Mahmood says she could......

[vladi]

..........................  suspend visas from countries that do not "play ball" on returning over-stayers and illegal migrants.

why "could" . Why not do it now? Getting it done now would  undermine Reform's position and give Labour a "win" - even though the Tories had signalled they were going to do this before they got turfed out.

[Spartacus]

Maybe its a discussion point to get countries to accept their people back, without having to act it out, however if the bluff is called then it might be enacted.

Hence the "could" and not the "will " at this stage 

Politics is a funny game. 

[vladi]

1 hour ago, Spartacus said:

Maybe its a discussion point to get countries to accept their people back, without having to act it out, however if the bluff is called then it might be enacted.

Hence the "could" and not the "will " at this stage 

It's just flying a kite and a gutless statement that will result in no remedy to the situation.

Surely the only way to get these countries to sit up and think about it is to bring in the measures immediately. Anything less just suggests that the UK is a soft touch - just a toothless , senile old tiger.

Edited September 8 by vladi
added pic

[Sephiroth]

“These countries”

 

”sit up and take notice”

Christ but this country is childish sometimes. Like “these countries” don’t take much higher percentage of immigrants anyway 

or like the uk doesn’t already face a skills shortage and in no way has the ability or desire to piss off people from other countries we will very much want to come here 

[malumbu]

Wow yet another thread to bash Labour.  Good news is I'll be posting the Johnson files, and  Farage hypocrisy, threads shortly.

[Spartacus]

17 minutes ago, malumbu said:

Wow yet another thread to bash Labour.  Good news is I'll be posting the Johnson files, and  Farage hypocrisy, threads shortly.

Is it a bashing Labour thread or is it simply the OP questioning the use of "could" and not "will" ? 

I think its the latter not the former but im sure you will disagree. 

[Sephiroth]

8 hours ago, malumbu said:

Wow yet another thread to bash Labour.  Good news is I'll be posting the Johnson files, and  Farage hypocrisy, threads shortly.

To be fair, it’s more than ok to bash Labour. I think she is a terrible appointment, I think her motivations and follow-through with an announcement like this is problematic and shows that Labour are intent on chasing votes from the likes of Vladi instead of me 

and vladi’s reaction is exactly why not only are Labour abandoning their core vote and morals, but why they are stooopid to do so 

[malumbu]

Labour are bashing themselves.  There is a difference between those who really want this government to work (there are many good things but as you have said nobody is listening) and to those who don't like Labour and would never vote of them.  The move to the right is worrying and of course worthy of discussion.

I wonder if those most critical on this forum would vote Labour if they did take more draconian/authoritarian action to reduce legal and illegal migration.  I doubt it,  But perhaps outside of the metropolitan areas.....

[jazzer]

My comment is trying to not take any political side but rather be objective on what I see, hear and read.

If the Government made a positive difference to people's lives, people would be pro this Govt, but sadly the majority don't see an improvement since they have been in Office, but rather the opposite so people's opinions of the Government are poor. 

I think if you did a straw poll of users on here, the result for those in favour of the Government is likely to be unfavourable, but I may be totally wrong, quite possible.

No one I speak or am in contact with has a single good word to say about the current Administration. In fact the calls for a General Election just become stronger and stronger. 

[Sephiroth]

59 minutes ago, jazzer said:

My comment is trying to not take any political side but rather be objective on what I see, hear and read.

If the Government made a positive difference to people's lives, people would be pro this Govt, but sadly the majority don't see an improvement since they have been in Office, but rather the opposite so people's opinions of the Government are poor. 

I think if you did a straw poll of users on here, the result for those in favour of the Government is likely to be unfavourable, but I may be totally wrong, quite possible.

No one I speak or am in contact with has a single good word to say about the current Administration. In fact the calls for a General Election just become stronger and stronger. 

Fair points jazzer. But it begs the question, on what information are people basing their opinion?

because if it’s x or the right wing media the of course they will believe nothing has happened

but people who claim to be motivated by rising immigration numbers are either ignorant of or don’t care the those numbers have dropped significantly since Labour got in

Hospital waiting lists are finally showing improvements after years of getting worse

people on minimum wage are better off

We haven’t had a random general election or new prime minister just months after the last one  compare that to Tory chaos

Important relations with other countries (important for long term trade and growth) have improved under labour

given the size of the mess they inherited it’s far better than many give credit for 

and the prospect of a Badenoch and/or farage govt returning us to the chaos of last 10 years? No thanks

(I could do a long list of things Labour have done wrong or badly but that’s for another thread. I did not vote for Labour, but all things considered they are a massive improvement on what came before. Unfortunately we have a bunch of far right agitators kicking off around the country because they are cry babies which gives impression country is going downhill  when it’s really not)

 

[jazzer]

Fair points, not arguing with you on them. 

What people forget is that immigrants or low skilled workers do the jobs the home population don't want to do and without those jobs being done, things very quickly grind to a halt, i.e. hospital cleaners, all very necessary, but I'd have thought the majority are on minimum wage. And Minimum Wage (35hrs/wk) isn't exactly what I'd call minimum. Just over £21K, easily double and a bit more than what I get in monthly pension income to live off.

[Sephiroth]

“Fair points, not arguing with you on them”

This outbreak of civility between us is beginning to worry me !

im approaching pension age soon enough myself and im sorry to hear your position isn’t great.  But current pensions are not the result of  any 1 year government (they literally couldn’t be) but decades of priorities across multiple govts and voter priorities 

21k won’t get your fat these days as a worker. Transport and other costs before they even get to accommodation. And they will work hard for that

then you have the grey economy and zero hour contracts where people earn far less than that 

again - your position doesn’t sound great but that’s no reason to deny a new generation 

Me and jazzer at next forum drinks 

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2025/mar/28/dining-across-the-divide-i-see-the-welfare-state-as-bloated-corrupt

 

[jazzer]

I'm trying to be civil, see things from different perspectives and avoid arguments.

The grey economy is cash in hand, so no tax to be paid, Chancellor loses out, we all win.

Zero hrs contracts must be tough not knowing where or when the next work is coming from. 

My position might not be great, but with a bit of sensible weekly shopping, stocking up on best buys etc. one survives and life ain't that bad.  

[Sephiroth]

“Chancellor loses out, we all win.”

I don’t understand this 

[jazzer]

The grey economy means cash in hand jobs result in The Chancellor not getting any tax (VAT)

[Sephiroth]

I get that bit - it's the "we all win"  bit I didn't understand

if I look at world, countries I most subscribe to are the ones where taxes are raised significantly, the economy continues to thrive and the rewards lead to a fairer economic outcome - including countries where actual pension income is a lot more 

https://www.almondfinancial.co.uk/pension-breakeven-index-how-does-the-uk-state-pension-compare-to-the-rest-of-europe/

 

but a decent social fund requires chancellor "winning"

 

[jazzer]

we all win, if we utilise the grey economy what we pay saves 20%, win win really

[jazzer]

PMQ's at midday today, he rubs his hands in glee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Moovart]

Don't think there'll be much glee around today with what's happened in Poland and France 😕