Gransnet forums

News & politics

Matt Goodwin

(600 Posts)
Meandrogrog Sat 14-Mar-26 06:54:49

Just seen Matt Goodwin has a new book due to be published on monday called Suicide of a Nation. He has an extract from the book in the Daily Mail today, which is excellent. I think this will be well worth purchasing.

twaddle Sat 14-Mar-26 19:58:56

Chocolatelovinggran

Actually, Oreo, the financial problems of the boarding and day school to which I refer has been due to the significant reduction in numbers of pupils from abroad.
Several boarding schools have suffered a drop off in international students following COVID. It seems that parents rethought the convention of their children in a different country from themselves, after the pandemic.

I wonder if it's the same school I know, which has been affected badly by the devaluation of Nigerian currency.

Chocolatelovinggran Sat 14-Mar-26 19:52:26

Actually, Oreo, the financial problems of the boarding and day school to which I refer has been due to the significant reduction in numbers of pupils from abroad.
Several boarding schools have suffered a drop off in international students following COVID. It seems that parents rethought the convention of their children in a different country from themselves, after the pandemic.

twaddle Sat 14-Mar-26 19:49:41

You would not be imprisoned for speaking your mind, unless you were breaking the law.

As for my username, I assume you understand irony.

twaddle Sat 14-Mar-26 19:48:04

Meandrogrog

sixandahalf

Meandrogrog

sixandahalf

I'm curious as to why you think OP that providing a link to something from the Daily Mail would mean you would be imprisoned?

How would that work please?

If you read my post you will see that I said if i put what I really thought I would be banned and possibly imprisoned.

Oh get a grip. Possibly imprisoned for what? For being a Daily Mail reader?

I am talking about Lucy Connolly being imprisoned for a comment on social media. Why would I mean beingimprisoned for being a Daily Mail reader. Do get a grip!

How were people supposed to know you had Lucy Connolly's comments on your mind. She was imprisoned for inciting violence.

Your comment is rude.

MG55 Sat 14-Mar-26 19:45:44

🙈🙈🙈

Meandrogrog Sat 14-Mar-26 19:41:20

sixandahalf

Meandrogrog

sixandahalf

I'm curious as to why you think OP that providing a link to something from the Daily Mail would mean you would be imprisoned?

How would that work please?

If you read my post you will see that I said if i put what I really thought I would be banned and possibly imprisoned.

Oh get a grip. Possibly imprisoned for what? For being a Daily Mail reader?

I am talking about Lucy Connolly being imprisoned for a comment on social media. Why would I mean beingimprisoned for being a Daily Mail reader. Do get a grip!

Meandrogrog Sat 14-Mar-26 19:36:41

twaddle

Meandrogrog

sixandahalf

I'm curious as to why you think OP that providing a link to something from the Daily Mail would mean you would be imprisoned?

How would that work please?

If you read my post you will see that I said if i put what I really thought I would be banned and possibly imprisoned.

If what you really think is bad enough for you to be imprisoned, presumably you wish to incite violence or something equally serious. It's probably best that you keep quiet - and not just for your sake.

Your username is very apt. I am talking about speaking my mind. Where did inciting violence come from!

Galaxy Sat 14-Mar-26 19:32:14

I didn't say the government was ignoring it, I meant the tone of the thread which at times suggest it usnt an issue. I also said all the schools, I work pretty much in all the schools in a particular area.

Doodledog Sat 14-Mar-26 19:31:57

Galaxy

I work in a northern city in a specific area of the city, every school I am in has a significant proportion of non english speakers, we can ignore what that may mean but not sure how helpful it is. The government and the education system must consider it has an impact as it is included in all data analysis.

Who is ignoring what that may mean?

twaddle Sat 14-Mar-26 19:27:59

Galaxy

I work in a northern city in a specific area of the city, every school I am in has a significant proportion of non english speakers, we can ignore what that may mean but not sure how helpful it is. The government and the education system must consider it has an impact as it is included in all data analysis.

You obviously work in one of the few schools where non English speakers are a significant issue. The government isn't ignoring it, which (as you wrote yourself) is why non English speakers are included in data analysis.

MartavTaurus Sat 14-Mar-26 19:21:49

I think it must be "interesting" to have a mix of nationalities in your class, but the bottom line is that even if only a few of them don't have a command of English, the teacher spends a disproportionate amount of time supporting those children.
I've had one Chinese girl in my class, another time a Russian, and it was like having an additional three pupils by the time I repeated instructions and gave constant explanations. All while the other children got on independently without my input when I could have perhaps helped them more.

However, the speed with which the foreigners picked up English was quite remarkable.

Doodledog Sat 14-Mar-26 19:21:37

sixandahalf

*Absolutely. Neither of my children had even one non-English speaking child in their class (or schools AFAIK) from starting at 4 to leaving at 18. I can't imagine they are anywhere near alone in that*

Too bad, one of my daughters speaks passable Cantonese as a result of striking up a friendship at school.

Lucky girl. I wasn't saying that children only having English speaking friends was a good thing, just that it is probably more likely than not in the UK. Of course there are bilingual and multilingual children, but that's not what was being discussed, it was 'lack of English'.

sixandahalf Sat 14-Mar-26 19:20:30

Meandrogrog

sixandahalf

I'm curious as to why you think OP that providing a link to something from the Daily Mail would mean you would be imprisoned?

How would that work please?

If you read my post you will see that I said if i put what I really thought I would be banned and possibly imprisoned.

Oh get a grip. Possibly imprisoned for what? For being a Daily Mail reader?

Galaxy Sat 14-Mar-26 19:14:21

Their.

Galaxy Sat 14-Mar-26 19:14:10

Oh and pretending there weren't issues with freedom of speech doesn't help either, I am quite happy to list the women who had to fight through the courts in order to state biological
reality and keep theor jobs.

Galaxy Sat 14-Mar-26 19:12:34

I work in a northern city in a specific area of the city, every school I am in has a significant proportion of non english speakers, we can ignore what that may mean but not sure how helpful it is. The government and the education system must consider it has an impact as it is included in all data analysis.

Casdon Sat 14-Mar-26 19:10:34

If that is the case sundowngirl they should stand up and be counted, the same as everybody else who expresses a view. Surely nobody is afraid to say what they think, this is social media, it’s not like arguing face to face with your family and friends?

sixandahalf Sat 14-Mar-26 19:05:15

Absolutely. Neither of my children had even one non-English speaking child in their class (or schools AFAIK) from starting at 4 to leaving at 18. I can't imagine they are anywhere near alone in that

Too bad, one of my daughters speaks passable Cantonese as a result of striking up a friendship at school.

twaddle Sat 14-Mar-26 18:56:34

Meandrogrog

sixandahalf

I'm curious as to why you think OP that providing a link to something from the Daily Mail would mean you would be imprisoned?

How would that work please?

If you read my post you will see that I said if i put what I really thought I would be banned and possibly imprisoned.

If what you really think is bad enough for you to be imprisoned, presumably you wish to incite violence or something equally serious. It's probably best that you keep quiet - and not just for your sake.

Doodledog Sat 14-Mar-26 17:58:03

twaddle

Oreo

A public school closing is probably due to RR and VAT imposed, thereby local schools having to cope with an influx.
I presume you mean private when you say public?
Teachers have so many immigrants children from various countries to teach, I don’t know how they cope with the lack of English.Along with 30+ children in classes.

When you write "teachers" what you really mean is "a few teachers" in "a few schools" (in a few pockets of the country). Nobody's denying that there is an issue in a few areas, which do need to be addressed, but it's as well not to exaggerate.

Absolutely. Neither of my children had even one non-English speaking child in their class (or schools AFAIK) from starting at 4 to leaving at 18. I can't imagine they are anywhere near alone in that.

That is not to say that for those living in areas with a significant ethnic mix are wrong to be concerned, though. It would trouble me if that had been the case for my children. But it is not realistic to pretend that it is the norm to have a 'lack of English' to deal with.

Again, though, it is a lack of teachers we need to address, not the fact that some children don't speak English. It is important that children living here do learn to speak English. In many cases they can teach it to their parents, too, which will help with integration.

Meandrogrog Sat 14-Mar-26 17:38:03

sixandahalf

I'm curious as to why you think OP that providing a link to something from the Daily Mail would mean you would be imprisoned?

How would that work please?

If you read my post you will see that I said if i put what I really thought I would be banned and possibly imprisoned.

twaddle Sat 14-Mar-26 17:31:51

Oreo

A public school closing is probably due to RR and VAT imposed, thereby local schools having to cope with an influx.
I presume you mean private when you say public?
Teachers have so many immigrants children from various countries to teach, I don’t know how they cope with the lack of English.Along with 30+ children in classes.

When you write "teachers" what you really mean is "a few teachers" in "a few schools" (in a few pockets of the country). Nobody's denying that there is an issue in a few areas, which do need to be addressed, but it's as well not to exaggerate.

Oreo Sat 14-Mar-26 17:13:09

A public school closing is probably due to RR and VAT imposed, thereby local schools having to cope with an influx.
I presume you mean private when you say public?
Teachers have so many immigrants children from various countries to teach, I don’t know how they cope with the lack of English.Along with 30+ children in classes.

Chocolatelovinggran Sat 14-Mar-26 16:16:29

Housing is a contentious subject in my seaside home town.
One of the problems is the huge increase in Airbnbs. These are a better source of revenue for landlords, with tax advantages.
This takes housing stock from local people who wish to rent, or buy . Immigration is not the driver here.
There is also the issue of new builds which are bought by London boroughs to accommodate people on their housing list, a very hot topic locally, but, again, not immigration.
The secondary and primary schools attended by my GC have all expanded their class size because...a public school nearby is closing, nothing to do with immigration, either.
Sometimes we must look critically at assumptions.

,

MartavTaurus Sat 14-Mar-26 16:03:15

MollyNew

Funny, isn't it, that Brits who leave this country are thought of as ex pats but anyone from any other country who moves anywhere else is an immigrant?

Not true.
I moved to France, I was an immigrant. Even my pets had papers to say they were immigrants. DH and I re married as immigrants under the French system, I think we still are! We worked from day one and paid our taxes. We did everything possible to integrate, I'm fluent anyway, applied for no benefits, and we we're not a drain on our new country at all.
That's is a real life story, the same for most British immigrants we knew too. The ex pat label is a convenient one used mainly by those looking on those who left the UK who only know the odd retiree or so who scarpered.
That's what's funny!