other parties queuing up to ask the Reform UK leader to sign House of Commons wine bottles and drinks coasters for family members and constituents who are fans of his brand of straight-talking populism. It’s not clear whether those MPs acknowledge the cognitive dissonance involved.

There’s no doubt Reform is having a moment. On average, the last half-dozen polls have put the party on 25 per cent, putting it equal first with Labour. Three of those polls put the party in the lead, either solely or in tandem with Labour.

It’s causing tangible jitters among both Labour and Conservative MPs. At PMQs, Farage accused them of ā€œpanic.ā€

This week a group of around 40 Labour MPs from ā€œRed Wallā€ seats in the north of England called for Sir Keir Starmer to send a stronger message on immigration as they seek to see off the threat from Farage and his crew ahead of local elections in May.

Behind the scenes, other Labour MPs have requested training sessions from No 10 on how to deal with Reform in their areas. ā€œIt really troubles them,ā€ a Labour source said.ā€

C’mon REFORM!

SilverBrook Fri 07-Feb-25 21:21:22

Article 19 of UNCLOS says that if a foreign vessel enters another country's territorial waters it will be considered to be prejudicial to the peace if it engages in the loading or unloading of any person contrary to the immigration laws of that country.

Migrants cannot be returned to French shores, unilaterally, and without prior agreement with France.

In 2019, France and the UK agreed on a joint plan to tackle irregular migration which does provide for cooperation, but it DOES NOT allow one country to bring people rescued in the English Channel to the other country's ports.

This has all been explained here many times.

Wyllow3 Fri 07-Feb-25 21:17:36

Kandinsky

It’s nothing to do with hatred or lack of compassion, stop being so ridiculously over dramatic - sending people back to France, in a boat safer than the one they tried to enter our country illegally in, is a perfectly ok solution. Unless you think France is a terrible place to be?

You cannot legally send back people who have come on boats/are in British waters on boats back to France unless France agrees to accept them.

End of.

Kandinsky Fri 07-Feb-25 21:08:37

bathsalts
Stop reading my posts if they offend you so much:

Churchview Fri 07-Feb-25 21:08:16

You have to wonder why there's so much focus on small boats.

Only 1 to 2 % of the UK population are here without proper documentation. That's about 800,000 people - many of whom are undocumented because our systems are poor and slow.

Of the 800,000 over half have been here longer than 5 years.

Most of these people didn't arrive in small boats. They came documented and overstayed or have been lost by our system.

I would LOVE to see Farage actually have responsibility for reducing undocumented immigration to his satisfaction and that of his supporters. He doesn't have the skills or attention span.

Before the last election Reform promised £90 billion tax cuts should they win. How will he fund the plan to 'send people back where they came from'?

The UK currently has around 800,000 undocumented immigrants.
The UK currently has around 800,000 unfilled job vacancies....many of which could be filled by immigrants if they weren't waiting or lost in our system. They'd then be paying tax here.

Happilyretired123 Fri 07-Feb-25 21:03:19

FriedGreenTomatoes2

This tonight, from the ā€˜i’ newspaper (that I also now subscribe to, not just The Telegraph!) ….

ā€œNigel Farage stood up at Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday to hostile silence. Squashed together in the Commons, MPs from other parties glowered at him, and then delighted as he appeared to fluff his lines when asking a question about the Chagos Islands.

Behind the scenes it is a different story, with individual MPs from other parties queuing up to ask the Reform UK leader to sign House of Commons wine bottles and drinks coasters for family members and constituents who are fans of his brand of straight-talking populism. It’s not clear whether those MPs acknowledge the cognitive dissonance involved.

There’s no doubt Reform is having a moment. On average, the last half-dozen polls have put the party on 25 per cent, putting it equal first with Labour. Three of those polls put the party in the lead, either solely or in tandem with Labour.

It’s causing tangible jitters among both Labour and Conservative MPs. At PMQs, Farage accused them of ā€œpanic.ā€

This week a group of around 40 Labour MPs from ā€œRed Wallā€ seats in the north of England called for Sir Keir Starmer to send a stronger message on immigration as they seek to see off the threat from Farage and his crew ahead of local elections in May.

Behind the scenes, other Labour MPs have requested training sessions from No 10 on how to deal with Reform in their areas. ā€œIt really troubles them,ā€ a Labour source said.ā€

C’mon REFORM!

Yes C’mon if you don’t want an NHS, and believe he is ever going to do a days work as PM! Or is more interested in ordinary people’s concerns than feathering his own nest.

bathsalts Fri 07-Feb-25 21:03:10

Kandinsky

It’s nothing to do with hatred or lack of compassion, stop being so ridiculously over dramatic - sending people back to France, in a boat safer than the one they tried to enter our country illegally in, is a perfectly ok solution. Unless you think France is a terrible place to be?

Stop trying to slither out of it.

You are not about sending people back in a safe vessel. You are talking about rounding up. It's disgusting.

BevSec Fri 07-Feb-25 21:01:05

Claremont

BevSec

pascal30

bathsalts

Kandinsky

I’d support and vote for any party who’d patrol the Kent cost 24/7.
Any boat entering our shores illegally would be sent back from where it came immediately.
Anyone already in this country Illegally rounded up & deported.
That’s what this country needs.

" rounded up" what a hideous phrase. What fuels this hatred for other people I wonder, I suppose I'll never know.

Oh dear Kandinsky.. are you really so lacking in compassion..

It has absolutely nothing to do with lacking in compassion and that is a vile remark.

Maybe you could answer the question of what happens if the UK keeps having year upon year of illegal immigrants, when is enough enough or do you feel the U.k should just go on as we are now? What happens in the long term?

VILE is using terms like 'rounded up'- and takes us right back to 1930s. VILE.

Vile is calling posters lacking in compassion. I would never post a remark like that no matter what had been posted.

HousePlantQueen Fri 07-Feb-25 20:54:21

Parsley3

^The constant adoration of Farage and Trump by some people on here is making me want to avoid the forum and it wouldn’t surprise me if it isn’t having the same effect on other people, too.^
I just hide these threads MayBee along with the games and Royal Family ones which I can't be bothered with.
So hiding it now.

Same here. Happy to have a good political debate, but these threads are tiresome and I am sick of people promoting a group of inexperienced men with no policies, no plans beyond populist nonsense. Frankly, I am baffled as to why people of a certain age would promote someone who will undoubtedly make their lives harder.

I am out

pascal30 Fri 07-Feb-25 20:53:32

Claremont

k is not the only one here who thinks the same.

And yes, I do wonder what happened in their lives to make them so full of hatred and so lacking in any compassion. I just cannot imagine what hardships could cause this to be so severe. 'Rounded up' yes, just as in 1930s Germany and Austria. That word keeps coming back last few days 'chilling' in the extreme.

But careful what you wish for- we have desperate shortages in so many fields, and have lost so many staff since Brexit. One must be totally deluded to believe we can do without immigrant labour, and not only in well paid professions.

Quite Claremont...

Kandinsky Fri 07-Feb-25 20:52:32

It’s nothing to do with hatred or lack of compassion, stop being so ridiculously over dramatic - sending people back to France, in a boat safer than the one they tried to enter our country illegally in, is a perfectly ok solution. Unless you think France is a terrible place to be?

Claremont Fri 07-Feb-25 20:48:23

BevSec

pascal30

bathsalts

Kandinsky

I’d support and vote for any party who’d patrol the Kent cost 24/7.
Any boat entering our shores illegally would be sent back from where it came immediately.
Anyone already in this country Illegally rounded up & deported.
That’s what this country needs.

" rounded up" what a hideous phrase. What fuels this hatred for other people I wonder, I suppose I'll never know.

Oh dear Kandinsky.. are you really so lacking in compassion..

It has absolutely nothing to do with lacking in compassion and that is a vile remark.

Maybe you could answer the question of what happens if the UK keeps having year upon year of illegal immigrants, when is enough enough or do you feel the U.k should just go on as we are now? What happens in the long term?

VILE is using terms like 'rounded up'- and takes us right back to 1930s. VILE.

Doodledog Fri 07-Feb-25 20:46:04

Oreo

Righty-ho
Well, tho we have no idea what a Reform government would look like/ policies and so on I think we could surmise they would be Conservatives with added extras, with their main aim being immigration and getting the numbers down.This would go down well with most of the country if they could actually do it.Labour is talking about doing it just as the Conservatives were but the numbers are going in the wrong direction.
I believe that belittling people for voting and wanting Reform to do well is not reading the room.

Well that's as much as I know about them. They put all their eggs in the immigration basket, but don't say how they will 'stop the boats'.

What are the 'added extras' to Conservatism likely to be? That's getting closer to the crux of the matter, but I'm no wiser about it.

I don't belittle anyone for their political allegiance. I do question what has made them feel allied though, as I really can't see what they are offering beyond vague platitudes. I agree that mainstream politicians need to read the room, and said much of what I think about that in the death penalty thread. Too many people get away with contributing nothing and those who do work feel put upon and resentful. It starts in schools when kids to out of going and have special units to attract them, continues in University when students opt out of assessments they don't like and still pass, then in the workplace when people take months of sick leave at a time and so on.

Meanwhile, Mr and Ms Average plod along, getting up early every morning and spending a fortune on childcare and rent so they are no better off than if they didn't work. Then they retire and because they paid into a pension they get less money than those who didn't. Cradle to grave exploitation of law-abiding citizens, and they can't even get a doctor's appointment, or see a dentist unless they have hundreds (or thousands) of pounds to spend. Then when they are old, if they need care the ones with million pound houses will usually have money to leave behind to show for the work they did, but the ones with cheaper properties will have to sell them to pay for care - again seeing the non-working neighbour in the same home but paying nothing, so they die poor after a lifetime of work.

Stopping the boats is not going to make a difference to that, but any attempt to make life fairer for workers would be massively unpopular with those who do very well out of the current system, and probably impossible without bringing in a tax bill for everyone - unless we want to bring back workhouses and asylums (which I don't, in case that's not clear).

BevSec Fri 07-Feb-25 20:40:14

pascal30

bathsalts

Kandinsky

I’d support and vote for any party who’d patrol the Kent cost 24/7.
Any boat entering our shores illegally would be sent back from where it came immediately.
Anyone already in this country Illegally rounded up & deported.
That’s what this country needs.

" rounded up" what a hideous phrase. What fuels this hatred for other people I wonder, I suppose I'll never know.

Oh dear Kandinsky.. are you really so lacking in compassion..

It has absolutely nothing to do with lacking in compassion and that is a vile remark.

Maybe you could answer the question of what happens if the UK keeps having year upon year of illegal immigrants, when is enough enough or do you feel the U.k should just go on as we are now? What happens in the long term?

Claremont Fri 07-Feb-25 20:36:04

k is not the only one here who thinks the same.

And yes, I do wonder what happened in their lives to make them so full of hatred and so lacking in any compassion. I just cannot imagine what hardships could cause this to be so severe. 'Rounded up' yes, just as in 1930s Germany and Austria. That word keeps coming back last few days 'chilling' in the extreme.

But careful what you wish for- we have desperate shortages in so many fields, and have lost so many staff since Brexit. One must be totally deluded to believe we can do without immigrant labour, and not only in well paid professions.

pascal30 Fri 07-Feb-25 20:27:52

bathsalts

Kandinsky

I’d support and vote for any party who’d patrol the Kent cost 24/7.
Any boat entering our shores illegally would be sent back from where it came immediately.
Anyone already in this country Illegally rounded up & deported.
That’s what this country needs.

" rounded up" what a hideous phrase. What fuels this hatred for other people I wonder, I suppose I'll never know.

Oh dear Kandinsky.. are you really so lacking in compassion..

bathsalts Fri 07-Feb-25 20:20:24

Kandinsky

I’d support and vote for any party who’d patrol the Kent cost 24/7.
Any boat entering our shores illegally would be sent back from where it came immediately.
Anyone already in this country Illegally rounded up & deported.
That’s what this country needs.

" rounded up" what a hideous phrase. What fuels this hatred for other people I wonder, I suppose I'll never know.

Claremont Fri 07-Feb-25 20:17:40

Help with what? Shortages in care, nursing, doctoring, farming, leisure and Tourism, etc, etc. We have had enough problems with the loss of 1000s post Brexit.

BevSec Fri 07-Feb-25 20:14:47

MayBee70

Oreo

Righty-ho
Well, tho we have no idea what a Reform government would look like/ policies and so on I think we could surmise they would be Conservatives with added extras, with their main aim being immigration and getting the numbers down.This would go down well with most of the country if they could actually do it.Labour is talking about doing it just as the Conservatives were but the numbers are going in the wrong direction.
I believe that belittling people for voting and wanting Reform to do well is not reading the room.

So how would they reduce immigration? They just make people think that immigrants are the biggest problem that this country faces and that if we stopped all those pesky foreigners from coming here every economic and social problem would be solved. They also cause division amongst people; just look at what they can do on this forum. Divide and rule.

It would certainly help.

MayBee70 Fri 07-Feb-25 20:10:13

Oreo

Righty-ho
Well, tho we have no idea what a Reform government would look like/ policies and so on I think we could surmise they would be Conservatives with added extras, with their main aim being immigration and getting the numbers down.This would go down well with most of the country if they could actually do it.Labour is talking about doing it just as the Conservatives were but the numbers are going in the wrong direction.
I believe that belittling people for voting and wanting Reform to do well is not reading the room.

So how would they reduce immigration? They just make people think that immigrants are the biggest problem that this country faces and that if we stopped all those pesky foreigners from coming here every economic and social problem would be solved. They also cause division amongst people; just look at what they can do on this forum. Divide and rule.

Kandinsky Fri 07-Feb-25 19:42:45

I’d support and vote for any party who’d patrol the Kent cost 24/7.
Any boat entering our shores illegally would be sent back from where it came immediately.
Anyone already in this country Illegally rounded up & deported.
That’s what this country needs.

Oreo Fri 07-Feb-25 19:31:08

Righty-ho
Well, tho we have no idea what a Reform government would look like/ policies and so on I think we could surmise they would be Conservatives with added extras, with their main aim being immigration and getting the numbers down.This would go down well with most of the country if they could actually do it.Labour is talking about doing it just as the Conservatives were but the numbers are going in the wrong direction.
I believe that belittling people for voting and wanting Reform to do well is not reading the room.

Allira Fri 07-Feb-25 19:31:03

AGAA4

Allira I do know that Great Britain is a geographical term but 'great' as used by Trump and Farage has a different meaning. Casdon has explained what Farage said.

I do know.

I had a friend who used to get quite excited about the referendum and say "Make Britain Great Again".

Dickens Fri 07-Feb-25 19:29:05

mum2three

What exactly is the point here? Is it personalities or policies? Once again, personality seems more important than policies. I can't say I actually like Nigel Farage, but that is beside the point. He is standing up for those who actually care about Great Britain and want to put a stop to its continuing decline, which is more than can be said for the majority of people on Gransnet!

He is standing up for those who actually care about Great Britain and want to put a stop to its continuing decline, which is more than can be said for the majority of people on Gransnet!

Do you mean economic decline, moral decline or cultural decline - or all three?

And do you really think the majority on GN are happy to watch the decline? Seriously?

FriedGreenTomatoes2 Fri 07-Feb-25 19:29:02

Kandinsky

*There is a reason that this thread is as it is, - it’s because Farage’s supporters don’t know what or how Reform would govern*

Correct.
Now you can all sleep safely in your beds tonight knowing the Reform party will never get anywhere.

Relax smile

Or not. 😱

AGAA4 Fri 07-Feb-25 19:26:40

Allira I do know that Great Britain is a geographical term but 'great' as used by Trump and Farage has a different meaning. Casdon has explained what Farage said.