I never thought I'd agree with David Cameron

I thought (together with the apes) they'd get a chunk of Gibraltar next to the border with Spain, then there would be a UK Gibraltar/Spanish Border, a Scottish Gibraltar/Spanish Border and a UK Gibraltar/Scottish Gibraltar Border, thus creating lots of employment opportunities for border guards, customs officers, money changers, EU monitors, politicians and civil servants.

 

I agree, Posh Dave walks the walk and talks the talk but apart from that his main qualification for the job is naked ambition and an Eton background. I'm finding him increasingly loathsome and look forward to him being ousted presently. I don't think he has strong principles and ideals - I want to see that in a leader, difficult though I know it must be to sustain them in office. Even Mad Maggie was somewhat redeemed by the sense that she was motivated by strong principles, rather than sheer self-interest.

I love your list of qualifications, they would give the country some rare entertainment during news at 10! What about adding an education qualification - state schooling essential.

I'm not bothered by the feeling that there's no-one else suitable to step into the role - I'd like to see someone of proven honesty, hard work and capability in it, and I'm sure there must be many in the lower reaches of government. I don't want someone photogenic who's got there by overweening ambition and the fact that some focus group thinks he/she will appeal to Daily Express readers. I agree that the Prime Minister's role is so heavily supported by a political team in various guises that it hardly matters who does the job.

Shiney - you'll do, sir!

 

I didn't think that it was possible on my part, but I nearly smashed the TV the other night! And that course of action was strictly reserved for Thatch and Scargill in the past!

He has yesterdays headline in The Sun!!

Redeemed is a stretch, but her belief in her ideals was her best feature IMO.

 

Agree 100%. What matters most are a party's policies, not the background, personality, appearance, etc. of their leader.

 

And you're asking me to explain??? Like I know, either. It was a compliment though!

 

I don't really want to get into this particular issue but in general I think the way that the electorate are treated by our political classes is with utter contempt. Before agreeing with anyone it is essential to have the information available and easy to understand (in this case, historical data on number of immigrants, status of those claiming benefits and what sort of benefits and lots of other essential data). As it is there are sound bites, headlines or a very mucky and idiotic sort and little actual information on which to base an opinion with any confidence. Very dangerous indeed espcially where such sensitive issues are concerned. But perfect for deflecting attention and getting the people to turn on the people living down the road from them.

I would bet Mr C is spinning a very nice line in hot air simply for mass appeal and which has already been challenged (e.g. as to the effect his 'measures' would actually have even if enfoced as is due to the nature of immigrant claimant numbers and pattersn) in the parts of the media which still have an element of objective investigative journalism as well as others. No doubt politicians of all stripes would likely spin the same sort of line to suit their agenda.

Politics in this country has become a rich man's (woman's) plaything for self aggrandissement and the promotion of business interests, it no longer seems to have anything to do with acting in the best interests of the people or the country.

I have been considering seriously of not voting in elections as a protest (and yes, I know all the good arguments against this, but find voting is meaningless when the person you votes for, once elected, does exactly what they want to do, not adhere to their election platform promises)
Sorry, rant over
Disgusted of the Fens

 

I have a 100% record of always voting for the opposition, so whatever has happened since 1974 is the fault of everybody else and is nothing to do with me.

It's all your fault!

 

Apart from the prats that are making a damned fine job of screwing it up for us plebs

 

I'm getting worried now, because I find my self not only agreeing with DC, but defending him on this.

He is not in any way penalising EU migrants with this new policy he is trying to push through. He is protecting the national interest. Britain is skint, or so we are constantly told. We can't afford to have thousands more people coming in just to claim benefits.

As far as I can tell, DC has not said there will be many thousands coming in to claim benefits, he is saying that as things stand at the moment, there could be thousands coming in to claim benefits. This policy is being rushed through to ensure that if thousands of EU people come in, they can't suddenly overwhelm the benefits system, and what's left of the ragged tatters of our economy.

The trouble is, this is a classic case of damned if you do and damned if you don't. If he takes this pre-emptive action to try to protect what's left of our finances, and it works, then after the fact people will be quick to say 'thousands didn't come, you were wrong'. If he does nothing and thousands come and start claiming benefits, his head will be on the block as yet another PM who failed to control immigration. If he takes no action and yet hardly anyone comes, he will still be seen as weak and missing an opportunity to take some element of control of our own national affairs back rather than backing down to the EU overlords, who lets face facts, set these rules then hardly bother to abide by them unless its Britain, one of its biggest contributors, that fails to comply.

I support DC's stance on this not because of the nuggets of info in the media, and I don't even bother with the newspapers, but because it makes perfect sense to me that while its ok to let people come here, and even live here if they wish, they shouldn't turn up taking it for granted that we will give them free money, free accommodation, free translators on the doctor's surgeries and council offices because they couldn't be bothered to learn the language of the country that they expect to look after them (and I didn't get that info from the media, I've seen it first hand).

If I went to live in Bulgaria or Romania or anywhere else for that matter, I'd expect to pay my own way. I'd learn the lingo so that I could communicate with people once I got there. I'd expect to have to find and pay for my own accommodation. I suspect (without seeing statistics) that the majority of people coming into the UK feel the same, and that's great. Those people should be welcomed, and Britain is a very welcoming diverse place, but for those that might want to come here just because they've heard that they get a free house and free money, there should be policies in place to put them off doing that.

This is a fact (again not media driven), there are pensioners in Britain who have spent most of their lives paying into the system, they've spent 25 or more years paying for their house, yet they'll get less than £100 a week from their pension, from which they have to pay everything, and when they pop their clogs, the house that they spent so long paying for, not just the purchase price plus mortgage interest but decades and decades worth of maintenance and improvement costs, will get handed on to whoever is in line to inherit it, and then the government will take upto 40% of its value for themselves via inheritance tax. If you can't pay it all straight away, they'll give you time, which is nice of them, except they'll charge interest on what you 'owe' them. Or you can just pop in from outside, claim benefits, and be given a free house albeit only to 'borrow' but for as long as you want it.

 

I can't disagree on that at all.

Here's a thought - for every immigrant that comes in we should ship a family of spongers (not honest people who need benefits, but the idle gits who have no intention of ever holding a job down) out to somewhere like New Delhi, give 'em a tenner and tell them to get on with it! A map to the municipal tip may be a thought, as they'll need to spend their days there looking for old cans, placcy bags etc to scratch out a living!

Rant over - sorry.