Politics - Any party - No vetting - No waiting

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Open Loop 17

    • Robert @RobRoy Laindon - updated 1mo
    • Robert @RobRoy Laindon - 1mo

      Please listen

      This made me so sad, and I know how this caller and his son feel. I too went through those years of the national front and have seen so many people frightened. Now people, like this gentleman and his son talk of leaving to build a better life. Yes it really is ironic.

      https://youtu.be/q4pSUmgH6gA?si=vi2cUjMFyt_LfmM1

    • CharlotteB @CharlotteB Crayford - updated 1mo
    • CharlotteB @CharlotteB Crayford - updated 1mo

      Has GB News been reporting on the wonderful

      Reform Councillors

      Their vetting procedures must be fantastic

      This one was suspended pending his court appearance, almost as soon as he was elected

      https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c627ngz1k1eo

    • Robert @RobRoy Laindon - updated 1mo

      Not exactly politics

      But I want to know why the racist attack and murder of a delivery man and the sentencing of the murderers is almost hidden away on the news.

      Has GB News featured it?

      https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c8r1kmz614po

    • Robert @RobRoy Laindon - updated 1mo
    • Derek R @DerekR Iver Heath - updated 1mo

      Triple lock is up for debate, says Farage

      Reform leader’s comments come minutes after Jenrick said he supported the policy
      Robert Jenrick defected from the Conservatives last month to Nigel Farage’s party

      Nigel Farage has suggested that Reform UK could remove the triple lock on pensions in an apparent split with Robert Jenrick, his new “chancellor”.
      The Reform leader said the future of the triple lock, which guarantees the state pension rises each year by the highest of three measures – inflation, average earnings or 2.5 per cent – was “open for debate”.
      Minutes before Mr Farage’s comments, Mr Jenrick said he supported the policy and voters did not need to worry about it being removed.

      At a London press conference where he set out Reform’s economic agenda, Mr Jenrick said: “I’ve always been a supporter of the triple lock.
      “It’s incredibly important to provide dignity and security to older people on fixed incomes in the last decades of their life, particularly at a time like this where there’s such challenging circumstances with the cost of living.”
      Mr Jenrick, who defected from the Conservatives last month, promised that the party would set out more details in the coming weeks.

      The Conservatives and Labour have committed to maintaining the triple lock for the foreseeable future. The policy will cost the Treasury an additional £6bn this April when it rises by 4.7 per cent to £12,548 a year.
      However, shortly after Mr Jenrick’s comments, Mr Farage told a group of reporters the future of the triple lock was not guaranteed under his leadership.

      He said: “I haven’t changed my mind. It’s open for debate. Everything is open for debate.”
      This was not the first time Mr Farage suggested that the costly policy could go.
      Speaking in May, he said: “Triple lock for pensioners is not something we have addressed as yet.
      “We will, between now and the next election. We are, as you can see, building out our policy platform.”
      He has also warned that the state pension age must rise more quickly because it was failing to match rising life expectancy.
      The state pension age is on course to rise to 67 by 2028 and to 68 by 2046.

      • Two-child cap
      Mr Farage also disagreed with Mr Jenrick’s announcement that he would restore the two-child cap on benefits policy.
      Mr Jenrick said: “Today, Reform is changing our policy on the two-child cap for Universal Credit. We want to help working families have more children.
      “But right now, we just cannot afford to do so with welfare, so it has to go. And, as Reform’s shadow chancellor, I’m ending it. A Reform government will restore the cap in full.”
      Afterwards, Mr Farage told reporters that he still wanted to remove the two-child benefit cap for British families and he had been forced into the reversal by the “Tory press” who had labelled him a “socialist”.

      He said: “What I wanted is the two-child cap lifted for working British families and for my efforts I got branded by the Tory press as being a ‘socialist’. It backfired. It didn’t work.
      “Any attempt to do anything that is pro-family seems to be very, very difficult to do. And anyway it was only going to cost a tiny amount of money compared to the upwards of £3bn that this Labour Party has changed [by lifting the cap entirely]. So look, I accept it, it’s fine.”

      https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2026/02/18/triple-lock-is-up-for-debate-says-farage/

    • Derek R @DerekR Iver Heath - updated 1mo

      UK-US trade in disarray after Trump tariffs ruled illegal

      ‘We’re screwed!’ Trump faces $175bn tariff blow from Supreme Court
      Ruling that the president’s global trade levies are illegal exposes America to demands for huge refunds

      Donald Trump’s tariffs are illegal. Even he cannot spin that as anything other than bad news.
      “If the Supreme Court rules against the United States of America on this National Security bonanza, WE’RE SCREWED!” the president wrote on Truth Social in January.
      The nation’s highest court did just that on Friday – invalidating the president’s use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to impose sweeping tariffs on America’s trading partners. Judges said the legislation did not give him the power to do so.
      In an instant, one of the defining pillars of Trump’s economic agenda has been destroyed, blowing a gaping hole in the public finances worth hundreds of billions of dollars, throwing his trade deals into chaos and hammering his authority ahead of crucial midterm elections in November.
      Tariff income represents more than half of the all the cash that the Trump administration has collected since he returned to power.

      As well as having to scramble to find new sources of income, Trump is now also likely to be on the hook for $175bn (£130bn) in refunds that businesses will demand for paying these illegal levies.
      Speaking after the judgment on Friday, Trump said it was “crazy” that the Supreme Court had not ruled on whether companies would be eligible for refunds. “We’ll end up being in court for the next five years,” he said.

      Back in January, the president himself warned that the fallout could be even worse. America’s trading partners could demand payback for the investments they have agreed to make under trade deals signed with the US, Trump warned.
      He said: “When these Investments are added, we are talking about Trillions of Dollars! It would be a complete mess, and almost impossible for our Country to pay.”

      Indeed, one of the judges who dissented against the decision – Justice Brett Kavanaugh – did so partly because of concerns about the “refunds of billions of dollars” that a ruling against Mr Trump’s tariffs would entail.
      The IEEPA formed the foundation stone of Trump’s trade policy. The act was the legal justification that Trump used to impose his sweeping “reciprocal” tariffs on almost every country in the world on April 2 last year and the fentanyl tariffs on Mexico and China.

      Those punishing tariffs bought the world to the negotiating table, allowing Trump his pick of which countries to do trade deals with and giving him leverage to extract favourable trade terms and investment promises.
      On Friday, the Supreme Court swept this all away, stating: “IEEPA does not authorize the President to impose tariffs”. Now, only Congress can do this.
      This ruling will not affect the sectoral tariffs that Trump has imposed on goods such as cars, steel and aluminium, which were introduced under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962.

      But the impact will be seismic. Olu Sonola, head of US economics at Fitch Ratings, says: “More than 60pc of the 2025 tariffs effectively vanish.”
      The effective tariff rate on imports will drop from 13pc to 6pc, wiping out more than $200bn in expected annual tariff collections, says Sonola.
      Over a decade, this will cost the US treasury more than $1tn in lost revenue at a time when national debt is already at a record $38tn.

      •An expensive refund
      Trump moved swiftly to partly plug the sudden gap in America’s budget.
      Within hours of the Supreme Court ruling, he claimed at a White House press conference that he had “more power” to impose tariffs. “I can charge much more than I was charging,” he said.

      The president said he will immediately impose 10pc global tariffs under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974.
      For the UK, which was subject to 10pc IEEPA tariffs under the terms of the trade deal that it struck with the US, this means little will change.

      But for many of America’s larger trading partners this means a significant tariff cut. The European Union had a 15pc tariff while India had an 18pc levy, for example.
      Section 122 tariffs can also only remain in place for a maximum of 150 days. Trump said that the administration will be opening several investigations under Section 301, which allows the president to take action against unfair trade practices. But it is not clear how far he will be able to go.
      Crucially, the White House cannot impose measures that apply retrospectively, which means the administration has no way of protecting itself from businesses trying to claw back the tariff revenue that they have already paid.

      According to the Penn-Wharton Budget Lab, businesses have so far paid $175bn in IEEPA tariff revenue.
      The 301,000 importers who have paid this money are gearing up to get it back. A fleet of major companies including CostCo, Revlon and Ray-Ban had already filed pre-emptive lawsuits against Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to make claims for refunds.
      Trade groups are preparing to file class action lawsuits to make claims on behalf of small firms. Hedge funds have reportedly been buying up the rights to make claims on behalf of businesses in exchange for a substantial cut of any payouts.

      Beth Benike, who owns BusyBaby, an infant products company that imports from China and has been hammered by tariffs, is hoping she can claw back $40,000 that she has paid so far.
      Benike says: “I’ll be joining a class action lawsuit to try to get that money back. I think the [CBP] website is going to break.”
      The refund process is going to be messy. One big problem is that small companies that imported through third-party wholesalers technically have no direct route to make claims and will be reliant on their suppliers’ customer service policies.

      The Supreme Court’s ruling passed the issue of refunds on to the lower courts, which means the timing or amounts of potential rebates is currently unclear.
      Trump suggested that the White House will hold on to as much cash as it can. He told reporters: “I guess it has to get litigated”.

      The chaos will cost Trump further political capital in the run-up to the November midterm elections, when he is already expected to lose the Republican majority in the House of Representatives.

      •Trade deal doubts
      At the same time, the trade deals Trump secured with the likes of the UK and the European Union now look on shaky footing. Those deals were agreed in the shadow of Trump’s IEEPA tariffs, intended as a way to escape the worst of his wrath.
      Countries are likely to keep the agreements in place for now but the Supreme Court decision opens the door to more negotiation.

      More than anything, the Supreme Court ruling hammers Trump’s authority.
      Back on April 2 last year, when he launched his full-scale trade war on what he called “liberation day”, he said it was a “declaration of economic independence”. But the White House can’t break free from America’s highest court.

      https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2026/02/21/uk-trade-with-us-disarray-trump-tariffs-ruled-illegal/

    • PaulFisher @PaulFishe Bexleyheath - updated 1mo
    • Robert @RobRoy Laindon - 1mo

      Turning on the press - the mouth that feeds him

      When oh when will they all see him for what he is?
      Well we know most of the press won’t - being funded by his paymasters

      https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1E4zAgTJMS/?mibextid=wwXIfr

    • CharlotteB @CharlotteB Crayford - updated 1mo
    • Robert @RobRoy Laindon - updated 1mo

      How GB News made a wonderful story racist

      A young man saved his entire family and the report here explains

      https://news.sky.com/story/police-release-call-from-boy-13-who-swam-for-hours-to-save-his-family-stranded-at-sea-13506421

      The version that gb news was somewhat different to all other reports stating that he couldn’t get help
      When he arrived on the beach because no one spoke English . That was of course followed by comments from their followers about Islam, deportation and foreigners taking over the country !

      How low can they go? Don’t answer that

    • CharlotteB @CharlotteB Crayford - updated 1mo
    • PaulFisher @PaulFishe Bexleyheath - updated 1mo
    • CharlotteB @CharlotteB Crayford - updated 1mo

      Farage should shut up

      Copied from Facebook

      This is misleading on several levels.

      The Chagos Islands process did not begin with Keir Starmer. It started under Conservative governments after repeated international court rulings found the UK’s continued control of the territory to be unlawful. Britain has been on the losing side of this for years.

      Donald Trump approved the framework that protects US military access to Diego Garcia during his presidency. Nothing in this arrangement threatens the US base or the UK’s relationship with its closest ally. Trump’s current comments are political flip flopping, not a sudden discovery of risk.

      There is no reckless “giveaway”. The security arrangements remain exactly as they were. What changes is that Britain stops clinging to a position the rest of the world has already rejected.

      And there is a wider point Farage avoids. You cannot “give away” what was never rightfully yours to keep. Returning the Chagos Islands is about ending an unlawful colonial arrangement, not weakening Britain. Distancing ourselves from that past is long overdue.

    • CharlotteB @CharlotteB Crayford - updated 1mo

      They make it up as they go along

      The nineteen year old leader of a council blags more lies about ‘wokism’ but it’s okay he got the details and advice from 30p Anderson 😂

      https://youtu.be/yxgAdHv_iQw?si=dUIGvNF8EZUu1KuE

    • Derek R @DerekR Iver Heath - updated 1mo

      Reform will repeal the Equality Act if elected, says Braverman (Edited)

      Party also pledges to introduce ‘patriotic’ curriculum and end ‘trans chaos in the classroom’

      Reform UK would repeal the Equality Act on “day one” of government if it wins the next general election, Suella Braverman has said.
      Ms Braverman, who defected to Reform from the Tories last month, said Britain was being “ripped apart by diversity, equality and inclusion” policies. 
      Speaking at an event in London where she was unveiled as Reform’s new shadow education, skills and equalities secretary, Ms Braverman said her first act in government would be to abolish the equalities part of her brief. 
      She said: “Why does no one in this Government seem to care that it’s white working-class boys who have the worst educational outcomes in our country today?
      “Do you know what a Reform government will do? Well, on day one, we will get rid of the equalities department, we will scrap the equalities minister.

      “And we will repeal the Equality Act, because we are going to work to build a country defined by meritocracy not tokenism, personal responsibility not victimhood, excellence not mediocrity, and unity not division.”

      Calls to reform the Equality Act, introduced by Gordon Brown in the dying weeks of his administration in 2010, have grown in recent years as critics have argued it has become weaponised by activists. 
      The Act allows people to take forward claims for discrimination if they have one of nine protected characteristics, which include age, race and sexual orientation. 

      A report by campaign group Don’t Divide Us last year found the number of employment tribunals debating a claim of racial discrimination had tripled since 2017. 
      Writing in The Telegraph last April about the Equality Act, Ms Braverman said: “From its inception, the Act contained a fatal flaw: it elevated group identity over individual equality before the law. 
      “Rather than treating all citizens equally as individual British subjects – a principle at the very heart of our common-law tradition – it carved up the population into competing tribes.”

      At a press conference on Tuesday, Nigel Farage also unveiled Robert Jenrick as his shadow chancellor, Zia Yusuf as the shadow home secretary and Richard Tice, his deputy, as the shadow business secretary.
      Reform is calling the titles “shadow” roles despite the fact that, strictly, such terminology is used by the official Opposition, currently the Conservative Party.

      ‘Patriotic, balanced curriculum’
      Ms Braverman also pledged to introduce a patriotic curriculum as a Reform UK education secretary.
      She said the education system was encouraging children to view Britain “with shame rather than pride” and accused universities of “failing our young people”.

      Ms Braverman said: “A Reform government will deliver a patriotic, balanced curriculum which fosters a love of this great country.
      “And it’s why a Reform government will bring an end to the transgender chaos in the classroom. Social and gender transitioning will be absolutely banned in all schools – no ifs, no buts. Meanwhile, too many of our universities are failing our young people.”

      In recent years, some have claimed the education system promotes Left-wing ideology in classrooms, including the trans debate and teaching critical race theory and white privilege – which suggests white people have an inherent advantage on the basis of their race – as fact instead of as contested theories.

      Last week, guidance published by Bridget Phillipson, the Education Secretary, confirmed that children will be allowed to change their gender at school. Critics have long voiced concerns about children being taught that a woman can have a penis and that sex is assigned at birth instead of being a biological fact.

      Ms Braverman also fired a warning shot at the higher education sector, saying: “To those universities that have descended into hotbeds of cancel culture, anti-Semitism, and which survive really thanks to the cash of foreign students, and keep conning young people into worthless degrees, Reform is putting you on notice.”

      She also committed to half of all school leavers entering manual and vocational work, a mirror image of Sir Tony Blair’s ambition for one in two young people to go to university.
      Meanwhile, after being named as Reform’s shadow chancellor, Mr Jenrick said cost of living challenges, tax rises and a ballooning welfare bill meant that ordinary Britons felt they had “nothing left” by the end of the week and that the “normal expectations of life” had become luxuries.
      He promised to cut waste, restore “stability” to the economy and cut taxes, welfare spending and bills.

      Mr Tice, who led Reform until Mr Farage’s return ahead of the 2024 general election, would be deputy prime minister and head up a new department for business, trade and energy.

      He called for a “total focus of growth and prosperity”, vowing to tear up climate change legislation – which he called “net stupid zero” – and work with businessmen to create the right conditions for economic growth of up to four per cent year-on-year.

      Mr Tice also promised to set up a “proper, serious” sovereign wealth fund to invest in British companies and buy and invest in British products in order to fund hundreds of thousands of affordable new homes.
      Mr Yusuf, who was Reform’s chairman and then head of policy, was named Mr Farage’s home affairs spokesman. The son of migrants who had worked in the NHS for decades, he warned that the “sheer scale” of legal and illegal migration was untenable.
      Reform pledged to leave the European Convention on Human Rights at the last general election, more than a year before the Tories eventually made the same promise.
      The party has also committed to a one-in-one-out migration system, which it refers to as “net zero immigration”.

      Reform continues to enjoy a comfortable lead of almost 10 points in the opinion polls, putting Mr Farage and his party on track to enter Downing Street at the next election.
      Mr Farage said: “It’s time for the party to take the next step. Too often, the criticism over the last 20 months has been that we’re a one-man band, to which I generally respond by saying it’s better than being a no-man band. But the time has come to broaden the party, to put in place shadow positions, and that process begins today.”

      The Conservatives denounced Mr Farage’s announcement of his top team as “underwhelming”.
      Kevin Hollinrake, the Tory chairman, said: “After months of infighting and leaks, Nigel Farage has unveiled a front bench dominated by ex-Conservatives – a line-up that looks more like a tribute act to the old Conservative Party than a credible alternative.
      “Even now, some are already eyeing their next career move, while others who were clearly expecting promotion have been left out in the cold.”

      Anna Turley, the Labour Party chairman, said: “Farage’s top team of failed Tories spent over 3,000 days inflicting untold damage on our country in government, trashing our economy, hammering families’ mortgages, and leaving our borders open.
      “They failed Britain before – they’d do the same again under Reform. Today’s appointments clearly reveal that neither keeping our nation safe nor tackling NHS waiting lists are priorities for Farage or Reform UK.”

      https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2026/02/17/suella-braverman-pledges-to-introduce-patriotic-curriculum/

    • CharlotteB @CharlotteB Crayford - 1mo

      Fantasy economics

      https://www.itv.com/news/meridian/2026-02-11/reform-run-council-accused-of-fantasy-economics-over-claimed-budget-savings?fbclid=Iwc3NjcAQCxcdleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZAo2NjI4NTY4Mzc5AAEewfLHxOeJ8GdeyyihC7pva9dEyz76n5Jn-VAzoSRUL6urfoSNNDK6FstC4IY_aem_gFP9GuRhQpA_sae6LWNPkw

    • PaulFisher @PaulFishe Bexleyheath - updated 1mo

      Not political - but maybe it is?

      Why do people do this
      Is it good , bad, well meaning ?

      https://vm.tiktok.com/ZNRP8JdN8/

    • Robert @RobRoy Laindon - updated 1mo

      Australian police make an apology

      After dragging Muslims from their prayers at an arranged place. Which they had sought and been given permission for

      https://www.aa.com.tr/en/asia-pacific/australian-police-admit-muslim-worshippers-had-permission-to-perform-prayers-after-backlash-over-forcible-removal-/3828203#

    • Brenda38 @Brenda38 Ashingdon - updated 1mo

      The State of U.K. waters

      This Guardian story is not an eye opener as such (we all know of sewage dumping by water companies) but there is a harrowing story behind what’s going on. There’s a Channel4 programme highliting it on 23/24/25 February. Well worth a watch.
      https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/feb/18/the-death-of-heather-preen-how-eight-year-old-lost-her-life-amid-uk-sewage-crisis?CMP=oth_b-aplnews_d-5

    • CharlotteB @CharlotteB Crayford - updated 1mo

      Is this a joke

      Campaigning? Sounds more like bitching

      https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1HDaKTbjS8/?mibextid=wwXIfr

    • CharlotteB @CharlotteB Crayford - updated 1mo
    • CharlotteB @CharlotteB Crayford - updated 1mo
    • Robert @RobRoy Laindon - updated 1mo

      Paul Golding caught out

      Selling badges - for his own pocket

      https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1BuyjCtADb/?mibextid=wwXIfr

      Rotten to the core

    • CharlotteB @CharlotteB Crayford - updated 1mo
    • Derek R @DerekR Iver Heath - updated 1mo
    • Michael B @MichaelB1 Farnborough - updated 1mo

      Michael Crick rips into American guests on GBNews ....

      ...on last night's Late Show broadcast from Washington DC.
      Watch from about 9 minutes 45 seconds.
      Also on the same show was a classic case of GBNews twisting the narrative when one of their undercover reporters posing as a member of the public confronts a man going door to door asking people if they would boycott Israeli products in support of Palestine. He was simply making a note of where he had knocked and if they said yes, no, or think about it. She twisted his words and accused him of a Jew hunt.
      Watch from 39 minutes 25 seconds, straight after the ad break.
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FC1-TcPopY

    • CharlotteB @CharlotteB Crayford - updated 1mo

      The first day

      https://vm.tiktok.com/ZNRfvc5Mf/

      I wonder if he still genuinely feels safe.

    • Danni @Danni Erith - updated 1mo

      Pride in place - government funding

      To update and smarten up town centres

      Chatham has already been confirmed


      Medway Council to use £1.5m of Pride in Place Impact Fund money to ...
      Medway Council is utilizing £1.5 million from the government’s Pride in Place Impact Fund (PIPIF) to rejuvenate Chatham and other town centres by repairing tired shopfronts, filling empty units, and cleaning public spaces. A key component is a £300,000 grant scheme for local businesses, offering up to £5,000 for exterior improvements and structural repairs, with applications opening in February 2026.

    • Danni @Danni Erith - updated 1mo

      Street chat

      https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1CF44Mow7u/?mibextid=wwXIfr

    • PaulFisher @PaulFishe Bexleyheath - 1mo
    • Robert @RobRoy Laindon - updated 1mo

      Song of our times (Edited)

      If Nigel could then Nigel would he’d slit the throat of Robin Hood

      https://youtu.be/gnh5tbGEBO4?si=3Snnh7QNElo3F310

    • Robert @RobRoy Laindon - updated 1mo

      You couldn’t make it up

      Copied from Facebook

      What is wrong with Reform UK LTD?

      It’s not a rhetorical question as the list would be simply too long but why do they keep getting even the basics wrong?

      During the last election they selected this man, Jack Denny, to run as a candidate for Leeds. Ex police sergeant and prison officer it seemed he was an apt candidate so they put him forward, had all the literature printed and it was all systems go for the general election.

      Only there were a couple of issues they missed:

      He’s on the sex offenders register after being found in possession with child exploitation images on a usb stick.

      Not only that but three years prior this ex police sergeant served time in prison on a fraud conviction.

      It was only after these details were released by a newspaper did Reform UK LTD drop him.

      Can any random person on the street walk into Reform UK LTD’s HQ and say I’d like to be a MP and they just say sure no problem?

      When I retired last year I decided to take a part time job delivering groceries for a large supermarket chain. To get the job I had to have a DBS check, that’s a Disclosure and Barring Services, it checks your criminal background to make sure you are a suitable candidate, it costs the company requesting the information some £30 for a basic one and takes a week or so.

      Even a basic disclosure would have brought up all of this information, so why didn’t they do it?

      If it wasn’t for the newspaper exposing him we may well have a convicted sex offender and fraudster (read bent police officer) sat in parliament along with the rest of the shower in Reform UK LTD but then again from the majority of the people they have he would have fitted in well.

      It seems people delivering groceries are more vetted than potential candidates to run as members of parliament with Reform UK LTD.

    • Danni @Danni Erith - updated 1mo

      Pochin - really is nasty

      And such a liar 🤥

      https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1CEPVUuSnu/?mibextid=wwXIfr

    • Derek R @DerekR Iver Heath - updated 1mo

      Dorries Day - No Way!

      BBC Question Time in chaos as Nadine Dorries explodes on immigration - 'Insane!'

      The conversation on last night's BBC Question Time expectedly turned to Sir Jim Ratcliffe's comments on immigration, where the businessman and Man UTD co-owner claimed the UK was being "colonised" by immigrants. A heated debate broke out between former Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, Nadine Dorries and Green Party MP Ellie Chowns. Dorries, who defected from the Conservatives to Reform UK last year, claimed that although Ratcliffe got his numbers wrong, he "got his point across".

      Ratcliffe has incorrectly claimed that the population of the UK had risen by 12 million to 70 million people in the last five years, when it had actually risen by less than three million people in that period. He blamed immigration for many problems in the country, saying high levels of immigration are costing the UK "too much money". On Question Time, many guests in the audience appeared to disagree with Ratcliffe's comments, as did Chowns.

      However, Dorries took the opportunity to attack the Green Party's 'open door' policy, which she branded "insane". The debate started to get rather heated, with Dorries saying that immigration is the reason Reform UK are doing so well.

      Dorries argued: "It [immigration] is a fundamental problem that we have to sort. The insane policy of the Green Party, that you just have open borders; we've seen an increase of 12 million people, we've seen how our schools have suffered, we've seen how our NHS has suffered, we've seen the unrest, we've seen the problems as a result of that.

      "To say open borders, and we just let people walk into the UK, it's just simply an insane policy."

      Chowns clapped back, saying to the Reform defectee: "Reform, and before it the Brexit Party and before it UKIP have been busy for many years fermenting this idea that immigration is the problem in this country. It's completely untrue, inequality is the problem in this country.

      "Housing is a problem in this country, because we have had 40 years of governments not investing in housing. The health problems we have got in this country are because we have governments, including the government of which you were a part for 14 years, failing to invest in our public services, presiding over decline."

      Applause followed Chown's response to Dorries. The latter admitted that Ratcliffe got his numbers wrong, and Fiona Bruce, presenter of Question Time, later confirmed there are 12 million more people living in the UK now than there were in 1995, a 31-year period.

      Ratcliffe yesterday apologised for his comments on immigration. He issued a statement, which reads: "I am sorry that my choice of language has offended some people in the UK and Europe and caused concern, but it is important to raise the issue of controlled and well-managed immigration that supports economic growth."

      https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/bbc-question-time-in-chaos-as-nadine-dorries-explodes-on-immigration-insane/ar-AA1WgEJ2

    • CharlotteB @CharlotteB Crayford - updated 1mo
    • CharlotteB @CharlotteB Crayford - updated 1mo

      A brand new petition

      Started regarding the bigot that is a major shareholder of Manchester United

      He needs to start paying tax and not taking money from our country

      https://c.org/j9tmqfM8FW

      Pass it on to all your contacts please

    • Krista L @KristaLonsdale East Barnet - updated 1mo

      Is Tax Politics? (Edited)

      THIS is what I think is unpatriotic, unethical and should be stopped. He`s using loopholes that are well known and easily available amongst his type. NOT to the majority of us normal employees, some of whom NEED a few loopholes. These are the arseholes that blame refugeees and the poor and then steal from the us by not paying their share, which they could easily afford without dtriment to themsleves or the business that makes it all for them.The loopholes need closing -globally!!
      FACT CHECK: Billionaire & Co-owner of Manchester United Sir Jim Ratcliffe paid £0 in tax in the financial year of 2024/2025; meanwhile immigrants in the UK contributed a whopping £17,000,000,000, more than Jim Ratcliffe’s entire net worth which is £12.76 Billion.
      Yesterday in an interview with Sky News Jim Ratcliffe said Britain has been “colonised” by immigrants, suggesting there are too many and that Nigel Farage is a “smart guy”.
      Mr Ratcliffe’s comments last night were also factually incorrect, he claimed that the UK population in 2020 was 58 million and that the population in 2026 is well above 70 million, a 12 million increase.
      However, the actual population in the UK in 2020 was 68 million and the correct population as of Feb 2026 rests at 69.6 million according to UN data. An increase of only 1.6 million people compared to the 12 million Ratcliffe claimed.
      The Billioniare who has imposed massive cuts across Old Trafford and laid thousands of staff off, also failed to account for the 300,000-500,000 births in the UK each year.

    • Robert @RobRoy Laindon - updated 1mo

      Jeremy Kyle

      Still a nasty twisted … eh presenter

      Who still won’t answer the questions and still puts this country down!

      https://youtu.be/_tAmaXD6p88?si=QUgigNrOEbqW-bbz

    • CharlotteB @CharlotteB Crayford - updated 1mo
    • Robert @RobRoy Laindon - updated 1mo

      It’s about time

      These flag hangers (polite version) were investigated. Are they claiming benefits. Who is looking after their children. What are their backgrounds / records. Maybe if they were put more firmly in focus they’d be thinking twice

      It’s obvious they are thick as mince

      https://youtube.com/shorts/vwIPYjvCl2M?si=AeerRMy2aqaXFMuf

      They’re the same type that protest outside hotels and many of them turned out to be violent criminals

    • John @Johannes South Benfleet - updated 1mo

      Just who is involved with who

      Why has farage taken out super injunctions

      https://www.facebook.com/share/r/182XNzxdEp/?mibextid=wwXIfr

    • PaulFisher @PaulFishe Bexleyheath - updated 1mo

      Why are we expected to hate someone praying

      This is what we are being taught, encouraged or told

      Where are the real Christian’s , because they are not the ones protesting outside hotels . We used to live in a world where we were encouraged to welcome our fellow man. Treat him fairly and protect him

      https://vm.tiktok.com/ZNRfJKQE7/

    • CharlotteB @CharlotteB Crayford - updated 1mo

      A massive cover up in the US

      And still no comment from Farage about the Epstein files

      https://youtube.com/shorts/k8cZ6Jwloqo?si=oAQgfUvC9dZQ-P8Z

    • John @Johannes South Benfleet - updated 1mo
    • Danni @Danni Erith - updated 1mo

      Freedom of speech

      Well, perhaps not

      As soon as Reform are asked a question

      https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1BwLz74154/?mibextid=wwXIfr

    • CharlotteB @CharlotteB Crayford - updated 1mo

      How low will ‘patriots’ go

      Protesting against our wonderful RNLI

      https://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/25843717.poole-mp-neil-duncan-jordan-concerned-protest-rnli/

    • PaulFisher @PaulFishe Bexleyheath - updated 1mo

      Raise the colours members

      Don’t respect the borders of the local pub

      https://vm.tiktok.com/ZNRyqEpep/

    • Robert @RobRoy Laindon - updated 1mo

      Who isn’t maintaining the roads

      Even when extra money was given

      https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1b2jBSKfv9/?mibextid=wwXIfr

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